AFTER

See the difference. No its not the shirt.

Well, I had planned to do my usual once a year haircut back in October on my birthday, but I was so pissed off at those flyaway hairs that are not long enough to fit in the back pony tail and constantly agitate my face. Well, six months later I showed those bastards. After that I had planned to try and do something spiritual and have it shaved off at some religious place where people shave their head to show their piousness and lack of “needing” anything. Well, I just couldn’t get into the religious swing of thing, so this just ended up being a good time. I also wanted to do it as I figure it is one of those things that everybody should do once in their life outside of Chemotherapy, baldness, swimmer, etc. How can you know unless you try. So, after getting my camera fixed I headed for my local barber shop and explained for a bit that yes I wanted my head to look like my ass. It was pretty painless and I really like it. Beyond the not having to maintain long hair, the constant agitation of hair on my face, the not being able to see when the wind/fan/motorcycle blows hair in my face, and the constantly having to either band it or wear a bandana, I think it looks pretty good. Other cool things is that I startle myself whenever I look in the mirror, my shirts get stuck on the velcro like stubble, and people think I am a Monk and are surprised when I am hanging around the westerners with my American accent. I really shocked people when I strolled around with my newly purchased aluminum handled umbrella wedged on my back between my day pack. It looks like a sword handle sticking out and I get tons of stares from people thinking I am some out of date ninja strolling around.

I didn’t get that cool shineyness yet so when I get back I might have it shaved again and then do it again with a standard razor and soap to see if I can get it totally bald. After that pick up some engine oil or grease or whatever shiney head people use and get that cap beaming. (Yazeed- could use your help on this.)

So that’s up to date of whats up with Steve. Be out of the loop for about a month so don’t expect too much although the whole trekking route you can get pizzas and internet access. I’m lazy and cheap.

Ciao

I managed three days in the Parvati Valley as the place I stayed was Manali similar except that it was more village like and catered to the Israeli backpackers that pretty much made up the population of the town. The people at my hotel dubbed it little Israel. I had tv and a nice room so it was a pleasant few days. There were a lot of hikes through the steep ravines, but I wasn’t really up to it and ended up doing a few river treks to break up the day.

After the Parvati valley, I made my way down to what is called the hill stations. They are basically in the foothill/mountain areas where because of the elevation they stay cool in the summer. All of the towns were again booming with Indian tourists looking to escape the heat so it was a nightmare trying to find decent accommodation. I had targeted Shimla the biggest and most popular hill station town and arrived right at night time. The weather is turning from pre-monsoon to full on monsoon season so I got hit with a few showers. Since I was still at elevation, it became a bit cold as well. When I got to Shimla, it was like being right back in a big city market. People were all over, it was a wall to wall madhouse. I was be-friended by one of the local touts and because of Shimlas weird lay out where as the hotels are on non-vehicle areas, I had no way of hotel hopping to find a place. We hit a half dozen of the “low priced” places and quickly found out that they were either booked or holding out for someone to pay four times the going rate. After an hour of hopping around I was getting pissed and just wanted out of the nightmare. I figured even though it was night, it was cold and raining, and I was still in some pretty high twisty roads, there was no way I was going to stay in that town. I dropped the guy off and hit the road figuring I would find something out of the city. Well, it was a risky move and not the brightest option, as it really started to rain, the power blacked out so even the villages I was passing I couldn’t see a guest house even if there was one there. I made it about two hours down the road when I saw a sign illuminated by a kid playing on his cell phone. I pulled over and it was a little road side restaurant with a boutique hotel attached to it. I ended up talking them down to 600 rupees (even though I would have paid anything), and got myself and my bags into a room. It was a pretty sketchy move, but alas it all worked out okay.

My next stop was the famous town of Rishikesh. Rishikesh became famous when the Beatles ended up staying at an Ashram (All-inclusive yaga and meditation center). It is also known as ground zero for Yogaites. For me it was just another Indian town with a bunch of temples, but it became very popular when I found a really good mechanic. I ended up dropping some cash getting Schwinn in better shape than it has ever been. Still worth it though after all the times when I jumped on the kick start it and it started right up. I’m just about ready to rank it as being more dedicated than a dog. Any ways, it was another five day stay with three hanging out at the shop and the other two for me to rest and a little sight seeing.

