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Seventh Day = Leh to Nubra



Many of you might have already been to Ladakh.. Many have plans that were ruined by damn COVID-19.. Those who were there, above video will be exact reminder of what we saw with our own eyes.. Those who’re planning this’d be a virtual ride.. And those, who were in Ladakh in second fortnight of June 2016, 2017 and 2018; if you saw a crazy solo rider on white Yamaha R15, that was me..

Hello again after a long break I had to take.. No No.. No COVID for me.. I was just stuck up in office work till my eyes refused to be open every day.. Though I was not part of #extendduedate of Income Tax, I am part of Professional fraternity serving our great nation by facilitating tax payments and filing of tax returns.. So digits’ sludge held my legs deep down and wouldn’t let me write anything further.. I was stuck in it up till 31st March anyhow and a little bit after that in all that aftermath for awhile.. But somewhere we need to say – That’s enough, I’m gonna do whatever I need to today.. That’s why I’m here with all you..

Behold, beware and be thrilled..!! Grab all those wind cheaters, sweaters, jackets, body warmers, rain liners, scarfs, monkey caps, woolen socks and whatever there is for a chilling, thrilling, hot n cold, wet n icy, dry n sandy ride today..

You might have read in previous day ride that we’ve arrived Leh from Shrinagar route and hence, we are climbing highs step-by-step.. But still, we aren’t highlanders and should – No – MUST give our body some time to acclimatize these altitudes.. So yesterday I just went here and there.. Like confluence of Zanskar and Indus.. Time pass on Magnetic Hill Road.. Hemis and Thikse Monastery.. And getting my permits (now available online on - http://lahdclehpermit.in/)

As I said earlier, in enthusiasm of riding, we all tend to ignore signs of AMS.. I’d say complete no no for those who wanna get some alcohol or smoke.. It literally sucks oxygen from your body, which was already yelling for more oxygen.. There may be no AMS symptoms for the first 12-24 hours, so rest of a complete day would make us afresh and also let us know if anything is going in wrong direction in our body.. DON’T in any circumstances move ahead for Nubra / Khardung La immediately on next day after reaching Leh.. AT LEAST ONE FULL DAY REST (I ACTUALLY MEANT REST) IS MUST.. I’ve seen healthy, properly feeling acclimatized and physically sound riders just exhausted like that even after everything was in their favor..

Don’t worry as I don’t wanna scare any reader or whoever is planning Ladakh.. AMS depends on person to person, vary differently.. Some might not feel anything at all and some might.. However we all would experience little heavy breathing, exhausting sooner, physical work feeling tougher and so on.. Nonetheless, don’t worry does never mean being careless..

My regular policy in any ride is to start earliest possible in morning.. Latest by 6 am while almost everyone is just rising and in cold weather, engulfed in blankets and feeling much wished lovely warmth.. But there’re lots of benefits in starting early.. With no one around, we can literally stop anywhere, spend however time we need to spend looking nature and absorbing it into our souls..

I already have had R15 filled up to her neck yesterday evening.. My extra tank is also full.. Tire pressures checked, chain lubed, WD40 applied wherever necessary (It’s real moist and cold out here) and all set to go early in morning..

This is extra tank you might have seen earlier..



So as usual, I’m leaving earliest possible in morning.. It’s cold start both for me bike and me self.. We are going to Nubra Valley.. Via most celebrated “Highest motorable road in the world”.. Maybe life time dream of many riders.. An unforgettable adventure.. Epic ride to “Khardung La”.. We’ll ascend around 2,000 meters (that’s 2 kilometers height) in very short distance..



Road to Khardung La is just on our left before we cross entry gate of Leh town.. And entry gate is within walking distance while we’re roaming in Leh market for shopping.. Everything in morning seems just frozen up.. It’s very cold here.. I see clouds gathering up above.. Tiny rain drops on my visor.. If this continues.. Surely snow fall will catch us somewhere.. It’s gonna be “cool” ride I feel, literally..



Right in front is Leh Entry Gate, we’re coming from Main Market and Blue Board on Mid-Left corner is way-to-Khardung La..

Nubra is actually “L dumra”.. Means valley of flowers.. This valley is formed by Shyok River and Nubra or Siachen River.. A high altitude cold desert.. This was also very important place on ancient “Silk Route”.. If we travel to Panamik side of Valley, we’ll be able to find out ancient route as well.. And we’re, of course, going there.!

Now here is a fun part.. Since I’ve travelled thrice in Ladakh, I’ve photos from different weather conditions.. Here it’s today, cloudy and foggy..



