Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

Thanks Goutam. You got a good deal👍

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

Hi,
Since this was kind of a family bike trip (i mean with wife), we 3 couples decided to hire a car for luggage.
Ultimately we ended up paying for a friend's Scorpio which served our purpose.

However, Please find below the stuff we carried:
1) Quechua inner thermals - 1 pair, Raincoat from Decathlon & Army boots - used heavily. Although faced rain only after Rohtang pass, used raincoat as wind cheater and it helped a lot in chilly conditions.
2) 2 jeans and 2 full and 2 half t-shirts, inner wears, spare socks - didn't use t-shirts that much.
3) Monkey cap, Shades, THH Helmet, water proof gloves and normal riding gloves - used heavily.
4) Sweatshirt, Winter jacket and Riding jacket - 1 each.
5) Medicines - list from xBhp. Mainly for altitude sickness, diarrhea, fever, headache, body pain - didn't use any.
6) Didn't take much spares - Only puncture kit & chain spray. Used chain spray and chain adjusting tools a lot.
7) DSLR + tripod and action cams. Loads of batteries + memory cards. Loads of power banks. Bike USB charger fitted on bike. Power-banks are God's avatar in Leh.
8) Some dry fruits, hydra bags, Snickers, Protein bar, Whey protein (very imp).
9) Everything was packed in a Rucksack and KTM ViaTerra saddle bag which was sometimes assembled on bike as per requirement.

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 5: June 11: Srinagar to Kargil, Distance - 210 kms

As we slept last night many thoughts were hovering over our mind like Ecstasy, adventure, perilous how will the real ride be ?
More or less I was confident that we will be able to start and complete the ride without any hassle or breakdowns.
We got up pretty early today and started with usual chores. We both had a protein shake for our breakfast (this we maintained throughout the journey)
As the beautiful ride began, we began feeling the cool breezy winds with the mesmerizing views of valleys, glaciers and snow clad mountains.

The wind gets frigid as we start gaining altitude. Roads tends to become more curvy with dense palm trees forest views on the vicinity.
After riding few hours, the scenery started changing with more snow capped mountains and glaciers on the vicinity.
Suddenly everybody stopped and started taking out thr cameras. It was a beautiful glacier merging onto the mighty Sind river.
We stopped as well and took some snaps.

First time ever saw a view like that specially on a bike ride






After riding for about an hour, we decided to stop for breakfast. Thr was a beautiful dhaba across which a forceful stream was flowing.
That place was so peaceful, clean, windy, chilly with beautiful blue sky and lovely tall pine trees. It was a dream place. You know instead of ordering the food, everybody ran towards the stream and started clicking pics.

Such a relaxing moment it was, having breakfast at a serene place.





After our breakfast, we were told that we are going to encounter the most beautiful Sonmarg valley in few mins. I was too excited to see the valley and spend some time, so I started riding a little faster than usual.

The moment of ecstasy on seeing the gateway to heaven.


The joy and excitement on seeing the valley.







Well the place was enjoyed at its fullest. I must say I was energized with the most beautiful place on earth. After having a tea and some snacks we moved further. Now we were about to encounter the first pass which is supposed to be tough with slushy roads and steep inclined roads, the Zozi La pass.
Well for me Duke and wife, it was a piece of cake. Although thr wasn't any so called road as most of it got washed away ion heavy rain or landslide , however they were not slushy.
















to be contd.....

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

Nice images again👌

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

Great captures!

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 5 : contd..

My plan was to visit Kargil war memorial on the way and pay our respects to the brave martyrs and soldiers.
The memorial tells us the story of what actually happened at the Tiger Hill.










After paying our respects and saluting the soldiers, we went on our final journey of the day to reach Hotel International residency at Kargil.
We arrived quite late though and was about to get freshened up, heard some noise outside. Got to know that Vikas lost his wedding ring somewhere near Kargil entry check-point where he removed his gloves to take out his IDs. We searched the entire hotel, his room and parking area but it was nowhere to be found.
We decided to go to that check-point. It was freezing at around 930pm but we didn't feel any bcoz of the situation.
We started searching near the check point with our flash lights and bike head lights,even the army guys helped us but we couldn't find it.
We went back to the hotel and pacified him.


