Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh & Ladakh

Kiran Hi,

I have not gone through all your travelogue updates yet, but I have seen everyone saying Sachin is lucky to have you. I agree, but I also want to add how amazing Sachin is. It's not often you find a man supporting his wife in this manner. Hats off to both of you - you guys define what every couple should be like. I am proud that biking in India has reached this level. You guys have given a new meaning to the acronym MBBS - Miya - Biwi - Bikes - Sameth!

I am sure I will enjoy reading your travelogues and no less with my girlfriend( read future wife ) who was really inspired by your intro.

This was the message I got from her when I asked her to read your travelogue.



Thank you so much for writing this.

PS: Pictures are mind blowing!

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh & Ladakh

Hi Kiranji

Please please share the rest of the story., eagerly waiting for Leh-Manali day. :-)

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh & Ladakh

Excellent updates Kiran!! What I also appreciate is the energy you still have left in updating your travelogue!!
Many people either loose steam or leave it half way. But you have made all the efforts to keep completing it.

Bravo!! and CHEERS!!

Rachit

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh & Ladakh

@madhav766 - You are so correct Madhav indeed its Sachin and only he who motivated me supported me taught me guided me scolded me and what not infact he taught me every single thing that is related to motorcycle and he still keeps doing it, Some time we feel do we even have any other topic to discuss apart from biking..I did not even had a pinch of idea that I am capable of even riding a bike..and motorcycling is definitely not a man thing :-)

Thanks to your Future wife for lovely words and yes everything related to pictures is done by Sachin indeed he is a Super Photographer :-)

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@rachitkdogra :- I think we should never leave anything midway...let it take some time but complete what you have started and that's what iam doing...btw njoyie the blog for later days...cheerz

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<sub>CHAPTER 13 - “DAY 13”

“Day of S2 – “Suffering & Survival”

Day13 (Thursday) – 25/06/2015

Route – Upshi – Rumtse - Tanglang la – Pang – Lachung la

Kms – 150 kms

We woke up bit earlier than expected since we were bit alarmed about people aphorism while on our way to Upshi as “Atleast you guys got the roads to ride while coming via Srinagar to Leh, there is no road at all via Manali to leh”

We came down took a mug of water from the drum which was placed nearby to a shop, cleaned our teethes, splashed some water on our face to get out of sleep and till the time we finished brushing my fingers were completely anesthetized. We ran back to our closed & bit warm room took my hands under blankets and tried to relieve them.

Weather was cloudy and chillier than all previous days. The local people intimated us that the weather forecast is not that great today “Go Safe” is what they said when we waved them good buy.

Since we had a good and heavy breakfast <aloo ka parantha> we were all set to ride continuously for some hours. Roughly after some 10 kms it started drizzling ; roads started getting wet and slippery which increased our risk level.

We stopped few times as it was icy cold and risk and difficulty level increased, my fingers were senseless and I wasn’t able to apply brakes or leave clutch

It was time for ascent to “Tanglang la” I was too over confident since I read somewhere that the roads to Tanglang La is not that bad <I tell you “Over Confidence is a Crime specially in those terrains”> As we were proceeding suddenly from nowhere it started snowing too hard, the frostiness was intolerable I asked Sachin to stop after every 10 minutes. We had some warmies packets with us so we thought to put it in our riding boots and recommence.

Time to ascent Tanglang La


After some more kms it started snowing so heavily that the roads started getting covered by the snow making the roads slippery. We needed hell lot of Concentration finding the grip for our tyres.

We were forced to take another halt since my fingers denied to perform any movement. Sachin asked me sit near bullet silencer so that my fingers could work.

The exhaust which gave me scars all around my legs I don’t even remember how many times I burnt my calves because of that exhaust and today when I need him the most he was refusing to provide me even 0% of heat it contains. SHIT,

I was about to freeze



NOTHING WAS HELPFUL. Warmies just became one useless packet in those minus temperature.

Sachin told me to stay strong “ It’s all about mind game”, “We can’t give up my lady”, “Keep Saying “OM” you will feel better”, “Don’t close your eyes and sleep, Keep yourself alert”, “We are about to conclude our dream ride” every words every sentence he said enthused my mind but my body, it was giving up bit by bit…

I took name of all heavenly power I knew and waved my man saying “I am Fine, Let’s Kill it”.

Roads were fully covered with snow by the time we resumed with our ride. We passed few people who were clearing those snows from our way so that people like us can ride. We salute you guys; it’s a tough task to clear snow from roads and to work in such a low oxygen in minus temperature <We owe you> <and we complain about our job life..REALLY ?>

We were moving with the decent speed but my body my fingers and every part and skin of my body were giving up gradually, it was only my mind who wanted to get over with this torture and hence we were moving and moving.

Fog was such strong that we could not see anything even an inch ahead. We were riding blindly on turns just our honks on which we trusted and kept moving….

No Visibility...hard time







Later after our ride one of our friend told us, while in snow rub some soap on the visor of the helmet, by doing so snow will not stay on the visor and vision through the visor would be clearer than normal (We haven’t got a chance to try this, but some day we should try this..)

..AND the most awaited FALL….Yes I slipped on snow, Saffy at one side and me on another. Sachin who was riding behind me came to my rescue immediately. It was not an easy task to pick up such a huge machine alone, moreover when our body is not supportive any more.

There were two cars who were standing in front of us but nobody came out and asked us if we need a help <In fact we did not even expected> but we definitely expected that they would not continuously honk on us to get away from their way when they were already seeing us struggling with the machine <Highly disappointed>, so is the world you meet the nicest of people in unexpected places and worst kind at some places.

