At last after 5 years of thinking, dreaming and planning, the day had come when we (I, Sunny & Jagz) were heading towards the Highest Motorable pass in the World, the ultimate dream of any Biking enthusiast, The Paradise on Earth – Ladakh.
Day – 1 & 2 (June 26th & 27th 2010)
The Riders....Jagz, Me, Sashi(Missed him a lottt..) and Sunny
The standard preparations had been completed, the bikes had been serviced, the tool kits and equipments were ready and the excitement was building. We boarded the bikes on 25th June 2010 and boarded the train AP Express from Hyderabad to New Delhi on 26th June 2010 early morning. The train journey till Delhi was pleasant and we mostly discussed about the ride, the difficulties, permits etc. Reached Delhi an hour late and it took almost 2 hrs to unload the bikes from the trains, we had to do it our self as the staff there was not willing to do it immediately. Had to push the bikes with luggage across all the platforms to the parcel office and already we realized how hot Delhi was in June.
The Riders....Jagz, Me, Sashi(Missed him a lottt..) and Sunny
The Riders and Bikes.
Susheel – Royal Enfield Thunderbird
Sunny – Hero Honda Karizma
Jagdish – Yamaha FZ15
The Machines.....
The Machines.....
Myself On NH-1....
Filled up our tanks at the nearest petrol bunk, and the Conquest had begun, the destination for the day was Nalagarh which was around 300km from Delhi, the climate was hot at Delhi it became hotter as we entered Haryana and Punjab, and when we enquired, we found it was 47 degrees, fortunately after crossing Chandigarh the climate cooled a bit and even we experienced a light shower. Reached Nalagarh, found a decent place to spend the night and just crashed after watching England vs Germany world cup match.
Filled up our tanks at the nearest petrol bunk, and the Conquest had begun, the destination for the day was Nalagarh which was around 300km from Delhi, the climate was hot at Delhi it became hotter as we entered Haryana and Punjab, and when we enquired, we found it was 47 degrees, fortunately after crossing Chandigarh the climate cooled a bit and even we experienced a light shower. Reached Nalagarh, found a decent place to spend the night and just crashed after watching England vs Germany world cup match.
Today’s Trip Meter – 300KM (New Delhi-Ambala-Chandigarh-Nalagarh)
Day – 3 (June 28th 2010)
Got up comfortably at around 0800Hrs and started for Manali, we were going to hit the ghat sections today and we all excited about that. On the way we met with a person from Slovakia who had come all the way from Slovakia to India on his BMW R1200GS Adventure.
Enroute Manali...
BMW R1200GS Adventure....
He was to go Nepal, China then on to the Karakoram highway to Pakistan, Iran and then back to Slovakia, now that was some drive. Thought someday even we could afford this kind of a Ride. He told us about the road conditions from Manali to Leh and the water crossings we would have to deal with; he also suggested that we added some more things to our driving gear so that we are protected.
In the Tunnel towards Manali...
Apple Orchards.....
We thought we would buy them in Manali and moved forward. We were going at a leisurely pace taking lot of pics on the way, so reached Manali by 1700 hrs. In the night we went and bought some more things like plastic covers, leg pump, jerry cans for extra petrol etc for tomorrow’s big day as we would cross the Rhotang Pass for the first time and would be in the unknown territory.
Today’s Trip Meter – 270KM (Nalagarh-Mandi-Manali)
Day – 4 (June 29th 2010)
We started at around 0600 hrs to avoid the rush to the much hyped Rhotang pass but still there was lots of traffic on the way, but we still made it to Rhotang pass in about 2.5 hours after taking a small break in between.
Near Rhotang La....
At Rhotang....
Reached Rhotang at around 0900hrs, there were lots of rush at the pass so we did not stop there for a long time, just clicked a few snaps and strangely we could not find that mile stone where we had taken lots of pics the last time. Now we were entering the unknown territory, the accent of Rhotang was quite bad and so was decent but we were able to manage them and were moving at brisk pace. The landscape was changing dramatically from green pastures to barren land and rocks. We came across the Himalayan Odyssey guys who were coming from Leh to Manali in the opposite direction. Reached Tandi where the last Indian Oil Filling station is present, fill up our tanks and also the jerry cans we were carrying.
These signboards are present throughout the way....
The first water crossing....Sunny...
Myself.....
