bookmark stuff. i almost feel like im riding with you
although, at some points, you have written lines that lead up to a link but there is no link present there

for eg
but the links do appear collectively at the end

edit: just went through the HDR tutotrial. mind blowing technique. just couldn't choose a favourite among all the pics that were listed there.

PS: what happened to parkour?

July 6th: Day 3 Amritsar to Udhampur

^^^ Thanks a lot pal.

Yeah I forgot to mention that I normally write my logs in blogger.com hence the same markup doesn't work for forums. I have tried not to miss any link and also fix whichever broken link I can. But appreciate you taking time and letting me know

Parkour is on hold my friend I hurt my already injured left knee (ligament tear) doing some of the stuff. It hurts real bad now
Hopefully I'll get my knee fixed someday...

Continuing with the logs...

July 6th: Day 3 Amritsar to Udhampur
The next morning I had decided that I would get my bike washed, get the bike's chain tightened, etc as I didn't know if something was available in Patnitop or further. I asked the hotel guy the time when the shops open up so that I can go and get the things done. He said it won't be before 10 o clock. For that day I was supposed to cover approximately 280kms and it was doable even if I start a little late.
Hence 10 o clock went out, after some roaming around found a mechanic's workshop and asked him to wash the bike and do other stuff. Took one picture through my mobile.


As usual everyone around got curious seeing the bike and asked me a lot of questions about it. I got the things done and it was 11am. I came back to my hotel room, took bath got ready, dusted off my luggage, riding gear as it was all soiled because of rains and wet roads from the last day's riding.
By noon I thought of starting my journey. But since morning I was having slightly heavy head.
I having a heavy head generally means my dreaded headache problem has come back to haunt me. I have this chronic problem of headache which when comes to me means I should practically ground myself, do nothing and just sleep to make it go away otherwise it will worsen which I couldn't afford to do as that I have to cover the distance and didn't want to lose any days as I was still far away from the "troubled" area (srinagar) where I could potentially lose much more time due to tensions, curfew, etc.
I took the tablet and hoping for the heavy head to go away I started my journey towards Patnitop hill station in Jammu.
I was on the way but as expected my headache worsened and I had no option other than continuing my. This is the part of the trip I do not remember much of it. I was riding slow just some how trying to cover the distance for the day. I didn't even feel like taking pictures whenever I stopped for water or butt relaxation. Hence this day might have the fewest number pics I have taken.




Had lunch en route, stopped for a fuel refill at a petrol near Jammu state entrance. Asked a couple of truck drivers, who where coming from Srinagar direction, about the situation. They told me it was pretty tense and it is wiser to just pass through the area in the night only otherwise the miscreants will pelt stones on the travelers. But I thought that was a bit too much and the guys are just trying to exaggerate the things because as far as I had heard from the local people and read in the forums, there was no dangers to the travelers or the amarnath yatra passengers.
There was still a day left for me to reach Srinagar hence I hoped for the best and continued ahead. I was riding very slow and it was 5 o clock already when the milestone showed 110 or so kilometers for Patnitop still. I thought of taking an extended break at a dhaba and try to rest so that my headache lessens and I would be able to ride that too most probably in the night.


I ordered tea and just lied down on the beds that are usually laid down in the dhabas. Clicked the above picture there.
After resting for sometime I started feeling good and my headache had come down a little bit. I clicked some more pictures. The dhaba owner's kids had come to me and seeing curiously the pictures I was taking. I asked the dhaba owner if I could click a picture of his kids. He agreed and they posed for me
The asked if he can get a copy of the picture that I just took but since there was no computer/printer available around that place I couldn't get a print of the picture and give it to him. I asked the guy if he could give me his postal address so that I can post him the picture. He said he didn't have a concrete address to give. His name is Bitu Ram. And this is what he gave me his address for me post:
Bittu Ram
S/O Sri Munni Ram
Swankha Mod
Near Petrol Bunk
Jammu
He didn't know even the postal code of the area. I felt so bad for him. But I told him that I'll try to send him the picture somehow. He was happy to hear this. This was the picture I took:

One humble request here to anyone traveling to that part, Could you please take a print of this picture and if possible hand it over to the dhaba owner? His dhaba is after the petrol bunks where Jammu's state limits start, as the guy told the petrol bunk area is called "Swankha Mod" when one goes beyond the big board giving direction and distances for Srinagar, Patnitop, etc. The dhaba is on the left side of the road while going towards Srinagar. One cannot miss this dhaba as there is only one there and it is pretty big one.
I know it is a longshot and beyond practicality but I really wanted to give this pic to the guy.


One more HDR try
After talking to him for a while I continued my journey and hoping to reach Patnitop in good time.
It was getting dark fast and I was still pretty far away from that day's destination. By now I was in the mountains and it was all twisty roads all the way and obviously less distance covered. I was enjoying the roads and the cool temperature. Sun was setting beyond the mountains and couldn't afford to miss such fabulous scenes. Tried different clicks through my camera. Following are some clicks processed. Came out decent I believe
Also took my own picture keeping the camera on the rock and putting it in timer mode.








Soon it was dark and I was around 50 kms from Patnitop still, yes I was going very slow mainly due to headache. On top of that it started drizzling too. Next big stop was Udhampur and still I was bent to reach Patnitop so that the next day I would be reaching Srinagar in good time and if something goes wrong I would still have time to cross Srinagar and reach Sonmarg which is on the route to Leh from Srinagar and Sonmarg was supposed to be safer place.
Patnitop is 30kms from Udhampur. I reached Udhampur by 7:30pm and crossing it I saw a lot of hotel with nice parking places which was very enticing and my inner self was giving me ideas that I should stay in Udhampur itself and then cover rest 30kms next day when I leave for Srinagar.
But I ignored it and crossed Udhampur. Just after crossing Udhampur it again started raining a little heavily and this was the time I had made my mind to go back to Udhampur and stay there for the night. First of all it was all moutains roads plus it was raining quite considerably. Obviously not very recommended when you are having a severe headache and can't concentrate on the roads due to that.
Hence I went back and checked into a hotel name Skylark. Their charges were 800/- for Non AC rooms and 1200/- for AC rooms. It was quite cold already and I didn't feel the need of taking an AC room hence checked into a nonAC room. Ordered the dinner from the room itself because of my headache. Had dinner, took pills for the headache and slept. Next day I had to cover 30kms plus approximately 190kms for srinagar. And also if something goes wrong, travel another 40-50kms towards sonmarg. So again around 250kms of riding that too in hills. Not a great ask but still I wasn't knowing what was coming my way in Srinagar. Decided to start early so that I can reach the destination in good time.

