Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Uff !! Cliffhanger, Jeevan come up with the next part immediately.

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

[MENTION=62178]jeevan.life[/MENTION] where is the remaining part of the t-log?

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Sorry for the loong vacation from writing, getting stuck in office was obvious after a month long trip. Here I am to narrate the next part

Day 8 - Continued:

I headed towards Sonamarg which was my destination for the day, completely unaware of what was waiting for me. Well, the first thing I saw waiting was a road block, a soldier and a nozzle of AK47 staring at my visor. Not a pleasant sight, and next was the extended left arm of the officer pointing towards the nearby road. I was a little adament and I pointed towards the direction I wanted to go.

Slowly the AK47 was waved in front of my face and the nozzle was pointed left, where he wanted me to go. What more options do you have when it happens? You dont want to die with road to heaven in front of you, do you Slowly I pulled up, entered the road and finally reached a parking space, which was full of vehicles!! Atleast 1000 people sitting there cursing the army folks. Met a few people from Bangalore who were shocked at the concept of riding alone from Bangalore.

The road ahead was blocked as there was a communal riot and people were throwing stones sitting atop mountains at the tourists!! I was worried and was stuck. Road back to Srinagar was blocked too as the stone pelting was slowly spreading everywhere. Wow, what an end to my dream ride! I was sitting at a corner, thats when I saw a few bikers. Finally some hope, greeted them and we had lunch together. The size of the group had grown to 11 bikers in no time. 4 airforce officers, 2 friends from UP and Punjab and rest from Bangalore and Chennai.

All the vehicles were asked to go back to Srinagar by evening. We being bikers, got permission to head to Sonamarg somehow and happily we trotted ahead. We were stopped immediately at the next checkpoint. We were reluctant to stay back and were trying to convince the officials to let us through, when another pair of bikers came in. They were locals and were let through by the army men after due warning. We were fighting with the officers and that when we saw the pair that went 10 minutes back, zoom back at double the speed they went at!! One big dent at the fuel tank and the pillion with injury to the back, shouting mad@rc&*d log and other abuses to the stone pelters!!

Courage melted and we quickly turned back in search of shelter for night!

The group:



Thanks to the presence of airforce guys, we got to stay at the Rashtriya Rifles camp. It was a wonderful experience, and really enjoyed the hospitality provided to us. Made good friends in the form of paaji and Abhi bhai, had lots of fun. We were to leave in the early hours when the namaz and fasting were being taken care by the locals so that we could escape from the raining stones. Went to sleep hoping for the best.

Day 9: Ganderbal to Sankoo : Raining stones and snow

We were up and running at 2 and the terms were clear. Stick together till we cross Sonmarg. And we did. It hurts to say, Sonmarg which was one of the destinations I was looking forward to was full of broken glass pieces from vehicles. We could see blood at road and there was no human in sight! The Amarnath yatra tents were burnt and it was a sad sight. We had to push forward and get to Zozilla which we knew would lead us to safety. Thankfully Zozilla was in the best of behaviours, and let us cross it without much fuss.

View from half way into Zozila climb



Smiling curves of Zozilla



A group reunion



My first close snow encounter



Look at the size of the snow formation!



Rough, dangerous roads



And the road ahead




Had breakfast and the much required break at Marhi and wean ahead towards Kargil. We separated at Kargil as I had plans to go to Zanskar and the rest of the group was headed to Leh. The roads are fantastic and it was a breeze riding till Kargil. Had my first fall of the ride on a hairpin curve when the bungee cord which held the saddle bags on the left snapped. Knee guards did their job and I headed forward with nothing but bruised ego.

Entering Ladakh



The local don



Roads along the river



Yeah baby



Paid my respects to the jawans who gave their lives for us.







En route Kargil:




I split from the group and headed towards Sankoo which was another 40 Kms ahead. Found the JKTDC guest house and called it a day.

The day was exciting and tiring. Filled the growling tummy and went to sleep. Tomorrow I had a back breaking ride of 200Kms and Padum was calling.


Coming up next,- CBR Zanskarified





Cheers
G1

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Thanks Abhi

Wow, even my manager doesn't say this

Done Prakash bhai

Cheers
G1

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Look who is back on track

Sent from my HM 1SW using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Bro, what's with the SRK pose? Nice edits BTW.

