The Great Escape

When we drove over the mountains the first time, we found that although very beautiful it was quite a tough experience. The roads were bone-shakingly awful, we were stuggling to breath, couldn't sleep, and had constant headaches from the altitude, the dust was so thick in the air that it just infiltrated everything until you could feel it gritting between your teeth, and the isolation of it kept us a bit worried. Long before the end we were quite keen to be getting off the mountain and into the comfort of civilization, but at an average speed of just 10mph (in some sections we were only able to make around 3mph), the end was a long time coming. So understandably we were a little grumpy about having to do it all again - and we'd seen it all already! But we set off, this time planning on doing it in just two 12 hour days. We kind of got it into our heads that we just had to do it, and stangely came around to the idea more then. What we didn't expect was that we would actually find it much more enjoyable the 2nd time, and the 2 days seemed to go by very quickly.

For a start, because we had already done it, and then stayed in Leh for 4 nights at high altitude, we were much better acclimatised than we were first time around, and even at the top of the highest pass we didn't feel the effects of the altitude at all. We managed to get a system going to combat the dust, as whenever a truck went past, or the wind blew kicking up a cloud, we would quickly wind the windows up and close off the air vents, before opening them up again when all was clear. That seemed to work well. Unfortunately though, the roads hadn't got any better, and not too long after we started up the first pass, we heard a crack from the back of the van, followed by a clattering every time we went over another bump. We found out that on one of our rear wheels, 2 of the 3 leaf suspension springs had snapped, leaving it hanging on just one. There was nothing else for it, we just had to nurse it even slower over the remaining distance back to Manali, hoping that they final leaf spring didn't snap as well.

At one point, we came across a couple of motorbikes stopped at the side of the road. We slowed down to make sure they were OK, and it turned out he needed some tools to fix something on his bike. We tried all ours, but they didn't quite fit, so we left them to it. A short while later, having collared someone else to help them, they overtook us, but literally 5 minutes after that they were stopped at the side of the road again, this time with a flat tyre! We once again offered our tools, but in trying to fix it he put one of our screwdrivers through his new inner tube! Once again we had to leave them, this time with an army truck that had stopped, but we never saw them again, so hope they are OK?! Talk about having a bad day!

All the way along the road there were groups of workers employed to just live up there all summer and repair the road. It looked like horrible work using the most basic tools to break up rocks and shovel dirt into holes in the road. Everytime we past a group they would try to stop us and we realised that none of them had any water or food for the work they were doing. This was quite a shock and we wish we had brought more food with us to give out. It seems that they survive on donations from truck drivers and other road users. We had nearly run out of water by the time we reached our mid-way camp! They must work every light hour of the day and probably get paid 50p a day or something.

If anything, the views seemed to be better this time round. Maybe just seeing them from an opposite angle gave a different perspective? The sky was the most amazing deep blue colour we had ever seen, compared to the first time which was rather more overcast. This alone made it quite spectacular. At the high halfway camp at Sarchu, the first time we had felt so rotten and didn't sleep, but this time we felt fine. We almost wanted to stay there for a few days! It was great to feel the cold (down to around 2 degrees), and the stars at night were just stunning.

When we got back to the Rohtang pass, thankfully it was open, and it sort of felt like a gateway back into India! Ever since crossing it a week before, and moving into Ladakh, everything has felt so different, peaceful and disconected from the rest of India. This was like a wake up call, because all of a sudden the crowds were back in full force, and people were trying to sell us everything. When we got back to Manali we were surrounded by all the shoe fixers, masseures and snake charmers (it's ok, Rhona soon got rid of them), and we just said "welcome back to India!"

The next day we spent in a garage trying to get our suspension fixed, and we realised the disadvantage of taking an old van. That is that when it breaks, it is near impossible to take anything apart as it is all rusted and fused together. In the case of our van, 12 years sitting on muddy building sites in GB hasn't done it any favours, and it took between 1 and 5 people 5 hours to get the old suspension off! In the end they had to cut the last bolt with a welding torch! They of course didn't have the right replacements, so we got a bit of a customised mish-mash of different suspension springs that went together to make it about the right strength, but now one side of the van is higher than the other. Nevermind, after waiting 8 hours for this one, we weren't particularly inclined to insist that they take the other side off and do that as well!

The garage was infact just a dusty patch of oil soaked ground, swarming with flies by the road with a tin hut next to it. As we were there all day, we got our usual attention from the many Indian tourists who wanted to see the van and take our pictures. Some of them were very pleasant. One man (a local taxi driver) insisted on buying us tea and crisps for our wait which was very kind. He took us to the cafe down the road, but when Rhona asked where the toilet was, he took her behind his car parked on the main road, and said "there!", "we are very open in India!". Rhona wasn't convinced, and made him take her to a 'proper' toilet which we had to pay 3 rupees for!

So the next morning we planned on leaving Manali to go to Shimla which is another hill station town at around the same altitude on the way back to Delhi. Hopefully we will be able to stay there for a while relaxing and sorting out things for the shipping of the van to New Zealand and hopefully onward Visas etc. Simon has found out this week that he is on the flying course in New Zealand so that is some good news and we are definately going there! Rhonas nursing registration is still not sorted out, and she is still wondering what she will end up doing in NZ now that she is not quite as 'employable' as before!

Total miles driven: about 9200
Max temp: 26 degrees


Min temp 2 degrees