Tweet
Detailed Trip Write Up:
Brief Trip Write Up:
Day 1: 30th of August. Rode from Meerut to Manali. 600 kms. Journey took approximately 11 hours.
Day 2: 31st August. Rode from Manali to Sarchu. Started journey at 8:30 AM. Roughly 230 kms. 200 kms after Manali, speedo and odo stopped working. Front tyre got punctured at Baralacha La, altitude above 16,500 feet. With no spare for front, there was no option but to ride on. Reached Sarchu by around 5:00 P.M. Luckily there was a punture repair tent there, where I got it fixed.
The puncture was due to a sharp metal peice. Coz I was riding on a flat, the inner lining of the tube also gave away, a truck tyre puncture patch was applied to this. The valve was also faulty and there was a slow leak. But nothing could be done about this, for now.
Day 3: 1st September. Couldn't sleep that night due to very severe head aches. Didn't take any medicines for the headaches which were obviously due to AMS. This was a very stupid thing to do.
Temperatures had fallen below zero in the night. In the morning, started journey for Leh once the sun was bright and shining, at around 8:30 AM. Finally arrived at Leh at around 4:30 PM. The final strech to Leh after crossing Tangalang La was fantastic. In the
first half of the journey from Manali to Sarchu, the roads had been pretty bad to non existent. Distance covered approximately 250 kms.
Oh and did I mention that I got bitten by a wasp a little after Keylong. Just below the neck.
Day 4: 2nd September. Walking streets of L-eh! Walked upto Shanti Stupa. Took the steps. Was a tough climb. But was worth it coz you get very good views of Leh from there. Plus theres nothing like walking around to get accilimitised to the altitude.
Day 5: 3rd September. Walking the streets of L-eh! Walked to Leh Palace this time. This was pretty tiring too. Again worth it because of the good views.
Day 6: 4th September. Rode to Nubra Valley, till Hundar. The border is approximately 60-70 kms from here. But an army guard on the bridge prevents you from crossing it.
Roughly 125 kms ride from Leh.
One has to cross Khardung La to get to Nubra. My bike attracted a lot of attention at the pass. With around 15-20 people gathering around it. Finally reached Hundar at 1:30 PM. Earlier than expected. Saw sand dunes, saw the confulence of the Nubra and the Shyok rivers. Spent half an hour there and headed back. 5 kms after crossing Khardung La, my rear tyre got punctured. Nail. Rode on, but slowly, in order to prevent tyre damage. I had a extra spare tube for the rear. I was wearing full army kit. The army chaps at south pullu
stopped me and did their best to help me out. But nothing worked. It was a slow ride back to Leh where I finally got the tube replaced. The valve of the front tube also got replaced.
Day 7: 5th September. Walking the streets of L-eh!
Day 8: 6th September. Rode to a place called Lamayuru, 135 kms on the Leh Kargil highway. The road is very good. On the way met a guy astride a Yamaha TDM 850. Ridden all the way from Holland. 3 months. 15000 kms. Solo. Took him back to my guest house. Many stories/philosophies were exchangd over dinner and beer that night. A real education.
Day 9: 7th September. Walking the Streets of L-eh! Played cards with Israelis. Was very good fun.
Day 10: 8th September. Got the front tube replaced and also bought a spare tube. Rode to Shey, Thiksey with Fred (TDM 850 rider).
Day 11: 9th September: Rode to Nubra again. This time to Panamik and beyond. Distance approx 150 km one way. One the way, got charged at by a Yak. This was a very scary experience. Rode on till beyond Panamik till the army at a checkpost finally stopped me in my tracks. Siachen glacier starts only 45 km from that point. It was getting late. Reached Khardung La at 7:00 PM. A beautiful sunset I saw. Spent only a few minutes and then finally started on my journey back to Leh. Just hoping that the tyres wouldn't get punctured again. The whole road from Khardung La to Leh was deserted, with just me on the road.
Reached Leh at 8:30 PM.
