Bike Ride from Jammu to Chandigarh via Leh - Best 10 days of our life

Dream trip to Ladakh July 2017

Introduction

From my dream trip LADAKH, Few pages to describe, 

Don't worry in the end, I won’t say subscribe,

So It took us over 4 months of extensive planning & 2 ever-lasting years to complete this blog covering 14 days in depth of our crazy biking expedition to the land of Stupas, Leh. Starting from Jammu, we rode near about 2500 freaking kms chasing all sorts of roads within the span of 12 days, covering more than 18 towns and remote villages, burnt around 100 litres of fuel/bike, and endured more than 100 hours of hardships but it was all WORTH IT!!

Highlights

• Hotel hunt at 2 am in midnight, Jammu

• Defining riding rules and following them

• Army trucks in the convoy

• Terror attack at Pahalgam

• Chenani Tunnel

• Srinagar houseboats and Shikara 

• Arriving at Sonamarg 😍😍😍😍

• Encounter with Zozila's steep gradient

• War memorial, Kargil

• Freezing ride to Mulbekh in dead dark

• Rains testing our temperament at Lamayuru, the Moonland of India

• Magnetic hills & Langar at Patthar Sahib Ji Gurudwara

• Shanti Stupa, Leh Market

• Altitude hitting us at Khardungla

• Breathtaking route to Nubra Valley from khardung village

• Padma Homestay

• Venturing out in the dark, all alone on Hunder Streets

• Turtuk Puncture - Strenuous ride with a flat tyre under the sun in the middle of nowhere

• Jumping the 400kg Bullet at 100kmph on a speed breaker

• Hunder Farewell folk dance 

• Racing at Khardungla,

• Sumer, Karu hotel

• Water Crossings, boulder riding at Changlang La

• Dancing at Pangong

• Near-death escape while returning from Pangong.

• Bone-chilling ride of Tanglang La (peeing on hands)

• Ghost of Gata loops

• Greasy roads of Rohtang

• Manali fight scene

• Police interrogation in train

Actually, I couldn't take out time to write continuously so on average, I wrote for about 30 mins daily, for almost 2 years to complete this photoblog. But still, I remember everything as it was yesterday, such is the magic of Ladakh. I was planning this trip for the last few years but for some reason, it never materialized, before this. Extensive research and planning helped us complete this heck of a trip. Let’s begin.

Day1 - 8th July'17 - Mumbai to Jammu,

The day had arrived, finally off to the adventure of our lifetime "BIKE TRIP TO LADAKH". We had booked our tickets in Vivek express which traverses through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Punjab before finally entering Jammu. The train was to depart at 12.15 pm but it was late by an hour from the origin station only. Suresh and Mickey boarded the train from Bandra after ensuring bikes have been loaded in the luggage brake properly as the initial impression was that bikes are manhandled in railways with least care, you know, GOVERNMENT STUFF!! Thanks to the private agents out there, it was done with utter care. We heaved a sigh of relief when Suresh and Mickey intimated us about the successful loading of the bikes onto the luggage brake, here’s the proof.

That was the first challenge of our trip! As it would have had a cascading effect on the rest of our trip if something would have gone wrong in the process. Finally, the train arrived at Borivali, we boarded the train & settled down after a round of introduction.

There was this family, a couple along with their 2 lovely kids, traveling in our compartment. I have a knack of cleanliness instilled deep down, I can't stand if I see someone littering around, and you know how a typical Indian family travels in a sleeper coach, "KHAATE PEETE aur FAILAATE HUE JAATE HAI (eat, drink and scatter), so this family was no different. I have a habit of carrying garbage bags along on long-distance journeys, so I had set up one in our compartment and was continuously instructing those kids to dump the leftovers in that bag. Finally, their mom lost it on day 2, she couldn't take it anymore, she felt so instigated on me repetitively asking their children to use the bin bags instead of throwing the garbage out of the window, she yelled "puri train me sab log bahar kachra fekre hai, khali humhi log hai jo nai fekre" I think she didn't like the way her children were restricted but boss, it was her duty to ask them to not to put garbage outside because that is where it comes into the habit. Anyways, I did my bit in the most polite and friendliest manner. Reached Jammu at midnight 12:30 am & that’s the dump of our luggage which we will be dragging all throughout the trip on our bikes

To our surprise, we came to know that bikes will be released in the morning only so I and Ankit stepped out, looking for a hotel but all the nearby hotels were full. While on the hunt, we met a sardarji, he worked as a gatekeeper and he introduced us to this guy named "Satnam", he was a rickshaw driver and he assured us of rooms at reasonable rates, Me and Ankith decided to give it a try & went with Satnam in his Auto. We were a bit skeptical at first instance due to his personality and mainly due to Jammu's history. En route hotel, something went wrong with our rikshaw and it stopped midway Midnight. I and Ankit exchanged a brief look as it was lonesome and no one was there whose help could be availed in case of a mishap. And then, an army personnel flashed a torch at us and asked us to move our ass'es from there as it was a restricted area for civilians but by that time Satnam had addressed the issue & we moved on. We came across a checkpoint where again police checked us out by flashing torches and asking our whereabouts. Finally, we arrived at the hotel, checked rooms, and booked it. The rest of the group was waiting at the station in a half-dead state as it was 2 am at midnight. We went back with Satnam to get them and finally after a couple of rounds we all were home. We were tired but anticipating the challenges for the coming day, it wasn’t easy to sleep. It was a big day for all of us because none of us had any prior experience in mounting the luggage on bikes and then driving those loaded bikes but bring it on, we were up for it.

Day2 - 10th July’17 Jammu to Srinagar (Jammu - Udhampur - Patnitop - Srinagar)

The crew got the bikes released from the station and fueled them up.

We got ourselves geared up with all sorts of protective jazz-like knee guards, elbow guards, jackets, etc, and there we were with our 2nd challenge of the trip “Mounting luggage on bikes”, remember?? 1st was to get the bikes in Jammu safe and sound. Passed. Let's face the 2nd one, we had all the required accessories like bungee cords, spider nets, and whatnots to bind the luggage. We also had a rough idea of how to use them, thanks to youtube. It seemed fairly simple in the video but in practical we were puzzled at first, then slowly got the drill after trying it out a couple of times. See us below in the process

After playing for an hour with the luggage we were finally ready to roll, but before that, we defined some rules & signals which we knew will assist us as a team in our journey throughout the terrain, viz

1. Stop signal -  Honking 3 times continuously until the person ahead of you halts e.g. (beep, beep, beep) x n,  this helped us a lot in all exigencies. 

2. Slow down signal - Honking 2 times continuously until the person ahead of you slows down.

Teamwork is of the utmost importance when you are in the land of unknowns and on a rooky adventure like this. We were aware of the situations where our luggage might loosen up, or our bike may break down or our tyres might go flat, etc and that laid the foundation of these signals.  You can just be well prepared but you cannot avoid this, trust me guys this is going to happen if you are in Ladakh on your machine. You cannot rely on cell phones there, it doesn’t work in most of the places where the terrain is rough and where you will need it the most. So after defining these signals we embarked on our journey with Ganpati Bappa Maurya, Jai Mata Di, and all the Spiritual Chantings which are considered as kickstarters. There we were cruising on J&K national highway on our loaded bikes in a chain, one after another. Roads are very beautiful as one can anticipate, broad and smooth with lush green landscapes extending into the horizon. It was beautiful :) 

We had planned to start our journey after visiting a temple that we Indians usually do before venturing into anything especially risky stuff, part of our culture. Initially, the famous Ram Mandir in Jammu was planned but couldn't do it for 

1. It was off route and 

2. We were already late. 

Superstitious souls inside us got active and started haunting us with negative thoughts, not a good start! Then we improvised by stopping the first temple en route, deal! Shortly came across a temple of all the deities, not only Lord Ram, overwhelming, isn't it! Putting the superstitious souls to rest, we parked our bikes, took the blessings, and were again back on roads consuming the immense beauty of it and we were so engrossed that we missed our breakfast. The route that we had taken was, Udhampur to Patnitop to Srinagar. Our next pitstop was Udhampur for lunch but we extended it to Patnitop as we were behind our schedule.

There are two routes by which you can reach Patnitop, via

1. Chenani Nashri tunnel short and smoother route, 

2. Patnitop top Highway - long and rough route. 

We had factored in the longer route as 2 wheelers were not allowed to use that tunnel as per our research but to our surprise when we reached that diversion, we were allowed to pass through that 9.2 km long tunnel. Penetrating through Asia's longest tunnel on our bikes was an experience on its own, especially the thump of the bullet was music to our ears, it felt perfect. Thump got amplified due to the dome of the tunnel. Check the video here. The entire tunnel was damp and we felt that dampness while riding through it. After crossing the tunnel, we stopped at a Vaishno Dhaba for lunch and then carried on. Post lunch we arrived at a viewpoint after Patnitop where we met a soldier who was from Jodhpur, Rajasthan which happened to be my native as well so he felt home after meeting us, that's how our soldiers are, they live big in small moments, as they don't have the luxury of going home very often, they feel home on meeting someone from their hometown. 

Taking a few selfies, we resumed our journey to Srinagar after the meet and greet. We were lucky enough to be a part of the convoy of moving army trucks in our direction else we wouldn’t have been able to reach our destinations on time as planned cos when that convoy is moving, the rest of the traffic comes to a standstill, reason being narrow roads in the mountains wherein only one vehicle can pass at a time at certain junctures & army convoy moves in a group of 15-20 trucks, at least. There was a sense of pride in moving along with the Army Convoy, exchanging gestures like salutes and smiles with each one of them throughout, which made both of us feel good. That's the least we can do if we can't fight on the border like them #Respect. By the time we reached Anantnag, the sun was on its way down and we came across a stretch which again felt like riding in heaven, it was an 8 lane highway with nominal traffic and endless lush green meadows all around us. Cruising on our machines at a speed of more than 100km, with the sun setting down in that beautiful landscape, was truly #Magical. We were not just riding fast we were riding #High!! That too naturally, Dope!! 

PUC for gattz bike was pending as he couldn't obtain it from Mumbai, so we came across a shop where it was available after looking throughout Jammu, quickly got it done, and moved on.

Riding more than 250 km in a day, we finally arrived in the beautiful town of Srinagar and now the next thing was to book a houseboat in Dal Jheel, the iconic lake of the town. We struggled a bit in finding the way to jheel and lost Mickey and Suresh in the process, as something had gone wrong with their bike which they were getting fixed somewhere and we couldn't contact them due to poor network connectivity. Once you are in Srinagar, you’ll find 100’s of hotel agents luring you with hotel deals. 1 such guy came to us along which Ankith and Yash went to check his houseboats and while the rest of us were waiting on the other end of the jheel. It started drizzling forcing us to cover our luggage with tarpaulin sheets, it had rained a lot in Jammu in the evening on the day of our arrival but luckily it didn't during the daytime but trust me guys, this was just the beginning of the notorious game of Raingods!! 

These guys finally shortlisted a houseboat. Headed towards the parking lot which looked eerie at first glance; seemed like an abandoned plot but the owner assured us for the safety of the vehicles. The interesting part of staying in a houseboat is you are taken to your boat in a shikara which is a royal experience on its own. Paddle gushing in water soothes you in that astounding ambiance. Houseboats still maintain the ancient look reflecting the royal Mughal Culture in them, which is rare in hotels and that's why they are preferred in Srinagar over luxurious hotels with tons of amenities. Settled and refreshed, ended our day with a decent dinner. After checking our smartphones, as there was decent connectivity, we came to know that there has been a terror attack in Anantnag from where we just came. We’ve been #lucky, I'll use this numerously in the rest of the blog at various instances. Check photos

Day3 - 11th July’17 -  Srinagar to Mulbekh (Srinagar - Sonmarg - Zojila - Drass - Kargil - Mulbekh)

Woke up the next morning with refreshing homemade Tea from our hosts. After the morning rituals, we gathered in the lobby, stocked our luggage & were ready to bid goodbye to our lovely host & our beautiful boat. This was my 2nd experience in Dal Lake's famous Houseboats, had been here during our Amarnath Yatra 8-10 years ago. Old memories got reminisced. It had rained last night in Srinagar dipping the temperature,  a very pleasant morning indeed. It was 7 am by the time we geared up and dumped our luggage in the Shikara. Check photos below

Today was a big day for all of us as we would be encountering the mighty Zozila pass, the first high pass of our trip, and our lifetime. None of us had any prior experience of riding bikes on mountain roads & high passes but as they say, there’s always a first time!! After settling our accounts & a short ride in shikara to the shore, we moved to the parking to check our rides. As it had rained last night, we did some cleanup & lubricated our bikes with anti-corrosive spray for better performance. Unlike last time, mounting luggage this time was less of a struggle and more of practice but I was still struggling with it!!! Poor me. With a  "Ganpati Bappa Maurya,'' we bid goodbye to Srinagar. Oh boy! What a ride it was!! A blanket of haze with mist over the horizon of jheel, utterly beeaautiful!! Cherry on the cake was the glimpse of floating houseboats and shikara's through that blanket, ahh!! # mesmerizing. Even while writing it after a year, I can literally feel that moment as if it was just yesterday #Dejavu, such was the beauty of it. You know some scenes get inscribed in your memory forever and that happens when all your senses, mind, body, and soul are in synergy. It was one such moment. A splendid ride through the circumference of the Dal Lake in the morning hours, amidst haze & cool breeze, a must-have experience!! Check the video here. Roads were actually wet at some places due to rain so we all were riding cautiously, especially me as I encountered some problems with my mounted luggage. It was tilting towards the left, disturbing the aerodynamics of the bike so I had to stop and fix it. After doing so, I too picked up the pace as I knew these guys would be waiting for me, soon I saw Yash & Ankit waiting for me. Check out some photos 

Riding through narrow lanes, we eventually took a route that took us inwards the valley & where the width of the lanes shrunk further. It was a single lane with an influx of vehicles from both sides and was supposed to join a state highway to Sonamarg, apparently our next stop but while riding Mickey felt something wrong with his bike, particularly with the wheel. We started looking for the mechanic en route and after checking a few, we finally found one who could fix Mickey’s bike. We all stopped at the garage but Mickey insisted we move on and find a good place to have breakfast as all were quite hungry & thus we continued our hunt but in the pursuit, we took a diversion & got separated. Ankith was with me on this route & rest on another. After coordinating, we again met at a garage en route because issues with Mickey's bike weren’t completely sorted at the previous shop & waited till the repair work was done. It was 10 am by this time & our craving for food had grown to an insatiable level. Shortly, we arrived at a beautiful restaurant located on the edge of a riverbed with hut-like bunkers in the property where we could sit, eat, chill & absorb the beauty of the surroundings. Without wasting much time, we quickly ordered paranthas & cholas for everyone. There was good internet connectivity there so some updated their statuses while some updated their friends and families by video calls, voice calls and at last got busy in capturing the beauty in our cameras. Check out some photos of the venue. After a while, Food arrived and we hogged, it was finger-licking delicious!! 

