Yes, I am hardly able to devote time in completion of this log and hence, many readers would have lost interest. Apologies to All.

I would give the complete credit of the photos you admired to Puneet Yashod Aka N4Speed

You can surely ride with us and catch on the latest rides happening on Mumbai Offline Thread.

Although you use IDEA dongle why your log is still loadinggggg loadingggg

Kyunki bhaiya ho gaye hai 3g pe busy

The log would be updated next weekend now hopefully

Some dreams do come true

Day 9 - Lamayuru to Leh > Some dreams do come true
5th June'11

Distance covered - 110 kms

We started our day with dreams filled in our eyes. Yes, today was the day when our dreams would become reality, we would finally reach our dream destination, LEH

Yet another lazy morning we woke up at around 9am got freshened up and were ready for the breakfast. Surprisingly we got the most nutritious breakfast of the entire trip. What do we get, milk with corn flakes and banana sliced in it. Very heavy for the breakfast but very much required as every time we left for the ride in morning we never ate so much as we did in Lamayuru.

For a change I also washed my bike as there was pipe available :P So in all after spending a really nice time in Moonland hotel, Lamayuru we checked out to start our journey to Leh.


View from Moonland hotel in Lamayuru

The roads were in good condition and we were already aware that the last stretch to Leh had beautiful scenic highways and roads in perfect condition. After going through some really bad roads in the trip so far today's ride was far more better.
At the outskirts of Lamayuru one can find a beautiful point where we saw few foreigners clicking photos too.This point is called 'Moonland' which is a peculiar landscape and it is named Moonland by the locals as some say this landscape is similar to one on the moon while others say it is a great sight on full moon night.


Moonland point in Lamayuru





We moved on riding at good speed which was all possible due to some brilliant work done by BRO. This ride is one of the finest road one can ride at 10,000 feet above sea level. One can find straight stretches of empty roads where you would love to stop for some photography as we did too. We spend at least an hour on this straight road clicking pictures and enjoying the view.


















Burnout for fun

Soon we reached at the famous Magnetic Hill which is said to have magnetic properties strong enough to make vehicles in neutral climb back up. Although many other tourists and even us tried it for fun to check if it actually defies gravity but nothing happened. It's actually an optical illusion and no magnetic effect.
Here I did some offroading madness when I went all the way up a high hill found on the other side of the road. Not advisable at all and it was only for fun which later scared the shit out of me as I had reached so high on the hill it became difficult to turn the bike and come back. I somehow managed to turn the bike and descended the hill safely which all got video recorded.
Now with just 50 kms away from the dream destination we move on riding where we found army men stopping tourists and serving them juice to drink. We were also stopped and treated with biscuits and juice. Nice refresher for traveler's but later on we found they are present at every 5 kms and we ended up drinking juices on 3 occasions
On explaining one of them that, "Arrey bhaisaab abhi kuch time pehle piya" He said, "koi baat nahi aur ek pee loo aaj Guru ka janamdin hai" May be it was someone's birthday.







Finally at around 3PM we made it to Leh, and I could see the excitement in everyone. First what I saw is Puneet punching in the air followed by a very happy Deepan and surprised Aryan. Yes we made it to Leh
Some dreams do come true!!!


Leh Entrance Gate



We checked in a hotel after fighting amongst ourselves over a stupid hotel which did not have parking. I guess if you stay long enough with each other you are bound to fight sometimes which is fine. We finally checked in a hotel called 'Dreamland' and stopped for the day. To my surprise there was Cyber cafe available in Leh city,
Trust me I felt much better after using internet even though it was Rs.90/hour. We met few very interesting kids in the hotel who were learning karate and we fooled around with them.






Better not mess with them again


Cutest girl in Leh






Her reaction after I said I Love You :P

Rest of the day was spent chit chatting with few other tourers who also came on bikes with their pillions and had checked 0in the same hotel. It's good meet and discuss how did they fare on their dream ride so far. We finally had a hefty dinner which was unbelievably delicious. I could never imagine in my wildest dream eating so much delicious food in Leh. Yummy it was.
Post dinner we went back in our rooms and discussed on the next big thing we are about to witness tomorrow which is riding on top of the world, Yes, it was time to ride to the highest motorable road in the world.

sachin sir, please update your log soon. this log would help noobs like me to prepare for this mammoth ride. Waiting for the rest.