Here is a photo when it was sunny.. This is awesome.. Isn’t it..?



We will first hit a check post by locals.. They verify whether vehicle you’re riding or driving is your own.. Taxi union and two wheeler renting people don’t allow rented vehicles, taxis out of Ladakh to ply in Ladakh.. What they say also seems logical.. They say “We’ve got only three or four months to earn our livelihood and tourist is only one with money.. If outsiders pull our only resource, how’re we supposed to survive.?? Besides, we’re not charging exorbitantly, since all rates have been fixed mutually by union and local administration..” So no yellow number plates outside Ladakh or even vehicles from Car Renting Agencies are plied in here.. You may use it to reach Leh, But after that, you need to hire only local vehicle for sightseeing.. Of course, private vehicles can ply anywhere and they don’t bother nothing to them..

After that we’ve Police Check Post named South Pullu.. We need to register rider’s and vehicle details there, show permits and give a copy if demanded.. We also can have tea / coffee or breakfast in nearby stalls.. Then straight (literally) Khardung La.. After we descend it, there’s anther check post named North Pullu.. Where we again register all details.. It’s actually cross check that every vehicle has passed Khardung La safely or anyone is missing.. Past Khardung La is Avalanche Zone and they come frequently.. So this is rather very important..

We have been surrounded by these beautiful mountains..



Now starts real ascend.. Don’t be baffled that road is good and what you’ve seen in videos is treacherous, winding / unwinding roads.. It’s metaled only till South Pullu.. As soon as we pass south pullu, road will worsen..

That’s Leh town there..


Below is road we came through.. After we ride in Ladakh, we feel any snake going straight since we take as many turns in one ride as he wouldn’t in its entire life..

Though army convoys are now routine, there stopping here isn’t.. See rainbow on road.. On road yes, not in sky since there seems oil leakage.. Some heavy machinery (Can’t name what was that for obvious reasons and it’s automatically blur in video due to raindrops – but seeing it there was thrilling - you don’t see it every day) carrying army truck was halted awhile to check something..



जय महाराष्ट्र..! आपलं माणूस इतक्या दुरवरही भेटला याचा आनंद पहा यांच्या चेहऱ्यावर..! म्हणाले कुठं उंडारतंय बेणं एकटंच..!!

Cold has started rising.. Rain drops has been turned over to mild snow fall.. Drops on helmet visor are making everything difficult to see.. MOTHER NATURE fully controls our every movement and moment now..

South Pullu was a destination with disappointing news.. Policeman checking permits informed me that there’s rising snow fall up above and he’s ordered not to let any two wheelers or even small four wheelers pass check post.. He said only four wheelers like Scorpio, Innova etc. are allowed.. Further added that if situation worsens, Khardung La will close soon.. That was saddening since from past experience I knew (hoped actually) that after descending “La”, whether might clear up since all La are on height but once crossed, you also descend below enough..

Anyways.. I couldn’t’ argue and had to wait in nearby restaurant (What a word to describe that settlement.!) What a coincidence that soldiers I had chat earlier also arrived soon and we had good chat for about half hour.. All of them were used to see bike riders but not used to see someone riding alone on some sort of sports bike.. Meanwhile two and four wheelers started piling up.. My patience ended up after half hour and I went to check post with definitely bearing that I’d go up under any circumstances.. Accordingly I stated I’ll be completely accepting responsibility of whatever happens to me (Who’d know what might happen to me).. Half-heartedly, the Policeman allowed to go cause up ahead is avalanche / land slide zone till we descend.. (This is how official version of story goes.. Unofficially – Nothing official about it).. See my video to get an idea how that ride went..

South Pullu was end of good road.. Now next 30 km will be taking at least 2 hours.. With snow-fall, maybe more, but nowhere less.. So.. Fasten your seatbelts.. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride soon..

Weather was real bad here.. Cold.. Snow fall.. Low visibility.. Greasy Icy Muddy Watery road.. Big stones right in middle of road.. Always remember to keep an eye on mountains besides you, anything can fell down without intimation..



It was getting deliciously nasty.. Damn it.. My bike was fishtailing heavily and I needed to firmly grip handlebars.. My already icy fingers were totally numb.. I just can’t feel them.. Temperature is falling down and down as I’m going up and up.. I tried stopping my bike and holding bike silencer for any warmth.. That silencer felt like lighting a matchstick against storm.. I didn’t knew what was coming thereafter for sure..

Snow fall has just got worse.. You’ll clearly see it in video.. I feel like Jack Frost is nipping my nose here.. Wasn’t this cold during same day last year..



