Tour De Ladakh Aug'08

Team:
Mr. Purvesh Dharamshi
Mr. Saurabh Oka
Mr. Shailesh Dongre
Mr. Deepak Rokade
Mr. Jayaram K
Mr. Vishal Sumant
Mr. Amit Rajas
Mr. Nikhil Pawar
Mr. Abhijeet Yadwadkar

04/07/08 Day 1:
Saurabh and team sent 4 bikes by Jhelum express for Ambala.
Me and Jayaram met late night at my aunt’s place in Ghatkopar to catch next morning Go-Air flight to Delhi.

05/07/08 Day 2:
Me and Jayaram caught flight to Delhi and further we had reservation done to Ambala Cantt Junction in SarayuYamuna Express. Unfortunately train was late by 3-4 hrs, hence we got a chance to visit Red Fort. Red Fort is Delhi is really a magnificent structure empowering the Moghul Empire pride. Visit to Delhi is incomplete, If you have not visited this monument and till date we both had never been to Red Fort. It was enthralling to see the independence ground with lush green cover. What we did not like is shopping inside the monument it disturbs the sanctity of the place.
The Museum inside the fort is worth visit. We can see lot of old weapons used in wars on display like swords, daggers, shields, spear heads etc. Even visit to independence museum is worth. Lot of statues of freedom fighters and some historic significant events have been recreated. There are many a beautiful paintings telling different stories of our Independence struggle.
At about 3.00 P.M. we got train to Ambala Cantonment Junction. In mean time Saurabh and team in Pune loaded other 3 bikes on Jhelum express and also got into same train. Meanwhile we reached Amabla by 7.30 P.M. Jayaram waited on station and I went out to look for hotel. I visited 4 hotels and finally freezed on Hotel Savoy near station. Then me and Jayaram got freshened and went for dinner at Deluxe Dhaba. Then we had some sleep and 1.00 P.M. we were at Ambala Station to collect first lot of bikes which was sent a day before. Luckily train was on time and with our help and Railways man, we were able to get 4 bikes down to Ambala. Saurabh’s bike had major damage. Front fiber over head light broken and foot guard broken too. Rest all bikes were fine. We were told to collect the bikes morning 10.00 A.M. from parcel office.

06/07/08 Day 3
It was a hard day for me and Jayaram. At night we had got 4 bikes down on Amabala Junction platform no 6 and we were told to collect the same from parcel office n morning. But Bikes were not in parcel office and then we went to place to platform no 6 again to look for them. But to our surprise they were not there too. We came back to parcel office and told them the status. To our surprise they asked us questions like r u sure you got them down yesterday night etc. Then they asked us to search all platforms for bikes, Which we did and finally located them at different locations. Again we went back to parcel office and asked them to get them there. But as It was Sunday most of people were on leave. They asked us to locate their guys on platform no 3 and ask them to bring bikes to parcel office. But to find them it was impossible as we did not knew them. So we decided to bring bikes ourselves to parcel office from platform no 6. In meanwhile one of the railway guys put one of our bikes on platform storehouse and locked it. We decided to take atleast other 3 bikes now and find solution for 4th one. But as we were moving bikes we were stopped by one Ashok babu asking how you can move bikes? Then we told him whole story and we were dead tired climbing bridges again and again. Then he asked us tell anyone who stops us that Ashok babu has told to get the bikes to parcel office and asked his guy to release 4th bike. This stupid guy asked for money to release our bike from storehouse though his job is to actually get bike to parcel office, which we were doing. But he said then you may get it tomorrow or later etc. So we bend under and gave him Rs.40 for the work. It was frustrating. Then finally 3 hours of hard work we were able to locate and get our bikes across to parcel office. Me and Jayaram were sweating like pigs. Even parcel office guy had sympathy on us and offered us some water and completed formalities to release our bikes. We emptied some petrol in all four bikes which we had brought with us and carried 2 bikes to Hotel. We again came back on one bike and carried another one back and similarly 4th one too.
Jayaram had plan to go to meet his brother in army who was 1 hour drive away, But he had to cancel as now we had to repair Saurabh’s Apache. Being Sunday TVS showroom in Ambala was closed. Someone told us about 2 stores in Ambala where you get bike parts and we went there. The were two shops next to each other on named” Sardar Auto spares” and other one “ New Sardar Auto spares”. We found fiber for tVS bike but Foot rest plate was not to be found. But the mechanic of “New Sardar Shop” was intelligent and good. He decided to help us. We got a clamp from footrest of Rajdoot and removed plate from Apache and got it drilled. Then we nut bolted the clamp to plate and fixed the footrest. This took lot of time and by time we were back it was evening. We then fixed cage to Jayaram’s bike which had arrived. We were tired and weak with no lunch and we just rested. Evening we went to Deluxe Dhaba had dinner and enquired about Jhelum Express, in which our remaining troupe was coming. It was supposed to be 1 and half our late. We informed Saurabh to call us once Kurukshetra passes and dozed off.