Regards,

ttusharz

I would write the next leg soon. This log will surely be completed before your ride starts...
And how come your calling yourself noob???
Humein training kaun dega bun burner ke liye

@sachin - I am gona request the mods to lock this thread, cut it, crush it and throw it away. Aise koi log likhta hai kya be. Saale every month 1 installment. Seems like when u get salary u get happy and write one chapter then again go into waiting mode until next salary day.

Till then I will post a few videos.

Ride from K-Top to Leh
Ride from K-Top to Leh.mpg - YouTube

On the way to Lamayuru from Kargil
Ride from Kargil to Lamayuru.wmv - YouTube


Regards,
Deepan

A trip to cherish for a lifetime!
We also had a really nice time looking at the pics&reading the log.
Thanks for sharing bro!

Feb ka salary hua nahi lagta hai sale ka ab tak.. it's been month now the log in not updated

any idea which tyre did Aryan use on his fazer ?

Do installment saath me aane waale he lagta he

bhai saab... jaldi complete karo log... while reading I felt like I was riding wid u

Awesum narration n super duper pics too. Glued here for the rest

Day 10 - Leh - Khardung La - Leh > Conquering Khardung La

Day 10 - Leh - Khardung La - Leh > Conquering Khardung La
6th June'11
Distance Covered - 80 kms

Have you ridden a bike to an altitude of 18380 feet above sea level? To ride a bike all the way upto roof top of the world might seem dangerous to some, it might feel ridiculous to many, few might even consider it heights of stupidity.
People who feel like that are true to some extent as it is dangerous to ride there, ridiculous if something goes really wrong and really stupid if you cannot get out of that situation. Nevertheless, As every Biker's dream in India at least, This is what we had on our mind and we were determined to achieve the feat of riding on the controversially crowned highest motorable road in the world.

First thing in morning, we arranged for permits which can be done by any local travel agent in Leh. We received our permits by 11 AM and then moved ahead to BP Petrol station for fuelling. Post that we headed straight to most recommended Jama mechanic little ahead of the petrol pump. Why we went to the garage? Well, Apart from my FI bike, all other 3 bikes where carb bikes which required fine tuning for riding all the way upto the summit.
So, Puneet, Deepan & Aryan got their bike's AFR [Air Fuel Ratio] screw tuned to get more air and got their chain tightened. Carb bikes need this tuning to be done as the air gets very thin at higher altitudes and by adjusting AFR screw allows enough air to pass to intake manifold. We were now ready to ride to Khardung La.
The skies were looking slightly cloudy and the weather was looking pleasant to say the least when we began the ride. This high mountain pass is situated at a distance of around 40 kms from Leh.
The first 25 kms till South Pullu, one can enjoy riding on tarmac where riding is relatively easier and beyond South Pullu the roads are in bad condition and gain in altitude is substantial, however this pass is not as stressful to ride or not as steep as Chang La or for that matter Tanglang La.
Despite all the hype which is there surrounding Khardung La, the ride to the summit was relatively easy. But does that mean it went all as per plan and we did it comfortably as we would have thought! The answer is simply NO.


Narrow mountain road to K-Top


Not for the faint hearted

Initially, the ride was very smooth and inspiring. Latter part, we unfortunately got divided in group of 2 each with Puneet & Me riding in front followed by Deepan & Aryan who are still in sight in the bends and curves till South Pullu. Now with the climb getting steeper, Puneet passed and went ahead of me as his bike was not managing well behind my bike because everytime I braked or slowed down his bike would take time to follow suit.
With Puneet steadily moving ahead of me, I started losing sight of Deepan & Aryan in my RVM. I was left in a situation where gap between Puneet & me started to gradually increase as I rode slowly to match the slower pace of others riding behind us. I tried to honk for Puneet to slow down but sadly for me at such high altitude my horn was only audible to my ears and later Puneet explained he was not sure if he could successfully climb if he would have stopped hence, he did not stop.

