Back from one
more fulfilling ride to Ladakh from 18 Sept
to 6 Oct 2013 covering 2300 km - it had everything one can hope for in
such an adventurous ride - breathtaking views, altitude sickness, strangest
bike problems and power loss at most challenging times (Ameya's piston getting
stuck and my petrol lock breaking), getting lost, bad weather, snowfall,
getting caught on wrong side of law , camping days, meeting amazing people and
staying with them.. etc.
Highlight - did
the Kakasangla route from Mahe to Chushul - Kakasangla is higher than
Khardungla, also managed Wari La route to Nubra valley in heavy snowfall and
ended with a nice diversion to Dha Hanu route from Khaltse.
This ride was
like life - sometimes it was like heaven with mind blowing views and bike
performing well and no one stopping us on restricted routes - and sometimes
like hell when the bikes broke down with strangest of the problems, bad weather
and our health not being 100% due to tiredness and altitude sickness- but
finally me and my riding prtner Ameya made it together. A ride to cherish.
Photograph links
and read further if you have time J
https://picasaweb.google.com/zenosh/20130918LadakhRideKakasangLaWariLaDhaHanu#
Our ride
started in a very explosive way indeed. We were caught with petrol (which we
going to use to fill our bikes once we get them on New
Delhi station) when going to the outstation platform on Mumbai
Central to board the Rajdhani Express to Delhi
Next day
it took quite an effort to take out both the bikes from the New Delhi
Taking the
scenic and less traffic Naggar route via Bhunter by which we avoided the
traffic ridden main Manali highway and the main Manali itself we finally met up
with Godwin Snehal and Dipesh at the Rohtang road Indian Oil petrol pump. We
were supposed to stay with Godwin at his rented house in Shenag village. Dipesh
was also there riding all the way from Mumbai on his Ninja 650. We felt like
poor bulleteersJ We
had a nice time at his place just relaxing by the veranda, walking around the
village and spending a quite evening at a small stream. At night we had an
amazing party with home cooked Chicken Biryani (Thanks to Godwin and Snehal for
the wonderful dinner) and also meeting up with Eric our old friend who always
gives us amazing homemade apple wine and stays there with his wife and small
kid.
We had
nice clear weather next day which is very rare when we are crossing Rohtang.
Bidding goodbye to Godwin and friends we started for Rohtang and further.
Taking small breaks and enjoying the clear sky we moved ahead slowly viewing
the beautiful villages of Sissu and Gondia. Due to improved road conditions and
good weather we covered the distance till Darcha quite easily so we decided to
move ahead for the night. That was our biggest mistake. We became overconfident
and did not ask about the altitude of the next night halt. We reached Zing Zing
Bar and I knew that we would have a bad time tonight since it was at 14000 feet
which means we jumped 7000 feet in one day without a rest day at Manali.
The night
was extremely cold in the tented accommodation at Zing Zing Bar, though
altitude did not hit us hard. We had a nice chat with 2 Punjabi couples who
also offered us some dry fruits (Ask me and Ameya for more details on what we
thought about the relationship they shared J ).
I was not
feeling too well due to altitude on a cold and windy morning at Zing Zing Bar.
The night temperature had plummeted below zero since I could see a thin layer
of ice on my bike seat. Ameya’s bike refusing to start but finally we had
success by rolling the bike and starting by putting in second gear. Since I was
down with altitude sickness (headache and nausea) we decided that we would
rather try pushing till Leh today rather than spending one more night at 14000
feet. Anyways there is a long stretch of high altitude road before that happens
so we made the best use of it by going slow, taking frequent breaks and
enjoying the stark barren scenery and the unique mountain carvings done by
millions of years of wind and ice erosion, on this route when passing through
the high passes Baralacha La, Nakeela, LachungLa and Tanglang La and places
like Sarchu, Pang, Debring.
I felt
better when we reached the open vast expanse of More plains. What a
breathtaking view we got from there. Reaching Leh the same day would be very
ambitious so we decided to call it a day at Late village some 60 km away from
Leh. It was 8 PM and chilling cold when we saw a home stay board on the road
and jumped to that opportunity.
