It takes more love share your saddle than your bed.

Someone vey rightly said “A good longgg ride can clear your mind , restore your faith and use a lot of fuel “ and here I am your friend Santhosh writing about one such long ride . A ride which was once an adventure and which has now become a fashion . But nevertheless a ride to LehLadakh is something which will for sure clear your mind , restore your faith and make you forget about material things like fuel ,money etc .

Am here in my wright-up will try to pen down my 17day 3400km ride , which had in it frustrations , set backs , joy , awe , tears , laughter and in the end when I sit in the comfort of my seat and write this I feel a sense of joy inexplicable engulfing me as I can live that 17 best days of my life all over again.

Will it happen? Or is it the case as its been happening from past 3years , plan for a Leh ride , leaves doesn’t get approved and you end-up riding  elsewhere , not that am complaining , the last two years I did the southern temple ride and monsoon ride to Amboli and Ratnagiri , but still the feeling that you will ride in the mountains is something unmatched. But finally it happened , but not till July 22^nd when my leaves got officially approved , time to keep my fingers straight crossed fingers had done its job well.

August 3^rd was the day , we had sent our bikes on the 1^st in Jansampark Express which was scheduled to reach Delhi on the 3^rd  , and we took the first flight to Delhi on the 3^rd . No excitement, no butterflies just was happy that the next few days am gonna be on the road and knowing that the road am talking about is no normal road I can say I was very happy. We reached the airport at around 9 am and after breakfast headed straight to the Nizamuddin Railway Station to pick our bikes . Carrying the luggage was a pain and the Delhi heat was already getting on us , time for some lemony limca. The Jansampark Express surprisingly reached only 15mins late than the schedule time , did you guys get the hint?? May be that meant everything gonna go on smooth , train has arrived on schedule. Meanwhile I had a good short walk around the Nizamuddin taking a few photographs of the Cycle Rickshaws , and old monument around the railway station .

It was extremely hot and humid that day and by the time we took our bikes out of the railway station we were completely exhausted and our plan of riding till Panipet on day 1 looked less and less achievable . However we rode out of the city and settled at a decent motel near Sonapet . Bath , Tea , dinner and we called it a  day , knowing that its gonna be a long hard ride the next day , destination Amritsar.

Day 2  started early , we were up and running while it was still a bit dark outside , we rode at a constant speed of 70-80kms/ hour , NH -1 it was , beautiful roads and we were happy cruising . Stopped for breakfast , and here it started , our date with the Aloo Paranta , on the first day when I had Aloo Parantha it felt good , it was really tasty nothing like what we had here in Bangalore , Parantha with ghee , curd , ajar(pickle) tasted heaven . After a heavy breakfast we were back on road and decided that our next break would be after 100kms , which we should be able to cover in hour and a half or max two considering we were riding at speeds earlier mentioned and also the roads were really good. We stopped for lunch at a dhaba some 70kms before Amritsar , oops Aloo Parantha again , after a decent lunch we reached Amritsar checked into a room , rested a bit , had bath and were off to the Jallianwallh bagh memorial , once their , the history books opened up , everyone of us had a opinion , but all were deeply moved by what innocent people suffered there , after the Jallianwallh bagh we went to the most awaited Golden Temple , Stunning!! Is an understatement , the photographer in me was all happy and jumping , took loads of photographs and spent a good 3 to 4 hours at the temple , later bowed our heads to the guru , dinner time it was and also time for a victory drink , had a super dinner and zzzzzzz for the day. Day 2 well spent.

The Golden Temple - Amritsar

 Day 3 was wet , wet and wet , it was almost an 280 km ride and we were headed to Patnitop , the routes were beginning to get really scenic , beautiful looking valleys , huge mountains and rain , this is what we wished for and this is what we got. As we reached the base of Patnitop it was extremely foggy , the visibility was almost nil and Me Devi and Vicky wear spectacles and found it extremely difficult to ride as the glasses used to get covered with fog, but the boys rode beautifully and we reached the beautiful patnitop got into a room . It was extremely cold that day , and a good hot water bath was all we wanted , after the bath we had good dinner and zzzzz:-) Day 3  awsssm

A foggy morning at Patnitop

Day 4 started early and we were headed to Srinagar it was a 250odd kms ride and the weather was beautiful at the start , it was cool and the fog made the surroundings look fantastic , you can just imagine greenery all around with white foggy background , I was making sure that I concentrate on the road and ride safely , the roads became extremely curvy and and we rode cautiously , not to mention it was beautiful.

