Sinhagad, Dusk & Those 15 minutes.

Went to Sinhagad yesterday with few friends for whom it was the first visit. Though I was going there after a long time I was not really excited as it is not the 'green' time of the year - the time when the fort is at its best. In my last 6 years in Pune I've been to Sinhgad quite a lot of times but never had opportunity to watch the sunset. We went in the afternoon and wandered around the fort under the full sunshine. It was hot and not that enjoyable. Finally, we arrived at the 'wind point' where I expected to get a proper view of the setting sun. We saw the sunset. Thats it. It was good but somehow not a perfect one. I got a feeling of 'something-missing' as we were leaving. I was not able to click even a single satisfactory shot today. But anyways we had to leave as most of the crowd was already gone and rest was also disappearing very fast. We started walking slowly towards the main entrance of the fort. Everybody was quite. With camera in my hand I was walking behind everybody. Then I saw this small pond which was reflecting the colourful sky quite nicely. My feets stopped automatically. Hands positioned the camera and this picture got clicked. Those who were ahead of me shouted at me asking to move quickly, "Its getting late!". I looked at the sky. It was shining differently showing all possible shades of evening light. I told them "Go ahead. I'll catch up in 5 minutes". Now it was getting interesting. Something had really changed over Sinhagad after the sun went down. For next 15 minutes camera was on full swing. I would look around, frame something interesting & just click. I liked the results I got in such a short time frame. When I came back to consciousness, I was running towards the main gate with a fulfilled heart. Finally, the 'missing part' was found in last 15 minutes. Yippie!










Find all photos on flickr in the set Sinhagad at Dusk.

Bikenomads 2008 Calender

The Bikenomads 2008 calendar is out. It is a fortnightly calendar having different images with theme of Bike + Nomadgiri. Images are the original works of all fellow nomads.
.. and guess what it features 4 images that I took! I was glad to know this when contributors list got posted on the group. Waiting to get my hands on it. Should publish its pics soon :)
these are the lucky folks who made it

> JANUARY
Suyash Sonawane- Been There Done That
Asad Zaidi- Amongst The Clouds
> FEBRUARY
Prabul-
Sachin Koppikar-
> MARCH
Ashish Chamoli- Lost in Tranquility
Sachin Koppikar-
>APRIL
Deepak Dongre- Chakan Meet
Arnob Gupta- Twisties in Paradise
>MAY
Manas Sharan- Gokarna Ride
Manas Saran- Green Alleys of Nature
>JUNE
Kartik Ayyar- Can we fly?
Suyash Sonawane- And I took the road less traveled
> JULY
Suyash Sonawane- Getting lost
Kartik Ayyar- Miles to go before we sleep
>AUGUST
Praveen Sathaye- Curve Hugging
Prabul-
> SEPTEMBER
Adding routes to the Map Harshad Sharma
Blaze of Glory Aditya Bhelke
> OCTOBER
Metal Monster. Mystical Beauty. Praveen Sathaye
Ride in the Clouds. Praveen Shirali
>NOVEMBER
King of the Jungle -Vasanth
Misty Jungle Road -Suyash Sonawane
> DECEMBER
Them Boys be Bikenomads - Harshad Sharma
Hell Freezes over -Sumeet Popli

A Journey To The Heaven (Part IV)

Part I - Manali To Leh
Part II - Leh-Nubra Valley-Leh
Part III - Leh-Pangong Tso-Leh

Part IV - Day 13, 14, 15

September 14: Leh-Lamayuru-Kargil
September 15: Kargil-Drass-Srinagar
September 16: Srinagar

