K2K-2012 - Day 12 to 19

Day 12

The laziest day for me. I pick up my wife from the airport in Leh and she had to acclimatize at least for one full day. No sight seeing, no nothing. The first comment as she walks into the hotel room is.... can i clean up the room... you have your stuff all over the floor  Lucky for me that she had a tough time getting some sleep in the Delhi airport the previous night. This made her doze off quickly.

The hotel had a good internet connection. I spent a lot of time catching up. Its a luxury to have a working and reliable internet connection in Leh.

The 650 happily rests for the first time - its acclimatizing too!!

K2K-2012 - Day 13

Wife does not feel any effects of high altitude. So she is already raring to venture out. I was lazy and wanted to sip tea, have breakfast and just sit there enjoying the view until lunch and dinner is served. But no can do! If home minister wants to go out then you better get your butt off the couch!

Remember the biker from Japan? He had checked into the same hotel. So we had dinner together and got to know each other a little bit more. There is a nice book in Japanese which looks like the encyclopedia of Leh. Completely detailed with pictures and maps. He happened to meet its author and have a long chat before visiting Leh. He highly recommended the Alchi monastery or the Alchi Gompa as it is referred to there.

So today it was a ride to Alchi Gompa and Pooja also gets to view the beautiful Indus Valley, the never ending road near Nimmu, the river confluence. I would have wished to visit Lamayuru again but was in no mood to pack up from Hotel Oriental. Lazy you see 

Alchi Monastery is a world heritage site. It has three to four temples inside. When you visit during the off season with only a handful of people around, it peaceful! This is one of the Gods worshiped inside Alchi Gompa.

K2K-2012 - Day 14

Today's plan was to ride towards Karu and visit the nearby places.

Did a little bit of offroading with wife as pillion. We wanted to get near to the flowing river beside the road.

Leh for dummies

Very far off statue of a shining and resplendent Buddha

The beautiful landscape overlooking Shey Palace (25 km from Leh)

K2K-2012 - Day 15

I'm still lazy so i convince her that we visit Shanti Stupa which was just behind the hotel and call it a day. But madam in return makes me promise that i take her to the local market since she wants to shop :|

Instead of taking the bike we walk up to Shanti Stupa. This is a must visit! A very peaceful place to recharge your batteries for the all important day ahead.

I make sure Guru checks into the same hotel. He is busy with the check in formalities by the time we walk down from Shanti Stupa. We were very happy and relieved to meet him and his family. We all tour the rest of the journey together.

Guru drove a Xylo all the way from Chennai to Leh. I get to know this for sure when i am in Jammu. We were in constant touch after that and i was giving him updates about the road conditions on the go. He also had a crazy time in Fotu La and had to stay put in Lamayuru the previous evening. But had a very good refreshing ride into Leh today.

Both of us visit a service center. He gets his car washed off all traces of Fotu La and helps me get the fuel tank off to access the air filter. The 650R gets its lungs cleaned that day.

We all head out to the local market that evening. I purchase a pair of 10 liter cans for the fuel and the ladies do a lot of shopping. We end it with feasting on yummy momos and call it a day.

The beautiful Hotel Oriental. That's an apple tree. Really juicy red apples!!

All folks here are self sufficient to a large extent. What a life!!

An unhindered view of entire Leh city. Could not get a better view of the city from anywhere else.

Very true to its word. Visit this place since it oozes peace!!

Artistic walls

A friendly neighbour

K2K-2012 - Day 16

The all important day. We visit Khardung La today!! I'm all excited. Also the bike had a full wash yesterday and looks like its raring for a ride.

Before that we were supposed to drive to the airport and pick up Akhil and by the time we get the Xylo out of the gate he arrives in a taxi and i have a ball of a time looking at Guru and Akhil in a leg pulling fest trying to one up on each other  Though it was a "hi" it soon was going to be a "bye" since we had to leave on a two day outing and Akhil had to stay back to acclimatize at least for a day.

I'm ready by 8 and we all finish up break fast by 9. By the time we are out of the hotel its 10. We refuel and i get some VIP space for the two cans of fuel in the Xylo. Pooja gets her real Leh ride today. Its 11 by the time we are out of Leh city towards Khardung La.