Blog link: The Touring Diary: Amritsar to Udhampur

So finally, Lio's bike get's leh'd

Good stuff man. bring it on!

Thanks Hitanshu

Ahem! Lio's bike has been to Leh twice
2008 and 2010

Day 4: 7th July

Day 4: 7th July
Udhampur To Srinagar (Curfew in the city)

So today was the D-Day, why because I was heading towards probably the most dicey route of my trip. Not because of natural difficulty but rather more man made difficulty. Generally one can prepare himself to face the natural obstacles but one cannot prepare himself for the obstacles created by a humans. Have been hearing till now a mixed reports of the situation in Srinagar. Expecting anything I started preparing for the day's journey. As mentioned earlier I was supposed to cover approximately 220kms plus anything that extra distance comes in my way. I started with plan of having my breakfast on the way. By this time my bike's fork had got lose and it was sounding whenever I went over any bump on the road. The fork bearing were already up for a change even before the trip. I stopped in a roadside dhaba for breakfast. The dhaba guy had only rice and dal which was okay for me. I asked him to prepare the food and tried fixing the lose fork myself but I didn't have the right tools for it. Had my breakfast clicked couple of snaps and moved ahead.



Just an example of my disastrous photography . I messed up both these pics
In previous days when that unfortunate incident happened (me dropping my bags on the way) I had burnt my fingers especially right hand middle finger very badly while tying my bags. I couldn't find the band-aid strips that I had packed, I just had to wear the gloves directly on the wound due to which it had made it all worse.
Every other kilometer I would see an army personnel standing. I was going in a decent pace when I thought of stopping for a drinks break and also I'll have a chance to speak to the army guys and get a feel of the situation ahead. The army person was very helpful, he called his co-personnel who was placed further towards Srinagar. His friend told the situation and the person told me that situation is very tense as there were 3 people killed in the firing but I don't need to worry much because army will be there to help the tourists and travelers. He said to me, just believe in God and go ahead, everything will be alright. That motivated me very much to go ahead and hope for the best. The vistas en-route were just awesome. I wanted to capture them all, no matter how much you try to but won't be able to

Another disaster . I managed to mess this amazing view in this pic
Soon I reached Patnitop and then started coming down to the place called Batote
I filled up petrol in a petrol bunk and as usual asked questions to get know more about the tensions. Again I got mixed reports. I had to again make a short stop at a puncture shop just to check the tyre pressure where I asked a mechanic to tighten bike's fork too.
I asked one of the guy to click my photo on the bike:



I moved ahead and noticed that the traffic was piling up slowly which after sometime worsened more and eventually came to a stand still. I asked around and the guys told the traffic is totally still and it is like this for many further kilometers but being on a bike I could sneak in the traffic and could move ahead slowly. I moving ahead but still in such a slow pace that I was surely losing time but nothing can be done.
Every now and then I'll get these kind of open roads:



Perfect example of badly edited photograph


And then again I'll be surrounded by vehicles. Didn't want to take any pictures of the traffic jam.
Whenever I'll get annoyed by the traffic I'll stop and this time I stopped at a place where one old guy was selling some kind of fruit, they call it "Khubani". I bought some from him and spoke to him for a while and as usual I took his picture


I continued and then the traffic started piling up really bad which was a clear indication that I near Jawahar Tunnel or The Banihal Tunnel, One of the longest tunnel in Asia. The traffic so bad and it ate so much of time and the overhead sun wasn't making it easy. I had lost a lot of time but still continuing to move ahead, crossed Jawahar Tunnel and then came up to the Titanic View Point which says "First view of kashmir valley". I parked there and saw two more bikes parked there. This was the first time I saw other bikers with the same route.
Took some pictures and yet again I was bad at it , processed this one a little dramatic.


I met the guys on the bikes and they told they were riding all the way from Maharashtra which was amazing; I always wanted to ride all the way from Bangalore but couldn't do it because of lack of days put in the trip.
I met one more guy who was working there and I asked him about the situation and he told it is bad and people are pelting stones on the travelers too. He too was so much frustrated with all the chaos that was happening there. He just said nobody wants to do this, neither the local public nor the administration, except for the politicians.

The two bikers told me it would be best to be with the convoy of people going for the Amarnath Yatra so that you can get past the problematic areas under the eye of the army. I took that advice and moved ahead. I pushed off a little faster so that I can reach Srinagar early and see if it possible to stay in Srinagar or if I have to push further towards Sonmarg.
I kept going faster and stopped only at a petrol bunk which was open otherwise it was all closed and there was this strange silence around. It was such a shame to see such a beautiful place in such mess.
I filled whatever empty bottles I had with petrol because I wasn't sure where the next open petrol bunk I'll get.
Then after some time traffic again started again piling up and this time everything came to a stand still. First I thought it was just another jam due to more traffic at this time of the year. But soon after it was apparent that it was the intentional blockade done by the army guys. Apparently there was more tension and disturbance ahead and the army didn't want the tourist and yatra guys to move forward.
The blockade was a long one and meantime every body started talking each other asking where have the others come from and as usual my bike attracted attention. The two bikers I met also joined me and we all had a nice time talking about so many things.
While waiting for the army guys to clear the route for us I finally got introduced properly to the bikers who were riding with me all this while. They were Parag (riding a Yamaha FZ16) from Pune and Rajan (riding a Honda Unicorn) who was Parag's relative, from Mumbai. This was Parag's first trip to the mountains and Rajan's fourth, two times on a bicycle and second time on a motorcycle.
There was an interesting discussion that broke; one of the guys asked us why do we do it i.e. riding all the way on a motorcycle to a place like this bearing so much of discomfort.
Well obvious answer to that was asking him a question in turn: why does he do it i.e. coming to a place like this bear so much of discomfort. His answer was it is his way to reach to God. We in a chorus gave the same answer IT is our way to reach God i.e. Riding to this place, bear all the discomfort and see Heaven On Earth.
After about two hours or so the traffic was allowed to go further. It was around 5 o clock that time and as advised by the other bikers I was supposed to be with the convoy which meant not able to stop where I wanted. I was going through Heaven On Earth and it was a pity that I couldn't stop to capture some of the vistas
But still I managed to click some.