Day Thirteen
As we were only 3 people riding today, we could start earlier than our rest of the rides from Leh. Leh-Kargil highway passes along side Indus River. Rode is quite busier than Manali-Leh highway and it is strategically important for Indian Army. We often came across Army Convoys. On the way near Nimu, there is a hill called as Magnetic Hill which is supposed to posses ferromagnetic characteristic. While riding nearby, though I didn’t feel any difference but Bhuwan Singh with his Thunderbird had a different story to tell. He put his bike to neutral while approaching near the hill and it was automatically pulled! He was able to touch 60Kph without any effort. Also, he couldn't cross 40Kph with engine on when hill was pulling the bike back! Hilarious!
On the Leh-Kargil highway you come across an interesting terrain called as Sector 81. Which is nothing but ugly textured, steep mountains one after the other. Deep at their base one could see a shining thin curve getting lost somewhere. That is Indus. Mountains were so steep that sometimes I couldn’t dare to look into the valley while taking a curve! “Eighty One Mighty One” a board said. Quite true. As we were approaching near Kargil it was getting darker. In the evening light, I could frame mountain peaks dipped in the beautiful golden light. It was completely dark when we reached Kargil. As you approach Kargil, Muslim culture gradually replaces Buddhism. Kargil is known for its Afgani style culture. Our hotel in Kargil was on the slope of a hill. View of city nightlights from the top was quite enjoyable. Tomorrow was the last day of my riding.









Day Fourteen
We left Kargil around 9:00 AM. Kargil is quite hot as compared to rest of the places that we visited so far. Right after Kargil is Drass which is at a higher altitude and a cooler place. A road sign reads that Drass has a record of being the second coolest inhabited place in the world when mercury dropped to -60 degrees in January 1995! Unbelievable. We visited Drass War Memorial which is at the base of Tololing Mountains. A jawan briefs you important events in the war of Kargil. You could actually see Tiger Hill from there.

With the stories of war in mind we rode ahead towards Srinagar. You pass very close from LOC. Signboards like this "You Are Under Enemy Observation" brought a thrill in this part of the ride. Zoji La is the last La in whole journey. It is a narrow pass which is the gateway to the beautiful valley of Kashmir. Most of the time only one way traffic is allowed on alternate basis for every couple of hours. Cross Zoji La and you get stunned by the beauty of Kashmir. We stopped at Sonamarg. Yogesh who returned from Suru Valley in Zanskar range also joined us there. Remaining part of the journey till Srinagar was a scenic ride. The road passes along Indus river. The colour of its water, which was muddy faint green earlier, turns into beautiful blue when it passes through Kashmir. There are lots of camping sites along the river.

I particularly noted one thing about children I saw from Leh to Srinagar. Till Kargil they seemed very cheerful. We often saw them waving or stretching their hand expecting a clap from us. It was quite fun to give them on-the-move clap in response. When we entered Kashmir none of the children waved at us. They just watched us passing by. Expressionless faces and blank eyes. How sad that was. What was responsible? The terrorism in the valley or those armed soldiers standing on the road every 100 meters. Quite difficult to say.
We reached Srinangar in the evening. We stayed at a hotel near Dal Lake where Yogesh stayed in hos last trip.

Day Sixteen
We went for Shikara ride in the morning. We shifted to the houseboat where rest of the gang was staying. Everybody was together again. Rest of the day was spent in shipping the bike and lazying on the houseboat. I flew back to Pune the next day.

The sunset & After

As I entered our hotel room on the first evening in Srinagar, I quickly dumped my luggage there, grabbed the camera and rushed towards my bike as sun was about to set. I took a ride around Dal Lake. Having reached a satisfactory point, I stopped by the side of the road and sat on the bike facing the sun. I closed my eyes for a second & took a deep breath. The Sun was setting over the majestic Dal Lake in front of me. I could see few Shikaras floating aimlessly in its still water. Whole lake was illuminated with a nice warm evening hue. While riding back, a sense of completeness touched me. It was a feeling of satisfaction which is hard to finds in the hustle of our busy city life. I can’t figure out myself why I wanted to do this ride. But all I can say that it was worth it.

. . .

End of Story
. . .

Now I am sitting in the chair. Pressing keys of the office keyboard. I feel I am not what I was before I did this ride. Something has changed. I cant describe it. Those mountains, that first snowfall, getting tired at 17000 feet, AMS, riding with fever in body, sitting idle near Pangong with feet dipping in its calm water, shivering in the tent in a freezing cold night and bursting out in a laugh when somebody cracks a joke over the glass of military Rum, the curiosity in the eyes of those children when they gather around you wanting to view their snap on camera LCD, smile on the military truck driver's face when they see you waving, watching the sunset over Dal lake, lazying in the balcony of Houseboat comparing citylights with stars... list goes on. The soul gets happier as I recall these moments. It was never ever purer. Even daily office work had suddenly become interesting. Few might understand these random thoughts. Few wont. [a smile]. Its out somewhere there, keep discovering.

