[Previous entry: "It All Goes Back to Poop"] [Next entry: "Weekend Blarg"]
05/04/2007: "The Khardung La Pass in India"
I want to continue my series on the highest motorable passes in the world. Last time, I had focused on Marsimek La. The more famous pass that is mistakenly thought to be higher is Khardung La. I’ll focus on that one in this post. Some of these links you have seen before, but I am trying to consolidate and focus on this one pass.
----------
Image:KhardungLa2.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a picture from Wikipedia of the sign at 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. Here is the Wikipedia
entry itself.
This sign seems to be the catalyst for plenty of discussion and argument on the Internet. I found quite a few teams that have independently verified through GPS readings that the summit of the road is 5,359 meters in elevation. The only source of information I never found is from the Indian Border Roads Organisation itself that built the road, and claims the elevation.
----------
View Finder Panoramas
This link will take you to a satellite view of the pass’ summit. It is such a nice view, that you can clearly see the buildings at the top of the pass. I discovered from other pictures I found that there is a radio tower up there too, but I cannot see it in this picture.
----------
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.
----------
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.
----------
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Education Tribune
Three Indian men summit Khardung La on mountain bicycles.
----------
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.
----------
Images of Leh and Khardung La Photo Gallery by Rohit Dugar at pbase.com
Rohit and his female friend share his images of the town of Leh, its surroundings, and Khardung La.
----------
I travel the 'highest motorable road' by motorbike over Khardung La to flood-damaged Nubra Valley | ItinerantWitness.com
This short series of pictures gives you a better idea of the landslides that plague Himalayan mountain roads. You also get a taste of the poverty as well. Check out the picture of the woman living in a tent on top of her demolished house. This land is great for adventurous tourists, but there is a saddening reality underneath it all. I guess it is the same for Washington DC: it’s great to go visit the Capitol, the White House, and the Washington Monument, but there is a reality of high crime and poverty just nearby.
----------
Flickr pictures
Well, sure enough, I found the jackpot of pictures that I just knew were out there. In my Yahoo search, I found a picture at Flickr.com. It took me a while to put two and two together, but I did a search of Khardung La on the web site, and got 744 hits. Many of the pictures are of the surrounding towns and valleys, but that only adds to the incredible diversity one sees on his way up and down that pass.
