thanks for the appreciation..was the construction just before Ramban? !

Ya, the dam site is before Ramban..just a few kms before (towards jammu side)

yeah, then I had seen it..but as I've written, we were so exhausted that we weren't paying any attention, so had no patience to stop and click...!

Man.. You are Awesome.... I am Glued to your Thread...... Amazing write up... Breath taking Pics... Great...

Awesome travelogue this.

Rated the thread

We reached the army quarters in Srinagar around 2:00 PM, where we were to stay for the night. That was another new and awesome experience. Never had I been so confident in keeping the door unlocked even when Amogh and I both were out! The army hospitality was outstanding.

BRO can you give me the details of the army quarters in srinagar and give a brief of how much are the charges per day along with food. You know even i'm planning a trip to leh shortly and would like to know more about staying in these army quarters.

your Travelogue was stupendous and informative,

Rated the Thread... I am checking this Thread before my office mails.....

DAY 8: (Leh-Khardung La-Nubra Valley)


Today was a big day for us, we were excited to ride on the highest motorable road in the world! Alongside our excitement, there was this fear in our minds as to how our bikes and even our body would react at the extreme altitude.


After the problem in my bike was sorted out the previous day, I was pretty confident my bike would climb all the way without a hitch, but Amogh on the other hand was a bit concerned because a few people had suggested him to get the "wire in the carbueretor" mod done to reduce the chances of more fuel entering the combustion chamber than it can handle in that amount of air, but he chose not to do it not only because that day the mechanic was busy, but also because the same mechanic said that it was not necessary and the bike would climb easily.


We woke up to mild showers and mist. It was pretty cool too, but not enough to warrant the use of inner-wear and sweaters or even the thermal lining of our DSG jackets. Had a small chat with a few bulleteers(again bullets!) from Uttarakhand, whom we had met the previous day. They too were in the same hotel as us and were heading to K-top and Nubra Valley too. We unanimously decided (Amogh and I) not to ride with them. Our hotel owner told us to expect snow-fall at the top, which for us at that time atleast was a welcome news! After a quick run to the ATM, we left for K-top.

Our hotel, us and the bulleteers from Uttarakhand!
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Leh is at an altitude of around 11,500 ft. from sea-level and K-top is at 18,380 ft. The gain in altitude in the 45 kms from Leh to K-top is around 6500 ft.(2 kms!).
It means that the climb is pretty steep and the change in the weather on that day was quite sudden.
As we began the climb, there were signs on the road sides, showing how proud BRO was for having built these roads. Soon enough, we reached the check-post 14 kms before the top. I, shivering by that time, went and submitted the permits and made the entry. That is when we decided to put on the thermal lining of our jackets on. Our hands too were taking the brunt of the falling mercury. My Cramster Twisters and Amogh's DSG Primals both were inadequate in keeping our hands warm, though both kept the hands dry. My fingers had started getting numb because of the cold. Both of us were carrying a pair or surgical gloves, which we hoped would help keep our hands dry and warm. I chose to wear them under the Twisters. After a few pics, we carried on and decided to stop at the top!

Here's one!
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The roads were excellent till around 10-15 kms before the top. The roads here too, turn from tarmac to no tarmac abruptly. As we gained more and more altitude, the mercury kept falling, there was a dense fog and the visibility dropped drastically. We could not see more than a few feet away. There were now huge rocks on the road, resulting in a very very bumpy ride. Both of us had slowed down and were riding in first gear at barely 8-10 kmph. But, the excitement and thrill was unlike I had ever experienced in my life! The dangers were really high, low-visibility, slippery riding surfaces, and one slip would translate into reaching a place much higher than K-top.
The tourist vehicle drivers too were not of much help, driving recklessly, overtaking recklessly, honking like fools although they could see we have half the number of wheels as them and are in a state barely half as comfortable as what they were in.

We continued our ascent, the cold had become so bad that I had to actually touch my engine compartment to warm my hands up! The surgical hand gloves were actually making things worse, they would not trap the warmth at all! It was great fun riding there, at that time specially.


In that kind of cold, we had to keep our helmet visors open, because the heat from our breath would fog up the insides of the visor if closed! It was a different experience altogether! It had even started to snow a little!
Turn after turn we kept climbing. I was expecting the ride to be longer, but on one turn as I looked up I could see those prayer flags fluttering in the strong cold winds!

