Part two of a week spent exploring the tracks and trails of Dumfries & Galloway in the company of friends.
mountains Archive
Back on Barra
I’m back on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides for a bit, visiting friends and renewing my acquaintance with this rather wonderful corner of the world. Some folk may remember I spent a summer out here working as a sea kayak guide for local operator Clearwater Paddling (http://www.clearwaterpaddling.com). It is a world class sea kayaking destination and that summer was one of the happiest I can remember – a combination of wild camping …
Spiti etc
Bikepacking through the stupendous Spiti Valley in the Indian Himalaya, as part of a two-wheeled exploration of the Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys.
The Hindustan-Tibet Highway
Winding it’s way northeast through the Himalayas of Himachel Pradesh, the rough, landslide-prone Hindustan-Tibet Highway is an engineering marvel and makes for a great ride as part of a longer bikepacking journey.
Transitions…
I’m really happy, got my Inner Line Permit. It had been on my mind a little because I kept hearing and reading all sorts of conflicting information regarding the application. As a solo traveller I would not have been able to get the permit from the government offices in Shimla or Kullu, and even had I been able to get a group of 4 or more together (the rules… apparently) it still depends on the …
Jalori La
Before I left home, and knowing there would be some significant stretches of asphalt, I did have a few brief doubts about whether the Surly ECR was the best tool for this journey… The Jalori La dispelled any remaining doubt about that, from the north side its final 15km or so are rough dirt rising at gradients up to around of 15-17% … the ECR exhibits a somewhat leech-like quality on such terrain, inching upwards …
On the road again (again)
It’s taken me 12 years to return to this part of the world on my bike mainly because of the journey to get here, it’s not a long flight, about 9hrs, but it’s followed by a 14-15hr drive (overnight bus or taxi) from Delhi on some terrible roads to reach the Kullu valley here in Himachel Pradesh. The right season for riding in the mountains also means that Delhi is an uncomfortable place to connect …
Five Photos, #5
Here we are, last one… no reason in particular for choosing this one.. I could have picked any number of street, travel or otherwise flavoured pics… but this evening I’m of a mind for mountains and I like this pic and have happy memories of that trip… Mountains are ace :-) Oh while I’m at it, while browsing for pics I stumbled across this one I’d completely forgotten about.. also a mountain ;-) Different part …
Archanes etc
I could quite happily have spent a week on the Lasithi Plateau… however with a flight on Wednesday it seemed like quite a good idea to arrive back in Heraklion (or rather the western beach suburb of Amoudara) on Tuesday afternoon leaving time for packing bikes, enjoying a post-ride beer etc… so that is where we are now, bikes are packed (something of a race against an approaching thunderstorm) and we can reflect on what …
Lasithi
After 9 days of riding without a break a rest day was in order…I’m lucky in that the temperatures have to be to closer to 40 degrees before I’m affected too much but even so the relentless climbing was beginning to take a toll. I would have liked one last high mountain camp but I’m not here alone so can’t have everything my way.. ;-) Instead a highly agreeable solution of one last big mountain …
To the east…
It’s warm… as I rolled up my tarp at 8am this morning on the little patch of sand on which we spent the night my thermometer was already showing 30 degs C… and by 2pm this afternoon it was above 34 degs in the shade… about 10 degs warmer than normal for this time of year… it makes riding a sweaty business but I’ve endured much hotter so really just a case of slowing down …
Closing the loop…
Arrival back into Marrakech was something of an anti-climax after the truly fantastic riding of the last 8 days or so, since my last update in fact… I arrived back into the madness of the Djemaa el Fna, chugged a couple of glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice from one of the carts that characterise the square and then rode off into the medina in search of my digs… game over. 36 degs C doesn’t …
Agdz
The instinct is always to keep pushing on when travelling by bicycle, but aside from the need to rest from time to time it is always good for me to occasionally stop for a bit longer. I stopped here in Agdz for an extra day, in part because yesterday, with the adrenalin of the last few days gone, I felt so utterly drained that I barely stirred from my shady alcove in the courtyard of …
A head full of couscous
I’m not one of those lucky folk that is just ace with languages and that can switch effortlessly from language to language, rather I have to work hard to make a language stick and need to use it frequently to be even remotely comfortable with it, although stuff does come back to me eventually… so having been working hard to add some Arabic to my vocabulary while at the same time scraping the rust off …
When maps go wrong…
I’m resting up for a day in a dusty town on the edge of the desert called Aoulouz after a somewhat challenging day… my legs are toast and the temperatures here are in the mid to high 30’s still, despite winter being just around the corner… but more of that shortly… Heading south from Marrakech on the Taroudant road it is just 30km across a gently rising plain to reach the foot of the Atlas. …