After some 3-4 tries “Saffy” got started and I hopped on her with full enthusiasm and continued to find that Board which said“ TANGLANG LA PASS Altitude :- 17582 FT”
And somewhere hidden inside the fog and covered with snow in this blurry weather I could find a board which says those golden words….

VICTORY in Heavy Snow


Even after no strength in my legs, I hopped out of “Saffy” hugged my man and we both went inside the temple to thank god, joining my hands with those deadened fingers I thanked heaven and Cried, and Cried like never before in this complete journey . I begged to god with wet eyes “I couldn’t be stronger god, GIVE US STRENGHT !”

OUT OF STRENGHT


Though I was hiding my tears from Sachin but he easily made out what I was upto…

I was still sitting inside the temple when Sachin trembled me and said let’s leave and get going “you can’t sit still for longer time, Keep moving”

You might feel bit filmy but seriously even I felt so when I was sitting stagnantly closing my eyes just for few moments, I felt like I was going in trance and my body is leaving me, some vague sensation. I gathered myself called each of my body parts back to me, and left from the temple straight to Saffy.

Nothing was visible far, far away, everything was so much covered in fog and snow, I was unable to estimate and console my body that “Hold on Body, we are about to reach”

I was continuously murmuring the name of all god and specially “OM” <Believe me IT’S a magical word >. I had to lift up the wiser of my helmet because I cannot ride Saffy blindly; the pieces of snow were hitting my Contact lenses underneath my retina hurting hard to my eyes

Like all this was not enough when the worst roads welcomed us <Uff what all is yet to come god!! Spare us. I don’t know how much I cried that day. Seems like it was quota for the complete year :-D>

As soon as we were descending the weather started getting better the fogs were leaving us bit by bit giving us hope when suddenly …….as I said “Like all this wasn’t enough” Sachin’s Touro started to make some strange noise something similar like the K-TOP but to our horror it came to dead stop. We tried pushing it for some kms “NO LIFE”

We sat in a corner and without wasting time tool box was out Sachin asked me to open the air filter and clean it whereas he was trying to open up the spark plug. To open a signal screw it took some 15 minutes <my fingers > I don’t know when I slept doing so when finally Sachin voice made me jump from my sleep. When I opened my eyes I saw that it had stopped snowing and weather was bit better.

Things were going good even the Touro was back in life when again it started snowing.
After riding for some odd kms our body started asking for some much needed rest after this ruthless torture of nature we located a tent and asked him to feed us something quickly. Seeing my fingers blue the person asked me to put it over stove <Ahhhh my fingers were in motion>

We were filling our stomach with some fried rice <not so great, but what more can we expect> when this 2 person <truck wallas> entered dhabba and asked for beer. I mean seriously its hell of cold and these people wants to have cold beer <Wow!! World is strange> and this is why you should ride or drive very carefully when you see any truck coming your way.

After some 45 minutes we gathered ourselves back and jumped onto our respective bikes. Roads were patchy but was manageable so now the concern was one and only one “FREEZING TEMP”

Ladakh is unpredictable suddenly after patchy bad roads we came across an arrow straight awesome Tar road and of course we did not took much time to understand that it was none other than the famous “Moorie/Moorey Plains”, We envy those people who road on these plains when there was no Tarmac, but I was glad that this time Tarmac was there..























It stopped snowing but because we were on some 100 kmph the freezing air was hitting us hard making our body weaker and chillier. At a point it was so unbearable that I started crying again and this time it was out of extreme pain that was given to my feathers by the nature <Unbearable it was> People do strange things when on those terrains may be due to low oxygen supply to brains or may be the isolation in between those mountains that horrifies you, I don’t know, but from nowhere I started to sing “Oh Palan Hare Nirgun Aur Niyare Tumre Bin Humaraa Kauno Naahi” <Song from the famous movie “Lagaan”>
tears….tears….tears…<Now when I am writing this I am seriously laughing out loud but when I take myself back to Moorie plains or Tanglang la, my eyes still gets filled up>.but I tried to be as stronger as possible in front of Sachin, I did not let him understand what was happening with me, I could not see him weak and regret his decision of allowing me to ride a different motorcycle…

7 stones it used to give me strength



That pain....







Aaaahhhh finally somehow we reached “Pang” <heard this name many times while we were in planning phase. Never thought it would be so painful to be here> we took a chai break in nearby tent <around 3.30 in afternoon> however they did not served chai but we had atleast 6-7 glasses of hot water and I tell you it was soooooo helpful and a lifesaver for my fingers when I dipped it in those bowls…

Our body asked for rest and mind too so I asked Sachin to let’s take halt in “Pang”. The place where we stopped for tea also had the tents for night rest. We also came to know by the ladies
who served us hot water that the better roads comes to an end in “Pang” infact we have no roads from here on. However we were already behind schedule since we wanted to reach “Sarchu” which was again not possible <it was 3.30 already> so we planned to atleast go till “Lachungla”

Exactly, as we finished “Pang” we witnessed some briquettes and thereon it was endless bad, patchy roads in front of our eyes, primarily loose rock and dirt and our fighter’s Saffy & Touro bravely welcomed the first pothole.





The weather was fine after we left from “Pang” but as we were climbing <“Lachungla” that was some “16616 FT > the place started behaving like “Tanglang la” every inch inside me started to scream yet again. Saffy & I was saved many times, there were no roads it wasn’t potholes on roads but it was roads on potholes, brake on loose tiny stones were suicidal

We reached the great “Lachungla” Sachin asked me to pose but I wasn’t in mood so he clicked some random pics and we were all set to descend. We could see some tents from the top and since the sun was about to set so I was sure about our rest place for the night, it gave me motivation as we would be out from this torture soon.
Way to Lachung La



A minor water crossing and we reached a tent where we enquired about the shelter for the night <there were 3 ladies who were managing it all> she said 200 INR per person, of course we were not going ahead so we agreed. We asked her to serve us some hot water as we were shivering critically. The ladies helped us with some blankets, hot water, and stove.