Leaving Rishikesh, it was time to get out of India as Monsoon season was upon us (June 15th) and I was getting a bit weary of India. The border was still a few days ride away and the Western border was deemed questionable as it is the most rural side of Nepal and the roads were easily shut down once the rains started. The morning I was going to leave another couple Justin and Miriam (Canadian) stopped by while I was loading my bike and we ended up having the same plans so we ended up riding together. They had been on the road for about five months and had to do the Visa run to Nepal as well. We ended up making the two day border run as well as visiting the Western Park/Reserve of Bardiya National Park. The park was probably the most interesting of the Nepalese parks, but because of its location did not receive a quarter of the visitors as the more popular Chitwan. We pretty much had the village to ourselves and when Miriam and Justin did a jungle trek there hadn’t been another visitor for a month. Unfortunately because of poaching and the Maoist military slaughtering some of the big game, seeing many of the big game was pretty much negligable. The only safari that I would ever join would be one for Tigers and even though they used to have one of the strongest populations, the guides say it was just not going to happen. I did luck out and saw a Rhino, Elephant, and deer by just walking along the bordering roads around the park. The Rhino was kind of this docile lawn maintainer and the elephant was used for taking tourists around, and I assume that because the few deer I saw were in the military compound that they were probably more like pets, I still consider it a successful self-done safari. The most interesting creatures all happened to be in my bathroom where I had this gigantic spider, two scorpions, and a poison arrow frog. It was like some odd dangerous creature death match situation. I was fine with it as I had a good mosquito net, and figured I might make a few rupees doing tours.


This is also where my trusty camera finally died as I am assuming that being rained on continually for a week as well as three years of pounding are probably not the best thing for sensitive electronics. I had hoped that it would survive until South East Asia where I could get electronics cheaply, but I was still amazed at how long it did last.

After the park we made a rainy dash for Polkhara, one of two main towns in Nepal and base for the AnnaPurna trek which is a three week marathon trek. And that is were I am now. The two big issues are that my camera was dead and I luckily got it repaired saving me a ton of money and also my laptop hard drive is now deceased. I have it in the shop and will work on it when I get back.

Michel, Edith, Nissan, and Roni the Israelis that I did the mountain passes are here so I have been hanging out with them as well. Nepal is a meat eating country so I have had my share of steaks already. The plan is that Nissan, Roni, Justin, Miriam and myself are going to do the full Annapurna circuit. It looks like tomorrow we leave.

FYI for motorcyclists going to do Nepal, there really is no hassle for foreigners bringing in an Indian bike as all you have to do is pay 75 NR’s for each day you plan on being in country. You can pay initially as much as you want and then re-new in Polkara or Kathmandu. Painless.

The road to Taglang La (second highest motorable road 5328m.)

A bit of a challenge. Better than the rivers though.

Success again.

Tent city, Pang.

The river crossing where I got stuck. On the far side you can see where the water looks like it is forking off into another river. That is actually the road up. On the left side you can see my helmet where I thought was a better route and ended up stuck. To the left of that is the actual river path. Could have been a really bad day.

Conquered pass #2, Lachlung La 5060M

Crash #1. My headlight and spillage.

The old man who ran the little tent where I stayed in Sarchu. Amazing instant ramen soup. What a chef.

My salvation.

Crashes 2-6 were in areas like this. Black ice hid all over the place. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to 1) pick up Schwinn and 2) to chop a path up the mountain. Hated it.

Beautiful scenery though.

After a days riding with wet boots this is what you get.

The tractor and trailer that carried me back to Darcha. What a sad moment.

My chef in Darcha.

My mechanic in Darcha.

The final pass at the Rohtang La. It is taken over by the Indian tourists coming for their first taste of snow. It was a nightmare getting down and not one of the best experiences of my trip to Manali.

Anyways, here I am in Manali having spent three full days repairing Schwinn. It took a beating and it saved me so I am spending the time and money to get it put back together again. Now I will be slowly making my way over to Nepal to see what it has to offer.

I did keep an eye out for other riders so that possibly I could go with someone else, but I heard about one other guy who had just left. Oh well, I figured I had made it that far alone, and Schwinn was running okay, so what’s a guy to do. I had less than a month to go on my Visa and still a decent distance before getting to Nepal.
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Nissan and Roni’s ride.