Next day
we reached Leh by 11 AM since we had very less distance to cover. Finally was
relieved to be in the warm and comfortable room at Otsal Guest house at
Changpsa road, Leh. Met up with Otsal who owns the hotel and with whom I was
coordinating when planning this ride. Rested for some time in the room and then
went for some shopping and later spent a nice evening with Lt Col Vishal Arora
(Ameya’s army contact) at his army base near Leh airport. We had some drinks,
starters and a simple wholesome dinner at the luxurious bar within the army
premises.
The next
day was supposed to be a well deserved rest day at Leh but was spent servicing
our bikes at Tashi, food shopping for the remote ride ahead, getting our inner
line permits etc. And how can a day go without an exciting incident – so we had
a company of a small mouse in our room for which we had to spend quite an
effort to drive it out of our room. It was a nice experience to see the half
shutdown Leh with very less tourist since we had come here at the very end of
the season.
The same
momentum continues the next day as well. It was supposed to be an easy ride to
Chumathang which is around 140 km from Leh and with good road connection.
Ameya’s bike refused to start in the morning even after servicing the previous
day and to add more chaos while trying to start the kick and the piston got
fully jammed. Luckily it is off season and Tashi the mechanic was there within
next 15 mins. He opened the spark plug as well as the clutch cover and moved
the alternator manually and the piston came out free. After changing the oil
and further checking we were all set for the ride at 12 PM after filling
petrol. The ride to Chumathang is nothing to write about since some part of the
road is dug up and dusty due to 2 laning in progress and it was pretty hot that
day. We follow the Indus
River
Read on
for further bike breakdowns. We had plans of early start and to camp at Tso
Moriri this day. Even before we could start our ride Ameya’s bike piston and
kick again got jammed during cold start in the same manner like previous day.
We were totally disheartened now and started making plans of loading Ameya’s
bike in truck to Leh and I proceeding ahead alone. But then the prior
experience on such ride comes into play. Ameya had seen exactly how Tashi had
freed up the piston yesterday and I had the necessary tools. So we started the
operation of Ameya’s bike and within an hour we were successful.
I had a
strong gut feel that instead of going to Tso Moriri we should try the Kakasang
La route since now Ameya’s bike was fine and in case it happens again during cold
start tomorrow we would have at least done a new route which might not be
possible in later years due to the sensitivity of the region and army check
post en-route.
Jugad at
Mahe check post and after some asking around Mahe Gompa we were on our way to Kakasangla.
My dream finally coming true. It was only because of this route that I decided
to do Ladakh again this year. Total isolation on the route not a sound or a
person in sight, and mind-blowing scenery typical barren mountains of Ladakh
with varied shades of brown and yellow and the most beautiful turquoise blue colour
lakes of Yaya Tso (visible from Hor La) and Mitpal Tso (visible from Kakasang
La). The location of the Yaya Nunnery
was also breath taking nestled right below a mountain far away from the road in
total wilderness. The road till Hor La was tarred and after that it was a dirt
road but nothing of too much challenge. The view from Kakasang La was something
to die for. We felt we were on top of the world with all the mountains visible
till the horizon and the surreal Mitpal
Tso Lake
Downhill
was full of sharp and big stones laid on the road since it was under
construction as well as an under construction canal due to which we had to take
a diversion. After numerous hair pin bends of Satatho La we were finally on our
way to Chushul and tar road had also started. When you reach Satatho La you can
see Pangong Tso lake from the highest point on any road.
Reached
Chushul and had hard time finding accommodation when a kind villager Tsering
Mutup agreed to give his tent for a price. There is no concept of tourists
staying overnight so the villagers did not really know how to entertain us and
in the process sounding a bit dumb or rude at times. Otherwise Chushul is a
beautiful village surrounded by vast expanse of wet lands and green pastures
now turning yellow due to onset of winters. I felt like I was in Hanle on
seeing the views around.
