Markha Valley

Leh - Khardung La

High above Leh, Tata trucks can be seen beetling up hairpins into the snowline. This is the 40km climb up to Khardung La, on the world's highest motorable road which reaches a dizzying 5,602m or 18,380ft. Beyond the pass, which is little more than an army post, a well-photographed sign and hundreds of prayer flags, lies the Nubra Valley, home to the Siachen Glacier, sand dunes and Bactrian camels. Sadly you can't camel-spot from the pass itself, but on a good day you can see as far as K2, rising to the northwest in Pakistan. The road is in pretty good condition until the last 5km, though early in the season (June and July) you'll be cycling between banks of ice.

Traffic is light - mostly army convoys on their way to Siachen. The glacier is the world's highest battlefield - the site of an extraordinary war between India and Pakistan, waged at over 6,000m and reputed to cost over $1,000,000 per day. For countries where the poverty of millions is so readily apparent, up here it's all high-tech Goretex and the multi-million dollar Indian Indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter - the only helicopter which can fly predictably at this atltitude. These soldiers serve a 3 month stint only 1,000m below what mountaineers term "the death zone", and with temperatures as low as -70 degrees, more troops die from altitude and exposure than from gunfire.

Naturally, this entire region is off-limits to foreigners, which is why you'll need permits in Leh just to climb the pass. Obtaining a permit is straightforward - hand your passport over to a travel agent before 10am and you'll have the permit at 4pm the same day. Officially, you should be in groups of four although we were three, with our invisible friend 'Brian' from Holland. Tsunder at Footprint Travel on Fort Road, Leh is a mine of information and highly efficient.

From the pass, you can either continue to Khardung or freewheel back to Leh, and get back in time for supper. World's Highest Motorable Road, eh - not bad for a day's work!

Spiti Valley

Manali-Leh