2013-09-18-Ladakh Ride-Kakasang La-Wari La-Dha Hanu

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#

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151925421671181&type=1&l=8da50338ae

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. It took quite a bit of convincing and dough to the police officer before he let us go and it took us quite some time to recover from the shock that our trip had almost ended before starting.

Next day it took quite an effort to take out both the bikes from the New Delhi station since the loader had loaded both the bikes in either end of the train. Finally at 11 AM we were all set after filling petrol. We met up with CP who was on his Ninja 650 to Ambala for servicing coming all the way from Barmer and had amazing lunch at a Dhaba. Riding on smooth roads all the way till Kiratpur we were able to cover almost 400 km the first day and ended the ride with open air night stay on a bed by a small road side Dhaba in free.
 

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 on this route. Reached Chumathang by 6 PM and it was chilling cold already, checked into a small hotel by the river side and relaxed in our room only going out for dinner.

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 inviting us to its bank via a dirt road.

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 – lots of photography and food (cheese sandwich) breaks to enjoy the mountain scenery, Kiangs crossing the road, the amazing Harong Wetlands and the horses grazing therein. Finally reached Tangtse and celebrated our ride so far with Beer after a short prayer to GOD FATHER BottleJ I feel we should have camped at the Harong wet lands.

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. Never the less we started the ride and had decided to stay at Sakti and attempt Wari La next. I stopped to photograph some cute school kids at Durbuk and Ameya went ahead. I not knowing that he had taken the wrong route towards the under construction Shyok valley road, raced ahead to catch up with him. Within no time the hair pin bends of Chang La started and as predicted snow fall also. Ameya was no where in sight so I told some taxi drivers as well as army post at Tsultak and Changla top to look out for a solo biker on black thunderbird. I also waited for him at Tsultak check post and Chang La top for more than an hour. It was snowing very heavily at Changla top so army folks told me to proceed down else risk getting stuck on top at 17000 feet. But luckily Ameya also came in next 15 minutes and we rode downhill together.

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 2^nd 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. Chatted with new friends Rahul (a pilot with Jet Airways) and Ankur (air force doctor) who were also staying at Otsal guest house.  Some shopping for family folks to reduce the guilt J, had some cool snacks and cookies and later Israeli dinner of Hamas.

Since we had 3 days to reach Srinagar we decided to try out the Dha Hanu route as well which is a diversion from Khaltse to Kargil. Smooth wide road from Leh to Khaltse. Then we took Dha Hanu road – small tarred road barren scenery interspersed with green and beautiful villages and Indus River always keeping a keen eye on us throughout. We camped before Bamia village. It was a nice campsite elevated from the road with a rock nearby where we could rest our backs and sit. So that was our kitchen + dining and star gazing place J Full course food menu – tea, noodles some rest and then again MTR and noodles for dinner clubbed with nice star gazing and hiding our torch lights from the vehicles to avoid unnecessary attention from villagers.

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 next day.

We started early from Sonamarg in the cold morning air. Saw the HAWS (High Altitude Warfare School) army person doing rock climbing, got an itch to join them for a while but then we were short of time. Overtaking army trucks and other vehicles we quickly reached 15 km before Srinagar. By luck we spotted Nitco Transport warehouse when we were asking for directions and decided to give our bikes right away rather than coming back after checking into a hotel. Nitco guy was asking more and Ameya’s bike again stalled so we were running out of options. After some calls we came to know that GATI office is also in same area and they were doing it in cheap with home delivery so we decided to go with them. Nice office at GATI with helpful guys and with water cooler and empty space to do our bike packing, luggage repacking etc. One guy also helped us with hotel in 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 airport before we boarded the flight and reached Mumbai at 7 PM. The ride ends for now but the memory remains. Not sure where the trails will lead to next year.