Day 12: 10th September. Fred wanted to go to Nubra on his bike. But was having doubts whether it would climb beyond 4500 mtrs. I having nothing to do, thought that I would accompany him till Khardung La and then return back while he rode on till Nubra. His bike started stalling 9 km from Khardung. Bad fuel. So he sat on my bike and we went to the top. Stayed there for about an hour and finally returned back to have lunch on a roof top restraunt in the main market.
Day 13: 11th September. Today I was supposed to go to Pangong Tso. A lake 150 kms from Leh. Fred was headed towards Kargil. We rode till the petrol pump together, after tanking up, he went his way, I mine. Left the petrol pump at 8:45 AM.
The road was pretty good for quite a while. But as the pass, Chang La, 17,800 feet, started approaching, the road started to disappear. This pass is by far the most difficult to cross. Khardung La on the other hand is the easiest. Next in my opinion comes Tangalang La and
finally Baralacha La.
The madras regiment atop the pass were most amazed to find a lone guy on a bike all the way from meerut. They wanted to chat with me, offered me tea etc. But I didn't want to waste too much time so I rode on. The road was pretty deserted. With hardly any vehciles
on the road except for the assorted army and road building trucks.
Reached Pangong Tso at around 2:00 PM. Kept on riding till slightly beyond Spangmik which is 7 km on the south west shore of the lake. 1/3rd of this lake lies in India, while the rest lies in Tibet. The guesthouse near the lake was deserted. There was no one around. No
road either, except for stones and rocks flattened by passing army trucks. Spent about half an hour on the lake and then returned.
Misjudging the depth of the streams that were flowing across the road, i rode faster than required and in the process managed to get myself drenched from head to toe. Also managed to sucessful bottom out the front suspension due to a ditch somewhere in the middle of the stream. The front mud guard hit the no plate with a reassuring thud!
It was now late afternoon, and the climb and decent of the pass left me freezing. But with decreasing altitude and increasing temperature, I was back to my normal comfort levels.
Day 14: 12th September. The final day in L-eh! Went for the Ladakhi festival in the evening, but got bored and came back to my rest house.
Day 15: 13th September. Rode from Leh to Sarchu. Met a bunch of truck drivers who had been stranded for a month at Lachung La, above 16000 feet. Sat and talked with them for a while. At Sarchu, there was no one at camp apart from 2 german guys on hired bullets. They'd come from Manali. Rather Keylong. One chap had dropped his bike thrice while trying to cross the melts! Thank god for them or I would have frozen alone that night at camp. One of them kept me happy by regularly supplying me with cigarettes.
Oh yeah, after crossing Tanglang La, I took a small detour to visit a small brackish lake called Tso Kar. Here I met a group of Indian and German scientists who were doing studies on the lake and were doing research on the history of the Himalayas. One of them took my email id and said that he would mail me the results of the research.
Another interesting incident. While climbing up to Tanglang La, I saw a dirt track going straight up to the pass. So I though I might as well try the shorter route rather than take a long winding way up on the semi tarred road. For a while it was good. But then came a
sandy section on a 45 degree incline. Altitude above 17000 feet. The bike stalled. I started her up again but she wouldn't climb. So i got off the bike and started pushing her, half clutching and revving the **** out of the engine. It was then that I realised that bikes are
heavy. I had water in my eyes and water in my nose. My mouth was competely dry. I was breathless. But somehow managed to push her and get her to a section where there was lesser gradient.
By the time i reached the pass, all the clutch play had gone. I must have burnt decent amounts of the clucth. Most of my tools were neatly packed inside, so I pulled out a plier and adjusted the clutch. Off I went again ...
Day 16: 14th September. Rode from Sarchu to Manali. Left at 7:30 AM. Reached Manali by 4:00 PM. Nothing interesting to report on this journey.
Day 17: 15th September. Rode from Manali to Meerut. The journey took 13 hours this time. With 8 hours of riding in the rain. Again nothing interesting to report on this journey.
Distance covered on this trip was 3400+ kms.
A more detalied write up and pics to follow ...
