Satisfying Impulses #1 - 5oo km cycling from Manali to Leh - Part 2

The route ahead was planned based on various tours being organised by travel managers, in this case we referred to https://www.thrillophilia.com.

Tentative Route guidelines for Today

The tentative route was based on the locations as shown in map below 

Since this would require cycling at various high altitude passes and may land us in various medical emergencies, hence we catered for following medicines to be used in case of requirement

Day 4 & 5 Manali to Marhi via Solang

So, properly fueled and satisfied we started our journey for Marhi which was going to be our first halt post 35 km ,

though on map 35km looks small but at an altitude of 5000 feet and highly inclined routes it becomes tougher and tougher to ride. That we realised as we started the journey.

View from our room at Manali, inviting isn't it!

Thats Solang valley !! We are our way to Marhi now, wiish us luck.

Rest is of utmost importance of man and machine, but the view was too awesome and we had click and capture it.

A typical rural house near Solang valley.

Nature at its best!!!

Wify with two beauties....

How can I not click one for me.

A new tunnel is under construction for all weather access to Leh and to bypass the Rohtang pass which is closed in winters due to heavy snowfall.

The cyclists!!!!!

The happy us!!!!

Lunch time!!!! Thats one of the tastiest fruits I tasted ever.

It was getting cloudy and cold but we were enjoying ourselves to the optimum.

The destination is visible on the horizon.....Marhi

Urvashi in full josh.

Memories forever

Friends on the Highway.....

Fotofever......

Lovely Skies .....

View from Marhi.....

Snow-clad Mountains

Our bed for the night.......

Finally, we reached at our first halt after Manali, 35 km from Manali to leh took us about 6-7 Hours and we were really tired. Some details about Marhi as per Wikipedia as follows

Marhi is a "shanty town of roadside restaurants" in Himachal Pradesh, India, located midway between Manali and Rohtang La on the Manali-Leh Highway. Buses traveling the highway often stop in Marhi so passengers can eat.

Elevation: 3,360 m

Weather: 3°C, Wind S at 8 km/h, 69% Humidity

But at that height I could feel the effects of AMS(High Altitude Mountain Sickness), I was feeling slight headache and nausea. On consulting a few travellers and doctor at home we were advised to stay at Marhi for a day or two, which we did.

You can read about Altitude sickness on wikipedia on this link .

Medical treatment for altitude sickness may include oxygen, hyperbaric treatment, and medicines such as acetazolamide (Diamox, Diamox Sequels) and/or dexamethasone (AK-Dex, Ocu-Dex) as well as over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications and antinausea medications. However, definitive treatment is for the patient to go to a lower altitude.

Most people with self-curing acute mountain sickness do not need a follow-up with a health-care professional. However, those that develop high-altitude pulmonary edema and/or high-altitude cerebral edema may require more extensive follow-up with their doctors.

Prevention of altitude sickness is by acclimatizing the body to increasing altitude. Prevention of acute mountain sickness is sometimes with acetazolamide medication.

source

And weather has its own say here, we picked our tent there but it rained continuously for those days. But after two day my altitude sickness had reduced and we were all set to go. 

Interestingly Urvashi faced no issues ....I was happy that she did not have any issue.

The journey diaries will continue .....Hope you guys enjoyed the post

If you would like to read Part 1 of this post, you are most welcome to click on the link below 

https://steemit.com/travel/@free-ion/satisfying-impulses-1-5oo-km-cycling-manali-to-leh

Please Upvote and resteem if you like the post......also your comments are most welcome