07/07/08 Day 4
2.30 A.M. in morning me and Jayaram went to receive our friends at Ambala and remaining Bikes. Saurabh had intimated us after Kurukshetra of their arrival. Airtel and Idea was excellent in Haryana – Thanks to them else coordinating would have been difficult. Saurabh and Deepak came back to get bikes down along with us. This time luggage compartment was heavily loaded and some stupid guy from Ahmednagar had put his bike right in front and that to with helmet tied. We got the bike down and somehow removed our three bikes and put his bike back. We again paid Railway person Rs.50 to remove the bikes though it would have not been possible without us. Now was main task to get bikes out from parcel office at night, though officially they release only in morning. If we could not have removed them then we would have lost time of biking in morning. And we had to cover 350 KM to reach Manali as per plan on 7th Jul. So we bribed the night officer for Rs.600 and took our bikes. Thankfully all bikes were without damage. Then we came to hotel and I started fixing cage to my bike. Some of them chitchatted and some took rest. In morning we got fresh and tied bags to bikes and went to Petrol Pump. Filled fuel and checked air pressure in tyres and started our Journey towards Manali by 8.00 A.M. We have take road towards Chandigarh and then just before Toll naka on highway is right turn to Ropar. We had to take that. Road was good and journey was fine. We passed outskirts of Mohali saw some upcoming constructions of Emaar MGF. We had aloo paratha on the way and some bike repairs were to be done. Like Nikhil’s bike oil was spilling and Jayaram;s bike Speedometer cable had snapped. Good thing was in Himalayas light remained till 8.00 P.M. So we could bike late. The beas and Green irrigation water tunnels and far off snow clad peaks made journey comfortable. But slowly we were wearing out. We got late and were tired, with no proper sleep last few days. We could manage to reach Kullu via Bilaspur (Where Chicks were really awesome). We stayed in Himachal Pradesh Government Hotel in 2 family rooms. Had dinner at Food planet and dozed off.