During our time there, we met another group who were returning from Leh, took a download about the conditions ahead from them & moved on. We were already running behind the schedule, so rode continuously till we arrived at the base of Sonamarg, it was another mesmerizing viewpoint offering stunning vistas around, located on the riverbed amidst mountains on all sides. Took a short break to capture the beauty of it. Check below 

Sonamarg from its base is a short ride of 7 km up the mountain & as the terrain changed from grey to green we also felt a dip in temperature while encroaching Sonamarg from its base. See a video that D recorded here. Even the glimpses of Sonamarg we got from there were literally breathtaking, Lush green landscapes meshed perfectly amid snowclad mountains with clouds hovering all over, ahhh!! Again Magic. I was actually thinking of words worthy enough to describe the beauty but trust me no combination of 26 letters can do justice to its beauty, it's undefined!! Nature at its best!! I am having a flashback again. Immersed in the beauty of the journey, we arrived at Heaven on earth #Sonamarg. This was the moment of inner peace, we all were hypnotized by its beauty, it was utterly a poster-perfect setting of nature signifying that God is a great artist.

Check photos

While we were capturing the evergreen moments of our lives, the downpour started forcing us to hush. There was a decent market out there where one can buy all types of required accessories like masks, raincoats, socks, etc. Unfortunately, we forgot our facemask at houseboat in Srinagar, so we bought it, a must-have, you cannot brave the mountain windblast naked. Got our tarpaulins & Rainsuits out, wrapped them over ourselves before moving on, see this video here. After a while, it stopped raining but the damage was done, it had deteriorated the road conditions at mighty Zojila. Check photos of the road

It was an edgy ride throughout, no pucca road for a stretch of about 10 km before the top of the pass, just gravels which due to rains, got more slippery and dangerous, especially for bikers. We were riding slowly and safely to the possible extent but there came a tipping point where even trucks struggled & at one such occasion it was so steep & slushy that a truck crawling upwards gave up!! It couldn’t sustain the deadly combination of steep Gradient + loose stones + dust with rain Water as a catalyst and started sliding back as it was very greasy, check the video here. 

Trailing just behind, it turned out to be a moment of terror for us, as it crept closer. Thankfully the situation was under control and we were safe but then our bikes surrendered, especially the bullets as they were dragging a pillion with them. There was a thick muddy layer of about 2-3 inches on the road, making it really difficult for the vehicles to maneuver. Atlas pillions had to walk that stretch on feet. 

After that the roads were pretty good & so was the climate, it was just windy, but that’s okay. We took a short break at a vantage point just after descending the Mighty Zozi La. Here again, the views were splendid and breathtaking, we had a wide-angle view of the curvy roads penetrating the mountains. It appeared like snakes crawling all over the mountains. We also crossed a patch with a snow wall, check it out here.

Few miles later comes an army check post where everyone has to register themselves. It’s for your own safety + it's a sensitive zone. We registered ourselves & moved on. From then onwards rain started playing hide & seek with us but we were prepared, bring it on!! 

Our next stop was Drass, the second coldest habitable place in the world & 1st in India. It's a small yet beautiful town situated in the Valley and we had planned to visit Bhimbett there but couldn’t do it due to time constraints. We directly stopped at Kargil War Memorial which is a few miles ahead of Drass and is the place to pay homage to all our braveheart Soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Strategic conflict held between India & Pakistan over Kargil in 1999. There's even a museum inside with warfare artifacts on display that had been used or captured during the warlike weapons, flags, etc, Goosebumps!! There's a canteen inside where we had Samosas, BURRPP!!. Immersed in Patriotism we left the memorial and continued our journey to the war town, Kargil & by the time we reached it was 8 in the night. Check photos

Kargil as a town was very different than what we had imagined, it looked pretty busy, noisy & hustling with streets flooded with hippie youngsters. We had simplicity and serenity in our mind about this war town but it wasn’t like it. Initially, the plan was to stay in Kargil but after cruising through the loud streets we changed our mind. We stopped at a diversion and arrived at a consensus of moving on to the next village en route for the night stay. Mind you this was a courageous move as it was already 8 pm and the next village “Mulbekh” was a bumpy ride of 36km factoring the terrain & temperature. Moreover, it had started drizzling & in the hush of moving out, I dropped my beloved cushion there, which had saved my ass till then 😭😭. 

Route was dead dark & you cannot expect street lights in that terrain, so we were on our own, heading in a formation. Mickey was leading as he had that extra floodlights on his bullet which helped us a lot in that pitch dark while I was trailing. Trust me it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything behind, not even the tarmac. It was sheer darkness chasing us in the land of uncertainty where we were all alone, neither souls nor machines, to help just in case. There came a moment where my bike stumbled upon a pothole which appeared all of a sudden from nowhere but somehow I managed without falling else things would have been terribly different #ThankGod. Things worsened, we started feeling the temperature, it was freezing cold & if that's not enough, it started raining heavily, which continued for the next 30-40 minutes & furthermore we realized that there’s a high pass to be traversed in that blistering cold & heavy downpour, mind you we didn’t have waterproof gloves #mustHave. 

This was the 1st real test of our temperament on this trip. Numbed, Frozen & partially Drenched, we were on a   desperate run to reach our destination but the ride appeared never-ending. As a result, thoughts of regrets like we shouldn’t have extended our ride till Mulbekh at that hour of the night started flashing in our mind but eventually they faded with time, the rain stopped and soon we reached. It was a quaint village with very few houses in sight, so quiet and isolated that it appeared abandoned. By the time we reached, it was 10 in the night & we didn't have any pre-bookings for rooms. Everything seemed shut at that moment except our hopes. Again the thoughts like how we'll spend the night started haunting us, questioning our decision about extending the trip. After searching for a while we reached a house and knocked on its door to ask for help and #luckily it turned out to be a homestay. We got rooms which were simply decent, just a bed with blankets and a common toilet, period!! No other jazzy stuff to lure your monkey mind. They also had a restaurant outside and we were hungry as hell. After settling down, we had our dinner and to our surprise, it was delicious, literally finger-licking good. We were finally at peace (mind & body). All the hardships we went through to reach Mulbekh at the end paid off well!! #goodnight

Day 4 - 12th July’17 Mulbekh to Leh( Mulbekh - Lamayuru - Alchi - Phey - Leh)Namik la & Fotula

Morning painted a totally different picture of Mulbekh. After sleeping in a village that appeared abandoned to us in the night, we woke up to a beautiful serene village with lovely people around us. The family we stayed with was very humble and hosted us extremely well. Met the family members, had breakfast, clicked pictures, and continued our journey. Check photos.

Today's plan was to reach Leh after crossing 2 high passes viz Namikla & Fotula and the picturesque town of Lamayuru which is also the famed Moonland of India. Reason being the mountain formation is such that from a birds-eye view it appears like the surface of the moon. 

The sun was shining bright when we started but soon after nearing the 1st pass of the day which was 'Namikla’ weather took a U-turn and it turned cloudy & soon started drizzling. We had already faced rains twice, though for a shorter span of time but we had that bone-chilling experience of riding bikes in that terrain before and it wasn't pleasant & thought of going through it again gave us chills down the spine. We had stopped for a photo session before we began ascending the Namikla but sighting clouds ahead terrified us so we hushed and prayed or rather pleaded Raingods for mercy but our prayers didn't reach them and after a short, while it started raining. We were like WTF 😏??. Check photos

We hadn't covered much for our next stop,  Lamayuru which was ~ 70 kms from Mulbekh. Out of these 70 kms, we rode with frozen bodies for more than 30 odd kms due to moderate to heavy rains throughout. We all had a basic layer of protection for ourselves which wasn't good enough for such rains and Ankith didn't have even that, so he was the most impacted. We all were drenched in a short span of time. The route was mesmerizing but rains played the spoilsport, as this time it was worse than what we had experienced a day before, en route Mulbekh. Our palms and feet had turned blue out of cold, completely frozen as it was raining continuously, forcing us to take frequent breaks for it was really difficult to riding continuously in that spell of f**ing cold. It really took a toll on all of us and a little more on Ankith as without any rainwear, his upper body was directly exposed to rain, having the maximum impact. Hence he sped on to meet us directly at Lamayuru hoping that he'll get a raincoat there while we continued our ride in sprints. There came a village after Namikla with a spurt of greenery amid barrens. It was the only green patch in the complete brown landscape which made it strikingly beautiful. Check photos 

Only if the rains had spared us we could have enjoyed it a lot more but never mind even the glimpse was enough to be cherished lifelong. 

Soon after a torturous yet rewarding ride, we reached Lamayuru, the Moonland. Parked our bikes at a cafe, warmed ourselves with chai, Maggi, and whatever we could. There we met a gentleman from probably US, in his 50's, who was reading a book. On striking a conversation, we came to know that it has been more than a month to his stay in Lamayuru and he was all alone. Man!! How do these people manage to get so many leaves from the office, yeah he was a corporate!!

Lamayuru Monastery was on our checklist for one has to go there to get that birdseye view of the mountains distantly appearing as Moonland. It was just a 10 min ride away from our cafe. We were really excited about Lamayuru for what we had read on blogs and our arduous ride till Lamayuru didn't hinder it much except for Ankit, as he suffered the most. So he decided to stay back and get himself some warmth from the cafe while we paid a visit to the famous monastery. It was a pretty decent monastery with a tourist tint as it had an entry fee and things around were expensive but the view from the top of the monastery was magnificent, surreal & yeah it did appear like Moonland. It lived up to its reputation and we were glad we didn't miss it. 

Check Photos

Rains had stopped by the time we returned from the monastery. We were ready to hit the roads again and even Ankit was back to normal. Without wasting much time we were back on our bikes chasing the never-ending roads of Ladakh. Again it started raining, testing our temperament, especially Ankit’s but Josh was high sir!! We kept riding and soon won over rains. It stopped, though clouds kept playing hide and seek for a while before giving in to the Shining SUN for which we had prayed desperately as our shivering bodies were begging for warmth. Took a short break to dry ourselves as the cloud's scattered and the sun came in strong, anonymously scripting a never seen before spectacle of our lives. Ghosh!! it was our moment of the day, week, year & light-years, thoda jyada hogaya but chalta hai!! A glorious vibrant rainbow painted on the canvas of the scattered sky with magnanimous mountains in the backdrop all around us. Wait for it, that's not all, while this wasn't enough, we soon stumbled upon another royal rainbow. Woh hooo hoooo!! Not 1 but 2 rainbows in the skies of Ladakh, it was literally magic!!! Absolute stunner!! Check below

Forgetting all the hardships thrown by the terrific terrain under the influence of rain gods, we got charged up all of a sudden and started celebrating the artistic moment. Dancing, jumping, shouting, and capturing the miracle, less in our phones and more in our memories. This was an endless stretch of Gunmetal tarmac, Blue skies with dual rainbows, Guardian mountains, and only US!! Awakening the damped racer spirit within to take control and fly the bike; Sinking in the ambiance, we cruised at a blistering speed in that stretch for it was buttery smooth. Had to tick off a couple of things before reaching the land of stupas, 'Majestic Leh’, and those were 

1. Mysterious Magnetic hills - Our next rest point, a non-stop ride of about 80km.

2. Prestigious Patthar Sahib Gurudwara. 

Few miles just before magnetic hills falls Nimmo confluence, a vantage point with the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar river where 2 mighty rivers of the cold desert marry.