Tsering
also offered us some blankets and warm water to us. Slowly I could feel the
transition of the villager from a total stranger to trying to genuinely help us
to be comfortable. Next morning he also offered us breakfast of Puri and
aachar.
After
having breakfast we decided to take it easy today and just walk around Chushul
and see Chushul Gompa up a small hillock. Unfortunately the monastery was
closed but the views from top of the hillock of the unending expanse of
Changthang was worth the tiring trek to the top. We could see the road which
descends from Kakasangla, the route coming from Erath as well as Mann Merak and
the vast expanse towards Tsaga La road. I felt as if I was on the terrace of
Hanle palace viewing the expanse and wetlands as we had done in 2007.
The Erath
road which we took for Tangtse was also scenic with typical Changthang plains
as well as the rugged snow capped Himalayan
Mountains
Next day
we had to cross the mighty Chang La and the weather was not at all encouraging.
It was cloudy and clearly visible that it was snowing on upper reaches of the
mountains which means snow fall at Chang
La.
Riding
down in very slippery conditions we saw the most amazing view of the snow
covered mountains and the winding road, stopped for a break and photographs
before proceeding ahead to Karu for a fuel refill and there after to Sakti.
Weather
improved when we reached Sakti and we got some amazing light play to photograph
the amazingly green Sakti village valley, and after much searching found a home
stay at a kind villager Tsewang Dorjey’s place some distance after Takthok
Gompa. After settling down at Tsewang’s guest room we had a nice chat with him
while having cups of butter tea and Jhau which is the dry fried version of some
local grain and Satoo is the atta they make from Jhau which can be had as is
without further cooking. This was the best evening of the ride as we got a
chance to experience the local life, food and culture. Tsewang also showed us
his bow and arrow. He practices Archery and had won 2nd prize at a
local competition at Leh. Of course we also tried our luck at it with his bow
and arrow but not much successJ
Dinner was
a mix of his local dish of vegetables and atta (Thupka or Stew as they call),
our MTR and Upma. We sat together along with Tsewang and his wife in the dining
room and had a wholesome dinner while talking about life in general and our experiences
on the ride. Tsewang works in BSNL as a network tower engineer so has gone to
all places close to the border like Sasoma, DBO, Siachen Base camp, Fukche, Demchog
etc. A job to envy I must sayJ
Next day
again the weather was not encouraging so we decided to call it a rest day. We walked
around home stay with Tsewang showing us around – saw the water driven chakki
(amazing innovation that a Chakki was working with water force and no other
artificial energy source – the water was channelized below the rotor which in
turn moved the stone which crushed the grain to create flour), later we walked
to TakThok Gompa from where we get very good views of the green Sakti village
valley (the main chamber carved out of hard stone on a mountain cliff and the
strange custom of people sticking currency notes on the ceiling and offering
juice, liquor, perfume etc to the god) and also saw the parents day celebration
at Manjushri school nearby.
It seems
Tsewang was not too pleased with us staying for one more day and also weather
cleared up so we decided to push off to Wari La. Slow and steady we gained
height, also took some breaks to enjoy the amazing mountain views. But fate had
other plans. Snow storm once we reached the top (even a tempo was turning back
so we did not have chance on our bikes to cross the pass in this weather) so we
had to return back and shamelessly asked him for one more day stay due to lack
of options.
Next
morning we were all enthusiastic to try Wari La one more time. I went to load
my bike with luggage when very much unlike my habit tinkered with the petrol
lock since it was leaking small amount of fuel. And shockingly the petrol lock
broke into 2 pieces, so wasted 2 hours again emptying the petrol tank, putting
the bike on one side and doing a temporary fix with Stickfast and MSeal. Since
this was temporary arrangement we decided to go to Leh instead, and not do any
remote route lest the lock breaks apart again. But when we came at Wari La road
intersection I saw clear weather and took U turn. Ameya came later and smiled
at me and shook his head. He knew that I wanted to do this route badly.
Smooth run
till 3km remaining for Wari La top. Then it was snow and ice on the road due to
last day’s snowfall. The landscape was amazingly white and fully snowed out.