The bikes at the top. Home of the world’s highest gift shop as well.

I made it.

The snow was deep at the top. Props to the Indian Army for keeping the passes open.

The Nubra Valley.

Schwinn versus Lorry.

Camel chasing.

Prayer rocks.

Artistic shot.

Bactrian camels left over from the days of the Silk Route. Double humpers.

In the dunes.

Got Ice(icles)?

This was a near miss. I was rounding the bend when I came head to head with a big lorry. You can see the little water filled skid mark where I skid into the snow bank. Had I been a second faster, I would have smacked right into the truck in the middle of the water. They are not able to stop as getting going again would have been a problem and it would have locked up the pass. Not a lot of passing room. The days are set for one way traffic but bikes are let through as they are easily run over. I was going up on a down day.

The Ley side road.

Schwin versus Marmot.

The friends i met at the temple.

More contemplation. Scrubs or Counter-Strike?

Prayer flags over the Fort ruins.

These are of the Shanti Stupa built by Japanese Monks to promote world peace. It had the best views of the valley. My guest house was at the base of the mountain. I drove up to the top about ten times and walked it once.

This was just before the urination started.

Kargil is the halfway point and the usual transit stop.

I had a lovely day to take in the rest of the way.

Namika La pass at 3696M or 12198ft.

The highest pass on the Srinigar-Ley road. 4147M or 13479ft.

A perfect day for the ride through the valley.

Jackass

Jackass

Lamayuru was a small Buddhist village surrounded by these amazing moonscapes. I stopped there because I was getting stomach cramps and ended up staying there for three days as it was a great place to chill out after some heavy biking.

Resting and contemplating in Lamayuru.

Eating Momo’s with the monks and my first spin of a prayer wheel.

Next I was on the move to the village of Alchii.

The road followed the river and surprisingly there were these beautiful natural beaches. Had I had a tent, it would have been a great place to camp out.

The Chosskhor temples in Alchii are the sole survivors in the valley.

After Alchii it was a quick jont down to Ley.

Since I arrived into Ladakh quite early for the season and Global warming has had only a medium effect, the weather did hamper things for a few days. A more pressing issue came when I went to find out about the permit required to travel to the Nubra Valley on the other side, as well as just to go to the top. The travel agents who process the permit stated that the permits were only sold with a minimum of four people. If I wanted a permit by myself I would have to purchase all four permits and find three other passport copies in which to submit. Crappola. Luckily, while heading to one of my lunch places in town I ran into a guy fixing his Enfield in front of a hotel. He was one of four Israelis who came up from Manali. I was pleasantly shocked to get first hand knowledge that the road was passable and it was possible by motorcycle. The word that I had gotten from the jeep drivers was that it would be at least a couple more weeks. I learned that he and his wife came on one bike and another couple whom they had met up with came on another. We got to talking and I learned that they too were looking to do the climb up the pass, so I let him know the requirements and the predicament that I was in and he was more than happy to let me join their group. Happy days.

The next few days passed on without a permit as one day was Sunday, the next was a holiday, and the third it stormed and we would have been unable to get the permit back the same day anyway. We ended up hanging out the few days taking short runs here and there and doing shopping for the return ride back to Manali as they were ill prepared for the cold and wet conditions coming from Manali. It was nice to hang out with like minded people as I have gotten kind of snobbish in whom I associate with. Now that I am a biker, there is no way that I am going to hang out with those crazy bastards that like to walk all over the place. They were a fun bunch as well so it made the time pass by quickly.

Finally, the day arrived and we took off from Ley. The weather was looking fair with only some light transparent clouds. Since I had already done two-thirds of the climb when I went to the check point, it went fairly quickly as they were pedal to the metal types. We did the check point registration and then started the climb up the surprisingly good roads. The first half up from the check point was still semi-paved with the following quarter being fairly smooth dirt road. Only the top quarter when you hit the snow line at around 4500M did things get a bit rough. Even then, the Schwinn with minimal weight zipped right up without a hiccup. I was passing the tourist Jeeps and the military convoys like they were standing still. Since I was riding light, I could keep my speed up and basically float over all the water traps and rocks obstacles. I was surprised at how short it actually was up to the top.

