There... you have the answer!

Thanks. You have the answer above!

Oops!

nice pictures , this lake is where 3 idiots was shot if im right ? and why is it so blue ?

Yes, you are right. This is the lake in which the last scenes of '3 Idiots' were shot, and this is also apparently the place where Aamir Khan's Airtel mobile phone network was catching signal!

Ah! The benefits of being a celebrity...

Day7 cont…

I had waved at those bikers. Who could they have been! I saw a yellow Zma and another black bike. I had been looking out all the while since morning for the arrival of Ananth. I am sure that they were Ananth and Steve. It would have been nice had I managed to meet them.

Our meals were being prepared. For the price we were paying, there better be some good meat. Twilight had fallen across the valley. The last bits of daylight still held on. It was 2000 hours. In such a clear environment it would never get totally dark as the moon was brightly shining. The shimmering lake was clearly visible. The wind was up as usual and temperatures had rapidly plummeted to Day8Diamox

What the diamox does is to reduce the volume of blood in the body and thus relieving some of the pressure inside the body that builds up because of high altitude. Side-effects; you have to go to the loo within 20 minutes to eliminate the extra fluid. But within half an hour she was feeling better. And within an hour she was ready to go swimming in the lake! That is to describe what the Diamox does in layman's terms. I am no doctor. Brigitte is. This is what I understood from what she explained!

We packed, loaded our bikes and went for breakfast. Breakfast was as copious as dinner the previous night. Unlimited toasted bread, butter jam, unlimited alu paranthas, unlimited cups of tea etc… but we had according to our appetites which was seemingly quite limited.




Satisfied we made our way on to the motorcycles. Looked around for Ananth and Steve. Could not locate them still. I figured that they did not stay at Lukung and assumed that they had probably gone back to Leh since they were not carrying luggage or being the adventurous kinds probably continued towards Lake Moriri during the night!

Warming the enginesThe Two Riders at Pangong Tso


Eighty odd kilometres to go before the summit at Chang La. Most of it is good road other than the last 7 kilometres. However there is a catch. A few kilometres out of Lukung there is a very tricky bridge. The approach to and exit from the bridge is like completely eroded road, mostly large sized rocks resembling round pebbles mostly about 10-15cms in diameter. Not the easiest of paths to negotiate. In fact, this portion of about 250mts is quite dangerous. This was the only point where Brigitte was apprehensive and scared about. And I was for her. But we managed to cover that without too much of problems. Rest was smooth sailing. Till we reached the ascent to Chang La.

This time when we reached Chang La, we took some time out to take a few pictures. Shot a short video. And continued our descent back to Leh. Last time around, I was freezing at Leh with large clouds, windy conditions, temperatures falling several degrees below zero and my breathing freezing the moisture inside my helmet. No such luck this time. Clear good weather, blue skies, bright sunshine, everything that the doctor ordered for a nice ride!

Brigitte shot the state of the roads around Chang La






This is what covered the roads. Dug out some to show!


Weapons of Mass Destruction!
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A short video on the descent


Halfway down I completely unbuttoned my jacket, unzipped and removed my raincoat and folded it up. It was getting warmer. More photos.

While approaching Karu, suddenly I looked in my RVM and Brigitte was no longer there. For the past nearly 2000kms, I have never let her out of sight from the RVM. I slowed down and then finally stopped. Still no Brigitte. Minutes went by. Now I started getting worried. There was not a single traffic on the road. No human beings. No animals. One of the most peaceful and deserted stretches we have ridden on. Where did she disappear? Did she get abducted by Buddhist Monks?

I turned around and rode back. After a few kilometres I found her taking pictures of the monastery just before Karu. I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

This is where I lost herAfternoon spent looking for a barber in Leh yielded these results:


The Leh Mosque


People







Brigitte’s Impressions:

“Good day of nice riding with mostly good roads, the same that we did yesterday. The ten kilometres of bad roads around Chang La was difficult but not unmanageable. Pangong Lake yesterday was really great. But also I simply love the monasteries here and the monastic life. The architecture of the older monasteries is interesting and can be seen replicated in some of the modern houses too. I also like the way the monasteries and temples are located on the summit of rock formations. Gives them a good view point all around. The walk in Leh town was really nice, seeing the local folk, the ladies selling vegetables, the cosmopolitan atmosphere. I did not expect to see people from so many countries at Leh. There are Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians, Israelis, American, Swiss, Canadians, they are all there and more!”

Following day’s programme: the highest motorable road: will we make it?

Another day complemented with some beautiful pictures. I was really looking forward to see some night shots of Pangong from your side, i still hope that you have it and will put here soemtime later.

Waiting for adventures to begin with Khardung La
Italian food? Was it a pizza or you really mean pastas & stuff like a real Italian food? I'm quite surprised to read the availability of non Indian food at that altitude.

Once-in-a-life-time Experience (for us lesser mortals).
Awesome Photography.
Great Courage and persistence on rider's part.
One wonderful trip.