I looked at Sachin he was quivering hard, his lips turned jet black. Again tears filled my eyes, he never said in his complete route of how cold he was feeling or whatsoever. He was strong throughout because he wanted me to be strong

I thought he might be hungry and that’s the reason he is feeling so cold so I asked for the dinner and they served us <Roti, Sabji, Dal, Rice> Indian dinner(Average food, but still better than Noodles), filling our stomach we thought to get settled in our allocated tent and get rest for some time <least we knew that it was night to survive and not rest>
Our stuffs were still loaded on bikes which we thought to unload at least few important things which should not get freezed by the time its morning.

It was the real agony to do that work in -3 temp, we somehow managed and rushed beneath the blankets

It was not less than 8 fat blankets onto us which we thought would make us warm <NOTHING HELPED> every passing minute was in pain, Every hour Sachin kept saying “Just few more hours and Sun will help us to get some warmness”, “ab sirf 3 ghanta baki ha”, “Kiran jaldi subah ho jayegi”. We were talking entire night without a drop of sleep because of low oxygen.
I read it somewhere that this problem people normally face at “Sarchu” since Sarchu was not so far from “lachung la” seems that would be the reason for low oxygen <UNBEARABLE THE PAIN WAS>

By some means we were hoping for better tomorrow and better weather to resume our ride if and only if WE SURVIVE THE NIGHT”

It will be morning in a while and we are desperately waiting to come out of this darkness to welcome some brightness in our life.

Will we survive the night or still there is more in our bucket? Day 14 will reveal it all…</sub>

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

Amazing!!! I was eagerly waiting for the next episode. Thanks and keep pouring little faster.

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

when I hook up I am gonna send this blog link to my would be

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

CHAPTER 14 - “DAY 14”

“Fearless Souls”

Day14 (Friday) – 26/06/2015

Route – Lachungla – Gata loops – Sarchu – Baralacha la – Jispa

Kms – 140 kms

Sachin woke up before me and he thought to finish his daily routine and then wake me up; the ladies helped him by showing some place which was covered with white bed sheet <our washroom for the morning …lol…which was surrounded by snowcapped mountains and damn chilly weather>

I grabbed some 30 mints sleep in the morning which felt divine after a sleepless night; Sachin was beside me waking me up <Oh Lord !! What else do I need, thank you god!! We are Alive, up and running>

Either of us wasn’t in mood to discuss about how and what went wrong yesterday we were just happy that whatever it was, we survived being together. Moreover we did not wanted to ruin a good today by thinking about a bad yesterday.

Our Mom said once “Whenever you are about to give up think about that one reason which kept you holding it for so long and that one reason is enough for you to held it back”.

Yes I woke up with more positiveness and said it loud to my buddy; hubby, “Let’s do it baby, we need to get back to home, our parents are waiting for us” and he smiled with tears in his eyes. Somehow I always felt that he is regretting his decision of allowing me to ride. Who kehte ha na that a doctor can’t operate his loved ones in the same way Sachin was not able to see me in pain

Well the Weather looked better then yesterday. It was bright Sunny day thanks to Sun God.

It was such a pain to complete your daily stuffs in such refrigerating temperature <Ok ok let me not elaborate on that >

We quickly brushed our teeth with iced water which if you hold for longer time will numb your fingers, somehow finished everything and went to fill in fuel for our belly.
Masala Omelet & Chapati <so thank full to god at least we are getting something to eat >.

Our Palace for the night..the palace was haunted though.. kept us awake whole night.




I was "TRYING" to be strong, but seriously andhar se lagi padi thi




We started the conversation with few people who were sitting around and having breakfast with us about the route ahead. It came to our notice that not even single vehicle came from Baralacha due to extremely bad weather condition and sadly we even heard them saying that “A solo biker on Baralacha la was froze to death <We were on Tanglang la the same day– No wonder why we had to suffer so much> I thanked god again for the “SURVIVAL”.

Hearing to all this we went back to our tent, Geared up and left for our next destination. We were literally done with this FEAR thing, from Day 1 we were struggling to achieve our dream and about what we faced in Tanglang La this FEAR mania has gone far-off from us now and when you become fearless you become Powerful !!
While packing the bags I saw the rum bottle at the side pocket of saddle which we filled in a plastic container to avoid leakage. We (me & Sachin) had an eye contact and not wasting an inch of moment opened the tap and 4-5 sip in body. We suffered too much yesterday<i.e. on Thursday) because we avoid drinking on Thursday but today by no chance we are allowing cold to attack us.

“Sarchu” was our next stop which ideally should have been our yesterday’s halt but since we heard many things related to sarchu about low oxygen and how people had restless nights there we decided it for “Lachung La” which turned out to be more horrible, good thing was - it was less crowed and a scenic place where you get up seeing snow clad mountains surrounded around you <It feels lovely > but who cares about snow clad mountains and lovely scenic place when you are already at the edge of death.

As usual the roads were actually the loose rocks but now it was habitual, no crib initially I was bit nervous about our another pass “Baralacha la” since people said many things about it and we even read on many websites that it could be too dangerous to ride on this pass if it snows and about what happened yesterday <bad weather and
about a biker> scared the hell out of me.

