Thankyou buddy I will courier the manual once i am done
Thanks guys. The next installment is due in a few hours. Gotta upload the pics onto photobucket which is quite a hassle
Hey Sudhi! Pleasantly surprised to see your post. Where have you been for so many days

Couldn't stop myself from replying to this thread. Awesome is the word!!! Awesome pics and awesome trip log!!! Congrats for the ride and I enjoyed the trip log.

Wanted to know is it tougher to do Leh-Ladakh in the month you have gone? For a person riding to Ladakh for first time is it a overdose??

Thank you buddy
Generally, July and August are rainy months so you can expect a lot of slush. Snow is pure luck. Kurtrules went two weeks after us and he didn't get a single bit of snow.
Regarding the overdose bit, if snow, slush and rain are mixed into the equation, it will never be easy. So its upto your spirit and your riding prowess. Negi was a first timer on the hills and he did it just fine (albeit with a few falls here and there )

Superb! Awesome! Congrats for the trip. At last you guys made it.

Thanks Mik, I was little busy in life

May be it's too early to ask but do you have any future plan for Bike Ride (Auli in december)

Man o Man , i went in June and what i can see in august is altogether different.Simply Mind blowing mik,i think i need to make it again in august also. bring it on

Great pics brother and you are hitting sixes with your writing too

Continue the good work.

Done! Auli Auli Auli.. once again December will be great with all that snow there.

Every week seems to be different there. We should keep going every year

Thanks buddy.

Day 5: "Worlds highest over rated pass"

We were going to take today a bit leisurely. We had earned that right! At around ten in the morning, with the sun beating down, we rolled out. Destination, any mechanic shop which stocked a karizma clutch plate. After that, Khardungla was on the menu.
While the karizma got a clutch transplant, we roamed around the city. The thing i loved most about Leh was the biking culture there. Lots and lots of bikers all around. ATMs were a pain, what with all the big queues. They should have a system of sorts. The farther a guy has come from, the more preference he gets
Umpteen rounds of the market and a few cokes later, we were ready for Khardung la.
It was boring. There wasn't anything spectacular going on. No slush and no rain. Not even ice. Just some nice corners to keep one interested.
The ride till South Pallu was smooth. The permits were to be checked here. But our friend Shubrata, his bike karizma and its new clutchplates were nowhere to be seen. The guy didn't even stop for permits checking! The formalities done, the roads finally started breaking up and our spirits started cheering up. Some challenge at last!

The ascent to Khardung La


I went berserk and dismissed the uphill corners without too much care. The Fuel injection was working wonders here and my throaty roaring 220 overtook lots of rickety bullets, shiny bullets and dirty bullets(Yah! its a bullet country there) Even Mr Pilot got left behind and i was the first to reach India Gate. Time for some posing.



Khardungla was just a few hundred meters ahead. And it was underwhelming.





Nope.. no puncture


Beyond KhardungLa. No time to do it today


This was nice




Hordes of shawl clad, squeaky clean tourists in their innovas and scorpios were jostling with each other to get clicked with the famous board. I guess thats why BRO has laid so many of them!

Tourists trekking upto the mandir at the top




We took a break at the Worlds highest Cafe (this was annoying. Everything in Leh, even a frigging LPG plant had the tag "Worlds highest ..... "



The maggi story - yet to read it though :P


The black tea story (highly recommended at the cafe)


A bored hanging at the cafe





Maggi and some tea later, we were ready for the way back. Not before a final pose.



Yup, the lady on the left spoiled it a bit. Wish i could photoshop her out into oblivion.

Out of Khardungla and into a mini jam. Our dear friend, the bull dozer, was at work again. Some tourists in the innova were getting worked up about the delay. We were smug, satisfied and posing smartly (we knew they were clicking us secretly :P )
Descending down broken roads is the toughest with a pillion. The zma and the blue 220 pulled ahead while i carefully negotiated each bend and tread gingerly over the gravel. Beyond South pullu i accelerated again and soon passed them as they took a photo cum sutta break.



