It takes a Second to Dream but years to Realize it.
Motivation :- Why Did i Attempt Such a task, in one Sentence it is bcoz of,
My Passion for Biking,
And to do something which no one had done it, Its just my insane attitude to do something different, tougher, challenging, and just my passion for biking since my childhood, just to do what i love, i am a guy who would not eat the breakfast to feed my bike with half a liter of petrol with the Rupee 10 i had in my pocket and run it till it got drained and then push it to petrol pump to get it refueled, this is time in college, I had traveled from Davangere to Bangalore in bare chest in a rainy day just bcoz my shirt had lost buttons, and it feels like you are being hit hard by hundreds of stones. A Rider Who can write names in the ground using my skill & just bike. So i want to take my biking passion to the highest level, the longest run, the ultimate fun of driving in Ladakh, the Ultimate Adventure biking in the country, and extend it to add more fun, of driving from the Top of the world Ladakh to the southern tip of India Kanyakumari, I have participated in A bike Rally during college time, and have attended classes for a Racing School in the MMSC track in Sriperumbudur, Chennai.
The Blog is divided into Three parts for the convenience of Reader and the Reader can chose a particular section depending on his area of interest and time he has.
Climate:- Bone chilling Zero degree cold of Ladakh Sometimes with snowfall, Scorching heat of Delhi and heavy rains of central India.
People:- From the Very traditional People of Kashmir to the ultra modern Delhi (fashion capitol), to the People of Central India to the Cosmopolitan of Bangalore and the Conservative South.
Food:- From the Momos of Ladakh , Paratha’s of Delhi, Biryani of Hyderabad and Idli Vada of Kanyakumari.
Challenges:-
It was my First incomplete Ladakh trip which led me to think of a Trip of this magnitude, it takes lot of courage to Even think of the Ride K2K, 6000 kms on bike, it was not my first trip, I have done many biking trips in the Himalayas and the plains, through which I had enough confidence, And it also required a Good Discipline, everyday I woke up at 4.30 Am, and Left the place at 5.00 Am, +/- 15 Mins Tolerance. One of the places Seen in this trip would go into the all time greats of "10 most beautiful places to be seen before u die in India"list, which I am compiling, We had a Memorable time at the Pangong Tso lake, bcoz we had come across a music band and they were playing great music over there and the combination of Pangong Tso lakes beauty and music was just great, the band was also on their vacation they had come with their Guitar, Ladakh is the highlight of this trip and the rest of India is for a formality to Ride till Kanyakumari as I had seen many places before, bcoz it just has man made structures, I Had to see everything the Best Planned Cities of India Chandigarh, to the Remotest Border villages at an altitude of 15000 feet to Many Villages in the Central India, and the Technology Capitol of India(Bangalore) to, Southern tip of India ( kanyakumari), Overall it was a Success full trip without Even a single Puncture and without shedding a single drop of blood.
Itinerary :-
Day1:- Place - New Delhi - Ambala, Distance Covered till 200 kms,
Human will power, the Greatest power.
Landed at 10.00 Am, I was very eager to start the trip & Got Our bikes from the Railway parcel office, I wanted to take the bike to Jammu through train bcoz it was just a boring 600km journey and was not interested in Driving this stretch, The trip Started with misfortune reason being Wait-listed train tickets did not get confirmed Even after waiting till 8.00 pm for the chart preparation, and i had no option but to drive to Jammu by bike, An Extra 1 day wasted out of the schedule , but no option, i was cursing myself and started the Journey to Jammu in the night at 10.00 pm after having full tank of petrol at Delhi. Reached Ambala at 2.00 pm, and felt Very sleepy and Slept near a petrol pump in our tents.
Day2:- Ambala - Udhampur - Jawahar Tunnel
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
As Everyday woke up with Military Precision at 5.00 Am and Started the journey at 5.15 after packing up the tent and Bags on to our bikes, just after Covering around 50 kms, We faced a Sudden Thunderstorm with fierce wind and Very Heavy rains, and winds enough to push us from road, Could not ride the bike and took shelter in a nearby Factory, I was again cursing myself if i was in a train i would have reached Jammu by Now. and would have left for Srinagar, Rain Stopped after An hour completely wet and most horrible thing is the wet shoes, Continued riding , had a breakfast in a hotel on the highway, The temperature was hot , but the highlight was people were serving Cold Roohafza on the every small towns and cities, i took some drinks and continued , finally Reached J&K border.
After entering J&K border Our Mobiles were not working bcoz Roaming is disabled in J&k and had to face lot of problems and lost precious 3 hours there in finding the other rider, and took a shortcut to Udhampur bypassing Jammu. And Soon the Fun Began, that the Curves and the Mountains Started, reason why we were there, Reached Udhampur at 6.00 pm, In our Schedule by this time we should have been in Srinagar. Again got petrol from Udhampur and Continued towards Srinagar in the night on the Srinagar highway, Soon We reached Patnitop the temperature was low there, I Crossed Jawahar tunnel in the night at 12.00 pm, the Countries Second longest tunnel, We Stopped riding At Around 1.00 pm in the Night and put up a tent Some where on the highway, A Risky Place because of the militancy.
Day3:- Jawahar Tunnel – Srinagar – Sonamarg.
First win over your mind, then you can Conquer the Mountain.
Jawahar Tunnel is a Major tunnel Across the Jammu to Srinagar Highway, 2.5 km in length, it is the tunnel across the pir panjal Mountain Range, Separating the Kashmir valley with the rest of india, Next day woke up early morning & Saw the Kashmir valley @ Titanic view point, which gives a Birds eye View of Kashmir Valley, And moved towards Srinagar, it was a wonderful ride across the green farms with pine trees on both the sides of the Road, I Came across many Bat Factories across the Road , Kashmiri willow is famous for bat making. and finally reached Srinagar at around 8.30 am, but i lost my brother on the way and since our networks roaming is disabled in J&K all efforts to find him went in vain, I was riding on the banks of Dal Lake, although i didn't took any pictures bcoz i had seen it many times, One of the must visit places for me in Srinagar this time was the Beautiful Tulip Gardens, but bcoz the Roses were dried, i could not see it, instead i visited the neighboring Botanical Gardens, and it was nice Place.
I made use of our satellite to contact the lost brother, our satellite is my younger brother in my home town, and i called him through STD phone, told him that i am in a particular place and tell him to come to some place, by the time he called my younger brother and we met it was 2.00pm, i told him to meet in Sonamarg, i started my journey to Sonamarg which was around 80 kms, I Washed my bike on the way and Saw some streams and finally Reached Sonamarg at around 4.00 pm, It is a beautiful place, with lot of lush greenery and Snow capped mountains in the background and some horses grazing, it had lot of tourists and many tourists were curious to see the KA Registered bikes in J&K and asked me lot of questions about my trip, and encouraged me, after waiting for about an Hour my brother came to Sonamarg, i had some Maggie and moved to take some Pictures of Sonamarg, Since the weather was bad it started raining there and i did not attempted to continue the journey, since the Next pass Zojila is Supposed to be difficult, and attempting to cross a pass after 5.00 pm is not a good idea in the Himalayas since temperature dips rapidly and in bike its still dangerous. Spent the Remaining day Capturing the beautiful Scenery of the Sonamarg since the sun sets in June around 7.45 Pm i had plenty of time to Roam around. and Spent the night in Sonamarg.
Day4:- Sonamarg - Khalsi:-
There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way.
Next was to Cross the Difficult Zojila pass and move toward Leh, We started the ascent to Zojila pass, and I Got more adventure than i expected, Zojila pass is going to be the most dangerous pass to cross among all the passes in this trip, with space for movement of only one vehicle and traffic is allowed in only one direction, but exception for bikers, with spiky stone, foot deep potholes , Steep hills with and deep gorges in the sides, its was difficult to do it. but at last it was crossed, and Entered the beautiful Valley downside.
