THE “ANIKA” LEH LADAKH RIDE

We became grand parents to Anika, on 11 June 2007.

We started our journey by Jhelum Express from Pune station to Jammu on the evening of 27th June. Arrived Jammu afternoon of 29th June, picked up the bike from GATI go down. They had neatly damaged the Speedo and both RVM.

Gave the bike a nice wash and we were ready to load the 30th morning. Loading was tedious, with two extra bags mounted on the specially fitted carrier designed by Mr. Pendharkar of Bajaj Auto Services at his garage to mount Medini’s luggage.

We started for Patni Top (distance 114 kms) through beautiful twisties. It was obvious the bike was groaning under overloaded conditions. Medini carried enough luggages both by volume and weight to load a Santro!! I protested about this to Ashwani Khanna, but he refused to empathize with me.

Arrived Patni Top in good time to take a tour of the wonderful place. Rode a 1 hp horse for 12 kms out there. Stayed the night at JKDTC cottage (Rs 800/-) . Patni Top is a magical place.

01 July, started for Srinagar (198 kms). Again great ride through the Kashmir Mountains. Jawahar tunnel was a scare though Banihal pass was very very charming. Arrived in good time in the valley. We had Army booking in the BB Camp, a high walled high security area. I had to clear my luggage through a sniffer dog bomb disposal squad. He sniffed around my Cramsters and neatly peed on my rear wheel.

The Army Transit Camp mess was simply magnificent. We had time to do a quick tour of the city. Picked up a few maps. Had dinner, drinks and slept through the night all for a princely sum of Rs 114/-.

02 July: Set off for Sonamurg, on a route skirting the awesome Dal Lake. The road was a beauty, with green hills on both sides and a lovely river bisecting the hills through the middle. Arrived Sonamarg around 2:30 pm at the Jammu n Kashmir Rifles TA Bn Camp. All the officers, including Col Pathania, the Commanding Officer, were waiting to receive us. The weather was wonderfully cool. A few Brandies followed by a sumptuous lunch. Afternoon siestas for an hour and off we were to the beautiful meadows of Sonamurg for a photo shoot. We off roaded to the hills on a beautifully green carpeted terrain. The scenery was beautiful. I got a glimpse of a Para glider, but missed the shot.

Sonamurg is like Paradise on earth. Even the militants love Sonamurg. Who wants to do Switzerland? Not me!

That night, Medini became unwell. An Army medic attended to her, we decided to spend an extra night here. Medini spent the better part of the day in bed and was not allowed to ride the Zojilla pass on the bike.

Early morning 4 AM, I rode off some 30 kms for photo pics. An extra day at Sonamurg was most welcome. I got some magnificient pics of the sunrise here, the dark blue clouds.

Free Docs, free medicines for Medini. Bill for 2 nights Rs 264/- incl Brandy and food and Acco and langar kaa khana. I was stupified and asked the Mess Havaldaar to recheck the bill figures. He said “Bill theek hai Saab. Memsaab Medini kaa khayaal rakhna. Memsaab bahut Bahadur hai. Aap ke saath motorcycle pe ghoomna katarnaak hai!”

A good Samaritan, Brig Anand, Retd, ex-Armoured Corps arrived that evening with his family. Over drinks and dinner, he offered to take Medini to Drass the next morning in their hired Mahindra Scorpio, which was good for me.

Zojilla: Treachery, thy name is ZOJILLA. Some 24 kms long but dangerously slippery narrow and bad roads. I met another Bn member, Mitra from Banglore, mid way on the Zojilla. I told him Zojilla is a crazy mad mad place. He assured me Zojilla was nothing compared to what lies ahead for us. That scared me stiff.

He had a terrific modded Pulsar 150. We took a few pics and he gave me some riding tips for the roads ahead, specially the Kargil-Leh and Leh-Manali leg. I wish he accompanied me but he moved towards Srinagar. Zojilla done, had beautiful roads skirting along the river right upto Drass.