Seeing these two pics above in my camera I felt relieved that I finally captured something that did some justice with the actual beauty.
I clicked these and immediately climbed back on the bike to follow the convoy. While riding I promised myself that I'll be back to this place again next time and enjoy all that I am missing now because of the tensions around. I have been unfortunate twice that something was planned for this place and tensions in the valley have spoiled it.
Again we were stopped by the army and we were asked to park in a big empty ground, it seemed that the miscreants were at it again. One army officer saw me fully geared and riding with so much of luggage, he smiled and said to me with a chuckle in Hindi "oye tu kahan ja raha hai ladne" (hey kid where you going to fully geared, to fight somewhere?).
After about half an hour the traffic was again allowed to go further. Everything there was closed and it was evident that I wouldn't be able to stay in Srinagar. I will have to go beyond Srinagar and stay for the night.
The army guys led us through the Srinagar city and the famous Dal Lake. Again it was such a pity that nobody was allowed to stop and take a pic or two

Missed this place, the char chinar. Posting this one from the web
Source: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1426/...52aa250562.jpg


Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RiN4MNeNKJ...07india120.jpg
Missed The Mughal Gardens


Source: http://www.kashmir-houseboats.com/ne...houseboats.jpg
Finally missed the stay in a House Boat :'(
Got all the links for the photos from this webpage about Dal Lake
After circling around the Dal Lake we were guided out of the city by the army guys. I was planning to move ahead to Sonmarg. It was 7:30pm and the day was almost over which meant I was required to ride in the dark. No other option but to do it. While riding through the city I actually saw the CRPF guys beating up some of the guys very badly on the street. Don't know if those local guys deserved that beating but it was sad to see that sight.
Sonmarg was 55kms from Srinagar. I reached a village called "Manigram" after 30kms of travel from Srinagar. I saw a lot of crowd there and I was stopped by army guys yet again and this time they checked my ID cards and they even checked my luggage. This was the place were the yatra guys were supposed to spend the night in the facilities provided. I told the army guys that I want to go further to Sonmarg but they said nobody is allowed to go as it is dark and I'll have to spend the night there only.
I parked my bike near the army tent and soon after the bikers whom I met on the way also came. There were thousands of people there and most of them going in the amarnath yatra. There were guys providing tents and we took one where all three of us could stay. For dinner all we had to do is join the crowd and have free food in the facilities provided. While going inside the premises the security guys checked my bags and took out the petrol bottles that I had kept as reserve and they didn't allow those bottles filled with inflammable liquid. I had to put the petrol where it belonged and i.e. bike's tank
We had nice FREE dinner and came back to our tent and slept. I decided to wake up as early as possible so that I could start early and skip all the crowd and so did Parag and Rajan.
So I had passed the problematic area so the worry also had passed.
I had already covered around 270kms for the day. And the next day was short in terms of distance to be covered and also through some very beautiful places.

Blog Link: The Touring Diary: Udhampur To Srinagar (Curfew in the city)

Simply Amazing! Keep it coming bro

Day 5, 8th July: Srinagar (Manigram) to Kargil

Day 5, 8th July: Srinagar (Manigram) to Kargil

The tent owners had brought one more family with two females in our tent and obviously they felt uncomfortable spending the night in a tent with three other strangers. But no other option, and besides after spending some time talking with us they felt comfortable. Three (Parag, Rajan and I) of us had nice small chat about the trip and further plans and soon slept. Woke up early morning at 5 AM. It was a short sleep but a sound one.
Spending night along with thousands of people in the same place obviously creates one big problem!!! Morning's nature's call . The yatra facilitators had done some temporary arrangement for that and freshening up in that place is one hell of an experience. Won't go into details of that but yeah this wasn't planned in the trip at all. Anyways I was prepared for anything and everything. Soon after I packed and loaded the luggage on the bike with the nylon ropes that I had bought. Parag and Rajan were also ready to start the day's journey. My initial plan was to reach Drass and stay there.

Took out the bike onto the road and all I saw was again a big jam and as the last day's travel, the jam was because of army security checks. We had to wait a lot this time and only by 8.30AM the jam got cleared and the convoy started moving. Every now and then there will be a jam and was moving very slow. But I didn't mind it as I was passing through the such beautiful place. While doing the pre-ride checkup of the bike I noticed that there was less pressure in the rear tyre. I stopped at a mechanic's workshop to refill the tyre. The guy wanted a pic of his with my bike:


Took some pictures when I got some space free from all the traffic going in the same direction as I was.




Once the traffic eased out I started going fast, I passed through a rough road and lo! there goes my nylon ropes and my bags started falling off. I stopped at a dhaba to tighten the bags but the ropes were of non use this time. All this while I was carrying bunch of bungee chords with me and was just too lazy to search it in my bag. But now is the right time to tie the bags with bungee. The terrain is only going to get tougher/rougher from then on. I tied my bags firmly. The kids from the dhaba gathered around me and started asking me if I wanted to get my bike washed. I said no and then one kid started blackmailing me emotionally that whatever money I would give him will help him go to school etc. I still said because I really did feel the need of getting bike washed.
By this time Parag and Rajan also reached the dhaba. I had breakfast there only and moved ahead. The vistas were just awesome, captured some and went ahead.





I am trying to learn how to post process the pics. A lot of pics might not have come out good but please bear with me till I get better at this
Soon I reached Sonmarg and WOW! it is really heaven on earth!!





My friend Sunil had told me to stop in Sonmarg and take a horse ride. They will take you beyond the mountains and cover 3-4 lakes around. They take 450/- for it and takes around 4 hours; it is worth it. But somehow I wasn't that interested in leaving the bike with all my luggage at the place for such a long time. Had I being staying in Sonmarg I would have definitely gone for ride on the horses. I passed through the market of Sonmarg (which was very colorful and crowded). There was a diversion where the amarnath yatra guys were turning, I think it was towards baltaal, I decided to move ahead towards Kargil and didn't take the diversion.
Started going uphill with road condition changing (going worse) by every meter. This was the first time I was on this route and I asked myself is this the infamous Zozilla pass? After going some more distance indeed I was climbing the treacherous pass. Road condition was worse and on top of that my bike's fork again had got very lose. It sounded so bad, more of rattling sound. I stopped to at least tighten it to whatever extent I could.
Took some pictures and moved ahead.