Crossed Jispa and Darcha in a breeze and then the accent started, the temp suddenly started to fall down though the Sun was bright and shining. Just before the accent to Baralacha La there was land slide and it took 1 hr for the Bro official to clear the way. And now the real accent for the Baralacha La started, this was much more tougher than Rhotang, the temp was lower, there was snow everywhere, the road was damp, with slush and mud all over the place and then we came across the first big water crossing it was huge and we were a bit worried but all of us managed to cross them without any hassle and there were some more to come and we crossed all of them without putting our legs down in the water.
Baralacha La Conquered......
The Baralacha La was totally covered in snow and damn cold, so we did not spend much time there and moved on to the decent as we had to reach Sarchu before night fall. The decent was much more tougher to negotiate and then from nowhere a huge water crossing came, we had no idea how to cross it as it was more than 100m and there were huge rocks on the way and the flow was faster. We just went for and it and all the 3 of us had to put our legs down in the freezing water, our legs became numb and we had no option but to take our shoes off. We kept our feet on the engines to bring them back to life and the continued without wearing shoes. Just after a few kilometers there was again a huge crossing and this was worse, there was a Scorpio and a truck which were struck there. Now I stared first, kept a very high RPM and crossed but had to keep the legs down. Then Jagz started and his FZ got stuck in between, so we had go in that freezing water without shoes and literally lift the back type and cross the nallah.
The disastrous water crossing.....
Then sunny started, his Karizma suddenly was not moving forward, just the RPM was increasing, so we had to again push it manually across the crossing. And we almost lost our feet, we did not have any sensation left in it, we started the bikes and kept them on the silencers for some time and then slowly they came back to life but there was a lot of pain. We continued and atlast reached the tented camps in Sarchu and settled there, Sarchu is a beautiful place surrounding by snow peaked mountains and tented camps everywhere. We met some fellow riders there and everyone had adventurous story to tell, the night was horribly cold but after a long day of driving and adventure we were too tired so just crashed.
Tented Accommodation at Sarchu....
Today’s Trip Meter – 250KM (Manali-Keylong-Darcha-Sarchu)
Near Rhotang La....
At Rhotang....
Reached Rhotang at around 0900hrs, there were lots of rush at the pass so we did not stop there for a long time, just clicked a few snaps and strangely we could not find that mile stone where we had taken lots of pics the last time. Now we were entering the unknown territory, the accent of Rhotang was quite bad and so was decent but we were able to manage them and were moving at brisk pace. The landscape was changing dramatically from green pastures to barren land and rocks. We came across the Himalayan Odyssey guys who were coming from Leh to Manali in the opposite direction. Reached Tandi where the last Indian Oil Filling station is present, fill up our tanks and also the jerry cans we were carrying.
At Tandi...The last filling station...
These signboards are present throughout the way....
The first water crossing....Sunny...
Myself.....
Crossed Jispa and Darcha in a breeze and then the accent started, the temp suddenly started to fall down though the Sun was bright and shining. Just before the accent to Baralacha La there was land slide and it took 1 hr for the Bro official to clear the way. And now the real accent for the Baralacha La started, this was much more tougher than Rhotang, the temp was lower, there was snow everywhere, the road was damp, with slush and mud all over the place and then we came across the first big water crossing it was huge and we were a bit worried but all of us managed to cross them without any hassle and there were some more to come and we crossed all of them without putting our legs down in the water.
Baralacha La Conquered......
The Baralacha La was totally covered in snow and damn cold, so we did not spend much time there and moved on to the decent as we had to reach Sarchu before night fall. The decent was much more tougher to negotiate and then from nowhere a huge water crossing came, we had no idea how to cross it as it was more than 100m and there were huge rocks on the way and the flow was faster. We just went for and it and all the 3 of us had to put our legs down in the freezing water, our legs became numb and we had no option but to take our shoes off. We kept our feet on the engines to bring them back to life and the continued without wearing shoes. Just after a few kilometers there was again a huge crossing and this was worse, there was a Scorpio and a truck which were struck there. Now I stared first, kept a very high RPM and crossed but had to keep the legs down. Then Jagz started and his FZ got stuck in between, so we had go in that freezing water without shoes and literally lift the back type and cross the nallah.
The disastrous water crossing.....
Then sunny started, his Karizma suddenly was not moving forward, just the RPM was increasing, so we had to again push it manually across the crossing. And we almost lost our feet, we did not have any sensation left in it, we started the bikes and kept them on the silencers for some time and then slowly they came back to life but there was a lot of pain. We continued and atlast reached the tented camps in Sarchu and settled there, Sarchu is a beautiful place surrounding by snow peaked mountains and tented camps everywhere. We met some fellow riders there and everyone had adventurous story to tell, the night was horribly cold but after a long day of driving and adventure we were too tired so just crashed.