PS - Chewing raisins every then and now is a good antidote to hypoglycemia

LEH visits are the hot topics, just cant miss these threads,
Specially this one - Amazing writeup and mind blowing pics.
Hats Off to your adventurous trip. Keep going.

Ken Da, I must admit this must have been an out of world experience soaring your adrenaline level to an all time high but for me (while sitting @office worksation ), the adventure starts from here, THE DAY 7 @ PAGONG TSO. GAR FIRDAUS BAR RUE ZAMIN AST, HAMI ASTO, HAMI ASTO, HAMI ASTO is a French masculine name of Breton origin meaning "chief or prince". It was popularized by a fifth century Saint
He is Really a Prince.

Congrats to all three of you for this.

@MG: I am surprised that you know me so well. The night shots is another tall story. We will talk about it.

Coming up soon...

Thanks. Will remember about the raisins bit. Good to see that you read the log!

Thanks.

Thanks. Wow! You know quite a bit of the origin of the name . I knew about the chief/prince bit. But not the part about the 5C Saint!

I will send the link to your post to his mom!

Day9:We will set off avalanchesDiamox.

The Exit road from Leh to begin the ascent to K-Top is not really a shining example of a hygienic clean city. One literally drives through garbage dumps posing an eyesore for such a beautiful place. The road is well paved all the way till South Pullu. That is where there is a check-point barrier. Last time around, traffic was stopped here. But Sunny, GasolineLike Father, like son!


We moved on. Other than the occasional black ice patch, some snow on the road, a lot of puddles, some slush and a very bumpy track, it was not very difficult to negotiate this road for Brigitte. Reaching Khardung La seemed like a piece of cake after having done Chang La and after hearing all that we had been hearing for the past 3 days.

Once we were up there, photo sessions, souvenir sessions, tea sessions. I simply love the Kashmiri Kahwa tea! And it was available even here. At this altitude.

Photo sessions






Poser sunglasses, they are really effective, like Axe!






The cafeteria is buried in snow!


Look at how the walls of the cafeteria are caving in from the weight of the snow on top




Darth Vader, here I comeKhardung La, highest motorable road?!!

It is printed everywhere, on the boards, placards, on the souvenirs, T-shirts, engraved and etched on the rocks, in the snow that you are at 5602mts. This seems is an inflated number which seemingly does not have much support in hard evidence. It has been inflated for the sake of records. A little research will show you that the actual height of K-Top is at 5359mts. To verify I checked my GPS showing 5337.5mts showing a margin of error of 21.5mts! I have the location stored still. In that case there are other paved road passes which are higher than this notably Suge La and Semo La, both being in Tibet.

At the summit of the pass, I met an enthusiastic off-road rider, rally enthusiast and erstwhile national junior basketball team captain, Adarsh Saxena. It was interesting talking to him. He is very enthusiastic about getting into rallying. Brigitte took a liking for the young man.

Adarsh Saxena


While riding back, we made a quick photostop at the famous India Gate



Frozen Rock Juice










On the way back, we stopped at the Spituk monastery, 8kms from Leh with a commanding view of the Indus Valley and the city. The Spituk Monastery dates back from the 11th century and was reconstructed in the 15th. When we reached there, the palatial part was being restored. We visited the temple and monastery to take some pictures. The place is vibrant with colours. And there is a huge idol inside the temple worth visiting.

Spituk















:

"It is undoubtedly a special feeling having ridden on a motorcycle to the highest motorable pass. The road has been quite good for most of the way and the views fantastic. What I have been particularly impressed by is the way the road-building engineers have developped the gradient and engineered the slope of the entire climb till Khardung La. It is supposed to be a very steep ascent to do 2000mts climb in 35kms. But not once in the entire climb does one feel that the ascent has a difficult gradient. The whole planning, development and building of the gradient of this road is an engineering feat.

The second part of our journey today, which was totally unplanned, the visit of the Spituk Monastery has also left me quite fascinated. I love the way they designed these monasteries and the way they are still used. Thank you for stopping to take the pictures.

And also thanks for reminding me of the Diamox. I think that it is essential. Now that I have successfully experimented with it, I will recommend it to anyone manifesting symptoms of AMS above 4000mts to take Diamox as it really helps. Today I had no uncomfortable feelings, no headache, no heavy effort symptoms and I could enjoy the day fully."

Short Video taken during the descent
YouTube - Return from Khardung LaChinese whisper about the arrival of ONE solitary vehicle sauntering across town in a battered shape but having made it from Manali and having crossed Baralach La. This was big news and was enough encouragement for us to hurriedly start packing. Coz for Brigitte, nothing can be worse than Godzilla pass!

Did we make it back through Baralach La? Did we make it beyond Sarcchu? How far did we make it? Coming up shortly...

Ah! Now comes Baralacha.. This should be fun!

Fun indeed! I am laughing as I read your comment!

Wow, that's a huge list of Italian food & what did I read now? Mexican? I guess only the pancakes & maples are missing!!!

What's that 54RCC written under the Khardung La board? Any idea?

Nicely narrated dada, khub bhalo. And some good photographs too, provided it is not easy at all to shoot snow/ ice.

Waiting for more.