08/07/08 Day 5
The morning was good and we decided to start early i.e 9.00 A.M. We had breakfast of Butter Toast in Hotel and had some snaps at Hotel and began biking toward Keylong. Today we had to cross our first pass the Rohtang Pass after Manali. Just when we started from Kullu, My cage brushed with Saurabh’s bike and they had a fall. But no damage done and we began our journey again. Though road was good, Bike going above 30kmph was difficult due to climb. We went to Hidamb temple in Manali where our eyeballs popped out of our sockets seeing the chicks. After some photography there we had some snaps holding wild rabbits. Then we began our journey towards Rohtang. We reached almost near Rohtang but due to double lane work being carried out by BRO we had to stop for half an hour. Here we saw some paragliders. After that again road opened and we set out in direction of our next destination Keylong. Rohtang pass was beautiful with snow clad peaks surrounding us. But road was bad, infact no road was there only stones and mud was the road. We descended Rohtang fast. It was a great experience, crossing waterfalls, bad roads, wooden bridges, twists and turns of never ending ghats and landscape. We reached Tandi by 7.00 P.M. We had our tanks full and carried some petrol in bottles as this is last petrol pump in this region. After this petrol pump is directly in Leh approx 365 KM away. From Tandi you have a diversion. One road goes to Udaipur and other to Keylong. Amit and Nikhil were fast riders went ahead and missed road sign and took diversion to Udaipur. Rest all went to Keylong direction and Jayaram went ot look after Amit and Nikhil. It was already dark. Jayaram could not catch up with Amit and Nikhil, He came back after leaving a message with one Indica going in that direction. Abhijeet knew that ChandraBhaga is a good hotel in keylong. So we straight went there. But unluckily it was full and costly. Shailesh and Deepak went to look out for another Hotel and we stayed in parking lot of Chandra Bhaga. Meanwhile we could get in tough on phone with Amit and Nikhil and we called them to Chandra Bhaga only. Shailesh and Deepak went and booked a nice warm hotel and then we had dinner there. We were dead tired and we dozed off soon as we had to wake up early next day and reach Pang in J & K crossing Sarchu.

09/07/08 Day 6
This was a day of heaviest motor biking. We had to cross 3 passes and lot of bad roads due to project Himank road widening going on. We started early from Keylong and immediately there was goof up. Jayaram, Abhijeet, Vishal went ahead through diversion towards up and we asked some car and went straight. I then called up Abhijeet and got it coordinated and they came back and joined us. Keylong the road was bad with mud. We crossed Darcha, Jespa etc and took to road of Baralacha La. On route we took a halt near Deepak Tal and had some Tea, Maggi and Omlette. Then we started again towards Baralacha La pass. After crossing some dangerous stony and mud patches on Road, We finally got, a brand new road built by BRO to Baralacha La and then passing some ice covered slopes along the road. Landscape at Baralacha La was too scenic. After you cross the pass on RHS you can see Suraj Tal. Continue the Road and now you have to climb the famous 21 Gata Loops. Just need to be careful here it is 21 hair pin bends to top of Nakeela Pass. We faced some rain or rather hailstorm here. At some bends there is just mud so utmost care needs to be taken. Initially I had plan of counting all loops but soon after 5-6 bends, I lost interest and was more concentrating on scenery and biking and hence lost the count. After crossing Gata Loops we had to face light showers on road and hailstorm too. Atmoshphere became too chilled because of this. Somehow we managed to cross Nakeela Pass and started descending. There were few tents in Valley between Nakeela Pass and Lachulung La Pass. We rested in the tents and everyone was feeling tired. We had nice cup of Tea and then suddenly there was a strong hailstorm again. So we stayed in the tent for some time to weather to get clear and then proceeded towards Lachungla. Shailesh did not take this halt and he continued biking towards Pang meanwhile and I feel this was hazardous. We started from tents and proceeded towards Lachulung La Pass. At the pass we halted for few minutes for photography, But suddenly cold wind started blowing and we started descending Lachungla towards Pang. Shailesh had gone ahead and actually dozed off in the tent of Police Check Post of Pang. He was not feeling well. Pang had beautiful Landscape. It is like artificially created castles of sands on mountains you can see everywhere. Just before Pang you come across a place where road suddenly ends and you see a wide waterfall to cross. This place is known as “Kangla Jal”
After crossing Kangla Jal the beautiful and totally different landscape of Himalayas continue. I continued towards Pang taking snaps where as others rushed towards Pang. Suddenly Nikhil came to me and said that his both brakes have failed and I should drive slowly with him. We both continued slowly and then saurabh also joined in and we reached Pang. We parked bikes outside a tent and rented it out for night for just Rs.50 per head. Jayaram, Abhijit and Shailesh were not feeling well at all. Others had a little head ache or vomiting sensation. All were symptoms of Altitude Sickness. I was completely fine. Thank god for the same. Abhijit and Nikhil visited doctor in Army transit camp where the doctor gave some medicines and oxygen to the people. Army was really were helpful and doctor was too helpful. I gave some medicines to Shailesh and Jayarm and he dozed off. Doctor told us they we were majorly dehydrated and we should drink only hot water. So we asked our tent owner to give Hot water and I gave everyone to drink Electral water. Amit, Nikhil and Vishal went with army cadets and had some brandy and befriended them. They requested their mechanic to help us in fixing Nikhil’s brakes and Abhijit’s bike which had developed play. He told us he will finish it in morning. Everyone just dozed off like logs of wood. I and Abhijit shared some rice and then I had some pain killer and dozed off. After this Deepak requested for some rice and he too slept. By this time it was already 12.00 in midnight.