The ascent to Khardung La is not bad compared to Zoji La or Fotu La. It gets pretty bad after the road disappears mid way, after which its only stones and gravel. As we approach the summit it starts to get cold pretty quick, you can notice the visor fogging up so much that you will have to slow down your breathing pattern and open it up a little bit. But the moment you open it up, you feel the cold pricking you all over your face in spite of the balaclava. Also you get closer and closer to snow! You can touch it now!

We reach the summit in just an hour, i could not believe that. Take the celebratory photos. But before i get to rejoice i get to know that the water bottle Pooja was carrying had some how failed and everything in the backpack and also the jeans she was wearing is completely wet. I could imagine the discomfort she was going through. I could not take my helmet off due to the chill and here she is putting up with the cold with a wet jeans. So the ecstasy takes a back seat. And anyways we could not stay at the altitude and celebrate for long. We decide to proceed. Our destination for the day was Turtuk.

I was so confused that i forgot to ask for a photo of myself in Khardung La. Lucky Pooja.

The descent is just 14 km to North Pullu. The roads were so bad that we take one and a half hour to cover this distance. All the while my wife is on the bike with a wet jeans

We sight the Yaks finally!

I speed up to Khardung which was another 30 km from North Pullu and stop for breakfast where Pooja gets to change to something dry and this brings back the smile on my face. Its 2:30 and our chances of making it to Turtuk gets bleak. A realistic target was Hunder.

The ride to Hunder was superb. You have the river Shyok for company through out. There are these green patches of land bang in between barren mountains. The contrast makes it look like heaven! There is a long stretch of straight and flat road with zero elevation just before hunder. Its again bang in the center of two mountains on either side with pebbles as far as your eyes can see. It seems this was once an ocean bed dating back to when the Asian continent was still not formed. There have been fossil discoveries to prove that theory. The combination of this road and the mountains make it look like a grand gateway to Hunder and its sand dunes.

My bike is looking at the gateway to Hunder

The accommodation in Hunder is very limited. So before we head towards the famous camel ride we check into Hotel Snow Leopard and then head to the sand dunes for a camel ride. The ride was a first for us but we enjoyed it. The camels are beautiful and the baby camels are really cute.

The dust storms that are building up at the mountains afar is another amazing spectacle.

Snow Leopard has separate houses within its compound. Each house has three rooms with attached bathrooms and then a common area. Since we had taken three rooms the entire house was ours and for the first time we all sit together and there is fun and laughter until late in the night. We devoured lots of snacks with a special mention to the patented Khakra with cheese slices recipe. There was a small mouse which kept the ladies on their toes during this time. We have dinner and hit the bed.

K2K-2012 - Day 17

We have a good breakfast to start off the day. Leave at 8.

What should have ideally taken us 2 hours to reach Turtuk takes us three and a half hours. The ride overlooking Thoise airfield is very exciting. The sound of the defense choppers reverberate in your chest. The roads are moderately OK after that all the way to Turtuk.

The Xylo making it across a bridge towards Turtuk

The terrain while reaching Turtuk

Its 11:30 when we were rejoicing the visit to the north most tip to which a civilian can get to. Also the men in Turtuk have this Greek touch, Alexandrian to be more precise. The village is very very scenic. A nights stay in Turtuk is highly recommended when compared to Hunder.

The north most tip for us civilians. It seems one of the mountains in the pic is actually Pakistan. The soldier by the boom barrier was stopping me to take a picture so i had to curb my excitement and stop.

I finally accomplish my dream of making it to the northern most tip i could get to.

We are way low on time available. Our plan for the day was reaching back Leh but with a change in route. We were not to retrace the road through Khardung La, but take Wari La, and reach Leh via Shakti.

Wari La is no small feat since its almost at the same height as Khardung La but a lot more spooky since its the less travelled road either by the army or by the civilians there. Guru and Akhil have never had a good experience around Wari La and we could see the tension in his tone when he was asking us to be quick to empty a can of fuel into the bike and leave as quickly as possible.

