Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Adventurous and inspiring. keep it up bro!

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.



waiting for next update

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

DAY-6

Woke up to a big bang sound and it was already 7 am , the sun was shinning brightly over the moon-land and with that I was jumping with happiness that what life has to offer you when you are a travelling. Got my morning rituals complete and in the next few minutes I was down at the dinning area for breakfast. The breakfast was buffet as there were many guests in the lodge out of which most of them were foreign tourists who were on a trekking mission . By 8:30 am everything was complete and guests were disembarking from the lodge and with that I with any further delay started my ride towards Leh.

Just 5 min into the ride for the day , and I was almost sure that this 90 min ride will at least take me more then 4 hrs , it happened also. First delay was at moon-land, its so close but so far. Then next it was nimmu the confluence of Indus and Zanskar river but somehow I missed it , which I didn’t realize. Then when I was continue with the ride I saw many people standing the road with bikes and taxis standing on the road and some people are also riding ATV on the sand beside the road and here it comes the Magnetic hill. Even i stopped my bike for sometime on the designated place to feel the magnetic field. With that feeling now it was time to head towards leh . But the rays of the sun were very strong and I could feel that , so I was taking breaks and enjoying the views. Then soon I was welcomed by Gurudwara sri pathar sahib. And there I decided to take some break before heading ahead as it was almost afternoon now and I need to get something to eat. That is where the langar at the gurudwara came to the help.

And with that I head straight to leh city. With no bookings made previously , I had shortlisted some guest house . So without further delay I started looking for the guest house and after some 30 min of roaming around I was finally there . unloaded the luggage from the bike , sat for sometime in the waiting area for the room to be ready. With no time restrictions I was like a free bird , I stayed in the city for 3 days and during the stay I got my permits for (Inner line) , visited shey monastery , thiksey monastery, hall of fame , also roamed around the city enjoying the views that one can get from the by lanes of the streets. And last but the least I also got to meet some friends from Delhi who all were there in the city after completing their trip . So it was like collecting some ideas before I start my ride to the highest motorable road.







































Welcome to Leh city.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

I was welcomed by a british classic motorcycle upon reaching my guest house.


My first evening in Leh city, I stayed at Broad View guest house in changspa road. Yes it was busy all day with tourists coming and going .


The evening was spent roaming in the market near the guest house.


HALL OF FAME.
























Shey Palace as seen from the backside.










On way to the famous wall.


The famous wall.




Thiksey Monastery

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Nice clicks!!

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

waiting for Khardung La

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Awesome brother.. Loved it..

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

DAY:9

After a complete stay for 3 and a half days in Leh city and taking some good rest along with acclimatization to the high altitude , its now time for the real adventure to begin. The day wake up early morning and I was feeling the short of oxygen as sometimes I used to breathe heavily . Today the plan was to reach khardungla top and then descend towards nubra valley and stay at hunder for the night. Started my ride around 8 am in the morning , there were riders from Mumbai who all were leaving leh city and were heading towards Srinagar as there ride was over. With that I head towards the main market ,leh entry gate infront of me and taking a left turn and then a sudden right turn I see the board reading Khardungla Top- 40km. I was getting goosebumps, no I was not nervous rather I was bit excited because I was about to hit the highest motor able road today in the next few hours. I was trying to control my excitement , used to keep calm, neither used to think much nor speak or scream inside helmet. I was internally happy and keeping my self prepared for any incident that happens with me which can end my ride. Few minutes into the ride and I was stopped by a lady at a check gate , “ who asked me whether this is your personal bike ? do u have the permits and the documents for the bike ? and my reply to her was yes. You can move ahead and enjoy the ride.

Thank you madam.

Some 20 minutes later I started to feel the chill wind and soon I saw myself in the middle of an army convoy , when they saw there were almost more then 10 vehicles the convoy stopped themselves and let us move ahead.I was enjoying the ride with scenic views all around me then I was asked to stop by the police who asked me to submit the permit papers at the gate. To which I obeyed and it took less then 5 minutes to complete the formalities and again I was back on the saddle. On the way up kept on crossing many taxis which were carrying tourists with them. And after sometime I was again welcomed with long que of taxis standing on the middle of the road and I asked one taxi driver why so mush of traffic here. His reply was “ Yehi to asli masala he , Khardungla” . I was like ok then I made it to the top without any trouble. I went to the board and there I parked my bike , looked around and for a second I didn’t felt like I was there at the highest motorable road. People were enjoying there time there , somewhere clicking pictures , some were chatting , some were enjoying there magi at the camps there. I was like let’s click some pictures with the board , after taking some selfie I started looking for someone who can click a picture of mine with the board and there was a gentleman who was eagerly waiting to take picture with the board and he himself approached me if I would like to have some pictures with the board, and I was very much thankful to him for his helping nature. After all the photo session was over and it was time for some food and it was time for maggi and coffee.

Now its been almost more then 30 minutes I was there at the top enjoying the beauty at the highest motorable road. After having an amazing time at the top now its time to head down towards the nubra valley . On my descend down towards diskit bad roads were not ending and suddenly i felt like something missing from my bike and I stopped to check and there was a local coming towards me with my bag in his hand , he was like “ sir , you need to fasten your bags more securely and tightly or else it will fall again” . I was like there is some one who is always watching me. At the end its the karma .