10/07/08 Day 7:
Morning was warm with clear weather. Sun smiled on us, but I suppose luck did not. Mechanic had to weld the axle of Abhijit’s bike and he readied Nikhil’s bike too. He gave us bikes by 10.30 a.m. We started tying out bags back and thats when Deepak realized that the key of Amit’s Unicorn is not to be found and Amit was not carrying a duplicate key too. Only good part was handle was not locked. We searched for key everywhere but to no avail. Finally we again looked for mechanic who helped us. He shorted two wires of bike and bike started. But we lost valuable time in this. At 2.30 P.M. We started from Pang towards Leh and we had to cross that day Taglang La – Second Highest Motorable Road of the world. From Pang the road is little easy as there are plaind known as “Moorey Plains” of 40 KM to cross. Local people call it as “Chuha Ground”. Once you cross Moorey Plains you have to ascend Taglangla. We reached Taglang La Pass and did some photography and started descending towards Rumtse Village. Road on this patch and till Rumtse was not good as it was always mud, stones and no tar. At Rumtse we had tea and Biscuits and We started towards Leh. The road from Rumtse was excellent till Leh. You won’t believe we were overjoyed with road condition and Bikes which were used to running on speeds of 20-30 kmph were suddenly speeding at 70-90 kmph. We wanted to stop and take snaps sometimes but we didn’t because thought to decreasing speed was more irritating and we were enjoying the ride. We reached Upshi on banks of river Indus and then non-stop speeded to Leh. We reached Leh by 8.15 P.M. just after darkness set in. Then Amit met up with a hotel agent and he went around looking for Hotel. Saurabh and Deepak went on old Leh road as told by Amit to look for Hotels. All of them came back to place where other were waiting after searching for Hotels and we decided to go ahead with Hotel chosen by Deepak and Saurabh. We got 2 family rooms for Rs.3500 per day in Shanti Palace, Old Leh Road, Leh. Hotel was cosy and we all had dinner there. Dinner was not at all upto the mark, but we consumed it and dozed off as next day was our aim of trip to be achieved or dream which I have been weaving for more than last couple of years was going to come true.

11/07/08 Day 8:
The day of achieving our dream….We were really fresh suddenly with good sleep and excitement of biking to Highest Motorable Road of the world. We started at 10.00 A.M. towards Khardungla Pass. Deepak rented a Pulsar from Leh for this day. We picked up some sandwiches to have it on the way. We lost the way and went to dead end of a road where there was Monastery. We had sandwiches here. After this we started towards Khardungla Pass which is a gateway to Nubra valley. First 20 KM road is good but after that road is really bad but still we had now become used to bad roads. We reached Khardungla Pass and did lot of photography. Luckily for us weather was clear and bought ourselves souvenirs, had group photos, congratulated each other and then we saw clouds gathering overhead. It was time to move on. We quickly started descending and some of us started early and were lucky to miss the hailstorm and others got wet. We reached back to our hotel and rested. We went out for dinner and explored Leh market. We asked hotel manager to arrange for car to visit Pangong Tso Lake.