Drass: On arrival Drass, the Army Liaison Officer took us straight to the famous War Memorial. I linked up with Medini and Brig Anand out there. The War briefing was a stunner, as we could see all the hill features where the famous Battles took place. Tiger Hill, Toololong, Point 5430…. Captain Batra, PVC, and Captain Vinod Pande, PVC were the outstanding heroes of the War. Next we visited the shrine where the pictorial War Memorial was located. This was the most emotionally supercharged experience of the War in Kargil for me. So many got martyred…. more casualties suffered here by the Indian Army than the 1971 war. So many heroes. The first Grenadiers to launch a counter attack on Tiger Hill were slaughtered, cut to pieces and lost half their men. The graphic war pictures were hard to take for both of us.

This War Memorial is open to the general public.

Kargil: Next morning the 60 odd kms ride to Kargil along the river Indus was a breeze. Medini was back in action with me. Beautiful roads, nice spots to take pics. We were received liked kings at the Brigade Headquarters. An entire luxury cottage was booked for us by the Corps HQ from Srinagar!! Medini crashed out and purred like a cat in the luxurious villa.

Kargil-Lomayuru: This road or no road was where the Ladakh fun really started. Upto now, life was a breeze, a perfect vacation setting.

We gained height rapidly on the mountain pass. Suddenly, the terrain changed dramatically from green to desolation. Hard rocky stupendous mountain terrain, little oxygen, scary drop offs, fish tailing bike. I put up a brave front, Medini started to get scared with every twist and turn. Biking here was no more than 20/30 kmph first and second gear. I thought the engine will cease and the clutch would burn. Nothing of the sort happened. Exhausted, we stopped to take pics at many places in the Kharakorrum ranges of Ladakh. For a 1000 square miles around us, treacherous barren mountain country, no humans in sight, no vehicles, no water, dried out rivers deep down the gorge. No shrubs, trees or a blade of grass. Nothing but desolation. This was WILD WILD LADAKH at it’s best. We were out there in splendid isolation. Suddenly, chilly crosswinds hit us. We were frozen stiff. However, the pics came out great!!

After a million hours on the saddle, got the first glimpse of Lomayuru! Heavens be blessed! Civilisation at last! Plenty of greenery, plenty of oxygen!

We passed through Lomayuru and halted for the night at Kolatse. The Lomayuru- Kolatse-Leh road is beautifully designed along the river Indus. Perfect vacation road.

Kolatse-Leh: Some 60 kms off, and we got the first glimpse of Leh………wow!!!! We had ARRIVED LEH!!!

07-09 July: We had originally planned to arrive Leh 09 July. Instead, coz we gave Srinagar a short shrift, we arrived 07 July. We stayed at the magnificent Corps HQ Army Transit Camp. Met many young Army Officers in the Mess who had returned to Leh after a tour of duty at Siachin. Heard trilling stories of their adventures at the Siachin glacier. They were stunned that Medini and I had biked to Leh from Jammu. The brotherhood of Arms!!!! Wow…

That night HAMS (High Altitude Mountain Sickness) hit Medini. Heavy breathing, fatigue, and much more. An Army Field Ambulance Unit got her on emergency medication. Next morning she was better. Resting the day, I loafed around Leh. That evening she started to suffer again. This time the Field Ambulance Unit visited her every 3 hours. Next 3 days she continued to fluctuate, from a feeling of well being to utter despondency. Docs said she can’t ride no more. She has serious condition of AMS. Fly her out of Leh else we admit her to Army Hospital. She hung out there in Leh……hoping to get well. I took her for some short rides to make her feel good.

I managed to do Khardungla, 50 kms from Leh, 18,500 feet. Awesome place, met awesome folks out there. Plenty of new Bullet 500 avl’s. Magnificient steeds.

Had to miss out Nubra Valley and Pongong Lake coz both were overnight trips and Medini was a cause of concern. Finally, 12th July, evening, she almost died in my arms. I dreamed of building a mini Taj Mahal for her. Nothing happened. Next morning she was out on a flight to Delhi. She wanted to do Leh Manali badly. She cried at the airport. I told her “Baby, you were marvelous. You did 800 kms on the saddle…. which is great….” … but I was happy to see her go to safe altitudes. Besides, my bike would be fine without the extra baggage.

