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.

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.

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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL_QcRxaAzY

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?

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...

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

There... you have the answer!

Thanks. You have the answer above!

Oops!

I am posting this after reading the only first half:

"Although the written work is Excellent!, but I found like encountering a hurdle at each turn."

No, it's not the ride I am talking about. It's about most of the words in there, which went over my head and I had to search online dictionary approximately most of the lines, for the words which were 'un-habitual' atleast for me.

Kena Da: For the sake of people like me, please use EASY words, A request.

Oh, I did not have a zoom! I was standing right next to them! Barely three metres.

The Saddles were in the fortuner. We did not want to burden the bikes too much on the Agam - Shyok - Durbuk stretch, and the guys in fortuner were kind enough to have the saddles in the car. If not for the fortuner, We would have stayed in Lukung. The Car raced a head to Spangmik, And so we had to push on from Lukung within minutes.

And how i wish i had a better zoom to capture the sea guls. 18-55 was no where in reach

Attaching another video of riding in Pangong in the marvellous backdrop of those huge mountains where we appear tinier than tiny specks of sand!

YouTube - Riding at Pangong Tso

Brilliant stuff Ken da,stupendous clicks and awesome travelogue....
1 Question:-How was it,I mean the water of Pangong Tso.....??
must be salty...

Thanks, I will convey your kudos to the concerned parties.

Thanks Rocky.

Thanks superman.

Pangong is one of the highest salt water lake in the world!

I'm terribly shocked to hear this response!!!
You know, several years back when we visited this place called Coutrallam, the water was so sweet that one sip was sufficient to quench the thirst; so cool (not cold) at mid of the day that we we forgot the scroching Sun; so tasty that, I felt as if I'm tasting the nectar (Amruth).

I was expecting a similar answer, but...

Very disappointed hearing this; the BRO works hard to keep up things in shape, but the damn vaccum heads will ensure that our children do not want to see these places!!!

I did too.it was damn cold & salty

All for a pic though