There’s no room for even slightest mistake.. Because any mistake, would be devastating.. Did I mention earlier that this area is avalanche / land slide prone.. Around same spot where avalanche hit this year 2019, and claimed lives of 10 civilians.. That’s why when riding here keep eye on road beneath you and also upside.. Last year a Bolero passed me and soon it passed, we had loose rocks falling just before us.. Those rocks were just touching bolero.. Rocks as big as Bolero tires were bouncing as if they were tennis balls.. Now imagine what’d happen to our lovely lives if any of them even kisses us..

Actually Khardung La is only around 17,500 feet.. Not 18,000 something as it claims.. And don’t be surprised but this isn’t Highest Motorable Road no more.. One other “La” near China Border has that honour.. It’s in very sensitive area and not open for civilians.. However some fools travelled there and not only that, in over enthusiasm, posted videos of sensitive area and that La on YouTube.. All they wanted to show that they were THE FIRST up there.. Not only they got disappointed not being first to visit there, they’re infamous in Leh Town Administration for not following ILP.. Everyone visited there violated secrecy of that region – but this guy crossed limit and posted video with pride.. What pride did he feel in revealing secret and playing with national security I’m unable to even guess wildly.. My anger boosts especially in wake of recent activities near Pangong Tso and other border area which I wouldn’t even name here..

Anyways.. Here I’m once again.. I was here for six times.. As I said, only my two wheeler, nothing but only bigger vehicles were let through..



Photo from earlier ride.. Me bike isn’t fond of selfies every time she’s here.. And surprising why they keep changing that “Khardung La Borad” from here to there every year..



Whenever we’re here we feel like on top of the world.. Sure it’s on remarkable height and everything else seems below eye level.. All these efforts just to get pass this mountain range makes us bow before nature.. Cause, today also, if it thought something different than us, we’d not be here by any means.. No matter on whatever height we’re, we find mountains making us feel tiny..

There’s an army café here and having a cup of hot steaming coffee seems THE BEST choice to me.. I’ve had nothing since I left Leh except little water to drink and ice to eat.. We also have a souvenir shop here where we get T-shirts, Coffee Mugs and so on, with name and pic of Khardung La.. We sure feel something when we show them off.. All army people here are very welcoming and serve hot food with lovely warmth..

This made me sneer at those fools who thought there’s any chance to beat our army..



Freezing cold, hot coffee cup in hand, on top of highest road, THE only two wheeler, riding solo and whole beautiful adventurous day ahead.. Let me know if Heaven is defined in any other way..!


If one already is feeling uneasy, don’t eat; just drink something hot and descend further.. If uneasy, don’t even try to climb on to temple on a hill next to Khardung La board..

And lies ahead most tricky and risky part.. Descending from Khardung La top.. There’s black ice, mud and ongoing snow fall making everything greasy and slippery.. Hardest part is to break cause we don’t want even to accidently lock our front for a fraction of second.. That’d be enough to make us fall down and break something (of bike or ours) which we never want at this point.. Descend is somewhere so steep even first gear isn’t enough to hold up speeding and need breaking.. Those who’re itchy on front brakes like me, have to take extra caution and apply rear as far as possible.. In addition of balancing bike, keeping eye on left side mountain is equally important since this is active avalanche zone..

Look on right.. I need to go down there..



Near it seems.. But my experience tells me it’d take at least half hour to get there.. Distances in mountains are so deceiving.. Anyways we are not in hurry.. Let’s enjoy this chill and thrill bit by bit.. By the way I am all wet inside out.. My jacket isn’t waterproof.. आईस्क्रिम तो मेरी कबकी जम चुकी है..

Some men don’t like to be driven, some just don’t like to be taken for a ride.. But this terrain, surely takes you for a ride..

After a long, stretching, tiresome yet satisfying ride, here we’re on earth again.. From South Pullu to here, around 30 km took well 2 ½ hours to get out of space tour.. Once we’re down here, we hit other check post, “North Pullu”.. Show permit and enter vehicle details without fail so they can confirm you’re back on track.. Those who want a bite to eat can have in nearby restaurant (food joint actually).. When I was here this year, I saw Indians coming together in this remote place.. Me from Maharashtra, bunch from Gujrat, South Indian couple and restaurant owner from north-east city – Darjeeling.. We all were here in North India.. How’s that for even a cultural get-together.?

Proceed ahead and we get to a little bridge where you can relax near a beautiful water stream.. If we didn’t have a chance to have food at North Pullu, no issues.. We’ve three / four food joints here.. Say what – enter that water stream bare footed to experience biting cold sensation running through our body to freeze our brains and making us yell from bottom of our belly.. That’s fun for sure..