Magnetic hills, as the name conveys, are nothing but a set of mountains having immense magnetic properties, imposing a strong magnetic pull on the static vehicles within the zone, drawing them backward in the direction of the magnetic mountains. There was a signboard marking the magnetic zone where one needs to station their vehicle in a neutral state to experience this natural phenomenon. Excited, we soon reached the spot and positioned ourselves on the line with ignition off, and there it started pulling our bikes backward #magic. Check photos

That was it about the magnetic hills, not wasting much time, we continued our journey to our next pitstop, Patthar Sahib Gurudwara, which was at a mere distance of 5-6 kms from magnetic hills. Sun was already on its way down by the time we reached Gurudwara. 

Gurdwara Pathar Sahib is a shrine of immense religious significance for the followers of Sikhism. This gurdwara was built in 1517 to commemorate Guru Nanak's visit to the valley of Ladakh. This place holds its own significance in history, it goes like Guru Nanak has taken refuge here on his way back to Punjab after traveling to Tibet, Nepal, and Sikkim. According to local legends, there lived a demon who terrorized common folks during that period, so they came to seek help from the Guru, who apparently came to their aid. Thus was becoming popular by blessing people with sermons. This did not appease the demon and he decided to kill Guru in rage. It's said that while he was lost in meditation at this spot, the demon planned a fatal attack on him by throwing a massive Patthar(boulder) from the hilltop. But instead of causing any injury, the boulder turned soft like warm wax after touching Guru's body and came to a halt against Guru Nanak’s back. He kept on meditating unhurt and undisturbed. Thinking that the Guru had been killed, the demon came down and was taken aback to see the Guru deep in meditation. In a fit of anger, he tried to push the boulder with his right foot, but as Pathar still had the softness of warm wax, his foot got embedded in it. Pulling his foot from the boulder the demon was dumbfounded to see the fresh impression of his foot embossed in the stone which surprised the demon. He pleaded Guru Nanak for forgiveness and promised to spend the rest of his life as a gentle person. There are imprints of Guru's head, back, and shoulders in present times, and the rock is covered with a sacred veil and enshrined inside the gurdwara. Paid our visit and were lucky enough to have a feast in the holy lunger organized by committee members as it was dinner time for them & they really insisted on having the food. Delicious food and great hospitality. Check photos 

With a thank-you note & quenched stomach, we moved on. It got darker and colder by the time we left Gurudwara & Leh was still around 30 odd kms from there. Riding in the rhythm we strayed upon a broken road that had an incognito diversion. We got its warning from a fellow rider who was stuck with his bike, a few metres before the diversion in that pitch darkness with nobody to help. Coming to his rescue we helped him and he returned the favor by informing us about the diversion ahead, cos of which we rode cautiously. Post that it was a smooth ride till Leh. Clicked the iconic entrance board of Leh. Check below.

Finally, we were in the mystical town of Leh. We hadn't booked any hotels or guesthouses for our stay for the entire trip as it's rightly known as the land of uncertainties; it is difficult to be sure of the dates and destinations if you are riding in and around Leh, but we had a fair bit of idea about the hotels in our list. We parked ourselves in the main bazaar to check out nearby hotels. It was a busy street with foreign people hustling bustling all around. It had everything from mainstream hotels to restaurants, cafes, bars, and whatnots. We checked a couple of rooms before booking Green Tara hotel which was a bit away from the main bazaar and hence quiet. Except for Ankit and Gattu, everyone surrendered to beds after an exhaustive yet rewarding day. They stepped out to experience the nightlife after getting a glimpse of it in the market, it was indeed compelling.

Day5 - 13th July’17  Leh sightseeing

Leh being a high altitude zone over 8000fts, people, especially from sea level, find it difficult to adapt as oxygen is less in the air and thus are more prone to Altitude Sickness. To avert that we just need to observe certain disciplines like no physical exertion in the 1st 24 hrs, proper rest, and no alcohol. Just by following these norms, the probability of hitting AMS reduces by 85%, hence it is highly recommended to take rest of at least 24 hours. This was clearly instruction given to all the crew members but you know every group has a couple of dacoits who will break every fuckin rule especially when asked to abide, Ankith and Yash were those two in ours. Overwhelmed by the charm of the beautiful streets of Leh, they ventured out instead taking rest to acclimatize. 

A good sleep at that altitude is a positive sign that your body has acclimatized & vice-versa if not. We somehow managed to sleep that night and woke up to see my bike deflated, Yash and Ankith having a headache the next morning, Yash even threw up. I scolded him and Ankith for not following the basic norms. The pain subsided in a while & they both were ready to roll. 

The first thing on our today's checklist was to get permits from leh magistrate's office, that's a mandate! You are not allowed to wander in and around Ladakh without that permit. Mickey and Suresh were tuning up their bike so I and Ankit stepped out to get the permits while Yash was getting back normal, Dimple stayed back to look after him. After getting my deflated tyre fixed, we went to the DM office to get permits for all of us. The permit was a crucial piece of paper as it contained the blueprint of one's plan in that terrain as most part of the region falls under sensitive zones from a National security standpoint. Also being accident-prone, there are high chances of getting stuck in Ladakh, so the permit even helps in knowing the whereabouts of the tourists in case of emergencies. There's a nominal fee for the permit which is charged on a per-day basis. Just ensure proper documentation, rest obtaining it is a cakewalk. We got the permits for all of us and left the office. I had arranged to meet and collect the refund from a cab driver named Rigzin. I have paid advance booking amount for his cab as initially, the plan was to hire a cab along with bikes for the number of people interested in this trip where much higher than the 6 of us and they intended to travel in the cab but most of them backed out, eliminating the need of a car. Rigzin was a genuine soul, true to what I had read on the blogs (devilsonwheels) about him. He readily agreed on refunding the amount with nominal cancellation charges. He answered all my calls, turned up, and refunded the amount with a smile on his face. I was glad to meet him, he also guided us for the trip and remained available on calls assisting us all the time. 

Ankith and I had parted ways as he was looking for a raingear in the market while I came to meet Rigzin. So he was constantly trying to connect with me but couldn't as most of the operators don't work in Ladakh except airtel (postpaid) & BSNL. At last, he located us and arrived walking as he had parked his bike up in the market. He was fuming by this time as his headache upped a state for the exertion (physical & mental) he had put to locate me, making him agitated and restless. #Tip1 Try to stay calm in all the scenarios else the probability of hitting AMS will increase. Naturally, his meeting with Rigzin didn't go well to which Rigzin amusingly commented that “Bahut ghusse wala hai aapka dost(your friend is a very angry person)” Bidding goodbye to Rigzin, we moved on, bought a raincoat for Ankith, stocked some medicines, and took the breakfast for the rest after having ours.

It was noon by the time we reached back to the hotel. Now the rest of the day was reserved for local sightseeing. We had a list of places to visit in Leh. Post lunch we all stepped out. First went to the iconic Leh palace, which served as a residence to the royal family of Leh, a remarkable architectural feat for the way it was built in the 16th century. It is a nine-story structure, built mostly out of soil, rocks, and wood, standing tall in a region of intense seismic activity. Every floor has its own significance. Also, it is said that all the construction material had to be carried on horses or by hand to the top of this rather steep and craggy hill. Once the royal quarter for King Sengge Namgyal is now a most favored tourist attraction in Leh city though in a dilapidated condition. There's a nominal entry fee, ₹15 for Indians and ₹100 for foreigners. To trace the palace is a trek on its own in that altitude cos your head starts pounding the moment you over-exert, we all experienced it. The Key is to take baby steps, slow and steady. There is a mini theatre where they run a short documentary highlighting the key facts about the ancient palace. The view from the top floors of the palace is breathtaking as one gets a 360° view of the rustic Leh town. Check photos

Our next venue was the 3 idiots’ fame Rancho School. It was a scenic drive of 10-15 kms where all drove without helmets for the first time in that terrain but by the time we reached, the school was shut. Turning back, we headed to Shanti Stupa to witness the Sunset. Built-in 1991 as a part of Peace Pagoda Mission, Shanti Stupa is a Milky white-domed structure, perched atop a hill at a dizzying altitude of over 10k feet dedicated to Buddhism, overlooking the picturesque town of Leh. You get the entire Leh in Panorama from Shanti Stupa with Sunset as Cherry on the cake. It was again a picture-perfect setting with Rustic town, deep blue skies, metallic grey clouds, tan mountains, and the Sun painting everything Orange #magic. Check below

That was it for the sightseeing stuff. Now it was time to shop and prep up for the next day's adventure “Trip to Nubra Valley” via the historic Khardungla pass. Back then, it was acclaimed to be the highest motorable road at a tipping altitude of over 17000 ft but now many other passes have cropped up superseding Khardungla. 

You need to factor in fuel availability in advance when motoring in that region of Ladakh as there is only 1 fuel pump in Diskit in the entire Nubra Valley. People carry the spare fuel in Jerry Cans. I and Dimple went to buy Jerrycans while the rest continued shopping. I took a bullet so as to keep a check on the size of the Jerrycan as that was supposed to be sideloaded on the bullet's footrest. Bullets are usually heavier but I realized it’s real might on Leh's Streets while buying Jerry cans. This is how it went, we stopped by a shop where Jerry cans were on display. Dimple went in to buy them & I stayed back with the bike as there was no parking allowed on the road. I was casually laying over on the seat to rest my back. Then for some reason, the bike fumbled and started leaning to the side. I tried controlling it with all my strength but couldn't pull it up alone due to its sheer weight. Someone from the crowd saw me struggling and came forward to help and we restored but due to sudden exertion, my head started pounding and that was the moment when I felt the altitude for the 1st time. Bought the Jerrycans and continued shopping with rest of the crew. That was it for the day, returned to the hotel, dined, and slept. 

Day6 - 14th July’17 Leh to Hunder via Khardungla

A big day for us as we would be riding through the lofty Khardungla. Plan was to leave early and reach early so after inspecting and tuning the bikes we left the hotel and went to fuel up. This is when the rear mudguard of gattu's bike dislodged and demanded welding, thereby incurring a delay of an hour but as they say it's better to be late than sorry. We were glad that it went down in Leh with everything available around, if it would have gotten down en route khardungla we would have been in deep soup as it is difficult to find a mechanic in such a remote part of the Ladakhi terrain. Gattu got it fixed from a welding shop on the Leh Manali road and resumed us at the petrol pump. Check Photos

Though we could easily reach the Diskit pump with a full tank from Leh but being isolated the availability of petrol at that pump was dubious and we didn't want to take a chance thus we filled and mounted the cans on bikes from Leh only. With the bike's fuel and air checked, we embarked on our journey to Nubra Valley. Leh to Khardungla top is a journey of around 40kms so even if you consider an average pace of 20 km, you should be able to cross it in at the max 3 hours with sufficient breaks. It was already 10 am by the time we left Leh with a perfect blend of excitement, nervousness, tension running through our veins as none of us have experienced that sort of altitude before but had read a lot about it on blogs on how the humongous Khardungla may hamper one's trip.

Way to Khardungla goes from Leh to South Pullu to Khardung La to North Pullu and then Khardung village, marking the beginning of Nubra Valley. There's a check-post just before South Pullu formed by the local bike renting community where they check your bike papers to ensure that their “Local bikes only” rule is obeyed. The rule is you cannot rent bikes from Himachal or Jammu & Kashmir or nearby cities for that matter, it has to be from Leh. Reason being Leh is a tourist destination and thrives on income generated from tourism and for that sake, a lot of people step into the bike renting business as that sells like a hot cake for touring Leh on bikes has gained immense popularity in the last few years and is on everyone's to-do list. People prefer completing the entire circuit i.e. Srinagar-Leh-Manali or vice-versa hence they end up picking bikes from either Himachal or Jammu & because of which the local Leh community started suffering as even they had their bills to pay and most of them were completely reliant on bike renting business. As a result of which, this rule came into existence. This is applicable on rented bikes as well but if you are touring on your personal bike then it's totally cool, they won't bother you. We were on personal bikes but the owner of 2 bikes was not traveling with us so we were a bit skeptical if that would be a problem? On the check-post they stopped us and asked our whereabouts if the bikes were self-owned to which we just nodded in agreement and moved on & heaved a sigh of relief. Hurdle cleared. Shortly thereafter we took a selfie break at a viewpoint from where we could see the vehicles crawling on steep, rough slopes of the mighty Khardungla. Check photos

Roads up till then were pretty smooth but who knew the hell was waiting for us. Soon after crossing that point, the roads worsened; rough, wet, and slippery with icy water. BRO has done an exceptional job in maintaining even that at such a dizzying altitude. We couldn't even maintain a speed of 10kmph and started feeling the altitude. It took us more than a couple of hours to reach the Khardungla top from South Pullu which is at a mere distance of 14 km from there. We and our bikes struggled to make it to the top as even bikes need oxygen to breathe and it is very less at an elevation of over 17000 feet but at last we made it. Plan was to sip butter tea at the top but we were not in a condition to spend any leisure time at that altitude as all of us except Dimple had severe headaches, aggravating at every second. It is not recommended to spend more than 15 minutes on the top if you are experiencing severe headache which is also one of the AMS symptoms. So we quickly took photos with the Khardungla milestone (one can observe pain in those photos of us) and started descending. Check photos

I personally found the roads after Khardungla even worse but at the same time more thrilling as you pass by a couple of stretches with snow walls on one side & deep gorges meandering down to Gorgeous Nubra Valley on the other. Luckily the weather was all clear and the Sun was shining bright, melting the snow on the pass as a result of which the road had turned into a mini stream flowing down both ways North and South of Khardungla raising the adventure bar a notch higher for the fellow travelers. 

