Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Mecca of riders, achieved

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


On the way, excited, out of breath and scared of the unknown

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Fully immersed in beauty without makeup

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Who’s that strange looking man behind me??

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018

Day 9
In the morning, we woke up and braced ourselves as this was the part where some serious riding was about to start. We were to ride to Pangong lake this day, stay there, and return to Sarchu the next day. We had no rest days from now on, expected road conditions was bad to no roads and we were on a tight schedule from now on. Checked out from the hotel at around 09:00AM, did refilling of fuel in our bikes. After all these works, finally we were ready to leave Leh for the last time. We took our first break at Karu, had breakfast there. There was first checkpoint for pass entry, did that and left again. After this point for 10 kms, roads were in bad shape as construction works were going on. We moved slowly. Then we came to know that due to landslides the main route is close and we had to take a detour. No issues, we moved forward. We reached a point where the detour was about to end and it was merging in main road. We stopped there for 5 minuets as what we saw was horrifying. We saw in distance, some serious incline, filled with dust, stones. And we saw many bikers and cars stuck there. We again braced ourselves and moved forward. First 400m were good for me, but then I had to stop the bike as other bikers in front of me couldn’t move their vehicle. Once I stopped, it was dead end for me, my bike won’t move an inch, I tried to move the bike, pushed it with my legs and my arms, revved it full, but bike’s engine would shut itself without moving an inch. I got down, tried to push the bike with engine running in 1st gear but it was barely 10 meters and I was dead tired. My hands were shaking, I was out of breath, unable to move further, I left the bike in the middle of the road, and sat on a side stone. (I was not alone, many riders returned from that point) I saw Singh, some 50 meters ahead of me, his bike was also resting on the saddle bags (It fell, but due to saddle bag, it didn’t actually went down, it stopped when saddle bags touched ground). He called me, and I went to him, pushed his bike to move it, once the bike started moving, it was doable from that point, so Singh first cleared his bike with my help, and then he pushed my bike to move it. And we both were out of the danger zone. On the other hand, our friend Dutta faced no problems owing to his FI engine and no traffic in front of him. He started easily and finished at the top with a wicked smile on his face. (The smile was his statement that his bike is better then us, at this, we unanimously agreed). After pushing Singh’s bike, I was in worse condition, my arms and legs were shaking, my fingers felt powerless, I was totally exhausted. We again took water break, watched some other soldiers crossing and some accepting defeat. I felt very scared and vulnerable after this incident and I was fearful for the whole day. Anyhow we moved forward. Again a mountain pass Tanglang La was to be crossed. Bad roads, lots of water crossing. Now Dutta’s bike was showing some stress as it was heated and the radiator fan was not working. We took break, let the engine cool down itself and resumed the journey. After Tanglang La, again roads were good, we covered some good distance in short time. We had our lunch at Durbuk. And from there roads were great, it was just like riding in plains albeit with lesser engine output power. We reached Pangong lake by 06:00PM. We had two hours light left, so we utilised this time for photo session, visit of Pangong Mata. I asked Pangong Mata to give blessings to my other two partners (Both of them were saying it’s their last ride). After photo sessions, we went to our cottage. The boy managing the cottage was quite young, and cheerful. I played some ball with him. We had some garam pakodas, ginger tea (Like elite class people). This day also demanded for celebration as from now, our journey was to return at our places. So we laughed, sang, joked around us and went to sleep heavy hearted.

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


The horrible off-road patch that gave us chills

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Breathtakingly beautiful view

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


The sunset

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Friendship goals
The sandstorm

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


Nightstay

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


A view to die for

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018


The Lone Ranger

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018

Day 10
We woke up early. This morning was the most beautiful thing I had witnessed in a long time. One thing I observed was dead silence, breaking it was howling wind. Sun was trying to come out but clouds were struggling hard to keep it in shades. It was brisk, cloudy and windy. Got ready, packed our luggage and left the cottage by 07:30AM. We stopped for breakfast at Durbuk, and for lunch at Karu. We didn’t faces any difficulties as were on downwards slopes. We again reached yesterday’s danger zone. It was very easy to cross it this time as gravity was pulling our bike (Not my engine, I would never trust this engine on this type of inclination). We did some good kms in lesser time. After lunch, we joined Leh Manali highway and from this point, till Pang, roads were good. We pushed the speed and we were at pang by 05:30PM. We decided that we can extend till Sarchu and without further ado, we moved again. From Pang, some serious off-roading welcomed us. With a groan, we complied. When we reached Gata loops, it was dark. Driving in Gata loops in complete darkness, man it was scary, you never know, a small wrong turn can result in death. But we drove, it was getting cold, Dutta was having AMS/Low blood pressure, so we had to reach Sarchu. We stopped for tea break before Gata loops. It was already darkening. We were there by 09:00PM. We looked for tents, and got one. This one had two different rooms with 5 beds each. For both the rooms, there was a toilet where there was no privacy. Looking at Dutta’s conditions, we decided to book it. It was extremely cold outside, wind howling like madness. We shut ourselves inside, barring the gate, had some chitchat and went to sleep as tomorrow was also a tough ride.

Re: Leh Ladakh 2018