The road I traveled


The road I have to go on



Parked the bike right on the edge for this pic



Spot the bikers Yeah! those tiny dots.


Bird's eye view



Mesmerizing views of the Great Himalayas

Zozilla is tough majorly because of the terrain, narrowness of the road and also because of the traffic and I experienced it first hand when I met an endless queue of trucks coming down the pass. I had no option but to pull aside and wait for the trucks to go by. I was accompanied by another lone rider. He was sitting on a rock taking pictures enjoying the views. He went to him and asked the usual question, what's his name, where is heading to, etc. He told he is was Denmark and his name is Villads. For pronouncing his name he said just like in India we have "Villas" I can pronounce his name
I told him that I am from Central India and immediately he asked am I from Madhya Pradesh. I was impressed by his geographical knowledge of India. He said he has toured a lot in India so he knows quite a lot about India. He also told that he has been waiting for truck traffic to come down from last half an hour.

Road Condition of Zozilla pass



Truck traffic at zozilla

He took couple of pics of me waiting for the traffic to come down. After some time the truck queue and I could move ahead. My fellow traveler also started. The traffic wasn't there but now a new kind of terrain was to be seen. It was actually repair work going on for the zozilla pass. The workers were putting stone tiles all along the route. This was even worse than the dirt road that I had come on because the lose fork was vibrating more and more on the uneven surface. I took a lot of breaks because of that and took a lot of pictures.




Crossed this kind of water stream every now and then.








Moving at a rather slow pace I reached the Zozilla milestone and customary photograph of the Zozilla details carved on the stone.

Soon I reached the war memorial of Zozilla. Took some photographs there too. It feels so sad as well as proud to read the stories.
By this time Parag and Rajan had also come to the place. Had a chat with them and moved ahead.




Again slowly moving ahead. My hands were shaking and it felt like ants crawling all over my finger tips thanks to my bike's rattling fork which gave all the vibes to the handle bar too.
Drass wasn't that far now and no problems in going slow as my plan was to stay in Drass itself as everybody (who have done this route) had suggested to stay Drass rather than in Kargil. I had ample time hence took every opportunity to take pictures






Crossing this part felt so spectacular



As said I was close to Drass


Spotted some horses and again photo clicking time


Again stopped near to this flower bed just before Drass. Was amazed with color contrast of the rocks around and the flowers.






Took some flower shots


Customary picture of the board through my mobile

Just when I was about to reach Drass I saw a guy on a bicycle with two saddle bags on it. I waived at him and he waived back.
Reached Drass and started searching for a mechanic so that I can get bike's lose fork tightened and relieve myself and the bike from the torture. Couldn't get any mechanic around. People said I'll have to go to Kargil for that.
Anyways no option left I entered a hotel for lunch and I saw Villads, my fellow rider, having lunch. I asked him if I could join him on the table. He welcomed me and we started chatting. He told me where he works (in delhi) and he bought a bullet recently. He had already toured a lot in India but in a car and the last time when he visited Drass this biking bug bit him and this time he came solo on his bullet. He showed pictures that he had taken along the route and also showed me my pics that he took. He said he'll email me those photos once he reaches Delhi. He told that he was able to stay in Srinagar at the time of curfew in his friend's house. He told a horrific incident when he was there. During the protests and curfew the police guys would fire randomly in the air to disperse the crowd, one lady from her house was peeping out of a window just to check. got hit by those bullets and died. He also was sad and disappointed with the conditions there.
I was about to order lunch for myself and Villads recommended me a non-veg dish "mutton rogan josh" , he said it is very good. I took his recommendation and ordered it. It was really nice. Finished lunch while talking to him. Rajan and Parag also joined and they told that they had a chat with the guy on the bicycle and the guy's plan is a huge one. The guy has planned for cycling through Srinagar, leh, all the way to china and then if gets visa, he'll enter Pakistan and Afganistan. Hats off to the guy for the effort.

That's Villads saying Namaste to all the readers

We finished lunch and then I had to decide whether I should stay there at Drass or move to Kargil and then stay for the night. It was 2.30pm and I had a lot of time left. Kargil is just 58kms away from Drass.
Parag and Rajan had already left for Kargil. Villads asked me if I would like to join him for visiting a mosque nearby. I thought for sometime and decided to leave for Kargil as it would lessen my next days travel in terms of distance. Although I wanted to stay in Drass. The kind of treatment the hotel guys gave me was just awesome; very humble, polite. I felt so special just having lunch in that place. I would really recommend anybody visiting the place to stay there in Drass.

Stopped at a mechanic's place to refill the tyres, now the tyres were losing pressure in half a day probably due to the small punctures on the rear.


Clicked some more pictures on way. Reached the historical Drass Tololing memorial. Parked my bike and went inside the memorial. I was very cordially greeted by the army soldier standing there which was surprising for me as generally army guys will be in their own state of mind and not mixing up with the civilians. This place was an exception. Went inside the gallery that the army guys have put up with lots of photos and items from the war itself. Seeing all those things you feel so overwhelmed with pride as well as sadness that our soldiers had to go through all these situation just because some people our neighboring country cannot sit quietly.

View from the tololing war memorial



The path way



The memorial


Items confiscated from the enemy bunkers


Funny poster



The guys working there wanted their pic





They had some mementos on sale. The money will go to the war victims' families. I bought one key chain and one cap from there which is what I am wearing in the below photo.

Yours truly with the soldiers

Continued ahead after spending some time there talking to the soldiers. Took some more photos en-route.





This one's my favorite.