When we got to the top, it was pretty damn cold. The altitude didn’t affect me as I have been above 3000M for the last three weeks. Edithe on the other hand wasn’t feeling all that great at Ley 3500M, so when we stopped at the top for photos and a chai, she went down hill fast. We decided it was best to start heading down so we did the back half which was exactly the opposite of the Ley side.

I did run into some problems when my throttle cable broke and stuck the accelerator at three quarter throttle. Going up it would have been fine, but when you are going down a steep incline, throttle is not what you need. I ended up riding down a lot of the way with the motor off and in neutral. It worked for quite a long time until we hit an uprise and I had to pull over. Both the guys were motorcyclists back in Israel so they jumped in and switched out the cable and we were on the road in less than half an hour.

Using my guidebook we decided on stopping in the second to the last village of Diskit. Unfortunately most of the guest houses were still closed as we were really early. Nissan went off solo and found a great place which was just built. The rooms were spic and span and since we were getting three rooms we even got a slashed price. Since Michel and Edith were limited as their Visas expired in three weeks, they decided it would be best if they only stayed the one night and then headed back to Ley so they could prepare for the run back to Manali. We made the best of the evening by visiting the local sand dunes and the big Monastery on the top of the hill. Since I was not in quite a rush and since we pretty much zipped through the whole run without stopping (no photos), I elected to stay another couple of days even though that would mean I would be on my own again.

The next day they took off and we planned on meeting again in Nepal. The next couple of days I toured around the valley which is unique in that it really is a high altitude dry desert surrounded by the Himalayas. The valley is usually closed off for seven months out of the year when winter comes, so the people are all self-sufficient for those times and crazily busy farming and handling the tourist influx for the other five months. The place is just an amazing scenic location with a unique culture thrown in. It was so interesting; I am thinking that it would be quite an adventure living through a winter there.

After a few days of sight seeing, I took a look at the weather (which was perfect not a cloud in the sky), and headed back up the pass. Luckily, the town had a petrol pump as I thing gunning it down the mountains used up a lot more fuel that I expected. The ride up was extremely nice as the sun was out and I was able to make it up to the snow line before having to don my cold weather gear. The only scary moment of the whole up and down came when I hit about the only real sketchy area of the pass. On one of the bends, it makes a sharp turn and the run-off seemed to collect there combining with all the heavy vehicles cutting the turn, it caused a huge deep pool of muddy water surrounded by a high snow bank. I came up on the turn a little fast and was met by an oncoming lorry, which was half way through the pool. He couldn’t stop, as he would have gotten stuck which in turn would have shut down the mountain. I ended up sliding right up to the edge and using the snow bank to come to a stop. Luckily it was fairly level and I was able to yank my bike back out of the corner so the truck had enough room to pass. One second earlier or later and it would have been a big bad adventure all the way around.

The ride back down to Ley was pretty uneventful but I looked forward to a hot shower, some Scrubs, and some good old chow. I had done the big bad road and mission accomplished.

Unfortunately I still can’t upload photos, so it will still have to wait.

One thing that I do implement even though overall traveling is the piece de resistance, there are other smaller things that give joy and happiness and I have to splurge a bit to keep the momentum going. Coming from America with the anything you want whenever you want it does make things a bit rougher, but I have learned to pick and choose, just to give myself a break. Occasionally it is splurging on a nice hotel room, satellite tv, a nicer mode of transport, or eating food somewhere other than off the street. Well, this little episode is about a craving called a tuna fish sandwich. Super exciting right, well, you gotta understand, the grocery stores here are little walk up shacks with things hanging off the ceiling on strings or stacked in boxes on the dirt floor. Ain’t no Albertson’s 24 hour mega-supermarket. With the exception of the more tourist areas, your usual restaurant options include a menu with six items and only two of which are available.

I’m not sure what sparked the desire, but it started as soon as I hit the pine tree covered mountains on the way to Srinigar. I guess the fresh air spiked my appetite, but it really didn’t hit me until I arrived in Ley. I did scout around a couple of times before Ley, just to see if there was a shot, but the closest thing I found was tins of sardines in oil and after forcing down a tin of those things back in the Congo, it was not going to cut it.

