Awesome guys- snow snow - Congrats Steve and Ananth

Here a little video from the trip. Shot from a Olympus Point & Shoot. Taken around the better part of the road, from India Gate towards Kardung La.

YouTube - Enroute to KardungLa - Ladakh

We wanted to some snow but the quantity delivered was more than ample.

Just a small difference between Champ & Chump. Keeping in mind that you are more than 2500 km away from your home helps in safe riding.

Praveen, I completely agree. But We had planned for June 2nd week - Thinking the roads to be open by Mid May and June 2nd week would not be a Big problem. But having said that, The weather was too harsh this year and we could not swap leaves further. We just took it as a point not to be over adventurous / take too many risks. As Steve told me, Its a very thin line that differentiates some one as being Adventurous and being Stupid. We took every effort to not being a Stupid & to Ride on as careful as possible.

^^

Its good to hear that everything was just superb in the trip. But from a planning perspective, just 2 riders on a first Leh trip, that too during the snow period sounds a little risky to me. At least 3 would have been much safer. This is not to point a finger, just a thought. However, I'm still glad you guys did it really safe.

@aarge - zojilla was tough and i am not sure if i will experience zojilla in the same way the next time i head to leh.
the reason i mentioned it as day 3 was it was our 3rd riding day , ananth has taken our first day in delhi as day and i have not.

@Makky - i know exactly what you are talking about , i gues we have ridden together for some time and know each others strengths and weaknesses. i do not recollect us fighting or getting into an unpleasent argument. good thing for us was everytime i felt sick ananth was full of energy and got me riding and when he was down and out i was up and runnign. all in all, could not have asked for a better riding partner

Thanks; you're perfect Mod

@Ananth & Steeve - Hats off to you guys; the Zoji La pass looks very dangerous with all those rains & slush. I'm damn sure that was one hell of an experience; nothing comes closer to it.

Though both you guys posted the same day's log (Srinagar-Sonmarg-Zoji La-Drass), Steeve mentioned it Day 3 & Ananth as Day 4!!! - lol. But it was great to hear the same experience from two different views.

If you happen to check other logs, you will see that the riders would start together initially and later on they would split up due to lot many reasons(better if not revealed). However, you and Steve were great.

Thank you! And what do you mean by Stuck together throughout the trip? I really did not get what you meant there!

Awesome Ananth and Steve! It's great you two stuck together through out your trip. The photos are very motivating for others to get Leh'ed in the future.

I wrote the whole log fr Day 4 again. Damn the Back Space key! The page's history got vanished and i had to do all the typing again! It was tough!!


Thanks. We got hold of one at MulBek. But it was not suiting the inner part of the glove.

It was the same for us. Gosh! Zozilla was scary!!


It wont be, You need proper rain cover - simpler things will tear away in the constrant strain - accelerate - De accelerate - clutch etc!

Day 4: Srinagar - Zozilla - Drass

The room was clumsy, dirty and irritating. The night seemed to fade away some how and I woke up just as the sun came above the clouds.It was still gloomy, With wet shoes, wet pants and wet luggage I just hoped i had a brighter day. I wished i could sleep for long, but steve got ready before me and asked me to start soon. I refreshed up and went down to tie the saddles.I felt the rear tyre is running low on air. Steve as usual said i was just being paranoid. tied up the backpack, vacated the room and moved on. Handling was pathetic. It was dancing across the street - Rode for 10 kilometers to check the tyre pressure. The Puncture shop guy found a nail in the rear tyre and pressure almost down to 5 PSI. I just inflated the tyre and moved on as he did not have a Tubeless Puncture Repair Kit. Moved on till Srinagar and fixed the Puncture. Paid 50 Rs for the repair. Not bad, Back in Chennai they charge upto 100Rs. for a

puncture!






From there we moved on to see the Dal Lake. The very sight was soothing to the eyes, Not so clean but it was vast and beautiful. Stopped by a restaurant opposite to the Lake, Had some Bread and tea. Came out to the Lake, No space to park. Met a few Bikers who adviced us to drop the Bikes in the parking lot

nearby. The Parking Lot was mainly for Cars, But they take in Bikes at 10Rs per Bike. Asked a Barber there to take care of the Bike & Saddle bags. Took the Tank Bag and moved on:

The Board at the Parking Lot: He warns You that he is not responsible for any Bomb Blasts




The First View:







All in a days work:



















Want Ice Cream?



Self Portrait



Ok, one more for a pose :P





Large House Boats:



The Beautiful Lake :





Through the dirtiest lanes:





Kids on way to their School, And how! Just felt, we were so much sophisticated in our lives



And the Shikara ride comes to a end.




We quickly hopped out of the boat, and went to take the bikes from the parking lot. The Bike was surrounded by n number of cars giving us no room to take it

out. It took a while to get out of the parking lot, the care taker had to push atleast 3 - 4 cars to give way for the bikes to exit.





The next hurdle was getting out of the Srinagar Market, with so much traffic moving towards Kargil - the small road was taking all the pains. The road that runs parallel to the Dal lake was a absolute beauty. It was so refreshing to ride along side for the lake, for it ended so soon and we had to deviate to the road moving to Kargil. Stopped by the market to buy some Snacks, water and chocolates. Steve dumped it all in his tank bag and we moved on. Met a lot of Bikers. Atleast 10 - 15 of them. And a few of them often across from Pathankot. It was good to see fellow bikers waving at you for no reason, it just cherishes the moment and you forget any pains you are on and wave back with a smile and thats the beauty of it!