The Roads were good now and Even the Green Scenery and it was a joy to ride, there were horses grazing the green grass on the side of the road a Nice Scenery, took some pictures and moved on, then we reached Drass boasted as the Second coldest place on earth a board says it, had our breakfast here and next we will be eating some Maggi in the evening 7.00 pm that's all for the day. Near Drass we Come Across Many War Memorials built in Memory of the Many Soldiers who died during Kargil War, I Paid my sincere gratitude towards those soldiers who died during the Kargil for Us, If you go there please visit the place, if u cant fight for the country at least by visiting it you show Respect to what they did for the country, at least i feel its worthy instead of going to the nearby mall or PVR. you also see various hills which were captured by Pakistanis during Kargil war, with names like point 5476 and the famous Tiger hill. this stretch b/w Drass and Kargil is very Near to the Pakistani border.
We Reached Kargil city the largest city on the Kargil Leh highway, and Transition place from where the Special Terrains of Ladakh Starts, we see lot of Greenery in Kargil Region and Different Types of houses, Mud or Brown colored houses with flat tops, I bought Some fuel in Kargil which is the only place where we get petrol on the Srinagar & Leh highway, and Moved on, We Saw Amazing different Colored Mountains and its designs, and in the meanwhile Crossed Some High mountain Passes by name Namik La 12198 feet, Fotu La @ 13479 feet, Winds were very fierce in these passes and temperature very low, took Some pictures and Moved down, i had a First glimpse of the famous Lamayaru Gompa on the way, it is located on a hill top in the city of Lamayaru, had a Quick visit to the Gompa, Eat Some Maggie @ down town, Moved to the next village Khalsi, It was Dark when we drove from Lamayaru to Khalsi and its More Adventure to drive in the darkness in this mountains, We Stayed in Khalsi for the Night in Tents.
Day5:- Khalsi - Leh:-
When you know what you want,and you want it badly enough,you'll find a way to get it .
We Woke up at 4.50 Am and Were Ready after Packing all the tents and our bags on the bikes by 5.20 Am and Moved from there at 5.30 Am, From Here Some Very Good Roads were to Greet us, and we had a very Good time Negotiating the Curves in the mountains, and Some of the Scenery on the Roads were too Good, and the Famous Bajaj Avenger Ad was Shoot in this stretch and it made me to Say
"I Feel Like God"
Then We Came Across the Amazing Magnetic hill Along the Highway, its a very Strange place, where Three yellow boxes are marked if you Park your bike or Car there in Neutral and the engine turned off the Gravitational Force of the Nearby Peaks will pull the bike , I Felt this and was really amazed by the pull, You would not experience it if the engine is running and ur moving usually, it was Discovered by Military Jets and Helicopters flying On this Route when they were Experiencing Strange forces & Signals when they were crossing this Area and they had to give more thrust for their Engines to Escape its forces when in this area. we Reached Leh at Around 10.00 Am and Directly Went to the DC's office to get permission to Visit Various Places and got it without too much hassle, And found a Hotel for accommodation at a Good place in the Changspa Road. Had Lunch and at 1.00 Pm No Breakfast today, My Plan for today was to Leave for Pangong Tso Lake and Spend the Night There but Some how it was too late to go there as its dangerous to cross the Chang la pass at Late evening. So Decided to Do local sight seeing in Leh and visited places like the Leh Place, Shanti Stupa & Army Museum.
Day6 :- Leh - Pangong Tso Lake - Leh:- 300 kms
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.
This Day is going to be the most memorable day of trip, why read on, woke up at 4.00 am and left the Room at 4.45 am, headed towards the Beautiful Pangong Tso lake ( 3 idiots fame) which I could not see during my first visit to Ladakh, bcoz of which I have come here for the second time, it was very cold in the morning and we started our climb towards Mighty Chang La The Second highest Motor able Road in the world, the Road was very narrow and sides too steep, with deep gorge’s on one side and mountains on the other side, Drive was dangerous but still we sere going fast since we left very early in the morning and there was no opposite traffic, we were Gaining height quickly and the temperature was dropping quickly, hands were turning numb and with bone biting cold, experience of drowsiness because of less oxygen in atmosphere, took a short 2 minute stop to make my hands warm by keeping them inside the Jacket( In spite of wearing riding gloves), and the body to get acclimatized for the less oxygen. Started the journey towards the mighty Chang La , As we were approaching it the Road became bad with lots of potholes and mud roads and streams, because of the height & Cold the water was frozen & we encountered the first patches of ice but we crossed it carefully, next we faced a bigger patch of ice which was a frozen stream, since we had crossed the previous path, tried to cross it, but we got skidded with the bike and fell down, my knee guards and gloves took the hit and we managed to pull up the bike and move forward next we were to encounter much bigger patches of ice but were very careful since we had fallen Earlier didn’t fall anywhere else( Afterall mistakes are not repeated),
We took pictures at the Mighty Chang la pass @ 5360 m (17590 ft) and moved towards Pangong Tso lake, the Road 10 to 15 kms after Chang La is very bad and Very Steep among all the passes, and we Reached the Famous & Beautiful Pangong Tso lake at around 9.00 am, Had our breakfast in the Army Canteen, we were the very first people to come here this day, and moved towards Lake, After Seeing the lake for the first time I realized it was worth the second visit to Leh, it was just this lake which had pulled me all the way From Bangalore, and felt that one has to see it once in his life time, I moved towards the famous stretch shown in the climax of three idiots Film, There I met my Swift friends whom I had met while coming from Srinagar to Leh, we had a chat to My surprise they had a Guitar and was Playing and singing So lovely that the beauty of the Mighty Pangong Tso looked merrily small in front this melodious song, and I said “Baat ban gaaya” stayed there for quite a long time till 12.30 after all we were there to enjoy and not to hurry, and moved to the main area of lake where 100s of tourists were there took some
Day7:- Leh – Khardungla - NubraValley – Khardungla – Leh:- 300 kms
There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
Headed to Khardungla the Highest motor able road in the world at 5,602 m (18,380 feet) height took some snaps and moved towards Nubra valley, in Nubra valley we find desert , yes there is a cold desert in Leh, you find the famous double humped Bactrian Camel in Hundar, that is the Specialty of this region, took some pictures and started heading back this place didn’t create much excitement and we had to prepare for tomorrow's marathon ride back home, yes we were heading to Manali through Tso Morri lake, while returning back we experienced snowfall in Khardungla and we took some pictures there it was very cold and headed to Leh, reached Leh at 6.00 pm, I bought some things to eat, a petrol can, Muffler, Full tanked the bike with extra fuel in a CAN, ordered my custom made T-shirt of K2K, washed the bike and slept at 10.30 am.
Day8:- Leh-Tso-Morri-Lake-Karzok :- 230 kms.
There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.
Started at 5.15 Am, and took a few pictures of the Thiksey monastery which is situated on top of a hill which looked beautiful, We took a deviation from the Leh-Manali highway to the Tso-Morri lake near Karu and headed to Chumtang, had a breakfast at the only army camp found on the way, and moved towards Tso-Morri lake, Got the first glimpse of Tso-Morri at around 12.00 pm but still it would take around 50 kms and another 5 hours to reach the Right place and the last model village on this Route Karzok. we went off-roading and took lot of snaps and near and far from the lake and from the top of a mountain ridge, and without any proper road started moving further , the road got worse and was driving carefully on the Rough road to avoid Puncture, which would have been a night mare in this Area. Reached the Karzok village at 4.30 pm, Saw the impressive lake with its changing colors during different times of the day from Light green to dark blue, Took lot of snaps and put up the tent in a shelter which would give Protection form the strong winds otherwise there would have been a chance the that the tent would be blown away.
