Lookiing for company - Leh Ladakh 2014

Hello All,

It is my dream to ride to Leh, the biker's paradise. But due to lack of company the plan kept postponing since 3 years. Thru this post, I would like to gather fellow xbhp'ians who have similar plans to do Leh in June/July 2014.

I'm currently working in Chennai and own a Karizma. Those who are interested in this adventure, please contact me so that we can discuss and work things out.

Regards,
Ajay

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Hey guys, a suggestion from my side. The Leh route is now more or less been traveled by everyone these days.
Why not go for a different route this time. Try the Mughal Road to reach Kashmir from Jammu. Is much more beautiful and very very less traffic. Leh has only one route, but you can use this diversion in between.
But i don't know if its open for public traffic as such. Have heard from my uncle that its really beautiful.
Try Google to know more.

Mughal Road - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ancient Mughal road is a new big tourist site in J&K - Times Of India

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Going through the Travelogue finished off the introduction and continuing to read.. it is just fantastic.. I am portraying myself in your place.. it is just fantastic.. Thank you for posting it.. I will somehow complete the 65 pages by the time I leave office.. working simultaneously of course

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Umm, lets see. Extrapolating distances within the Excel sheet, I have got 237 kms from Pangong Tso i.e Lukung till Pang. This means 10 hours of saddle time. Plus 25% for R and R along the way. Total = 12h 30m. Emergencies as per actuals.

Daybreak in June is around 0545h or so. So if you start at 0545h, you should be in Pang at 1815h. It is doable with some caveats, namely,
a) No dilly-dallying beyond reasonable measure along the way.

b) Steady cruising stints of min 1 to 1.5 hours at least.

c) If serial a is violated, then be prepared to ride in the falling dusk/early night.

We did Leh - Pang and you plan for P Tso - Pang, a difference of about 60 kms = about 3 hours.

Ride times vary very wildly as they are completely dependant on road and climatic conditions, so do view them in the correct perspective. During my stay there from 96 to 98, I used to work on an average speed of 20 kms per hour and I never faced any problems in my travels from one end of the place to the other. During my OWN ride, that figure (with hindsight calculations) had gone up to about 24 kph.

BIG BIG DISCLAIMER: Our ride was purrrrfect. Weather, bikes, riders' tummies everything came together to make it a completely uneventful event. So, be on guard about that. From perfection to calamity and back to perfection takes no time, that is the magical mystery of the mountains, much like a woman's mood. If you are married, you know the turf. If not, no better intro and training than this

My long, highly sentimental travelogue, rather a small novella, is here.



One excellent chart is here, full credits to Aarti and Harsh:

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Honestly, you cannot plan everything down to the T and follow it on the ride. A freak snowstorm/land slide/ BRO road building or even a long Army convoy are enough to lose precious hours and nobody can be sure about the weather. People said that in August one cannot get too much snow. Hell, we went through a snow storm, lost many hours due to closed passes and had to change routes sometimes. You never know if baralach la gets snowed out .

This was 2011 August (the less snow time :P ) - Lachungla


This was 2012 June (the time with more snow :P) - Same Lachungla -- taking the shot of the only remaining bit of snow. Rest was barren!



Just have all the information in place and plan for a stop. But, enjoy the ride and drop anchor wherever you feel like instead of trying to meet a 'target'. June is a prime month for tourism and help is never far away. Infact, you might even bump into the Delhi Leh state bus :-)

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

RSM2852

Sure let me know the dates you will travelling... Ll try to join you

To ride is to live

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

I dont know whether [MENTION=20868]DevilisH[/MENTION] would read this or not but he is getting his fiancee accustomed to long rides down there in Bangalore. So I am presuming that by that time she would be ok to be pillion.

Sir, I have almost decided the route till Pangong Tso, but the confusion is, after Pangong Tso , stay would be either at Pang / Darchu / Bara-lacha la. Can that be done in a day, given we start early morning around 7am. Or we need to come down a little more to decrease the distance till Pang?
As next day we would ride till Kullu, avoiding Manali as staying option.

P.S : Forgive me for so many questions. They are cropping up every now and then

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Quite useful information.. especially the list of items that you have carried. Will come in handy for any tour any day.

Will 12+2(for safer side) be enough to do New Delhi - Leh?? not yet sure about the routes proposed by [MENTION=13887]prateek2210[/MENTION].. just want to know if the proposed number of days will be suffice..

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

I am sending you a link to an Excel sheet.

In order to make the ride less arduous for said friend's better half (and by extension, said friend), a halt at Pang would be correct. Mrs Shireen (Shireen aunty) has a one big lovely tent there, with nice mattresses and thick quilts but no privacy as it is a kind of dorm. So said friend and said wife would need to keep that in mind.

Next, Sarchu also has a Shireen aunty tent. After that, Darcha has similar accommodation.

Per se, there is no lack of accommodation all along the route. Just that, a large group might not get adjusted in one location and would have to distribute itself along the route.

Disclaimer: all info of June 2012 vintage. Yet, I have personally known of accommodation at Pang and Sarchu since the mid Nineties, so your friend should not be discomfited at all.

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

Those are some useful tips..
[MENTION=13887]prateek2210[/MENTION].. bhai.. like stated above.. please ask him to have a test ride with the luggage so that he can modify and make changes according to requirement.. and also ask him to get the rear seat foamed well enough with soft foams so that she feels comfortable enough.. since its a P200NS.. seat comfort will be a little pain..

Sent from my Spice Mi-530 using Tapatalk 4

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

With a female on board, you would have to stay at places with proper bathrooms. Pang has some pakka toilets. Same with the pricey tents at Sarchu. The cheaper tents at the start of Sarchu(when coming from Leh) will not have a proper bathroom most probably. Beyond Sarchu, you will get lots of accomodation options in Jispa, Darcha and Keylong. In Keylong, not just bathroom you will get ATM/TV/Geyser -- the works. Do ask your co-rider to do some test trips with full luggage with his wife if she has never done long trips.

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

There are pros and cons to it :
It will save your engine from rocks and pebbles but at the same time will scratch it too. So its up to you. You can get one used one, put it for leh, and when you get back get your current one again.
[MENTION=11584]Mik[/MENTION] , [MENTION=33779]icemang[/MENTION] : Some help needed
What are the places to stay (for night) after Upshi and before Rohtang (except as mentioned Khoksar)
The main reason for little leisurely tour is my fellow rider's better half

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

i am also thinking of doing it in 2014, no solid plans as of now. anybody from pune with similar intentions.

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i am also thinking of doing it in 2014, no solid plans as of now. anybody from pune with similar intentions.

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner

[MENTION=16442]freerider[/MENTION]

Re: Getting Leh'ed - 2014 Planner