Enroute Sarchu







This is still a better road




On a respectable speed we were eating up the kms, the place was so scenic that we were forced to stop ‘n’ number of times. The pic below which shows blue water and white icing on it followed us for many kms while we were riding to Sarchu <One of my favourite spot which I liked the most in this complete trip>


Favourite moment. Flowing water and ice on it was awesome



BLUEEE that's my fav color



Custom painted by Sachin and God...helmet and nature respectively..




Roads got bit better ahead where we encountered a steep ascent. As we were moving ahead Sachin asked me to stop and pointed towards a board which said “GATA LOOP START – TOTAL 21 LOOPS – 15302 FT” <that was unexpected> and I was so much engrossed in riding, that the board went unnoticed. Sachin clicked some pics and we left from the spot without wasting much time.

Its The Gata Loops



Loops do look dangerous but believe me its not so terrible



I think, we would have completed 3 or 4 loops when suddenly I started thinking everything I read about this place online on one of the website.

<Imagination gathered> When I decided to ride my own bike to Leh and intimated Sachin about it the 1^st video which he asked me to see on Youtube was “GATA LOOPS – 21 loop “ it looked so horrifying in videos and how dreadful it looked when, I first googled about this place. WOW and look, I am here <my head proudly went up above and I was on cloud 9> Seriously after passing across so many dangerous passes Gata Loop felt so simple with better roads.

Thoughts were still circulating around my mind when we crossed a place where we saw 100’s of bottles thrown along with some eatable <What the hell seriously people in India will never improve; they can never find a dustbin – I growled inside my mind> and we moved on...

We would have crossed some more 3-4 loops where abruptly I asked Sachin to stop and started to speak “Do you remember when you asked me to read about Gata Loops and watch the video, over there I even read one story related to a death of a truck driver due to thirst, hunger and Cold, the body of the person was buried at Gata Loops by the villagers, right at the spot where he died. So every passerby offers water and some eatables here on his graveyard. <http://vargiskhan.com/articles/the-g...ata-loops.html> did you see that spot where we saw 100s of bottles that’s the same place. Let’s go back serve some water and pray for our safe journey <Shit, I was so wrong about finding a dustbin thing at the same point I was also happy that people have not spoiled this scenic place…. :-)>

Within no time Sachin agreed and we turned our bike around and started moving towards the spot. We went on our knees and served a sealed packed bottle and some Parle-G

I thanked god for making us realize about this SOOONNN!!

Shrine in Gata loops.._/\_




Our next stop was “Sarchu” and we were looking forward to fuel ourselves since we were gonna meet “Baralacha la” soon < I was Excited+Nervous…I think I was confused >

We reached Sarchu and took a halt in some nearby tent rested our spine on Khatiya and ordered for as usual omelets, burji and bread. The person was not at all interested in serving us our dish even after 15 mints. The omelet given by him was tasteless and by no mean Sachin was in mood to compromise with his taste bud today so he asked the person that “Can you handle me your kitchen for some 10 mints”and guessed what the shopkeeper agreed : P and he left the tent and disappeared somewhere <May be he was called by his Wife >

Now it was just me, Sachin, Tent, Kitchen and all the stuffs needed to make some yummy burji <you should have seen the smile on my man’s face> he chopped some tomatoes, Onion, coriander, green Chilli. He placed the pan on stove, some butter in it, onion turned brownish red and in no time the delicious Egg Burji with butter toasted bread was served to me .. MOUTHWATERING it was and about Sachin, I should have captured his moments while eating those yummy burji. He looked so satisfied and content first time in our complete journey>

Cook for the day..and it was none other than Sachin..he likes to cook as well apart from Riding bikes..



After our delicious fuel, we were in resting mode when some riders came in to see if they find something to eat and we said “find another tent, you guys gotta cook here and eat <Laughed>”

The man came running back to his tent <not alone but this time with his wife > took the orders of the riders who just checked in <I think they asked for yippee noodle!>

They initiated some conversation with Sachin <habituated by now they were stunned to know about us travelling on 2 different motorcycles>; later when we realized that it was too late we excused them and started to gear up. Waving them luck we Wroommed……

Ladies and gentleman hold your breath for another pass for the day after Gata loop and its none other than “Baralacha pass” which is declared as most dangerous pass if it snows.

As we proceeded from “Sarchu” there was this small water pass which welcomed us, if I say exactly it wasn’t a water pass but some kind of water fall with slippery stoned which we need to ascend and take a road which was just opposite to it. Sachin proceeded before me and it was my turn which I concluded effectively. When I saw Sachin he was getting ready to come for my rescue : D since I took bit longer to come up there, well he was relaxed after seeing me. We both saw each other and shared a loud laughter and moved.

A police wala asked us to stop and write a name and license number in a register. Sachin went in to write it, whereas I was still out talking to a policeman about the condition of “Baralacha la” <as usual bad roads, water passing, avoid going, people are returning back & what not>

Leaving from the spot after completing the formalities we got some better tarmac <don’t know until where?> but the way was arrow straight and butter smooth. Sachin waved me to stop the reason was “NATURE’S CALL” while he was busy, I was finding stones to make the pyramid of 7 stones, In fact wherever we used to halt, most of the time I used to make it, join my hands and pray and then leave from the spot, it was such a positive and divine feeling, this time I prayed for our very next pass “Baralacha la” which was about to get started.

Best communication happens when you are on two different bikes



Sachin came back and we proceeded ahead to face the heart throbbing pass < it’s like facing your fear and winning the battle>. After some kms the roads disappeared and we were again riding on those patchy, loose rocks and what not <Concentration was the key>. I think this pass was the longest. We stopped after covering some good kms, actually the roads before reaching “Baralacha la “ was very dangerous and I was thinking if now the roads are so what are we gonna face when we are actually crossing it.