DAY 6 : June 12 : Kargil to Leh, Distance - 220 kms
This was the day we were waiting for to Hit our 1st destination Leh. We were excited. Got up early and went for some sightseeing. Kargil is so beautiful; I wonder why not many people consider it as a travel destination. We found it awesome.









After some clicks, we hit the road. As we started the journey, our friend Vikas dropped his rain-wear somewhere near the petrol filling station. After around 30kms we had to return back to search for the item but again couldn't find it. This was the 2nd item he lost after his ring.

After few hrs of riding, I dropped my Oakley sunglasses don't know where. We felt that our stars are aligning to punish us of something.
Although the ride was smooth with awesome views. We faced rain which was the reason I kept my sunglasses in my side pocket of raincoat and it fell while riding.
We were heading to Namikala pass followed by Fotula top which was the center for Prasar Bharati. We heard that a bomb was dropped here during Kargil war.







After few clicks, as we were heading forward towards Lamayuru I couldn't see Vikas' bike. His wife was the pillion, and both were not in my vision. I sensed danger as the road was quite straight. I saw Tyre burning marks on road which ended near a ridge. My heart was pumping hard now. When I overlooked the ridge, I saw Vikas and his wife down the ridge hanging by a rock. His bike actually skid at the turn. This lead to both going over the ridge, they were both stuck at somewhere in the mid through a rock. This saved from going way down to the bottom.





Immediately we pulled them back and waited for our backup vehicle to come. Petrol was over pouring from the bike and brakes jammed. As the backup vehicle came, we went to the Lamayuru hospital, where we did the X-ray. Doc said that his soldier bone has broken. However, X-ray at the Leh hospital said quite the opposite. We insisted the couple to continue the journey with us on the back up vehicle. We will help them to cont the journey. We sent the bike back to Delhi through a road transport from Leh.

It was getting dark and we still were half way from Leh. The cold started biting us. But we were quite adamant to complete the ride to reach Leh. On one hand, thr was a fear about Vikas' & his wife injury & on the other hand we were riding on the thin air at night. Even though the road was pretty straight and flat, my DUKE didn't cross 80-90 kmph at full throttle.











Finally we touched the Leh entry point at around 10pm and reached our hotel at 1030 pm.
The day was long and tiring but adventurous. Irrespective of the mishap we were bonded together and decided to complete the journey ahead.
Luckily, a restaurant agreed to pack food for us. We were already famished and the hot dinner was gulped in no time. We hit the bed hard and luckily it was a rest day tomorrow so the thought of sleeping late gave us the much needed satisfaction.

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

Awesome Narration ... where is the rest of it ? Bring it on brother..

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu


Vibrant pics.. road surface has improved a lot near Pangong Tso and other places.. looks beautiful..

I am glad that I got a chance to do Leh when roads were not so good throughout , it was one hell of an experience.

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 6 : June 13 : Leh, Rest day

Overall a chilling and relaxed day. We were getting acclimatized of the altitude, although we were not feeling anything, but thought of just not doing anything, as the real ride was about to start to interior places like Khardung la, Hunder, Turtuk, Pangong, Tso Moriri and Tso kar.
The best way to pass the day was relaxing at the home-stay with some good home cooked meals, a warm bath and a walk down the streets.
Exploring the corners by a relax walk is so soothing to the mind and body.


Views from the Hotel terrace







Hotel garden has some cute and beautiful flowers


The passes were done to the aforementioned places. Since we had nothing to do, we went on a short ride to Magnetic hill.





















That end's the day...

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 8 : June 14 : Leh, Again rest day

The plan today was to visit Khardung la top and then advance to Turtuk and Hunder. But we got the info that weather is not clear at North and South Pullu. It is not recommended to visit today, I called 100 (Emergency Police Info) and they provided me with the accurate description that South Pullu has faced heavy snowfall and bigger vehicles have blocked the road.
it is recommended for anyone to call 100 and confirm before visiting any pass.
Anyways, since our plan faced another glitch we decided to visit Shanti Stupa which is situated just near to our hotel.

With Lord Buddha










Leh city








After some time we went to Leh market and then went to Thiksay monastery. However, the monastery was closed, we only saw the exterior and the beautiful carvings.













The sun was setting and temperature was dropping. So decided to cut short the visit and head back home.



Beautiful carving at the entrance.

