to Rampur -1015m: One more time down to the heat

May 17, 2016

"Did you see that? The man shoveling dirt, the woman was pulling on a rope tied to the shovel" Rachel says and Patrick then said "it seemed unnecessary, the woman could do that by herself." Referencing how in some countries like in Africa, women do the labor in the sun while men sit in the shade. In India we've seen women as well as men doing road construction, carrying bricks, or bowls of cement on their heads.

For 37 kms the only pedaling required was starting again after stopping to take in the view or take a picture. The first part was a cautious downhill with needing to watch for potholes and uneven surface, then asphalt smooths out with only a few sections washed out. This is a beautiful ride through huge pine trees, the Jacaranda in bloom, bee keepers along the side of the road and this valley is known for cherries and apples. We great views of the Sutlej river. We stop for coffee and spread the Apricot Preserves we bought in Narkanda on the fruit cake we bought in Shimla.

Then that comes to an end. For 30 kms from Rampur dropping down from 2630m to 850 meters, the first hill hurt, even though been cycling a couple of hours, we are not warmed up. After 5 kms where the road climbs up then down, the gradient becomes more flat until 8kms away from Rampur when we are at river level and continue to follow the river upstream until we are back to 1000meters. And we are back to complaining about the heat, 40 Celcius (100F).

We find Hotel Satluj View, for 850 rupees (13 USD), we get a nice room with hot water shower, and a balcony overlooking the river, just that the room is 3 flights down, from reception we get help carrying the gear to the room. Since it's now 1pm, we order lunch from room service. We have chicken chow mein, chicken momos and pineapple riata (yougurt) eating at the table on the balcony.

Tomorrow will be a short cycling day to Jeori, then a ride up to Sarahan to visit the monastery.