Woke up at 6:30 am. It was a special day for Chitti (that's what Linda calls my Royal Enfield
.Inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ) and
me as we were heading towards Khardung La – The world’s highest motor-able road,
which also happens to be the traditional silk route.
I had plans to halt for a night at Hundur or Diskit. I took my luggage
with me leaving behind only the petrol jerrycan at the hotel. As I was getting
ready to leave, I saw one tourist guide book with a detailed Leh map lying on
the reception table. I took a picture of the map so that it could help me
navigate through the terrain.
The ride started at 8:15 am with the sun smiling down on us.
About 6 kms of riding brought me to the check post where I
had to give my travel details. The officials had to record every vehicle
entering the pass and had to crosscheck the details with their counterparts at
the exit point. This would alert the officials if any vehicle goes missing in the
pass. It was a polite way of saying, “Enter at your own risk”.
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| BRO staff clearing the boulders on the road |
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| The BRO daredevils |
Chitti and I conquered
the world’s highest motor-able road – Khardulg La (5359 meters) at 10:30 am.
I looked towards the sky and blew a kiss to God for making this trip a
success. A gush of adrenaline reached every corner of my body. Shouting out loud
was the only way I could control the overflow of adrenaline. To cut it short, I
was acting crazy, but I didn’t care. I could afford to do so; I had earned
every moment of it.
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| Everyone comes well planned for the moment of triumph |
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| Honoring Chitti |
I had got one more prayer flag for the Mountain Gods. I
wanted to tie it in someplace which could be spotted easily amongst hundreds
of prayer flags. About 20 meters short of the peak I saw one signal tower. I
knew it was the sweet spot that I was looking for. Trekking cautiously, I
reached the tower and made my presence felt by tying the prayer flag on the
tower. After I climbed down and saw the flag fluttering, my prayers being
carried by the wind, I felt a deep sense of achievement. “It has been a life worth living”, thought I,
at the WORLDS HIGHEST MOTOR-ABLE ROAD.
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| Above the ordinary |
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| Mountain prayers |
Once the adrenaline receded, and mortal sense prevailed, I
was feeling hungry, so I walked into the army canteen to have breakfast at the world’s highest motor-able road. Not having
Maggie at the army canteen is like not sipping a cup of local tea when you are
in Darjeeling. So, I had a hot bowl of Maggie for tradition sake, a pack of
chips for calorie quotas sake, and a plate of hot momo for ……. Well, I didn’t have
any particular reason for ordering momo. It was by default.
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| Truth be told. |
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| Basic and luxury |
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| Inside Army Canteen |
After breakfast, I walked around to observe the scenery
for some more time.
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| "Adventure begins where the mountains meet the sky" says my T-shirt. Touche BRO |
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| Army Temple at Khardung La |
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| The way towards Nubra Valley |
I was much pained to see that the garbage was disposed of in an
unorganized manner. It was an eyesore in an otherwise picturesque scene.
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| Humans came, humans saw, humans junked |
I had started meeting many riders on the way and whenever
one biker would cross the other one, it would call for a biker's salute. A
quick flashing of the headlight and a wave of one hand or the thumbs-up was the biker's way of saluting one another.
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| Nubra Valley |
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| Nubra Valley |
I reached Diskit at 2:15 pm but decided to check Hunder first
which was about 12 kms further. I reached Hunder at 3 pm. It’s a place famous
for its sand dunes and double humped camels. As I started capturing the
beautiful Hunder landscape in my camera a thought came across my mind. It is
perhaps the only place in the world where one can capture sand dunes, a green
pasture, barren brown mountains and snow-capped mountain range all in one
frame.
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| Touchdown Hunder |
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| Playmates |
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| High on life |
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| Two is always better than one |
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| contrast |
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| Sand dunes, green pasture, barren brown mountain, and snow-capped mountain : All captured in one |
The stays in Hunder were a bit too expensive for a solo traveller
like me so I decided to halt in Diskit rather. Besides, there was nothing more
to see in Hunder. Staying in Diskit would have been a better plan as I wanted
to visit the Diskit monastery when it would be spiritually prime, that is
during the first prayer in the morning.
I checked in Zambala guest house in Diskit at 5 pm. I quickly changed and headed towards the Diskit monastery to check the timing of the Morning Prayer. I was told that the morning prayer would start by 6:30 am.
While on my way back to the hotel I was stopped by an Australian man who claimed that he had seen me in Hunder and he wanted to ask me about my trip. We chatted for a few minutes sharing our stories. He told me that one of his friends was stranded in the Jammu floods and was put up in the hotel roof for the past two days. There were no signs of flood receding anytime soon.
I checked in Zambala guest house in Diskit at 5 pm. I quickly changed and headed towards the Diskit monastery to check the timing of the Morning Prayer. I was told that the morning prayer would start by 6:30 am.
While on my way back to the hotel I was stopped by an Australian man who claimed that he had seen me in Hunder and he wanted to ask me about my trip. We chatted for a few minutes sharing our stories. He told me that one of his friends was stranded in the Jammu floods and was put up in the hotel roof for the past two days. There were no signs of flood receding anytime soon.
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| My stay (Owners store in the background) |
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| First view of Diskit Monastery |
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| Surrounding view from Diskit Monastery |
Once I reached the hotel, I asked the owner if some petrol
can be arranged because I was running short of petrol. The hotel owner said
that there was a shortage of petrol in Diskit but he will try and arrange two
liters at the most and the price will be Rs 100 per liter. I was fine with the
deal.
When I was leaving Leh I was told that there is a petrol station
in Diskit. What I was not told is that the petrol station at Diskit is hardly
open.
The hotel owner was a very business-minded guy. He also had a shop right in front of the hotel (see picture above). I had nothing much
to do in the evening, so I went to chat with him. It turned out that his 64
sqft (approx.) shop was more of a departmental store. He was selling almost everything
in that tiny shop - shoes, clothing, nail cutter, lock, toiletries, watches to name
few. It was a tricky place to play “I spy”.
There was no electricity, so we started chatting in the dark. His name was Nawang. He was lama once but had left lamahood for some reason. I
told him that I had never seen a shop selling so many things under one roof. I
had just asked him why he had so many items in his shop when a customer walked
in to buy two pairs of shoes. The negotiation skills were well exercised by
both the parties and finally, a deal was struck. As soon as the customer walked
out, Nawang chuckled and said, “Isse leeay ye sab rakhta hoon” (This is
why I keep all these stuff). The dark room roared with our laughter.
I hit the bed by 8:45 as I had to wake up early in the morning.
For a strange reason, I was having many déjà vu moments today. I was missing
Leh too and wanted to go back desperately.
At the end of the 15th Day, I had travelled 161
kms, not to forget, conquered world’s highest motor-able road too.
*All the special
moments which I would not get a chance to do otherwise are in bold
(Do read the other days chronicle listed in the same page)
#Royalenfield #trip
#leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel
What a great narration and photos, I'm enjoying reading it, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the appreciation Mike :)
DeleteThank you for the appreciation Mike :)
Delete