A curve captured in a mirror

By noon it got a bit messy with a small patch of bad roads , traffic and me missing out to ride in the group coz I stopped for photographing , later we all regrouped at the entrance of the Srinagar, and rode together , we started the ride at 6.30am and by 12.45pm we were at Srinagar , we booked a room near Gupkar Crossing in Srinagar as we found it very safe , and our host Mr Sheikh Nazir Ahmed was an extremely friendly guy , after a lovely lunch , bath and a power nap we were off to the much awaited Dal lake , though the Dal lake was not as I expected , but still , it’s a delight to the eyes , its huge and its beautiful . 

The Dal lake

We went to the nearby gardens but being from the Garden City and lover of lalbagh , these gardens didn exite me.I badly wanted to go the spectacular Tulip garden but unfortunately we were at the wrong time and its close because of off season. Then we went to a fort nearby the name of which I cant recollect . There was nothing in my mind when I went there ,but when I came back from the fort I was all smiles , this fort which was at a very high elevated ground and the Dal lake looked beautiful from there , we saw the spectacular Sunset over the Dal lake . Me and Devi had real gala time photographing  there . After the fort we reached our rooms , discussed about the next days plan , lovely dinner hearty laughter  and zzzzz , Day 4 masha alla J

Gorgeous Sunset over Dal lake

You forget what you do for living when your knees are in the breeze

Day 5 we were off to Kargil , we had a early morning chai with Mr Ahmed , wished him Happy Ramzan and Kuda hafiz to the beautiful Srinagar , which is the pride of INDIA and shall be that , whatever it takes it happen . We started our ride out at 7 in the morning and by around 8 am , I still remember  was the time I cant forget , had the first look of the Indus the Sindu , had read in text books , but to see the glorious mother in her glory having all of us in her blessed womb was unbelievable , we had our breakfast at a dhaba next to the river , spent 10 mins standing by the river sipping the morning tea , all blessings all love .

First look of the Indus

The route was getting prettier , the roads winding and nature stunning . We reached the absolutely beautiful sonamarg , clicked a few pics and what was lying ahead was the least we expected.

Ravi riding at Sonamarg

The ZOZILA PASS , Oh God!! What a ride it was , 20 odd kms of no roads , stones , mud , beauty is what the ZOZILA has got , after we crossed  ZOZILA , we hugged each other , aaah what a relief , and went to the ZOZI war memorial , few minutes of contemplation , few wet eyes , and off we went .

The Stunning ZOZI LA

met few kids asking for money “JULEY” had started , we had decided that we would not give money to any , we gave a few chocolates , took a few photographs , and off we went.

It was lunch time and we stopped for lunch at Ali Da Dhaba at Drass , Drass the second coldest inhabited place in the earth “WOW!” , and Ali who came to Drass some 16 years before and set up a Dhaba there showed us the snow capped mountain from the table we sat and said “ehi he sir , TIGER Hills” and again “WOW!” , we saw each others face, and that day realized silence speaks more than words sometimes. Had awsmm lunch and we were off to the famous Kargil War memorial. As we reached the war memorial the scene was unbelievable , set up in the stunning background of the Tololing hill , it was magical, the silence unmatched as if everything around was saliently respecting the valor of the Great soldiers , the only sound I could here was the Indian Flag fluttering high in all glory and of my heart bursting with pride and saying “INDIA INDIA INDIA” yes I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN , after checking out the museum , we heard Sipoy Mr Khan speaking about the how we won the Kargil War and I was broken , there was Goosebumps , tears flowing. Aaaah! What a day!!

