This is a fantastic little cycle, and one of the highlights of our time in Ladakh. We’re not exactly sure what the rules are on foreigners climbing to the Kaksang La, but as we only met road workers on the way we had no difficulties getting there with an Inner Line Permit. The scenery, especially around Hor La and Yaya Tso is fantastic and, given the altitude, this road is a straightforward cycle as it’s never steep and there are only a few places where the surface is bad due to road works. Here’s our blog post for this route.
| Total KM | Stage KM | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Mahe Bridge (4,130m). Police checkpost (one of the few places that actually looked at our inner Line Permits). Straight on for Nyoma, Loma Bend, Hor La and Kaksang La, right for Tso Moriri, Tso Kar. | |
| 5.5 | (Going straight on towards Nyoma.) Follow the paved road along the Indus. | |
| 5.5 | Junction in Mahe village (4,150m). Go L for Yaya Tso, Hor La, Kaksang La. Straight for Nyoma. There is a basic tea stall by the junction that is sometimes open. | |
| 10 | (Going L.) Climb gently on excellent tarmac. Great scenery, zero traffic, plenty of possible camp spots though you have to look hard for water sources. (On the way back just bomb down the shortcuts as the paved switchbacks lose height frustratingly slowly.) | |
| 15.5 | Turn off to Nungompa (visible off to the left). There is a spring below the road a while after this turn-off if you continue towards Hor La. | |
| 10 | Stay straight and continue gentle, paved climb. Not really any camping possibilities until after Hor La, and no water either after the spring. After 6kms reach the Yaya La (~4,800m) but this isn’t a real pass as the road continues on a climbing traverse above spectacular Yaya Tso. | |
| 25.5 | Hor La (4,936m). Beautiful pass, still zero traffic. | |
| 16 | Tarmac ends soon after pass. 4kms from the pass is the Hor La Dett. workers’ camp (4,840m). 16kms climb from here to Kaksang La. The climb is very gentle (take shortcuts on descent) but where work is being done on the road the surface isn’t always great. Water at the workers’ camp and a number of streams afterwards. Finding a camping spot wouldn’t be difficult. | |
| 41.5 | Kaksang La (5,438m). Maybe the highest pass foreign cyclists can reach in India, and a beautiful one. Small shelter at the top if you need to shelter from the elements. Road on the descent looks in good condition, but foreigners are not allowed to go to Chushul which is 38kms away down this road. We’re not sure if there are any checkpoints, and we wouldn’t recommend sneaking in, so you need to backtrack to Mahe. |
| Route Summary | |
|---|---|
| Total amount climbed | 1,350m |
| Traffic | Roadworkers’ vehicles and 1 motorbike. |
| Difficulty | 3 |
| When we cycled | August 2012 |
| How much we had to push | Not at all |
Great review!
I rode a motobike, and rode further to Chushul and then to Tangse. On the way to Chushul there was no check-posts at all. There should be one if you want to go to Pangong lake (witch I would like to do, but decided to go around via Tangse). I asked some guys there anout where to stay for night – but the local guy was not happy to see foreigner there, so he said its better for me to stay somewhere else.
Btw for heavy Enfield moto the descend road from Kaksang La was quite awful – I broke my rear break there. But further its much better. The road from the bottom of last pass (I think there is one more passs after Kaksang La) is on the side of the valley, in good conditions, but full of small stones, cause stone falling and lack of traffic there. So it was not an easy road too.