born2lead

Day 4 - 12 August ’08
It was quite a ride till LEH from home; the trip meter on the bike said 1035kms from Delhi. But to go any further in to the so called “Inner Line of the Circle” we needed permissions from the “DC Office”. Now this office which is situated by the side of Apollo Ground at LEH opens at 10am, so not by choice we had to take this special morning at LEH a little easy. Some call it abnormal but I just can’t sleep any longer then 7am on any usual day, no matter what. The moment some light sneaks into the room through small window edges or any other openings I just get up. So for this morning there were no Good Morning Alarms, and yet not disappointing Ankur by sleeping till any later, I woke up at 7am, and as you all know the big and kind heart that I have, that morning I let Ankur sleep for another long 50 minutes. It was a sweet lazy morning at LEH and by the time we had breakfast and were ready to start it was already 10am.When we came outside it was drizzling. LEH is more like a small town (approx 4 km in radius) and as expected Apollo Ground was quite near too.
Independence Day preperations in the Apollo Ground

The LEH Palace

As Independence Day was round the corner when we reached Apollo Ground we saw school kids in uniforms practicing for the big event. This ground was right in front of the LEH Palace and while Ankur was enjoying the scenery outside I went inside the DC Office to get the permissions done. I was first asked to write an application to the ADM then with another form and photocopy of our identity proofs plus Rs120/- per head submitted I finally got the permission letter. Though that sounded easy, it still took me close to one and a half hour to get this done as their were quite a few travel agents who were arranging permission letters for tourists. I even met a newly wed couple who drove all the way from Gurgaon on their car a Fiat Palio, they were surely up for some adventure I would say. After getting ten more photocopies done of the permission letters we went to the fuel station only to find a long queue. With full tanks and almost 4 liters in each fuel can, finally at 12 noon we were all set to start the course of the day.

As we rode out of the LEH city up towards KhardungLa, we saw a couple of Bullet riders coming down. It felt quite heart warming when these riders use to wave towards us, the relation of being an unknown fellow rider was enough to show the gesture. As we went a little up the LEH city looked more like a thick green patch below right in between the barren mountains. And though the temperature below at LEH was quite nominal, I could feel it dropping with every loop covered as we proceeded up. At such extreme conditions we were amazed to see people (only foreign nationals) riding bicycles that too going upwards, now that’s some adventure. After a couple of kilometers we even saw a group on BMW’s probably Funduro650 riding down.

LEH City



Shanti Stupa at LEH

As we crossed India Gate and Gateway Of Nubra Valley we could see small snow patches by the road side, and we were still almost 16-18kms short to the Top. We then crossed the TCP (Transit Check Point) at South Pullu only to be disappointed as nobody asked for our permits. Roads after South Pullu were quite bad as the tarmac had been washed away by the melting snow. So the next 12kms to K Top took almost the same amount of time as it took us from LEH till here.

The Nubra Valley



India Gate

Gateway of Nubra

Finally at 2pm we reached at the World’s Highest Motorable Road at KhardungLa Paas (height – 18380fts). It was all covered with a 5 inches fresh layer of last night shining white snow. We both parked our bikes and congratulated each other for conquering the mighty K Top. While we were busy greeting each other we realized that almost every human present there (few Army men, tourists both nationals and non nationals) was looking at us rather staring at us with surprise. One Mr. Abhishek wasn’t able to hold his eagerness any longer and asked us, where were we coming from? After knowing which he was so excited that he grabbed his wife’s arm and almost like parking her firmly right between us said “just stand here let me take a picture”. His expressions made me believe that he was even more excited for us to reach at the K Top. Soon the Army men came near us and even they were quite amazed to know that we rode all the way from Delhi on our own bikes. I was expecting that Army Men would be quite bored my now, with almost every day watching some or the other biking group reaching there, but looking at their surprised faces I couldn’t help it but ask why were they shocked to see us here on bikes and that don’t they see something like this every day. To which they replied that though they do see people riding till K Top almost everyday, they still don’t understand why people like us take all the pain to ride till here. I so wanted to make him feel what I was feeling at that time. The view further from K Top was even more beautiful with snow all over the mountains and I couldn’t just take my eyes off the amazing road descending down through the Snow Covered Nubra Valley.





"X" at the Top of The World

The ride for the next 12kms till North Pullu was quite adventurous with snow washed slushy roads and we had to ride on the two streaks made on the road probably by few Army trucks that would have passed since the morning. Not to mention it was quite chilly and this very time I could feel my fingers and toes going numb. Well this all lasted just for a few kilometers after which not only the snow vansihed from the road but even the temperature was better. Playing, enjoying and clicking pictures we reached at North Pullu. And here it was the first time that we were asked to show and submit a copy of the permission letter.





