Other Links:
Part I - Manali To Leh
Part II - Leh-Nubra Valley-Leh
Part III - Leh-Pangong Tso-Leh
Journey To The Heaven: Flickr Photo Collection

A Journey To The Heaven (Part II)

Part I - Manali To Leh

Part II - Day 6,7

September 7: Leh-Khardun La-Diskit (Nubra Valley)
September 8: Diskit-Hunder-Diskit-Khardung La-Leh
Approx distance covered 300Km

Day Six
The climb to Khardung La starts just outside the city of Leh. Khardung la top (K-Top) is 40 Km away from Leh. In the morning, we heard that it has started snowing up there. As expected, few kilometres after, we were greeted with first snowfall of the ride.

Riding with snow all around was a wonderful experience. I wanted to take a video while riding through snowfall. For that, I held the camera in my left hand without wearing any glove. I could only go ahead few meters and my left hand fingers almost went numb. I had to stop shooting. After that, I could dare to take the camera out till we reached the top!

Joy was clearly seen on everybody's face as we lined up our bikes near the red coloured board indicating height of 18380 feet. We congratulated each others for reaching the topmost point of our journey. There was a small canteen run by military folks where we celebrated with rounds of black tea. Then sun came out to give us a pleasant surprise. Whole area was sparkling. Eventually, thick fog which was standing in between us and the valley also vanished. I can tell you that the view simply left me spellbound. This was the happiest moment of today's ride. Six of the riders including me, Yogesh, Nilesh, Dharma (Nilesh’s pillion), Bhuwan, DJ, Sparsh headed towards Nubra Valley while rest returned to Leh. On the descent down it was so cold that I had to stop in between and literally grab the engine to produce warmth in my hands inspite the fact that I was wearing an extra pair of woolen gloves! At that time I could believe what one of the soldiers told me - In winter it forms a layer as thick as 20 feet above the road surface!

Road till Nubra valley is in good condition. We enjoyed riding as we hardly came across any other vehicle on the way. Thanks to the beautiful terrain we took lots of photo breaks in between. It almost went dark by the time we reached Diskit. For dinner, we tried Momos - a Tibetan food item. I did not like them so much. I satisfied myself with Nubra style Dal-Roti-Rice & went to sleep. It rained that night in Nubra.

Day Seven

In early morning it was still pouring. I got little disappointed. Thankfully, rain God listened to me & rain stopped after some time. In an hour sun also came out shining in the almost clear sky. Happily I went out for a walk while others were just out from there bed.

Diskit is a beautiful small village of Nubra Valley. Because of its tranquillity, it feels so peaceful that you wish you could stay there forever. It became my instant favourite. I clicked few snaps, visited the prayer wheel place. Every village in Ladakh has at least one such prayer wheel where people say their prayers by rotating it clockwise.

We rode along desert of Hunder. Out of nowhere, there is a proper dessert with sand dunes at Hunder which is also the home of double-humped Bactrian Camels. We could not spot any as we didn’t enter the dessert.

There is a military check post at Hunder after which visitors are not allowed go further. Only locals can go. This road goes toward Siachen Glacier. Somehow the security guards didn’t stop us and we could ride further down for almost 50-60 Kms. There we saw couple of military camps. One of them was the base camp of Siachen Bombers & another one was an air force base. It was a thrilling experience to pass by those places. With so many army vehicles, buildings around in such remote terrain, it looked like a scene straight from a war movie!

We were asked to go back from the next military check post. They told us that Pakistan border is just 30 kms away from there! We returned to Diskit. Had our breakfast cum lunch there. Next stop was Leh.

As weather was not supportive, Khardunlg la climb from Nubra side felt even tougher. While descending down from K-top, on the way towards Leh, I could see mountains tinted in a rich golden colour of the setting sun. It was a treat to eyes. Knowing that tomorrow is not a rest day, I lazily covered last 30 Kms. Tomorrow we would be taking on The Mighty Chang La which separates Leh from Pangong Tso - The largest salt water lake in Asia.