We met few local people on way and thought they were riders so enquired about the roads again and they had the same thing to say what the police said and Sachin yelled on me saying not to ask anybody about anything “Let’s not take Negative” and of course I totally agreed with him <Remember the same thing happened when we were at “Khardungla”>

The way to Baralacha La started getting more horrible as we were proceeding upwards, slowly & steadily with our eyes fixed on roads, so that we are able to make our paths through stones. I Stopped for Sachin to reach, since I was unable to locate him on my rear view, landed Saffy on side stand and turned around <Sign of relief – he was coming towards me > I asked why was he late and he said something similar like Chang La got repeated but later Touro managed to get up here.

We stopped there for some time for water break and getting relieved to know that we are half way through. We could again see the snow covered mountains and valleys. Some bikers crossed us waving us good luck and we waved them back wishing them the same. We went back on our bikes to cover up the distance where we got stuck in traffic. There were few bikers roaming and chillaxing <luckily the weather was better, not so cold> so I too thought to take some chillaxation.

Roads? No Roads ?






Would love to ride here again




Some much awaited rest..






“I WAS ACTUALLY ENJOYING THE RIDE TODAY KEEPING AWAY ALL THE FEARS”. I mean seriously this was the first pass I was enjoying and having fun – but somehow I was feeling too weak, my body was not much supportive and then I remembered the line I read in some novel saying “When your body and mind is about to give up, Hope whispers try it one more time and truly HOPE was the only thing we were moving and moving on….

We got a narrow lane open at the extreme right where only bikes could pass and move ahead <Don’t know the exact reason for the traffic Jam but we heard that a truck tyres got stuck in snowflake and it wasn’t able to move further>


I was trying to move from the tiny patch but was unable to




As we were descending, it was time for another nature’s bomb and it was “landslide!”. All the trucks, cars, bikers were waiting patiently till the time Tractor was trying hard to turn big rocks into the smaller one so that vehicle can pass by <Seems this terrain has taught everyone what patience is all about >. After some odd 15 mints when tractor managed to break the larger stone pieces the roads were open for vehicles to move. The way was actually looking very scary so no one was ready to make a move, so Sachin the 1^st one to pass through the worst patch. The other bikers were too afraid to proceed so Sachin took the move and reached the other end successfully and then it was my turn, Sachin parked his bull and came to help me, he held saffy from back so that we can avoid a fall however all four of us came out of that patch with bright colors and moved ahead for our next destination “Jispa”

Landslide



These were the riders who were so afraid to ride after landslide got cleared



WOW one of the most dangerous pass BARALACHA LA – CONCLUDED SUCESSFULLYY!!

I would anyday go to this snowworld instead of artificial snowworlds !



Blooming Baralacha LA







We were riding amazingly on those snaky turns enjoying the better roads after long, the place was called “Zing Zing bar” since we did not took any break after Baralacha La we thought to take quick coffee break. We often meet amazing personalities when we travel and there is when we met Aninda Sardar (Content writer and reviewer at Bikes India) who was riding Suzuki Gixxe SF from Manali to leh and back, and We had a good 30 mints chat with him and later he wished us good luck and we waved him buy < Another advantage of riding – you make new friends and get to know new people>

We were in full swing “ZUP_ZAP_ZOOM” enjoying every inch of the beautyness where suddenly what I see the most unexpected thing “THE MOST AWAITED – WATER PASS” and yes this was the harder one then all the previous water passes we did so far.

Sachin went ahead and asked me to wait until he is done. I waited patiently seeing my man struggling through the pebbles and moving slowly with that heavy beast. Man, this one is big. He waved me saying that he will come and take Saffy to the other end. I replied him saying “I CAN DO THIS – STAY THERE”

I don’t know how I did it but every pebbles coming in front of my rear tyre made the adrenaline rush from my head to toe. Moving, balancing, accelerating, braking, clutching I reached to other end. Sachin was chewing his nails when I finally made up to him.

And then I made a mistake – When I finally reached the shore i pressed the front brake hard which made me slip to the right side. Luckily there was a boy ahead of Sachin to hold my bike from slipping <Thanks to him> my handle bar got bit tilted but then we were all ok to face another horror.

As if the last water pass wasn’t enough here we got another one and this one was the BAAP of the previous pass. The flow of water was so hard that if you’re imbalanced the water can actually take you along with them somewhere down the cliff. I whispered to Sachin “Be Careful” he waved me saying “Chill” <we were getting better and better in sign languages these days – So many advantages of biking>

I was already petrified when Sachin entered the flow <this would sound bit filmy but that time I was actually praying heaven that whatever problem or fall or any unforeseen things happen IT TO SHOULD HAPPEN TO ME and not to my man..if there is at all anything happening with Me I would manage it myself I am that strong but I cannot see any slightest thing happening to him> and with all these thoughts when I lifted my eyes, Sachin already made it till the end SUCCESSFULLY He did it !!

Smile on my face disappeared immediately, when I finally realized that it’s my turn now <how do I do this ? >

I removed the Sunglasses which I was wearing to get better visibility and then I wore it back <I mean I was confused> then I checked Saffy whether she is in 1^st gear and I accelerated went inside the flow and somehow I did not got anything beneath my leg to keep a hold on her and …………………..

Saffy was lying in water for few minutes until the truck driver who was standing to pass the flow after me and Sachin came in for my rescue. I was screaming saying to truck driver to help me lift her quickly the water might go in and Saffy might not start forever. Sachin took bit time to reach me, since he had to cross the heavy water flow.