The Kargil War memorial

10 kms shy from Kargil by back break got jammed and the bike refused to move , Me and Devi did some juggad , removed the link of the back break , and rode till kargil with only front break , booked a room at Kargil , a hard and extremely satisfying days ride was over , after the bath and dinner when I slept , just realized that I was just 14 hrs away from a 5 year dream , “BIKING TO LEH “..ZZZZ

View from my room in Kargil

Day 6 , and hah I forgot to mention that our room was overlooking the Indus , what sighting , I got up early to take a few pics , and because I had to fix my break we had decided that we would leave around 10am , I fixed my bike and we had a doubt would we be able to cover the 230 odd kms  that day , but we started with a right frame of mind , WE WOULD DO IT , and so we decided not to break for lunch instead we carried biscuits and cakes from Kargil . Kargil to leh is truly incredible , no adjectives to explain the mesmerizing beauty , we passed through two gorgeous passes the Namik La and the Fatu La , one can only say , HOW! HOW! HOW can something be so beautiful?!?

View from Namik La

Fatu-La

After the Fatu La we were hungry and luckily Ravi who was ahead had stopped the bike at a view point , that was our restaurant today , what a pretty place , pretty ! no lovely , Lovely ! no awsssm , awsmm! No spectacular , yeah spectacular it was , we had the biscuits and cakes.

View from where we had our lunch

Silence Speaks Volumes

After the lunch we saw a beautiful looking monastery first in this trip I stopped for a while clicked a few photographs and was on my way towards the famous Magnetic Hills.

A Monastery

One thing I have to mention here , not sure how many will see my Blog but if some architect is seeing this believe me I have never seen roads like the ones in leh , I have been to Seoul and Singapore , came back saying what infrastructure! What roads! But the roads in Leh is special , absolutely stunning backed by the scenic beauty of the place , take a bow BRO(Border Road Organization) . We had an absolute gala time the Magnetic hill , the magnetic power of the place pulled the bike at 25kmph even when switched off , ooops!!! Awsssm . 25kms more it was Leh and at around 3.30 pm we reached  , searched for a few places for accommodation and finally settled in the Gawaling International hotel , bath , dinner , laughter , stories , hugs , victory drink , zzzzz next day was a rest day , so time to get some sleep.

Magnetic Hill

My Bike at the Magnetic Hill

Day 7 we got some much required rest , got up at leisure , sometimes its nice to not do anything , just loaf around , sleep , eat and again sleep , at the evening we went to the lovely Leh palace and also to the Shanthistoopa . Dinner and zzzz

View From the Leh Palace

Shanthistoopa

Day 8 all exited , the purpose of the whole trip was this , atleast till this point was this , only when we reached Kardung la the highest motorable  road on earth as many say , we realized that its not the destination but the journey that matters , Leh ride was not a trip but an experience , an experience where we were “WE” coz u may all agree most of times we all are what others want “US” to be . Once we reached the Kardung  La top , it was time to rewind , remember all those who made this possible , the oxygen was less , but who cared , as long as the smile was chin to chin . We posed , we celebrated , we hugged , we laughed , we were silent and we moved .

WE WERE THERE

Our Next detination was Hunder , the Nubra valley , devi had doubts can he do it , we said , If I can then YOU can as well . We reached the village of hunder , once I reached Hunder , it was absolutely deserted , hardly I could see anyone , so many things running in my mind “Were am I” I was some 4500kms away from my home, in a desert , absolutely out of my comfort zone . And yet , I was happy ,truly I had traveled ,as Mark Twain says “ Twenty years from now on you will be more disappointed by the things you didn do, than the things you did do , so throw off the bowlines , sail away from the safe harbour , catch the trade winds in your sails , EXPLORE DREAM DISCOVER “

We booked a tent , had a tea , went for the double hump camel ride , had a great dinner , and zzzz 

A couple enjoying the camel ride at Hunder , Nubra Valley

Day 9 , was ride back from Nubra to leh , what scenic beauty!! , we stopped for some photographs at the gorgeous straight roads of dixit , and we reached the Kardung La top again , we met an aged  kannada speaking couple , and another group riding from Bangalore , time for some photographs and a tea at the highest canteen in the world with new friends , and here I remember another famous travel quote by Tim Cahill ”A journey in best measured in friends , rather than in miles “ .