We started the descent together but couldn't stick around due to the challenges thrown by the terrain. The next halt we took was at a cafe after descending down to North Pullu, where we all gathered again to take stock of each other. All of us popped disprins as the headache was literally unbearable but, it didn't work.

We knew we had to descend further to get back to normal. So we started again, Gattu took the lead and the rest followed. While Gattu and Mickey continued, I stayed back for Ankith. After a while there came a plateau just before Khardung village, where I saw Gattu, Dimple, Mickey & Suresh resting on the ground with their bikes parked, we too joined them. It was a flat piece of grassy land welcoming us to straighten our backs after a grueling ride through treacherous Khardungla. While altitude had gotten into the heads of five of us, Dimple had a different story. It went into her stomach😅. She was the only one amongst us with very mild or no headache throughout Khardungla but with an upset stomach. Nobody was in a situation to talk so we let ourselves soak in the silence after completing the descent, as they say, Silence heals!! This was us after descending North Pullu.

Our next stop was Khardung village where we had our lunch. It was already 3 in the noon and being isolated it was difficult to find anything to eat after that till Hunder and we couldn't sustain the hunger pangs any further. We arrived there shortly and ordered "MAGGI" the staple food of the mountains as the VARIETY in the food menu is the least one can expect in isolation. 

The mysterious thing about headaches in high altitude is, it starts pounding when you are relaxing. So while we were waiting for the food my headache aggravated and the pain was so excruciating that I had to pop 2 more disprins to get rid of it & eventually it did settle down after a while. We started exchanging our experiences of how the ride has been through Khardungla, and all seemed terrorized to such an extent that while the ride was just over, the thought of crossing it again sent chills down our spine and we almost took an oath that we'd not take the Khardungla route again on our return journey. 

Initially, that was the plan i.e. going directly to Pangong Tso from Hunder via Wari La but destiny had something else in mind. Due to good monsoon, Shyok was at its full might as a result, the bridge connecting Nubra Valley to Wari la had collapsed, closing the route abruptly till the Bridge was restored. It was a kind of setback to us as for a couple of reasons, viz

1. We had to take Khardungla again, remember we were still in a terrorized state.

2. Our 1 entire day would be wasted, forcing us to rework our plans.

Fingers crossed we prayed for it to get functional before our return journey.

Anyways, by this time the delicious Maggi was being served to us Smokin hot. We hogged and moved on. Rest of the journey turned exceptionally rewarding. Few miles ahead of Khardung village came a dissection, one penetrating straight into the stupendous Nubra Valley and another leading to the historic Siachen glacier base. Roads from there onwards were buttery smooth with stunning vistas. Check the video here. It was an endless stretch of straight roads dissecting the white desert into 2 with guardian mountains all around the horizon #Rejuvenating, again a picture-perfect marriage of all the natural elements together in the scene #magic. Check photos

There was bliss in those surroundings, which had converged our agony into amusement. We forgot all the hardships we've endured to reach this point. Villains like headaches, tiredness, dizziness, etc were out & heroes like excitement, joy, and bliss were in. Our bodies’ every atom was happy to its core, it was that uplifting. There are numerous instances where you’ll have come across Shyok, the river of Death, while touring in this northern part of Ladakh but just for glimpses, as it disappears into the mountains every time after a short cameo. But not any further as the entire Nubra Valley is established on the banks of Shyok river. No matter where you are in the valley you'll always hear the music of Shyok streaming around. Usually calm but cos of good monsoon in the rain shadow region, it was ferocious while we were touring around her. Check video

Next, en route was Diskit followed by Hunder where we had planned our stay and between them lies magnificent white sand dunes. Diskit houses the only functional fuel pump in the entire valley, where we refilled. The ride from there onwards was enthralling and overwhelming with mountains on left, Shyok on the right, and white sand dunes poking periodically all the way till we reached Hunder. A small, serene village with 150 houses approximately, homing around 1200 souls. It was beautiful and captivating. Reached Hunder. 

With no advance room booking, we started checking out homestays, our preferred choice, as we intend to spend some time with the super hospitable locals to get a sneak peek into their lives and culture, instead of getting wasted in luxurious hotels. After checking a couple of options we closed on Padma Homestay, hosted by a beautiful couple, a retired army husband & a lovely housewife named Padma. It was a traditional village property with an animal shed immediately after entering the main gate, followed by a piece of farmland where they grew veggies for livelihood & lastly a parking lot. There were 2 apartments on the property, 1 where the host stayed and 1 for the guests. We got 2 rooms for 5k all inclusive of breakfast and dinner for 2 nights, great deal, right !! Check some photos

Sun was down by the time we settled in Hunder. The host welcomed us with refreshing tea on our special request. All the misery of the treacherous ride was up in smoke by then and we were as fresh as just plucked fruits, ready to explore the streets of Hunder but we stayed back as our supper (Homegrown veggies, momos, and rice) was on its way. So we decided to venture out after the dinner as then our hosts would also be relieved from their duties. They had a dedicated dining room built in such a way that a group of 10-12 people can sit and eat together in a C formation with bedding and tables placed against the walls of the room. That was some royal treatment we got out there & we loved it. The food was delicious too. Check photos 

There was another group of Yash's friends from Mumbai in Hunder. We had stumbled a couple of times before as well on the trip, so we thought of tagging together and spend some time in the desert, gazing the galaxies of stars, a rare sight in polluted metro cities. Gattz and Ankith were keener on this for they were the womanizers and they sensed opportunity there. They both went ahead to pick the group and we were waiting for them at our house. It took them longer than expected and due to poor connectivity, we couldn't establish any sort of communication, resulting in frustration. At last we 4 ventured out without them in the hopes of catching up later somewhere but again we couldn't, adding more to the frustration. So there we were wandering all alone in the land of the unknown in the middle of a cold night. We were heading towards the desert but the absence of any living soul and presence of darkness made it eerily quiet. Courageously, we continued our march till a point from where we could see the vast desert well lit under the moon but couldn’t see Ankith and co. Disappointed, we returned back to our rooms and slept. 

There was pin-drop silence in the valley which was ironically disturbing as we the people from metros are not used to it. Noise acts as a catalyst for a goodnight’s sleep for most of us but after little effort, we dozed off. Somewhere around 12-1 am at midnight, Gattz and Ankith returned and slept. We'll see them tomorrow, bloody assholes!!

Day 7 - 15th July’17 Hunder - Turtuk - Hunder 

Waking up to a beautiful morning, we gathered at breakfast, ready to fire Ankith and Gattz for abandoning US for THEM. Check that look on Dimple’s Face in the below pic :P

They were ready with their explanations but only the breakfast was good if you know what I mean. ;). It was a simple yet nourishing breakfast in which the hosts served us with the filling ladakhi bread,  locally known as khambeer, with butter and jam. A day trip to Turtuk was on the cards today which is also the last settlement on the Indo-Pak border on this horizon and that in itself is more than a reason to have it on our checklist. It was a part of Baltistan, a separate kingdom back then that went under Pakistan in the separation. We fought it back in the war of 1971, hence it is rightly referred to as “Village divided by borders”. Quickly after the breakfast and other morning rituals we were on our way to Turtuk.

It was a ride of approximately 130 odd kms in one of the remotest areas of the country. Roads were surprisingly good in that isolation, being less traveled could be a reason for their well-being. Throughout the journey we kept swirling around Shyok & encountered a couple of landslides as well luckily, we weren't hit by any as all of them have occurred before our arrival so we just had to wait for its clearance and TAT of BRO is exceptional in such isolation. The first landslide came very early after our departure from hunder i.e. only after 15-20 kms, there was fresh rubble on the road for a stretch of 5-7 metres and a crane in action to clear it so that we could pass. After 10 minutes the road was in a somewhat motorable condition and we moved on. Check below

Next came those iconic metallic bridges connecting 2 dissected valleys & Shyok flowing underneath with brute force determined to destroy, we could feel the vibes while riding on the bridge. You also have to observe the discipline of 1 vehicle at a time on those bridges as they are not sturdy and wide enough to sustain regular traffic movement. Route is very picturesque and the experience of riding on curvy roads with towering mountains on one side and sensuous Shyok on the other was exhilarating. Next hurdle came in the form of a puncture in Ankith's bike in the middle of nowhere but the tyre being tubeless, sustained for a while till we reached the next village, Chalunka, the last before Turtuk. I was cursed like anything for I had bought a puncture kit but forgot it in Mumbai in the hush. At Chalunka, just before the village is a bridge on the Shyok river. Earlier the area across the bridge was under Pakistan. There is still an army check post at the bridge to check the identities of everybody traveling further towards Turtuk. Chalunka was a tiny budding village with a few bunch of houses. Luckily, found a garage with the mechanic who was addressing the bike while we were interacting with the cute kids on their way back to home from school. Check photos

There was a tiny yet sharp rock dug deep in the tyre, creating the leakage. Ankith took that stone as a souvenir. The mechanic was a novice as he was able to pluck it out, but was unable to fix it with available puncture strips as they were quite thin and he wasn't really an expert to design a hack to fix a puncture that big with them, leaving behind a pothole in the tyre. In all worsening out the things for us as with that tiny shit in, there was just a leakage in the tyre but it could still hold some amount of air & without that it had gone completely flat, upping the difficulty bar. Next habitat was Turtuk which was still 20 odd kms from that point but it took us forever to cover that distance as the roads were pretty rough and with a flat tyre on it, we could only afford to crawl as the probability of developing a cut in the tyre had increased manifolds, which would be disastrous in that desolation. I remember there were stretches where Ankith had to stand and ride the bike so as to be lighter on tyres. Finally, reached Turtuk after a grueling last lap and found a workshop with a qualified mechanic who could fix this puncture. He was no less than a godman to us but was having his lunch so he called us later. We left the bike at his workshop & went to a nearby guest house to have lunch. Ashoor guest house, a simple and sober place with concrete rooms available to spend the nights. They had an indoor as well outdoor restaurant, we opted for an outdoor one to soak in the ambiance.

We had our moment of peace while relaxing there, food arrived shortly and it turned out to be the best we have had on the entire trip and 1 of the best lunches of our lives. Its Dal fry was exceptional, finger-licking lip-smacking good, all were singing praises with every cusp of it. We passed on the appreciation to the owner who seemed a generous soul. Meanwhile, Ankith went to the mechanic to check if the bike had been fixed, alas! It was. He returned with the bike after which we were relieved as our entire trip was at stake, cos if he would have failed, we'd either have to tow back to Diskit or spend the night in Turtuk, impacting our trip ahead. Such is the terrain of Ladakh, if it punishes, it punishes you hard, you can only plan but you cannot predict. We were #lucky.

Turtuk is located at a much more comfortable height than the rest of Ladakh, most of which is a cold desert plateau. Turtuk is instead a little green oasis unlike the rest of the region. The tedious journey to reach here becomes rewarding upon seeing the postcard picture beauty of Turtuk. It's green all around with numerous glacial streams gushing down to meet the Shyok river. While the whole of Ladakh is a predominantly Buddhist area, Turtuk residents follow Islam as their main religion. It is a village where you can experience a totally different culture expressed in the way people look, behave and dress. Had read a lot about this place on various blogs and hence it was on our checklist. There are a couple of viewpoints and an army check post in Turtuk about which we came to know from the host of Ashoor guest house. After a quick photo session we left the guest house for the checkpost dropping the viewpoints as the entire village, the route, and every bit of Ladakh offer mind-blowing views at every instance. Shortly, we reached the checkpost which was manned by the Maratha regiment. You have to submit your Id proof at the check post before crossing it for security reasons. On the left, a mountain trail leads up to Tyakshi village & 6 kms away from Tyakshi is Thang village which again is just two kilometers away from the POK border, making Thang the northernmost village in India. On right from there is an army camp camouflaged amidst mountains, the last point for the civilians. You can see the Shyok entering effortlessly to Pakistan without any visa, permission, or any trouble for that matter, only we humans are confined by these borders, nature obeys a different law. We spent some time with the soldiers stationed at the unit, they were quite friendly to tell us stories about the life of the villagers having kins on the other side of the border and how they spend winters in the cold desert. We interacted with them in Marathi which was a different feeling on its own for obvious reasons, feeling home away from home. On our left were the mountains which belonged to Pakistan and to the right to India, cannot express the feeling we had standing there but all I can say is it was something never felt before. Clicked some photos with the squad, bid them goodbye, collected our documents at the entrance, and were on our way back to Hunder, snaking on the roads. 

