Thanks buddy! I'm good. Chib and his oneliners are always awesome just like him.

A guy who can successfully completes his journey across half of the India on one of the sportiest track built tool, riding it over almost all kind of terrain and without any injury, I think I'll call him an expert and this is why would like to ride with him.

Unfortunately, I'm not on FB. However, I'll be in touch; don't worry.

Stay safe!

Thanks Sharath. And am sure one day you'll ride to those beautiful mountains

Did I write sleeveless? Then that must be a mistake. It was a half sleeve t-shirt and not sleeveless Thanks Anant, will update it soon.

Oh yes, I tried finding you in Shivanshu's FB friends list but could not do so. Yep, will be in touch. Come to Mumbai sometime with Shivanshu and Chib. Take care!

Conquering Tanglang la, 17,582 Ft. One of the toughest and coldest high altitude passes of our journey!

‪Conquering Tanglang La, 17582 Ft‬‏ - YouTube

log ko aage badhao dost..... please..........cheers

Hey guys, am back on this thread after a big gap. Couldn't take out time to update this thread since last weekend's Rajmachi ride. Finally got some time at hand. Will update next day's log shortly. Sorry for the delay

Day 9: Leh Sightseeing

We were very tired after Day 8's ride. It was an unexpected twist in the tale and we were actually happy that we reached Leh without any problem despite riding after dark for quite some time. By doing so we had also managed to save an entire day. Since the hotel we stayed was very nice and comfortable, we had good night's sleep and woke up pretty late on Day 9. It was anyway reserved for sightseeing, so absolutely no hurry. Climate was very nice as well. There was slight drizzle in Leh the night before.

We woke up at around 9.30-10.00 am and by the time we got ready and left the hotel it was 11-11.15 am. Leh market was totally alive with it's hustle bustle and we started looking for a good place for breakfast. Mandar was missing his usual breakfast of Medu wadas , Idlis, Masala Dosas etc. ever since we left Himmatnagar. Therefore he started looking for a place which served south Indian dishes. He found one such restaurant and we went inside. Ordered our breakfast and just for two Masala Dosas we had to wait for almost an hour. It was like having mini lunch.

We had asked Mr. Raj Kumar from Hotel Dreamland about the places of attraction and he suggested Leh Palace, Shanti stupa and Thiksey Monastery. He also gave us our permits for riding into Nubra valley etc. We had given all the necessary documents to Deepan in Mumbai before they left for their ride. And that's why our permit was ready beforehand.

After the breakfast cum lunch, we roamed around in the main market where I did a bit of shopping. There were a lot of good things worth buying but couldn't afford to increase the luggage too much. I also bought embroidered t-shirt. We then realized that we had reached very close to the Leh palace. So we visited the first tourist attraction in Leh.

The way to Leh palace goes through small houses and huts of local villagers. For a moment it felt as we were walking through lanes of Ghatkopar and Kanjurmarg. Am not sure if there's an alternate way to get to the Leh palace but the ones we used looked just like I said. Cars and bikes can be taken right at the entrance of the palace but we used the steps. It was a very tiring climb till the palace mainly because of high altitude and lesser oxygen. Upan pohochte pohochte jaan nikal gayi..

Pics I clicked as we climbed up to the Palace






And finally the entrance...


One has to pay a visiting fee for visiting the Leh Palace but we were asked to go inside for free. Don't know why. May be we disturbed that uncle when he was having his lunch. Palace is not exactly well maintained. There were a lot of people sleeping and eating inside the palace. A lot of half eaten food was spread on the floor. It looked disgusting. Now am not sure if all those were workers or just local villagers but the bottom line is it wasn't exactly well maintained from the inside, especially the top floors.

The Leh palace pics.

Information of the Leh Palace










Beautiful view from the Palace


















We then came back to hotel to keep the stuff I shopped. We then asked Mr. Raj Kumar for a good mechanic to get our bikes checked. He asked us to go to a place called Sakara(please excuse me if it's not the correct name but it was something like that). He said we'll find a lot of good mechanics in that area. That place is just outside the main entrance of Leh city. So we stopped and clicked a pic of the main entrance. We could not see it's beauty on the night before as it was dark when we reached Leh.



At first we had difficulty in finding a good mechanic as most of them were Bullet specialists and the rest of them were very busy. We also searched for original Hero Honda spare parts shop as Mandar wanted to replace his bike's bent hand bar. But we could not find such a shop and the duplicate spares were too costly. Finally we found a mechanic called Shashi who agreed to service our bikes. Mandar's bike needed some repairing. He got it's chain lubed and tightened, tightened it's rear drum brake and cleaned the air filter. But when he checked the engine oil level, it was dangerously low. So Mandar decided to change the engine oil. But we did not expect this and hence didn't carry the oil bottle from Hotel room to the mechanic. There was nothing to be done to my bike except cleaning the air filter. So we quickly got it done and rode back to our hotel. I kept my bike at the hotel, got Mandar's bike's engine oil from the hotel room and rode pillion with Mandar to the mechanic. By the time all the repair work was done, it was around 4-4.30 pm.