Convoy on the move. Its a beautiful sight




And another sutta break just before Leh



Regrouped at Leh. The front shocker sealant of Negi's 220 had started leaking. He went to get that fixed while we went to the guest house.
Plan was to go out in the evening into the city. Body wasn't a party to this agreement. We slept soundly and got up only at nine pm. Still, we went, expecting all shutters to be down. Leh at ten in the night was a happening place. Lots of glittering lights, bikers and tourists were walking about. Had a generous dinner at a restaurant. Even the bill was generous. Came back, crashed into bed and checked the TV. Anna had started his fast. I burped.
Tomorrow- an early morning dash to Pangong Tso.

^^^ Something worth to start the day in office..

Day 6: "Tso much more than a lake"

Our early morning starts were a grand affair. So grand that we always managed to inject in an hours delay, atleast. So our 0600 start became a 0730 start. A freak shower greeted us just out of Leh. The Leh to Karu route is truly beautiful. The barren landscape is dotted with pretty houses and a monastery. Even some greenery. Top it off with some really lovely roads and some excellent road manners by the JK registered vehicles, you have a riders paradise.

A random shot at Karu taken by wifey on pillion. Its true, a moving motorcycle doesn't make for a very good tripod


From Karu we took the diversion to Chang La and to Pangong Tso.
The ascent to Chang La beckoned. Our stomachs grumbled. The best part of a fauji guest house stay are the neatly packed sandwiches. Negis' rear tyre was losing tyre pressure dangerously. All the sandwich power and its constituent nutrients were expended to pump up the air.
No, the cameras didn't need any sandwiches. They were happy to click away






I took the lead this time. Deep down, i think on a subconscious level, i wanted to prove that give me an uphill climb and my oldie but fuel injected bike could kick any carb bikes rear.
Spot the bikes if you can


The roads were good and i was not happy about it at all..
"Woh pass hi kya jisko chadhte huye band naa bajey" Right on cue, the roads deteriorated and i was dished out some water crossings and gravel. Also a generous overdose of potholes. Ah! lovely, the pass was near.
Chang La was beautiful. I dare say, the most beautiful pass in the circuit. The fauji establishment there was dishing out free tea, provided we had the courtesy to wash the cups afterwards We even bought some stuff from the souvenir shop. That concluded wifeys shopping excursion

Posing for posterity


The innova parties coming along




This Audi came.. i shot.. and they went away.



We spent a good half an hour in Chang La. Our "me need no diamox shiamox" fauji Negi wasn't feeling very comfy there. We had some fun at his expense and mercifully moved ahead.
Ok! Confession. I don't know what animals these were. From afar, they looked like yaks. Are they...



A closer shot -- i guess not. Maybe a bastard child of one with a horny mountain goat



The biologist in me had died the moment i had exited the class tenth board exam hall. Since then, i know only limited stuff about flora and fauna. Mango Tree, Eucalyptus tree, big tree and small tree. Another one too, MindTree (Dear prospective employer in Bangalore,....Regards, An ardent admirer and potential job seeker)

I have had a disdain for bullets and have never thought them to be practical as touring vehicles(might lose me some hardcore bulleteer readers .. but hang on please) Going towards pangong Tso, i finally understood the "feel" of the bullet. Saw two bulleteer specimens who have stuck to my mind and sometimes thump about inside.
Imagine this
A beautiful valley, a rivulet by the road and snow here and there. A thumping sound and a black bullet comes along. Astride is a white guy with raybans and a guitar on one of the panniers. Musical really. Another guy, same road, same skin and the same disregard for safety(i had to put that in :-P ) with huge dreadlocks(a la the twins in matrix reloaded) flying about and with the same ray bans.

No bulleteers, these..


Suddenly, my 220s throaty roar was sounding more like a purr now
I don't have the skills to describe the sheer beauty of the journey from Chang La base till Pangong Tso. Its an eclectic world. On one corner, you are passing by a beautiful green valley and the very next, you are next to a desert. Moving on, a spot of blue water. All the while, the mountains around you change appearances from red to green to brown to white. Its a bloody fancy dress competition out there.. i tell you.

