Re: Project K-Top

Some more pics











$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Super views...

Re: Project K-Top

Thanx bro.

And some more pics :









$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Some more memories from Kargil war memorial.

It's difficult to believe that we were standing at the place where our soldiers fought to get the land back.


One of our deadliest war machines.



The national flag standing tall

Note : The above pics were contributed by Ankush.

$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Awesome pictures. Once again!

Re: Project K-Top

Some more from Kargil









Manoj Pandey - The valiant










Images courtesy : Ankush

$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Day 6 : Lamayuru to Leh

This was the day when we would be reaching our dream destination. Atleast for me it was. Since I begun touring on 2 wheels, I always craved to be in Leh. Just a thought of how simple the life would be in this part of the country, amazed me. I wasn't expecting big malls or multiplexes or fashion. After living for so many years in a metro city in between the chaos of maintaining a work - life balance, such calmness would be a welcome change. It was unbelievable that finally that day had arrived.

As it became our habbit, we woke up early in the morning @ 7 am. For a change, we were not in a rush to mount the luggage into the bike and continue the journey. From multiple sources ( localities) we learnt the road to Leh was in a very good shape and should not take much time to reach. So we took our own sweet time to freshen up and then we had our breakfast. And then we were ready to complete the first half of our journey. As we started, our first target was to fuel up our bikes. Ankush's bike was low on fuel and me and Shiwan's were running on fumes.

Somewhere between Lamayuru to Leh






18 kms from Lamayuru, we found a fuel station at Khaltse. We tanked up all three bikes and moved on. True to the advice given by the local people, the view of the valley was fantabulous. Also the roads were getting beautiful and smooth. The road was passing in between 2 mountains. The beauty is indescribable. We stopped there for sometime to let the poser in each of us take over in queue. We clicked and got clicked with our beloved machines. After almost an hour, we moved ahead towards Leh. The roads were so awesome that we were clocking over 100 kmph for the next 10/15 kms. There were sexy corners and lovely hairpin bends which brought out the cornering junkie within us. After some time, we were finally at entrance of what I call a "dream destination ".




The open roads invited us to open the throttle




Time to pose [emoji12]


Right here, right now [emoji2] [emoji1]

I am not able to describe the city. The city seemed to be out of place. People relaxing and working at the same time as if they have all the time in the world. People easily following the traffic rules. In case of a slow moving traffic, people lined up one after the other. No one trying to overtake from the wring side. All these seemed so simple. It hardly seemed like a tourist town unlike my other hill stations which is crowded with tourists. May be it was just the opening of the season and we were early enough not to find any crowd.

Anyways we went to Leh tourist department to get some info on where we could put up. The lady there was nice enough to explain us the whole map around Leh and what are the places worth visiting around. Then she called someone to make arrangements for our stay. In 10 mins, another lady came in and offered us to show us her guest house which was nearby. We rose to the guest house after her. The guest house was very near to the main market and the petrol pump. The rooms were good and big. Could easily accommodate three of us. We took a room on the second floor so that we would have a good view of the snow capped mountains around us.

We were here, 16000 ft above sea level, just 50kms away from the world's highest motorable road, living our dream. Finally, we got Leh'd. I was thinking about this trip for the last 2 years, was planning and gathering information from various sources for the last 8 - 10 months. Did speak to a lot of friends who already have been here in the past. And today, I was here, finally. Can't explain the feeling in words.

It was a free day for us. We decided to get used to the high altitude. Also to roam around the city. We freshened up and had some knick-knacks to take care of. Getting the bikes cleaned was one if them. Our bikes had been through a treacherous 4 days, they deserved some pampering. After getting the bikes cleaned, we lubed the chain and prepared them for the rest of the journey.

We still had almost 4-5 hours before it gets dark( up here, it darkens out at around 8 pm). So we decided to get some rest and then go around the city.

We checked out the market place, went ahead to get our t-shirts made. And came back to the room by 7 pm. We had already requested our land lady to cook chicken for us. I last had chicken 10 days back and I was dying for chicken but we didn't get much of non- veg food options on our way. We had our dinner by 10, and went to sleep by 12. We could afford to sleep late the next day because it was a rest day for us anyway.





$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Simply superb!

Re: Project K-Top

Day 7 - Stay @ Leh

Our day started little late and lazy as we knew we don't have to ride and had a few errands to take care of. So we woke up by 9, freshened up by 10. I already had started feeling uneasy and it became difficult for me to breathe. May be it was the high altitude coupled with 2 packs of cigarettes that I had since the beginning of the trip. On top of that we had to take on the quilt in night due to cold. That might have added to my un-easiness.

In the morning, I was fine and was breathing fine. I guess my body got adjusted to high altitude. First of all we got our bikes washed up. Our machines had faced a lot of torchure and mud and got dirty. After getting the bikes cleaned, we went to a local mecahnic to get the carb mod done in P220 but before that we had a light breakfast. We went on to get the carb setting done on P220. Also my bike chain was loose, so the chain slack had to be adjusted. By the time we got over with these works, it was noon. We decided to go back to our room and take some rest. The main reason being the scorching heat. There I realised though pollution was effecting the overall health of people but it also acted as a sheild for us protecting us from the UV rays. Or may be the heat so scorching because we were closer to the sun at 16000 ft.

After a bit of rest, Shiwaan & Ankush went ahead to have a tour of Zoravar fort which was near our guesthouse and was a tourist attraction. I decided to stay back at the room for some more rest. Both my freinds returned in almost 2 hours.

