Mission: Khardung La, Pangong lake, Tso Moriri & Nubra valley

The Crew: Satyaprakash, Vamshidhar, Vijay Dutt, Vivekanand, Satyakam, S.P.Tiwari

Mode of Transport: Two Wheelers: • Unicorn • LML Graptor • TVS Fiero • Yamaha RX 135

Day 1 and 2 (22nd and 23rd July, 2006) Delhi – Shimla: 370 kms.

We all met in Delhi near Ajmeri Gate at around 8:00PM. The members from Bangalore had arrived at around 12:30 pm. We had sent our bikes through a private transporter, & we got our bikes at 6:45PM after doing the entire circus. Not knowing Delhi, we got cheated by the rickshaw people. Thank God, at least the weather was not too hot. Finally we (Bangalore boys & Bhopal boys) all met around 8:00 PM. After a full busy day, we had our lunch cum snacks cum dinner in the railway station and started the journey by 8:30PM. Overall, it definitely wasn’t a “Shubh Aarambh”! So, we finally started to Shimla on our bikes at around 8:30 PM. After Ambala, it started to rain. All of us were soaked. Our clothes, shoes, money, mobile phones, everything was WET! WET! WET! From Kalka to Shimla the view was very scenic and beautiful. But as we ascended, we were engulfed by fog and the progress was very slow. At length, we reached Shimla by 1:00pm. We heard that there is a coffee house which serves south Indian snacks. So we decided to have the King of South Indian Snacks, “The Masala Dosa”! Alas, it was a grave mistake! Having tasted the best of dosas in Karnataka, we were sourly disappointed! Then it was back to our hotel, where we slept like logs.

Shimla – Recong Piu: 238 kms

We started from Shimla early in the morning. The drive was very scenic and refreshing for our urban eyes. The roads were well maintained till Rampur. But the stretch of about 100 + kms after Rampur had very bad roads. We halted in a hotel after reaching Recong Piu. We got up early in the morning next day to have a look at the magneficient Kinner Kailash. We had to wait for a long time, as the view was covered with thick fog. The wait was worth, as I came to know "Nothing in this world can surpass the beauty of Nature".

Recong Piu – Naco: 119 kms Having had a good ride from Shimla we had expected the rest of the journey to be rather smooth, no harm in expecting right? In Recong Piu we saw the magnificent Kinnar Kailash. Lightning struck us every time we saw the beauty of nature. From here on the RX started to break down as it could not cross more than 25kms/hr. Dynamites were being blasted on the way by Border road organization (BRO), may be to make roads. We had to halt until the blasting stopped & the road was cleared. We reached Naco by 5pm visited a monastery and had a great time with the kids there and even saw the Naco lake. The night was spent in a hotel in Naco.

Naco - Samdu : 33 Kms

The next day Vijay and I took the lead, but after traveling for 10kms we had to return as an avalanche had blocked the way. When we returned we saw that the RX had broken down completely. One of the tourists helped us in taking the bike to Chango on a sumo. As the road was blocked we waited for the BRO to clear it up. After a 2 ½ hours rest we resumed our journey. Vamshi rod along with the bike in the sumo. In Chango the jeep mechanic refused to work on the RX. There was another landslide nearby and all the trucks had stopped. The RX was loaded into one of the trucks that was going to Kaza. Vamshi and I stayed with the bike in the truck a nice place to dry our wet clothes. At around 5.50pm the landslide was cleared and the trucks started their engines. As soon as our bike crossed one more landslide occurred. Having barely moved a km we were stuck again. It had started raining by now, sleeping in the truck was out of the question so we slept in the sumo. The truck driver was kind enough to give us his spare blanket. With only dry fruits to eat, and no water, we slept after playing a few game of cards.

Samdu – Kaza: 79 Kms

The next morning the truck driver bought a pack of cream biscuits for us from the nearby village for breakfast. By that time even our friends came to see us. It was like meeting them after a long, long time… We resumed our journey as soon as the landslide was cleared. Just before Kaza, Tiwari had met with an accident. He had a compound fracture to his left hand with severe bruises on his right hand and knee. Vijay took Tiwari to a hospital in Kaza where he was treated. We even got the RX fixed.

Kaza to Battal (Via Chandratal): 114 Kms

The next day we planned to go to Keylong and on the way to see the Chandratal Lake (13kms off the main road). The road is nothing less than a rider’s nightmare. The lake is an awesome place. Cleansing of oneself is not allowed here, one can only drink the water there. On the way back RX refused to start once again. Stuck in a remote area help was completely out of question. Using our great brains we towed the RX by tying it to the Unicorn with ropes. On a road where even walking is difficult we rode the bike, a great experience for Vivek (on Unicorn) and Vamshi(on RX). We carried on like this as long as we could and somehow reached Battal. There we stayed in make-shift shelter. We borrowed a spanner from a foreigner & fixed the RX. The bike’s spark plug was changed, much to our delight the RX started!!! We were completely down with Tiwari’s injuries and the problem with the bike. But on hearing the RX’s engine roar we were filled with renewed enthusiasm.

