Day 2 — Manali to Leh cycling expedition

17 August 2018 — Marhi to Sisu
After highly exciting first day, on the second day, we started cycling towards first of the difficult passes — Rohtang La. Rohatang la is at the altitude of 13,060 ft. Rohtang La gets very heavy snowfall during winter.

Here is a story of why this high pass is called as Rohtang La. In the past, there were the least facilities for communication and airlifting people. During such times people used to get stuck and die at this pass because of heavy snowfall. Hence, people started calling it “Rohtang La”, which means the “field of corpses” in the local language (Ro-means corpse, Thang-means plain/field).

On the way to Rohtang La, Vaibhav is leading the way and I am following him. Thanks Raj for capturing this moment.

The moment we reached Rohtang top, we noticed sudden change in the climate. The temperature dropped because of passing cold breeze. Due to fog, the visibility was very low. At the Rohtang top, there is commemorative plaque to remember the Father of Manali-Leh Highway Shri Sukhdev Singh Gill — an assistant Executive Engineer (CES-1). Shri Sukhdev Singh Gill was the first officer to successfully carry out the survey of Manali-Leh highway.

We visited Beas temple, took a quick break for a photoshoot, and continued to pedal towards Sisu. From Rohtang to Sisu road, one particular patch of the road was very rough. Even many riders on Royal Enfields couldn’t cross this patch without skidding their bike and had to slow down to the speed of 10 to 15 KMPH.

At Sisu, we stayed at Neema Dorje homestay. It was a very pleasant homestay with tasty homemade food. For bath, we could get running hot water too — a rare luxury on this road.

Quick facts
• Day 2 — Manali to Leh cycling
• Route followed — Marhi > Rani Nullah > Rohtang La > Gramphoo > Koksar > Sissu
• Distance covered — 49 km
• Altitude gained — Altitude gain from Marhi to Rohtang is approx. 2260 ft. Once you cross Rohtang la, it is all downhill road until Sisu.
• Challenges faced — The weather was very cold and harsh at the Rohtang top, we spent very less time there. While descending, due to bad road condition for a particular road patch we had to get down from cycles and walk for almost a stretch of 2 km.

And the cycling continues, read on…

Day 3 — Manali to Leh cycling expedition

Cycling on one of the highest, dangerous, yet the most stunning highways in the world

Scroll down to view some of the pics we captured on Manali to Leh cycling expedition day 2

One of the many beautiful waterfalls you see on the way

Ascending road with hairpin bend, you can see just three layers of roads, but there are more down there

Road sign covered in fog

Happy faces to ascend to first of the difficult passes

Beas temple at Rohtang La

Vaibhav and Raj at Rohtang top

Just before the descend starts from Rohtang La

After descending Rohtang La near Sisu

Glacier in the background that never melts down completely

Near Sisu