Leh began with a bad
start. I arrived at the airport the night before to save on a hotel room as I
was flying out at 7am the next morning. The soldier posted on the door told me
that I was very very early, and he would not let me in. I said, its only 8
hours... He corrected me and said, "actually you are 2 months early."
In my excitement at finding a bargain flight I failed to double check my dates.
lesson learnt the hard way... I headed to the ticket office to see what could
be done to get me out of Delhi tomorrow. With a considerably lighter pocket I
booked a new flight that departed at 5am. success! Now the second issue... I
got a seat right at the back of the plane and much to my dismay the breakfast
service began from the front. As the flight was only an hour and 20 minutes
long we had started our descent before I had even been served. It was with a
very grumbling stomach that I arrived in Leh.
At the Airport I
met Daz. Himalayan veteran and beardy Yorkshire man, he was going to be my
guide for the next 24 hours. once my gear was loaded onto the back of his Royal
Enfield I was told that I would have to walk... "just to the top of that
hill. my bike struggles abit with the altitude in the morning." After
finally getting on the bike, it was a short ride to Leh where my hunger was
satisfied. Up until this point I have always been very wary of self-proclaimed
"German bakery’s" in India, because often there attempts at a pain ou
chocolat have been bitterly disappointing. Howevver it seems that Leh is the
bakery capital of India and they know how to bake! a couple of chocolate
covered cinnamon rolls later and I was ready to hit the town. Because of the
altitude Daz had a very strict regime outline for the rest of the day. 3 hours
rest then eat and repeat. By the end of the day I was well rested and had an in-depth
knowledge of the best places to eat in town!
the next morning,
we got a bus to camp and it was straight into the action. my first trip safety
kayaking on the Zanskar. Unfortunately, as the road was still closed I had no
kit. so, everything I wore had to be begged and borrowed. The river itself felt
like abit of a beast at first and for the first week it gave me many squeaky
bum moments. After that I realised that the river is mostly only really grade 2
if you avoid the whirlpools and boils. After a week I was feeling at home
though my body was suffering from the sun and he altitude I was feeling great.
from here it just became routine 2 trips per day for the first 13 days. that
was one way to acclimatise... as well as the safety kayaking I’ve also spent a
lot more time raft guiding. it’s great to keep mixing things up so things don’t
get to "samey" on the river.
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| New camp overlooking the Indus |
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Editors note: (07/01/2018) Looks like I never got road to finishing
this entry… but I will post it anyway…
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