Day 15: Exhaustion Creeps In
I quickly finished climbing the rest of the pass after I woke up. I was a bit tired and cranky until I had my aloo parantha and tea. But even then, something was just a little off. I just wasn’t that stoked to put my butt on the saddle. Or anything really. My poor butt has been arrange married to an unfit saddle and is condemned to a sad domestic life. And my butt was given no reprieve, as it turned into yet another day of non-stop climbing culminating in another huge pass. Two days, two passes. I’d like to have a word with the Border Roads Organization. But on a serious note, BRO has done an amazing job with these roads, they’re a pleasure, and BRO can’t control where the river valleys are and simply finds the most efficient ways to connect them, unfortunately they need to be connected pretty often here in Ladakh, which literally means lands of high passes, therefore many passes I have passed and many more have yet to be passed. But let’s not focus of the pass, let’s focus on the present. I’m a greedy little boy and treated myself to a hotel in Lamayuru. I’m just beat man, simply beat. The Fotula Top pass really took it out of me. Even before getting to the foot of the switchbacks I was exhausted from the relentless climbing and the sun and having trouble motivating myself. I pulled into a tea stall, ordered instant noodles with tea and had a couple snacks and sat there reading Crime and Punishment for maybe an hour trying to stoke myself to get back on the bike. After enough time had passed, I reluctantly bridled my mare and got to pedaling. I wasn’t ready, but I did it because I had to. After a few hair pins and some smiles and supportive honks from motorists I sort of got into the climb and polished the whole thing off in one go, it felt good. I was slightly disoriented even before getting to the steeps, which was either due to not having eaten enough or the elevation, so it was a really big push on my part to trudge my way up. I have to say, I love my bicycle. I can really put it into a low gear and just let my legs put an ever so slight amount of power into it and inch my way up, it’s amazing how that works. Or I’ll get into a higher gear and stand for a while, which is something I’m doing more and more often to let my back end breathe. My butt is still an issue but the prostatitis has more or less bowed out, so it’s just regular old saddle soreness that I need to overcome now. It’s crazy because I have a pretty big plump booty, I’m not even bragging everybody knows it. Unfortunately, the fleshy part of my ass isn’t what’s making contact with the saddle, it’s the bonier under ass region, which still has a little bit of meat but not enough for this steak house. Once I got to the descent, and a rather decent descent it was, I was ready to enjoy it and go fast, and it took me all the way into Lamayuru, this beautiful town built around an old monastery etched into the lunar stone of the valley. It was around 5PM and I said to hell with it I’d like a bed tonight. I just enjoyed a warm bucket shower and the lady who runs the place with her family told me she’s making momos tonight so there’s always something to look forward to. Tomorrow I continue to Leh. I’m also right next to where I would make a sharp right into the Zanskar valley were I so bold, and that would take me all the way to Manali. Ugh. What to do? Maybe after Leh and Khardung pass I will come back here and take that route, or I’ll go down to Pangal lake. There are too many options, and too little time before Winter comes in.
Dinner was lovely. My mommy made vegetarian momos and they were to die for, along with a warm veggie soup made with love. I sat with the kids and slurped it all up. I slept okay, could’ve been better, minor prostatitis still sort of hitting me at night by surprise when I think I’m done with it. Hopefully Leh has a good bike fit specialist and an even better urologist. I think these are reasonable expectations. Still grappling with the FOMO of Zanskar. Went on reddit and one guy posted about it a few years ago saying it was only 30% bike-able, most people have more than enough challenge tackling the Manali-Leh highway so I think I’m doing more than enough. Still can’t believe the guy at the hostel was so bullish about me doing it though. But anyway, doing these physical mental exhaustion challenges isn’t actually the point of this trip, though it’s certainly a welcome addition to it, I’m not going to go out of my way and put my life at risk for bragging rights. And it’ll be cold soon. Unfortunately it may be too cold for me to check out the Spiti valley in Himachal once I arrive in Manali, but who knows, I am for some reason less intimidated by the southern side of the Himalayas. The question, of course, remains as to weather I will continue out towards Nepal and Meghalaya or barrel down southward. We will see how mountain happy I am after climbing up at least 6 more of the highest passes on Earth.