We went around the town, just exploring it. Amazed by the calmness of the place. It was an wonderful feeling. We came back to our room by 8, had our dinner, packed our stuff to move next morning.

$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Day 8 : Khardungla top

Our original plan was to reach Nubra by afternoon, venture out the place and return to Leh the next day. There was a family in the next room to ours who were back from Nubra the same. We learnt from them, there was nothing much to see in Nubra apart from the desert and the double humped camels. Then we decided, we will skip Nubra and return from Khardungla.

Now, many people had already covered the place had mentioned Nubra was a place to visit. But then we were already running one day behind from our schedule. Also skipping Nubra would mean we would save a day, which we could spend at Manali to enjoy the completion of our dream trip.


The gateway to Khardungla...

So the decision was made. It was Leh - Khardungla - Leh, a total of approximately 110 kms to cover. So we took it easy. We left our luggage in the room since we were supposed to come back the same day. We started by around 9 am in the morning. The roads that led to Khardungla was is good shape initially. Our first stop was a photography stop at the beginning of the Khardungla road. We captured some memories to cherish for our life. And then we carried on. Some distance later, we had to stop at a checkpoint where we needed to submit our details. We stopped by a nearby dhaba, had some tea and snacks before moving on. We already had taken our dose of Diamox before starting from the room since we knew we would be at a great altitude and might have to face AMS. Shiwaan already had started feeling uneasy where we stopped after the checkpoint. At the same place, we had some chocolates to make us feel better. And then the ascend to Khardungla begun.

The ascend begun with the below notification telling us we were riding at the highest motorable road. Anyways, this was a place to get clicked at. So we stopped for a brief period clicking selfies.

Riding on the highest motorable road was a lovely feeling.



After breif halt, we moved on and reached a checkpoint where we had to submit our details. There was a dhaba nearby, so we decided to stop by for a quick snacks before moving on. Since we had a plan to return from Khardungla, we had all the time in the day and we could afford extended breaks. We had tea and some snacks and moved on. Here Shiwaan started feeling a little uneasy. AMS had hit him. Though we had taken a dose of Diamox before leaving Leh but still Shiwaan could not save himself from the hit. He had some chocolates from the same dhaba which made him feel a little better.

So we started the ascend. The roads were in good shape, the only negative being they were too narrow for two 4-wheelers to cross each other together. Here we noticed how patient a car driver has to be while driving on such roads. The car drivers parked themselves at the corner of the road so that the traffic from the other side could pass through. Why can't we be such polite and patient in the cities. Also the army drivers need a special mention here, we were riding right behind them. Whenever they found a spot where they could us give us a pass, they did and we surged ahead. Really, driving/ riding at places needs skills and patience. Now I was getting a hang of why people described Leh ladakh to be one of the difficult rides. Previously it was Zozilla pass and now it was Khardungla, these places really help gain experience how to handle such roads. After riding for a good 30-35 kms, we found a spot where we could park our bikes and catch some breath without hindering the oncoming traffic.


We bikers, never get over the love of our machines.

We also took this opportunity to click some pictures as the place offered a lovely view of the snow-capped mountains around.







10 kms before the actual top the road became non-existent. No tarmac, filled with stones, gravel and pebbles, water clogged due to melting ice from the top. It was some ride to the top. We took some breaks, clicked some photos and reached the top by noon. Wow!!! What a great feeling it was. We have reached the highest motorable pass. The feeling is indescribable. I have been yearning to be here for more than an year, have been making plans since Jan 2015 and now I am actually here, unbelievable it is. Finally I completed my quest, a sense of satisfaction which is unparalleled.







The best part of the deal was the locals there had worshipped their deities the same day to thank them for the nice weather which had arrived after a harsh one. So they were serving food to all the tourist free of cost. Must say, the food was simple yet tasty. Shiwan had already started feeling uneasy as we begun our ascend, somehow he fought with himself to reach to the top but his condition worsened when we reached the top. May be the altitude was one of the reasons. He had a very little amount of food that was offered by the locals so that he could have some medicine but as soon as he ate the food, he vomitted out the food. Looking at him, the army officials there suggested us to take him down asap or else the condition could get worse. Me and Ankush wanted to stay there for some more time but we could not leave Shiwaan alone, so we started our descend back to Leh.

The descent obviously was much more easier than the ascend. After coming some distance, we stopped for a breather when Shiwan said he was feeling better and a little rest would cure him. We advised him to get back to our room in Leh. Me and Ankush would get a little late due to capturing some of this natural beauty. Off went Shiwaan, me and Ankush stayed for some more time, relaxed and started our journey back. As decided, we stopped a lot to capture all the memories of the place as we could. Since we had to stay at Leh the same day and it was just around 1 pm, we had all the time in the world. Stopping & clicking we climbed down the pass and reached our room almost by 4 pm.

Today, I had a feeling of satisfaction and pride. I did see a lot of my freinds planning year after year for the trip but every time some or the other obstacles obstructed it. But I planned it this one time and completed it, atleast reached the mid point successfully. May be because i was destined to be here this year or it was my planning which was the result of the effort that I put in since last year to gain more and more knowledge about the trip.

We had reached the peak part of our trip. We would visit Pangong tso lake tommorow and the day after our return journey was to begin. Stay tuned...

$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top

Nicely put so far. Waiting for the return leg.

Re: Project K-Top

Thanx bro. Return leg will have to wait. We haven't reached Pangong Tso yet

$id
ride hard, ride safe

Re: Project K-Top



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Re: Project K-Top

really sid dada.
feeling to b there was awesome on that day our dream come true to be there at highest motorable pass in the world @18380 ft.

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Re: Project K-Top



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