Announcement

**The Monk** · 10-11-2014, 12:54 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Travelogue Approved

Congrats on another wonderful ride done by you Narendra. As you know, we do not advocate helmetless riding and thus i have removed those pictures.

Thanks

**itsmevini123** · 10-11-2014, 01:27 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Another scooter ride, bring it on

**narender** · 10-11-2014, 01:30 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Big thanks for approving the log.

**dichkaun** · 10-11-2014, 03:54 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

wow. only respect from my side... doing this on a scooter.
Waiting to hear more on your experiences.

**shahbaz63** · 10-11-2014, 10:32 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

#Respect.... you sir, is amazing.

**krishna77** · 10-13-2014, 12:46 AM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

I'm not going anywhere. How can I? It's your log after all!

**lonelykid** · 10-13-2014, 10:42 AM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Where did you start the scooter ride from?

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Tapatalk

**krishna77** · 11-08-2014, 05:32 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

MsterJi, we are waiting.

**chaosaddict** · 11-10-2014, 01:12 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Okay I know what's coming and I ain't goin' nowhere. Let'em come Sir.

**narender** · 03-30-2015, 11:00 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

So here begins the tale...............Day 1,2 and 3 Delhi-Hoshiarpur-Udhampur-Banihal

Before I begin,let me go back to my June 2013 Scooter ride to Ladakh with my close friends.I covered K-top,Nubra,Pangong,Chushul,Hanle but due to bad weather ,I could not fulfill my dream of riding on elusive Umba La road neither i could cross Agam-Shyok road because of a violent Shyok river in the month of June.

For those who are not aware,Umba La starts at Drass and bypasses Kargil and directly take you to Sankoo in Suru valley.
Agam-Shyok route is a direct route to Pangong from Nubra bypassing Khardung La,Leh and Chang La.It is shorter too and save one day,save lots of Fuel too.

I coluld not rode on these above elusive and adventerous route in June 2013 and to add to injury a very cold weather and overcast sky dealt a heavy blow to my photography and my camera slept in the bag suffocating itself for most part of the ride.

During those frustrating moments I soliloquize,"I dont come to Ladakh everyday.It is a tough terrain,land of gushing rivers,torrents,broken roads,inaccessible high mountain passes,thin oxygen,a food nightmares,its air burns your skin.Even after going through so much extreme elements,I could not fulfill my dream of adventure and photography.If June month is so much volatile,I must come here in September next year,the month which is considered silent and stable weather wise."

In June 2103 ride,I suffered all these painful Ladakhi phenomena and my frustrated soul took an Oath-

"""Next time,I will come here only in September"""

I honoured my oath and embarked on yet another scooter ride to Ladakh on 31st August 2014 from my home in Dwarka expecting fine weather with clear sky but-

Man Proposes and God Disposes.

Fate had some other surprises for me.As soon as I crossed Delhi border on NH 1 sky opened up and began showing its ugly face.It was again H2O coming down in abundance.Absence of any rain gear forced me to seek refuge in a roadside Tea shack.Meanwhile,my riding partner friend Jaspreet Kohli FROM Meerut joined me.Few hours in waiting but no sighn of rain to stop.We decided to resume our ride in rain after securing our camera gears wrapped in multiple layers of plastic covers and tarapaulins.

We managed to leave behind the wet area and plesantly found Khara-Banur-Ropar highway dry and minus rain.Devoid of any kind of wetness.Took a prolonged break at Shambhu Toll barrier with fresh fruit juice and relaxed for some time.Our first day target was to reach Pathankot but many hours were sacrificed before rain God and we could only managed till Hoshiarpur where our Doc saab Victor were already waiting at his college friend's home.All of us three united at Hoshiarpur and straightway headed for a non-veg dhaba which can allow us to drink beer.
Sada Punjab has no dearth of such places and we found a dhaba and wine shop side by side.Few glasses of beer gulped down and we all switched to travelling mode and forget fatigue of day long ride.Lol....

While we were relishing our Beers and Tikkas in dhaba,Dr Victor phone rang and his friend forced us to stay at his house for the night.We had a very homely sound sleep at his big spacious cozy home.The generous host was Dr Chaitnya and his family.

