22 Sep 2019
This was organised by Rudi Botha at Beach, Berg and Bush in Bolito, good deal, Rudi is keen and enthusiastic. He couldn't drive me up on day one but arranged another driver and agreed to meet me the next day for the descent. Rudi drove me from Durban to Underberg to meet Sthembiso, a cheerful local resident and we climbed into his four wheel drive for the ascent.
The chance to climb this rough trail in a 4x4 is a must. The government is sanitising the pass with a smooth tarmac road that will let you whizz up in any cheap 2 wheel drive clunker. The pass is magnificent and the rough unmade road makes it a real adventure, narrow unguarded tracks with tight hairpins add to the thrill. the grandeur of the Mountain Kingdom hangs far above you as you bounce and climb, punishing on the body and the vehicle. I rode up and spent the night in a round hut before catching a ride with Rudi to get back down.On the way down we passed my ride up, sitting in the middle of the track with a broken axle, it's tough on everything! The views are spectacular you realise that it isn't only the view that has taken your breath away, once to the top of the pass the new shiny 1st world road at the top peaks at 3240 metres or 10,600 ft! The weekend was fantastic on the Saturday after the climb, Sthembiso took me off road to some spectacular views. Lesotho,The Kingdom in the Sky, is 2 miles above sea level so from every cliff top the views across South Africa, which surrounds Lesotho, are magnificent.