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My first ride ever -
Khardung La – 18380 ft.
Riding to the World’s Highest Motorable Road
Ever since I got a license in 1988 (yup I am 41 years old) to ride a bike, I had dreamed of riding a bike to the World’s Highest Motorable Road. There was no special reason why I couldn’t go to Ladakh. Every year there were reasons; actually excuses; like getting married, busy in business, having kids, going out of India etc. for not following through on my dream. So this dream remained a dream till this year.
Ever since I joined xBhp, this dream seemed more like reality because now I had hard core bikers and some very experienced tourers as my buddies. I now had a forum where I can actually share ideas, get actual guidance and info from experienced riders.
Initially, I started discussions with a Mumbai based group but they had planned for a 25 day itinerary and I couldn’t manage getting away from business for this long duration. So had to drop this idea.
I started by asking around the group about who all were interested in going to Leh this year. Some guys were initially interested but couldn’t join due to other commitments. Finally found a Pune-Mumbai joint group heading towards Leh this year. However, I was not able to convince myself to take 15-16 day off from the business so was trying not to take any decision.
Inder literally cornerned me by calling every 15 minutes - ‘Aare Sun Na….Tera final hua kya? Train Ticket karavaane Hai’. Without him pushing me, I would still be in two minds about going to Leh. One fine morning, I told him to go ahead about the train tickets and will tackle my family later one. Next day, told my parents, wife and kids that I am going to Leh this year. They all were agog with my decision of actually going to Leh instead of just talking about it. Actually my marriage anniversary was falling during the tour dates but wife was quite supportive and no objections from this quarter. I know she will extract her pound of flesh later on but that’s ok; I am used to it.
Did I mention somewhere that this would be my first tour ever to anywhere (except a ride to goa in 1989)
First of all I would like to thank –
My family -- for supporting me
My friend Girish -- for lending me his FZ
Nikhil -- for lending me his saddle bags and tank bag
MG -- for taking out time to give me off road practice run
Rohit -- for lending me his sack and accompanying me to buy various items
Ankit -- for lending me gloves
Praful / Satyen / Rachit -- for detailed advice
Inder -- for pushing me in actually taking a decision
Jakrap -- for lending me foot pump
Mr. Pandit -- from Mumbai for carrying all our luggage from Srinagar to Drass
My friend Himanshu -- for arranging permits, accommodation in Leh, Pangong and carrying our luggage around
Index :
1.Pre ride Preparation
2. Preparation
3. Day 1 : 31 May 2010 – Pune to Delhi
4. Day 2 : 1 June 2010 – Delhi to Pathankot
5. Day 3 : 2 June 2010 – Pathankot to Srinagar
6. Diversion Ahead
7. Day 4 : 3 June 2010 - Tourist in Srinagar
8. Day 5 : 4 June 2010 - Srinagar to Drass
9. Day 6 : 5 June 2010 – Drass to Leh
10.Day 7 : 6 June 2010 – Leh to Pangong Tso
11. Day 8 : 7 June 2010 – Pangong Tso to Leh
12.Day 9 : 8 June 2010 – Leh – Khardung La – Hunder/Diskit - I DID NOT CONQUER KHARDUNG LA
13. Day 10 : 9 June 2010 – Diskit– Khardung La – Leh
14.Day 11 : 10 June 2010 – Leh local
15. Day 12 : 11 June 2010 – Leh – Kargil – Drass
16.Day 13 : 12 June 2010 – Srinagar - Katra
17.Day 14 : 13 June 2010 – Katra – Vaishnodevi - Jammu
18. Day 15 : 14 June 2010 – Jammu
19. Day 16 : 15 June 2010 – Delhi - Pune
20. Preparation for Leh
21. Medicines to carry
22. Altitude Sickness for Bikes
22. Expected Costing
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