Second Day on 1st Sep 2014.Breakfast of butter toasts and stuffed paranthas at Chaitnya's home discussion about our future riding plans were discussed.But outside,itis little sombre with mild rain.With a heavy heart,second day ride was also started in rain.For many kilometers,rain caused us a suffocating slow pace and nightmarishJammu-Srinagar highway doubled the agony.We could only reach till udhampur and settled in Singh Palace for night stay.800 RS for an AC room.After dumping luggage in the room it was Time for hunt for Beer and but all the shops were closed.Someone suggested us to try a Bar nearby as Bar opened for little late.We reached there at nick of the time.Bartender was closing the Bar but he entertained us and gave us 4 bottles of badly needed Beers which were emptied in our Hotel room gossiping and cursing the rain.Later around 11 pm we had a dinner at small hotel in Udhampur market.Day had been slow and painful but we all managed to have a good time at the end of the day and slept peacefully expecting for a better day tomorrow.

3rd Day 2nd September 2014. The day of No Mercy by Rain God.

Have you noticed the irony in this tale??
I mean,I choose September expecting it to be silent and stable month weather wise.And opposite is happening.Rain has been chasing me since first day like an enemy.It is like I am being hunted with a pre planned strategy.

तो भाई लोगों तीसरे दिन की शुरुआत भी बारिश में करनी पड़ी

I had to start my third day ride in rain again

Third day,on a broken,busy and wet slippery Jammu-Srinagar highway.Overtaking the snail paced over loaded truck was very frustrating and tiring.My glasses and
obscure visor of the helmet was being lashed with piercing rain drops.Rain drops kept sticking on my glasses resulting almost complete blindness.Very dangerous scenerio on NH.I was not carrying any rain gear so prolonged ride in heavy rain drenched me to the core and in few hours,core temperature of my body dropped shivering started.Each moment on scooter was unbearable and i was no mood to jeopardize my health.

Remember,it is 2nd September 2014,the tragic day when heavy JK floods claimed many lives and devastated the valley due to heavy flash floods.But I am not aware of all these tragic sordid saga and magnitude of the devastating effects of this rain.We could only manage to reach Banihal (80 kms form Udhampur).I was out of energy and stopped my scooter Maple Hotel of JK Tourism.Drenched,Shaken,tired and oblivious of tragic flash floods.Luckily Maple was empty and caretaker Manjoor opened a room for us.Tariff 600 rs.It was still heavily raining at the time of when we entered Maple.

My well planned 2014 Scooter ride was doomed.

Man Proposes God Disposes"How true these words are.

Giving Tips to Jassi

Approaching Udhampur at Night

Relaxing in Udhampur Hotel

Hoshiarpur

In front of Dhabain Hoshiarpur

On Jammu-Srinagar Highway

View at Patnitop

Jammu-Srinagar Highway

View en route

Butter+Chicken=??

Inside tea shop bewtween Udhampur-Banihal

Lunch before Pathankot

Inside a dhaba for Chicken lunch

Inside tea shop bewtween Udhampur-Banihal

Jammu-Srinbagar highway in rain

View near Pathankot

In Friend's home at Hoshiarpur

At toll plaza near Pathankot

Inside tea shop bewtween Udhampur-Banihal

Our friend's home at Hoshiarpur

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Stuck in Banihal Flash Floods for 5 days

Being chased by rain start from the begining at my home for last 3 days,I entered inside premise of Hotel Maple ,Banihal in completely drenched,shivering,and deadly tired state.Thankfully room was available for us and I was able to discard my dripping clothes and put on some comforting dry clothes to feel some comfort after being remain wet for last 8 hours.

Food service was not functioning in Maple but luckily few Dhabas were outside of our hotel.Boy from Kailash Hindu Dhaba served us teas and i was able to warm myself.Rain was still pouring and suddenly I saw a large crowd over the bridge and everyone were shocked to see a raging water stream.Upon enqiring,i came to know that Kashmir valley has been hit by a devastating flash flood and Jammu highway is broken and traffic stalled.Police had warned everyone to remain inside untill further announcement.

I all got calls from my home and Pragya,my wife, at home were shocked hearing the news of flood and she told that all the TV channel are full of flood news and airing shocking images from valley.She feared the repeat of Uttarakhand flood last year.I assured her that we are safe and staying in Maple GH at Banihal and also warned her that there may no be no more communication for next few days as power is gone here and we may ran out of phone battery.Rain continued for next 4 days.

Stuck and trapped for 4 days at Banihal was very troublesome,frustrating and boring time.No power,nothing to do,no photography,could not move outside due to heavy rain.Only option was to gossip,gossip and sleep thru the day.We had to eat same Kali Dal,Baingan ka Bhurta at dhaba in each meal.Luckily the hotel adjacent to Kailash Dhaba served us Rogan Josh one day but next day that hotel also ran out of Supply and lack of customers forced it to remain closed for next few days.All the shops remain closed during rain barring few shops which were well stocked with Ration and grocery.People's mobile turned dead without charging.A shop near our hotel had generator and they offered charging facility for 20 bucks and we charged our BSNL phone.I also talked to Jagjit Singhji and he warned us not venture any further towards Srinagar and advised us to abandon our ride and return to home whenever road open.We all became very sad hearing this.

