Place: Delhi - Leh Ladakh - Delhi
Mode: Royal Enfield Thunderbird Motorbike 350cc
Date(s) of Travel: September 4 - 20, 2014
My Experience:
For every motorbike rider in India its a dream to get Leh'd, which means riding a motorbike to Leh, Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir district. I was planning to do this trip for a long time and it didn't happen due to my work schedule or myself unable to bring together a group of friends. Finally after so many years I joined Mohnish (Piggy) and his friend Shreeyansh in the motorbike adventure. We did plan a little bit but it wasn't much to be honest.
We decided to do the trip from Delhi as we thought it would be a great warm up for riding before we hit the himalayan mountain range. Also, we decided to go via Manali as the Srinagar route was flooded due to heavy rains.
Piggy brought his own KTM 390 and Shreeyansh brought his Royal Enfield Classic 350 from Pune by train. I decided to rent one from Delhi and got the Thunderbird 350cc from StoneHeadBikes. My college friend Subrato and his family helped me to stay in Delhi at their house. His father was kind enough to come with me for renting the motorbike as I don't speak Hindi. I never drove a bullet before and to gain confidence I drove it around Delhi for last minute purchases. Damn, to be honest Delhi traffic is worse than one can imagine.
Next day around 5AM from Delhi, got ready for the exciting trip ahead and started towards NH1. Packing is not my thing and bike was bit wobbly due to that and adjusted them often. Piggy and his mate started from Gurgaon and joined me near Jahangirpuri on NH1. We started towards Manali and after an exhilarating ride for two hours we stopped after Panipat in a Dhaba for our breakfast. Driving in Haryana was a mad one as no one follows the lane discipline. We stopped our ride few minutes before Ambala as it started raining heavily and barely we could see anything. After an hour or so, we started our ride again but unfortunately Shreeyansh bike broke down on the way. But we managed to find the problem as the fuse worn out and fixed it by ourself. After a long day ride in the rain, we stopped for the day at Rupnagar and found a small hotel to sleep for the night.
Next day morning while we were preparing our bike, a Singh ji dropped by to enquire about our trip and wished us for our safety. I felt elated to be honest. Then we started heading towards mountain range having Manali as our target for the day. There were millions of trucks on the way till Bilaspur and it was a nightmare to overtake them in the hill roads. We stopped for few minutes after Bilaspur to have lunch and then realised I lost my spare tools kit on the way. Also, my bike carrier got damaged as I had a small crash from behind. I started getting worried as I don't wanna get stranded in the middle of nowhere if something goes wrong, but Piggy always cheers me up by saying we will find a solution. After few hours of riding, I could witness the full enormity of Himalayas all along the journey.
We crossed Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and stopped at Batahar and stayed at a homestay called Sachin Niwas. It was one of the beautiful village I have visited which is surrounded by mountains, rivers and apple trees. We stayed there for two nights as we decided to get our body to get acclimatise to the mountains.
Next day we went to Manali to get our bike serviced before we leave for the hard terrain journey. We did some local shopping on the rest day and I visited the local Hidimba temple.
As there will be no more petrol stations after Tandi, we packed extra petrol and we were all set for the epic journey. My bike got really heavier as I was carrying petrol for my friends as well. Before we start the ride, I met some interesting sadhus and had conversations in Hindi which I don't understand well and it was fun.
The ride started getting trickier and it required all the concentration in the world when we started climbing towards Rohtang Pass. We stopped for few pictures here and there and started witnessing lot of fellow bikers who were doing the same trip as ours. Since it rained overnight, the roads after Rohtang pass was very muddy, huge traffic and it became tough to manoeuvre the bike and I fell down few times due to the bike weight. Finally after such a long time we managed to reach Koksar which is on the other side of the Rohtang pass. Piggy and Shreeyansh decided to offload some petrol containers from my bike as they realised I am not controlling my bike well in the downhill.
When we reached Tandi around 6PM, my front disc brakes completely worn out and luckily we found a bullet repair shop and they helped us fixing it. We had few conversations with fellow bikers near the tea shop and one guy told us his petrol tank started leaking and his bike is giving all sort of troubles. One thing I realised is bike rental doesn't work for everyone unless you are damn lucky. We stayed in Keylong which is a village after Tandi. We stayed in a hotel for the night and decided to cover lot of ground next day.
