Head Count: is it really a town? part 2

The Skinny: Most travelers along the Manali-Leh Highway stop to sleep their first night at Sarchu, a large government tent town. But we didn't want to sleep with everyone else so stopped in Darcha, a not-so-big tent town on the banks of a raging river.

What Thar Be: About twenty tents and five restaurants make up this "town". Actually, we liked the feel of little Darcha so much that we stayed for two days, and took a nice hike along the river and over a few rockslides. Some fun and friendly kids helped us with our laundry, showing us the REAL way to wash clothes by hand--we ain't so good.

Digs: An airy and well-made tent with comfortable beds for around 100R.

Vittles: The restaurants lining the street are all pretty much the same, with local meals for cheap prices.

Hooch Factor: Bottle shop on the road sells beers for 60R, not so bad for such a remote area.

Navigability: n/a

Sliding In and Out: Darcha to Pang led us over two mountain passes, Baralacha La at just under 5000m, and Lachulung La at 5059m. The passes can be hairy, as Indian road crews like to use fist-sized rocks to "level" the roads out, and this just ain't easy to motorcycle on.