It was past 4 at noon by the time we left the legendary village, no more surprises on our return journey, it was quite swift for the most part except 1. Just before Hunder came a long downward slope. I was already riding at a good pace with the speedometer clocking 80-90 kmph, suddenly it got my attention and an evil thought of taking it over 100 kmph flashed in my mind. Giving in to it did a full-throttle on the slope and while glancing at the speedometer for that 100 mark, I missed a breaker that appeared from nowhere. With a heavyweight like RE bullet and Dimple behind me, I was in no condition to apply instant brakes at that speed as on doing so I would have surely tumbled down. So I just went through the breaker at a speed around 70-80 kmph with gradual brakes, slowing us down, and bang, a loud thud of the filter box came from the bike. The bump somehow got managed due to the heavyweight of the bike and averting the fall. I pulled over the bike to inspect for damages in case any but there were none & that's how we both (bike and us) sustained the blow and survived what could have been a fatal accident otherwise in that remote terrain, #lucky isn't it!! Well indeed we were lucky enough to sustain that but I had my share of learning from that incident and I never over sped on my entire trip thereafter. There's a saying for this in Hindi ‘Nazare hati, durghatna ghati’, I had just lived that the other day. 

Reached our guest house shortly and that's how our super adventurous, thrilling & bumpy ride came to an end. Dinner was getting ready, had our dinner, and called it a day as none of us were in the condition to take any more surprises. Good night!

Day 8 - 16th July’17 Hunder - Karu

Woke up to a fresh morning and gathered for breakfast after prepping up for the checkout as it was our last day at Hunder. Spent some quality time with the hosts, especially the superwoman PADMA, the lady after which homestay is named. She must be in her 50’s but no matter when she sleeps, she starts her day at 5 in the morning with the household chores which includes FARMING as well, hell yeah!! Dimple gave her a hand in her chores & had some hearty conversations while doing so. Guess what? She returned the favor by giving her an ancient Tibetan costume to wear, maybe it was her bridal wear but still, it was a very kind gesture of the noble lady. She even danced with Dimple and taught her some folk moves. Had a good time with the family and checked out with memories for life, & yeah we paid them extra from what was decided for their Amazing hospitality and noble spirit. After all the formalities, we mounted our luggage, checked air in the tyre, and tuned our bikes for today's ride. It had become a daily ritual and a necessity as well in that terrain. While other bikes seemed perfect, Mickey's tyre was leaking for some reasons. Luckily our host had a manual air pump and he helped us fill air into the tyre, trust me it's a difficult thing to do in that altitude. After consistently jumping on that pump we were able to choke in some air in the tyre, just enough to be able to reach Diskit where we could find a mechanic. Check photos

Shortly after we left, Mickey's tyre went flat so I went back to our host, seeking help and the man, as always willing to help came along with me with the pump with which we had filled in before at the guesthouse and tried pumping in some air but again it didn't last long. This time we had no choice, so moving on we reached the eye candy of Hunder, the White Sand Dunes, famous for its double-humped Bacterian camel safari. We were a bit early for the safari as they were just preparing the camels for the ride and trust me it isn't a pleasant sight. The poor camel endures a lot of pain and sheer torture before he is ready to take you for a ride. We simply couldn't convince our conscience after witnessing that agony for ourselves so we just dropped the plan of taking the ride but we had a blast in the white desert, clicked photos, and left for Leh. Check photos

Direct route to Pangong was still closed as per the update from locals, so had to take the Khardungla route again. It was a setback for us as our buffer day was getting consumed there. Reached Diskit and while we refilled fuel, Mickey tried his luck with the mechanic. He had to go into the village and was again lucky enough to find him and get his tyre fixed else Khardungla with that tyre was impossible. We waited for Mickey and Suresh at the pump. The thought of crossing Khardungla again gave us chills as the previous experience was terrifying but nothing could be done, we braved it with our might and perseverance. Gattz took a short halt just before the ascend to quench his hunger pangs, I waited for him while hinting Mickey and Ankit to continue. We had one of the best Aloo paratha and vegetable maggi at the cafe and continued our voyage. Surprisingly this time it went like a breeze, neither we felt the altitude nor the terrain as our bodies had acclimatized well after spending a couple of nights in Hunder but our bikes still struggled at that altitude. We had to tune up the default RPM setting from 1 to 2 to sustain the thin air, rest all went pretty well on the return trip, in fact, we even spent some leisure time at the Khardungla top this time. Moreover, Dimple was so charged up that she did a short hike on the top just to get a good pose, ain't a mean deal at 17000 feets but as legends say never underestimate a woman when it comes to photos. Check below

While descending we tried different engaging activities, like I was indulged in clearing the roads by kicking the gravel wandering on it and I was pretty much enjoying the game. We even got into a friendly race while sprinting down from South Pullu to Leh as the roads were pretty good & also we were a bit bored plus hungry after the tiring ride through Khardungla. It was past 3 in the noon by the time we reached Leh so we started looking for a good restaurant en route as the plan ahead was not fixed and we didn't want to waste time in tripping to Leh just for the sake of lunch. Eventually after doing a couple of rounds settled with whatever we got during that hour.

Our trip to Hanley went for a toss after the detour to Leh instead of a direct trip to Pangong from Nubra and that was the point of discussion throughout lunch and thereafter. Now there were 2 thoughts emerging in our heads.

1. Doing Hanle (favored by Ankit, Dimple, and Gattz)

2. Skipping Hanle (favored by Mickey and Suresh)

I was on the neutral side, but deep within I so wanted to do Hanle, known for housing the world's highest astronomical observatory and the only place for which I had paid in advance for the rooms along with the arrangements of spare fuel as there are no pumps in and around Hanle. 

Hanle is one of the remotest villages in the entire Ladakh region and thus requires thorough planning before hitting its roads, if we may call it so. It's so deserted that you'd rarely find a soul en route, raising its difficulty a notch above other venues in Ladakh, at the same time making it more appealing, but finally, after gauging the current situation, the pros, and cons of it, we mutually agreed to drop it, a tough call. After lunch, we went to a nearby workshop to get our bikes checked as Mickey's bike was struggling a lot and required troubleshooting. There we encountered fellow travelers, some returning from Khardungla, some from Pangong, some from Spiti valley and shared experiences. So while the mechanic had a date with our bikes, we discussed and finalized the plan ahead which was an excursion to Pangong from Karu. Now the question was where to spend the night? Leh or Karu? Karu was a preferred option as we'd save some travel time in the crucial morning hours the next day. After enquiring about the availability of the rooms at Karu from locals, we decided to spend the night there so that we could start early. It took more than expected at the garage and by the time we left, the sun was down. Although Karu was at a short distance of 30 kms from Leh, it still took us more than an hour to reach Karu. Roads were smooth but the climate was freezing and the dead dark night slowed us down. There's a checkpost just at the entrance of Karu from where we enquired about the petrol pump it had as we planned to refill but unfortunately by the time we reached, it was closed and would open the next morning only. 

Reaching Karu, we checked a couple of hotels before finalizing one. Good thing was, all the hotels were adjacent to each other providing us with the required options and luxury to bargain. It's kind of a junction with roads leading to Manali and Pangong with all the hotels within a radius of 1 km around it. It was already late so we quickly unmounted the luggage and stormed in the restaurant for dinner as the kitchen was about to get close. There we encountered a guy named Sumer, a young jovial lad in his teens and so charismatic that he got all of us into him with his sense of humor, innocence, and honesty. We conversed all the while till our order arrived and called it a day after finishing our dinner.  It was relatively an easy day of our till date journey.

Day 9 - 17th July’17 Karu - Pangong

It was a big day for the 2nd highest motorable pass Changlang la was to be traced before our arrival at the Pristine Pangong Lake. The first thing in the morning, we went to the fuel pump to refill and got the spare fuel in jerry cans as there is no pump till Pangong and back till Karu & it was a journey of over 400 kms. Now the challenge was to mount the filled cans on the bikes while ensuring the following,

• Evaporation and Leakage - Fuel evaporates and as the cans weren't airtight, there were high chances of Leakage. As a solution to it we searched for polythene and layered it at the mouth of the cans before closing the lid making them airtight as well as leak-proof in case of bumps.

• Loosening and Balance - Jerrycans were supposed to be placed and tied over the bike's footrest and as each Jerrycan weighed around 5kg, it can't be left hanging without base support. So while the footrests of the Enfields were broad enough to accommodate a jerry can, gixxers didn't provide the same luxury for it had narrow footrests. We had to ensure firm support at the bottom to keep it sturdy throughout the ride. Designed a jugaad,  picked up discarded cardboard boxes from the rag around the streets, and formed a base layer on gixxers footrest of the required width ensuring the bottom support, and then firmed it further by tying the ropes we carried from Mumbai around it. #creativeminds

Now the bikes were ready to roll, did a couple of test rounds to check the aerodynamics after mounting Jerry Cans along with the luggage, a safety drill to assure that balance was not compromised & it wasn't. We left Karu around 8.30 in the morning and soon after taking that left turn to Pangong Tso the roads worsened and welcomed us with an under-construction Highway. Thus was very dusty, very grainy, and very rough for very long, was nearly the same for almost 20-30 kms and took us forever to cover it. After doing the entire trip, I can rightfully declare it the worst stretch of the trip, not cos it was difficult but rather boring and frustrating due to constant exposure to dust, scorching sun, and terrible roads. There was no thrill, no adventure, just sheer boredom and irritation for consistently riding at a snail's pace for more than an hour under the Sun. The real adventure began after that part when we started ascending Changlang La and were startled at the base only by its sheer gradient. There came a short stretch with a gradient as steep as 50°. No mean thing to do on bikes on a kutcha Rasta like that with full of dust and lose rocks ensuring your downfall if at all you apply brakes. It was impossible to do it with a pillion but we still gave it a shot, crossing halfway our bikes gave up and so did we. Dimple and Suresh walked the remaining part as we had to do it without applying brakes to ensure safety. There were high chances of the bike stopping amid such a steep ascent and if it did then controlling the bike on its way back down would have been nearly impossible. You skid if you apply brakes and if you don't then you lose control of it while reversing down, either way, your downfall was confirmed. No choice, we had to do it, as a safety measure, we had collected and created a barrier with few big rocks to prevent the reverse downfall, time for some action.

Gixxers being lighter succeeded in 1st attempt so I and Ankith went ahead & completed the stretch, parked bikes & stepped down to assist the rest in case of a failure. Now it was Mickey's turn, his bike couldn't take his weight, so Gattz being the most skilled and experienced rider amongst all of us took it from Mickey and did it in a couple of attempts. It wasn’t over yet, one bullet was still down so Gattz came back again to take his ride up this time and somehow managed it after struggling a bit on the incline. We all started pondering on what lied ahead if the beginning was so intriguing. 

It was a smooth ride for the next 30-40 mins then came the 1st water crossing, a naive 1, neither it was deep nor it had the flow as it was just 11 at noon. That's one of the main reasons why it is highly recommended to start early on these high passes as with the Sun, the gushing force of water rises manifolds, strong enough to wash away a biker along with the bike. Moreover, none of us had any prior experience of riding through the water crossings and that too mountainous. Being Mumbaikars we've rode on waterlogged streets but this was different altogether. 

We crossed it swiftly without any fuss as the road underwater was visible to dodge loose rocks and potholes for any surprises but the next 1 was wide, deep, and had a stronger water flow. No way we could have crossed it with a pillion, so dimple and Mickey had to walk through that water crossing but luck was favoring us as it has been throughout the trip, so there was this lovely family, a couple along with their sister-in-laws, traveling in a 4WD pickup truck from Jammu, came to our rescue. They happen to reach that crossing at the same time, out of generosity offered us to tag along in their truck to which we agreed and hopped in, as the last thing you would want in such weather is a wet shoe which will take days to dry and will freeze your feet to death. So that's how Dimple and Mickey averted the water crossing on legs. Now it was our turn, very cautiously we attempted it in a single drag without using our legs but 1 at a time so that we could venture a different path if there were any potholes on the current one, all went through it with a couple of jerks. Now came the 3rd & the most fierce of all encountered till now, following the same protocol, I dared it first & somehow crossed it but couldn't prevent stepping foot in the water stream as I got stuck in a deep cavity forcing me to step in. As a precautionary measure, I had already removed socks thereby saving that hassle at least. Others experimented with different paths and succeeded in crossing them without getting wet. We were closing in on the Changla top by now, the ride was a thrilling one with ample water crossings.

Halfway through, we soon reached the top, met Dimple and Mickey with the gang, remember!! They were with the family in their pickup truck. Most of these popular high passes have cafe kinda setup, serving Maggie and other eateries on the top of the pass. Braving the weather and altitude, they serve the tourists with utmost hospitality. Even after being on the 2nd highest motorable road, we didn't feel the altitude as our bodies had readily acclimatized in the Nubra valley, ruling out altitude sickness from the equation. All the passes had a milestone on the top with the fame inscribed on it in words, the whole purpose of that was to click selfies around it. We all ordered maggie and had a feast, shared our experiences of the Crazy Changla ride till the top, clicked some pictures, and moved on. Check photos

Dimple and Mickey continued with the family as only the Halfway was done, half was still remaining and was still unknown. Moving like a convoy, we kept close to each other this time. Descend was nothing less than a hell of a ride with roads poorer than Khardungla. We literally rode on boulders, big enough to obstruct even SUV'S. It took all the strength we got to control the bike on such roads, a grave torture. There was a long queue of vehicles to cross one such crossing full of boulders at the bottom of descent but we being on bikes trespassed it from the sides. There was an army check post just after that boulder crossing marking the entrance of Tangste, a small scenic village bordering China, where they check your permits. Dimple and the gang made first to the checkpost and waited for the rest of us as they didn't have the permits. Next came Ankith, then me. Suresh was yet to come so I waited for him and the rest continued their journey as by the time I arrived it was already over half an hour to their break. Suresh turned up shortly after their departure, he was having issues with the jerry cans, they kept loosening due to extremely rough Changlang La terrain. 