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 9 : June 15 : Leh - Local Sightseeing - Actually it was wasted because of weather problems

Well, friends till now, weather was not with us. Although, to be honest, we were not guided properly with appropriate information on how to deal with this kind of situation. And doing something heroic may end up in 2 scenarios.
1st - We could have started to Khardung la in-spite of fearful weather and waited at South Pullu till this weather gets better and things could have gone our side.
2nd - We could have left stranded due to adverse weather conditions, which could have resulted in safety issues for me and wife along with group riders.

Although, I would have chosen the first option if I was solo, however things was not so black and white.
There was a huge debate among us, whether to waste this day again,as weather was hazardous or just relax inside our hotels.

Well the decision was taken at the end and we just relaxed at our hotels.



DAY 10 : June 16 : Leh - Pangong Tso Lake - Merak, Distance 225 kms

This was the day the real off road ride started. I decided to lead the group, as some people decided to part with us due to the argument and debate yesterday.
The plan was made in the earlier night to cancel Khardung la and move onto the next phase of the circuit i.e. Pangong Tso.

We decided to get up early and start the ride as early as possible to Merak. We planned to reach early so that one can enjoy a quite and relaxing evening.
However, things doesn't always go as planned.

Well, tbh the real ride started today as we were riding for the first time to the interior villages of Leh which doesn't have any network connectivity, fuel stations or road.
We had already filled up 2 drums of Petrol on the back up vehicle as the ride was planned for a stretch of around 800 kms.

So, the ride started with filling our bike's petrol tanks.
The last Indian Oil fuel filling station can be found at Karu on the way to Pangong from Leh.



After riding for a couple of hours we stopped at a dhaba. Purpose was to have some refreshments, loo and know about the road conditions ahead.
As we were about to start the ride, we noticed a group of riders were having some trouble with a RE. It was the case of rear tyre puncture, which is a real hassle with RE when you have to fit the puncture yourself without appropriate tools. We had the tools and kit and we spent around an hour to help them, which was the right thing to do.
Ride is all about helping others too.



The decision of asking the road conditions from the locals was correct, as they told us not to take the conventional road ahead. The roads are washed out and we have to take a detour. The detour was worse than expected. There was no road at all. The kachha road was full of dust and debris with steep ghat ahead. RE guys struggled a lot on the curves due to heavy loose dirt on the road. The tyres were spinning, providing no traction. After I finished the ghat, I went down to pull them with bare hands. Slowly everyone reached the top.



It was a piece of cake for us though.



After an hour or so, we started gaining altitude at a much faster level. We started observing snow clad mountains. I was feeling short of breath and light headache due to this.



The ghats through which we came.



Our best pic ever. We observed some snow fall here, weather was deteriorating and views ahead were getting dark.
We decided to have some food and quick tea and leave this high alt place as quickly as possible.



As soon as we reached Chang la Pass, my head was bursting. Had some maggi and tea. Also, some quick pics. Didn't take any meds.
In these cases, the decision making calculation which our mind makes while riding, was going for a toss.







As we were losing altitude, I felt much better. After coming down to a flat road, We observed that half of our team were at least 30 minutes behind us.
So, decided to halt, have some water and relax.



Observe the frozen lake and snow clad mountains. The views were wonderful. Now, we have entered the Pangong Lake road.
We started observing many grazing sheeps, which the nomads control for their flesh and wool. Pashmina shawls are actually made from these sheep wool.



As we moved ahead, the landscape started changing. Now, the region was arid and we started observing deserts.



That's how, my wife use to click snaps and videos. Very tiring and brave job, I must say in these freezing temp.



Road to Pangong.



Desert views. Roads were gone now, Had to ride on deserts and loose gravels.



First view of Pangong lake.



Well, we almost made it on time to Pangong lake. We reached at 5 - 530pm to the ''3 idiots'' location.
Me and Sudam with spouse decided to check for our booked guest house which was located at Merak, some 30kms ahead of Pangong.
We had no idea that the roads are so horrible, it's not advised to continue after 6pm. Our max speed was 10 km/h only.
The roads literally passed though the lake at many instants and tbh there was no road. Some how we both reached Merak and couldn't find our so called guest house.

We were returning when my bike fell on the sand. The speed was not above 15kmph, My wife faced some injuries and my bike's hand lever for clutch broke.
I picked up the broken lever and duct taped to have some leverage. We were returning very slowly and were morally down.

