A Travel that Tests You in every way!
One fine day, we decided to visit Leh Ladakh which was once a most unexplored place in India, however, it is still raw. It was the most amazing trip that we embarked upon from Mumbai with very little research leaving most of it as an adventure. This trip has left me with memories of a lifetime leaving me with enchanting vastness.
We started from Mumbai in our 12-year-old car to reach Manali in 3 days stopping at Jodhpur, Chandigarh savouring all the local dishes and the landscape, thanks to the wonderful infrastructure built by the Indian central government.
We stayed at Shuru, 6 km from Manali for a week working from there. A week later, on a rainy day, we set off for our journey to Leh on a bike. We set off with a spectacular sight of 20 bikes leaving one after the other which was led by a marshal; followed by a truck with our luggage. I was a pillion rider with my husband in charge of the bike. I must say we were the oldest of the lot :) and got a lot of respect and care from the group.
Within the first 30 minutes, there came our first encounter, a heavy stream of water with huge rocks. Looking at that gave us a chill. We crossed it without a hassle beating our fears. We did not have much time to research this journey, so every encounter was a surprise to us, a blessing in disguise aka spontaneous! In case we would have known it before, we might have dropped out of the trip knowing that we were amateur riders.
The beautiful landscape with waterfalls along with cold winds made it difficult to ride. That was our first mistake; we did not carry a raincoat. The jackets were not enough! With a glass of brandy, we continued our trip enjoying the greenery reaching Jispa. We stayed there in a tent near by a flowing river. The next day, we started off for Sarachu. It was a beautiful sunny day, we crossed multiple river streams and bad roads. The landscape was changing from green to grey. We crossed the Baralacha Pass, a snow-clad high mountain pass in Zanskar range, connecting Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh. We reached Sarachu, a very cold and windy place which forced us to stay in the tent most of the time.
The third day was the most adventurous of all! A ride of 250 km to Leh riding through the muddy and charred roads. On the way to Tanglang La pass, we saw gigantic striking landforms. Their beauty is enhanced by sun rays falling on them creating a shading effect. Such a spectacular work by nature! Barren and left to the mercy of wind, rain, snow, and sun. The human effort that goes into building roads in such barren and rough weather is commendable. Hats off to them for we could witness this beauty due to roads laid out by them.
Every day starts with its unique challenges, day one weather, day two, thin air and day three, with rough terrain. The rider has to be mentally very strong to put up against all these. At times it feels like giving up and getting on to that truck. However, just before you want to give up, the landscape changes which invigorates you with more energy and enthusiasm. You feel renewed and that keeps you going. I was a pillion rider but let me say this, it wasn’t easy for me either. I am not in control of the bike; however, I have to stay intact so that the rider can keep up with the balance in that rough terrain. However, pillion riders can get a better view of the landscape than the rider.
We halted at Pang for lunch. We found a stretch of 40 km straight road. This was like riding in a desert with sand mountains on either side. Back on the mountain terrain, we saluted the Border Road Organization trucks passing by. Now it was time for the stunning red peaks with powdered rocks. As you are near to Leh you see steep purple mountains on either side with some signs of vegetation here and there. Here you are back to life after 3 days! It feels so much alive.
Against the common complaint of thinning air, we did not face any health issues or breathing problems. Without a single medicine we reached Leh. The next day we decided to take a rest. We visited a cafe beside our hotel, lazing around. In the evening, we visited the Tibetian Leh market and shopped for friends and family.
The next day we started off to Numbra Valley bypassing Khardungla pass. The air was very thin at Khardungla where it wasn’t advised to stay for more than 15 minutes. Post taking pictures we left from there. Again, a treacherous route to cross with a lot of glacier water on the roads. On one side there are snowcapped mountains and on the other side deep crevices. Post that, the road to Numbra was awesome. It was a pure concrete road with beautiful white/grey mountains in the shape of a tiger paw. They looked golden with the setting sun rays on them. Combination of white and golden mountains was spectacular.
It was night by the time we reached Numbra. The next day, post witnessing the sand dunes and the 2 humped camel, we visited the monasteries and had a chat with one of the monks trying to understand what their day looks like. He shattered our misconceptions of a blissful monk life. They too have their set of challenges! The tranquillity of the meditation hall was worth experiencing.
The journey to Tangtse, Pangong Lake, was very different than the journey so far. It was full of white mountains, rocks. We crossed multiple deep river streams where many of the bikes just gave up due to the sheer depth of the water. Here is where your biking experience helps; skill was needed against the balance and fitness. Some of us made it and some of us couldn’t. Finally after getting everybody through those 3 dangerous water streams we reached Tangste and stayed at a home stay. The food that the home makers served was simple yet very satisfying. Sometimes I wonder the people who serve us make it more enriching than the food itself.
Next day, early morning 4 AM we started for Pangong which was 40 km away. It was very cold on the way, with no hand glows, it made it worse. The beautiful blue take was nice but over hyped. I would give more stars to the road which brought us here than the place itself.
Once we were back to Leh, there was panic around! All the riders wanted to go home by hook or crook. Everybody booked flights in panic as they heard that the Manali weather was bad and that there were too many landslides. By the next morning, only 2 bikes were ready to ride back to Leh including ours. On top of that it started raining in Leh which until now was hot and sunny. Not making the earlier mistake, we purchased raincoats for ourselves and set off for Manali with the same router. However, the view was very different this time due to rain and clouds. At Tanglangla, the temperature was 5 degrees, and the road was foggy. We crossed it slowly. Post riding for 10 hours, we reached Sarachu at 8 PM.
Next day we left for Manali. Till now we had no bad experiences in terms of bike riding. But, somewhere something has to happen! While travelling from Sarachu to Baralacha, we crossed a long river stream. As we couldn’t gauge the depth of the water, half way we fell off the bike. Of course we did not hurt ourselves, but the ice cold water drenched us in the already cold and rainy weather. This was our first fall in the entire trip which did hurt our confidence for next few minutes. I being a pillion rider got more conscious whenever my husband took those deep U turns on the mountain tops. He too was little shaken for a while. After an hour or so we entered the green landscape with concrete roads and we were back up in full force. Get set and go to Manali!
Reached Manali at 4 PM. As we were completely drenched, we got into our car, switched on the heater and left for Chandigarh. In the comforts of the air conditioner plus neat and clean blankets at the hotel, it felt like we are back to civilisation. Next day, we left at 8 AM and reached Valsad at 8 AM the next day. It was my husband who drove all the 24 hour stretch, my contribution was only for the last 2–3 hours :) Finally I am like, I made some difference, came to the rescue when he needed the most!
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