Tented Accommodation at Sarchu....
Today’s Trip Meter – 250KM (Manali-Keylong-Darcha-Sarchu)
Day – 5 (June 30th 2010)
We started at around 0900 hrs and there was a light drizzle and was very cold, but we had to start as we had to reach Leh by night fall and there were 3 passes to be crossed today. Reached the famous GATA loops soon which is the accent for Naki la and Lachlung La but suddenly the FZ was losing power while climbing the accent. At this altitude the oxygen was low and we and the bike both were feeling that. Now we had to stop after every 2 km for a couple min and then continue.
And just before a couple kms before Naki La the FZ gave up and we had no other option to tow it. Just after some time crossing the pass the decent started and the chord got stuck in the disk brake of FZ, which I did not realize and FZ had a fall, I could just manage to control my bike from falling. Now at the top of the pass, we were tired and frustrated and did not have many options so just continued the former way of stopping after every few kms and then continuing. Crossed the Lachlung La in the same manner and then FZ was back to its normal form. Only the accents had become difficult because of the density of air was very low.
Tanglang La...Second highest pass in the world....
The Moore Plains had arrived and we crossed that in a jiffy and soon the accent for the highest pass on the Manali-Leh highway “Tanglang La” started and the problem with FZ was back again. It took us a lot time and patience to conquer the pass, it was some time in the noon but I felt as if it was evening as it was really dark at the pass. The decent was relative easy to negotiate and we were now cursing as the roads were much better so was the climate. All along the way there were beautiful small villages and river flowing by side of the road. We reached Upshi which was 50km from Leh and took a long break after tiring journey. We had almost reached as from now on it was just plains but there still some more adventure left for the day, Now this time the Karizma refused to move forward, the RPM was rising but it was not moving forward.
The melting snow makes it tough to drive.....
Leh was still 45km away and we could not find a mechanic at Upshi, so again we had no option but to tow it and this time we were very careful and alert, we made it to the outskirts of Leh in decent time given the fact that we were towing one bike. At the outskirts of the city we found a mechanic and he just loosened the clutch and Karizma was roaring again, thought that we should have known this simple thing, also enquired about the FZ’s problem, he told that it was common at this altitude and he would make the small changes to the air flow in to the carburetor. We reached the main market of Leh almost at 1800hrs and found a decent hotel in the market itself. After 2 days of tiring journey and adventure we made it to Leh, which was a wonderful sense of satisfaction and happiness. J
And just before a couple kms before Naki La the FZ gave up and we had no other option to tow it. Just after some time crossing the pass the decent started and the chord got stuck in the disk brake of FZ, which I did not realize and FZ had a fall, I could just manage to control my bike from falling. Now at the top of the pass, we were tired and frustrated and did not have many options so just continued the former way of stopping after every few kms and then continuing. Crossed the Lachlung La in the same manner and then FZ was back to its normal form. Only the accents had become difficult because of the density of air was very low.
Tanglang La...Second highest pass in the world....
The Moore Plains had arrived and we crossed that in a jiffy and soon the accent for the highest pass on the Manali-Leh highway “Tanglang La” started and the problem with FZ was back again. It took us a lot time and patience to conquer the pass, it was some time in the noon but I felt as if it was evening as it was really dark at the pass. The decent was relative easy to negotiate and we were now cursing as the roads were much better so was the climate. All along the way there were beautiful small villages and river flowing by side of the road. We reached Upshi which was 50km from Leh and took a long break after tiring journey. We had almost reached as from now on it was just plains but there still some more adventure left for the day, Now this time the Karizma refused to move forward, the RPM was rising but it was not moving forward.
The melting snow makes it tough to drive.....