One problem with carrying fuel in a four wheeler is that it stinks up the whole vehicle despite all your efforts to seal it off. It mostly is the altitude which plays with the boiling point of a liquid. The fumes due to the two fuel cans in the Xylo were really unberable. I was feeling bad for not factoring this while deciding to stock it there. Once the first can was empty we hurriedly tie this empty can and the funnel onto the right side of the bike. I had also spilt some fuel on my hand while filling but there was no time to clean up since the Xylo was already on its way towards Hunder.

I put some serious speeds, pass the Xylo and and cross Hunder in under one and a half hour on the way back. This was extremely discomforting for Pooja but she managed to hang in without a fuss. We had just stopped after Hunder hoping to give some respite for Pooja and also have lunch by which time the Xylo is also beside us. But to our surprise Guru says that we are really pushing it already and hence should carry on and relax only after Wari La. By the time i am suited back up and ready to go, the Xylo has already disappeared into the horizon. We speed up and try to catch up and in this process take a wrong road and are clueless what to do. Luckily for me, Pooja sights a Xylo just disappearing at a far off corner and we make a dash towards that direction.

There is a detour to Wari La at some distance after Khalsar. We neither had a map nor a working phone to make contact and still the Xylo was not in sight. This really freaked me out. To our respite, we find the Xylo waiting for us at the detour we had to take.

The ride to Wari La takes you through Agham. Again its an amazing place we had to pass at the wrong time with an agenda to pass it quick. You have super looking straights and then very very scary ascents and more scary descents. There was a descent with a boulder on the road, this must have been a very old land slide that had not been cleared off. This is how less travelled the road is. Had it been another 10 centimeters towards the outer cliff edge, the Xylo would not have made through it. 

Soon after this i face the first water channel in Leh. Its deepest is to the knee but mostly shallow at the entry and exit. The width covered the entire lenght of the Xylo. I'm not scared and i dont ask Pooja to get off. My mistake was that i was too close to the Xylo and dont have the distance to judge the unseen bottom of the crossing. Soon after the Xylo makes it i some how speed up through it and before i could rejoice there is a huge skid soon after i was out of the water. I dont fall but the bike is bent over to the point of no return. Pooja makes a quick jump to avoid getting pinned under. I try to avoid the drop but the bike is too heavy for that. I let go of the bike and its totally horizontal. I run around it and pick it up the right way to get it back to vertical. It were the football sized boulders that made up the entry and exit of this crossing. They were covered up with gravel which fooled me.

Upon cranking the bike comes to life, i make a quick check, all is well and Pooja hops on. We are soon trailing the Xylo again.

We are still quiet some distance away from the ascent to Wari La. We come across a rather menacing bridge. Again i am quiet close to the Xylo and it just guns through the apex and is crossing the bridge while i happen to loose my front again in between boulders and gravel and have the second fall of the day. This time too Pooja makes a quick get away avoiding being pinned below the bike. The fall is pretty bad one, the impact flings the tank bag to the gravel. I again make a run around the bike and lift it up. 

This time the 650R refuses to crank no matter what i do. The FI light is on and i'm freaking out again. I had this tilt sensor thing at the back of my mind, so i manually switch off the bike (with the key) and turn it back ON. Lucky, this time the bike fires up and we are on our way again. But soon we find that the empty fuel can is off the nylon ropes and is rattling around with the rope almost going into the tyre. We stop to see that it was the empty fuel can that took the entire impact when i fell to my right. This had dented it so much that it had lost shape and had come off all the rope we had tied to secure it on the luggage carrier. I quickly take all the rope off. Pooja was in no condition to hold on to the can, she was finding it hard to hold on to me so the can was out of question. We discard the can beside the road and take the rope and the funnel and proceed quickly to catch the Xylo.

I found it odd that the Xylo never stopped at the bridge end. Didn't they notice the fall? I get to know at the end of the day that the altitude had affected the pickup so much that they were not sure if it would move ahead if they came to a full stop to help me. Guru had asked his brother to jump out of the running car if at all i needed help 

We encountered a third water crossing. This was a difficult one which i took before the Xylo and then the makes it through cautiously to avoid the rocks hitting the under body.

We stop for five minutes at the foot before ascending to Wari La. Despite repeated requests Pooja refuses to get into the Xylo. She wanted to ride pillion as long as i could do it. I can now be smug boasting that i was bold enough to move on with her as pillion and pass Wari La and what an achievement it was. But the truth is that i was lucky to pass unscathed after this cocky decision.