Ride from Tangste to Pangong was very pleasant for most of the part, ample of lush green patches amidst grey mountains with rare species grazing on it, sheer treat to your eyes. That's not it, to boost your adrenaline, there was that roller coaster ride snaking between crazy slopes full of water at the junctions. It was like vroom - down - splash - up - vroom, down - splash - up - vroom for almost 40-45 minutes.  Water had accumulated at the junction of most of the slopes, deep enough to tremble you down if you rushed through it like an amateur without anticipating its depth. Contrarily the route is so inviting that you tend to speed and encounter the clogged junction as a surprise as you can't see the depressions forming out of slopes as it were down-up instead of up-down. This happened with Gattz, he misjudged the depth at one junction & as a result of which lost balance and nearly fell, managing it somehow by pulling the bike with all his might to bring it back in an upright position. 

There's a Jab Tak Hai Jaan famed viewpoint in that region where a scene from the iconic movie was shot. Soon after that, roads transform to rocks and soil and as a welcome gift gives you the first glimpse of the tranquil Lake, pacifying all your hardships till then to a level that you even forget the pathetic road you are riding on. Check photos

There was a sudden surge of energy in all of us, like a strong force was pulling us towards the lake. It was still 10 km away thus making us even more restless. The ride from thereafter was again rough but it didn't bother us as we were under the magical spell of the iconic Lake. It took us half an hour more to make it to the lake and by the time we reached it was already past 3 in the noon. The first thing to hit your eyes is the sparkling blue crystal clear water of the Pristine lake spread over 135 km deep into the mountains across borders, it kinda hypnotizes you with its charm and calm. Next thing to get your attention is the flourishing tourism, which got a boost after 3Idiots. Concrete Hotels, kacha Pukka tents, restaurants, 3 Idiots fame scooter and RGB butts, etc, you'll find everything on this desolate high altitude Lake. We quickly got a room for us, dumped our luggage, and headed straight for lunch as it was already late noon. 

The rule is you have to eat where you stay, otherwise, they charge you extra bucks for the stay but our guy was very cool and jovial. He not only allowed us to eat out for lunch but also provided rooms at a very nominal cost of Rs. 600/night for all 6 of us. Okay! In exchange, we promised him dinner at his place. We all had lunch together, the family and us. They were heading back the same day so we bid them goodbye before our date with the Lake. Check photos

Straightway headed to the shore, grabbed a less crowded piece of land, and surrendered ourselves to the flawless beauty. Sparkling-blue water beneath you, clear blue skies above you, and Tan-brown mountains besides you, indeed beauty beyond the scope of words. Lost in the echo of the waving water caressing our feet, we sat completely immersed in the ambiance. Quenched our soul further by supplementing it with subtle music on our phones, ahh #magicMoment. check photos

There are other viewpoints within the radius of 5 km which one can explore for more solace as the main hub is full of tourists all the time. After spending some time on that shore, we rode to a more secluded and raw viewpoint called as a shooting point, maybe the last scene of 3 Idiots was shot there, hence the name. It was just another shore but with fewer people and more Lake insight. We continued our peace therapy there, played music, danced, clicked photos, and made memories for life, here is the link to our dance video here check photos

With the Sundown, the wind got wilder, stronger & colder, dropping the temperatures every minute, making it unbearably cold. We returned to our rooms and on the way back, dimple tried her luck with the bike and rode for a while. Dashing in our bunkers, we quickly layered up before sneaking into our blankets as it was severely cold. There was this guy named Rigzin, a very humble & jolly character with a tickling bone who looked after us and fulfilled our requirements. Soon, he came to call us for dinner and by this time the wind outside had become so ferocious that we could hear its roar inside our room, it was so loud that we were literally scared to step out but we had to as the restaurant was a walk away from our bunker. Rushing through the door we got into the restaurant, ordered food, and sat around a chimney to get warmth. Only 7 in the evening and it was freezing outside and it would grow substantially as the night advances. We ordered a glass of hot milk for everyone post-dinner and asked Rigzin to deliver it after an hour or so directly to our room, we headed back & slept. Initially, we had thought of stargazing as it was a sky full of stars but extreme cold and fiery winds crushed the thought in its budding stage. Though ironic it may sound but it was eerily quiet i.e. No noise except the roar of the wind and tin sheets dancing to its tunes for the rooms which didn't have the privilege of a concrete roof. Though it was difficult to sleep at that altitude in that noise I somehow fell asleep and was awoken only when Rigzin knocked on the door with hot milk. He also served it in the most dramatic manner. So the story goes like, we all were up on his arrival except Gattu. He didn't even nudge by our calls so we asked Rigzin to do this job and he did it in his style, notoriously! There he was with a glass of milk in his hand, softly nudging and calling his name in a melodious manner 'gatuuuuuu’ just like a newly wed bride, we all started imitating him, it was really funny. That's how we ended the day on a lighter note.

Day 10 - 18th July’17 Pangong - Karu - Pang (330 km) 

Morning was relatively quiet, it was cold but there was no wind, making it bearable to venture out and we did so to witness the morning hues of the splendid Lake. 

A long treacherous day was awaiting us as we had to cover a distance of 330km tracing 2 of the world's acclaimed High passes, #2 Chang Lang la and #3 Tang Lang la before arriving at Pang where we had planned our stay for the night. So not wasting much time, we completed the check-out formalities and were ready to roll but before that, we had to figure out a ride for the pillions as we knew that our bike couldn't drag them all through till Karu. We asked Rigzin to check this out with fellow travelers and hoteliers if there was any ride returning to Leh or Manali who'd drop them at Karu. Luckily there was one Jeep traveling back and had a couple of vacant seats, he was asking around ₹1500 for 2 of them with luggage, fair enough! We immediately sealed the deal, dumped Mickey, Dimple, and all the luggage in the Jeep except our backpacks which we kept with ourselves to keep our rainy wear handy, just in case. They took off quickly from Pangong and were supposed to meet us at our hotel in Karu. Check Photos

Now there were only 4 of us remaining back. It was time to use the spare fuel we had carried along all the way from Karu in Jerry Cans for the fuel in bikes wouldn't last until the next fuel station which was at Karu. Emptying the cans in the tanks we set off from Pangong with ample memories to cherish for a COUPLE of lifetimes. Time gap between the bikes and the Jeep was about 30 - 40 minutes, they had taken a halt at Tangste for breakfast. By the time we reached the spot, they were done with it and were ready to move. We too quickly ordered our thing and moved on. Jeep was already ahead of us, so we too rushed as it was crucial to reach Karu ASAP for Dimple & Mickey would be awaiting us. It was a fine morning with clear sky assisting us to trace back the crazy Changlang la swiftly without many hassles for most of the part, except for one spot at the foot of the pass. There had been a landslide sometime earlier & BRO was engaged in clearing it, so had to wait till its clearance which came nearly after 30mins. At this juncture I met Gattz, he too was waiting for the clearance but post that he surpassed me on that same FRUSTRATING under construction stretch. So again I was last & by the time I arrived at the hotel, the rest of the gang had cooled down. 

Gattz then hinted at me to check Ankith's bike by flashing a gaze at him. I went to check his bike, found dents & scratches on it. Shocked to see, I quickly went back to see Ankit, if he was alright as it was clear that he had crashed somewhere en route. Though he looked settled by then but was shivering in a frenzy for he had a narrow escape from what could have been a fatal accident. His elbow and knee guards were completely scraped, taking all the hits of the fall and saving him the bruises. Hence it's highly recommended to put safety gear while riding in such terrain. Read the incident below in his words,

"You don’t always need a red bull to give you wings. All you need is a kickass bike, an open tarmac and if you put both of these in the Ladakh part of India, you’d probably fly. That is what I did, I flew; that is before I came crashing down. Here you go: 

We were returning from Pangong and were traveling to Pang. Wait correction: others were riding (on the road), and I was flying (probably a little above the road). Having gotten accustomed to my bike, the road, the curves, etc, my 155 cc bike felt like a 1550 one (I swear, I ain't kidding). I was comfortable cruising over 110 and was comfortable to lean on the corners at 80 kmph. The luggage mounted on the pillion seat actually gave a lot of balance to the ride-ability (since the bike originally weighed 135 kgs). Now, keeping the technical stuff aside. 

Like I said, I was flying. I thought of having some fun. The weather was good, I was feeling good, and I also wanted some adrenaline pumping. I then took a No-wise decision and decided to leave the crew behind to take some hard corners. I sped forward. Kid you not, I enjoyed the ride. I did a few knee scrapes on my 155 cc, at 90 kmph, with no ABS and not-so-good braking. You know where this is heading right? 

I was enjoying the ride and the landscape. After having covered 20 odd kms, I was approaching another corner. The road was clear, I could see the bend, I leaned over to my left, the bike too leaned with me. The next moment - I was on the ground. The problem was, I wasn’t just on the ground, I was being dragged on the ground, with my bike on top of me. 

Three seconds later (which actually felt forever) my bike left me behind and continued the drag. Meanwhile, I pressed my hand (with my gloves on) on the ground to generate some friction so that I could at least stop. Both of us scraped for about 20 meters (again, which felt longer) and finally stopped. I then realized that something wrong had happened; something that wasn’t part of the plan. 

My body was stiff, I couldn't move. I could see a bike approaching. It had two souls on it. They jumped off and came running towards me to pick me. I stood up. They then tried to pick the bike. They held it by its rear, tried bringing it to an upright position only to realize that it was drifting down. Down where? Down the cliff. Gravity. We were at the edge of the cliff. With a knee-jerk reaction, all three of us held the bike by its rear and simply dragged it up. Success!!

Now for the most important part. To assess the damage done. I checked my limbs. Seemed to be moving. I flexed my muscles to sense any pain. I had a stiff back and thought my leg was hurt. While I was pressing my hands on the road, my gloves completely scraped off. So were my knee and elbow guard. Shoe lost its toe, but I got to keep mine. In short, I was in a decent shape than I expected me to be. God bless the one who made protective wear. 

Now onto the bike. At first glance, I could clearly see the head bent towards the left. When I say head, it means the headlight, the handlebar, and the freaking bike. Please remember I am on a mountain some 50 kms from civilization and 2000 kms from home. Okay, so ride this one, I need an engine, the clutch, and accelerator wire to work properly and tyres. Let’s take a look. 

Engine had eaten a lot of mud. In fact, I could not see the engine. Only mud. I went for the clutch. The clutch is usually bent at 90 degrees, but today, mine was bent at 150. It basically folded itself inside. Accelerator cable felt fine and so did the tyres. Okay not bad!

Meanwhile, the two souls who helped me asked a lot of questions. I think I answered none. But I did thank them for their help and wished them a safe ride. I sat on my bike, though it didn’t feel right but pressed the engine start key and the bike came to life. The brakes were okay and acceleration too seemed fine. Only major issue was that the handlebar was tilted towards the left, while I had to go straight. I had no option. I hit the accelerator, we started moving forward. We gathered some speed. No, I did not cross 20 kmph. I was actually hoping my crew would catch up on me, but they didn’t(assholes). I kept pushing forward, I rode for about an hour or so to reach our resting point. 

I got off my bike, it looked terrible. I felt terrible. I felt the pain that I hadn’t felt for the last hour. I sat while waiting for my crew to join. Had a story to share." 

#Luckily, Ankith and his bike both were able enough to continue even after the accident. 

It was already past 2 at noon by the time we finished our lunch, refilled our bikes and Jerry Cans at the only station at Karu, the next available pump was 350 kms away at Jispa. 

Our stay for the night, juggling between Sarchu and Pang, was yet to be fixed but before that one more monster was to be traced, the 3rd highest pass of the entire trip "Tanglang La" towering at an altitude of 5328 metres on Leh Manali Highway. Pang was 140 km away from Karu and Sarchu was another 80km ride from Pang. Initially, the thought was of riding up to Sarchu as stay options in Pang were quite limited. Route was scenic and roads were pretty much in shape for most of the part helping us to cover a good distance. You pass through offbeat villages of Upsi, Gya, Rumtse before reaching the base of Terrific Tanglang La. It was a smooth ride till Rumtse and then things started getting nasty. Weather gods got into a playful mood. We could see deep and dark clouds hovering over us intensifying with every passing minute. Legend says mountain weather and women's mood, can't be predicted and changes before you know it, had numerous instances with ladies but this was the 1st with mountain weather, experienced it!! We were at the feet of Tanglang La and could see dense clouds gulping the pass taking it out of sight. Check Photos

We stopped to suit up, as since our arrival in Leh, a rainshadow region, rains never troubled us but the moment we came off Leh's radar, rains were back and with a bang, as it was the core monsoon for the rest of India (mid-July). Before we could layer up, it started raining forcing us to upp the tarpaulins on our bags to prevent it from getting wet, before insulating ourselves with whatever we had, as the only thing we lacked was Err, 

1. Proper rain gear to last Acute Mountain Rains - we just had some old rainwear and some ponchos, not sufficient to protect you.