Sachin was calming me down “it’s ok!! No Worries” and I was saying him “I saw some smoke coming out of her she is not ok” he ignored me lifted Saffy with help of the other person and crossed the current flawlessly. Without concerning about how much water is going inside my riding shoes I reached the end and saw Sachin checking out Saffy and her circuits

Sachin explained me about the smoke thing that my exhaust was bit hotter and when Saffy went inside the icy cool water it released smoke like the one happens with our hot pan <Damn I was so immature to even understand that >

Saffy was great and she was all ok to face the hard terrain again. The way ahead was so bad and muddy that you cannot effort losing your concentration moreover the wet riding shoes was like adding salt to abrasion. Somehow making the way through hell we finally got some better roads to ride on.

The Sun was about to set and we started feeling unsympathetic wintry back again. Sachin located a hotel somewhere near Jispa < Hotel Padma guest house, cost – 1500 INR, it’s bang on the road itself> one of the remarkable places to stay in…

We quickly checked in since after 3 long days we were getting a break from sleeping on that stony base and I tell you that amazing feeling of resting our spine on that spongy bed is beyond happiness…

We inserted some news papers and tissues on our wet riding shoes so that it dries before tomorrow morning.

We actually jumped like kids when we heard that the hotel is serving a buffet dinner tonight which includes chicken masala <after soooo longggg >, bheendi masala, kulcha, Salad, Dal, Jeera rice and fruit salad with custard just in 400-/ per head

We ate like dogs. I think Sachin atleast had 15 plates of fruit salads <he is fruit lover and so many days without fruits made him so attacking >
2 Sip of Rum and the heavenly sleep was waiting to embrace us

Finally it’s our last pass tomorrow “THE ROHTANG PASS - 13,050 ft” which is also called as “Lasho ka Ghar” (House of deaths) sounds like Video game title isn’t it?, locals told this to us, and here is when we face the BIGGEST DISASTER OF OUR JOURNEY - Last day, Last crash, Last major breakdown, Last pass)

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

awesome terrain, awesome picture, awesome travelogue. above all awesome couple.
take a bow. god bless you both.

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp;amp; Ladakh

@feelikegod :- Thank you so much for lovely words :-)

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CHAPTER 15 - “DAY 15”

“The Last Pass”

Day15 (Saturday) – 27/06/2015

Route – Jispa – Rohtang pass - Manali

Kms – 140 kms


Have you ever slept like when you get up the next morning you feel like its your 2^nd birth, I mean seriously that night I am never gonna forget that spongy touch to your backbone after days of hard riding. Well I have no more words to express it anymore.

That morning when we got up, we were very relaxed since it was our last pass. If I remember correctly it was not less than 30 mints I was lying on bed in my thoughts taking quick recap of all those things we came across right from our planning phase, all those sufferings, happiness and everything we did to make up till here and now it’s finally the end.

There is saying “Smooth roads don’t make Skilful Riders!! AGREED!! But since we have already faced enough I was seriously something like this-
Bas Babaji ab aur excitement mat dena iss ride mein..ab bilkul boring bana do ji iss trip ko” (Oh God, no more thrill/excitment for this ride. Its time for this ride to get Boring.)” Famous dialogue from jab we met (bit modified though )

This was one of the epic moment in our ride.



Sachin asked me to stop the day dreaming and get set ready for the final patch.

We loaded our bikes and left to enjoyieee some lovely zig-zaggy patch. The day started smoothly with the delicious breakfast in Keylong with fantastic view.
I was actually enjoying the crisscross patches, since it was my fifteenth day so by now I was very well versed about how to handle single lanes and twisty.


When we found this hotel after days of sleeping in tent and on those stony base we were so happy as if we found heaven







Smiles after having sumptous breakfasst in Keylong.







Faced some land slides too....

Clearance of land slides.



I was taking rest while landslides getting cleared by Pro BROs..



Going ahead we got few more landslides btw this Monk was happy posing for us!



Rohtang was some more 50 kms




Some stickerings we do for our every big ride, you can see our rajasthan ride stickers as well on Bullet.



We stopped few times to get clicked and enjoy the nature since we would be back in our hectic lives soon. We jumped, laughed had best of our time..


Some beautiful landscapes



Jumps tho banta ha na boss






X type Jumps



Some scenic waterfalls on our way to Rohtang



Literally Heaven on earth




we were so happy when suddenly something happened and believe me this was one of the heart throbbing suicidal thing that ever happened to me <I don’t know but still while writing my eyes got filled by tears and my heart rate increased suddenly, YES KIRAN SINGH IT’S THE NAKED TRUTH THAT I WAS IN THAT SUITATION SOMEDAY and I pray heaven that what I faced nobody should ever face specially in those terrains>

Saaffy developed new issue somewhere here only.



<BY THE WAY WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED THAT DAY SCROLL IT DOWN….>

We were in full swing continuously above 80kmph since the terrain was not that bad and we heard that Rohtang transit is always unpredictable with heavy traffic so we wanted to cover Rohtang La route ASAP and reach Manali before sunset.

While we were enjoying the curves to the optimum, obviously we were also forced to use more brakes. Rohtang pass would not be more than 20 kms away when I found that there is some serious issue with my front disc brake. I was able to apply it but as I was using it more and more I found that the disc brake lever can be completely pulled towards me and touching handlebar, which ideally should not happen. For applying disc brake just a finger or two is enough.

I got the hint that this is not going to work for longer time and might give up anytime. I raised a concern to Sachin about the same and our conversation went something like this.

