Trip to Leh(Ladakh)-Kargil-Srinagar-Jammu

Juley!!

Having planned for atleast 4 months earlier, we started preparing for our trip. We bought a portable air pump, necessary tools, bungie cords, etc. I had my sister's engagement a day before we had to depart for our trip. After attending the function, i headed towards my hostel. Then the next day i.e. 3rd july, 2009, we got our bikes readied, got em serviced, etc. Then i bought a new battery for my bike, as the older one had been discharged to last. Then we didnt have much time to get that battery recharged. So i had to buy a new battery. Then till 12 midnight of 3rd july, we packed our bags and everything essential. Then had a nap till 3am. 

4th july, 2009At 3:30A.M. We left our hostel after getting fresh and having prasad. We moved towards ropar, which is the route towards leh. We reached ropar(70km) at around 5:00am. Had tea there. And moved on towards manali. After ropar, around 15km away, we were near the hills. I was enjoying the every bit of moment. We reached bilaspur(140km) at around 7:30am and had some tea and had rest. We had our breakfast at around 9:00am(180km). Then we reached mandi(210km) at 10:22am. Wow! What a beautiful place was that, a river flowing by the roadside and the sound of the water making me feel fresh. I didnt feel any tiredness having driven so far. We reached kullu(280km) at 12:00pm after covering a long tunnel. Had some rest there, and left for manali. We reached manali(323km) at 1:15pm, had our lunch at some restaurant at the mall road and then left for rohtang. It was just an awesome ride from manali to rohtang(380km), where we reached around 4:47pm. Had some rest and then finally reached Koksar(415km) at 6:30pm. I was shivering with cold as i had been drenched in rain. We Had a stay at PWD guest house. Where we had our beds only for rs15 per bed. We had our dinner around 8:30pm. There we met four guys(Pushkar Ingale, Pradeep Deulkar, Parveen Bawankule and Ajinkya bhaiya) from pune I had to take an antibiotic as i had become ill. So finally we had a fine sleep after that. 

Near Rohtang Pass.

At the dam near Kullu.

Myself resting to the fresh air. 

 Me and Punia Sir, midway between Kullu and Manali.

 Enroute Manali.

 Beasts taking rest.

 Me and Punia sir.

5th july, 2009
We woke up at 6:00am and left koksar at 7:00am. Then we reached Tandi(438km) which is the last fuel station before leh i.e. Around 350km before leh, so we got our bikes' fuel tanks filled upto full and we were bit sacred & simultaneously excited. And then left again. Now we entered the spiti valley, and reached keylong which was 10km from tandi. Now we reached jispa(480km) at 10:30am. Had some rest and saw the scenic beauty of himachal. Then we reached zingzing bar(512km) at 11:30am and had our breakfast... Then we happened to reach Baralacha la(525km) at around 12:00pm. Oh man! What an experience was that to see snow everywhere around. I must mention here that snow that covered those peaks was around 10-15ft. Then we reached Sarchu(558km) at 1:45pm, which is the HP-J&K border. We had our camp booked at a bivouac which cost us rs500. Had our lunch at the same bivouac and slept till evening. Then we left our camp for some local site seeing. As we returned, we saw those four guys, whom we met at Koksar, coming towards our camp. I was glad to see them again. But i came to know that they were leaving. I was sad learning that. Anyways we had our dinner at 8:30pm with some foreigners in the dining camp. Then we went to sleep around 10:00pm.

On the way to Sarchu. It was just after we left Koksar.

Azure and the mountains of the Himalayas.

Rest.

Phew!

Near Tandi.

Tandi petrol pump. The so unique thing about this place is depicted in the picture itself.

A rivulet that we had to cross on our bikes. The water was more than chilled and 1-1.5 feet deep.

Barlachala.

Barlachala.

Bivouac at Sarchu.

Barlachala.

6th july, 2009
We woke up at 7:00am. Then left at 8:00am. After riding for a km, i found my bike's rear tyre punctured. I couldn't find anyone who could fix a tubeless tyre. Then i found a wise man from Jallandhar, punjab, Who gave me his puncture kit and left. I was more than very happy at that time. Then after getting the puncture fixed, we moved on. We then reached Lachulung La(614km) at 11:00am. It was also covered with a lot of snow though less than that of Baralachala la. We then reached Pang(638km) at 12:15pm. After that More plains started, dil dance maare, tashan was shot there, which extend upto 48km. Was an awesome experience to drive through those sand laden plains. We met a person from chandigarh. He asked me if he could drive my bike, i said yes. He drove my bike for the entire More plains. We crossed these plains till 1:30pm. Then we reached Tanglang La(705km) at 3:00pm. I could not acclimatize myself, So i had a severe headache there. I could not bear that pain. I asked my companion to leave that place early. We then started off as soon as possible. Reached Upshi(765km) at 4:30km. Had some rest and then left. Then we reached Leh(812km) at 5:15pm. And had our room booked at tongspon guest house on lower mall road which cost 300 per day. Pune guys soon joined us in the same guest house. We got fresh till 6:30pm and then moved around in the city and say shanti stupa. And had our dinner at happy world restaurant nearby our guest house. The preparation of that restaurant was too good. Then i went to sleep at 9:30pm. 