Part III - Leh-Pangong Tso-Leh

Other Links:

Part I - Manali To Leh
Part IV - Leh To Srinagar

Journey To The Heaven: Flickr Photo Collection

A Journey To The Heaven (Part III)

Part I - Manali To Leh
Part II - Leh To Nubra Valley

Part III - Day 8,9,10,11,12
September 9 : Leh-Chang La-Tangsey-Pangong Tso
September 10: Pangong Tso & Around

September 11: Pangong Tso-Tangsey-Chang La-Leh

September 12,13: Leh
Approx distance covered: 400Km

Day Eight
Pangong Tso is a land locked sea. Spread across 134 Km in length, as told earlier it is the largest salt water lake in Asia. From Leh, it takes more time to reach Pangong Tso as compared to Nubra Valley. Leaving earlier was the idea. Our group of six riders was joined by Deepan who was not there with us for Nubra.

We had to take a route via Karu towards Chang la. Though it is the third highest Motorable road in the world, it is considered most difficult to climb amongst three. Because of that it is also famous as The “Mighty Chang La” amongst bikes. Chang La tests your patience. It takes around 30 km to reach its top once you start climbing. Road is in good condition and properly tarred at most of the places. Top portion of high mountain roads are usually broken. It is impossible to maintain them practically as it often snows over there.

Almost everybody's motorcycles were struggling for power throughout the climb. Bikes were behaving like loaded container climbing ghats. Only happy soul was Bhuwan Singh with his T-Bird. DJ used to say “Paaji to 50 pe hi chalte hai.. road condition se inko to koi matlab nahi!”.

At Chang la top we stopped for a break. A temple of Changla Baba stands over there. It was even colder than Khardung la. Everybody was shivering. A Gorkha Regiment soldier was serving tea in front of the temple. No charges for that. If you feel like paying, use drop box placed there. Tea was good. Everybody paid 10 bucks. "Gorkha Regiment ke Jawan to bade bahadur hoti hai.. aur khatarnak bhi.. " I told that soldier. His narrow eyes almost disappeared as he responded with a smile. He was very proud of it.
Just 6-8 loops from there and Chang La was over. We were entering Eastern Ladakh - the Changthung plateu. Similar landscapes all new colours. It was like as if somebody has just changed the colour theme. On the way we saw small lakes, Yaks wandering over vast grasslands, nomads with their horses, sheeps. A nomadic tribe known as 'Changpa' lives here.

'Changthung' itself means a land with fewer people. I stopped near a lake looking around for clicking few shots. I heard Yogesh yelling at me- "Your Bike.. look behind man!". I turned back, the next moment my bike was lying on the ground. Even on main stand it couldn’t stand the softened soil around the lake. My helmet fell into the water. Sponge inside it was completely drenched. I had wear a monkey cap so as to remain protected from the chill wind which hits you while riding. I covered remaining 60-70 kms sporting that terrorist look! We reached Pangong when it was getting dark. There was no point in going towards the lake at this time. I dumped my luggage in the small 3 room house nearby the lake where we stayed overnight. We quickly proceeded towards the kitchen cum tent set up by the house owner to fill our empty stomachs.

Day Nine

According to plan, the next morning we were to attempt Marasmik La which is a mountain pass few kms ahead at even higher altitude than Khardung La. It is not easily motorable and only 4 wheelers can go there that too with some difficulty. Nobody else was in a mood to do it so only Yogesh, I and DJ decided to give it a try. But sadly the military police at its base didn’t allow us to go further as weather at the top was risky according to them. Yogesh, was very disappointed as this was the only new part in his third trip to Ladakh.

Rest of the morning we spent hanging around the lake. Pangong Tso is extremly tranquil. You will loose youself sitting idle at its shore. The tent owner said that seven different colours can be seen in the waters of Pangong at different lightening conditions. We could see 4 colours - Green, Ocean Blue, Dark Blue and Silver in our stay around it till afternon.

We had nothing to do as Marasmik la was no more on the plan so we decided to leave. We could move few Kms ahead and the road was blocked by a sudden flash flood. High speed flow of thick muddy water was passing over a portion of broken road 4 km from Pangong. It was a scary to watch table sized rocks speeding down with its flow. Somehow we were able to make DJ cross it before one more layer of dump formed over the road. He headed towards Leh and we returned to the tents helplessly. It was unclear when the road will open again. With zero cell phone network and no STD fascility we were like being disconnected from rest of the world.

