20 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JUNE 2017 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG Story and Photos by 21 SARAH JANE KELLER Trading bikepacking for horsepacking in Zanskar prevents a hike-a-bike ordeal and lets cyclists travel more like locals. N My legs burned as I scrambled up a rocky slope S T A P A K I N following a line of horses laden with rice bags and In Y ! d L A u W Kargil s A bicycles. One of the more obstinate ponies ambled H R I G i D -LE H H ve away from the herd to graze, and I brandished a A R r A S R I N A G Namika La K stick to urge her forward. As I scanned the treeless 12,139 ft. H Zoji La Fotu La 11,575 ft. mountainsides for ibex, I spotted the landslide we 13,478 ft. !Leh had avoided 2,000 feet below. Pensi La ar Rive r Finally the herd’s owner, Tsering, halted on an 14,436 ft. sk n a outcrop. He offered me an old water bottle full of Z Z dull brown liquid, and I was grateful to sample the A fermented barley drink called chang. I took a swig N as he assured me that it would make me strong. ! S Tanglang La Padum 17,480 ft. Mostly, it made me a little woozy and enhanced the K Y A W euphoria of climbing into unfamiliar mountains. A G H H I H Years earlier, my husband and I had picked up E Area of L R - Lunga- Detail I the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook and started Shingo La L lacha La 16,703 ft. A 16,598 ft. N dreaming of a trip through India’s Himalaya. INDIA M A We learned about the Manali-Leh and Srinagar- Baralacha La Leh highways, which offer starting points for 16,043 ft. experiencing Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu culture in India’s northern reaches. The book made a 0 25 50 Rohtang La passing reference to linking the highways by ! 13,051 ft. Miles Manali crossing the Himalaya through the Zanskar Valley, LIPPUS AMY MAP: 22 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JUNE 2017 which has no through road and is Four days and two mountain passes completely cut off from the rest of India later, we turned onto the dead-end dirt during winter. road leading to Zanskar where glaciers We finally had a month to make loomed and goats and yaks outnumbered the journey in 2015. In mid-summer, vehicles. Stacks of yak dung patties we arrived in Leh, the largest town in harvested for winter fuel appeared on the mountain region of Ladakh, which the roofs of Zanskari homes. The hand- is sometimes called “little Tibet.” Our carved Buddhist prayer tablets propped homestay hosts fed us from ample on roadside walls grew more intricate vegetable gardens and let us pick the farther we rode into the mountains. apricots from their trees. As we rode Near the end of the road, we along the Indus River on the Srinagar- confirmed that a spring flood had Leh Highway, we stopped at Buddhist washed out some important bridges and monasteries and enjoyed the hospitality part of the trail along the trekking route of Ladakhis who pour travelers chai tea ahead. The trail isn’t rideable on a good from seemingly bottomless Thermoses. day, but we were tempted to try. In the september 30, 2017 PHOTO: TOM ROBERTSON bikeyourparkday.org register your ride! bikeyourparkday.org september 30, 2017 Prayer flags and Buddhist stupas greet mountain travelers throughout northern India. ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 23 The author descends from Thikse Gompa, one of many monasteries along the Manali-Leh Highway. end, we hired Tsering to carry our bikes pointed out pink wildflowers that make a We reassembled our bikes along the for a four-day trek. sweet-tasting tea and explained the names jeep track and said goodbye to Tsering Before Tsering’s family loaded the of prominent mountains. and Sonam. It felt natural to be back on horses with our gear and deliveries for As we left Zanskar via the 16,700-foot two wheels, and we were excited about villages down the trail, we loaned our Shingo La pass, the sudden appearance riding toward the green mountainsides bikes (and helmets) to the village kids. of bulldozers shocked us back into the of a new region. But it was difficult to put Meanwhile, Tsering’s daughter, Sonam, motorized world. Future cyclists may the tranquility of Zanskar behind us. educated us on the logistics of harvesting pedal through Zanskar on a new road barley, Zanskar’s staple crop. Sonam also through the valley. Most Zanskaris we Sarah Jane Keller is a Montana-based freelance joined us for part of the trek because she asked about it seemed to welcome the journalist. When not writing about science and the needed to hike out to the highway for connection to schools and more reliable environment, she likes to explore the mountains on a pair of wheels or a pair of skis. her fall college classes. Along the way she medical care. 24 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JUNE 2017.