Reached Kargil by 5 o clock and started searching for a hotel with proper parking place. The first thing one will notice about Kargil is the people there. People there are so fashionable top to bottom, right from there hair to their sun glasses to their shoes. It is quite correct when visitors say it is the fashion capital of that part of India.
But on the other hand the behavior of the crowd is not what you'll like much especially when one compares it with the kind of treatment people in Drass give. They are in their own world not bothering about anything. I had to roam around quite a lot for searching a good hotel. Eventually I found one guest house with very good parking; I could park my bike almost totally hidden from the public which is what I wanted. When I was checking the rooms I noticed that my new friend Villads is also staying in the same hotel. There was only one room available which was actually for 3 people and was worth 500/- , quite neat with attached bathroom and hot water facility. I took that room itself because I was pretty sure I wouldn't get a better hotel in terms of parking place for the bike which is more important for me. I got freshened up, took out my bike to search for a mechanic so that I could get my bike fixed and also for some evening snacks. I had not spoken at my house too for a long time too.
I had postpaid airtel number and it wasn't working there. It seems only BSNL numbers work there due to security reasons.
I got my bike fixed and searched for a STD booth to make calls but there was some problem with landline in Kargil itself. I had to wait for a lot of time till the line got fixed and I could speak to my parents.
Kargil, apart from the name in Indian history, didn't entice in any way whether in terms of people or the place itself and I kind of got to know why people suggest to stay in Drass and just pass through Kargil on the way.
Anyways this was how my day 5 ended, not much in terms of happening but all in all it was good. Clicked many pictures, enjoyed going through such beautiful places, also kind of enjoyed crossing Zozilla pass.
Next up it was the day for Leh through the usual route i.e. through Lamayuru. I was looking forward to ride on the arrow straight road on the way to Leh. I had seen the photographs of it and boy does it look like a run way or what

Blog Link: The Touring Diary: Srinagar (manigram) to Kargil

@ Sumit :- Superb writeup. Enjoyed the Wagah border and Jallianwala baugh part. Great work.

brilliant man...makes me wanna quit my job and leave for the hills...

also u are a better photographer then u give urself credit for....

Thanks guys.
@k2cool: You don't have to quit your job to do it I didn't
As I mentioned I informed my manager six months in advance that I will be taking a long leave.
Glad that you liked my photography, I am in the learning phase when it comes to photography overall and specially composing a picture.

Day 6, 9th July: Kargil to Leh (A different route)

Day 6, 9th July: Kargil to Leh (A different route)

So a new day a new destination and I am loving it. Got up early packed up things, spoke to the guest house owner so that I can pay him and start my journey. I casually asked him whether the roads till Leh are good or bad. He said there are construction works going on the route before Lamayuru. New road was being laid and they were using explosives to clear out the way which meant if I reach the place at a wrong time I could get stuck for hours there.
The guest house owner suggested me to take the route from Batalik. He told the road through that place is really good and only one high pass to cross plus he strongly suggested me to visit Batalik telling me that the Batalik has a different culture and visiting there I would feel good. I took his advice, got directions of the route.

Looking back at the trip I had until now, things not going as planned (stayed in Udhampur instead of Patnitop, couldn't stay in Srinagar, etc), I had made up my mind that I would rather go with the flow and care little for the route that I had planned. The trip that I had planned was planned keeping in mind that my brother will be on his first long trip in the mountains and it shouldn't be a tough one for him. Now that he couldn't join I thought why not be a little more adventurous and take an impromptu route plan. And from then on I sure did an impromptu trip , details will come in due time.
I wanted to get my bike washed before starting but I came to know that the garages open only after 9.30-10.00am hence I started just like that. One thing I noticed that there are a lot of guys from other states (specially UP and Bihar) working there. The garage where I got my bike's fork tightened was from UP and out of curiosity I just asked him how come he has come to work so far away from his home. But he didn't answer my question and just smiled. I also left it there and started my journey. Filled up petrol and took the left on the diversion after the petrol bunk that said Lamayuru to the right and Akchamal/Batalik to the left. It isn't a proper sign board telling the directions and one might have to keep a look out for it to spot it.
After climbing a little bit I looked back towards the kargil city and it was a fabulous view:


After taking the detour I looked back in my view mirror and the view was just awesome. Stopped right there and captured it

"Chhod aaye hum wo galiyan"

Soon I came up to this beautiful house and a superb view.

The Kind of house one would love to own


I was passing through the village named "Akchamal" and I started hearing some noise out of my rear tire. I thought it is just dirt kicking out of the tire and continued. After around one kilometer I thought of taking a drinks break. I got down from my bike and to my horror I noticed my rucksack which I kept on top of my rear has almost fallen off and almost getting dragged along the road
I immediately checked if anything had fallen off and fortunately everything was intact. I removed all the bags from the bike and started putting them back again. I was tightening the bungee chords around the bags and suddenly there was a bunch of school going kids surrounded me looking at my things anxiously.
One kid was so enthusiastic that he wore my riding gloves and put on the helmet right away.
They were very inquisitive asking me where am I coming from and where would I be going next etc.
I was happy answering their questions, they all agreed me to take their pictures but only on condition. And the condition was that I would send them their pictures when I reach back home. They even gave me their village address so that I can send it to them. Here are the pictures that I took. I still have to send it to the kids' addresses, don't know if it will reach them or not but still I will send it soon keeping my fingers crossed





As I continued from there on I started climbing up up and up and generally that means one is crossing another high pass. And indeed it was a pass named Homboting La having an altitude of 13,202 ft above MSL. This pass had pretty decent roads despite being high. Probably because there was not much commercial traffic in this part of the Kashmir.

Nicely laid roads on Hamboting La, no pot holes, etc

I reached the top and had a drinks break. It was very sunny and hence felt thirsty frequently. Not many people were around except for some army soldiers trying to search for mobile signals so that they can make calls.
Took pictures and continued ahead






Superb vistas from the top. Tried my best to capture it.