Tanked up in a nearby petrol pump, and moved on for a bit. Stopped by the country roads for a pee break. The place deserved one. Snow Capps on one side and

green agricultural field on the other. It was pleasant!







After the pee break, The rains started its own song again, We were dancing in the middle of the road - changing to the rain gear and that too with the thich

Woodland boots on. The local kids were amused











From here on, till the time we reached Drass, It was rain rain and more rain. What next? One of the most beautiful places on earth - The Sonamarg. It was

covered with full of mist & the drizzle was not helping us take any pictures. We stopped by Sonamarg for Lunch. It was pathetic. Aloo was not fried and Gopi

was not cooked! I was about to vomit. Just had a tea and moved on. Steve took a few shots around Sonamarg when i was just slowly moving on.



Steve, Visualizing Zozilla



First Water crossing..





They have all rights to stop you from going









Zozilla was next! We were not scared, but the very thought of ZoZilla was giving goosebumps. heck! Even now!! It was raining, visibility was low. And add 2

- 3 feet of mud + slush on the roads. It was a challenge. I'm happy we made it through. The roads were not in a good shape, thanks to fresh landslides and incessant rains. Also the traffic on Kargil was piling up due to Manali road being closed. So the lorry traffic made deep roots on the road making a good 2 feet tyre track which we had to use. Crossing through them was a experience in itself. I skid a few times on the slush. But the rear was giving me all the traction i wanted. Giving no room for us to move on was these trucks, whom i wont blame. They hardly have any place to move on, but if we dont overtake them we would be stuck behind for hours in the rains. We overtook them with as much care as possible, losing which would see us thorugh a free fall over the cliff.

We some how made it through, and only ONE Bullet came through from the 15 members that rode along with us. Few stopped for rest, few praying for the rains to stop and a few just could not make it through. I was feeling bad for a couple of the TBTS, which I'm sure could not have climbed all the way up - in mud +

slush with a pillion. God knows how much kilometers the pillion had to walk across Zozilla!

The Incessant rain:



Mr.STEEEEVE!



And Mr. Ananth



The Roads:





Thats the Space we would have to squeeze through - to Overtake



and we did pass through these :P



After Zozilla, We wanted to stop some where, some where dry. But there was no place as such! Rested on the other side of zozilla, which had concrete roads.

The traffic jam on the other side was also evident. So many trucks waiting in queue for their turn!



Bikes taking some rest. Im sorry for the clutch plates



The View just openes up:



It was still raining..



I could not stand anymore, so let me relax :P



The beauty!



It was Ice.. Ice walls! Atleast 30 feet!



Steve did not believe when i said they were Ice, he tested it :P



Me Posing




The ride till drass wasn't a best experience. It was raining all the way, we were numb. Nothing could be done. We rode on & on. A hour later we stopped by a village which was supposed to have some tea stalls. But the whole village was shut down or never opened for the year. It took me about 2 minutes to unbutton my Jean for a pee. The button got pealed off cutting in my numb thumb. Spoke to the truckers, who said Drass is just nearby and could be done in 1 - 2 hours.

It was already 3PM. We moved on after warming us up. Steve suggested i place my hands on the engine and silencer to make it warmer. The Cramster got busted

It was soggy and wet and definitely not usable until it was made dry. I just did not want to remove it and i just kept it on. I was feeling as cold as a refrigerator. We started riding and the landscape improved tremendously. The roads were free, no traffic and we enjoyed the ride for sometime..







We rode on from there, and it took us around 30 minutes to reach drass. Stopped by the board for a picture. Steve wanted to rest ASAP. Asked me to check for

hotels. There was one right behind him. I went in to ask, the caretaker shoed me a room which was warm.. clean, nicely maintained and told the rate in Hindi

- I asked if it is 1000 or 1200. He laughed and said 300. I could not speak a word, removed my rain gear and told him ill give the money when it is warm

enough tomorrow morning. Went back and got back steve. Untied the saddles and spread over all the dresses / luggage onto the floor to dry it up.

The customary picture:



The Room:



A room with A View



The room though was warm and clean - we were feeling cold. so cold. So cold that we missed a scotch. We tucked under a thick blanket, should have been at-least 5 kilo's, but still we were feeling cold. I put on the thermals, could of dresses and a woolen glove as Steve tucked up dresses after the other, a leather jacket and a woolen balaclava. We slept on comfortably yet with the numbness never giving up.

Great pics there Steve.

Think the rains were a blessing in disguise for you people. It would have washed the mu/slush etc that you have accumulated in your bike while the ride.

I think, even those plastic hand covers (worn by people serving food in restaurants) would have done a good waterproof job.

Interesting log. You guys talk about Nokia but you show the photograph of a Samsung!

If you have crossed Zoji La, which Madame Brigitte had renamed "Godzilla", you have crossed the worst. For us, Zoji La was a nightmare! Slush, mud, water, lack of grip, slipping and sliding, the worst!

It is indeed 2.7 kms for clarification since you seem to be ardently following the Kashmir-Ladakh trips!

I had ventilated gloves Steve. It was not rain proof as well. U can avoid the problem to a certain extent by wearing surgical gloves and ur riding gloves above them. Ur hand wont get wet that way.