Wari La can take an entire page to describe. We pass ice on the road for the first time and i'm not able to feel my fingers. It was very uncomfortable for me and was much more of a pain for Pooja. The only way for Pooja to not push me into my handlebars while breaking is to use her feet and thighs and push back on her foot pegs. The ascents and descents had given her enough of an exercise that she started to cramp big time. Despite the steepness it looks like the summit is never gonna come at all!

Finally after some agonizing riding we reach the summit - the coldest place so far. Take a photo and proceed with the descent.

Wari La. The height gives you a view to watch an entire range of mountains from the top rather than looking up at it from below.

It takes us two more hours to reach the base. We reach Shakti finally! There was a place where we deviated from the actual snakey roads and make a straight descent, my hands were so numb that along with the grips i hold on to the clutch and the brake too... my front gives way and though i release my grip over it and try to slow down by using the rear brake i am sliding wildly from side to side. I almost crash into the Xylo that was waiting for me at the end of this straight but i guess my luck was back after the two previous falls. After this the Xylo makes many more such "straight" off roading to by pass multiple curves on the downward journey. I choose to shy away from it hoping to make it to the hotel asap.

The only thing that kept us company through the rest of the trip back to Leh was the darkness, the cold and Pooja's cramps that had got very worse. She never complained but i used to ask her to get her leg horizontal (almost parallel to the seat) and hold her leg by the calf muscle with one hand so that she could rest it for a few seconds of respite.

We are relieved to reach back to the warmth of the blankets and a hot water bath in the hotel. Its a quick dinner and some well deserved sleep now.

K2K-2012 - Day 18

The previous days draining trip ensured that everybody wanted to take a day off. So the girls go out on local sight seeing and i'm happily lazy and so is Guru who is enjoying all the photos and videos captured so far.

Pooja insists that we visit Pangong Tso on a taxi so that i have enough energy to make it back. Even she had heard enough of Rohtang and the journey down to Delhi, this gives her the creeps. Akhils's hired bike has a FI malfunction which leaves him without a ride. So we book a taxi for tomorrow.

Its a lazy lazy day today!

K2K-2012 - Day 19

Our taxi guy is already impatient in the morning. He wanted to leave "early" morning you see 

We leave by 8. There are two cars today, the Xylo and the Taxi (a Innova). It was a very different experience after travelling so far and so long on the bike.

The view was divine.

We travel through Chang La, visit Pangong Tso with one tyre puncher on the way.
This view competes for the crown of which one was the best for the day.

I've already said enough about the beauty of Pangong Tso... a beauty which will soon become the ugly beast after 3 idiots... looks like there will be 3000 idiots visiting this place every season and screw this up!

Our two vehicle convoy breaks up on the return since the taxi guy wanted to fix up the punctured tyre so that we have a spare tyre in case there is another incident. But as our luck had it, we have two more punchers on the way. The second on while on the highest point in Chang La.

Now we are out of spares and its already sun down with the Xylo at least 40 km ahead of us. There is only a intermittent phone signal. Calling the Xylo to come back and pick us up was out of question given the terrain and the bad timing.

We patiently wait for any vehicle going to Leh from Pangong. We find one after half an hour. He obliges by giving us a lift. We had to bear with the loud bollywood music and the cramped rear most seats of the Scorpio until we got to the hotel at 8 in the night. It was a rocky ride!

We have a lot of packing up to do since we say bye bye to Leh tomorrow. Upon that i do not have cash on me to check out. Akhil takes me around the Leh gullies ... he knows this place better than the busiest places in Bangalore. We visit all available ATMs but NO GO. We finally pass by an ATM which was just beside the hotel but at the end point of our round trip journey.

At 1 in the night we say our good nights and good byes since Akhil was taking an early flight the next day.

The highlight of today's trip was that i get to shoot pictures on a DSLR which is missed so much! Akhil was driving the Xylo so i take over the clicking duties on the SLR. The second one was during our return - we happen to find ourselves a Marmout which was unusually camera savvy. It stayed beside the road minding its own business and giving us an occasional look for almost a minute!