Markha Valley

Road Conditions & Traffic

Road Conditions:
These depend on the military significance of the road. Cyclists on the Leh-Srinigar Hway will glide along on glossy tarmac, cyclists in eastern Lahaul will bump and grind along boulders and river beds. Between these two extremes, the Manali-Leh Hway is about 75% tarmac, the remaining 25% consisting of packed mud, rocks and potholes. The gradients are gentle in the high Himalaya to allow the diesel-belching Tata trucks a chance to make it to the top. A familiar sight in the Himalaya are the beleaguered and blackened road crews, workers from Bihar, Nepal and Tibet, who day by day inch their way along these remote routes, accompanied by barrels of boiling tar and, often, their small children. During monsoon season, their work is made infinitely more hazardous by frequent 'cloudbursts' and landslides, especially on the Hindustan-Tibet Hway, which runs through Kinnaur. When these occur in tandem, entire valleys can be cut off for weeks.

Traffic:
The word 'Tata' will quickly come to have great resonance with cyclists in the Indian Himalaya. These colourful behemoths toil their way up and down the mountains, transporting fuel, grain and passengers. Not much faster than bikes on the uphills, this gives the co-driver a good opportunity to lean out and call 'jolly good sir/madam! What country?'. All too often, a fresh Tata corpse can be spotted far below the road, on its back like a beetle, the crew sitting quietly at the side of the road. Just as large, but far less friendly are the green army convoys which churn up the dust along the Manali-Leh and Leh-Srinigar Hways. Worrying both like flies and undertaking ridiculous overtaking manoeuvres are white tourist jeeps and private cars which career around the hairpins and burn up their brake pads. Common to all is liberal use of the horn. Manali-Leh and Leh-Srinigar are probably the busiest routes - it might help to time your journey to include a couple of weekends, when traffic seems to be quieter. The Suru Valley, Lahaul & Spiti are, by contrast, almost traffic-free, with just a few buses and Tatas passing though each day, sometimes less. Goats, donkeys and sheep are more frequent travel companions. Approaching Kinnaur from the east, traffic gets steadily heavier the closer towards Shimla you pedal.

Spiti Valley

Manali-Leh