Came down the pass and continued towards Batalik. En-route I passed a lot of small villages stopping almost every place to take a picture or two. I guess the village name was "Silmo"


I was stopped by a army soldier passing through the check post asking regular questions like where am I going and where am I coming from. This was not the usual tourist route as it is a high security area. Apparently the LOC (Line Of Control) was only 10 kms away from the village and hence army guys are extra cautious. I spoke to the guy for some time. He asked me why am I roaming in such a place solo. I just said I wanted to experience a different route than usual and also the village "Batalik" is place of historic importance for India hence wanted to visit the place especially when coming to Kargil.
Usually people will visit Kargil and straight away head towards Leh taking the usual route through Lamayuru, Nimmu, etc.
He also told me that in winter season it is very difficult to stay in that place as temperatures go negative and there would be 4-5 feet of ice/snow. He offered me tea/coffee but I chose to continue towards Batalik.
I took so many breaks on the way that it was 12.30pm reaching Batalik which was only 58kms from Kargil. I reached the check post of Batalik and yet again I was stopped by an army guy.
I stopped the bike and started talking to him. He asked me the usual questions and then told me about the war that happened with our neighboring country in the year 1999. How the peaks behind the village were captured by the enemy and they used to bombard the villages Batalik and the next village "Darchik". He pointed out to a specific peak and told that, that was the peak they had won back from the enemy. I asked if I can take a picture of it and he said go ahead.


Soon I was joined by couple of other army guys and a local police person. They also told a lot of stories from the war as how they used to see missiles flying away in the air through those peaks and all they used to hear was explosions everywhere. Both the villages were destroyed.
They told that before winters the soldiers will start taking the essential things like food, warm clothes, etc, to the bunkers situated on the peaks using horses, donkeys and they won't come down till the winter season is over. And one can imagine how cold it will be at the peaks.
Hearing all these made me realize once more that there is no glory in wars and nobody wins a war even after achieving victory.
There was such overwhelming feeling hearing the stories, talking to the very people who guard our borders going through such hardships and yet they were so friendly and polite.

They asked me which I am coming from. I told them that I stay in Bangalore. Out of the guys two were from a place near Bangalore only and they asked if I knew the local language of Bangalore i.e. Kannada. I said no and to that they were making fun of me that being in a place for such a long I didn't pick up the local language, etc...
I asked them if I can take their pictures, they agreed.

The mountain ranges...

That these brave soldiers guard...


So that we civilians can live peacefully

The guys asked me if I had lunch and if not I can have it in the village. But they warned me not to go too much further into the village as it is very close to the LOC border and higher officials won't like a civilian from outside roaming there. I took their advice and went in the village till the point I was allowed to.
I stopped in front of a tea stall and was welcomed inside by the guys inside. I asked if I can have lunch and all they had was the usual maggi noodles. I asked them to prepare it. Meanwhile again talking to the locals about their day to day jobs in the place.
One thing I noticed in kargil was the same and that was the fact that there were a lot of people working there coming from very far off places for e.g. UP, Bihar, etc. I again asked the same question that why do they come so far from their places and work. This time I did get an answer from the guys and that was the fact they get paid better working there in that remote village than other places. And they could save more money and send it to their families.
Had lunch while talking to the guys and they made me promise that I would come back next year or so and meet them again. It was so nice interacting with them.
One thing I realized which I might have expressed earlier too is that when I am touring solo I tend to interact more with the places that I am visiting. I talk to locals, mingle with them, get to know them better. These things I won't do if I am touring with a group like I did my previous trip in 2008. May be because I don't have someone with whom I can share the experience and instead I approach the locals to talk to and may be share a laugh with them.
There are pros and cons in touring solo and this thing sure came out as an advantage.

I bought some chocolates so that I can give it to the kids that I meet on the way. I came back to the same place where I met the army guys and asked them how was the road till leh and they told it is very good all the way. Leh was still 175kms from there and I had around 5-6 hours left with me for the day.
They told me I'll be able to cover the distance very easily.




As the army guys said, the roads pretty good ranging from tree covered roads...


To empty roads like this...


To roads like this...


Passed through a lot of small villages. This one was Darchik Village



Just after Darchik


Roads were pretty good all the way


Weird patterns on the mountains
Continuing my journey through the twisty but smooth road. Passing through villages enjoying the vistas around. Stopped beside a huge prayer wheel. Had biscuit, rested for sometime.


Reached a junction and a big board that said "take right for Lamayuru" and "straight for Leh". This is where the usual route for Leh from Kargil and the route I took from Batalik join. This place is just before the town "Khaltse". From that point on the roads became super smooth and super wide like the ones present in express ways.






But then soon enough I was stopped by this construction work going on which consumed a lot of time.


After this road block the road continued to be mix of good and bad roads till Khaltse. I stopped at a restaurant at Khaltse and had evening snacks.
Continued ahead and was eagerly waiting to ride on the famous arrow-straight-runway-like road. And indeed it was a pleasure on that road. On top of everything the road is a downhill. Here are the pics:








Bit overly processed. But fantastic variation in colors of mountains

On the way I didn't stop at couple of places which were of tourists' attraction for e.g. the gurudwara just before Leh, The confluence of river Zanskar and indus, etc.
Then I reached the famous magnetic hill and saw a lot of people trying to experience the phenomena. I too tried but wasn't able to experience it. May be I was doing it in a wrong way.



After unsuccessful try, I decided to get just a photo of mine next to the board




Confluence of Zanskar and Indus river
There were a lot of hooligan kind of bikers around make a lot of noise my be to impress their fellow female pillion riders. I decided to push off from there and reach leh
Finally reached Leh in good time.


Leh Valley from a distance
As soon as I reached Leh I started searching for a decent hotel to stay. I called up couple of contacts that I had in Leh to ask for places to stay but none of them were reachable. Then I decided to straightaway go to place where I stayed the last time I came here. The hotel name is "Hotel Hills View", it is on the left hand side on the diagonal road that goes in the Leh city from the main petrol bunk junction.
The rooms pretty decent (don't expect starred hotel rooms), the owner charges 300/- per room per day. The thing I like about the hotel is that it has a nice parking place inside the hotel campus pretty much hidden from the outside traffic and people. Plus the owner of the hotel is very nice, humble, polite.

I checked in the hotel and met the owner. I was talking to him and asked if he remembers me from the last trip that we had. And surprisingly he remembered and told me that generally he won't remember the tourists coming to his hotel as there are so many frequently coming and going, but he remembered our whole group which was nice to know

Dumped all my luggage in my room, asked the hotel boys to get me hot water which they gave immediately, took bath, and went out for just roaming around and do some shopping.
Bought couple of things from the shop and went into a cyber cafe to check my email and stuff. By the time I got free it was dinner time. I tried contacting parents so that I can tell them my whereabouts but couldn't reach, there was some problem in the network in leh.