Immediately, I knew that we had done it!

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A maharashtrian family at the top! In the end, we were sick of seeing Marathi people everywhere!
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The feeling was ecstatic! The only thing that was mine over there, the only familiar sight, in such a remote location, so far away from home, so high above the sea level, was my beautiful beautiful bike! I can't describe the feeling of sitting on a familiar saddle, looking at a familiar speedo dial and thinking, a few days before, the same bike was in Nagpur, that it has come all the way with me, has taken every bump, every single kilometer to its stride, that it has been loyal to me and it has proven to me that all the care I'd taken for it in these years was worth it! It was a very proud moment for me!


There was quite a lot of snow up there! Lots of fog, quite a few idiots as well!


After a few pics, I was having a mild headache!
I was dying for a cup of hot tea or coffee or hot anything! But sadly, the cafeteria was closed!
I spotted the souvenir shop open and I had to get some stuff to remind us of this journey for years to come!
We got ourselves T-shirts and mugs from there. That guy told me that there was no water supply there for the past two days, that's why the cafeteria was closed.


Still snowing, we could barely go a few seconds without shivering! After stuffing the souvenirs in our bags we left the top, now towards Nubra Valley.


The story on the other side of K-top was the same. For the first 15 kms, the road was non-existent. There was some snow on the road too! Had to be really careful, narrow roads, snow make it a recipe for disaster!

I was not exactly feeling my best either. The altitude was obvious to take a toll when combined with the cold temperatures. We encountered quite a few small streams and a big-ish water crossing too.
Soon enough, tarmac appeared and all was good again except, now that the roads now were now not accompanied by the mountains on the immediate side. It meant that now there was a vast open space and the chilly winds were taking their turn at reminding us that one should think before he wishes for something (snow )!

Another consequence of the high altitude was that I was feeling really sleepy! It was the first time ever (afaik) that day, that I yawned while riding or at least while touring! I was aware enough to realize that it was not a good sign, so we stopped for a bit, still dying for some tea!


The cold place
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The winds we making it really harsh for us. There was no way one could get any shelter from the wind, even for a split second!
This just goes to show, how small, vulnerable and helpless one can feel. We sat on the roadside for a bit, just to try to get some rest. I was surprised that the tarmac was actually warm! We were so desperate for some warmth, I even toyed with the idea of taking the blanket we were carrying in the saddle bag and cuddling up in it! Just as I convinced Amogh to take it out from the bag, it started drizzling a bit and we had no option but to start riding again. We could see a few tents further down. It turned out to be an army base. They told us good news that South Pullu? was not far from there and that we would surely get tea there!

We reached there, parked our bikes, and directly went to a stall and ordered tea, maggi with omelette and some biscuits too! Even holding the cup of hot tea was like heaven! Before I could finish off my maggi, i dozed off! While Amogh tried his best to wake me up and make me finish my maggi, all he could manage out of me was that I ate a bite and dozed off again! While Amogh went on and ordered another maggi, I had a nice nap sitting on that chair for some fifteen odd minutes!

That left me totally refreshed! We left that place. Soon, there were awesome curves and awesome tarmac with no traffic at all! It was a cornering fest then!
Maintaining good speeds, and with no more events to speak of we reached our "camping" place.

You can barely call it a camp when there is an attached bathroom with running hot water!
We reached around 5:30 or 6:00 PM as far as i remember. The only network working there (barely) was BSNL. Neither I nor Amogh had any coverage, called home using the WLL the "camp" guys had! After dinner we hit the bed, with plans of visiting the dunes and heading back to Leh the next day.

The first view of the sand dunes! Really beautiful! I'm not sure about this, but I think that the scene in 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' in which 'Milkha' is training in a desert, with a tyre tied on his waist(?) was shot in nubra valley. Can someone confirm this?
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It was raining quite a bit, all along the way that day. Our bikes, hence were comparatively clean!
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Thanks a lot man!
also, guys I am really sorry for the delayed updates. Really can't find time with the new job and all!
Will complete the log though, so be patient and do keep checking for updates!



Lol! I hope your boss doesn't read this!
I'm glad you like the thread! Thanks!