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03/31/2007: "The World's Highest Motorable Roads"
listening to: UCLA vs. Florida, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, CBSreading: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
When I first looked at the World’s Most Dangerous Roads links for the first time a couple of months ago, I was inspired to look for references on the web for the road with the highest altitude in the world. Although there is some controversy over what constitutes a road, and some controversy over the actual altitude, most all of the highest passable points in the world are in the Himalayas in India.
What I have tried to do is find links of pictures of these high-altitude roads. I am surprised at how unsuccessful I have been. I have found some isolated pictures here and there, but not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity. What I especially want are pictures of winding switchbacks and a perspective of the roads going up the mountains. I have plenty of articles describing the sights and experiences, just not many pictures as of yet. However, I want to share what I have found so far.
For those of you with low-speed connections, beware. It has taken me days to do the research and put together the links for this page. Even though pictures are few and far between, the bandwidth is still a bear.
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60Kph - Rides : Frozen to Life - Khardung La: World’s Highest Motorable Pass
60KPH is an Indian motorcycle club that specializes in longer cross-country bike rides. The page I bookmarked details their day summiting Khardung La, the highest pass in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
60Kph - Interact - Anecdotes & Experiences - Marsimek La - A Record
I also found a story of their summiting Marsimek La, possibly an even higher road. This road is not so traditional in the respect that it requires specialized vehicles or powerful motorcycles. It may not be passable by our minivan . . . or yours, for that matter.
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Image:KhardungLa2.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a picture from Wikipedia of the sign oat the summit of the Khardung La pass. Although the sign says it is at an elevation of 18,380 feet above sea level, reliable GPS readings show it is several hundred feet lower. It’s an amazing achievement nonetheless.
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CB’s Blog » Blog Archive » World’s highest motorable pass?
Although there are no pictures on this blog page, the author tells a story of how flexible the authorities can be along the way. I get the impression that remoteness of location can wear on the strictness of law and order. You can see how true that is in our own lives. Second-shift and third-shift positions are notorious for being more lax and relaxed than the first-shift jobs where all the managers are.
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GORP - The Highest Road in the World - Mountain biking the Indian Himalayas
This three-page article details a mountain biking expedition along the road from Sarchu in India to Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Can you imagine the adventure of bicycling these roads, let alone driving on them?
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The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Education Tribune
Three Indian men summit Khardung La on mountain bicycles, but again, few pictures!
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Ladakh: the world's highest road and pop festival | Leh, India Travel Blog
Jeroen, a European with lots of time on his hands, tells about his experiences hitchhiking along the World’s Highest Road in India.
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I will continue my research at some point. I hope I can find some more pictures.
