Wow - The Himalayas!

After breakfast we headed down the mountain to connect with the river road. The road got very narrow and nasty.  Traffic was very light and squeezing by the odd car or truck coming the opposite way was interesting. The scenery became increasingly rugged and more dramatic.  We followed the river the river which meandered its way between two massive granite walls/mountains.  The road carved on the side of the granite walls was impressive, especially with the 1000ft drops on one side.

After 15km, we came to the protected border area.  Because of its proximity to Tibet (only 10km away) we needed to show our “special” permits to get through.

It is interesting that every country I have been on my motorcycle that borders China always has one of these demilitarized zones – Vietnam, Altai (Russia/Siberia), India – what are all these countries afraid of? : )

After the checkpoint, the road got better, sporadically … we had a nice leisurely ride enjoying the amazing views, the river, the cliffs … and then, the road had collapsed … we waited for an hour or so for a bulldozer to work through the rocks … we continued for a while until another collapse … this one was serious … the rocks were massive and looked like they actually took the road out… so know you have one massive granite wall going down to the river. 

We sat there for 3 hours until some amazing back how and bulldozer work cleared enough of the road for motorcycles to pass.  It was interesting to see how entertaining it was to see the machines working.  It was like being at the movies … we even had a Buddhist monk in the crowd.

After we finally got through, we started climbing … switchbacks, barren landscapes, all rocks, cliffs, gorges … nature in all its boldness.  The Himalayas all around us at last.

We climbed to 3600m to our destination for the day, Nako.  When we finally crested the mountain, in a small valley, a green oasis.  Where did the trees come from? A lake?  A small town?  Buddhist flags and prayer wheels?

Our stay for the night was a collection of about 20 permanent tents with beds, small bathrooms, electricity, water.  Very civilized.  Went out for walk through the village and met some people … played karate with some kids, Julio and I danced with some a bunch of 10 year olds that were having a disco night or something.

A long and full day in paradise : )