Day 9, Sangla, 8,790', Kinnaur District, H.P., India	©Bill Holter

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9) 8/26/99 Start ride: 7:45 AM Jangi to Sangla Ride: 7 hours total Miles Ridden: 37 Start Altitude: 7,500 ft. End Altitude: 8,987 ft. Up at 5:30 am, on the road by 7:45 am. First stop is a police checkpoint to see our inner-line permits. The officer in charge is summoned and appears in his pajamas. "Very regimental, Gunga Din!" We ride mostly downhill for 25 miles and by 10:30 reach the turnoff to Sangla valley. The road to Sangla is very narrow and all switchbacks up the side of a very steep valley. There is more road traffic. It is 12 miles uphill to the lip of the valley and becomes very steep. We stop in some shade for lunch and are entertained by a trucker and his helper: it is so steep that the driver guns his engine, lurches forward three feet. The helper then places a large rock behind the rear tire. We didn't stay to see if they made it out of their predicament. The Sangla valley is an intense green with snow peaks to the north, east, and south. Our campsite sits on a terrace surrounded by orchards and the main village is higher up above us. We are all too tired to ride up there! Six of us rent a room at a guesthouse nearby so we can use the shower. It rains for twenty minutes: our first rain of the ride and makes for some beautiful scenes with shafts of light poking through the clouds.