Day9:- Karzok-Tso Kar Lake-Pang 200 kms
Got up early morning Saw the beautiful landscape along with the lake and moved to reach Pang on the Manali Leh highway. Near the Sumdo Village the point where we need to take deviation to reach pang, through Tso Kar, I sensed a change in weather condition, bcoz of my experience in the Himalayas I knew that it was going to rain or snow, and temperature would fall drastically and we did not had any kind of place to stay for an another 100 to 150 kms, so thought of taking shelter in a nearby school, I explained them our situation and the people were kind enough to give us some accommodation, unforgettable hospitality, isn't it without the support of people like this it would have been really difficult for me to complete this trip, and as expected it snowed and it was a complete wash out( terminology used in mountaineering when it snows heavily and you cant see anything in front of you), we were delayed but not worried bcoz it was a journey and have to enjoy every moment of it, we were in the company of cute Tibetan kids and they were too anxious to see foreigners in their land it was a total confusion, I don’t know Tibetan and they don’t know either English or Hindi, they just kept on asking many questions I just kept on shaking my head, I took lot of pictures of the kids dancing in the snow, for them it’s a common sight, snowfall in June is nothing think about the condition in winter when the place will be completely immersed in white for months together. By afternoon the snowfall stopped and sky became clear, I gave chocolates to every kid and left the place for my onward journey towards Pang.
On the way I came across geysers there are hot water springs in that area where natural hot water comes out of the Earth at certain places, I could not reach very near to it bcoz of slush , and then moved ahead to Tso Kar lake, It is also called as a white water lake or even Salt lake, bcoz it’s a salty lake and you find white salt on its shores which looks like snow, and it was really adventurous to reach its shores, since there was hardly any humans in that area and it is very remote and it is only me and my machine, after some time finally saw some trucks moving far off road, and I was very happy to see some vehicles after a long remote ride, and thought that might be the Leh-Manali highway and finally joined the Manali-Leh highway, pang was till around 50 kms, we had bypassed the famous Tanglang La which comes on the Manali-Leh road, but we Still had to Negotiate the famous, Very much fun oriented Moore plains, At the start of The Moore plains, I had a dream of climbing one of the nearby mountains when I first visited and had also mentioned about this in my first blog of Leh, this time I tried to do it by going completely off-road and tried to reach of peak of a nearby mountain, which looked like doable from far off distance and didn’t look so steep but when I went near the mountain I was greeted with loose sand where I didn’t got much grip and bcoz of OEM tires I had, I should have got the off road tires ( for those of u who don’t know what is off road tires it is a type of tire with buttons mainly used in off-road bikes which gives very good grip on off roads and loose sands). then I tried to climb the mountain by climbing the ascent but found it too difficult with loose sand and time was running out I returned without success in climbing the mountain, and joined the highway and moved towards Pang through Moore plains, Moore Plains is the Awesome cool place , there are no roads drive where ever u wish completely Plain grounds for more than 30 kms drive where ever u want and at what ever speed you wish, but beware of loose sand in between bcoz of it the bikers may fall down, u need to find the right path by seeing the trails or the dust created by some other vehicles moving far off, It was a total fun and adventure driving in the Moore plains and I enjoyed it a lot, both the drive and scenery after all this is what I wanted to do the most Biking and this is the reason why I had come for this trip, there is no proper road so it is total off road driving make your own roads, Took some self pictures and moved on towards the main road which connects to pang, and finally reached pang at around 5.00 pm,
Pang is a Temporary small settlement of Tents from June to October, Here we can get accommodation in tents and some food like Maggie, After eating Maggie decided to stay here for the night, as next stop was Sarchu, its not a race we had to see the scenery on the way and it would be very cold in certain places in the night, so slept here for the night.
Day10:- Pang-Manali :- 310 kms
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Started From Pang at 5.00 Am, it was very cold, Although it did not matter when I started biking as soon as I started riding felt the effects of cold, Even with the gloves on the hands were biting with cold and were suffering with numbness and pain, faced lot of difficulty in changing the gears of the bike, I managed riding with minimal gear changes , When ever I got a chance stopped the bike and put my hands inside the Jacket to make my hands warmer and again moved on, Crossed Two of the highest passes along the way Lachung La and Namika La, and finally reached the famous GATA loops it is a set of steep 21 loops where we descend into the Sarchu plains, the specialty of Gata loops is that it has 21 steep loops, with proper roads and for the extreme adventurers there is shortcuts thorough these loops where you have to find the way and those shortcuts are very steep at around 45 degree or even more at certain places believe me you wouldn’t have encountered such slopes in the roads in your life, it needs total courage and skills to take on these shortcuts and it was an experience to remember for a biker, if u don’t want to take these shortcuts u can always take the normal road. After Negotiating these curves I reached Sarchu at around 9.30 pm, as expected and without wasting much time moved towards the Famous, Most Awaited, Most Beautiful & Most Dangerous Baralach La Pass on the Manali to Leh highway, it is regarded as Dangerous only because of its unpredictable weather with sudden snowfall the Roads may get blocked any time with more than a feet of snowfall, you are stranded there with no where to go but face the cold and die there, So we moved towards the pass again a steep climb towards the highest point of the pass, as we were approaching the pass were greeted with very good scenery with snow covered mountains, and finally reached the pass and saw the snow covered mountains all around, and it was in fact a beautiful Scene worth remembering for a long time. for the first time visitor it would be scintillating scenery for him, Took some pictures and moved ahead and came across Suraj Kund lake it’s a tiny lake which is almost frozen for most parts of the year, always frozen in the early morning because its right there at Baralach La pass, took pictures of this half frozen lake we reached that spot around 12.00 pm, and came across two huge snow walls, through which the snow cutter had cut the snow and made way for vehicles to pass through it, it had place for only one four wheeler to go through it the other one had to wait until the first vehicle passed through it no issues for the bikes as so, and come June first week these snow walls will be even much taller at that time, after seeing this we quickly descended downwards as its not safe to stay here for a long time, and by Passing Baralach La I had crossed a major hurdle and task in my K2K trip and another only hurdle would be the Rohtang pass near Manali, after which my Kashmir to Kanyakumari trip would be a cake walk for me according to me, after coming down, we had to cross two deep and fast streams with knee deep water, I wanted to be double careful I removed my shoes and DSLR camera in my bag so that in case i would fall off the bike, and crossed it, and took carried the camera by crossing the stream bare footed, I came across another stream as well I remove the camera and gave to some tourist person, after which I would take this camera by walking through this stream from one side to another side, and then we were greeted with some good roads after this, and reached the first small permanent settlement village on this stretch called Keylong, had our first meals of the day as Maggie and moved towards Tandi we were supposed to Refuel our bikes which were hungry since we left leh –Tso-Morri lake and Tandi there is no Petrol bunk all along this stretch of around 700 kms if u come through Tso-Morri-lake, 360 kms if you come directly through Tanglang La, Got enough Fuel to reach Manali, Since I thought of Full tanking at Manali, and moved ahead, again the roads were good and the scenery started changing from the Dessert mountains of the Ladakh to greenery of the Manali, all the mountain's were full of grass and green trees and was a welcome sight for us to see it, and again faced with the ascent of the Rohtang pass, I met a lot bikers coming from Manali on their bullet bikes and they had warned us from before about the great slush of Manali and the road conditions of Rohtang was worst because of rain, and a nightmare for al vehicles bcoz of the never ending traffic jams, bcoz of narrow and dangerous roads, I was very much excited and looking forward to see what it looks like over here, I soon started encountering the bad patch of roads and started moving slowly, add to the woes of bad roads snow and slight drizzle added to the worries driving in the slippery snow was difficult and I was careful, It was difficult bcoz of my OEM smooth tires which were designed to drive on the smooth metro cities and highways did not offer much grip on bike and I was driving slowly, managed to negotiate it and reached the Rohtang top, and what a wonderful scenery, if you cannot visit Ladakh it is ok, but you should see Rohtang in your Life time, bcoz its such a beautiful place, According to me Rohtang & Manali is much beautiful than Ladakh, Ladakh and Manali both have different terrains, its not fair to compare them, took pictures and saw some good roads and was happy but it was not the end, worst was yet to come, Worst patch of slush and Roads were ahead and it was a total nightmare to cross it, with a feet deep slush, it was difficult to cross the through the slush along with the traffic jam, at many places the shoes got struck in the slush, if not for the power of the Pulsar 220 bike it would have been difficult to negotiate this stretch of patch, moving on the edge of mountains by taking narrow stretches to beat the traffic jam, and shoes completely muddy and wet, was really difficulty, but not cursing myself for this situation bcoz after all this is part of adventure and Manali to Ladakh is no mean task, and after all I am behind K2K not Just L2M, these challenges should be overcome, the slush was there for a long duration, after Marhi the road was somewhat better but then I Cleaned my shoes in stream , and started riding but it was now difficult it was becoming cold and the wet shoes added to the worries, drove to Manali, by late evening it was 7.00pm when I reached Manali,
For me it was a totally different world altogether since I had all these days seen only the Tibetan people now got see a different set of people and many North Indian tourists had arrived in Manali, and had a dinner and bought a new pair of slippers and removed the shoes, Put up the tent somewhere on the highway road, and slept for the day, after all we had covered a astonishing 310 kms on the mountain roads, rest of bikers take at least 2 days for this trip, since they go to Keylong from Manali or at the most to Sarchu from Manali we had done pang to Manali. had a good nights sleep and all the tiredness was reset to zero by the nights sleep.