The Stunning roads of Dixit

We reached our hotel in Leh , had lunch , got our bikes checked at the Toshi’s garage ,what an exciting couple of days , all looked a dream , and we had lived it , next was the famous Chang La pass and the spectacular Pangong lake , the eyes closed thinking and dreaming about what lies ahead.

Day 10 we started early and headed towards Chang La and Pangong , we had our breakfast at Karu , and headed towards pangong via chang la , all we saw was mountains , and mountains and more mountains ,  it looked romantic , it looked as if the clouds and the mountains are indulged in an never ending romance , it looked they kissed every day every minute. And this romantic feeling stopped just 15 kms before chang la , we rode through land slides , rocks , water crossings haah one hell of an experience , we reached Chang la , the third highest motorable road on earth , drank the complementary tea which the army provides , with a lovely Shreya Goshal song playing inside , all bliss . After tea we descended down the chang la and headed towards the lake . Breathtaking roads , unbelievable scenery awaited and welcomed us.

The serene graze land

Just 4 kms from the lake Devi had stopped his bike , and I saw him staring at a hill , when I went near him I saw the pangong lake far away in its blue glory “oooooh fu*k”  is the only thing I remember saying , and then saw Devi’s face , through the visor , I guess he was in tears , amazed by the beauty , and he would definetly agree. We just shouted , don’t know what , we again saw each other , “een mama idu , ello ididvi “ (whats this bro , WERE ARE WE) , and then silence everywere , we just rode.

The Pangong

I pinched my self when I was near the lake , yeah IT WAS TRUE , I WAS THERE , ok!! Let me check again , I touched the water , I could feel it , not a dream , I WAS THERE. Photographs followed , how much can a mere mortal’s photograph suggest its beauty , its splendor , its majesty , its glory . Just bowed by head to the mother nature , checked into our tents , had lunch , and went for a walk around the lake. 

The Pangong

Vicky's bike resting at Pangong

sheer beauty , inexplicable , loads of photographs followed , then we had a awssm singing session , which I can never forget , met a foreigner who I believe had taken some 1000pics of the lake , I took a silhouette of him , showed the pic to him , he dint know English , but he said GOOD. Happy me.

The foreign traveller who inspired me

The Wish Stones

It got extremely cold by the night , just took one final click of the half moon lit sky and the glowing tents , had dinner and went inside my razai , happy and satisfied.

Night Sky Pangong

Day 11 , it was ride back to Leh , how can I leave this lake behind , but every journey has  to come to an end , took one last pic of the lake , and we were off , the weather was not great , it was drizzling and cold , I had sever headache because of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) , had some dates took medicine , the chang la climb was also a lil tricky ,and we reached Leh , tired , and decided that day 12 would be a rest day and decided to do some local sight seeing. We were tired , had our dinner and off to sleep.

Day 12 , as it was a rest day , we got up late , we were fed up of the aloo parantha , so we had some confectionaries for breakfast , heaven it was , tasted awesome , after the breakfast we went to the garage again to fix a pannier to devi’s bike as his carrier had broken , we got that fixed , and after some rest went to the beautiful Thikshey monastery , clicked a few photographs , bowed down to lord Buddha and came back to Leh 

Prayer Flag , Thikshey

Innocence

A cloudy evening , Thikshey

We met Ashish Dada who was initially had to do East to West ride , but had cancelled it because of some communal tension and had decided to ride to leh , we had dinner with him and we bid goodbye to him , he was on his way back from Leh to manali and then to Delhi. After the dinner we decided that we would start very early next day and do a 300 km ride to Jispa , but Leh had other plans , it poured like crazy the whole night and there were heavy rains till 6am , Our plans went for a toss.