Leh was still 45km away and we could not find a mechanic at Upshi, so again we had no option but to tow it and this time we were very careful and alert, we made it to the outskirts of Leh in decent time given the fact that we were towing one bike. At the outskirts of the city we found a mechanic and he just loosened the clutch and Karizma was roaring again, thought that we should have known this simple thing, also enquired about the FZ’s problem, he told that it was common at this altitude and he would make the small changes to the air flow in to the carburetor. We reached the main market of Leh almost at 1800hrs and found a decent hotel in the market itself. After 2 days of tiring journey and adventure we made it to Leh, which was a wonderful sense of satisfaction and happiness. J
Today’s Trip Meter – 270KM (Sarchu-Pang-Upshi-Leh)
Day – 6 (July 1st 2010)
Today was kind of a rest day, we had to take the inner line permits from the DC’s office which would take some time, so we applied them in the morning, then we to the mechanic again to adjust the airflow for FZ, the guy was an awesome mechanic he could just see the bike and tell the problem and charged too little for the efforts he put, thought such people should be there Hyderabad too. Then moved on to the Leh palace, it’s worth a visit and offers a panoramic view if the entire city. We also wanted to taste the traditional food of Ladakh “Momos” and “Thupka” at Golden Dragon Restaurant in the main market of Leh. Rest of the day we just relaxed just to get acclimatized to the altitude.
The Leh Palace....
Day – 7 (July 2st 2010)
Day – 7 (July 2st 2010)
We decided to go for the Pangong Lake today and then for the K-Top tomorrow, started pretty early and made it to Karu in good time. I was having a bit of trouble with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) from the previous night but was managing, took Diamox and was also drinking a lot of water. There were again small villages along the way and soon after crossing Shakti, the accent for the Chang La pass started. This pass was in fact the most difficult pass, with hardly any roads, snow all over the place and freezing cold. By the time we reached the pass, it snowfall started, so we could not stop for a long time there and carried on, after the decent from the pass the snowfall stopped and we were a bit relieved. I had to stop in between as my condition was getting worse, in the end made it to Pangong Lake and it was really beautiful. There were so many shades of the colors present, we thought of how this would change by the time the Sun sets. By now I was totally exhausted and hardly able to stand, there were some tents nearby had some maggi there and lied down on a bed there in the tent for almost an hour.
At Pangong Lake...
At Pangong Tso......
By then Sunny and Jagz had enquired about the accommodation there and we had to decide whether to stay back or continue. We took a call to go back to Leh, I was feeling much better now, but the only biggest obstacle was to cross the Chang La pass again. We were driving steady and reached Chang La at around 1500hrs, this time it was not snowing but the ice had melted by now and there water flowing all over the place. We continued carefully and reached Karu by 1700 hrs and were really hungry by now. While we were eating I suggested that why not take a break from driving tomorrow and go to K-Top in some cab. Both agreed to it instantly, we were just exhausted and just did not want to take a chance as we still had to drive till Delhi. Back in Leh we booked a cab for K-Top then went back to the Golden Dragon and watched the Netherlands vs. Brazil match.
Today’s Trip Meter – 340Km (Leh-Pangong-Leh)
Day – 8 (July 3rd 2010)
We were ready to move by 0800 hrs and we got a Tata Safari, were happy about it and moved on to the Highest Motorable Road in the world – Khardung La. The drive took us almost 3 hrs with some stops in between and also there was some traffic on the way. The Khardung la was infact a easier pass when compared to Chang La or Baralacha La. The pass was totally covered in snow and the driver advised us not to spend much time there as the air density would be very less.
The Tata Safari....
At Khardung La....the world's highest pass.....
We just climbed up to the Board for a few snaps and then trekked a bit in the snow but by then were gasping for air. Started the journey back and AMS again caught me and was sleeping for most of the time. It was the last day for us in Leh so did some minor shopping, got the bikes filled up and then got back to the same old restaurant to watch the Argentina vs. Germany match by now this had become a routine.
At Khardung La....the world's highest pass.....
We just climbed up to the Board for a few snaps and then trekked a bit in the snow but by then were gasping for air. Started the journey back and AMS again caught me and was sleeping for most of the time. It was the last day for us in Leh so did some minor shopping, got the bikes filled up and then got back to the same old restaurant to watch the Argentina vs. Germany match by now this had become a routine.
Day – 9 (July 4rd 2010)
Started pretty early in the morning and the destination was to reach Kargil or Drass. The roads were a bit better when compared to the Manali-Leh highway, so we were cruising at good speeds. Crossed Fotu La and Namki La without much difficulty and reached Kargil by 1500 hrs and stopped for lunch. We were really weary to stay at Kargil, the atmosphere there was not encouraging and we decided to move on to Drass though it would be much cooler. I wanted to push till Sonmarg and cross Zoji La the last pass today itself but Sunny and Jagz decided against that and they were rite, it would have been impossible to cross Zoji La, I realized the next day. At the outskirts of Drass we saw the “Kargil War Memorial” and decided to visit it. The war memorial was named after Lt. Manoj Pandey who was awarded Param Vir Chakra for his bravery and courage in the Batalik sector. There were so many people in the memorial and there was absolutely pin drop silence. The great sacrifice of our soldiers in such harsh conditions where just to drive a bike was so difficult; these soldiers had to fight for the nation.