With that I make my next stop at south pullu check gate where I got my permits submitted and I was told that if you are returning tomorrow then you will be only allowed to cross the gate after 12noon as some kind of rally is taking place at the ktop. I was like ok with it , when I was about to leave then it started to drizzle a bit but it was not water rather snow. It didn’t last long . Later on came to know that it was the Biking Queens from Gujarat who all were riding around India and ladakh been there final leg of journey and after this they are heading back to their respective hometown.

Enjoying the slight drizzle and drop in the temperature I make my way to khardung village and making a stop there for sometime staring at the nature . Now it was already lunchtime and I wanted to have some food but I didn’t to stop just for food. I was carrying dry foods with me in my bag, so I decided to stop at some beautiful spot so that I can enjoy the nature along with filling my tummy. And the stop happened to be at just before diskit gompa , I stopped at an intersection had my food , enjoyed the view and then I move ahead. From a very far distance I could see the big 32 metre statue of Buddha wondering how big is it? Upon getting closer and closer it appeared to be inside the diskit gompa. Paid 20 bucks for entry and I was there at Diskit gompa , enjoying the majestic statue erected at the Monastery. After having a nice time at the gompa enjoying the amazing view of shyok river with sun making its way down . So its time for now to call it a day with Hunder just few kms away . On my way to there was a small sand storm being formed over the dunes and were heading towards the road , soon it crossed me with giving me a nice bath with the sand leaving all over my luggage, jacket .Braving the sand storm and finally reaching hunder it was almost 6pm now and the sun had almost gone down. I had few options with me as I was carrying some details of home-stays with me. And to my surprise the moment I entered hunder the first homestay was 5^th on my list . And I was there for 500 rupees including dinner, breakfast and stay. Isn’t that a deal.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.



Those stickers at Khardung La sign board needs to be removed.
It looks so bad.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Last night the power went off around 11 pm and then it was completely dark, with limited supply in power the first thing I did was to charge up my smartphones so that I don’t run out of power. With that done I was wondering what to do now??? Chat with the locals, go walk around the place enjoy the nature. Then suddenly two boys in a black royal enfield machismo stopped by the gate asking me if they can get rooms to stay, and I was too excited as at-least now we can share some stories with each other. And they were there putting up their camps as they wanted to spend the night inside there respective camps but dinner and breakfast at the dinning area of the home-stay. And the rest of the night was spent on discussing how has the ride been so far.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Nice shots, cant sit in office now

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

nice pictures.
also write some narration about the pictures.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Day-10

It was cold outside and I was using two blankets to keep myself warm. I almost woke up from the sleep and was heading towards the bathroom and all of a sudden I see a small cat sitting near my window and meowing constantly , and instantly I opened the window and the cat was inside my room heading towards the blanket and within seconds of entering she had settled herself in between the blankets. After having some fun with the cat now it was time to get ready and start the ride back again to leh. All thanks to the owner of the home stay who was helpful enough to have installed a solar water heater to keep the hot water running even without supply of power. After completing my breakfast which was 2 maggi and 2 cups of tea to get the sleepy eyes some energy to look into the suns and enjoy the nature. The a disaster strikes as the 2 other riders who had came yesterday night to the home-stay and were staying inside the compound camping there tents had early in the morning gone out to enjoy the dunes in hunder and ended up in breaking 7 spokes on the rear wheel of the bullet 350. So now it was like wait for them to get the bike fixed and then only we can start riding . The owner of the home stay along with the owner of the bike went in his car to the nearby army camp for finding help. Till the time they returned I kept on waiting there so that his other friend does not get bored and feel lonely. So I kept on waiting but by now it was almost 11am . So I decide to give him a call and ask what is the status . He could not receive my call but few minutes later he was there along the owner in his car. They could not find any one to get the rim fixed , so he decided to get a spare one from leh so that he can continue his ride. But it will arrive by tomorrow or else by evening , so it was like a complete rest day for them. Upon listening to their story I decided not to waste or wait for any more long and bid good bye to them and start my return journey towards Leh.

It was 15^th of August , 2017 Independence day. What a day it was to be on the highest motorable road once again . As I was told that you can only cross the south pullu check post after 2 pm, so it was like I had plenty of time to cross Ktop and reach back at leh , at least by 5 pm. My actual plan was to reach hunder and then cross Warila through shyok river route and then come back to agham village , go for a refuel at karu and then head towards pangong. But as the shyok river was overflowing and the roads had got washed off so it was not no more possible. When I crossed the junction that leads to Agham village , i clicked some pictures there, stopped for sometime , wondered around the place . But somehow I have to go . So I decided to move further without delaying , and soon I crossed the south pullu check gate and then the khardung village and after some butt breaking road I was again at Khardungla Top. I had no plans to stop at the top as I had already started late so I wanted to reach early . But when I reached the top there were a bit of traffic jam as in the morning there was tricolor flag being hoisted at the top by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Along with the biking queens from Gujarat who were on their last leg of journey and were also a part of the flag hoisting . So after sometime I decided to take a break and a cup of tea or coffee , and then it was straight to the guest house without any more breaks in between.

My bike resting at Padma Home stay in Hunder.


And in the morning I discovered that yesterday in the cold my riding gloves had torn off .




The sand dunes on approaching to diskit.


Enjoy the dunes.


The last filling station at the end of Diskit. Was lucky enough to get fuel.


The lone rider.

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

@Siddhant Mishra

Bahot Acchey

Re: Solo ride to ladakh 2017.

Fantastic log.
Is diesel also available at the above mentioned fuel station.