Day Ten

It was not a good sight to see mountain tops surrounding Pangong covered in snow. We were witnessing the characteristic of Ladakh's weather - dramatic overnight change. After having our breakfast, we went back to the site of flash flood. A BRO bulldozer was on there slowly clearing off the thick layer of mud. We waited there for 3 hours in a bad weather before the road was cleared. It was cold, windy & snowing inbetween. Also, thanks to yesterday's cold evening when I went on a long test ride of Bhuwan's T-Bird, I got fever in the morning. It was little worrying as Chang La was a big challenge in such weather. As expected we got hard ice patches on its top. I had to ride carefully as those patches are dangerously sleepery and a fall is the last thing I wished to happen in that condition. My fingers were dead frozen till I reached top my energy level was also low because of the illness. I was happy to reach Chang La top without knowing that next hour would turn out to be the toughest part in my entire trip.
As I crosses top and started descending and I was welcomed by combined attack of snowfall and spine chilling wind. Temperature further dropped. After sometime when I reached at slightly lower level, snow stopped but wind and thick fog were still there. I decided not to stop anywhere till I reach at lower altitude where wind and fog would vanish away. I kept wishing only. Things always go wrong in a bulk. As the fog started vanishing, before I could sigh in relief, it started raining. It rained till I reached Karu. My leather jacket was completely washed out. I didn’t even stop for putting on rain suit. That day, I did not click even a single photo except this one till I reached Leh.

Day 11, 12

September 12 & 13 Leh


I had to take complete bed rest for a day. Meanwhile, Yogesh alone went ahead for doing Zanskar. Few guys also left for Kargil the next day. I, Bhuwan & Umesh were planned to say goodbye to Leh on 14th. On the day before that we roamed in the city & did some shopping. In the evening I was able to take photograph of Leh palace in night. Till that time I completely recovered and was ready for last part of the journey - Kargil and Srinagar.

Part IV Leh-Kargil-Srinagar

Other Links:

Part I - Manali To Leh
Part II - Leh-Nubra Valley
Journey To The Heaven: Flickr Photo Collection

A Journey To The Heaven (Part I)

It's a bright sunny day. Not many clouds in the sky. I stare at mountains quite far away. Some snow can be spotted on top of their peaks. The wind is piercing through gaps near the helmets visor giving my face the feel of its chill surrounding. I glance over the gigantic rocks on my right. There is no sign of vegetation. I settle my eyes back on the broken road. Ahead is another bend leading to the top of the mountain & taking me even higher. Climb is getting steeper. I down shift & open the throttle further. Engine responds with a reluctant grunt. Still a long way to go.

This broken mountain road is getting tougher and tougher. My motorcycle is struggling to climb. Oxygen level has dropped at this altitude and it is not sufficient to burn the fuel completely. My own condition is not very different. This height has taken its toll and a feeling of unrest has started developing in my head some time back. It is getting stronger as I move up each foot. At this time, first reaction of human body is to try to pump more & more oxygen by breathing faster. This is what I am doing now. My head has also started aching badly. Looks like AMS has finally taken over me. Some kind of repetitive irritating sound is coming from somewhere. I can feel pain. Pain is not good.. its intolerable..
Blackout.

. . . . .

I don’t know where I am but that sound can still be heard. I slowly try to open my eyes to find that I'm lying on a bed. The place looks familiar. But where is the sound coming from?

Before the Sunrise

I realized that the familiar place was my home. Once again I was dreaming about the same thing and it was the damn cell phone alarm which interrupted my sleep. Being a little worried about AMS, it used peep into every second dream that I had about this trip even days before it actually begun. I glanced at the watch. It was 4 in the morning. I could find just an hours sleep after I finished packing. The cab driver was going to call me at 4:30. Laughing at the silly dream, I splashed some water over my face.

At 4:30 I was heading all the way to the Mumbai airport thinking that tomorrow at the same time I would be in a bus passing through the beautiful valley of Himachal.

