After immigration and custom formalities you will be welcome and transfer to hotel.
Old Delhi sightseeing and in the evening drive to Manali.
After breakfast we have a full day of sightseeing in Manali. We visit Hadimba temple, Manu temple, Tibetan monasteries, the mountaineering institute, Vashisht hot spring and temple, Nehru Kund, the Solang Valley, Arjun Gufa (cave) and the Rohtang pass. Optional short acclimatization ride to Jagatsukh village and Naggar castle.
Today we will slowly start biking up to Marhi along the Beas river on the leh - manali road, passing through some settlements, roadside shops, and small chai tea shops. We will slowly start biking uphill on switchback roads to Marhi. En-route we will meet with our support crew for hot lunch. Overnight in camp at altitude of 10,890 ft.
Today we will start biking towards the Rothang pass for about 13 km, which is the gateway to the lovely Lahaul valley. The Rohtang sits at 13,335 ft. Cycling down the switch back roads you will come to the settlement of Koksar and cross the Chandra River which flows down from the Kunzum Pass and finally reach our destination for the day: Gondhla. Overnight in Camp at 10,428 ft.
We will continue biking downhill towards Keylong to the confluence of the Chandra and Bagha Rivers at Tandi. Here both rivers join to form the Chenab River. Crossing the bridge we will bike up to Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti districts. We continue for another 25 km to reach the picturesque village of Jespa. Overnight in Camp at 10,560 ft.
We can spend the day relaxing, acclimatizing and exploring the nearby market in Keylong and use the local internet café for those who need.
After leaving the camp we will continue till Darcha, the last settlement of Himachal Pradesh on the Leh-Manali road. From here the road gets steeper and more barren. We leave the Juniper trees behind and cross a small plateau to reach Patseo, a small army base. Continue to Zingzingbar which is at the base of the Baralacha Pas. Overnight in camp at 11,220 ft.
After breakfast we will continue uphill biking to the Baralacha La Pass. On the way we will pass by Suraj Taal, a beautiful small lake. The top of the pass is adorned with many prayer flags and te presents us with a spectacular view of the Himalaya and Zanskar ranges. From here we descend through a gorge to Sarchu. Overnight in camp at 14,025 ft.
We will cross the check post and enter intothe Ladakh part of the Leh-Manali road. We travel across wide open plains with sparse green vegetation, mountain goats and herds of sheep. Overnight camp at Whisky Nala at 13,000ft.
Today's climb is a little harder with a significant climb and a two passes. We will start ascending biking towards the Lachung La, the third highest pass on the trip. The day will be longer and the air thinner as we pedal hard to reach the Nakeel pass at 15,030ft and after a short descent, we ascend once more to the Luchung (or Lachalung) pass at 16,714ft. The scenery and view are rewarding as it gets more spectacular with astounding rock and sand formations all the way to Paang. It is a busy, dusty roadside settlement with many makeshift tented caravan-serai style restaurants set up for the summer season. We will camp just before it in a more pristine location at 15,250 ft.
Leaving the camp in the morning, we will pass the roadside settlement of Paang and the tented "Dhaba" restaurants. After few switchbacks, we will come to the beautiful Mo-ray Plains. We have a mostly flat cycling day after the initial ascent. We will pass through settlements of the Changpa people - nomadic shepherds - and hopefully see herds of Kyang, the Tibetan wild ass. Overnight in camp at 14,800ft.
A simple yet challenging day! We climb for about 20 minutes to reach the Tangnang La pass, the second highest pass on the trip. From the summit of the pass we will enjoy spectacular view of Ladakh, the Zanskar and Karakoram mountain range. We continue downhill from the pass to Miru, a small and beautiful village. Overnight in Camp at Rumtse at 11,150ft.
An easy day for biking. We ride towards the village of Miru, we will cross the Indus River and then bike along Indus for 3 hours to Leh. We will pass through the villages of monasteries Thiksey, Shey and finally arrive at our hotel in Leh. After shower we can visit the Leh market.
After breakfast we will visit Hemis, Thiksey and Shey or for those who feel like one last challenge, we will bike up to the highest memorable pass of our trip, the Khardung La Pass at 18,25 0ft which crosses over into the fascinating Nubra valley, we roll back down to Leh.
Early morning flight to Delhi and farewell!