Make no mistakes. Medini was the hero of the Leh ride. She did well.

I had plenty of time to do Nubra and Pongong on my own. But when my riding partner left, a part of me died and with that I was in no mood to do Nubra-Pongong alone.


The Leh Manali ride The Tough One: The same day she departed, I left Leh for Manali, with night halts at Pang and Sarchu. Gradually, I got to terms of riding alone. The countryside overwhelmed me…I was soloing…happy. The road to Tangalanga La was sooooooooper. The second highest mountain pass in the world. Met with Banglore Bulleteers out there, some 6 riders, fully loaded. Reached Pang through beautiful mountain passes. Amazing territory, quite different from the Ladakh ranges. Glaciers were touchable. Raging rivers, though roads were dry.

Night halt at Pang, shared a tent with Canadian college students. Good fun. Next morning started for Sarchu.

To Sarchu: Magnificient GATA loops, then the horror of river crossing. For some strange reasons, a raging river simply crossed over the road! 4 feet deep, 10 feet wide. I had no clue how to cross this water body. I waited for trucks to cross over, studied the ground below. I was tempted to load my bike on an Army truck, but decided to give this river a shot. Managed to cross with full throttle and both feet soaked in chilly waters. How many more of these? God I should have sacrificed the bike in the Ladakh Ranges….this was crazy…..I was cold and damp. Removed my shoes, feet and toes black no sensation. Used the engine exhaust to dry out the shoes and the engine to warm my feet. I burnt the skin of my feet, yet no sensation. This was the pits.

An hour later I was just about okay to ride again. Moari plains was a breeze, another mountain pass, and I was in for a stunner. Never in my life have I seen such magnificence as that of the Sarchu valley. This place was simply amazing!!

Stopped at one place only for pics. I was exhausted beyond my known body limits. Decided that next morning after resting at Sarchu, will ride back 20 kms for pics. No deal. I was hit very hard by HAMS (High Alt Mountain Sickness) at around 1830 hrs in the Tutsi Tent Camp. The Camp owner, Mr. Geltysen, took care of my luggage. All I could eat was some soup………Then I realised that Sarchu was at a higher altitude than Leh!. Some 13,000 odd feet!! Through the night, I could rest on a chair, breathing heavily. Diamox helped for 3 hrs. I had to get out of Sarchu next morning. Else, death. Mr Geltysen offered that he had to go to Manali for stocking up supplies in his Sumo. He offered me a ride on his jeep and and to ride my bike to Manali. I accepted He had a terrific Ladakhi driver, who drove the Sumo like a man on fire.

This was a God sent offer. Between the two of us we alternately rode the bike. Rohtang top was a shame. Tourists, dirty horses, dhabas, garbage….all ruined. Arrived Manali evening. Plenty of oxygen here, a fresh water bath after 3 days, I had recovered quick.

Manali-Simla-Dagshai-Delhi: Fantastic vacation roads, like Lavasa. I had learned enough to take twisties at 70 kph on the Mutha Ghat roads near Pune. I was happy to leave the treachery of the Rohtang Pass behind me. The Manali Darshan road was like home.

That night at the First Third Gurkha Officers Mess at Dagshai, I had time to look back and dream the Ladakh ride, all we had gone through the last 3 weeks, the 3 greatest weeks of our married life ………….and the thought that came to me……

“When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old.”

A rider of 60 kph.

Yes, I have aged and grown old. And therefore I now ride a brand new Silver “Street Fighter”, the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSf1

Captain Nandu and Medini Chitnis
BikeNomads


Selected pics “The best of Ladakh…” are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwmouthshutcomusermariner2html/sets/72157601066696652/


The rest of the pics, with many repeats are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nanduchitnis/NANDUMEDINILADAKHRIDE