Battal to Keylong: 99 Kms

We rode till Kokesar but unfortunately had to end our journey with RX. We parked it at one of the dhabas and carried with us only enough luggage for 6days dumping the rest at the dhaba. We then continued our journey to Keylong, refilling our tanks at Taandi.( the next petrol bunk is 365km away in Leh!!)

Keylong to Leh: 360 Kms

As we had lost time due to landslides & bike problem, we planned to reach Leh. On the way we crossed the 5th highest pass in the world, the Baralacha La pass, 16500ft above sea level. Then the 4th highest pass in the world, the Lachulungla pass, 16616 ft above sea level and also the 2nd highest pass in the world, the Taglang La pass, 17582 ft above sea level. We even had the opportunity of meeting the army personnel at their bases at Paang and Sarchu (border between Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir). Passing through a small town called Upshi we reached Leh around 11.00pm.

Leh to Khardungla(& back): 80 Kms

The next day we took a permit from the government to visit Kardung La, Pangong lake, Tso Moriri(lake) and Nubra valley(desert). At around 1pm we started to KhardungLa, world’s highest motorable road at 18380 ft, maintained by Project Himank and BRO. There I celebrated my birthday, the best of my life. At 18380 ft I was cutting a cake (bought at Leh) while it was snowing. Fortunately no bumps!!! We distributed the cake among the army regiment and had a full blown photo session. A feeling of patriotism prevailed over us. We also met 3 foreigners on 3 bikes at a tea shop there of which one was driven by a lady. The worlds a global village!!! Returned to Leh the same day and spent the night there sleeping peacefully to have completed our mission (well half of it at least).

Leh to Pangong: 156Kms

The next day we set forth for Pangong lake crossing Chang La, the worlds 3rd highest pass(17800 ft). tired of riding we enjoyed a game of cricket with the soldiers there. There was not much of vegetation but the scenery was heavenly. If bad roads weren’t the only thing we had to worry about we even had to keep an eye out for quick sand right on the road. The first view we had of the lake was amazing. The lake runs for 160kms with 1/4th in India and the rest in china. It is a peaceful lake nestled among small mountain peaks. We spent that night near the lake in tents, it rained heavily that night and by morning all the mountain peaks were laden with snow. The way back to Leh was troublesome because of the heavy rainfall the roads were flooded. As the bad weather continued we couldn’t get to see Tso Moriri and Nubra valley.

Leh to Pang: 174Kms

As we decided to return, we got stuck in Upshi as there was a huge landslide. Even after 2hrs the rubble hadn’t been cleared. We decided to go through the fields as it was easy to get in but because of the steep ascent getting out of it was a trouble. The villagers who were clearing the landslide were kind enough to help us. Around 7.30 in the evening we reached Paang and it had already begun to rain. There were no hotels in Paang only tents. It was raining so heavily that the tents had stated leaking and had to sleep under the tarpaulin to not get wet.

Pang to Darcha: 154kms

The next day traveling became even tougher with flooded roads. The water force on the road was very strong so we thought of crossing the river… not a good idea!!! A guy in Bullet was trying to cross the river, but his bad luck the Bullet couldn’t stand the current and got lifted and he was thrown aside. The landslide rescue helped to lift the bike and carried it to safety. Left with no other option we waited for help... after 2-3 hours around seven bikes came to the river front. We worked together forming a human chain across the river, to catch anyone who would fall of their bikes and making sure that no one gets carried away, we crossed the river one by one. The roads were in such a bad state because of the rain that we couldn’t identify it & literally search for it & waited for a truck to pass by and followed it. The whole way to Darcha we rode almost 10kms on water. It was like rafting with our bikes. By the end of it we had got used to it. It was raining throughout and we just rode on till we reached Darcha for the day.

Darcha to Manali: 145kms

We reached Kokesar and collected the RX and our luggage. From there we set forth for Manali passing through the Rohtang Pass (13050 ft). With a visibility of only 5m we missed all the sceneries as we moved through the dense fog. Despite the weather we managed to see a melting glacier, the falls looked like a lightning across the mountain, Very beautiful... After reaching Manali, we came to know that mant people were killed & bridges washed away in Ladakh. Manali to Bilaspur: 170kms We saw the Hidamba temple (for the movie buffs- it’s the same temple in the film Roja) & Manu temple in Manali.

Manali to Bilaspur: 170 Kms

The journey from Manali to Bilaspur was uneventful one. But have to admit great roads enjoyed riding on it. When we reached Bilaspur we got the news that the road connecting Manali and Leh was completely cut-off. That day’s paper read “Leh separated from the world”. Call it our fortune or misfortune but for the first time in 30 years it had rained in Ladakh like this!!

Bilaspur to Delhi: 400kms

The last day of our trip we headed for Nizamuddin and booked our tickets to Bangalore from Ambala. After traveling for 400km we were tired, the hot climate didn’t help us either. We were so exhausted & slept on the railway platform.

For more details contact: Vivekanand - Mob No (0)9425373441(Bhopal) Sathyaprakash - Mob No (0)9886020085(Bangalore)

Ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for - Albert Einstein