A pictorial account of our progress.



The bit of desert




The sheep grazing along. This was something we had only read about in the classics.





No words for this pose.



Jawaan Saavdhan!






These are yaks for sure. No tourist would ever get atop a bull.



As we neared the lake, i was looking forward to the pagal nallah. Had read about it with wide eyes in many a travel log. The road started getting rockier. I was determination personified. With steely resolve i took the last turn towards the nallah and ....

What a dampener. Damn! this was no dampener. It was bloody dry. Not an iota of water, not even a stream. Dissapointing is not the word-There is only one word for this, K**D.

Moving on, we made it to this customary photo point.


Now if you zoom a bit more, you get this



A few kilometers further down the road, the lake presented itself in all its glory. Nah! thats an overstatement, a 134 kilometer long lake doesn't bother at all. It just stays there, churning about-changing colours and moods. Beyond the initial setup of shops and the tourist joints, we road ahead. Actually, just us. Negi and Shubrata took a sutta cum photo break. The results are in and i think we all can say that the nicotine worked wonders on the cameras.





A bit of huffing and puffing to get another shot





They finally settled at the edge of the lake







One of the pics of the ride



Beyond the eating joints and a kilometer by the lake, i took a rocky diversion towards the lake. There was this foreigner couple on their bullet and we stalked them. Don't blame me. My bike goes berserk whenever it sees a bullet struggling Its a dog thing.



Anyway, we reached these pretty hut kinda places and took a breather for some water and photographs. Our nicotine free efforts











We traced back and met up with our fellow riders at the edge of the lake.
Shubrata took the pic the precise moment we appeared over the hillock



Time for some snacking (I tell you.. the fauji caretakers think of everything) Sitting by the lake was a surreal experience. We skipped stones on water. I scored 5 bounces and this got the fauji agitated no end. He threw in stone after stone - threatening to raise the water level(remember the crow and pot story) Mercifully, one particular stone bounced a stellar 8 times and the fauji was grinning. You might see that in our second and last group photograph of the ride.



We had some very average buffet lunch at one of the tents. We also had tea - mention worthy because it was frigging Rs 15 a cup! Double the rate - Half the taste. It was already 3:15 PM The Leh to pangong Tso had taken us 5.5 hours. Time for some non stop riding. From there on we rode non-stop to Chang La. I particularly relished the ascent as i remembered that there was a mobile toilet there and nature was calling a lot. Peeing at the worlds third highest pass was a thoroughly satisfying experience. Its pretty cold out there in Chang La and sooner or later things turn to ice...
A few kilometers down i switched on my MotoGP mode and we tore down the roads. Layeth the rubber on the roads Cometh the couple down the hill. We regrouped a few kilometers before Karu. The nicotiners lighted up again. By default, the cams came out and this is what they shot





Coming to that, let me tell you about our altimeter, the lighter. At lower altitudes it would light up easy. At the really higher alti areas, it just wouldn't.
We moved ahead, me in the quest for some momos. Over the last few days i had desperately wanted to have momos but wasn't getting a chance. The nice lady in Karu dished up some steamy mutton momos and some over priced tea for us. The nicotiners zoomed ahead, regrouping point being the petrol pump at the first round-about at Leh.
The sun was settling down and shadows on the hills were stunning.



I was a bit sad as it was our last day at Leh. Regrouped at Leh and went down to the fauji guest house. Wifey and me changed over to normal clothes (read - not dirty) and went to the city for food. I was in love with Leh, and i didn't wanna go. Consoled myself with the thoughts of a 20 day ride atleast, next year.
Came back to the cacophony of shrieking reporters and a fumbling government - all Live. Switched off the TV. This could wait.
Went down to the balcony and breathed in the cold mountain air. The next day, it was to be a leisurely ride to Kargil. Or so i thought.

pangong!!! excellent photography..

Thanks pranav. It was a joint effort of a Nikon, two Canons and a Fujifilm :-)

Amazing write up and good photos. Just felt like did a Leh journey

Absolutely awesome ride ! And truly stunning, stunning pictures !

Way to go guys !!