Day 96

Finally we spend a quiet and well-deserved resting night, Tià’s altitude sickness has gone away!!! Today we’ll ride from Nako to Kalpa, again around 100km, so let’s go!

Views from Nako (I’m in love with this village and its people!)

The views from the road are breathtaking:

And the road itself it is also breathtaking:

The maintenance of this roads is a huge and though work. It’s done for poor people from other parts of India by hand. They have almost any machinery or protection (just sunglasses and a mask, not even gloves); They live literally in shacks on the roads where they work. We can see the whole family working together, (even kids and mothers carrying little babies on the back) transporting stones or chipping rocks to produce gravel… That’s really a hard work, they are the whole day under the sun surrounded by dust. Believe me, it hard to breathe here. This works are continue needed due to the land-slides and the inclemencies of the weather, so they come to make some money during the good season (in winter this roads are closed). Here the nature is the boss, definitely you cannot control it.

Due to this works we have to stop often on the road. They are blowing some walls to do the road wider and it’s impossible to pass until they are done with the rubble.

It is heardbreaking to see this people working like this, but Chaman explains us that this is the only way that they have to survive during the rest of the year back at home.

Finally we reach Kalpa at around 2900 m, this city is famous due to the apple orchards and apple juice. We stay in a supernice hotel with hot water, electricity and even wifi!!!! That’s luxury!

The views from the window:

With the help of two little kids we find the temples.

Here we spend some time with three old ladies, they are so nice even they don’t speak a word of English! Even one of them manages to make me learn a mantra!

A little silly anecdote… All the way in India, I was wondering why the hell the trucks were advising to use diapers at night. Why would be not possible to use a toilet?!?!?! Until I could not keep it more just for me and I asked Tià. It is written DIPPERS, and not DIAPERS. So they are just saying to the other drivers to use the dipper lights before overtaking during night!!!