To make the matter worse for us,Banihal is a dry town.No alcohol allowed.You cant talk about liquor here.It is a prohibited item here.But our Doc saab somehow convinced a local gentleman and he fetched a ROYAL STAG which helped us keeping our spirit high and we entertained ourselves in our room while rain was still pouring.During those drinking rounds,Doc and Jassi helped me learn some Punjabi language and they taught me some some Punjabi Galliyan and forced me to recite those Gaaliyan in loud voice while they recorded my non-veg Punjabi dialogue.Lol....What an enjoyable time thanks to that precious bottle of Army ROYAL STAG.

Kailash Punjabi Hindu dhaba running for 45 years at Banihal

Kailash Punjabi Hindu dhaba running for 45 years at Banihal

Daru-Sharu---gupshup

Doc Victor preparing pegs

Cheers for group

Daru lighten up doc's face

Doc arranging glasses for a picture

Jasso loked Soda

Rogan Josh in dinner adjacent to Kailash Dhaba

The Guys who served us Rogan Josh

Officially my DOB is in month of June but my original DOB is 3rd Sep.The second day of JK Floods.Doc and Jassi threw a small party for me and we celebrated my birthday at Banihal.Cake and Pastry was available at a Bakery near by.

Doc saab clicking bday cake

Decoration time

Some sweet birthday moments

The Cake

And the birthday boy

Photo time

The set up of bday celebration

Finallyy on 6th Sep around 8 in the nigh,rain stopped and a glimpse of Moon appeared on the sky indicating end to our plight.We were upbeat after seeing scattered clouds and moon peeping out of them.Our face lit up and excitement soared that perhaps we would be able to continue our journey towards Srinagar at the day break.

After 5 days,we literally saw a "Silver lining in dark clouds"

Moon that brighten our gloomy face

JKTDC Hotel Maple in moonlight

Kailash Dhaba staff

Me clicking dhaba staff

Doc Victor

Jammu-Srinagar highway after 5 days rain

This is how I clicked Moon pictures

Hotel Maple,our adobe for 5 days in rain

Next day we prepared our vehicles for further journey but caretaker Manjoor advised us to wait for one more day till he get some news about road status.Previous night a WagonR had arrived in Hotel Maple from Srinagar side dodging the flooded and submerged highway.That car also brought hope for us that may be we can also reach Srinagar somehow.Manjoor called his colleague at Sonmarg JK guest house and his collegaue replied that traffic is open between Srinagar-Sonmarg and there is not much damage at this section.I also enquired from local taxis about road status and each driver told that roads are open till Qazigund after that roads are filled with slush and not even a truck can cross that slush.Back at Maple,some Batote residents were also staying with us,I asked them about any alternative route to reachSrinagar bypassing Qazigund-Khannabal-highway.They said that we can reach Srinagar by taking detour at Khannabal then going to Shopian,Pulwama and then join Srinagrat Naugaon bypass.

Three of us at JK Maple hotel at Banihal

8th Sep 2014.We resumed our Ride to Srinagar when rain stops after 5 days

Road status and flood situation and damage on Shopian-Pulwama unknown.Very tricky situation.To go or not to go.At one point of such frustrating moment,i even thought of taking Kistwar-Killad route to reach Leh-Manali highway and going to Ladakh.But that too was ruled out as road stauts was unknown for this section.We discussed our strategy among us and decided in unison that we should proceed further to wards Srinagar...Jo hoga dekh lenge.""""

And we started our ride,crossed Jawahar Tunnel.Soldiers posted at tunnel were perplexed to see us riding.They thought us fool.Their glances were like that.Reached Titanic point and saw Paddy fields below drowned in water but still it was a good view from Titanic Point.Camera was tightly packed inside multiple layers of plastic covers,so no photo.My entire attention was focused to find a route which can take us to Srinagar.Crossed Tunnel and filled our petrol supply for next unknown kilometers.