There were paper and magazine cuttings and one of then read “If there is a Hell then this must be it. It is -40 degrees and the wind cuts the soldier’s face, the lungs scream for oxygen, the cold numbs the mind, Orange juice has to be boiled and eggs turn to Golf Balls but the still the Indian soldier fights on”. All of had goose bumps watching the pictures of the battle and some of the shells and guns. And just behind the Memorial one could find all the 3 peaks “Tiger hill”, “Tololing Top” and “Point 5140”. We paid our respects to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives the nation and moved to Drass and realized that Drass was infact a very beautiful place. We were tired by now and just crashed at the hotel and it was really cold in Drass.
Tiger Hill and Tololing Top in the backdrop....
Today’s Trip Meter – 300Km (Leh-Lamayuru-Kargil-Drass)
Today’s Trip Meter – 300Km (Leh-Lamayuru-Kargil-Drass)
Day – 10 (July 5rd 2010)
Started early in the morning and from here on the presence of army really increased exponentially. The whole Kashmir was valley was covered with Army men and they were literally patrolling the whole highway. The road to Zoji la was in pretty bad shape as there had been some landslides a couple of days ago.
The Amarnath Base Camp.....
We crossed Zoji la soon and then saw innumerous number tents below, those were of the Amarnath Yatra and whole of Sonmarg was filled with them. Had breakfast in Sonmarg and then carried on, the Kashmir Valley is definitely a Paradise on Earth, wish it would have been free of terrorism. We reached the outskirts of Srinagar and found out that there was some kind of bandh and we were no even allowed to enter the city. The whole city was barricaded and we had to take the bypass and move out of the city. There was a lot of movement of Army and police all through the city and we were advised to stay overnight at Anantnag.
The Dal Lake and Hazratbal mosque....
Now that the roads were good, we were back to our normal speeds and reached Anantnag by noon, even that was totally off and lots of security was present. We decided to move further and cross the Kashmir Valley and get to Jammu region. It was a comfortable journey and we reached Udhampur by 1800 hrs and called it a day. We decided that we would try to reach Delhi if everything goes well tomorrow.
Today’s Trip Meter – 380Km (Drass-Sonmarg-Srinagar-Udhampur)
Day – 11 (July 6rd 2010)
Delhi was more than 600Km from Udhampur and we were to rip the bikes to reach there. The roads were in good condition but it was raining and soon we found out that there had been a flood in Punjab and the Satluj-Yamuna link was broken. The whole Ambala City was in flood water and the whole city was on the Highway to reach to a safer place. Just 10 days back when we were here it was almost 45 degrees and now it was under water, we thought the water crossings had been over for us but there were many of them here, the highway at some places was taken away by flood water and we had to cross those, there was water till knee height and everyone was stuck. We somehow made our way through those and reached Karnal where the situation was far better. Took a break for some time, felt fortunate that we crossed so many obstacles without any hassles. We just raced away to Delhi, as it was the final destination we tested our machines to their best. The Thunderbird could only reach 110kmph, the FZ did a good 115Kmph but the outright winner was Karizma at 125Kmph, we never were able to catch it. Reached Delhi by 1800 hrs and got in to a hotel which was rite opposite to the station. Had couple of drinks in the night and spoke about the entire trip and adventure.
Today’s Trip Meter – 650Km (Udhampur-Jalandhar-Ludhiana-Ambala-Karnal-Delhi)
Day – 12 & 13 (July 7th & 8th 2010)
We had to pack our bikes and parcel them to Hyderabad via train but the rules there were different from Hyderabad, that was really surprising but it’s that way so we had to give them to GATI for transportation, then had lunch near Jama Maszid and then it was time to board the train and get back home.
It came to an end after almost 3000Kms of riding in scorching heat of 47 degrees to bone chilling cold of -10 degrees, from floods in Punjab to the snowfall at Chang La from the 4 lane highways in the plains to virtually stones and pebbles at the high mountain passes, from an altitude of 800 feet to an altitude of 18000 feet we experienced it all and felt lucky to have accomplished this without any major falls or mishaps. This was definitely the most difficult drive for us but the beauty and the overall experience are for sure worth it to take the risk. There was an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that after many years of planning atlast “We Did It”……:D:D:D
Goa………Coming Soon……:P:PJJ
