Riding day #13, Sept 8, 2019 Nako to Kalpa, 112km, 1,490M up, end elev 2,797

The day started (rather groggily from no sleep, with a lovely switchback downhill that went on and on.  

Our town from last night

For much of the day we were alongside the Sutleg river, the Spiti river had joined it earlier and  it will eventually flow into the Ganges.  Sometimes the road was wonderful, but then there were the 200 odd sections where there had been significant rockfall, a mudslide, a washout, or the road had slipped into the river.  All these (typically) short sections were very rough rock, often with heavy dust.  In these sections there typically was two very rough tracks from the two vehicle wheels.  Rough enough that you could easily be tossed for a fall.  This was a concern, because if you tried to ride in the left track (as you should - left hand drive and all that), a fall would be rather significant - i.e. it could toss you off the road.  Since the edge of the road was  a vertical clip down into the river, commonly 500+ft below.  I have never felt this uncomfortable riding on a road before.  And, no there were no guardrails, ever!

It wasn’t surprising to come across this sign indicated “most treacherous road in the world”.  If the claim is not true, I definitely don’t want to drive/cycle and road that claims to be worse.

The day ended with an 850M (2,800 ft) climb up to our hotel, apparently the best hotel in the area, also closer to the Gods.  I don’t need to be closer to the Gods.  During the evening I found out that we will start tomorrow descending down the same 850M.  It was a nice hotel, and with spectacular views, but just for one night!

Apparently in some spots in town one can see Mt Kailash at 6,638M (21,800ft) just into Tibet. It is considered sacred in Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.   If one walks clockwise around the mountain 108 times (a lifetime of walking), you clear all your Karma.  This makes the Catholic confessions  look way to easy.