12/07/08 Day 9:
We started in a Qualis towards Pangong Tso lake. The road passes through third highest motorable pass the Chang La pass. Just one night before there was a heavy snowfall on this road. We started our journey after having breakfast at a local joint. The road was too scenic and we could see mountains covered with fresh snow. We were just taking snaps of these snow clad mountains. Our driver told us to hold on as we are going to travel through this snow. You won’t believe…we were driving through snow soon. We could see snow everywhere on road, on sides and even in air as fresh snow was falling down. It was just too scenic. In midst of this whiteness of snow we saw a green lake and sight was amazing. We could reach only till Changla La pass as road ahead was blocked by snow and we had to retreat from here. But before this we halted on road, put on the music and played with snow. We made snow balls and threw at each other and danced on music. Songs from Jab we met were played. We really had a blast and experience of snow fall was excellent. We were little sad as we could not make it to Pangong Tso lake. Better luck next time. Now we had whole day ahead. So we decided to do local sightseeing of Leh.
The driver took us to Hemis Monastery where some annual festival was on and was thronged by foreigners and locals. There we came across some toddlers carrying cobra and python. Many of us carried them on their shoulders and hands and took snaps and we moved towards Monastery. It was too crowded and there was some ritual going on in the central hall of Monastery. Few people wearing colorful clothes and masks were making rhythmic movements around the wooden poles covered with different colored flags. Somehow we did not like it much and we moved on to see Shey palace. Shey palace is a beautiful monument housing a 3 storey high Buddha Statue. Also painting on wall is beautiful. It has a victory stupa which has a gold crown on top. Shey was abode of King of Leh. After this we had lunch and then we moved to see army Museum and Zoravarsingh’s fort. Army Museum is worth a visit. Every Indian will feel proud on our army and nation after this visit and also little sentimental for hardships our soldiers face. The museum covers sections on Siachen, Op Vijay etc. After this we returned to hotel and went out for stroll in evening in Leh market. Next day we had a rafting to do on Zanskar river.

13/07/08 Day 10:
We were quite excited as we were going to raft. For many of us it was first time to raft and for me it was like first time rafting in a Himalayan river. We were supposed to raft from Chilling to Nemo – 36 KM, But our Hotel person booked us on Phey-Nemo route a 12 KM route like a lazy river. We refused to raft on this raft and finally the rafting company arranged for us a special batch for Chilling-Nemo route. After all this mess we started by noon to raft. We were made to wear diving suit over and above our clothes, then splash jacket and then a float jacket. We started rafting on this 36 KM stretch which has class 3 rapids. Rafting was a thrilling experience and our guide was really good. Also jeep was following us on road which was parallel to river on top of mountain. The jeep driver was really encouraging us a lot and shouting at top of his voice to motivate us. We were in fact worried that he was looking at us continuously and driving, may take plunge in river. While rafting a deer family came near river. There were 2 deers and 3 kids and one was naughty one out of them. When we were supposed to end the raft, we told our guide that we wish jump in water. He told us that water is too cold but we did not budge. We jumped and believe me water was ice cold. Immediately within 5 mins we were back inside raft shivering. The lunch arranged was excellent and we got hot lemon tea after rafting. Jayaram, Deepak, Saurabh and Abhijeet missed rafting. The guide was really impressed with our rafting and he invited us for rafting tour from Zanskar mouth to Lower Indus. We promised him to come back for the same next year….
After this we did some shopping in Leh market, had dinner and had fun playing kitty. After this we dozed off. Next day we had to do biking to Srinagar.

14/07/08 Day 11:
Next day morning we were to start early. But there were 3 problems. My bike was not starting, Amit had to open his petrol tank lock to fill petrol without key and Abhijit had to remove the play in the rear tyre. Actually water had enter my petrol tank (How is still mystery? Even after covering the tank so much..)I removed and my bike roared. Amit drilled petrol lock and filled petrol and again covered lid with tape. Abhijit also got his bike done. We started late from Leh. We passed magnetic hill which we felt that we r fooled as there was a aslope and hence vehicle used to move downhill and this doesn’t prove magnetic effect. Then we had had to climb lot of ghats and by lunch time we reached Lamayuru-most significant monastery in Ladakh. We had lunch in Lamayuru and continued biking following the naughty and ferocious Indus river. We passed through Chamba, where a huge Buddha statue is carved on a hillock. Then came a better road to kargil with rushing gushing river on one side. We reached Kargil late and then Amit and Jayaram had already booked Hotel Siachen for us. Hotel was good on comfort and food was okay. We all had planned to play cards but everyone was damn tired after dinner and we slept. Sau was watching ‘Tashan’ on television for some time.