Day 13  we started at 6.30am and decided to take it as it comes , keeping in mind that Sarchu would be ideal to stay , it was still drizzling , and It was beginning of our return journey , “ooh GOD!! Its gonna end soon” was something very difficult to accept , but had to , riding from Leh to sarchu is pleasure , such lavish beauty , gorgeous curves , breathtaking mountains , it was lovely , we rode through tanglang-la the second highest motorable road , all this milestones meant nothing to us now , we were all in bliss by the beauty ,we had our lunch at pang ,

View from Tanglang La

and if that’s not enough after pang we reached the More Planes which turned out to be most exiting place I have ever seen , it had good roads , bad roads, no roads , but whatta  place ,after more planes we reached sarchu by 4.30pm

Devi riding at More Plaines

it was extremely cold that evening , very very cold , I wanted to photograph the gorgeous plains but couldn’t , but finally managed to take one pic from the tent , had our dinner by around 8pm and by 9pm we hared ravi snoring:) good bye for the day.

Bikes resting at Sarchu

Day 14 , we started our ride towards manali , incidenty this was the last day we would ride together as a group , Ravi Devi and Vicky had decided to do Spiti valley as they had a couple of extra leaves , and I would ride alone from a place near Tandi which I cannot recollect now , till now we saw snow capped mountains or mostly barren mountains , but now it was greenery everywere , Jispa was unreal , how can something be so beautiful ,there were watercrossing  everywhere , thewere waterfalls every were , oh!! It looked gorgeous , and finally we reached Tandi fuel station were we met Parshi , what a pleasant surprise , we had a good long chat with him , it was now a matter of time that we will be riding together , and when the time came , we hugged , wished for safe journey , and I was off to manali and boys towards Spiti.

A random waterfall

We were aware that the Rothang pass is a deadly pass and its really challenging to ride there , but never thought it would so much fun , all the elements which a biker whoe’s been on road for 14 days now doesn want Rothang had it and had in abundance , slush , rain , land slide , bad road ,water crossing , fog , smog , traffic , twisties  everything , and once I was out of rothang , I just stood and looked down and what I saw was jaw dropping , heaven was just there.

The vicious curves , a view form Rothang Top

I rode to manali , booked a room , and to my surprise in a couple of hours time I get a call from Ravi that the roads to spiti is closed and he is on his way to manali , so we again meet , the three booked their room in another hotel , and as we speak to meet up for dinner the clouds opened up , I had my dinner in my room and dozed off . Day 14 was eventful.

Day 15 we spent in Manali  , Me Devi and Vicky did Paragliding , that was an awesome experience , had some roadside chats , saw MTV Coke Studio with ARR in Vicky’s room , and then it was time for me to say goodbye to boys , I was off to Ambala the next day , and boys stayed in manali for an extra day.

Day 16 & 17 , day 16 was uneventful other than 2.5kms tunnel ride near mandi , I was riding solo and was covering good distance with a decent speed , reached Ambala by 3 , and I was stuck to bed the whole evening , roti and daal for dinner and goodnight. The next day I started as early as 6.30am with a plan to reach delhi by 11 and do some local sightseeing ,but it poured cats and dogs for the whole 210kms and I could n ride more than 60kmph , reached delhi as if I was a biscuit soaked in tea completely wet . The rain had just stopped and delhi was extremely humid. I was definitely not like this . Checked into a room , struck a deal with Nitco Carriers and My bike was off to Bangalore.Day 17 ends.

Day 18 , booked taxi with an intention of local sightseeing , saw the Birla Temple ,Rastrapathi bhavan , the India gate , and  Qutab Minar , and we were about to go to Lotus temple when the clouds opened , it poured and I lost interest , firstly I hate travelling in car , and when it rained I completely lost interest , came to be my room , packed my luggage for the next days flight and dozed off.

Qutab Minar

Day 19 , had booked a taxi at 4.30am for my 6am Spice Jet flight , I boarded my flight and to kill time I was seeing the pics , and what to say , I just relieved the journey , that’s why I love photographing , photographs don’t lie . Came home by 11am . All smiles at home that am back . But I want to go back . And I really hope mountains call me again .

Thanks for your time , until next time  we meet my loads of love with you , keep travelling and share your experience , here is Santhosh signing off .You can find me https://www.facebook.com/santhosh.upadhya.1

Lastly sorry for my language and grammar am not good in writing ,  if this blog helps atleast one to go the everlasting mountains I will be the happiest.

Do not follow where the path may lead , go instead where there is no path and leave a trial.

R W Emerson