***
Sachin :- What happened ? All ok ?

Kiran :- (In tensed voice ) I think there is some problem with my disc brake; I mean, I am able to apply brakes but I have a feeling that it would give up soon.

Sachin :- Damn !! Are you Serious? Let me check !!

(Kiran was waiting while Sachin took a small test ride of Saffy and returned )

Sachin :- Brake can give up anytime SHIT !! <In too much tensed voice> but we would not get any mechanic here and Rohtang is about to get started. What you think? can you manage to get through Rohtang? We would find mechanic ones we make it till manali.

Kiran – (Thinking) Kya yaar ? kya ho raha ha ye sab ? rone ah raha ha muje (What man ? whats happening with us ? I feel like crying man)

Sachin :- (Consoling and hugging ) Trust God ? Everything will be fine!

***
And we left to conquer one more challenge of our journey. It was very well clear that using disc brake frequently would completely destroy it leaving only rear brake for option.

I was tensed and Sachin was equally tensed since riding without disc brake in those terrain is suicidal but do we have any OPTION? The answer was big fat “NO” Rohtang route was noticeably very dangerous with very bad patch and dangerous ascend, water crossing (after Zingzing bar Rohtang water passes are the dangerous)

Just before starting to ride on Rohtang, Sachin asked me to stop and have some water. We even had MOMOs there, since whenever we both get tensed we like to eat and eat and eat a lot.

I was blank, I didn’t knew what to do but, I just so desperately wanted to get off this situation and with louder voice and full enthusiasm I asked my man to “lets do this too!”

We were making our way through the stony patch and moving bit by bit safely, but somewhere back of mind I was so terrified that “Hey you don’t have a disc brake and
you are riding at one of the dangerous patch in india ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?”

The traffic in rohtang is horrible than Sakinaka Traffic of mumbai..



I was checking up my brake here



The worst thing while riding to Rohtang is tourist vans, they are so bloody rascals and heartless idiots that they wanted to reach everywhere without bothering who is on their way. It is clearly said that whoever is ascending let them ascend first and later you can descend since descending is not a big deal. But as I said who can teach these mindless jerks.

I was ascending one of the dangerous sharp left turn where suddenly one of the tourist van didn’t allow me to climb and eventually it resulted me and Saffy crushing to ground. I did apply the brakes but it was this shocking realization that my brakes were failed completely. I was still in trauma when Sachin came to our rescue he found that the left hand side footrest was dismantled.

Sachin picked up the bike and dragged it bit down to give side to other vehicles and to clear up the jam. That driver, moron did not even cared to apologize or step out from his van or whatsoever he just went off <I did not even expected> but I got a hard urge to slap him and there is when I understood one more good thing about myself that riding has worked as wonders on my short temper.

At that moment I had many things to think rather than thinking about that spineless driver. My bike was without brake and now the footrest, DAMN !! how Am I going to shift gears ?

I would earnestly thank Sachin for buying the foot rest at the last moment; In fact it was just 2 hours before onset of our ride when Sachin did few last minutes shopping which contained the foot rest as well.

We fixed it up sitting up there at Rohtang La, Sachin took out all of his tool box and started fixing up the things and he just took 20 mints to do so after which we resumed our ride knowing the heart thumping shock that Saffy is without disc.

Hydration brake after fixing up the footrest



The worst and toughest water crossing we faced was in Rohtang, added spice to it was Traffic jam. Making our path through corners was hopelessly chancy but again that’s is what motorcycles are for

Somehow managing and balancing, we successfully crossed Rohtang La(Lasho ka ghar). There were so many vacationers enjoying and sliding on snows <I thought in mind go to Tanglang La and enjoy snow, then we shall talk F2F >

All guns blazing on tarmac road of Rohtang



Muddy road of Rohtang..scary this was



Imagine the cold breeze onto you while riding here...



Sachin Thinking about life, and he said yes...this is life



Concluding with “Rohtang La” I got another heart attack when I realized that we gotta face this descending huge Ghat to reach Manali which was 35 kms. Frankly if you have the proper brakes it is one of the finest Ghat with better roads where you can swing your bike, but for me it was the toughest descending challenge to complete.

I never went above 10 kmph, I used engine braking most of the time and the funny part was I learnt the engine braking mechanism on that ride only. Woh bolte ha na “Worst situation teaches you many things” Keep up your faith to go high and fly…

Still many times the rear wheel terrified hell out of me by giving me a slight skid when I forcefully applied it.

But somehow Ladies and Gentlemen we made it till Manali !! YES WE EVEN BYPASSED THIS TROUBLE OF OUR RIDE

Descending Ghat



WE DID IT...that feeling !!



Sachin asked me to wait at the corner of the road till the time he will come searching some place to check in and also the transporter & mechanic from where we can transport our bikes.

I waited for almost an hour when he returned saying that he found nothing, nor the transporter nor the mechanic <My man looked so tired but I smiled at him saying “We will find it all Let’s get some beer and he smiled back>

We checked in some hotel and concluded our day with delicious Punjabi cuisines and lots of beer Sachin even appreciated me saying today I saw a different lady named “Kiran Singh” a fearless one she wasn’t the Kiran Singh who was struggling for life in Tanglang La with blue hands, who panicked easily, raising her Blood Pressure upon small things, what I saw was completely different Kiran, who was much more sorted, strong-minded, cool and determined then she used to be, happy to see good changes in my lady <3

I was so happy to get this appreciation from him, I mean throughout my ride so many people appreciated me, but to get appreciation from you mentor is the ultimate one moreover this was 1^st time he appreciated me in this entire trip


Shutting the day with positive hope that we would find a mechanic and transporter for our motorcycles tomorrow. We embraced the sleep.