Post North Pullu there was no snow at all and roads were amazing, in fact after the very slow ride for the last 20-25kms they looked really mouth watering. After almost half an hour riding through this life less barren land maintaining a speed of almost 60-65kmph we reached the first village of Nubra Valley called Khardung. Khardung is again like a kilometer long green patch with a few options of guest houses and restaurants. As we crossed the village saw a huge group of Bullet 500 parked neatly in front of a restaurant and the riders enjoying their break. Yet again almost all of them waved towards us as we crossed them. As we rode further the next sign of life after KhardungVillage was found only at Khalsar.

Village Khardung



Village Khalsar

The NFS Track, btw can you see the Bull Riders?

And can you see the Bull Riders now?

Post KhardungLa Top it was just 4X4 Army Trucks and a handful of other private vehicles that we saw on roads. Army Men at a TCP here told us that few kilometers of the road from Khalsar to Diskit got washed away by a river and that all the traffic going to and fro Diskit is directed from another hill top through and Army Unit. For obvious reasons we didn’t click any photographs on that stretch. When we were descending down from that Army Unit we saw a wide plain in between the mountains by our side going along a small river. Going further this river just vanished away and it was just like a 5kms wide plain in between the barren mountains. We saw a straight dark black line going right through this plain sand-land. For a while we were just guessing if this is a pipeline or a man made water stream, it was only when we came down at the foothill that we saw it was a road and the dark color of the tarmac was loud and clear that the road was barely used. Though this section was not on our road map we took a detour of almost 5+kms and went further to enjoy the straight road. And as we went nearer we saw that on the both side of the road it was sand and nothing else but more sand. For a while I just forgot the mountains at the background and I started feeling as if I am standing right in the middle of desserts with just sand and nothing else stretched on my either side. There was no sign of any human or any life apart from us. After walking a little on the sand it was evident that we can ride on it easily, the surface was quite firm and clean. After clicking a few pictures Ankur said “Who would believe us if we tell some one that we rode from Snow to Sand in just 2 and a half hours”, and it was then when I realized that we were actually riding on snow a little while ago. (Next year surely I will camp here).















Resumed our journey towards Diskit which was still like 8kms from here. While we were crossing Diskit we had another heart warming experience. Small kids used to rush towards the road as soon as they use to hear the sound of bikes and then they use to stand by the road side with the arm extended towards the middle of the road inviting us to touch their hand while we cross them. It really feels great. But then there are few naughty ones who try to hit you hard instead of a mere touch, which is a little risky and can cause disbalance. As Desideep had already warned me regarding this I was keeping a cautious eye over the notorious looking ones. Diskit is like a small town with a Gompa (temple) on the top and with quite a few guest houses it is spread for almost two and a half kilometers by the road. We crossed Diskit and went further, after a few more kilometers I couldn't believe my eyes, there were Sand Dunes all over the place. Sand Dunes right in the middle of Himalayas. I didn’t took it as seriously when I was in school and was told that right at the place where we have Himalayas (Mount Everest) was once a sea and then desserts in the adjoining areas. While we were busy clicking photographs a huge Army convoy came towards us, there were 22 trucks all numbered 1-22 pasted right on the front of each truck bigger enough to be able to read from a distance. Army is provided with special exclusively manufactured 4X4 trucks by TATA at the Jabalpur Factory. When an Army convoy passes by no civilian traffic is allowed to ply by, and one actually needs to stop and with for the entire convoy pass by. Among themselves the trucks never overtake each other or break the sequence they started in. If even a truck breaks down the entire convoy stops till it gets repaired. At times a 4X4 Maruti Jypsy leads the convoy.
We went till we reached a spot where the milestone said Thoise 15kms. From here no civilians were allowed to go any further and the entire 15 kms further to Thoise was secured by Indian Army Unit. Thoise happens to be the highest Air Base of our country. I clicked couple of pictures of this milestone for my Dad (remember he is in Indian Air Force) and took a right turn to Hunder. Hunder is the known for its Sand Dunes and Dual Hump Camels.









We then rode till almost the center of the Sand Dunes and parked the steeds. We then went walking till the place where there were these Dual Hump Camels; the owners say that these camels were wild habitants and now are tamed so as the tourists can ride them for a short Sand Dune trip. It was really very peaceful there; a calm water stream right in the middle where an Army guard was strolling. He even told me that by October this all dessert would be covered by snow. And he didn’t know when I asked him what happens to these camels after it’s all covered with snow. This was again a nice camping site for the enthusiasts.















After sunset we rode back to Diskit and checked into a guest house. At the guest house named Sand Dunes Hotel we had the best food of this entire LEH trip. Not only the food was great but the hospitality was exemplary. I remember the hotel owner saying “Sir garma garam patli patli Chapati hain aur lijiye, aur lijiye”. It started raining when we were having food, post which we went straight to our hotel room to sleep.

Click here for Day 5...