2. Puncture kit to survive Nasty roads.

Rest I think we came well prepared, a pat on our back for that but let's leave it for the end, we got a situation to deal with. So there we were, caught up amidst rains AGAIN. To make things worse, I tried putting my winter jacket under & rain suit over it to safeguard from the cold but it was too much stuffing for the suit zip to handle & finally, it came out leaving me in a soup. Improvising in the situation, I pulled my backpack in the front and tried covering it with a tarpaulin sheet in a bid to protect it from the direct assault and to sustain the rains for a while before getting drenched but that wasn't good enough. As we started advancing towards the pass, the drizzle converged into a heavy downpour, drenching us completely and dropping the temperature significantly. If not for rains, the route was breathtakingly beautiful with wide and smooth roads curving around towering mountains, and with rains, it LITERALLY took our BREATH away. Roads were exceptionally well built and maintained from the start till the top. 

From all the passes, Tanglang la had the roads to die for, buttery smooth, but rains kept our riding spirits grounded as we couldn't stand the freezing airblasts in a drenched condition at such an altitude. After a short while all our defenses had succumbed to rains and we had started freezing especially our palms and feet as neither we had rainproof gloves nor gators to cover our shoes and thereby feet, to such an extent that it was really difficult to do basic operations like switching gears, applying brakes and clutch, etc. while riding but no way out, we continued! Slow and steady facing the storm with sheer determination, ignoring all the pain & because of our slow pace, the pass seemed never-ending. Every time we thought it was over, it kept UNVEILING the MORE of it, like a lasting nightmare. It kept raining, wreaking havoc on us when we desperately wanted it to end. Every atom of our bodies crying for the warmth of the Sun and every pore praying for it. 

Nearing atop the downpour got even heavier, almost freezing us to death. We somehow made it and sheltered ourselves under the 2 tents available at the top as the refreshment point. It was crowded as all the travelers en route took a break to let the rain pass. Usually, rains don't last in mountains but this time it did for all of us and for quite a long time. We got some BOILING water from the tent owner and poured it on our hands and legs to bring them back to life but it didn't even nudge them. Next, we ordered tea and when it arrived, we were unable to even hold the cups steadily due to extensive shivering. I even dipped my fingers into the hot tea to keep it going but still couldn't feel any of them. People were literally buying tea to wash their hands as water is scarce at such an altitude. We even recorded that bit for ourselves, here's the link to it. Check Photos

There was an instant drop in the mercury, it would be ranging around -2° to 2° C but trust me it felt way colder with the pouring sky at that altitude. With thoughts oscillating between WAIT and GO, we continued our entourage after a while seeking resort from the deadly cold as it was already past noon and a lot of distance was to be covered to reach our night halt. Moreover, if the weather had deteriorated further then we would have been into deep shit, a life-threatening one. 

It continued raining misery on us even while descending for some time. I was so cornered that my survival instincts took over the sophisticated mind & bizarre thoughts of getting warmth started hitting me and giving in to a few of them I literally peed on my own hands to get them going #Bizzare1. Yeah, I did that! Next for legs, I gently pushed my feet on the surface of the road and rode for a while with the thought of generating some heat from the friction between my shoes and road #Bizzare2. 

Descend was short-spanned and rains had stopped halfway down the pass & Sun of hope came out #Relieved, Blissed, and Blessed!! Nightmare was over and the cold torture had, at last, come to an end. Far away, I saw Mickey and Suresh dancing on the road under the sun to warm themselves up. The rigorous fight with the weather was over and we had come out victorious. There was this small concrete shop run by a lady at the bottom of the pass on the Manali side, where we took our much-needed break and heaved a sigh of relief.Check Photos 

Next available habitat was Pang which was still 50kms away, a ride of more than an hour with the good thing being the weather was clear ahead and the famous Moore Plains was to be traced. Moore Plains is reckoned as the best part of the Leh Manali trip, a stretch of 40+ kms flat, well laid straight roads, open tarmac leading into the horizon with snow-capped mountains bestowing its royal grandeur upon us with endless plains, some brown and some green on both the sides. I'd have awarded Oscar to BRO, if I could for such a remarkable feat. All the suffering of Tanglang La was gone in a blink, it's that PURE, MAGICAL, and HEALING. You'd be tempted to over speed but hold your horses or you'll be surprised by the sudden low lying bumps which you ought to miss, after being in MOORE zone, or rather I’d say MOORE Zen. 

Incidentally, More Plains is also rightfully called the table-top of Earth. Cruising through the plains, we reached Pang which was nothing but a settlement with few semi-concrete tents to accommodate passing travelers like us, as there are not many options available after Jispa to Leh. Its operators are native migrants, they set up their business in the valley for 4 months (May-Sept) which is the peak traveling season as people pour in from all over the world during this period. 

After checking a couple of rooms, we closed on one, it was a very basic & compact room enough to accommodate all of us with our luggage and our teeny-tiny amigos (all sorts of bugs) but Hey! keep your sophistication at bay when you are wandering in the wilderness. Dumped our luggage and stepped out for dinner. The hosts had a decent kitchen and menu to pacify your hunger pangs as when you have a quenched Soul, you don't care much about your Stomach. You just eat to keep your body going. The rule of eat where you stay was applicable here as well but any which way you don't have the luxury of choice in that terrain. You just have to obey and respect what is thrust upon you. Check Photos 

I can rightly announce it as the most taxing day of our entire trip for the rains had spoiled the charm of it, though Moore plains covered up for it but the sufferings at Tang Lang la were enormous. Good night!!

Day 11 - 19th July’17 - Pang - Gata loops - Sarchu - Zing zing bar - Jispa - Keylong - Manali

The day's highlights were Gata loops (21 hairpin bends), 4 high altitude passes (highest for any given day of the trip, we've so far traced only 1 in a day), and the mischievous Zing Zing Bar nullah before arriving at Manali.  A total distance of 300km was to be covered in a day which is a lot on a bike in such terrain. Without wasting much time we left Pang and shortly arrived at the first High pass of the day Lachulung La, towering at 16000 fts, roads were a mix of good, bad and worse but when you've gone through a lot of worse, the bad seem good, CONFUSED??? nevermind! Weather was clear so it didn't pose us any sort of serious challenge like other passes did but ascending with a pillion was still something we weren't sure off! So grabbing an opportunity, we offloaded them in an Indian oil petrol truck,  traveling towards Manali in a convoy.  Also, the driver was a Punjabi in his late 40's, which deemed safe as well as reliable to take a lift from them instead of trying our luck with bikes. It did drizzle at some places but was mostly a dry spell cos of which we crossed it swiftly. There lie 2 high mountain passes back to back between Pang and Sarchu, the first was Lachulung La that we just crossed and the other was Nakee La which was up next. One can see Nakee La from Lachulung La top and probably that's why they are called twin passes. 

Just from Nakee La top, starts the infamous Gata loops which are a series of 21 hairpin bends, and just at the onset of the loops lies a plastic bottle dump which is, unfortunately, a shrine devoted to the ghost of Gata loops. 

The story floating around in the community and on the internet goes like, a truck driver was driving to Leh from Manali with a helper in the bone-chilling winter season. His was the last truck to pass Rohtang that day and soon the weather worsened. It snowed heavily due to which Baralacha la was shut, but by this time he had somehow managed to reach Gata loops before his truck gave up. He was stranded there with no help, no food & no water for the next few days. Driver left the helper with the truck to seek help on foot from nearby villages but succumbing to weather he never returned & eventually the helper also died. After a couple of weeks, the weather cleared, passes opened & their remains were evacuated. Since then people started creating and spreading stories.

Frankly, Did not feel any kind of presence or uneasiness while we were there on the estranged spot like we usually feel on such sites. We took a break at that shrine and waited for the others. Soon everyone arrived including Dimple and Mickey. It was a mesmerizing descend all the way down to Sarchu. You start seeing Greens from the Browns as terrain once again converges from Barren brown to Gorgeous green, such is the expanse of Gata loops

Next, we stopped at a Dhaba at Sarchu for breakfast and moved on to the 3rd high pass of the day Baralacha la, at 16000fts. A pleasant ride throughout except for certain bad patches with difficult roads. Coming next was Zingzing bar, known for its fierce water crossings. I had seen some videos on YouTube out of curiosity to get an idea about it and trust me those footages were terrifying, evident enough to send chills down your bones. It is rated as one of the most difficult water crossings on the entire Srinagar-Leh-Manali circuit. There have been incidents where people have stranded for days just to cross the Nullah, it's that furious at times. You can hear the music of raging water from a distance, it's that loud. But luck was favoring us again as it has been throughout the journey, we didn't find any traffic and to our surprise, there was a newly constructed bridge for the bikers & small hatchbacks to sail over the furious pass, without braving its ferocity. We saw other unfortunate vehicles struggling to get through. Trust me the nullah holds the reputation of breaking down the vehicles at the slightest of handling error. No doubt it's quite enthralling to cross this Nullah and will feed your adventure bug but one should be very careful while daring Zing Zing bar nullah.

Moving on, we reached Jispa where we refilled our bikes after a long journey from Karu and discarded the Jerry cans as they were no longer required as from then onwards fuel pumps were readily available. Thanks, Jerry!! You helped us a lot!

The terrain was lush green from there onwards and after spending the last few days in barren brown it felt rejuvenating in the greeting green as our bodies were overwhelmed with the sudden surge of oxygen in the air after spending days in its scarcity #JUSTBREATHE. Jispa to Keylong was a very scenic ride with lush green vistas all around the hill roads. There was this tiny stream of water coming down from the mountains, where we refilled our bottles & drank directly without questioning its purity, and trust me, it was very refreshing and tasty. Check Photos 

I personally found Keylong prettier, more greener and more appealing than Jispa for some reasons. It lies on the foot of Rohtang pass on the other side & cos of which there was a long queue of vehicles at the checkpost, just before you ascend Rohtang. It took us some time to get through it and once through we could see the twists and turns of Gargantuan Rohtang. From the distance, it appeared like we'd cross it over in a short span but it took us longer than expected. Check Photos

So there we were at the last high mountain pass of the trip but with a fresh set of challenges AGAIN. This journey covers a series of the world's topmost, acclaimed high altitude mountain passes with each 1 offering something new every time, in terms of difficulty; listing them below,

1. Zojila - Gradient was very steep with wet & slippery roads due to rains.

2. Khardungla - Altitude was a problem cos of which our HEADS went for a Toss everything else TAILing behind.

3. Changlang La - Roads were terrible, literally boulders to ride on with lots of water crossings.

4. Tanglang La - Weather took our case this time, with sky showering not rains but wrath upon us.

5. Rohtang - Deep Slushy roads, almost impossible to maneuver on bikes. (Read to know more on this, I am yet to cover this.)

There was a constant game of Sun and Shadow all through the day with short spells of rains in between which didn't have any impact for the rest of the part, but on Rohtang, it resulted in a greasy mess. Dirt on roads, after coming in contact with rainwater had become thick and slushy, enough to submerge half of your wheel and this was at the upper half of the pass where on your right, you have mountains and on your left, you have enormous deep gorges to be exposed off!! If you dare to skid, very likely on that surface!! It required skillful maneuvering on that thick layer of slush and trust me you'd never want to step into it, yucky!! We had to, no other choice as usual and we did it smartly. There were numerous trailers passing by and because of the sheer weight they were displacing enough of Slush to the sides, creating a short window to pass by following the trail left behind by their tyres. We all marked our trucks and planned our passage for most of such marshy patches, till we reached atop. While this hack worked for the smaller patches which were in majority but for few longer stretches, it didn't prove effective for a couple of reasons

1. We had to follow the trail for a longer duration, very risky as,

2. Probability of the truck stopping in between was very high about which we had a fresh unpleasant experience. 

There was this trailer that got stuck due to an underlying boulder in the middle while crossing one such stretch and couldn't move further. It was accelerating but thanks to the greasy surface its tyre was just spinning, splashing the slush backward without moving an inch forward, and trust me, you wouldn't like to be stranded behind such a thing, taking all that shit on you. Hence we were scared and reluctant to follow the trails on longer stretches. So we came up with another strategy to encounter this situation, we maintained a good distance between the truck and our bikes, and started off once the truck was about to clear. This reduced our window of clear passage but was relatively a safer solution than staking on trailers. This was an incredible experience where we were chased by the slush slowly and dangerously encroaching our back, a frightening yet thrilling sight. We got through most of it clean but at certain places had to get ourselves dirty, nonetheless like all other challenges it was over. We reached the Rohtang top at dusk with the Sun painting the sky Orange. It was glorious & gorgeous. This was my 3rd visit to Rohtang but it had never appeared so green ever before, it was always white as all my previous visits were in winter and this was my 1st excursion in monsoon. Check photos

We took a very short break on the pass as it was the first time for everybody else except Ankith and me.  From what I've read on blogs on the internet, there was yet another furious water crossing called "Rani Nullah" awaiting us a few miles ahead of the pass towards Manali. Though we didn't encounter any such crossing on the pass but it did turn out to be a joke.. Maybe it was too quiet to get our attention that day, nevertheless thereafter we stopped at a Dhaba en route for we were hungry to the core after skipping our lunch in the gist of crossing Rohtang early. There we had delicious, lip-smacking Aloo parathas, simply yumm!! After spending a good relaxing hour, clicked photos & moved on as the sun was already down and it's always safer to not ride on such routes at night because it is darker than the usual on mountain passes. So finally we were on our last lap of the iconic Srinagar - Leh - Manali circuit which now we wish had never come to an end but it did like all other things for the good!! And yes it did rain in our last laps as well!! God bless us!!

