May 25, 2016
Week 61: To Kaza - 3680m: we feel the altitude
“All that is missing is a pool table”, we are in an area that is looking more and more like Tibet. The houses with prayer flags, the towns with prayer wheels, people are looking Tibetan. In 2007, when we cycled across eastern Tibet, we saw pool tables in front of houses and shops in just about every town.
Today we are both sluggish; we think it is the altitude. But the road is beautiful and we are gradually gaining altitude. We see colorful mountain sides, hoodoos and in an ever wider valley following the Spiti River upstream. At 12 kms from Kaza there is a giant stupa with a kora of prayer wheels by the side of the road, necessitating a stop and more photos. The amount of photos taken since we left Rampur is ridiculous. Between us over a 1000 pictures, long gone are the days of slide film where the number of pictures were limited per day.
In Kaza, we search and find the Deyzor Hotel in the new part of town, which requires one more climb to cross a bridge over a side stream. Karanbir Singh is a true Warmshowers host and manages the hotel. If he has room you get a free room in the hotel, if not he just puts you up in the living room of the Tibetan family that seems to own the property. Tonight he also hosts Rocio, the Spanish cyclist we have heard about in Tabo. She has the room, we get the living room. We are given a bucket of warm water and the use of a bathroom in an empty room. Nice, only drawback is we have to use a pit toilet outback. But who is complaining?
Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 17,632 km (10,949 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |