So where are the more pics ??

Sorry to keep you guys waiting..Pics coming up...

Thank you so much bro for the appreciation...Monsoon made it a lot difficult but added ten times more to the excitement and beauty of the environment then...
PS:Just a correction to your post - I didnt have bike till the end of 2011. Only 8 months with my bike before she got Leh'd..

Once I got confirmation of leave on Monday evening, i sat down to make a list of everything that I had to take with me. After the list was ready, I set out to Lamington Road for the purchase. Got done with the shopping on Tuesday.

Following is the list of items that i took for the trip. Was sufficient for the trip.


Clothes:
2 tracks
1 army track pant
2 Jeans
1 rain pant
4 full sleeve Tshirts
2 half sleeve Tshirts
1 Denim Jacket
1 Woollen jacket
1 Wincheater
1 Muffler
1 Balaclava
1 thermal inner
6 pairs of socks
5 Handkerchiefs
4 pairs of inner wears
1 pair of slippers
1 pair of gumboots (can be bought from manali for 300 rs).
1 pair of riding gloves
2 pairs of surgical gloves - they are useless out there so take proper gloves without air-vents only.
1 pair of arm pads and knee pads

Tools and Spare Parts:Toiletries and Medicinal items:
2 packets of glucon-d
1 toothpaste and toothbrush
1 soap
Shaving kit
1 strip of Diamox
1 strip of combiflam
Relispray
Moov
10 Bandaids

Good to Read thread....

Fotula top looks so different. It was just a matter of few days. Where did all the prayer flags go

Thanks man...Day 3 onwards it will with good to view pics as well....

Oh ya..all flags gone...maybe someone may have needed to protect himself from cold...I felt it really cold with rain falling that day...

The Calm before the Storm

No comments since a long time..Isn't anybody liking the updates??





I had kept the alarm at 2:30 am the previous night but alarm kept ringing and snoozing and finally I woke up at 5:30am. I got ready and left by 6:15 am. The drive was the best drive of my life. River was flowing on the right side and the morning mist above the river made the surrounding heavenly. I was feeling as if it was a dream. The environment was absolutely divine.

Some morning misty pics:










Reached the start of Rohtang La by 8am. It started raining. That increased the cold as well as fog right from the start. I was driving very slowly. The road was plain tarmac.

The first pic at Rohtang:


Some more pics before the nightmare starts:














I just kept wondering if and when slushy road would start. Slowly, slowly tarmac started getting covered with more and more layers of mud and then the nightmarish Rani nalla appeared (Rani nalla is the worst stretch of Rohtang La..covered with most amount of slush). Ankle height slush made the drive all the more difficult. There was traffic all around. Bikers finding way from every possible gap. I was advised by a friend that half-clutch will be needed to generate power when bike gets stuck at high mountain passes and I did exactly the same, everytime I used to get stuck (A mistake on my part since I didn't realize the fact that I was driving R15 and the friend who had advised me had driven on FZ)QUITSSome pics of the slushy region:




In all this mess, I forgot to describe Rohtang. Yes, due to rains, there was unimaginable slush but that made Rohtang all the more beautiful. I was driving in clouds all throughout. It was a scene right out of fiction movies. Snow-clad mountains, blue sky, chilling cold and clouds all around. Rohtang Top was the best place to be in the whole world that day. Fingers were so numb that after every 5 mins, I had to touch the engine to get some feeling back in my veins. That was the first time in my life, I got to touch snow with my bare hands. The feeling is indescribable. I was clicking pics like a person just out of cage after many years of captivity. Every 5 minutes drive, I was halting for pics as the view ahead was better than the previously clicked one.

Rohtang La at its best:A Waterfall en route:


Couldn'd help stopping by to click this pic:

ehhh !! another nice log ...R15 looking cool there ...

Hey Najju

Nice write-up and must say that pics are different; showing the actuals about the road conditions.
Congrats to you as you have completed it all alone!
Where's the rest?

Super trip buddy

It's always a nice feeling to live your dreams

Getting Leh'd is on my wish list for next year

Cool pics...nice log

Thanks Man...

Thanks bro...Rest coming soon...

Thanks a lot bro...Hope you fulfill your wish too asap....

Great log... Love reading about the challenges in getting to Leh/Ladakh.. makes the trip all the more satisfying! Cant wait to be in India to do this myself! Keep the updates coming!

Cheers