After one of these stretches, I checked the rear tyre. There was barely 1/2 a cm of tread left untouched so I was leaned over almost at the max limit of the tyre. That sobered me up but only a wee bit I feared my wife more than the bodily implications of a prang.

I have a Reliance Netconnect+ and my speed limit has been reached for this billing cycle so the Net is crawling like it was goinf up Khardungla in a rick. The moment it is back to normal, the fotos and videos will go up.





Thanks you very much for the salute and the compliments for the log. It is returned with similar sentiments.

Did you try for the Air Force? I guess you must have not made the cut for a variety of reasons, motivation not being among them. I was a Air Force cadet in the NDA myself but had to go to the Army due to a spinal injury sustianed during an equestrian event. Anyway, all's well that ends well. Being an ERP pro is very good work.

Very nice and very well described and written. Liked the format easy to read and comprehend.

Congrats on completing an outstanding ride, and preparing a detailed, yet crisp log . I just finished reading it for the second time, just to make sure I dint miss anything!
I really regret not having been able to make it to this ride. It's not often that I get a chance to rub shoulders with someone in the forces, and to do a 15 day ride with someone from the Army would've been a major learning experience in many many ways. But your log is so well written, I actually felt like I half did the trip myself. In an age and time where the beauty of the written word is often overshadowed by digital collection of pixels, it was really refreshing to read a log that, despite being bereft of pics, was descriptive enough to present a moving picture in my head!

Thanks for the compliments, Kaushik.

I have taken some photos and videos and will shortly be uploading them; my net connection is maxed out and waiting for 25th or 26th Sep fot it go get back up to speed.

And yes, the written word is falling out of fashion these days. Pity...

I happened to come across other team of your group at Khardungla & one of the member (Tall young fellow on White ZMR, Rjays riding pants) informed me about the young couple who met with a tragic accident on outskirts of Kargil around June 13-14. All i was told was that they were from your original group & flown back to bangalore for medical assistance. The girl was seriously injured i guess & needed a leg surgery. I hope you have idea about their whereabouts & condition now.

Great to see an Army person in biking, i grown up in the army environment as my dad was in ARMY, and as usual i am very much towards Defense Services. BTW nicely written and good pics, keep it up and hope to meet you when i visit pune at any time. It always give me pleasure to meet army personnel.

Prologue
“I just hope that we get to serve on it before India and Pakistan come to an agreement, Operation Meghdoot closes down and then we have to see it as tourists! I want that steel grey and white Siachen ribbon so much, sir.” I glanced at the maker of this idiotic remark. It was Capt XYZ, a brother officer and close friend, sitting in my office over a cup of tea. I empathised with him completely.

It was sometime in October 1995. My unit - 22 RAJPUT – had been stationed somewhere in Punjab for some time and we were due to leave for some other place in a couple of months. For the past few weeks, there had been a buzz around the unit that it was to go to Leh and thence to the Siachen glacier. Also, at this very time, the newspapers were rife with stories of a building rapprochement between India and Pakistan over this disputed barrenness. The papers went so far to say that per “official sources who wished to remain anonymous”, both countries were in the process of pulling their troops back and agreeing on a new ground position line.

We young officers were all very eager to serve on what was then touted as the highest battlefield in the world (it still is) and we honestly did not want peace to come before we had been blooded in action. Unfortunately, this peace initiative did not come through. And most unfortunately for my dear colleague, he did go to Siachen and there, he met his Maker. But I am preempting myself.

11 April 1996, 0730h

After my high altitude and Siachen tenure was over, I slipped back into routine life, treasuring those memories and resolving to visit all those places once again, some day, some way. It took 14 plus years for factors to fall into place for a return visit to the beautiful places I had served in and to reminisce about those times as I went along.
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I have put the videos at one place in a chronological order as it is easier for me to upload and easier for readers to view and crosslink. Here they are:

13 June 2012 Before Mulbekh - 13 June 2012 Short Of Mulbekh - YouTube- Nice Song selection,

13 June 2012 The Op Vijay Memorial - 13 June 2012 The Operation Vijay Memorial, Kargil - YouTube -

14 June 2012 The Magnetic Hill - 14 June 2012 The Magnetic Hill - YouTube - Is that you at 0.41 in the video.

16 June 2012 At South Pullu - 16 Jun 2012 At South Pullu - YouTube -

16 June 2012 Last 50 meters to Khardung La - 16 June 2012 Last 50 meters to Khardung La - YouTube

16 June 2012 Descent from Khardung La - 16 June 2012 Descent from Khardung La - YouTube- what happened at 0.19 . Also Bad roads

16 June 2012 At North Pullu - 16 June 2012 At North Pullu - YouTube

17 June 2012 The Nubra Valley - 17 June 2012 The Nubra Valley at Khalsar - YouTube

17 Jun 2012 The Op Meghdoot Memorial - 17 Jun 2012 The Operation Meghdoot Memorial, Siachen Base Camp - YouTube - Bro, what are the names ( Amar, Warshi, Camp V, Siala, Ashok, Chinar, Das) just before the shahid dates

19 June 2012 At Pang - 19 June 2012 At Pang - YouTube

21 June 2012 Ice cream at Kulu - 21 June 2012 Ice cream at Kulu - YouTube - Where is the Icecream,

Dear Manish sir, Jaihind.. I haven't yet gone thru your entire thread, just finished the start up.. your write up is tremendously terrific and touching heart..
you are one of those great personalities who fought for us having a life threat risk with no fear on face or in heart... i salute you..
Though riding to Leh was a tough job, now a days many ppl rode to Leh and it became very common... but very few write ups are very interesting.. yours is gem of them, i believe..