Day11:- Manali – Kullu – Chandigarh - Delhi :- 570 kms.
The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.
I took a Very Relaxing bath in the Hot Water spring of the Vashist temple, it is a Sulphar spring which is said to have healing properties, felt Good after taking a bath in this Sulphur natural water spring, And had our breakfast somewhere in between Manali & Kullu, the Dhaba owner also gave us some Manali fruits whose name i don't remember, for a merry 10 Rupees, we find lot of Rafting Camps along this way if you want to do Rafting, in the Beas river, but i had my share of Rafting in the mighty Ganges sometime back, didn't try here, Moved to Kullu, Near Kullu i saw the board to Mani Karan, which is a place of worship for Sikhs bcoz of Gurudwara and Hindus as well because of a hot water spring much hotter than the Vashist spring, From the Kullu highway it is a climb or ascent of around 40 kms we go to a higher altitude it takes a lot of time, bcoz of the small road and twists & turns. The hot water in Manikaran is a boiling hot water where people cook food in this and give it as Prasad or people take the cooked beans in this water as Prasad to home, Again moved towards Chandigarh nonstop from Manikaran, it took a hell a lot of time to go to Manikaran, we washed our bikes in a Stream on the way downhill & Come back to Kullu from where we deviated, it was almost 1.00 pm when we returned down . Then we decided to Ride non stop till Chandigarh bcoz we were running out of time, stopped only for Fuel at Bilaspur, It was again a Ride to Remember not even a single Vehicle would overtake me until Chandigarh either 2 or 4 wheeler although one swift tried to challenge me by offering me a Race I gave a run for his money of swift with my P220, He could never catch me, although he was a local guy would have surprised by the rider of a KA Registered bike overtaking him and riding in such a manner in his home turf, its like beating the lion in the lion’s den, He would have definitely remembered me for a long time, Reached Chandigarh at around 7.00 pm, I had driven with full throttle in the Mountains, but with Average Speed in the Highways as I wasn't interested in setting Speed records in the Straight road, where even the nimble swift was capable of Reaching 150 kmph, I wouldn’t drive more than 110 kmph, although the bike at full throttle can touch 138 kmph, I didn’t wanted to stress the bike too much, it was only driving around Average 100 kmph.
Chandigarh is a wonderful city, Very Well planned, with Wide roads and Signal less Wide circles, a joy to ride, we had a Glimpse to see sec-17, and Rock Garden & Sukhna Lake, and Moved towards Delhi at around 8.30 pm in the evening, Thought of going to Delhi straight away in the night, I moved towards Delhi both after driving for two hours I felt very sleepy, and thought of sleeping in the tent for a while bcoz by the time I reach Delhi it would have been around 2.00 pm it would not be a nice idea to disturb my friend where I was going to stay, but my partner had given a hand, I waited for him for a long time on the highway bcoz tent was with him after waiting for half an hour he never turned up, and finally he came but in spite of trying to stop him he never stopped and went away, the tent, puncture Repair kit & All tools & spanners, GPS were with him, tried to catch him on the highway but he escaped somewhere switched off his mobile, and disappeared without informing me, and it was an another Mental test for me, to Overcome this betrayal, I felt Too sleepy and while driving was loosing control by taking the bike left and right on the highway I was just looking for a place to sleep everything was closed, I found an Auto parked on the Road, the mosquitos, heat of North & the Trucks travelling on the highway made it difficult to sleep, I slept in it for half an hour. I again started to Ride on the highway after travelling for an hour again felt very sleepy, when ever I sensed danger form me that is the bike was going out of control left and right on the highway I stopped and sat on a foot path for half an hour, and Started the Ride again, this time I Moved till Delhi without stop and Entered Delhi, Before this time I had the GPS for navigation to Guide us the Routes, which was with my Partner and he has gone with it, Now from here onwards I had to Drive without the GPS another bottleneck, and it was almost 3.30 when I reached the outskirts of Delhi not many people on the road to ask for directions to Noida my halting place, I Rode without asking a single person for direction straight to Noida with the help of boards and My Previous knowledge of Delhi Roads, and Reached Noida at 4.00 pm,
Day12:- Noida-Noida := 0 kms. Rest Day.
I tried to call my friend who was living inside a colony and the Security wouldn’t allow me to go inside the colony without him, all my attempts failed & he did not lift the phone, I had to sit on the Roadside, as it was still night, there would have been suspicion from the cops, I stayed near a Auto stand, was getting Dizziness bcoz of sleepless for the whole night, the Sorrow & betrayal of my Partner who had left me without informing me, and My Dream of Three years of Doing Kashmir to KanyaKumari in uncertainty , and I was in doldrums. I Was totally upset and Called up my younger Brother to explain him what happened, only he knows my situation on that day, My Dream was in jeopardy, Now There was more Risk I Had to Do it alone, Without Puncture kit & Air pump, No GPS, No tent, No tools, No one to help in case of Accident, No Pictures, My younger Brother advised me to Put the bike on Train or Cargo and Come back by flight, and do it next time, But I Knew after doing all through Ladakh, it was Now or Never, I Wouldn’t get a next chance for this in Life, It has to be Now and I had to take this risk of going alone, I waited there till 6.30 and finally went to my friends House in the Morning myself, After taking a shower I went to Give the Much Needed Service for my bike, and Came back to Room and slept for a while as I haven't slept whole night, My biggest problem was luggage with all the luggage the bike weighed 200 kg, I wanted to shed some Luggage to make the Ride more comfortable, After a lot of search for Parcel Office finally I found VRL and felt very happy a Trusted Reliable Transporter of the south, things which were not required now and were only required in the Cold region of Ladakh were sent in the bag, the bag behind the rear seat was lost and it was easy to put my leg on the bike, Had a chat in the Evening with the old friends, and Had Lot of Mixed Reactions of the Place where I Stayed for Three years before missed a bit, and got Prepared for the Final Odyssey Delhi to KanyaKumari , at Least I had to drive Another 2400 kms to Reach Bangalore to take proper rest,
Day13:- Noida-Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Lalitpur :- 536 kms.
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
~Edmund Hillary
Woke up at 5.30 Since didn’t had a Proper sleep day before yesterday and Left the Noida at 6.15 Am, and started towards Agra, got Fuel and Reached Agra at 10.00 Am, Got the ticket to Visit Taj and had a quick glimpse of Taj, there wasn’t too much of a crowd as it was not a weekend and took a few snaps, and came out, I had a plan to take the picture of Taj along with the bike, and that to go to that place I had to Travel Six kilometers on a different route, after asking many people I reached that place but the Police didn’t allow me to place the bike and take that picture that is near the Yamuna bank the Backside of Taj, instead I went to some other place and took a Snap I had to negotiate lot of thorny path to go there still a barbed wire fence came in between me and the Yamuna bank, which prevented me from taking good picture I just took a snap and moved form there in order to avoid further delay as my Target for the Day was still far off. the Road till now was Super, Taj being high on many of the foreigners list of must visit and Indian Govt wanted to present that wrong Indian road conditions to the rest of the world.