Day Zero
September 1: Pune-Mumbai-Delhi-Mandi
According to the plan all of 12 riders were going to assemble at Manali on 2nd Sep. Delhi & Gaziabad based people rode from their homes. Knowing that I got fewer days, I wanted to spend most of them in Ladakh & Kashmir. So I had shipped the bike till Mandi which is 110 Km before Manali.
At 10:15 in the morning, I was in the flight to Delhi. Being my first on-board experience, the take-off felt awesome. Reached Delhi at 2:30 PM. Delhi is super hot even at this time of the year. I was literally sweating when I reached my friends place near ISBT. In the evening at 8:30 I left for Manali. Escaping that pressure cooker was such a relief.
I was envy of Delhi people as they are so close to The Great Himalayas. When I came to know how badly they miss the rainfall, I concluded that Pune is better!

Day One
September 2: Mandi-Manali
Distance Covered 110 km

Got down at Mandi at 9 in the morning. Collecting the bike, unpacking it, loading it with luggage,withdrawing cash etc. took some time. Around 12:30 I was back on the highway but this time on my Avvy. Whole route passes alongside the Beas river. Amazed by the massive steep mountains of Kullu range, whenever I used to kill the engine for a break, first thing I was hearing was the sound of Beas's white water.

In the afternoon, in my rear view mirror I saw a huge guy on Thunderbird flashing headlight at me. I couldn’t identify who he was. Anyways, I pulled over.

“Are you Suyash?” he.

"Yes” Me. (How the hell he knows that?)
"Hi. I’m Bhuwan Singh. From Jaipur”, He removed his helmet and stretched his hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you”, Me.

Then I remembered what Nilesh told me yesterday. Nilesh- A fellow rider from Pune, mentioned that he would be starting from Delhi with Bhuwan Singh who was riding from Jaipur. Now, where the heck was he? Bhuwan told me that Nilesh has to remain in Delhi as he had some problem with his bike during transportation. We shook hands and moved ahead.

On the way we stopped at a river side restaurant almost hidden from the main road. I had very little food since morning so I ordered for late lunch. River was flowing right beside the table where we sat. The water was so cold that I couldn’t stand in it for more than 4-5 seconds!
We reached Manali around 5 in the evening. Most of the people were already there in the hotel. Yogesh, Nilesh & Umesh arrived very late around 11 in the night. I was excited as tomorrow was the first day of the group ride. My first take on the Land of Lamas.

Moment of the Day: In the HRTC bus my co passenger was a German guy. We stuck upon a conversation which eventually turned towards Bollywood. I was surprised to know that he didn’t knew Big B but Shaharukh Khan - “Some Kaan fella…”, his words. He said he doesn’t really like to watch all that drama Indian movies show and their music as well. Ok, I passed him my earphones and played couple of A R Rehman songs. He listened to them carefully. “Hey, this is good. It’s different!”, he said. He liked them immediately. A R Rehman rocks!

Day 2,3,4,5

September 3: Manali-Rohtang-Darcha

September 4: Darcha-Baralacha La-Sarchu-Pang
September 5: Pang-Tanglang La-Leh
September 6: Leh
Distance covered: 485 km

Image Source: www.thebrightstuff.com/mapManaliLeh.htm

Day Two
September 3. It was a special day for me. Not just because it was first day of the ride, it was my birthday too. We left Manali around 9:30 AM. Target was to reach Sarchu (255 km). The road from Manali towards Rohtang La passes through green, misty, steep mountains. Rohtang is a famous tourist spot so mini buses and truck create a heavy traffic over their. It was my first experience to climb such a steep mountain pass. With such traffic and thick fog, it was not am easy climb. I was wondering if road to Rohtang is like this then how difficult it would be to once we start the actual Rohtang pass. When we reached Rohtang, I saw everybody in the group were lining up their bikes. They started taking photographs as well. I couldn’t understand it initially. Then I saw a board indicating that it is the Rohtang top. Then I realized my mistake. The road that we left behind was the actual Rohtang pass! ..and all I thought that Rohtang pass will start from the Rohtang village only!

