India Himalaya

More 4 am wake up calls from the local mosques were a feature of our last days in the predominantly muslim state of Kashmir. From Kargil

The huge peak of Kun dominates the down valley view from Rangdom but we missed the sunrise on it because of a veil of high

We were warned, in black and white, how bad the road surface was on the route in from Kargil to Padum. At present it is

One day of eating, relaxing and clothes washing in Leh seemed enough and we made a late start down valley. There seemed less traffic on

From Pang we had a short day to the shrinking Tso Kar Lake. We were picturing camping by the blue waters but all we could

For 300km on the road to Leh (from Manali) there are no permanent settlements and the road is only open for about 5 months of the

In Batal we woke to a grey and cold day, pleased that we had crossed the pass the day previous. Eggs and roti, chai and

It was time to start moving forward again with the challenge of getting over the Kunzum La. The ‘advertised’ opening date is 15 June but

With time to spare before the Kunzum La opens we decided to do a loop above Kasa that would allow us to spend three nights

We are constantly amazed on things we stumble across on our journeys, whether it is good timing (lunching monklets, Hindu processions) – or by a

At 10 years old, the host from our Kaza Guest House, escaped with his mother, father and 2 brothers over the Himalaya from Tibet to Nepal.

We spent a couple of nights in Nako as it is such a lovely village. The old part of town is an eclectic collection of

Every time I think we are emerging from the bowels of the Himalaya we are submerged again into yet another incredible gorge, cycling under solid

From Sangla and the Baspa Valley we bounced down to and along the Satluj and back up to the district headquarters of Reckong Peo to

Our progress along National Highway 22 is being slowed by diversions to amazing places off the highway. They are popular tourist destinations with local Indian

We headed up the Satluj valley from Rampur. We had a few hours along the main valley before a 1000m climb to a small  village

In the Indian way of things it takes half a day to sort a sim card in Shimla, the up side is that we discover

We were up at 4 am for our travel day to the foothills. First step was to go back to the Parcel Office with our

Is it a good sign to spend the first 3 hours of your journey on the tarmac in a plane that is being cleared by