I knew the route from there, so I was leading them now. There comes a bridge on the right that takes you to Mall road, the heart of Manali which we missed in the dark and went a few miles ahead before realizing it. Took a U-turn to return & arrived at mall road. Mall road was as usual a busy street full of tourists with locals luring them to buy something. It's the main shopping hub of Manali, you'll get almost everything on that street but at TOURISTS rates!! 

We stopped at a point to check hotels for our stay and while others were busy gazing at the famous Street, I, Ankith, and Gatzzzz started exploring options, online and offline. You'll find agents and sometimes hotel owners roaming around the street hunting down their customers. 1 such guy came to us and convinced us to check out his rooms and took us along to the venue. I went up to check the rooms along with Ankith and the rest were waiting outside the hotel as our luggage was still mounted on the bikes. Rooms were very basic but decent enough for the cost, so we signaled Mickey and crew below to start unmounting. So while we were busy negotiating the price with the hotel guy, a conspiracy was brewing up downstairs. This is what happened, 

Mickey while unmounting his luggage, kept some of it on the road, I mean he has to place it somewhere he can't hold all of it all at once in his hands. Just opposite the hotel building, there was this restaurant, I don't remember its name, whose owner arrived in his BMW and stopped just before us. It was a narrow street so he was pulling his car to the side and while doing so he ran it over our luggage and started yelling when we interrupted him as he couldn't make it by himself that he was running over our luggage, maybe he felt offended. He didn't stop there, instead started hurling abuses at us even while mickey was moving the luggage. By this time, Ankit was downstairs and got into a verbal spat with the driver who was an old man in his 50's with lots of money & its byproduct EGO and he was drunk too; a terrible combination!!! 

Things got more serious after that and went to another level and just when it was about to get physical I arrived at the scene, to see dimple shouting my name, asking me to intervene as things were getting ugly. That old man was acting crazy and completely out of control, he was literally threatening us to death and by the way, he had already made a phone call, maybe to some local goons. So guess they were on their way. I immediately pulled Ankit back from his car, who also had lost his cool by then which is a rare thing otherwise, and asked him to move immediately. Did the same to Mickey and Suresh who were cool though but that old man was losing his temper by their presence. He had come to his restaurant with his family, few sober ladies along, which insisted us to let go and asked us to leave the place immediately and so did the locals around us who were witnessing this drama live and that was also the sensible thing to do rather than fighting some goons in a foreign land like a movie fantasy or expecting help from locals or cops. Remember??? the Manali fight scene from Ranbir Kapoor's iconic movie, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani!! Same to same!!

What more??? So there we were, riding away from the goons in the land of the unknown, no HOME to hide or no friends to call!!  We kept riding without knowing where the path is leading us to, it actually seemed like a maze and we were just following our instincts to get out of it. Bang!! The goons cornered us, leaving us no option to escape but only to confront. They outnumbered us 1:5, at least 20 of them, led by a skinny idiot who was also drunk. He banged his hand hard on Mickey's bike on his petrol tank, maybe to show off his valor, that scumbag surely had hit himself by that act of stupidity but he was too drunk to sense the pain. He was just yelling nonsense and that is when Suresh stepped up and faced him as he was creating a scene there, he intended to slap Suresh to settle this forever, which he did eventually before buzzing off from there with his gang, leaving us alone. We had never felt so helpless, had it been a guys-only trip we'd have braved the consequences of fighting those bastards, at least that's how we consoled ourselves.

While it was just over, the hotel hunt began again. Another guy approached and took us to his hotel which was away from the Mall road and we settled there. Calling it a day!! There was an awkward silence amongst all of us for a while after that chapter, with a thought of being traced back by them, in the back of our mind, which later we laughed it out while gossiping about it in the room but something was constantly questioning my conscience about how vulnerable and helpless we get at times. 

Though being RIGHT we FEAR the WRONG, Why we feel WEAK instead of feeling STRONG, 

 WHY?? Who should be held responsible for this ??? slept pondering over it!!

Day12 - Manali - Kullu - Mandi -  Sundernagar - Bilaspur - Chandigarh (330kms)

Woke up to pleasant yet cloudy weather outside and with recent encounters with rains, we didn't wish to mess up with it again. Hushed a bit and checked out from the hotel after breakfast. The only concern was getting out of Manali as it lives to a reputation of landslides, blocking roads for days and we had exhausted all our buffer days. 

Route from Manali to Mandi is very scenic, lush green mountains nestled around the beautiful Beas river, accompanying you for most of the part till Mandi & showering its bliss throughout.

I was the last one as I rode at a consistent pace which was comparatively slower than the rest as I was busy absorbing the bliss in the moment. Reviving my soul, getting the most out of the last ride of our epic biking expedition. City dwellers rarely get so pure air to breathe, so this was very rejuvenating, which I couldn't afford to miss. There is a shrine dedicated to the goddess Durga before Mandi where most of the local drivers stop and pay homage before moving on. They believe it's for their good fortune and also protects them from mishaps enroute. Thence locals claim that it's always airy there. I knew this as I've been there before, so we too stopped there, worshipped the goddess, and moved on. Next, we took a halt directly at Sundernagar for our lunch. Mickey and Suresh had taken a detour to get their bike fixed as it was acting weird and needed urgent attention. They joined us at the same dhaba and from there onwards we never strayed. Check photos

It was a long journey and I remember at Bilaspur, we came across one crazy tempo driver who kind of had a grudge against us or maybe bikers in general. We trailed him for a while and every time we tried overtaking him, he blocked us and kept glaring at us from his rearview mirror.  At one such instance, he signaled Gatzzzz to overtake and when he did so, he got blocked by an oncoming truck from the other side. That son of a bitch deliberately diverted him which may have proved fatal. Anyways sometime later he took a left while we continued straight. 

A ghat named Swarghat falls amidst Bilaspur & Chandigarh with heavy truck traffic there onwards & man they drive dangerously. Chandigarh was still 90kms away from Swarghat and with twists & turns of the ghat, it appeared endless. Also, the night slowed us down because of which it took us more than expected to cover.

Our stay for the night was tentatively planned at Mickey's Aunt's home, somewhere in Chandigarh and by the time we reached there, it was past 12 in the night. Actually, we couldn't locate the address and kept doing rounds after reaching Chandigarh which incurred an additional delay while locating the address. At last his uncle stepped out, located us & took us along. It was really nice of them,

1. To welcome us at that hour of the night with full attendance and 

2. To offer food to the hungry souls after a very 1st casual meet and greet. 

Actually, in the rush of reaching Chandigarh early, we didn't have dinner en route and thought of having it in Chandigarh but traffic played spoilsport and flopped our plans. That's all, a very long day had come to an end and so had our biking expedition. Slept with a heavy heart that day for the most beautiful trip of our lives was on the verge of ending.

Day 13- Chandigarh - Kalka - Chandigarh

The most important thing lined up for the day was booking our bikes to be parceled back to Mumbai, post that we were free to explore Chandigarh. All of us, except Dimple and Suresh, stepped out and went to Chandigarh station to enquire about parceling bikes but were disappointed on the 1st attempt, I mean that's how it goes when you deal with government officials, right!! It's very unlikely to get things done at 1 go with them and this lady was no different. Though in the first glimpse, it seemed that she'll be soft but man she was no less than a lady don of the office and she had made it very clear that she won't allow any bikes without its owner in the train and on the top of it she also had denied that it can't go in the same train for there were other bikes queued up before us. Let's try Plan B!!

We started exploring other options of transporting our bikes, called a couple of packers and movers to get a quote from them but it was way too expensive. When nothing worked our way, the thought of riding all the way to Mumbai also crossed our mind & yeah we were pretty serious about that!! At last, we tried our luck with our guy in Mumbai who had set up our bike transportation and it was quite seamless. Luckily, he had a contact in Chandigarh whom we eventually met, struck a deal, and got our thing sorted, but from Kalka & not from Chandigarh. As the train originates from Kalka with few rakes and others are attached to it at Chandigarh. So we had to drop our bikes at Kalka then, it was an hour’s ride (~40kms). 

We were immediately Off to Kalka, as we had completed the formalities before 6 in the evening and it was already past 4 by the time we left Chandigarh. We stayed together while we were in Chandigarh but gradually I lost them as I had missed a turn and had to reroute which incurred the lag between me and the rest. They continued as we had to anyhow reach Kalka by 5.30, at least they could initiate the proceedings. Meanwhile, I was on my own now to reach Kalka. Pulling over to the side, I first updated Dimple of our whereabouts as she was constantly calling and then checked Maps to validate the route. This is when a guy approached me pleading for a phone call, stating he had strayed from his group and was lost. Although he looked shady but out of humanity, I believed and asked for the number to call. He randomly called out a number that on dialing wasn't connecting. He then asked me to hand over the phone to dial himself, I got his intention, kept my phone inside, and dozed off #Saved

By the time I reached Kalka, the rest of them had initiated the process. We were just on time, had to fill a form for every bike, and pay the fees. Done that! #phewww!!

Next, there was this train which was about to depart from Kalka to Chandigarh, we just rushed into it from the wrong side and without a ticket as it was about to depart, with a green signal, already!! No time to cross a pull-over bridge, to switch platform #apologies. It blew the whistle the moment one of us got in, so the rest had to jump in the running train. Again Lucky enough to get the train else we'd wasted more than 2 hours to reach Chandigarh by road whereas in the train we reached within half an hour. Though later TC caught us in the train and fined us for traveling without a ticket. 

This is how it happened, though we had made ourselves comfortable as the coach was almost vacant but fear of getting caught was still haunting us. There was only 1 stop between Kalka & Chandigarh, viz Chandi Mandir. Nobody came till then and just to ensure that TC isn't boarding the train from that station, Mickey and gattu went on a round. It was all clear till then but the moment the train was about to depart from Chandi Mandir, TC boarded our coach, damn!! We exchanged looks, and the message was already passed on to mickey and gattu. I dared and went straight to him to confess that we don't have tickets and shared our story of why we couldn't buy it to which he complied and left us after charging a nominal penalty of 200 for 4 of us, fair enough!!

All this while, dimple, and Mickey were with the family. They had planned to step out in the evening to shop and we were supposed to join them directly after depositing our bikes. Joined them, spent some leisure time with the family who took us to a famous Gurudwara, which did resemble a replica of the Golden Temple. After that, we went to their restaurant, owned by Mickey's uncle, and had our dinner with them to end the day.

Day14 - Chandigarh to Mumbai

Though we had dropped our bike the day before but someone had to ensure that they were loaded in the same train and for that Ankit and Gatzzz went to Kalka in the morning to board the train from there while the rest were supposed to board it from Chandigarh. We had already packed our luggage last night to avoid any last-minute hassle. Ankit and gatzzz had reached Kalka and were giving us real-time updates of the whereabouts of our train while we were waiting for our cab. It was time to bid goodbye to the lovely hosts who treated us like their family members & not just Mickey's friends. Clicked some selfies with them & left the place with a sinking heart, drowning in the whirlwind of emotions brewing within us for the most amazing trip of our lives was getting over. Check Photos

What more to it, the universe matched it with perfect background music!! Incidentally, the song played in the cab happened to be a hit number, Qismat by Ammy Virk. We heard it for the 1st time and it was a perfect match to our scene, amplifying the emotions within with its lyrics, beautiful song !! The train has departed from Kalka by the time we reached Chandigarh station. It arrived shortly. We all met and settled down.

 At Ambala, 2 RPF officials boarded our coach and started interrogating us. Suresh in particular may be from his appearance he seemed like a smuggler to them, though he was not, he was the most innocent guy after me in the group, what??? I got the right to do that!! So the officer was rigorously questioning Suresh. He even asked to open his bags and checked every nook and corner of it but found nothing. Disappointed, they moved on. This again raises a question mark!! On what ground suspects are identified? Their skin tone? Is that right?  If not then what is?? 

I was feeling really bad for my friend but then If I wear the officer's shoes & see from their glasses, I understand that appearance is the only thing visible to human EYE, it can't read minds. Drug mafia is very active in that part of Punjab #UdtaPunjab. So the officers were just doing their job to ensure that nothing was moving with us but from their behavior, it seemed that their intention was to extract money from us. Anyways moving on, that was the last unusual incident of our trip, reached Mumbai the next day at noon but by the time we got our bikes released and reached home, it was evening!!  

There was a flood of emotions flowing out of mom's eyes, the moment she saw us. We had returned home after 16 freaking days, which is a very long period, especially for your parents to live without their children who have ventured out on an adventure trip like this. Constantly haunted by not-so-good thoughts, they live in the praying mode 24*7 until your arrival. #notEasy #CherishThat.

That's all folks!! 

Thanks for reading it till the end!! See you again.