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If getting there is half the fun, then you haven't ridden to Ladakh. It's
the holy grail of all motorcycle rides. I kick started my bike at three in the morning and after goodbye hugs left my family half asleep in the midst of darkness. First stop was only 10 kms away where I was going to meet fellow riders. A total of 6 were going to do this Phenomenal ride. The ride finally commenced at 4 am and we were on our way. I soon fell back owing to a smaller bore bike and overload. The group eventually got divided into 5 and 1 as I was slow and riding alone. Just the way I like it. Ride from Delhi to Roopnagar was boring and eventless but not for long. For me the adventure ride had begun firstly with the Engine oil leak which was easily fixed. Soon after the chain came off the rear sprocket. This was bad, I told myself. It was Day 1 and I was already facing mech problems. I got down irritated & dirty and fixed the chain myself. Only to end up pushing the bike uphill some time later. A village mechanic tried his luck and among his old collection of chains found a suitable fix for my bike. I had been riding for 12 hrs and merely covered 300 kms. The night was upon me and I had good way to make. The Engine started to splutter out and the tappets were lose. But even with this I was able to make it to Manali late in the night and could manage a few hours sleep.
Day 2: 24th September, 8 AM, Manali to Sarchu, 222 Kms It was time to get ready so got ready and rolled out of the Hotel to meet the odds on the road to Sarchu. The Roads become from bad to nonexistent. The 16 hour ride was spent at an average altitude of 10000 ft. I crossed two major mountain passes today, Rohtang-La and Baralacha-La. Final destination was at 13k and the altitude sickness was going to be a concern. We stayed in Tents in Sarchu and AMS struck.
Day 3: 25th September, 9 AM, Sarchu to Leh, 240 Kms Today's ride was going to be more tiresome because my bike had started facing compression issues. That meant the bike wouldn't pull at all managing only about 20 kmph max speed. I kept my mind away from thinking about that and kept riding. Crossing over 4 big passes including the second highest pass in this world, Tanglang-La at 17580 feet. I reached Leh in about 12 hrs and stayed at a nice hotel with much needed running hot water.
Day 4: 26th September, 10 AM, Leh to Khardung-La and Back, 80 Kms It was the day I had been waiting for ever since I set my eyes on "The Goal" some years ago. Khardung-La is The Highest Motorable road in the world situated at 18380 Ft. Khardung La is situated 37 km by road from Leh. The first 24 km, as far as the South Pullu check point, are paved. From there to the North Pullu check point about 15 km beyond the pass the roadway is primarily loose rock, dirt, and occasional rivulets of snow melt. However, this pass is in better repair than many of the surrounding passes (Tanglang La, for example). From North Pullu into the Nubra Valley, the road is very well maintained (except in a very few places where washouts or falling rock occur). We had shed the luggage today to ride up the pass but I couldn't spare giving lift to a local walking up the road. He asked, I couldn't refuse hence my 9 bhp bike pulled both of us to a staggering altitude of 17000+ feet. After he got off, I snaked though the army convoy to reach the top of the world. Or as high my motorcycle could take me.
Day 5: 27th September, 10 AM, Leh to Spangmik (Pangong Tso), 170 Kms We slept late and got rolling a bit
later than intended. I have been carrying books to give to school kids.
Its is a little charity program in which I collected books and other education
material from my friends and fellow riders and gave it to not so well funded
school in Ladakh. To get more information on the same please read:
http://freebirds.50webs.com/bikersforbooks.html
Day 6: 28th September, 10 AM, Spangmik to Leh, 170 Kms My day started with ever more bike problems. Now the bike was not gaining speed even downhill. Something was seriously wrong. Another fellow rider; Vivek helped me a lot and after pushing towing and peddling, I was able to climb Chang-La It took us almost 16 hrs to cover this distance and by the time I reached Leh, I was tired and was uncertain of what lies ahead. After coming back to the hotel, I decided to stay back in Leh next day to get my bike fixed.
Day 7: 29th September, 7 AM, Leh, 0 Kms I got up early to help others get ready and bid them final goodbye because they had to start their ride back and I had to stay in Leh to get the bike fixed. After lounging around for a couple hours I pushed my bike into a garage. The Mechanic tried and tested his luck with it for 3 hrs but to no avail. The bike has had it's last breath. Poor thing died. I pushed it into a transporters office and paid for its truck-cartridge from Leh to Delhi. I had had worse but this was truly devastating. I was Bikeless in Leh. Hey but wait; I was on the adventure trip so tried to gain on few plus points the situation has to offer. I walked around the Leh City and took pictures while eating from half a dozen German bakeries in that bazaar. (Ummm)
Day 8-9: 30th and 31st September, 1 AM, Leh to New Delhi , 1050 Kms I had to figured out a way to get back to Delhi so I walked into an airline ticketing agent's office only to know there aren't any available for next 3 days. Bummer. The only was to get back was to take a bus ride. So without wasting a second I booked myself a seat in a small 12 seater tempo traveler. After enduring a 18 hr ride from Leh to Manali in that vehicle I got off and straightaway sat in the bus which brought me to Delhi.
The entire experience on this trip cannot be explained in words. What you have read is only the tip of the iceberg. I cannot and will not put down everything that happened on this trip in words ever, but I know deep inside that this was the toughest and the more adventurous trip of my life.........yet.
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