Next day, we started around 6AM and it was bit cold to get my bike started. The drive from Keylong to Jispa and Darcha was extremely beautiful. Wild horses, rivers, waterfalls and the mountains and Indian army camps along the way makes the journey even more wonderful.
Around 12PM, we reached Baralacha pass and I was able to start feeling the shortness of breath due to less oxygen in air. We were able to witness lot of snow on the mountains but still the roads leading to Baralacha was good and I would like to thank Indian BRO for that. Then we stopped at Baratpur to have some maggi and tea. The makeshift shops in baratpur were being dismantled as they mentioned the summer season is almost over. The roads from Baratpur to Sarchu, then Nakeela Pass, then Lachalang La were really testing the skills of everyone driving. Just before Lachalang la we had some tea and Piggy said he was feeling very dizzy and having an aching head. I was bit worried for him because Acute mountain sickness can be dangerous. We had a small inhalable oxygen container for momentary relief, but it made no difference.
Piggy decided to go ahead first and wait in a low altitude village, as he can push his bike more faster. Me and Shreeyansh started towards Pang and after few minutes, I missed him as well as he went ahead faster. Once I reached Pang it was almost 5PM and couldn't find both of them. I searched for them in few shops and then decided to take a small break as my whole body started aching badly.
After having some tea, I decided to head to Tanglang La which is the second highest motorable place in the world. Before I left Pang, the lady in the shop told me to stay overnight as it was getting late. The lady mentioned she was an exile from Tibet and there are lot of them. And, they only work during summer to serve tourists and make some money. Once the summer is over they either head to Manali, Delhi or Leh for their homes as the roads between Manali and Leh is closed during winter due to severe snow and bad weather. Lot to learn from them in this greedy world.
I started pushing my bike towards Tanglang La and it started getting dark. But to my surprise the More plains for a stretch of 40Kms at that height was a blissful experience to drive. After driving in darkness for almost 2.5hrs I still couldn't find my friends. The roads were getting tougher and tougher to drive, but I was determined to cross the Tanglang la pass. I still remember the moment when I reached the pass and no single human being was there. It was a heavy silence surrounded by mountains, a half lit moon and myself. I enjoyed that moment before getting down to the other side. My bike front wheel ball bearings were damaged I believe, as it stared to cause more wobbling. So I decided to drive very slowly. This made it very tough to control my bike in the winding roads. But after another hour of slow and careful drive, I met Piggy came looking after me. Then we decided to stay in Rumptse for the night which is 4hrs before Leh.
Next day, we started from Rumptse to Upshi, then Karu and then Leh. We had a good meal in Upshi and the price was way less and people were happy with what they earn. That hit me really hard. On the way to Leh there are lot of Indian army camps and it was great to see the soldiers at that daring height and weather, working to safeguard India.
In the afternoon, we reached Leh. The prepaid Sim doesn't work in Jammu and Kashmir and it took some time to sort out accomodation. Finally, we found a nice homestay in the main street with a short walk to food joints and shopping places.
We stayed for few nights in Leh and we did day trips to Sangam Valley, Khardung La which is the highest motorable road the world. We tried to go to Pangong Lake, but unfortunately it was snowing heavily. Also, we went to Shey Palace and Hemis monastery which is a very charming place in between hills.
I really wanna salute the people who are working as part of BRO to maintain the roads. It is even hard to walk for few minutes in those conditions but these people with less protection working all day. Hope they are paid and taken care well by the authorities. One another thing to note about Leh is, you won't find pubs or bars. Rather you have to buy it from alcohol shop and take home.
When we were in Leh, there were candlelight vigil for the ones who died in floods. Rest in peace. Hopefully we learn from our lessons. But it was nice to see people coming together for everyone. Also, did a few bit of shopping for family and friends. I will recommend you to visit Tibet refugee market as it was nice.
Finally, it was time to get back to Delhi and we fixed our bikes and got ready for the return journey. We took the same route to Delhi via Manali. We took few breaks and our bikes withstood the journey back except few faults.
After few days we reached Delhi. It was a wonderful experience. I would like to thank Piggy and Shreeyansh for their support during the trip.
Few things which I regret is that, lot of commercialisation is spoiling the beauty of himalayas and also the waste thrown by people during the trip makes the place worse. Hopefully, himalayas never loses its charm in the coming years. I wish everyone make this trip as part of their life because it is worth it. East or West, India is the best.
Thought of Day: Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world - Gustave Flaubert
