Saturday - is this the end of the trip?

After a night sleeping on my right side I wake before the alarm. Moving during the night was painful at times, but I test my limbs like an engineer would check his machine before using it for the first time in a while. Everything seems OK. I get out of bed gingerly and stand. Seems good so far. I walk to bathroom - hey, this is good! - and then go outside to see the Himalayas that are awaiting my inspection. They pass with flying colours; the blue sky and hint of sun on the mountain tops looks good.

I shower and head for breakfast noticeably limping, but moving; and moving much better than I expected. In fact I feel mobile. Actually, before breakfast I jump on my bike to see how it feels. It feels good! I simulate a few bumps and riding on the pegs and I'm happy. The bike is not so happy, it's a bit battered from its prang but surprisingly still runs. The seat is off angle and the clock's broken, a few dents here and there (and another clutch lever!) and it's good to go - and so am I! The doc is amazed at my recovery and gives me the all clear. Later he puts this down to appropriate treatment given early. I must say I was amazed too.

So it's off to the Baralachla at 4900m. I just gotta go higher. And what a ride; again! While the roads yesterday were quite stoney at times, almost like riding along a dried-up river bed in a flat valley, today's are sweeping bends and a mix of good tarmac and dirt, interspersed with a few river crossings for good measure. The crossings prove to be an interesting picture opportunity while we wait for people to stall or better still fall in. At up to a foot deep (another useful imperial measure) or more they are not easy to negotiate.

The bends are great fun and this could match some of the best roads in the Alps if the surfaces were more consistent. Exiting a hairpin in the wrong gear would see you being left for dust by a fellow rider hot on your tail. If you were good, you might take him at the next one by perhaps taking a tighter line (beeping as you go), or perhaps he'd miss a gear too. It may sound like we were racing, but we were not, just taking the opportunities when they arose and being mindful of the occasional oncoming trucks (whose drivers would pull over slightly to let you pass - thankyou with a wave always goes down well too)

Baralachla is at 4900m as my GPS receiver confirms. Again I decide to climb and make it to 4945m before Alex's famous whistle is blown to round up the troops before we set off again. I accomplish another first, a pee at 4920m. One learns to find good spots for such activities - especially difficult in the treeless mountains - and as no one else climbed with me it was a good spot. The snow is now yellow at 4920m.

We head back down to where we started, snacking for lunch at a Dhaba (roadside cafes, which sometimes also double as cheap hotels if you don't mind sharing with ten others in on tent) at over 4000m before aiming for our hotel in Jispa. It's a good opportunity to chill by the river (Bhaga?) outside our hotel. I paddle in the freezing cold water.

Today was my best riding ever. Yesterday was until those damn elephants jumped on me again. Tomorrow on to Manali - ooh, ooh, ooh, ohhh! -and network coverage to post all these messages. Let's hope no more elephants!