After 30 mins, we saw our back up vehicle and other bikers, which gave us a much needed relied as we didn't see a human for almost 2 hours.
It was around 730 pm and we had no place to stay. Well, 3 of us started searching for some home stays near the interior village as the Swiss tents were too costly.
Some were charging close to 5k per night. At last, a villager decided to host us at around 300 per person with evening snacks, dinner and morning breakfast.

They had quite a few rooms, which could accomodate all of us easily with parking spaces for bikes and back up vehicle. It was safe, they were really a sweet family.
They provided us warm water, tea as soon as all of us reached.
Well, we washed up, grouped and discussed the next day's strategy. We should have stayed 1 night extra at such an awesome location, however since we lost a good number of days earlier, it was decided to leave the place early morning to our next destination Tso kar and Tso Moriri.

TBC..................

Re: Ride of my Life: DUKE 200 with Pillion - Pune - Amritsar - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Pu

DAY 10 : June 17 : Merak to Chushul to Nyoma , Distance 285 kms

The previous day was really tough for us, mentally and physically. However, new day brings new Josh.
We got up quite early, so that we can have some couple photographs and with bike too.
The first thing we used to do early morning was luggage loading in back up vehicle, cleaning up the bikes, chain cleaning and lubrication, Petrol re-fueling and decide the next nearest stop.
All set and done, Me and Sudam left our homestay with spouse for sight - seeing as others were still not ready. We deicided to meet up near Merak village.
That was the first time we saw Pangong Lake in its full glory. A sight never to be forgotten.
We spent close to 90 minutes clicking snaps close to the lakes at various locations. Even after 90 mins we didnt see our rest of the people coming.
So, went back to check for any issues. And there it was, 1 RE had some issues in its clutch mechanism. Close to 4 precious hours was lost repairing it.
Anyway, we moved ahead on the so called horrible road. But the landscape was amazing.
We took some breaks in between to verify the correct roads and on the check posts.

Luggage loading and Re-fueling.



Some snaps near Merak village



Crystal clear water of lake









Stopped after 2 hours for lunch break. Till this stop, there is no dhaba, no road. We were lucky to have found this sweet little dhaba and to our luck found Rajma chawal, paneer, Eggs for lunch. Way better than any meal in these conditions with low prices.
After 20 minutes, found damar road and we were excited, however the excitment was over in just 5 mins when the horrible kachha road started again.
I asked my wife to sit inside Back up vehicle for this patch. After that, I didnt sit on my bike, like a horse ride just cranked the engine to 80kmph and crossed the rough terrain easily.






Road to Tso Kar lake. Awesome landscapes at Tso kar, however couldn't stop to take clicks as the weather was going hayward.





On the way, we stopped at Rezang la Museum. Paid our respects to the Martyrs and moved ahead.



The most amazing views were from Tso Moriri, although we deserved it after horrible patch close to Tso Moriri.
It felt like heaven. Wanted to stay here overnight but the houses were on the other side of the lake. And we went on the wrong side where one could see an awesome patch of road with yellow lines. These are specifically built by army, probable for their use only as they scolded us later near the check post and asked we had second command authority to come here.





Probably the last village near Indo- China Border.



We left the place in a hurry after spending some good hours as the weather went hayward. We took out our raincoats and tried to get in. It was so windy that the back up vehicle was also shaking. Somehow, jumped on the bike and left the place.
After reaching a village, just on the outskirts of the lake we enquired for homestays. To our luck found the best homestay on Earth at 350 per night with evening snacks, dinner and morning breakfast.
People were so friendly and hardworking. I asked if we could get warm water to take bath. I didn't realise that the area always runs low on water.
There is no water supply and glaciers have not melted to the extent that water can reach this village through some pathways made by locals.
They had to fetch water from some far way storage. When i saw women and young girls, kids fetching water for us, felt so bad. I asked them to stop it right at the moment.
We fetched water whatever was required.
The kids were very friendly, I asked them if we can get some dry woods for bonfire.
These naughty kids have a way around to sneak past the guarding dog and take dry woods from the neighbour. I would say neat tricks under their sleeves.
The night we asked them to join us for bonfire, music and dance. Shared some good moments with them, felt so alive.
Wanted to stay more and share their life with us but had to leave early, so went to sleep.