Then Came Qazigund,which was looking like time has frozen there.Most of the shops shut,all vehicles parked silently,no movement,no honking,no hustle-bustle nothing.Curfew like situation.Bunch of truck drivers busy taliking in groups on the road.Entire Qazigund town was silent and sudenly we reached there with the loud Noise of Doc's bullet breaking the errie silence of Qazigund market.Everyone looked at us disbelief.We stopped in front of a tea shop and instantly mobbed and thronged by hundreds of people who were stuck theres for last 5 days.We were bombarded by their questions....Is road open???
Aap kahan se aaye hai???
Jammu ka rasta khula hai??

While sipping tea at Qazigund,I asked some stranded residents of Srinagar how to reach Shopian.They directed us towards Shopian and assured us we can reach Srinagar as we are no two wheelers.
We reached Shopian soon and main market of Shop was full of mud,shops filled with mud and shopkeeprers wer cleaning their shops.Whole market was Indunated by flash flood fury.We saw cars burried under slush.Somehow we crossed Shopian town and found ourselves being flagged down by army men at a check post set up in the middle of a Orchards.Army guard checked our papers and let us pass after we took our helmets off and he told us to drive very slowly so that CCTV can capture our images.
Shopian is an apple country.Roads were passing through orchards spanning for miles.It was one of my best riding experiences cruising between apple laden trees.
After an hour or so,we came to halt after a huge crowd and parked vehicles stopped our progress.It was a broken river bridge which connects Shopian to Pulwama.
Two-three day needed to repair this bridge...Alas....another obstacle...another frustration.....

But we saw villagers crossing the river stream with their bikes pushing thru river.I asked Doc and Jassi to get ready for some action filled moments as we would also be following villagers and crossing over to other side.They agreed.As soon as we reached a suitable place to cross river and preparing to unload luggage from bikes,I saw two men in a JK Fortunner.They too were going towards Srinagar and trying to find a way to reach Srinagar.An old men helped them in local language and send two young boys with Fortunner to help find way and bypassing the broken bridge.I asked Fortunner guys to drive slowly so that we can also follow them till Srinagar.
Two young boys navigated the car for next 6-7 kms and left the car.We kept following the car for many kilometers through small beautiful interior villages.It was a different feeling riding thru those hamlets and seeing the people and their life style.We eventually lost the Fortunner.But we reached Pulwama helped by local people.Now we were close to Srinagar.We had some pakoras at Pulwama and replinshed our water supply.We reached at periphery of Srinagar and found the road closed due to flood.A large crowd was there and they surrounded us.An army patrolling unit was also stationed there.We approached them and army men warned us and advised us to leave the place ASAP and directed us towards Naugaon bypass which was luckily 4-5 kms from there.Finally we reached Naugaon(Srinagar) and shocked to see thousands of residents strolling on the roads.Their house were under water and Naugaon being on higher ground was spared the fury of flood.Local residents had gathered there and occupied all rooms of nearby hotels.

We reached at Hotel Royal Park.As expected,hotel was over crowded with local families in each room.No chance of room.I pleaded manager to allow to spent the night in reception area floor.We were sipping tea at reception when a man got curious after seeing our riding gears and started a conversation with us.He was from Amritsar and stranded with 5-6 friends.They had two rooms.After listening to our adventure and our Banihal story,he instantly gave us a room,gave food,and even ready to give us money even without knowing our names.What a wonderful person...rare in today's time.

Room problem sorted out and we were able to get some rest after a 180 kms long tiring ride.

Next day on 9th Sep,Jassi and I went to Airport on my scooter and booked three tickets for Delhi and came back to hotel.Our flight was at 3.45 pm.We packed all our stuff and requested hotel owner to load our bikes on a Delhi Bound truck.We also gave them our entire stock of petrol.Hotel owner badly needed petrol for his car.
Hotel owner assured us and we went to airport,boarded our flight and reached Delhi around 6 pm.Jaspreet was picked up by his relatives at Airport itself while Doc Victor stayed at our Dwarka home.We celebrated our safe return with Tuborgs,Afgani Chicken and Butter Chicken.Next day on 10th Sep,Doc saab took train to Ludhiana and reached his home and I rejoined my school duty 6 days leaves still remaining.

My 2014 Scooter Ride to Ladakh was finished ........But.....Man again Proposed and this time God approved....

**krishna77** · 03-31-2015, 05:43 AM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Was waiting for this! Beautifully written and captured.

**dichkaun** · 03-31-2015, 01:04 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Nice written.
But for some reason I don't see any pics.

**princesirohi** · 03-31-2015, 02:16 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

superb....beautiful.

**MUSTANG 27** · 03-31-2015, 02:52 PM

Re: Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Yes pics not visible..

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Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

Restless Rider Part 3-Scootering on Umba La,Agam-Shyok 2014

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