Brief Trip Write Up:
Day 1: 30th of August. Rode from Meerut to Manali. 600 kms. Journey took approximately 11 hours.
Day 2: 31st August. Rode from Manali to Sarchu. Started journey at 8:30 AM. Roughly 230 kms. 200 kms after Manali, speedo and odo stopped working. Front tyre got punctured at Baralacha La, altitude above 16,500 feet. With no spare for front, there was no option but to ride on. Reached Sarchu by around 5:00 P.M. Luckily there was a punture repair tent there, where I got it fixed.
The puncture was due to a sharp metal peice. Coz I was riding on a flat, the inner lining of the tube also gave away, a truck tyre puncture patch was applied to this. The valve was also faulty and there was a slow leak. But nothing could be done about this, for now.
Day 3: 1st September. Couldn't sleep that night due to very severe head aches. Didn't take any medicines for the headaches which were obviously due to AMS. This was a very stupid thing to do.
Temperatures had fallen below zero in the night. In the morning, started journey for Leh once the sun was bright and shining, at around 8:30 AM. Finally arrived at Leh at around 4:30 PM. The final strech to Leh after crossing Tangalang La was fantastic. In the
first half of the journey from Manali to Sarchu, the roads had been pretty bad to non existent. Distance covered approximately 250 kms.
Oh and did I mention that I got bitten by a wasp a little after Keylong. Just below the neck.
Day 4: 2nd September. Walking streets of L-eh! Walked upto Shanti Stupa. Took the steps. Was a tough climb. But was worth it coz you get very good views of Leh from there. Plus theres nothing like walking around to get accilimitised to the altitude.
Day 5: 3rd September. Walking the streets of L-eh! Walked to Leh Palace this time. This was pretty tiring too. Again worth it because of the good views.
Day 6: 4th September. Rode to Nubra Valley, till Hundar. The border is approximately 60-70 kms from here. But an army guard on the bridge prevents you from crossing it.
Roughly 125 kms ride from Leh.
One has to cross Khardung La to get to Nubra. My bike attracted a lot of attention at the pass. With around 15-20 people gathering around it. Finally reached Hundar at 1:30 PM. Earlier than expected. Saw sand dunes, saw the confulence of the Nubra and the Shyok rivers. Spent half an hour there and headed back. 5 kms after crossing Khardung La, my rear tyre got punctured. Nail. Rode on, but slowly, in order to prevent tyre damage. I had a extra spare tube for the rear. I was wearing full army kit. The army chaps at south pullu
stopped me and did their best to help me out. But nothing worked. It was a slow ride back to Leh where I finally got the tube replaced. The valve of the front tube also got replaced.
Day 7: 5th September. Walking the streets of L-eh!
Day 8: 6th September. Rode to a place called Lamayuru, 135 kms on the Leh Kargil highway. The road is very good. On the way met a guy astride a Yamaha TDM 850. Ridden all the way from Holland. 3 months. 15000 kms. Solo. Took him back to my guest house. Many stories/philosophies were exchangd over dinner and beer that night. A real education.
Day 9: 7th September. Walking the Streets of L-eh! Played cards with Israelis. Was very good fun.
Day 10: 8th September. Got the front tube replaced and also bought a spare tube. Rode to Shey, Thiksey with Fred (TDM 850 rider).
Day 11: 9th September: Rode to Nubra again. This time to Panamik and beyond. Distance approx 150 km one way. One the way, got charged at by a Yak. This was a very scary experience. Rode on till beyond Panamik till the army at a checkpost finally stopped me in my tracks. Siachen glacier starts only 45 km from that point. It was getting late. Reached Khardung La at 7:00 PM. A beautiful sunset I saw. Spent only a few minutes and then finally started on my journey back to Leh. Just hoping that the tyres wouldn't get punctured again. The whole road from Khardung La to Leh was deserted, with just me on the road.
Reached Leh at 8:30 PM.
