Up The Mountains

Day 4: September 10, 2005

Two days of riding done and we all badly wanted to take a bath before setting off as early as possible. But to our annoyance, there was no water flowing from the taps at all. We couldn't even wash before it was 8. Our first encounter with the Kashimirs were not at all a pleasant experience and I would like to warn anyone reading this to be at their cunning best while dealing with these people. We had more instances of such deceitfulness while dealing with them on our way back. This is specially true of the stretch from Srinagar to Kargil. We packed up and set out for the day after having tea from the hotel.

We were greeted again by the stark Ladakh landscape, with vegetation getting more and more sparse as we proceeded towards Leh. We persisted with our usual riding style. Me and Sumit would keep ripping while Manik and Sunil would ride along in a slow but steady pace. After a while, me and Sumit would stop for photos while Manik and Sunil caught up with us. This arrangement gave us ample time for photography without slowing down the entire team.

Just after taking one such break for photography, we noticed a small cut made into the hill by the roadside we decided to do some off roading to break the monotony of riding on the roads.

My 120/80 FKR tyres allowed me to proceed a bit higher than Sumit, whose stock tyres got stuck in the loose earth making further progress impossible. Manik and Sunil caught up with us soon and we signaled them to carry on. We got started again only to find Manik and Sunil just around the curve, Sunil having dropped his lid into the river. As we got there, we found Sunil down the gorge, trying to fish out the helmet with a bungee cord!

Flags and prayer wheels indicated widespread Buddhist population in these areas, so as this statue, just across which was a restaurant, where we had our brunch.

We met a couple from Holland who were also doing the Ladakh circuit, although at their own slow pace, and another lady from Europe, planning to do Zanskar, but was concerned about terrorist activities in the area. However, Sumit convinced her that Zanskar was away from the LOC, and hence free from terrorism.

As we proceeded further, the landscape became dramatic, with barren mountains as far as the eye can see. The typical blue sky and barren mountains that had interesting patterns etched on the slopes made for some incredible sights in this stretch. This, coupled with the sunlight playing on the slopes was a sight to behold.

Another break from riding; another adventure. Me and Sumit had an affinity to do things out of the ordinary. This was perhaps another stop to shoot more photos, when I decided that we'll get better snaps from a vantage point a bit above the road. So I started climbing the adjoining hill. Sumit followed, took a few snaps and turned back. But I persisted till I reached the hilltop. It was an extremely laborious venture, due to the 3000 m plus altitude and the extremely steep slope. I almost lost my footing a couple of times due to loose stones and rocks on the way up. But I was rewarded for the hard work once I reached the top. From my vantage point at the top I could get a 360 degree view of the area. And it was a sight to behold, all 360 degrees of it! The breeze was so strong here that I had to struggle to keep still so I could take some snaps of the area.

From the top of the hill...

Buddhist influence was apparent everywhere. Even the hill tops were not spared.

Shortly before Namikala pass, we saw this ghastly sight of a dead sheep slung over a sign board. This made up for a truly eerie sight in the backdrop of a cold desert where there were no signs of habitation for miles and miles around.

Riding along, we soon reached Namikala pass, which was draped all over with Buddhist prayer flags, indicating the strong prevalence of Buddhism in these places.

Sunil and Manik had moved ahead while I was climbing the hill on our last break. We caught up with them some way before Fotu-La where Sunil had managed to drop a glove into the river this time.

Our next stop was the Fotu-La pass, which is the highest point on the Srinagar - Leh highway. Took some snaps and moved on.

Right after the pass was a steep descent down to Lumayaru, famous for it alien landscape caused due to ancient glacial activity, and also perhaps due to the fact that this place, and most of Himalayas was a sea before the Himalayas came into existence. Since Manik and Sunil reached here before us, they took a different route than us, though we met up in the end after crossing Lumayaru, just as it was getting dark.

Soon, it was tea time and we pondered over the plans for the remaining ride, since it was now clear that we will be doing a lot of riding in the night. Sunil and Manik had started off a bit before us and we followed, only to find both of them a short while ahead, with a dog lying on the road. Manik had apparently hit the dog and it died. Thankfully, Manik was fine. The roads were literally deserted and it was good fun riding in the dark. As we approached Leh, there were long stretches of straight roads, where we ripped to our heart's content. We got too far ahead of Sunil and Manik very often during the night ride and they were irate about it later on. It was about 10 PM when we finally reached Leh. We had to hunt around a bit in search for cheap accommodation. We found it in the end but had to spend a fortune on dinner as most smaller restaurants were closed by now.

# posted by Salil @ 3:02 PM