I fell behind the group after Rohtang as I couldn’t maintain more than 20-30Kph due to the rubble on the road which was under construction. That was the first time I realized how painful it is to ride a bike which is not meant for offroading. In the afternoon when I reached Tandi, the last filling station before Leh. I found that the entire group was waiting for me for almost half an hour!
It was around 5:30 PM when we finally decided to take a halt at Darcha as it was not possible to cross Barlacha La before sunset to reach Sarchu. It means we needed an extra day to reach Leh.

Day Three
I woke up early and came out of the tent. This is how the sky looked. First sunrise of the ride. According to yesterday's plan that we discussed over dinner, Nilesh & I left Darcha around 8:00 in the morning to take lead as we were slowest amongst the group. On the way near Deepak Tal I saw a Tent setup by somebody with his dirt racing type motorcycle parked nearby. Bugger chose such a fantastic place for camping. He was a Greek traveler. I had a chat with him. He told me that he quit his job to take 10 months of vacation traveling Afghanistan, Pakistan & India on that dirt bike! I remembered all those efforts I had put in, all those promises I had to make to my manager to get just 11 days off!

Baralacha La -16500 feet is the place where most of the bikers hit by Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) due to lack of oxygen. I was afraid that my nightmare may come true here. We were advised by Yogesh to drink lots of water to remain hydrated. This is a good way of minimizing your chance of getting a headache at such height. Thankfully I didn’t had any problems there. No AMS and I was happy.We stopped at Sarchu for Lunch. Having chocolates on the way as my breakfast, Maggie seemed to be the most delicious dish on the menu. Sarchu is popular night halt on Manali-Leh route (if done in two days). Soon after Sarchu we crossed a board which says “Welcome to the Heaven”. It means we were entering the state of Jammu & Kashmir, the Ladakh part of it. Most of the road near Sarchu passes through plains- A welcome break from repetitive mountain roads. On the way ahead whole group stopped to help someone who had a puncture. He was Karthik J, nickname Motographer. A rider & brilliant photographer. We are flickr friends & met here for the first time. Read about his part of the story.
We called it a day as we reached Pang. I & Nilesh stayed with Motographer & his friend Ananth. There I met Mr. Vodka (that’s his nickname!) who was cycling all the way from Manali. He was the first Indian I saw on a bicycle doing this route. Hats off.
Pang is at 13900 feet and very cold. To feel that, take a walk for few seconds outside the tent in the night and you start shivering and breathing like anything. That was the toughest night I spent on the Manali-Leh route. I got headache as well. It was clearly a sign of AMS. I couldn’t sleep the whole night.

Day Four
I woke up in the morning to find that headache has almost vanished. Thankfully, my body got enough rest to be able to the ride properly. Ahead of Pang is a wonderful piece of land called Moorey Plains. A flat land stretched over 25 Km and surrounded by Mountains. You find that land covered by grass cum bushes. They spread flat on the ground so that they could stand continuous speedy winds of that area. Tiny sand tornados also show up there frequently. We took a dirt track which was running towards the mountains nearby. After crossing that flat terrain we took on to Tanglang La which takes you to astonishing 17500 feet! It is the highest point on Manali-Leh route and is the second highest motorable road in the world. Before I could reach its highest point, I took a wrong decision to pass around a water crossing and my bike got stuck up in round shaped stones surrounding it. After only I made several tiring attempts I could pull the bike back over the stone right behind the rear wheel. That was the time when I realized what it means to be at 17000 feet.

Cross Tanglang La and you enter the Valley of Ladakh. You are welcomed by beautiful small villages surrounded by yellow Barley & potato fields. Road hence forth is well tarred and super smooth. We crossed villages like Rumutse, Upshi, Karu. Karu is one of the a base camp of Indian army. I heard from somebody that in 1965 war, Chinese army managed to reach till this point. It was difficult to believe considering is well inside Indian Territory and there are steep mountain ranges to cross before it could be reached.
In Leh, we had to search for a hotel for quite some time which could proved parking space of 11 bikes. We finally found a hotel called Sun-n-Sand. Obviously not part of Sun-n-Sand hotel series that we find in metros. A bath with warm water after almost 3-4 days felt like heaven!