Day 12: 10th September. Fred wanted to go to Nubra on his bike. But was having doubts whether it would climb beyond 4500 mtrs. I having nothing to do, thought that I would accompany him till Khardung La and then return back while he rode on till Nubra. His bike started stalling 9 km from Khardung. Bad fuel. So he sat on my bike and we went to the top. Stayed there for about an hour and finally returned back to have lunch on a roof top restraunt in the main market.
Day 13: 11th September. Today I was supposed to go to Pangong Tso. A lake 150 kms from Leh. Fred was headed towards Kargil. We rode till the petrol pump together, after tanking up, he went his way, I mine. Left the petrol pump at 8:45 AM.
The road was pretty good for quite a while. But as the pass, Chang La, 17,800 feet, started approaching, the road started to disappear. This pass is by far the most difficult to cross. Khardung La on the other hand is the easiest. Next in my opinion comes Tangalang La and
finally Baralacha La.
The madras regiment atop the pass were most amazed to find a lone guy on a bike all the way from meerut. They wanted to chat with me, offered me tea etc. But I didn't want to waste too much time so I rode on. The road was pretty deserted. With hardly any vehciles
on the road except for the assorted army and road building trucks.
Reached Pangong Tso at around 2:00 PM. Kept on riding till slightly beyond Spangmik which is 7 km on the south west shore of the lake. 1/3rd of this lake lies in India, while the rest lies in Tibet. The guesthouse near the lake was deserted. There was no one around. No
road either, except for stones and rocks flattened by passing army trucks. Spent about half an hour on the lake and then returned.
Misjudging the depth of the streams that were flowing across the road, i rode faster than required and in the process managed to get myself drenched from head to toe. Also managed to sucessful bottom out the front suspension due to a ditch somewhere in the middle of the stream. The front mud guard hit the no plate with a reassuring thud!
It was now late afternoon, and the climb and decent of the pass left me freezing. But with decreasing altitude and increasing temperature, I was back to my normal comfort levels.
Day 14: 12th September. The final day in L-eh! Went for the Ladakhi festival in the evening, but got bored and came back to my rest house.
Day 15: 13th September. Rode from Leh to Sarchu. Met a bunch of truck drivers who had been stranded for a month at Lachung La, above 16000 feet. Sat and talked with them for a while. At Sarchu, there was no one at camp apart from 2 german guys on hired bullets. They'd come from Manali. Rather Keylong. One chap had dropped his bike thrice while trying to cross the melts! Thank god for them or I would have frozen alone that night at camp. One of them kept me happy by regularly supplying me with cigarettes.
Oh yeah, after crossing Tanglang La, I took a small detour to visit a small brackish lake called Tso Kar. Here I met a group of Indian and German scientists who were doing studies on the lake and were doing research on the history of the Himalayas. One of them took my email id and said that he would mail me the results of the research.
Another interesting incident. While climbing up to Tanglang La, I saw a dirt track going straight up to the pass. So I though I might as well try the shorter route rather than take a long winding way up on the semi tarred road. For a while it was good. But then came a
sandy section on a 45 degree incline. Altitude above 17000 feet. The bike stalled. I started her up again but she wouldn't climb. So i got off the bike and started pushing her, half clutching and revving the **** out of the engine. It was then that I realised that bikes are
heavy. I had water in my eyes and water in my nose. My mouth was competely dry. I was breathless. But somehow managed to push her and get her to a section where there was lesser gradient.
By the time i reached the pass, all the clutch play had gone. I must have burnt decent amounts of the clucth. Most of my tools were neatly packed inside, so I pulled out a plier and adjusted the clutch. Off I went again ...
Day 16: 14th September. Rode from Sarchu to Manali. Left at 7:30 AM. Reached Manali by 4:00 PM. Nothing interesting to report on this journey.
Day 17: 15th September. Rode from Manali to Meerut. The journey took 13 hours this time. With 8 hours of riding in the rain. Again nothing interesting to report on this journey.
Distance covered on this trip was 3400+ kms.
A more detalied write up and pics to follow ...
Comment