Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Approved!

Wow, someone give this man a medal for the unrelenting grit shown! Every time I read your logs about scooter-ing in the Himalayas, I get goosebumps.
Lucky with the camera thingy there, but all's well that ends well.

I would gladly rate this thread the highest star.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Wow Narender ji, one more from you!
Eagerly waiting for another visual treat!

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Well done especially after I thought I'd seen it all. Ha!

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016



Kya Baat hai Master ji

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Thank you very much for kind words.
Means lot.Cheers.

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So we set sail for our Ladakh Ride 2016 from Dhaula Kuan at 5.30 Am and reached on NH 44 towards Sonipat.Till 8-9 am,ride was bearable but as time passed,heat became unbearable resulting in frequent water break.It was very very hot on the road.Target for day 1 was to reach Ludhiana and spend some time with Ludhiana friends.But before reaching Ludhiana,i had to take a detour towards Zirakpur for meeting a photographer friend Nishant.He runs a very Alishaan big and well equipped studio on the main road.Nishant welcomed us in his big photo studio and i was in AWE....wow...whata a beautiful studio.Big.spacious,aesretcally decorated with personla touch.We talked and discussed many matters while his staff served us nice coffee and chocolate cake.What a person Nshnat is.It was good meeting and after an hour we left for Ludhiana and recived by D S Dhillon Paaji at his residence.Soon after,many Ludhaian friends assembled and it was decided to have a dinner ata famous hotel Baba Chicken.Evening was nice with so many friendly people around me.They all made that evening memorable for me and indebted me.Herartful thanks for DS Dhillon ji,Praveen Dua ji,Rajdeep Ji DJ Daman,Gaurav Chopra,Padam Ji,Vikas Sharma.

After dinner,we went to Dhillon paaji's home and had a comfy sleep.Oh man..what a day it was with so much warmth by friends.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Whenever someone asks me as to how to rent <certain brand of bike> or if their <the rest of the bikes> can make it to Ladakh, I smile at how they scowl when I say that its the man and not the machine and give your example. Their scowl turns to sheer shock when I show them your threads
Here is another one I look forward to sharing now
Whats next!

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Nice going.
You are a familier name in among my biker friends in office already!

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

No amount of praise can justify what you have done!!! Respect.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Goodness; how could I have missed this one for the past 6 days.

Fantastico, is the word! Sirjee, it's always a delight.


PS - BTW, is that a tuborg in the last pic of first post? - blame my habits

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

I was searching for images of Marsimik La and landed here on this thread. No words [MENTION=38566]narender[/MENTION]. Congrats I hope you had a ride of your life time. I still have no words to express. Take care and ride safe.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Great man !! Awaiting detailed stuff.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Sir, I am hooked to this thread. Huge respect for what you have accomplished.
Awesome teaser, now waiting for the full journey. Please don't keep us waiting for long.

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016

Hats off to you Narendra ji really you are an inspiration like "MIK" said "its the man and not the machine " Totally agree with it

Re: Restless Rider Realized His Dream-Scootering on Marsimik La 2016



The hospitality shown by Ludhiyana friends was very overwhelming for me.All friends made the day special for me.I am lucky to have such a nice bunch of like minded friends.Dhillon paaji prepared a stuffed poori breakfast and we took the leave for our onwards journey towards Udhampur.Heat as usual was unbearable in northern planes and forcing us to take many breaks.Lemon-Soda vendors carts were our favorite stoppage.I also saw some forest fires along the roads


Speed was slow.Somehow we reached Udhampur in night and stayed in hotel Praveen for 600 rs room rent non ac room.Dust and heat had made us condition worse,so first thing i did in hotel was a longer shower foloowed by a chilled beer accompanied by a roasted chicken to end the day and remove
tiredness of a long day riding.


Today,the 3rd Day is very important.We awake around 4 am in the morning and started our check out process.I wanted to leave as early possible so that we could reach Gulabgarh on time.I was not aware of this region..never been to Doda,Kishtwar and further.How is road condition,time taken to reach Gulabgarh???No idea in my mind.
So i called my friend Dr Arun Bhagat for assistance.Dr Arun is posted at Kistwar Govt Hospital and a native of Jammu.He provided me all the crucial info.Sadly,he was traveling in Leh on that day so could not meet him.
It was on this day that my DSLR came out of the bag.For 2 days it was resting in the bag.All photography was done on mobile.We left Srinagar highway at Batote and turned towards right and recahed a very crowded Batote market.Somehow came out of the city and enjoyed the wide empty roads along the Chenab river.Fun had just began and things were becoming interesting.
Around noon,we reached a diversion point at Doda pul.Asked the direction for Gulabgarh and also enjoyed some lemon water on roadside.Hunger was increasing so stop at a dhaba and ordered some Rajma-Chawal and had a prolonged break.Reached Kistwar around evening.And first thing was to secure petrol supply for next 2 days.
Kistwar has 2-3 petrol pumps and is a pretty big town on this route.Evening was slowly turning into night after we left Kishtwar.The section beyond Kishtwar was remote and villages were disappearing.People were disappearing and a wilderness was setting in making the entire evening ride was interesting and full of anxiety.
After 2-3 hours we left Kishtwar,nomadic shepheards with their livestock were seen.They were camping with their family and cooking.Entire scenerio was very very interesting and i began to enjoy the ride.Night engulfed the this region only thing visible was million stars studded sky and fire from nomadic tents.Oh man,what a sight and feeling.But Gulabgarh was still far and suddenly scooter gear wires snapped and my heart skipped a beat.Total darkness...and a busted scooter.I asked Pankaj to keep his bike's headlight on and focus it on scooter and open the scooter front part and with a great difficulty Pankaj found a solution and we were able to fix the problem and resume our ride and reached Gulabgarh and stopped at a small dark Dhaba.Dhaba was full of local people who were enjoying their evening drink.We sat down and asked dhaba owner about staying room.He showed some very rudimentry basic room for 150 rs.I agreed to stay.Food was 50 rs per plate.
After dinner,we retired for the day in that dark,dingy and dimly lit room of a dhaba at distant town of Gulabgarh of Distt Kistwar,Jammu Kashmir.
Tommorrow, we will see the famous Cliffhanger road that connects JK to HP and remians open in winters too and provide a life saving link for people of Pangi Valley of Himachal.