I Started My journey Towards My Next Destination Gwalior @ 120 kms from Agra, and the Road From Agra to Gwalior is Very good in fact except for a stretch of 15 kms Near Dholpur which is Very bad because of a Flyover construction which is going on, After Covering around half the distance My tryst with the Rain Started it started to Drizzle and Rain would not leave me until Nagpur that is Next day Evening. I Reached Gwalior in a Wet condition with my Water Proof pants on. I went to Gwalior Fort the only highlight of Gwalior, it was not on my must visit list just I was passing through it and thought of seeing it, In fact Gwalior fort is a very Majestic and beautiful fort worth Seeing, and it was a good stop over for me, Saw lot of people form the city there for a time pass, a Welcome break and people over there thought I was a Press Photographer by seeing my big camera, ohhh!!!, Some girls told me not to put the picture in the newspaper otherwise my dad will take a lesson to me, others just wanted their picture to be taken. I Spent some time over there, the Fort is located on a hill top and you get to see the whole city from there.
I Started My journey Towards Jhansi and the Road Started to deteriorate from now onwards I would get bad roads with mud and slush Rains, and a total havoc, and I would be cursing myself why am I doing this K2K, and that too why did I choose this Route, there is a reason for choosing this route (This is the route Used for creating the Limca Book of Records fastest Kashmir to KanyaKumari on Bike), in fact this was a survey, scrutiny of this route and feasibility of check up of breaking the record. In fact its difficult to break this record, Even if I take the risk and pain & breaking this, who’s going to appreciate it, will I get what I want May be not, I continued my journey towards Jhansi in Rain, and at last reached Jhansi in rain, after enquiring people I got the Famous Jhansi Ki Rani ka Quila ( Fort), There I met a man who talked to me after seeing my KA Registered bike & told him about my K2K Journey how my partner left me from Chandigarh, It was raining and went inside to see the fort it was neither as magnificent as big as Gwalior fort, its famous just because of the heroics and bravery of the Jhansi Ki Rani. very less tourists or hardly any were there, and because of rains the Daily scheduled Sound & Light Show was cancelled. and I didn’t had any other reason to stay there, Went out of the Fort, there a person waited for my arrival whom I had talked to before I went inside the fort and he had actually collected information about how to reach Nagpur through Lalitpur-Sagar-Laknadon, which he was not knowing, and all the people there supported my journey , with there well wishes they advised me not to travel in the late night and stay in Lalitpur and go next day early morning, as the area is a bit Dangerous, it was dark & roads not in a good shape. I wanted to go to Khajuraho if at all I wanted to go there here was the deviation I need to take, to Chatarpur but because of the Rains and bad roads I was not Motivated, and instead decided to go to Lalitpur.
I had My Dinner at a Good Restaurant in Jhansi, and Started my Journey towards Lalitpur@ 100 kms from Jhansi, It was Raining I started driving slowly in the night with less visibility and as Always the journey is not always as Smooth as reading this blog, with totally wet Shoes it was a total mess for me to ride in such a condition it was almost unbearable to ride with the wet shoes now, so I removed my shoes and Wore my slippers, and tied the shoes with lace behind the bike, and Continued the journey, I was Constantly & Repeatedly asking the truckers for the right direction to reach Nagpur bcoz I wanted to make sure I am in the right Road, as a Wrong Road will lead to lot of penalty in terms of petrol and time, the Roads were bad with lots of Rain Water filled potholes, I Came across a Major Military town called Babina, a big military settlement which itself has converted into a small town, I had Company of some bikers thought halfway and afterwards it was a totally haunting place, with no one on the highway and I Remembered all the Ramsay horror movies of signs of Some Ghosts Coming over there unfortunately I didn’t encounter any ghost, Just before 15 kms from Lalitpur I Realized I had lost my shoes and the probability of finding the shoes in the Dark & haunting Roads looked bleak even if I turned back and I didn’t knew how far back I had to go to find it, I Cursed my luck and Continued towards Lalitpur, and entered the city and Saw a marriage party going on the way, Stopped there for a while to see the Central Indian marriage on a chariot with Currency Garlands on the Groom, and Stayed in a hotel in Lalitpur.
Day14:- Lalitpur-Sagar-Lakhnadon-Nagpur-Wardha :- 600 kms.
I woke up at 4.30 AM and Stared my Journey towards Nagpur at 5.00 pm, had a 50:50 mind as to go in search of my lost shoes and loose time & Petrol or Continue Towards Nagpur, with the Probability of finding the shoes looked very bleak as passers by could have picked it up by now, I Decided to Go towards Sagar the next biggest city along way, the Rains didn’t stop and they would give me company all the way till Nagpur, For some reason I was not wearing the water proof pants & I was totally wet, and stopped for a while in Search of breakfast, but without any success in finding a proper breakfast, again continued Riding in the rain, ( The Moto I follow during rains is continue riding & don’t stop because when u Ride you might go to a place where its not raining instead of staying at one place this principle has worked many a times, but this time it was raining for a distance of over 600kms) and Roads were worst, with None of the bridges ready with the National highway under Construction and For the First time New highways are being constructed in this area which is part of Vajpayee Dream Stretch of North South Corridor, so there is lot of deviation & bad stretches to bypass the bridges, it will take another 4 years for Completing these highways, if Crossing Ladakh was one adventure without Roads, Crossing this Stretch from Gwalior to Nagpur was another Adventure. On they way before Sagar I heard a Strange Noise from my bike something was making a huge noise, and after slowing down and careful examination it was something toughing the chassis, and I stopped the bike to see a big nail pierced through the Rear Tire A nightmare.
I was not having the puncture repair kit Nor the Air pump, I had to remove this Nail, No tools Either, Later I used a stone to remove the Nail, to my Luck it has crossed the corner of a tire through sideways and not to the center of the tire which could have Caused full blow up, and as it was a tubeless tire it had withstood this debacle, with the suspicion of loosing air from tire I Moved ahead to find the nearest Puncture repair shop, I Reached Sagar, I had not lost air, so I Continued my journey towards Nagpur, it was difficult some times to find the Road bcoz of Construction, and once upon a time I came to the same circle three times while asking for the Nagpur way and again somehow came back from where I had left, oopps like a maze, totally confused by so many peoples instructions, Finally I managed to escape from that Circle and headed towards Nagpur, very few vehicles plying on this stretch, I Reached Lakhnadon in the late afternoon, had a meals at a Road Side Dhaba, There were Some good stretch of roads Near to 100 kms from Nagpur I got Good set of Roads and felt like I got a new life again, I was cursing when this bad stretch of roads end, all these stretch I was driving at 70 kmph, Now I was again back to 100 kmph towards Nagpur and again Started gaining pace, Finally Reached Nagpur at 7.00 pm, Had Biryani at the Famous Babul Hotel, Full tanked the bike with 17 liters of petrol and checked the Tire pressure and Continued my Journey towards Hyderabad in the night, I travelled till Jamb & I felt very sleepy but continued and felt I was again loosing control of the bike on the highway and decided to stay at a Dhaba, although I had the dinner again I Took the dinner for the second time and slept in the Dhaba, the owner a Sikh was kind enough to offer some place to sleep on the coat, I hardly slept as the television was running through night and workers were awake.