The 21 mighty Gata Loops.

The Gata Loops start.

The artistic scenery formed because of winds, just after Gata Loops.

Myself, filling air in my bike's front tyre.

Checking my bike for any problem if it had.

Naki la.

Just after Nakee La.

Man Made.

Mighty Tanglang La. I had a severe nausea here.

60 kms before Leh.

Thiksey Monastry.

The two mechanic Brothers from Punjab in Leh since last 15 years.

7th july, 2009
It was a brighter morning the next day. We woke up with little happiness and smiles on our faces. I was enjoying every moment of my stay at leh(the land of lamas). Today we planned our visit to the world famous lake, Pangong tso, for which we had to get permission from the D.C. office . We had to visit the office at 9am. We got the passes till 10:30am. We left for pangong tso at 11:00am. We had to travel back till upshi to go to pangong tso. Reached upshi(860km) at 12:00pm. Then took a turn from upshi to pangong. The road to pangong was elysian. I was wondering of stopping my bike there and just look at the beauty of the nature we have in our country. The journey included places like, Shakti, tseultak, rumtse etc. We crossed chang la on the way. Met an army personnel who was from my native place. Was nice talking to him. Had kawa there, which was complimentary by the army. We reached the place from where pangong's first view was seen, was 2km behind pangong. We reached pangong tso(950km) at 2:00pm and had our lunch there. We saw its colour changing from afternoon till evening. Was just lovely experience. It was blue in the afternoon and at around 5 in the evening it was slightly grey-purple in colour. We met those guys from pune. They joined us for a walk along the lake side. We enjoyed a lot singing old songs and some senti songs. Then we reached to the top of a hill nearby, where some bunkers were there. We moved into one of the bunkers and sat there for around an hour, looking at the beauty of the lake from the top. Believe me, you cannot get your eyes off from the beauty. Then while going downhill, we were bit sacred as it was a very steep slope. At night we had tomato soup, as it was chilly outside with the cold breeze blowing. Then we slept in the same camp where we had soup.

The Leh Gate.

Shanti Stupa.

Thats me giving weird face expressions. And sitting on the left is Stanzen, the owner of Tongspon guest house in Leh.

8th july, 2009
In the morning again, we saw the changed colour of the lake. One of the members of the group from pune, jokingly called it a magical lake. We then headed towards leh again at around 9 in the morning. We reached back to leh(1088km) at around 12pm. Then after some rest, we hanged around in the city's markets and local temples. Had some bakery products at the famous german bakery at leh. It was a wonderful experience being there after a long journey.

Enroute Pangong Tso.

Chang La, enroute Pangong Tso.

Chang La.

The native Yak.

I worship this place. Its my only temple.

So, Pangong Tso conquered.

The mean machines facing Pangong Tso.

Me and Punia sir mesmerizing the lake.

Pushkar bhaiya(in red), Ajinkya bhaiya(in blue) and me(in purple), climbing up to the bunker.

Piece of photography by Punia sir.

The 5 musketeers guarding the lake. :)

Pangon tso at night.

9th july, 2009
We woke up to travel to the highest motorable road in the world. Yes! I am talking about the world famous khardung la. The journey started at around 10:30 am in the morning. We had our breakfast at ‘THE HAPPY WORLD’. We saw many of the army trucks heading towards khardung la. T’was a nice and patriotic feeling watching those army men. Then we reached khardung la(1128km) at around 12:00 noon. Phew! What a feeling was that getting to the top of the world. We stayed there for around half an hour. We had a feeling to go to nubra valley(the coldest desert in the world and the only place in India where double humped camels are seen). But being tired a lot , we decided to go back to leh. We then moved towards leh. While coming back to leh, we saw a stone lying on the roadside, it was green in colour and named as khardung frog. It was awesome. We reached leh(1164km) at 3pm. It was cool roaming around in the city. In the evening, we saw some shops having t-shirts embroidered with different designs of leh.

Khardung La, the world's highest motorable road.

Thats the road to Nubra Valley, the coldest desert in the world.

The temple on the K-Top.

Some landscapes seen from the Khardung La.

10th july, 2009

Today, we had to leave for Srinagar. We left for Srinagar at 4am. Bidding adieu to the city, Leh. We reached the famous place called Magnetic hill(1220km) at around 5:30am. But we could not experience the magnetic effect. 

Then we kept on moving with the zephyr and the azure along us. The hills just seemed to be covered with gold everywhere. The colour of the sand covering the hills was golden in colour. Then we reached Lamayuru(1280km) at around 10:30am. This place was really awesome.  Houses were made of sand.