While laying in bed one night contemplating life (ie, watching Scrubs and playing Counter-Strike (I am currently on the expert level with four levels to get to the end)), the craving smacked me like Carla hit Todd after the thong incident, oh yea, that was it, on Scrubs, every time they do a scene in the hospital cafeteria, the people are eating some really appetizing looking food like hamburgers and sandwiches (chicken salad, but close enough). That is absolutely the cause of the craving. I just wanted a tuna fish sandwich with mayonnaise, some greens, salt and pepper, all on regular white sliced bread. That was it, I get a tuna fish sandwich and I am fine for a month. I had to have it.

Here in Ley, they had a couple of larger shops, so I started scouting around looking for some round tins that weren’t cat food. Right off the bat on the front shelf at the entranceway the bigger store had a dozen cans of tuna in brine. Score, the main ingredient was available. The price was a shocker at 75 rupees or about two dollars, but sometimes, like I said, you gotta put away the budget consciousness and just go for it. The next major ingredient as I am not a health freak (or a cat) who can eat it straight from a can, was mayonnaise. It was about a fifty-fifty as mayonnaise would seem to be a kind of specialty condiment, however, I have come across it quite often in my travels, even though it does not have the universal appeal as ketchup, catsup, or as they call it here Continental sauce. The store did not have it so I postponed the tuna purchase as if all the ingredients were not there, I was just not going to be appeased. I started working my way down the street bouncing between every little shop that I can find. No mayonnaise. I guess Buddhists are non-mayo believers or something. I was slightly bummed, however I did have a back-up plan that just might work. In all of the shops they sold little tubs of cheese. Now, this ain’t some nice Chedder or Jack, and it’s not even squeeze cheese in a can, this stuff kind of gushed when you shook it. The ingredients were kind of vague as they listed oils and a milky substance as the main ingredients with stabilizers and preservatives. Now if you take a look at mayonnaise, it’s not too far out with a couple of eggs thrown in. I figured that as these tubs were stored on the shelf and not in the refrigerator that mother nature would cause a little scientific altering which would give it a bit of a sour tang to it much like mayonnaise. Ah screw it, I was Jonesing, and I needed a fix. The rest of the ingredients fell in place nicely. I had a little napkin filled with some salt and spice mixture from Srinigar when I was buying boiled eggs off the street and pounding down a half dozen a day (that was until I think I got a bad one and had stinky egg quaffed runs for a few days. When the food you have been eating smells like what is coming out of your ass, cravings are over.) Greens were surprisingly easy as with the road openings, trucks were bringing in loads of fresh vegetables from Srinigar. I picked up some onions and tomatoes for a little extra zing. The piece de resistance came when I noticed the Lay’s potato chip bags and ended up getting the American style sour cream and onion. With all ingredients in tow I made my way back to the hotel and set to sandwich making.

As you can see by the picture, everything came together just fine. Even the liquid cheese stuff worked just fine as it was more mayonnaisey than cheesey. The plan was to spread out the ingredients to cover a couple of meals as things did get a bit pricey, but just like anything that you are craving for, you can’t limit yourself. I ate it all, right then and there. It was marvelous.

Can of tuna- 75 R
Tub of cheese- 65R
Onions/tomatoes- 15R
Potato chips- 20R
Bread- 15R
Juice- 20R
Total – 210R

Versus:
Momo’s, soup, and chai - 60R
Chow Mein – 40R
Egg fried rice – 50R
Mutton curry with rice – 75R
Veg Thali – 50R

I hope you had a great Mom’s Day. These are some kids that I met while checking out this old Temple (oldest in Ladakh). They took me through all these secret passage ways and showed me some hidden artifacts (little peace offerings left by pilgrims.) They were really good kids as the older ones would watch out for the little ones and they were all so polite. We had a good day.

I tried to do something for your birthday, well, it started by going by the internet place but it was closed so I decided to take a look around and as all things adventurous I ended up trying to go over the world’s highest motorable road. It did not fair well as it started to snow, the roads were closed for maintenance, I didn’t have a pass, and I was dressed to go to an internet cafe. I made it to about the 4500M range before turning back. Oh, the pass is around 5600M.

Well, I am still going “Full Power” as the hippies say. Hope you are too.

Steve