Eating breakfast in Leh:
Left side of the table (from left): Sparsh, DJ, Eric, Yogesh, Deepan
Right side of the table (from left): Bhuwan, Umesh, Suyash, Manik
Not in picture: Shamik (photographer), Dharam, Nilesh








Day Five
The Rest Day:We spent next day in the city washing & servicing bikes, arranging permits for next part of the ride. I had to get carburetor & air filter cleaned to restore the torque at low revs. Tomorrow was an important day as we had to take on the highest motorable road in the world – Khardung La.

Part II - Leh-Nubra Valley-Leh

Other Links:
Part III - Leh-Pangong Tso-Leh
Part IV - Leh To Srinagar
A Journey To The Heaven: Flickr Photo Collection.

Back Home and A Surprise

 
My sleep interrupted with some a ding sound coming from the speaker. I looked out of the window of Airbus 320. It was a wonderful sight of green land from top. I could also see few mountains. Then a voice - "Hello everybody, This is your Captain Robin Cook and we are about to land at Pune airport. Temperature outside is 24 degrees. Hope you had a pleasing journey. Thanks for flying with Indigo." Got a feeling of homecoming. Yes, I was landing at Pune airport after spending 16 days in barren mountains.

When I opened the door of my apartment, a pleasant surprise was waiting for me. I could see a Ganesh Idol established in the hall. Hats off to my roomies. Read about how they turnes a thought into reality on Preetam's blog. I just smiled. It was a good start indeed.
In the evening we arranged some Prasad and called up our friend Tiger and few of the boys in the society for Arti. They arrived enthusiastically and ended gulping down 3 pieces of mithai each!I was feeling great to get a pleasing surprise like this. Seriously a feel good start of the normal routine. Oh.. forgot to mention.. trip log n pics are coming soon :)

The Most Awaited Longest Weekend

..Phew. Done with packing finally. Got couple of free hours before cab driver picks me for the Mumbai airport, so here goes a post at such an odd hour. This to me is the longest weekend I could ever have. I have been planning this for months and now as the the D-day approaches closer, it feels quite excited. Here is what I think we are going to do in next 10-15 days.

Ladakh 2007

Day 1, Manali - Sarchu, 230kms: The fun starts on the very first day, as we traverse through broken roads, slush, water/river crossings and cross two high altitude passes, Rohtang La 13,050ft and Baralacha La 16,500ft.

Day 2, Sarchu - Leh, 260kms: Another hard day of riding while covering three high altitude passes; Nakee La 15,547ft, Lachulung La 16,616ft and third highest pass, Tanglang La at an altitude of 17,582ft.

Day 3, Leh - Thiksey - Leh and local sightseeing, 80kms: A day to unwind, get the bikes serviced and visit Thiksey and other historical places in Ladakh’s capital, Leh.

Day 4, Leh – Khardung La – Diskit – Hunder, 110kms: Conquering the worlds highest Motorable road at 18,380ft and then ride to the magnificent Nubra Valley, a stone throw away from the Siachen Glacier.

Day 5, Hunder – Diskit – Sumur – Khardung La – Leh, 200kms: Sightseeing in the beautiful Nubra Valley and then ride back to Leh via the highest Motorable road in the world, Khardung La.

Day 6, Leh – Chang La – Spangmik - Pangong Tso, 170kms: On day six we plan to ride to the largest salt water lake in Asia, Pangong Tso. En route we will be crossing the second highest Motorable pass, Chang La (17,800ft).

Day 7, Pangong Tso – Phobrang – Marsimik La – Phobrang – Pangong Tso: Ride to the worlds highest Motorable pass, Marsimik La, 18,634ft and then come back to the Pangong Tso.

Day 8, Pangong Tso – Chang La – Leh, 170kms: ride back to Leh for a final night there.

Day 9, Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Khaltse – Kargil, 293kms: Ride to the town Kargil on the Leh – Srinagar highway.

From this day I plan to part from BCMT group who would head for Zanskar valley. I would have loved to go along with them, but have no enough leaves :(

Day 10, Kargil – Drass – Zoji La – Sonamarg – Srinagar, 205kms: An early morning start should take us to famous Zoji La pass, from here the Kashmir valley begins.

Regular update about the ride progress should be available here. See you till then. Coming back to (normal) life on 17th Sep. Bye..

(Using BSNL throughout the trip #09420536757)