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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
22nd when my leaves got officially approved , time to keep my
fingers straight crossed fingers had done its job well.
August 3rd was the day , we had sent our bikes on
the 1st in Jansampark Express which was scheduled to reach Delhi on
the 3rd , and we took the
first flight to Delhi on the 3rd . 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.
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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
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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.
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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 .
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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
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Gorgeous Sunset over Dal lake |
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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 .
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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.
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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 .
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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!!
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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
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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?!?
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View from Namik La |
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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.
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View from where we had our lunch |
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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.
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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.
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Magnetic Hill |
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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
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View From the Leh Palace |
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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 .
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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
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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 “ .
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Pangong |
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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.
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The foreign traveller who inspired me |
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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.
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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
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Prayer Flag , Thikshey |
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Innocence |
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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 ,
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Heartfelt rendering bro. Happy for you. :)
ReplyDeleteGood writeup. Great pictures :-)
ReplyDeleteI am sure the experience was beyond awesome.
Keep riding, writing and inspiring.
Ride and ride hard; until the silencer becomes flame thrower.