Ladakh Road Trip - 1
Me and my bike against the backdrop of mountains of Manali
Alright, it’s time I add the blog on the most epic adventurous motorbike ride of my life. Also the one where I had near death experience. This blog was originally posted on bcmtouring.com in year 2014 when I didn’t have my own website. But it’s about time I revisit the memories by adding the travel experience on my own travelblog.
I’m going to break up the blog in sections spanning a day or two…
Let’s Ride…
Ride Details
Riders – Pranay Meher (yup, that’s me) on Pulsar 220 DTS-FI
Avinash Savant (Rider), Maithili Savant (Pillion) On Royal Enfield Electra
Rajesh Dalvi (Rider), Kinjal Dalvi (Pillion) On Royal Enfield Machismo
Start-End Date – 12th June, 2013 to 10th July, 2013
Duration – 29 Days
Itinerary – Mumbai-Chandigarh-Manali-Koksar-Darcha-Sarchu-Leh-Pangong-Nubra Valley-Kargil-Shrinagar-Jammu-Mumbai
Highest Pass – Khardungla at 18300 ft
DAY 1
12th, June 2013
I woke up even before the alarm rang. I had been waiting for this alarm bell for last four years. Visiting Ladakh and riding on a World’s Highest Motorable Road at Khardung-la had been a dream I cherished and prepared for, for last four years.
I got ready and had to leave for Bandra-Terminus to catch a train to Chandigarh. I thought I’ll book a Meru cab an hour in advance but my assumption was wrong. Not only Meru but all the radio cab services in Mumbai were booked till 11 am. I had to go to the Thakur Village market area to fetch a cab. The cab driver Mr. Ashok was a nice guy. We had a long chat during our commute to Bandra Terminus. His son was appearing for S.S.C. exam and he was asking my advice for his son’s career path. I adviced him to allow his son to decide for himself and not to force anything on him.
When I reached Bandra Terminus, Avinash, Maithili & Avinash’s Mom were already present. Soon my parents & Avinash’s aunt Prerana Mawshi and her friend Lalita Mawshi joined us. Rajesh and Kinjal arrived soon after with their luggage in big carry bags. Our train arrived at 10:30. We started carrying our heavy luggage to our compartment. It was a very exhausting chores we had to do before our journey began. The air conditioned bogies of the train gave us some relief after it was over.
My Mom gave all of us a chocolate which we all finished within few hours after our train journey started. Prerana Mawshi had given us curd rice and spicy puris. We had puris for snacks and cur rice for lunch. Both the items were very delicious. Our train journey was fun. We had a long chat after which everyone took a small nap. For dinner we had a Railway food which to our surprise was much better than what we had expected.
DAY 2
13th June, 2013
Our train journey continued as usual. The train was due to reach Chandigarh at 4 pm. But we had assumed that it will reach there by 7 pm. The train was on time (Shocking isn’t it?). We reached exactly at 4, Picked up our bikes from the Railway Parcel office. We had parceled our bikes to Chandigarh on 10th of June, 2 days before we got into the train. When we saw our bikes parked near the Parcel office the first thing we checked is if the bikes were damaged, which is a common case in train parceling. We were relieved to see our bikes in best condition. We loaded our entire luggage on our respective bikes.
There was no single drop of petrol in the bike. For safety precautions, during Railway parceling all the petrol has to be drained off the vehicle before loading onto the train. Avinash and I took a Rickshaw ride to the nearest petrol pump with three 5 liter jerry cans in our hands. We brought 15 liters of petrol, 5 liter for each bike. We all cheered as the engine of our bikes came back to life. Soon after that our hunt for accommodation began which didn’t take us long. We booked three rooms at Royal Plaza Hotel which was very close to the Chandigarh station. Avinash, Me and Rajesh rode on our bikes to the same petrol pump while Maithili and Kinjal stayed back and freshened up by the time we returned. Chandigarh was hotter than Mumbai. When we returned from petrol pump we were drenched in sweat. We took bath and soon after that five of us headed downstairs for dinner. The dinner was amazingly delicious. We stuffed ourselves on Aloo Paranthas, Gobi Paranthas, Aloo Mutter and Paneer Sabzee.
From left to right - Avinash, Maithili, Kinjal and Rajesh with our bikes outside the Chandigarh station…
To be continued …