Located a punjabi dhaba and ordered some chapatis and curry for myself. I was having dinner when a guy came and sat on my table. As usual I started talking to him and he told that he is actually from Netherlands and has been touring India for over 9 months now. He told he has been to almost all parts of India except the north east. He didn't tell his name. I asked him how does he manage his finances when he is on the move all the time. He told that tries to spend very little on the travel by taking local transport, have food at cheap places plus for the first six months he had been working as a content writer for some firm. He would just join any group which will let him stay and spend the night. He also said one thing which was very interesting: "If you know how to manage, you can manage things without spending much".
The guy finished his dinner before me and said to me that he'll go and pay the bill on the counter itself. Before anybody could notice anything the guy vanished and not to be seen on the counter itself. Now there can be only two possibilities: One, the guy paid the bill quickly and left, and second the guy slipped through without paying the bill and probably showing me how it is practically done what he just said to me i.e. "If you know how to manage, you can manage things without spending much"

Well not thinking too much about it if he paid the bill or not. I paid my food bill and returned to my hotel room. Next day was a rest day for me i.e. just be in Leh, get the permits for other places and visit Khardung la if possible. Then there was one small problem and that was, on 10 July Leh has a public holiday and I wasn't sure if the Commissioner's office will be open on that day or not. Didn't have any idea about it and hence decided to think over it the next day itself and also consult with the hotel owner who himself gets the permit work done for his customers.


So this is how my day 6 ended. A very good day indeed, I got to go through a very different route and visit some of the less visited places.

Visit my flickr album for better quality pics (selected ones) : Flickr: Sumit!'s Photostream

Blog link: The Touring Diary: Kargil to Leh (A Different Route)

hi

buddy your writing is really very impressive moreover i had a dream of going on 2 wheels to the Himalayas which now got even more stronger after reading your writings, buddy plz do post ur logs soon waiting. i started reading your blogs by at around 2.00 and i was so indulged in that i forgot to have my lunch and forgot my daily chores of work which are to be done in that time.

waiting buddy

beautiful pictures and nicely written. loving it

awesome man. really awesome. heartfelt experience

Day 7, 10 July 2010: Leh City and getting permits in Leh on a local holiday

Thanks for the appreciation guys. Continuing with the logs...

Day 7, 10 July 2010: Leh City and getting permits in Leh on a local holiday

Day 7 was a rest day for me. I was half way through my trip. I had planned for the customary Khardung La visit (K-Top) and after this as earlier planned, a visit to Pangong Tso.
Morning I woke up and first thing decided to get my bike washed and get the fork tightened once and for all as I was really frustrated with the rattling sound and the vibes the fork was giving.
Came out of my room for going out and was greeted by the hotel owner. Told him that I will be going for bike things to the bike workshop named "Juma Autmobiles". Apparently the mechanic is pretty well known in Leh as he has been in this business from a long time and respected for his work. The last trip the guy had helped me a lot fixing my broken key issue, read this for details:
Day 6 Leh - Getting Permits and Learning photography

As I mentioned in the previous day's log, 10 July is a local holiday in Leh and none of the government offices are open on that day which means one can't get permits to visit places around Leh for e.g. Khardung La, Diskit, Pangong Lake, Chumathang, etc. I asked the hotel owner if I can get the permits or do I have to just wait for the next day. Waiting for the next day meant losing one day totally and on top of that 10th was a Saturday. If I couldn't get permits on 10th I won't be able to get it on Sunday. Also the news I have been getting about the Leh to Manali highway wasn't good. Apparently Rohtang La was blocked due to landslides also I heard Baralacha La was totally under snow. And so I couldn't afford for waiting for one day for permits and visit Pangong Tso, come back to leh and start my journey towards Manali.
While I was talking to him another visitor who came on a car joined us. He took the Manali - Leh highway and told that the roads are in really bad condition.
I was worried about the road condition because if at all the roads are bad and my bike gets stuck somewhere in the snow, it will be very difficult for me to take it out alone. Knowing that it is not the first time I'll be going on the Leh - Manali highway, in fact this will be my third time, the hotel owner said to me "Why do you worry sir, the guys have come here for the first time and never driven in this region, they will obviously feel the road are worse comparing with normal city roads. It won't be as bad as you think". Hearing this was kind of an encouragement.

The hotel owner also told me that there is a new rule that has come out in Leh that if there is a holiday on a weekday the Commissioner's office will open for one hour from 2 PM to 3 PM in the afternoon.
That was another relief that I can get permits on the same day.

The hotel owner told me not to worry and if I decide to skip Pangong Tso, he can make an itinerary for me to visit places around leh.
I came out and went straight away to Juma Automobiles to get my bike fixed but it was closed and will only open after 9AM. I thought of getting the bike washed first and then come back and in the meantime I can finish my breakfast. I roamed around the city to look for a place for bike wash. Took this picture:

The Leh City gate
Unfortunately couldn't go further back sitting on the bike to cover the whole view, still decent pic eh?

Last time we got our bike washed in a Maruti showroom situated on the road to airport. But they were too busy to wash my bike. Hence went to Tata Showroom just ahead on the same road. There also the guys were busy but somehow I convinced them to at least wash the bike with water so that all the dirt and mud can be removed. They charged me 50 bucks for that, expensive but no other option


A view from Commissioner's office

After the wash while waiting for the garage to open, went in a restaurant to have breakfast. All the while I was trying to figure out my options to visit places. I had to come up with a plan in which I could visit at least one place around Leh, head towards Manali and this all should happen keeping in mind that I can get stuck due to bad weather.

I had to reach Delhi by 17th July evening as I had my flight ticket for Bangalore on 18th July night and I should have enough time for getting the bike packed and shipped on train. So basically I was left with 5 days with me. Hence going to Pangong Tso was out of option as I would be having 4 days exactly for reaching Chandigarh. This is possible normally when the climate is favorable but it wasn't.

I was thinking all the time I have already visited Pangong Lake once and this time I can plan for something else. I had heard a lot of Tso Moriri and Tso kar, situated beyond Chumathang, and also heard that there is a route that opens towards Pang which is on the Leh Manali Highway. But I had not seen many itineraries/trips through that area and wasn't sure about it. Still I thought I'll inquire and plan for it.