15/07/08 Day 12:
Then came most frustrating road of journey-Zojila Pass. We crossed Zojila pass slowly. In the pass we were asked to take halt on side as a long Military convoy passed carrying Bofors guns. After this we speeded to Sonmarg as road was good. We had breakfast in Sonmarg and we moved towards to Srinagar. We reached Srinagar in evening and met Altaf, He was my brother-in law’s friend. He had arranged for us to stay in house boat. We stayed on houseboat and dozed off after dinner.

16/07/08 Day 13:
Next day we went to put our bikes in transport with Amritsar Transport Company and then decided to do some shopping. We got ourselves saffron, walnuts etc and then we had round in Shikara. This was really exciting. We passed though Lotus garden, an eagle seated on log of wood and floating on lake and house boat where Mission Kashmir shooting took place. We were grateful to Altaf had sent two people to take care of us viz Muneer and Salim. Both of them really helped us a lot. They took us to dinner to one of the most famous restaurant of Srinagar – Moghul Darbar.

17/07/08 Day 14:
We started early morning 5.00 A.M. from Srinagar towards Jammu. We had a hour halt at Jawahar tunnel as it is opened only from 8.30 P.M.. to 4.00 P.M. We halted at hotel as Shailesh, Abhijeet were feeling to puke. We had jaljeera and nimbu sharbat. At the background of hotel was some Dam, mostly Salal Dam. After this we moved ahead on top of Patnitop and from there towards Jammu. Abhijeet nroke his dam and started puking on the way. We reached Jammu by noon. We booked 9 beds in waiting room of Jammu station. Saurabh, Shailesh, Jayaram and me went for lunch. We roamed around Jammu to Vishal Megamart etc. Then next batch of remaining group went to have some pizzas. Then we rested in the waiting room and some even dozed off. There was one old man in the waiting room, who used to frequently change clothes. from safari to shirt and trouser to others. Finally we caught our train to Pune i.e Jhelum express.

18/08/08 Day 15:
We crossed Jhansi and Gwalior. Some havelis seen at distance from Train were magnificent and the statue of Dhyanchand is too impressive. We played lot of cards on route and were really having ball. Saglyanni svatahche kisse hi sangitle.

19/08/08 Day 16:
As we entered Maharashtra, Hadbichi shendi was seen from train and we were so happy. We too some snaps. Vadapav was available at stations and our cutting chai too. The view of Sahayadri really made us feel like we are back at home. It was great feeling to be home after such a successful adventure and passing through those monstorous mountains of Himalaya. Himalaya is a range which throws challenge to you and proves that he is always very big, great and challenging where as Sahayadri is firm but caring range. But still both of them keep us calling again and again.
We reached Pune station and then I had few hours to pass to catch Indrayani to Mumbai. Thanks to Shailesh who gave me a good company at Pune station in Comesum. We bid a good bye and then we left to join back to our routines.

Tips for the Adventure:
1] Always carry duplicate keys and Xerox of papers of your vehicle.
2] Drink hot water
3] Take enough rest
4] Avoid driving in night
5] If you get symptoms of Altitude sickness or mountain sickness then take rest
6] Don’t get separated from your group. Ride together.
7] Carry lot of Glucon D and especially electoral water.
8] Carry proper First Aid
9] Carry proper rainy and winter wear
10] Take good quality glares
11] Take a good camera with lot of memory and battery charger with fast charge option.