Day15:- Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore :- 1000 kms
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Yes this was a Marathon Run of 1000 kms in an eagerness to reach my Base Camp Bangalore, woke up at Early morning 4.50 and left by 5.00 Am, As I had hardly slept & was feeling drowsiness even during the morning and day time and the bike was going out of control as soon as I realized I was going out of control I would stop the bike for 5 mins to get rid of sleep, and Riding Consistently at 100kmph I reached Hyderabad at 12.00 Pm, The Road Condition from Nagpur to Hyderabad was very Nice, this is the only stretch along my journey where I found the Min Speed limit of the highway board displayed to be 100kmph, Because of the Rains the bike was very dirty with mud on the chain it badly needed a service, the Bag on the bike, clothes, Books, Driving license everything inside the bag was wet which I realized only after opening the bag in the service station, The guys were kind enough they serviced the bike in a quick 2 hours in the mean time I Washed my Bag which was a total mess, and I got a total fresh Bag and bike which was riding like a butter now, a Total fun to drive , I wondered whether a service would make such a difference or is that the bcoz of rains its condition was so bad. It was 2.00 pm I decided to meet a friend of mine who told me it will take another 1.5 hours come to some place.
I took this opportunity to go to Freeway19 a Fun club on the outskirts of Hyderabad where I found my favorite ride Go-karting, Archery, paintball, Shooting and other fun games, I Decided go for my favorite Past time Go-karting there, waited for my turn and I was just about to climb my Kart, Suddenly a Stupid Karter hit my Kart from behind when I was standing on my kart to sit in it, and I fell down on my back, it hurt me so much ** Conditions apply ( Read the end of the blog for the full form of **), I scolded him ( I am so angry if I find him now would definitely punch him) and Completed my karting, then did a Round of archery and left from that place, met my friend had a chat with him, I left to see the Hyderabad city at late 5.00 pm, Saw Husain Sagar lake, there was traffic nightmare everywhere had to frequently stop to ask for correct route so many times, took the wrong route and had to come back, this is what happens of not having a GPS Navigation, then left for Charminar took some pictures in the Evening, the Charminar was lit with Colorful lights and it looked so beautiful. I came back to my bike and found that I had lost the bike key somewhere I doubted weather some one had pick pocketed my bike key, and was again totally pissed off, I had thought of this eventuality and had a Spare key of my bike but that key was with my Partner who had long been missing from Chandigarh. What to do, brain ticked I thought of going to all the places near Charminar where I had gone and after searching for a while I found the key still lying on the ground, This Time I should say luck was with me, Yes I Was a Lucky Chap, Got the keys, the traffic police were doing checkup right at the place where I had parked my bike, but luckily I escaped from them and left that place. I eat a samosa and Jaleebi and Full tanked the bike and left for my Most Eagerly awaited destination Bangalore, at 8.00 pm in the night. I Continued riding Through the highway in the night the Volvos were Going at blazing speed I too maintained a steady 100 kmph but one of the swift was going at 150 kmph, I could not catch it but started going at my own pace, Soon the Sleep started attacking me, and I slowed down my speed finally it reached a stage where I was taking the bike out of control yawning left & right, and Stopped at a Dhaba to sleep, I slept there with my helmet on outside bcoz it was cold it would have been such a scene to capture by picture right but unfortunately I was a self photographer this time, didn’t had enough motivation to click further pictures, I woke up, and started driving, this is one of the Nicest Roads , and Reached the Karnataka border at chickballapur toll plaza, I was happy to see the board in Kannada, you will know it when u do such a long journey, I was feeling happy every time I was inching closer to Bangalore. crossed the toll gate and took a stop in the sight of Nandi hills had my breakfast there, and Started my journey to my House in Bangalore Crossed the Yelahanka through the airport Road, I was feeling very happy I was very close to my dream and I did it alone, Delhi to Bangalore in spite of all these Rains, Slush and odds.
Day16:- Bangalore-Bangalore:- 0 kms, Rest Day.
Reached my Room at 9.00 Am, in the Morning, I was Very happy internally and Relaxed and took rest full day staying in Room as I had not slept in the previous night, I slept for a while, and offloaded all the luggage, and I was not at all worried for my final odyssey of Bangalore to KanyaKumari @ 700 kms, as Compared what what I had done in the Last 15 days the next task is going to be a Cake walk for me, and confident of doing it. in one day to reach KanyaKumari one day to return, I took only a Small bag this time with very minimal luggage, a cake and water to eat got everything ready.
Day17:- Bangalore-KanyaKumari-Madurai-kodiakanal:- 1150kms
It always seems impossible until it's done.
Yes this was also a Marathon Ride of 1150 kms, after all my target was to Complete 1600 kms in 24 hours which I failed to do, as I spent 6 hours in Kanyakumari seeing various places, and I woke up at Early 3.30 and left the House at 4.15 and Full tanked with Petrol and Started the journey at 4.30 Am in the morning. Crossed Electronics city at 5.00 Am, it was drizzling but I Continued Riding above 100 kmph as I had kept high targets to reach, I Increased my pace after krishnagiri, to above 120 kmph Average and at times touched 138 kmph, as small sprint run, I washed my wet shoes in a petrol bunk on the highway and reached Madurai at 11.00 Am, and had breakfast there, As I was confused to go to Rameshwaram or Kanyakumari after thinking for a while I Made my decision to Go to Kanyakumari as that was my primary target,
After Madurai I drove consistently at 90 kmph and Reached Kanyakumari at 3.00 pm, First I went to see the Vivekananda Memorial, it is situated in the sea, so we need to go through a Boat to reach there, Swami Vivekananda had swam across the sea to go there for Meditation. Next to the Vivekananda memorial in the sea there is Poet Thiruvalluvar Statue in the sea, these two look stunning as they are illuminated with color lights in the evening. After Seeing the Vivekananda Memorial I went to see the sunset point.
The Specialty of Kanyakumari is the only place in India where you get to see Stunning Sunrise as well as Sunset, why because it is the southern most tip of India, otherwise you see sunsets on on the west coast and sunrise in the east coast, and you can see both here had a few Snaps, bought some Souvenirs over here, did some night Photography experiments, Left the place after having my dinner at 8.30 pm, I felt sleepy on the way and stopped where ever I was going out of control, Reached Madurai at midnight 1.00 pm and Took rest for some time at a place and started moving ahead, I saw the board deviation for Kodaikanal instead of going to Bangalore I decided I will go through kodaikanal and took the deviation turn, after driving all night I reached kodaikanal at 6.30 Am.
Day18:- Kodaikanal-Palani-Erode-Krishnagiri-Bangalore:- 450 kms
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Took shower in a hotel and had my breakfast went out for sightseeing, the places to see in kodai in the order of importance according to me are, Kodai lake, Rose garden that’s all rest is created for name sake, like croakers walk, Green valley view point, pillar rocks, Guna caves, devil’s kitchen, and dolphin’s nose, after going to the observatory, I spent the rest of the time in Sitting by the lake, watching the lake and tourists over there. had my lunch and left for the day at 1.30 pm from kodai, I drove through the mountains and went down to reach Palani, there is the famous Palani temple over there, I took the last picture of the trip as Palani temple, and moved Quickly towards Erode, and took some shortcuts through bhavani-Mettur-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore, Reached Bangalore at 12.00 pm in the Night, By this I had Completed my Dream Run of Doing Kashmir to KanyaKumari on bike, Was very happy and Relieved, I think it would be end of an Biking Era.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
** I had a Hair line fracture, I Realized this only after a month when I took a X-Ray after experiencing pain.
Bikers Section:-
Bikes to Choose:-
Minus Points:- Mileage is less, Not As reliable, Not Sporty.
Minus Points:- No Luggage carrying Capacity, Difficult to Carry Extra petrol.
Myself being a Sporty Rider its always a Sports bike, its suites my riding style, it was clear for me it has to be P220.
Important things to Considered while taking the bike to Ladakh.