Day 16 was “The end of the beginning” and it was time to say good bye to our beloved machines and companions for last 15 days.

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

Mesmerizing write up. 👍 to u guys.

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh

Lucky couple!!! Kudos !!! Enjoyed your log a lot. Shown your log to my wife too. She cant believe even now.

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp;amp;amp;amp; Ladakh

@ankit.traveller :- hahaha ...Even I cant believe that this episode has ever taken place in my life...

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@ankit.traveller :- hahaha ...Even I cant believe that this episode has ever taken place in my life...

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Day16 (Sunday)
Route
Kms




Seriously Bajaj Service center folks ROCKS!! They just took 30 mints to get the issue fixed of course without replacing master Cylinder as it was not in stock <still better than those 5 hours> I knew that they did a temporary thing again, which I will have to get it done once I reach Mumbai, but since it was just a matter of few kms we agreed upon not investing much time and leave for Chandigarh ASAP >.

Saffy's getting medicine after suffering for 1 whole day



The highway from Manali to Chandigarh was double lane which increased our difficulty level. We were not even able to go above 70 kms .


Needless to say we became bit emotional while transporting our companion for 15 long days, ofcourse we were aware that it was just end of our first adventure and there are many many more to come.

Waving bye to our beloved machines and promising to see them soon we left from Mandi. Now our another challenge was to reach Chandigarh station, Gati guys told us that there are bus services for the same but when we reached bus depot they said; there are no buses until tomorrow morning and furthermore you guys need to have prior reservation for the same <Now this was something serious>.

After running and inquiring for 3 hours we came to know that there is a cab service but it is way too expensive 5000inr something. Fortunately we met a Punjabi family who were in same situation as ours we all decided to share a cab and also the sum and this is how we reached Chandigarh bus centre at around 2.00 am SAFELY and SUCESSFULLY.

Day 17 was all about sleeping, sleeping and Sleeping without eating...

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Some time pass and fun while we were waiting for our train from Chandigarh to Mumbai




Chhota mooch <Small Moustache> but pride was so much..that even after so much problems we conquered it






Dancing with the joy



Chandigarh..Cleanest place in India..




"Mother" nothing bigger than this personality in this universe...Sachin was busy taking random clicks near Chandhigarh station.



Sunrise from Chandigarh Bus stand

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp;amp;amp;amp; Ladakh

Awesome , That was a hell of a ride..

Awaiting last part, you exactly know how to build suspense

Waiting..........

Note : Please update your first post with links after day 9, i thought you are still to write that

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp;amp;amp;amp; Ladakh

[MENTION=32511]BiKeLovER[/MENTION] :- Let me correct you "That was one heaven of ride " Btw the last part of tragedy was the most unexpected thing that happened..Should upload the same by evening...

links thing will be done too

Re: A Couple on Two Different Motorcycles Riding to the Magical Mountains - Leh &amp; Ladakh


CHAPTER 18 - “Mumbai – The Tragedy Day”

Day18 (Monday) – 30/06/2015

We went through 8 states for past 18 days, but the biggest tragedy happened when we were in our land. Literally we are laughing while writing this and even you might laugh while reading this but when we finally reached Mumbai around 2.30 pm <Borivali> we were standing near bust stop from where we were supposed to take bus till “Airoli”.

We ran to catch up our bus but, unfortunately we missed it. We were clasping for breathe, so Sachin kept the saddle bag down and we sat bit aside from our bag in shadow. The bus was scheduled after 20 mint so we ordered Bhel Puri and started eating it and here is when the tragedy occurred.

Our Saddle bag was stolen by somebody in less than 30 seconds. We searched it but we were sure that we would not be able to find it so we went to police station and lodged a complaint in nearby police station in Borivali which wasn’t helpful; moreover our 3 hours were wasted.

Camera, Riding gloves and many things were robbed. Actually we carried two cameras Nikon P520 was for Kiran and Pentax P5 was used by Sachin. When we got down from train Sachin kept his waist pouch and camera bag(Pentax)with him and kept Nikon P520 in saddle Bags which was stolen.

Thank god we carried 2 cameras otherwise we would have no memories of our 1st adventure.

But finally finally finally, after so many struggles we enthusiastically conquered. I passed it with distinction and Sachin passed it with merit marks (above 90 percent) not even a single fall in those dangerous terrains, in fact he had it when it was least expected : D, so is our life <It gives us the shock when we least expect it>

We came back with so many learnings, like do not ride or ride slow during dusky hours as lights are very tricky, you should have good 8 hours sleep before starting the
ride, learnt so many things about our bikes, about ourselves, our limits <Mentally, Physically>…too many things It’s a long list…

And last but not the least Big Thanks to our Mom, Dad for understanding our passion for bikes and approving us for this madness. It’s never easy for parents to give such permissions to their kids. Helmets off to our creators. You Guys Rock !!

Make sure whenever you go out from your home, remember one thing that there is your lovely family who is waiting for you to come back to them. Never invite anything which will harm you because that will ultimately hurt your family and believe me that pain is never ending one.

“MISSION “Mumbai – Leh Ride” completed successfully!!”

We used to say “Leh Conquered”, but actually you or no one can conquer Mighty Himalayas, you just have to go with the flow of Himalayas and enjoy them.

***Kiran Singh Desai & Sachin Desai Singing off***

***Hope you all enjoyed our story as much as we enjoyed and wept while writing it ***

Stay tuned for lot many stories from our Recent Kolhapur and Dandeli ride and many more adventure in coming future!!

Till then Keep WROOMing!!

Never stop wondering….never stop wandering….

Thanks a minion for reading our story



A small RECAP :-