This small beautiful village is Khardung.. Khardung La is named after this village.. Very sweet people, beautiful village.. This is quite a view..



Khardung La village has homestays and restaurants and so on.. People here are very welcoming and never only because we’re there customers, they are sweet.. Once we’re down to earth, we’ve beautiful metaled road to ride on and sharp curves to lean in.. Road is little bit wider than a single lane but hey, we’re getting tar road and that feels so comforting after space tour..

If you don’t mind, one thing I’d like to share.. I’ve seen many tourists travelling and riders riding zoom.. That’s not we’re here for, we’re here leaving everything physically behind because we want to get close to nature as far as we can.. Of course it was too much close encounter up there in snow fall, but man, that’s something we want here.. So don’t rush.. Ladakh isn’t never about destinations.. It’s not that you want to hurry to Nubra and ride a camel and click photos riding it and that’s that..

For me, Ladakh is all about journey we’d enjoy.. Every aspect of nature, colours, textures, mountains, valleys, snow, water and what not.. Feel them and you’ll get entirely different point of view to get close to nature here..

Here are some colours of mountains on our left for you all..

Regular Brown mountain..



Coffee Brown..



Voilet, if I may.?



Yellow'ish I feel..



Black Rocking..!!



Shade of brown.? Well correct me in comments if I went wrong somewhere.. Point is, it's colorful cold desert out here, watch for it..



Don’t let these smooth roads fool us.. In Himalayas, nothing we can predict, just like share market.. Sometimes we’ll see that not only road but whole patch of land might be missing.. Sometimes we’d see oncoming vehicle and feel like we should be going straight.. But that vehicle would just disappear cause it turns left or right.. So be very careful..

After descending in plains, we’re moving towards Nubra Valley.. It has two arms.. Left one goes to Thang, last Indian village we won in war of 1971.. Other goes to Siachen Base Camp.. We shall be going left first, to Diskit, Hunder and so on..

We hit a straight patch of around 5 km when we turn left towards Diskit.. On it’s right is shooting location of famous “Flying Seekh – Milkha”.. I’m giving a photo of same place, which I didn’t know it while clicking this..



At end of this stretch, we have some ATV’s to ride on.. Since we’ve been already riding an R15-turned-ATV, I don’t think anyone is interested in it.. But digging it’s wheel into sand and throwing tons of sand behind us is sure good idea..

We’ve a little ascend here which leads us to first Diskit and then Hunder.. Shyok River, which originates from Rimo Glaciar and flows into Pakistan is on our right.. It’s tributary of Indus river..



Hunder was once capital of this region and major stay on ancient Silk Route.. The silk route which travelled from China to Europe via Tibet and this very place in Indian Himalayas.. We still have living but mute witnesses of that ancient route - Bactrian Camels.. Yeah, those famous double humped camels.. Those are found only in Mongolia and here in the world and nowhere else..



Diskit houses age old Diskit Monastery and sky high Buddha Statue..



We’ve many homestays here as well as in Hunder just ahead.. If one wishes to ride further to Thang, it’s better to stay at Hunder since it’s ahead on-the-way to Thang.. We shall be going to Hunder where we’ve already booked a homestay..


If someone is looking for quick visit to sand dunes, Hunder is better option.. Come to hunder for sand dunes and camel ride.. Well preserved Silver Sand Dunes, up here in Himalayas we’ve sand dunes.. And surprisingly, YES, surprisingly even to many riders / travelers who have ridden / travelled here, this isn’t only place with lots of sand in Ladakh.. There are many..

I’d say, don’t just aim Khardung La and Pangong..Ladakh is much more than that.. You aim only at Khardung La and Pangong, and I’ll surely say, you’ll be missing lot of Ladakh.. soil, colourful, heat and cold in one time, sightseeing, people, their lifestyle, work army is engaged in, schools, stories of adventure and adventure itself, food except Momo and Thukpa..

And we’ll be visiting many such places and see lots of sand all over Ladakh..

Tomorrow we’ll be going “Road-least-travelled”.. Thang village and face-to-face with Pakistani soldiers.. Stay tuned.. Stay in touch..

That's one epic trip! Nice

Nice trip keep going








Nox Vidmate VLC

Great write up, and some awesome pictures. Makes me want to travel again.

Wonderful Tlog and thanks for posting pictures to aptly describe your ride and experiences. Your information on the changing road conditions are appreciated.

oh ... ended up abruptly. why ???