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Motivation :- Why Did i Attempt Such a task, in one Sentence it is bcoz of,
My Passion for Biking,
And to do something which no one had done it, Its just my insane attitude to do something different, tougher, challenging, and just my passion for biking since my childhood, just to do what i love, i am a guy who would not eat the breakfast to feed my bike with half a liter of petrol with the Rupee 10 i had in my pocket and run it till it got drained and then push it to petrol pump to get it refueled, this is time in college, I had traveled from Davangere to Bangalore in bare chest in a rainy day just bcoz my shirt had lost buttons, and it feels like you are being hit hard by hundreds of stones. A Rider Who can write names in the ground using my skill & just bike. So i want to take my biking passion to the highest level, the longest run, the ultimate fun of driving in Ladakh, the Ultimate Adventure biking in the country, and extend it to add more fun, of driving from the Top of the world Ladakh to the southern tip of India Kanyakumari, I have participated in A bike Rally during college time, and have attended classes for a Racing School in the MMSC track in Sriperumbudur, Chennai.
The Blog is divided into Three parts for the convenience of Reader and the Reader can chose a particular section depending on his area of interest and time he has.
- Overview :- A Concise Description of the Trip.
- Itinerary :- With a Detailed Description of the Day to Day movement with an effort to put the best picture taken of the Day.
- Bikers Section :- With Detailed Road Conditions and things to Carry & take care of by the bikers.
Climate:- Bone chilling Zero degree cold of Ladakh Sometimes with snowfall, Scorching heat of Delhi and heavy rains of central India.
People:- From the Very traditional People of Kashmir to the ultra modern Delhi (fashion capitol), to the People of Central India to the Cosmopolitan of Bangalore and the Conservative South.
Food:- From the Momos of Ladakh , Paratha’s of Delhi, Biryani of Hyderabad and Idli Vada of Kanyakumari.
Challenges:-
- The Sheer amount of Distance 6000 kms was the first challenge.
- Riding in Remote, Cold Ladakh is the other challenge.
- Hands pains and become numb by holding the bikes handle for 10 to 12 hours in a day, with gloves you get injured by wearing it for such a long time morning to evening.
- Ass was on fire by sitting on the bike for 12 hours & heat of North India after all its not a AC bike isn't it.
- Not to forget the Back Pain by sitting without any support for the back on the bike for 12 hours a day.
It was my First incomplete Ladakh trip which led me to think of a Trip of this magnitude, it takes lot of courage to Even think of the Ride K2K, 6000 kms on bike, it was not my first trip, I have done many biking trips in the Himalayas and the plains, through which I had enough confidence, And it also required a Good Discipline, everyday I woke up at 4.30 Am, and Left the place at 5.00 Am, +/- 15 Mins Tolerance. One of the places Seen in this trip would go into the all time greats of "10 most beautiful places to be seen before u die in India"list, which I am compiling, We had a Memorable time at the Pangong Tso lake, bcoz we had come across a music band and they were playing great music over there and the combination of Pangong Tso lakes beauty and music was just great, the band was also on their vacation they had come with their Guitar, Ladakh is the highlight of this trip and the rest of India is for a formality to Ride till Kanyakumari as I had seen many places before, bcoz it just has man made structures, I Had to see everything the Best Planned Cities of India Chandigarh, to the Remotest Border villages at an altitude of 15000 feet to Many Villages in the Central India, and the Technology Capitol of India(Bangalore) to, Southern tip of India ( kanyakumari), Overall it was a Success full trip without Even a single Puncture and without shedding a single drop of blood.
Itinerary :-
Day1:- Place - New Delhi - Ambala, Distance Covered till 200 kms,
Human will power, the Greatest power.
Landed at 10.00 Am, I was very eager to start the trip & Got Our bikes from the Railway parcel office, I wanted to take the bike to Jammu through train bcoz it was just a boring 600km journey and was not interested in Driving this stretch, The trip Started with misfortune reason being Wait-listed train tickets did not get confirmed Even after waiting till 8.00 pm for the chart preparation, and i had no option but to drive to Jammu by bike, An Extra 1 day wasted out of the schedule , but no option, i was cursing myself and started the Journey to Jammu in the night at 10.00 pm after having full tank of petrol at Delhi. Reached Ambala at 2.00 pm, and felt Very sleepy and Slept near a petrol pump in our tents.
Day2:- Ambala - Udhampur - Jawahar Tunnel
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
As Everyday woke up with Military Precision at 5.00 Am and Started the journey at 5.15 after packing up the tent and Bags on to our bikes, just after Covering around 50 kms, We faced a Sudden Thunderstorm with fierce wind and Very Heavy rains, and winds enough to push us from road, Could not ride the bike and took shelter in a nearby Factory, I was again cursing myself if i was in a train i would have reached Jammu by Now. and would have left for Srinagar, Rain Stopped after An hour completely wet and most horrible thing is the wet shoes, Continued riding , had a breakfast in a hotel on the highway, The temperature was hot , but the highlight was people were serving Cold Roohafza on the every small towns and cities, i took some drinks and continued , finally Reached J&K border.
After entering J&K border Our Mobiles were not working bcoz Roaming is disabled in J&k and had to face lot of problems and lost precious 3 hours there in finding the other rider, and took a shortcut to Udhampur bypassing Jammu. And Soon the Fun Began, that the Curves and the Mountains Started, reason why we were there, Reached Udhampur at 6.00 pm, In our Schedule by this time we should have been in Srinagar. Again got petrol from Udhampur and Continued towards Srinagar in the night on the Srinagar highway, Soon We reached Patnitop the temperature was low there, I Crossed Jawahar tunnel in the night at 12.00 pm, the Countries Second longest tunnel, We Stopped riding At Around 1.00 pm in the Night and put up a tent Some where on the highway, A Risky Place because of the militancy.
Day3:- Jawahar Tunnel – Srinagar – Sonamarg.
First win over your mind, then you can Conquer the Mountain.
Jawahar Tunnel is a Major tunnel Across the Jammu to Srinagar Highway, 2.5 km in length, it is the tunnel across the pir panjal Mountain Range, Separating the Kashmir valley with the rest of india, Next day woke up early morning & Saw the Kashmir valley @ Titanic view point, which gives a Birds eye View of Kashmir Valley, And moved towards Srinagar, it was a wonderful ride across the green farms with pine trees on both the sides of the Road, I Came across many Bat Factories across the Road , Kashmiri willow is famous for bat making. and finally reached Srinagar at around 8.30 am, but i lost my brother on the way and since our networks roaming is disabled in J&K all efforts to find him went in vain, I was riding on the banks of Dal Lake, although i didn't took any pictures bcoz i had seen it many times, One of the must visit places for me in Srinagar this time was the Beautiful Tulip Gardens, but bcoz the Roses were dried, i could not see it, instead i visited the neighboring Botanical Gardens, and it was nice Place.
I made use of our satellite to contact the lost brother, our satellite is my younger brother in my home town, and i called him through STD phone, told him that i am in a particular place and tell him to come to some place, by the time he called my younger brother and we met it was 2.00pm, i told him to meet in Sonamarg, i started my journey to Sonamarg which was around 80 kms, I Washed my bike on the way and Saw some streams and finally Reached Sonamarg at around 4.00 pm, It is a beautiful place, with lot of lush greenery and Snow capped mountains in the background and some horses grazing, it had lot of tourists and many tourists were curious to see the KA Registered bikes in J&K and asked me lot of questions about my trip, and encouraged me, after waiting for about an Hour my brother came to Sonamarg, i had some Maggie and moved to take some Pictures of Sonamarg, Since the weather was bad it started raining there and i did not attempted to continue the journey, since the Next pass Zojila is Supposed to be difficult, and attempting to cross a pass after 5.00 pm is not a good idea in the Himalayas since temperature dips rapidly and in bike its still dangerous. Spent the Remaining day Capturing the beautiful Scenery of the Sonamarg since the sun sets in June around 7.45 Pm i had plenty of time to Roam around. and Spent the night in Sonamarg.
Day4:- Sonamarg - Khalsi:-
There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way.