The last 3 km took 1 ½ hour with lot of pushing and half clutching. My bike
fell once before the top and just as a snow storm approached us again, Ameya
came back and helped me out.
Downhill
was also not easy due to slippery conditions. 6 cars were stuck coming up, and
they were making the road better by breaking the ice with Shovel and putting
mud. That made our job a bit easy. I lost concentration on the downhill and
fell twice, it was very difficult and tiring to control the heavy bike on a
downhill in slippery snow and a single lapse of concentration and you fall.
After 6 km
from top the road was free of snow so we took a long break eating snacks since
we did not have anything since morning and were very tired of all the hard work
at the pass. It was total vishram for half hour and photography time to capture
the vast and deep valley on the Agham side and the snowed out Wari La side.
We saw a strange
Shivling on the way down created out of stone by a shortcut. Amazing view of
the valley on Agham side, beautiful Tangyar village with camping grounds and
colourful valley between Tangyar and Agham. It was so beautiful that I felt
like stopping and exploring the fairy tale like gardens of red, green, yellow,
orange trees and shrubs and a small rivulet flowing in between sometimes to be
crossed by a small wooden bridge.
Then the
view opened up to the broad and desert like Nubra valley after Agham all the
way till Khalsar. We stayed at a guest house meant for monks at Khalsar in a
nice, small and cosy room.
After nice
Breakfast at New Punjabi Dhaba we left for Khardung La and further to Leh.
Initial ride was scenic with the beautiful Khardung village view. Further ahead
full traffic jam at Khardungla top where we wasted 2 hours with uncooperative
Army trucks and bulldozer which were not letting us go ahead. I almost had my
clutch plates burnt since I was not allowed to go ahead and on hard ice I could
neither stop my bike. It had snowed on Khardung La as well and the pass had
just opened after being closed for 2 days so we had hard ice 4-5 km before and
after the top making riding difficult anyways in all the messy traffic. We
reached Leh by 4 PM and rested after fixing my bike petrol lock finally. Had a
couple of drinks with Otsal and had a great evening with his fun talks. Dinner
was at Jeevan Café nearby with amazing Pizza and pastries. It was raining full
night. We were happy that we were out of the high altitude region now.
Next day
was a rest day before we start our ride to Srinagar
Since we
had 3 days to reach Srinagar Indus
River
Nice
change in scenery after Batalik village the next day with yellow / green trees
lining the road and then first barren village on this route Lalung just before
the Hamboting La pass. The scenery around the pass was amazingly barren. Once
on the top we could see the whole mountain range on the Kargil side. We had
breakfast at a small Dhaba before we meet main Kargil road and lunch at Drass. Nothing
much to write on this route.
We clicked
the last photos of Ladakh type terrain on this ride before we hit Zozila top
after which it would be the greens of Sonamarg. 2 hours break after Zozila top
due to road widening work due to which we had all the time and had a nice chat
with army fellows posted to monitor the road work. We reached Sonamarg at 5 PM
and due to Ameya’s jugad we got a nice posh dormitory (Rs 1250 per bed) to stay
in for just Rs 250 in the JKTDC guest house. Nice lawns and greenery full of
pine trees around the guest house. A very refreshing sight before we start our
boring ride to Srinagar
We started
early from Sonamarg in the cold morning air. Saw the HAWS (High Altitude
Warfare School Srinagar Srinagar
Had amazing
lunch at veg Vaishnao Dhaba after checking in to the Arjumud hotel near Dal
Gate #1. Evening was spent walking to ATM and having amazing samosa and papdi
at a sweet shop, shoe polish to impress the air hostess in the flight to MumbaiJ, buying drinks and boiled eggs for
the party at room. I repent not buying super cheap, sweet and juicy apples to
take them home. They were selling at Rs 15 for 1 ½ Kg. Can you beat that price?
Next day
had a nice morning walk at back side shady but scenic area of Dal lake – which
of course we came to know later. Amazing breakfast at Vaishnao Dhaba of mix
paratha and Kashmiri Kahwa – sweet tea without milk but with badam peaces added.
Then it was mad rush and security checks at Srinagar