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Hey jeevan, you are still not got out of Valley. I was planning for this year (2015). Nice to read T log that you have started. Cheers

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Hey G1,

Let me post a Pic after the first fall (Not the Biker Fault)

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Day 10: Sankoo to Padum: Distance 200km, time taken 14 hours!!

While I was planning the ride, I was so over confident that I could take 200kms of off road easily, so over confident that I ignored the people who asked me to stay in Rangdum and split the journey to 2 days. Now, I had set my destination to Padum and headed out at 6 in the morning from Sankoo. The roads were nice for the initial part. Beautiful scenery all around, and I pulled up at Panikhar JKTDC for tea. Had awesome dose of butter tea and drank like 4 glass of it Met a wonderful group of people from Padum and had good time chatting with them.

Now the fun began and the roads turned to stony rocky torturous dusty objects. 20kms into the ride, the bungee chord came off the hook and tail bag fell off. The views were very beautiful and I headed on slowly. Trust me, my top speed for the day was 29kmph and cruising speed was 24kmph.

I reached Panzi La and was searching for the Drang Durang galcier and a quick look at the map made me realize that it was further away. The views were amazing, and there was no human, no habitation nor any vehicle in sight. It was absolute solitude and all the mountains were yours.
























View from Drang Durang. Look how tiny the road is compared to the glacier!! And it was freezing cold near the glacier due to winds.








View from top. Those tiny lines are the roads leading to Zanskar.



However, I headed on. Reached Rangdum on time for lunch. Took a longish break and carried on towards Padum. It was very hot and the roads were not helping the cause either.



Rangdum Gonmpa







Evening came in quickly and so did the darkness. It was me and the roads with no one for company. Somehow reached at 9 and stayed in Padum JKTDC. I was too tired to roam around and body was making a creaking sound Called it a day
and went to sleep.

Day 11: Padum-Stongdey-Zangla-Padum:

Took it easy this day, went around visiting monastries and took my sweet time enjoying the beauty.







Stongdey Gonmpa standing tall





A steep climb later.. view from Stongdey



Couple of self captured pics for posergiri









And a much dreamt milky way shot from Padum



Met Badhariji from Burn Boundaries who organizes rides to Ladakh. Had a dose of old monk with him and decided that we will head out together back to Leh and part ways from there. It was good having him along.

Next up, a monstrous water crossing, and reaching Leh

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Brilliant photography.

Sent from my Xperia L.

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Just amazing. Truly inspiring. Congrats on the safe completion of the ride.

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Thanks a lot guys.

Cheers
G1
Sent from my OPO using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Amazing stuff man.

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Day 12: Padum - Panikhar:

The day began on a high note. Badhriji was up and ready on time and we were riding back on the treacherous roads after a shot of tea. Speaking of tea, I must mention the hotel in front of JKTDC guest house. The guy was so friendly, when I asked for tea to be taken to guest house, he gave it in his flask, without even asking who the hell I was!! Such trust is hard to find, and this is one thing I observed in all of Ladakh. You wont be scared to go solo, neither will you feel that you will be conned.



Twin lakes: Stat- Tso and Lang Tso





And a pic of Panzi La board



All was going well till we faced this monster. Luckily 4 guys were stranded on the other side and we helped each other cross. The water was ice cold and flow was fast.



We chased one couple who were heading to Padum who thought our gestures to stop as a friendly wave and informed them not to try cross the stream as there is not much vehicular movement in the road.




one more milkyway shot from Panikhar





We called it a day as we were too tired and had a peaceful night.

Day13: Panikhar - Kargil- Leh

This was the long awaited day!! I was reaching Leh today and I was excited. We carried on at usual pace and the roads from Kargil were amazing and could put even the best of highways to shame.











Lamayuru monastry



Moonlands







Enroute Leh:




Magnetic hills


Indus river



Leh in sight



Got a comfy room thanks to Badhriji and his contacts. Met Akshay who was also from Bangalore and he tagged with me for rest of the ride. Next up, Leh and around



Cheers
G1

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Amazing pics

Re: Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories

Thanks a lot guys

Cheers
G1