We thanked the mechanic for all his hard work and left for Shanti stupa. Shanti stupa is a beautiful place and you must visit it if you go to Leh, especially in the evening.

Some pics clicked at Shanti Stupa.























There was a group of ladies from Pune at Shanti stupa. One of the those ladies had quite of lot knowledge about Buddhism and the minute details of all these idols and carvings. She was happily explaining everything to her friends.











Leh palace can be seen from Shanti Stupa as well. Looks beautiful!


The atmosphere at Shanti stupa was very quite and peaceful. The views were even better and breathtaking. All in all it was the best place we saw in Leh. We then rode back to hotel where a nice little surprise awaited us.

As we reached closer to the hotel parking, I could not see my bike. Only when we reached there, we saw a very young, weak boy, hardly 13-14 yrs old, moving my bike to a different place. I lost my mind and shouted at him. Asked him why and with whose permission he was moving the bike. I anyway don't like any stranger touching or sitting on my bike. And in this case this boy was so young and weak that he could hardly manage the weight of the bike. Had bike the fallen down and had there been any damage, we would have been screwed big time. Am sure we wouldn't have found a single spare part in Leh. Boy got really scared as I shouted at him and I asked him to call Mr. Raj Kumar or anyone from the hotel management. Hearing me shouting, Mr. Raj Kumar and the hotel owner's wife came rushing to the spot. I explained them what we just saw and asked for clarification. The young boy explained, there was a guy from the hotel management who sat on my bike just to check it out and then left it in the middle of that small path blocking it. So this young boy was just trying to clear the path. So clearly the mistake was of that 'other' guy. I asked them to call him but he was not there. Hotel owner's wife and Mr. Raj Kumar somehow calmed us down. Her explanation was, "your bike is so attractive that anyone will feel like touching it and checking it out. Is it a Yamaha bike? Is it a new model cause I haven't seen it before". Oh come on... I once again told her it's ok if someone likes the bike and he checks it out. But sitting on it and moving a bike from one place to another when the handle bar is locked?

Later that incident, we got back to our room. Relaxed a bit and once again stepped out for a stroll in the main market and dinner later in the night. We found a place called North Indian Restaurant where we had dinner. Food was good too. We also got the xerox copies done of the permit. Got back to the hotel room and slept early as next day was the Graduation day.. Khardung La...!

Day 10: Leh - Khardung La - Diskit

super.. narrated beautifully..!!!
so did you guys met any water crossings..?? we met many & some where really scary..!!

Yes we did. But only 3-4 were big enough to scare/trouble us. Rest were pretty much manageable. We saw a lot of spots which looked like water crossings en route Pangong Tso, between Tangtse and Lukung to be precise but all of them were dry We found maximum water crossings in Rohtang and Tanglang la. And of course the first big water crossing in apna Zozila

EDIT: When do I expect to read your story of getting Leh'ed once again. Eagerly waiting for the log and pictures. Let's meet up sometime soon man

Wow man, great going

We met water crossings around rohtang, pangong, darcha, zozilla & some other places too.
The worst was after ZingZing Bar & Baralacha La. It was evening & we had to back off due to the current & cross it the next morning
Lets meet up man.. My log should be up in a day or two, i guess

Rachit & Ketan,
Are any of you interested in another Leh tour next year? I'd like to join you.
Henry

Thanks Patrav

That must be some crazy experience with so many water crossings Waiting eagerly for your log and pics. Please bring'em on soon

Hello Henry,
Well I had always thought of Ladakh ride as once in a life time ride but after coming back from there it feels what I explored or witnessed was not even 10% of the actual beauty of that northern region of India. Hence I would definitely like to go there once again but I can't confirm so soon if it'll be in the coming year or not. But if I go I'll be hiring a bike from Jammu/Delhi or Leh may be. But let's see, nothing fixed as yet.

Even am not sure about again leh next year.. May be sometime later..

Thanks Ketan & Rachit.
You have given me a good option of hiring a bike for Ladakh. What bikes are available on hire? Are they reliable and what if there is a break down?
Henry

Just to let you know all. Ketan's article about his 20 days journey to Leh-Ladakh is published in one of the leading Marathi News Paper 'Sakal', its half page of article! Superbly written by Ketan in his mother tongue 'Marathi'

Here is the link to the article:



Congratulations Ketan once again! Kudos to you for writing skills now