Got my bike fixed from the workshop. Surprisingly he also remembered me that he had fixed my bike two years back.
At 10 AM I reached the Commissioner's office and it was closed and people there told that it'll open at 2 PM only. I came back to my hotel room and asked the owner about the route towards Tso Moriri and towards Manali Highway from there. He told the way towards Tso Moriri is the usual one towards Mahe Bridge through Chumathang. Once I reach Tso Moriri and Korzok village there is a route towards Pang through a place called "Sumdo" and the route will join the Manali Highway in Moore Plains to Pang and this way I'll skip Tanglang La, Second highest mountain pass in the world (17,582ft above MSL). The route also covers Tso Kar, another lake, which has now dried mostly.

I saw the map that I had with me and it showed the place Sumdo but no clear route towards Pang, Manali highway. Also there are no petrol bunks on the way which meant I will have to carry petrol with me.
Tso Moriri is 230kms from Leh and I had no idea how much far is the next petrol bunk (or a place where petrol is sold unofficially) after Tso Moriri.
I knew that Leh is around 440kms from Manali and my bike goes for roughly 350kms full tank.
I also knew that I can get petrol unofficially in Chumathang though a little expensive than normal price. Hence I decided to keep around 10 litres of petrol extra along with a full tank of 17 litres in my bike, fill petrol in Chumathang again and it should be enough for me reaching a place called "Tandi" in Himachal Pradesh which is the first place to have petrol bunks when one goes from Leh to Manali.
I didn't have much space in bags hence I bought a 5 litre can and some smaller bottles to keep extra petrol.
So it was decided that I would go for Tso Moriri lake and find out my way towards Manali Highway. Kind of adventurous eh? As I mentioned earlier too that now that I was riding solo, I was more interested in an impromptu route than whatever I planned initially.

This way if the information, that I had got, was correct I would reach Manali in good time and will have enough time in hand if at all I get stuck somewhere due to bad weather though one can't estimate the time (days) it will take for me to get out if stuck. But I was willing to ride my luck on this one...

It was 11.30 something and I had a lot of time till the commissioner's office was supposed to open and hence thought of visiting the Leh Palace.
On the way to the palace took this picture from a distance.

Bigger size here
Gave the picture a little treatment


A different Processing
The entry of the Leh Palace has this board giving information about the Leh city and the palace itself.


Some info on Leh City
Bought a ticket at the entrance for 5/- and took pictures where ever allowed. Not much to tell here but the palace is magnificent. The place where exhibits are kept, photography is not allowed.


The Leh Palace Entrance

From the Palace terrace the famous Shanti Stupa can be seen. Below is the pic.

Shanti Stupa








The truth is out there, get off your couch!!!!




Leh City as seen from the Palace


Leh City as seen from the Palace







While roaming around inside the Palace and adjoining gompas I met a monk and spent some time talking to him. He was very inquisitive and interested about me riding solo, where do I work, etc... It was nice talking to him. He told me he'll be in charge of the gompa for the next two years and he asked me to visit him again whenever I visit Leh in these two years. But he said next time he would like to me to have a partner (a girl friend or wife ) I just promised him that I'll meet him for sure.





Old wall paintings. You aren't allowed to take pictures of these paintings with your camera flash on as the flash can damage them






Rays of enlightenment?


Didn't go to the top

At around 2PM I reached back at the commissioner's office to get the permits and I already saw quite a lot of people waiting.
I parked the bike and suddenly I heard a voice calling my name. I checked around and in the parade ground (in front of the commissioner's office) I saw a person waving at me. And that person was a friend of mine, Santosh, who started his Leh trip 1 day before I did.
This came as a surprise because I thought he had already started for places around Leh since he started earlier. Went to him and talked about the trip. He told that they took the usual route from Srinagar to Leh i.e. through Lamayuru. They were three of them of Santosh got separated from them and hence reached Leh a little late.
He also told about a sad incident that he lost his DSLR camera on way somewhere.
We all went together for the permits. They asked us to get the permit form from the local stationary shops around and fill it up. I filled up the form mentioning Tso moriri, Tso kar, Khardungla, Chumathang, Mahe Bridge. I had to pay nominal charges along with the application and got the form stamped though it took a long time as there were a lot of people especially agents who gave multiple applications for their guests.
Santosh and friends filled their applications for visiting Pangong Tso.
I met quite a lot of riders who came via Manali route and again I got mixed reports of the weather condition. But one thing was sure and that was the landslides in Rohtang Pass.
By 5.30 I got the permits work done and it was wee bit too late for me to visit Khardung La Top. I had earlier thought that I will visit K-top on 10th itself so that next day I can straight away start for Tso Moriri. But since the distance till K-Top wasn't small, it is 42kms one way, and there won't be any light while coming down from the top even if I make it to the top in good time. Hence thought of visiting the place early morning next day.

I ended my day with usual roaming around in the city. Got 5 copies of the permits as I would have to submit it at each check post where ever they ask for.

Will scan a copy of the permit and post it here soon, right now I don't have the copy with me.

One more thing which I had not discussed all this while was the problem of AMS (Altitude Mountain Sickness). My last trip wasn't a good experience with high altitude as I was badly struck with it. Read more about my last trip's experience here.
This trip I had to be extra careful because if something bad happens there will be nobody around to help me. Hence I did some reading on the web and found an informative link.

Non-Physician Altitude Tutorial

For first time visitors it would be better to take the Srinagar route and then come to Leh as the height increase is gradual and human body will acclimatize better compared to the Manali - Leh route.

So next day would be a long as well as an interesting one. First I'll be visiting K-top and then will be starting the most unpredictable part of my trip.
Firstly I do not know the route fully and not sure if there is way through Tso Moriri to Manali Highway, secondly I wasn't sure about the weather conditions in Baralacha La and beyond.
I took the pill, Diamox, at night as prescribed in the above mentioned link, 24 hrs before the altitude change, since I will be spending the night at 15000+ ft which will be more than 500m height difference from Leh in a matter of one day.

Visit my flickr album for better quality pics (selected ones) : Flickr: Sumit!'s Photostream

Blog Post: The Touring Diary: Day 7 Leh City and permits