I made a decision and decided to let Puneet go on and wait for Deepan and Aryan to come. I was around 7-8 kms away from reaching the rooftop when I halted. I waited for good 10 minutes and started to feel the affects of AMS. My hands were freezing and I was getting the itching sensation at the tip of my fingers. What should I do? Wait or turn back or move on. I was never so confused in my life for making a decision

I waited for them for some more time, when I finally saw a Innova coming towards me. I stopped them and asked if they saw any 2 bikers little close by. Guess what they said, " Yes, we saw 2 bikes opening the seat and doing something" I was happy that both of them were together but tensed that will they manage to reach the summit now knowing there is something that has went wrong.

I decided to move on as going back was not looking a feasible option and I planned to reach Khardung La alone in hope that Deepan & Aryan will reach soon. If not, we would have been a real short stop at Khardung La.


Place where I finally halted for Deepan & Aryan in middle of nowhere


This is all could see when I turned back, No sign of Deepan & Aryan





At this altitude, the air was thin; breathing was a struggle. The final gradient was steep, climbing was a struggle. I saw a milepost, KhardungLa 5 km. I could sense the summit being real close now which completed at the end of a right hand bend and there it was a 50 metres concrete road which is marked as a the 'Highest Motorable Road' in the world!!!
All these days, I had dreamed about riding all the way upto the summit and as I took the final right hand bend, I saw prayer flags, the army outpost, medical camp, tea shop and souvenir shop. There was snow covered mountains, valleys, roads which I saw, What a place I said to myself, What a feeling! Yes, I did it, I was at Khardung La top; the highest motorable pass on planet earth at 18,300 feet. It was 6th June 2011, around 3 PM and I made it to the summit.
Puneet & I quickly started clicking photos so that we can move down quickly to avoid severe affects of AMS. Within 10 minutes, we saw a very angry Deepan and Aryan reaching K-Top.
Sigh of relief for us but Deepan was furious because he thought we did not stop for him as we were supposed to ride in group but after explaining he calmed down a bit. We had loads of pictures clicked to record the feat and interacted with many tourists who had come there. I think we stayed at Khardung La for around 35-40 minutes before we began the descend.

Later when we discussed about the issue, Deepan explained that Aryan's Fazer unfortunately gave up on him. His Fazer was not pulling properly and started to jerk during the climb.
To ensure his bike kept moving Aryan started to rev his bike more than usual till the point where it would become impossible to ride ahead. Once that happened, Oh Yes! it did happen, they removed the air filter of his bike so that it can reach K-Top.
Removal of air filter process took some time and resulted in Deepan getting exhausted. He had to rest for a while and catch his breathe before they moved on again. After removing the air filter, Aryan's Fazer started to rev more freely for some distance before his bike stalled again.
This time Aryan signalled Deepan not to stop and proceed stating he will manage it himself. I dont think that was a wise thing to do however luckily for us he did manage to get his ride back in motion and reached K-Top. From that time onwards till the ride was complete, all we Karizma Trio could say to Aryan is NO! Yamaha


Finally, We completed our dream destination


The most famous board for bikers




Notice, there is no luggage. Only tankbag carried till K-Top




Puneet, Always Game


Deepan, Always Cool and living life to the fullest


Proud feeling, holding our national flag on highest motorable road




Puneet, at least say the truth here now, Did u Puke before we reached



Descend was much more comfortable and without any issues we managed to climb down with a dream that was now accomplished. Been there and done that! I look back at how amazing this trip finally turned out to be. Ofcourse, there were hurdles that came but now these are my most cherished memories which I will remember.

The day was ended with viewing Shanti Stupa which is a Buddhist white - domed chorten on a hilltop in Chanspa, Leh. One can view this while returning from Khardung La. Shanti stupa has great religious significance and also offers breath taking views of the panaromic landscapes. We gave Leh Palace a miss as we did what was planned for today and Leh palace was not in wish list to watch.


Some bad roads while descending from K-Top


South Pullu, Amazing twisties and clean tarmac






Shanti Stupa




View of Leh city from Shanti Stupa




Another view from Shanti Stupa

Nice write up Sachin.. & amazing pics.. Aryan had shared the story of his bike when we had met for a ride...

Thanks Vivek, Did he share story of his bike or tragedy?