Next was to Cross the Difficult Zojila pass and move toward Leh, We started the ascent to Zojila pass, and I Got more adventure than i expected, Zojila pass is going to be the most dangerous pass to cross among all the passes in this trip, with space for movement of only one vehicle and traffic is allowed in only one direction, but exception for bikers, with spiky stone, foot deep potholes , Steep hills with and deep gorges in the sides, its was difficult to do it. but at last it was crossed, and Entered the beautiful Valley downside.
The Roads were good now and Even the Green Scenery and it was a joy to ride, there were horses grazing the green grass on the side of the road a Nice Scenery, took some pictures and moved on, then we reached Drass boasted as the Second coldest place on earth a board says it, had our breakfast here and next we will be eating some Maggi in the evening 7.00 pm that's all for the day. Near Drass we Come Across Many War Memorials built in Memory of the Many Soldiers who died during Kargil War, I Paid my sincere gratitude towards those soldiers who died during the Kargil for Us, If you go there please visit the place, if u cant fight for the country at least by visiting it you show Respect to what they did for the country, at least i feel its worthy instead of going to the nearby mall or PVR. you also see various hills which were captured by Pakistanis during Kargil war, with names like point 5476 and the famous Tiger hill. this stretch b/w Drass and Kargil is very Near to the Pakistani border.
We Reached Kargil city the largest city on the Kargil Leh highway, and Transition place from where the Special Terrains of Ladakh Starts, we see lot of Greenery in Kargil Region and Different Types of houses, Mud or Brown colored houses with flat tops, I bought Some fuel in Kargil which is the only place where we get petrol on the Srinagar & Leh highway, and Moved on, We Saw Amazing different Colored Mountains and its designs, and in the meanwhile Crossed Some High mountain Passes by name Namik La 12198 feet, Fotu La @ 13479 feet, Winds were very fierce in these passes and temperature very low, took Some pictures and Moved down, i had a First glimpse of the famous Lamayaru Gompa on the way, it is located on a hill top in the city of Lamayaru, had a Quick visit to the Gompa, Eat Some Maggie @ down town, Moved to the next village Khalsi, It was Dark when we drove from Lamayaru to Khalsi and its More Adventure to drive in the darkness in this mountains, We Stayed in Khalsi for the Night in Tents.
Day5:- Khalsi - Leh:-
When you know what you want,and you want it badly enough,you'll find a way to get it .
We Woke up at 4.50 Am and Were Ready after Packing all the tents and our bags on the bikes by 5.20 Am and Moved from there at 5.30 Am, From Here Some Very Good Roads were to Greet us, and we had a very Good time Negotiating the Curves in the mountains, and Some of the Scenery on the Roads were too Good, and the Famous Bajaj Avenger Ad was Shoot in this stretch and it made me to Say
"I Feel Like God"
Then We Came Across the Amazing Magnetic hill Along the Highway, its a very Strange place, where Three yellow boxes are marked if you Park your bike or Car there in Neutral and the engine turned off the Gravitational Force of the Nearby Peaks will pull the bike , I Felt this and was really amazed by the pull, You would not experience it if the engine is running and ur moving usually, it was Discovered by Military Jets and Helicopters flying On this Route when they were Experiencing Strange forces & Signals when they were crossing this Area and they had to give more thrust for their Engines to Escape its forces when in this area. we Reached Leh at Around 10.00 Am and Directly Went to the DC's office to get permission to Visit Various Places and got it without too much hassle, And found a Hotel for accommodation at a Good place in the Changspa Road. Had Lunch and at 1.00 Pm No Breakfast today, My Plan for today was to Leave for Pangong Tso Lake and Spend the Night There but Some how it was too late to go there as its dangerous to cross the Chang la pass at Late evening. So Decided to Do local sight seeing in Leh and visited places like the Leh Place, Shanti Stupa & Army Museum.
Day6 :- Leh - Pangong Tso Lake - Leh:- 300 kms
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.
This Day is going to be the most memorable day of trip, why read on, woke up at 4.00 am and left the Room at 4.45 am, headed towards the Beautiful Pangong Tso lake ( 3 idiots fame) which I could not see during my first visit to Ladakh, bcoz of which I have come here for the second time, it was very cold in the morning and we started our climb towards Mighty Chang La The Second highest Motor able Road in the world, the Road was very narrow and sides too steep, with deep gorge’s on one side and mountains on the other side, Drive was dangerous but still we sere going fast since we left very early in the morning and there was no opposite traffic, we were Gaining height quickly and the temperature was dropping quickly, hands were turning numb and with bone biting cold, experience of drowsiness because of less oxygen in atmosphere, took a short 2 minute stop to make my hands warm by keeping them inside the Jacket( In spite of wearing riding gloves), and the body to get acclimatized for the less oxygen. Started the journey towards the mighty Chang La , As we were approaching it the Road became bad with lots of potholes and mud roads and streams, because of the height & Cold the water was frozen & we encountered the first patches of ice but we crossed it carefully, next we faced a bigger patch of ice which was a frozen stream, since we had crossed the previous path, tried to cross it, but we got skidded with the bike and fell down, my knee guards and gloves took the hit and we managed to pull up the bike and move forward next we were to encounter much bigger patches of ice but were very careful since we had fallen Earlier didn’t fall anywhere else( Afterall mistakes are not repeated),
We took pictures at the Mighty Chang la pass @ 5360 m (17590 ft) and moved towards Pangong Tso lake, the Road 10 to 15 kms after Chang La is very bad and Very Steep among all the passes, and we Reached the Famous & Beautiful Pangong Tso lake at around 9.00 am, Had our breakfast in the Army Canteen, we were the very first people to come here this day, and moved towards Lake, After Seeing the lake for the first time I realized it was worth the second visit to Leh, it was just this lake which had pulled me all the way From Bangalore, and felt that one has to see it once in his life time, I moved towards the famous stretch shown in the climax of three idiots Film, There I met my Swift friends whom I had met while coming from Srinagar to Leh, we had a chat to My surprise they had a Guitar and was Playing and singing So lovely that the beauty of the Mighty Pangong Tso looked merrily small in front this melodious song, and I said “Baat ban gaaya” stayed there for quite a long time till 12.30 after all we were there to enjoy and not to hurry, and moved to the main area of lake where 100s of tourists were there took some
Nele Nele Ambar pe @ Pangong Tso
pictures there and moved towards Leh, crossed the Chang La and then I encountered a stream which was small & easy to corss in the morning, Now was strong with lot of water because the ice had melted & the water was heavy but I neglected and tried to cross it, but got struck in more than knee deep water and took help from others to bring the bike out of water, but it was not starting now, as it was downhill I move in neutral to quite a long distance and luckily I encountered a traffic jam bcoz of some road repair and got help from taxi drivers to raise the bike and remove the water from silencer and cleaned the spark plug and air filter still it didn’t started it was getting colder along with my wet clothes difficult, again started moving downhill in neutral and after a while the engine started we moved slowly till Leh, and finally reached Leh in the night at around 8.00 pm.
Day7:- Leh – Khardungla - NubraValley – Khardungla – Leh:- 300 kms
There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
Headed to Khardungla the Highest motor able road in the world at 5,602 m (18,380 feet) height took some snaps and moved towards Nubra valley, in Nubra valley we find desert , yes there is a cold desert in Leh, you find the famous double humped Bactrian Camel in Hundar, that is the Specialty of this region, took some pictures and started heading back this place didn’t create much excitement and we had to prepare for tomorrow's marathon ride back home, yes we were heading to Manali through Tso Morri lake, while returning back we experienced snowfall in Khardungla and we took some pictures there it was very cold and headed to Leh, reached Leh at 6.00 pm, I bought some things to eat, a petrol can, Muffler, Full tanked the bike with extra fuel in a CAN, ordered my custom made T-shirt of K2K, washed the bike and slept at 10.30 am.
Day8:- Leh-Tso-Morri-Lake-Karzok :- 230 kms.
There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.
Started at 5.15 Am, and took a few pictures of the Thiksey monastery which is situated on top of a hill which looked beautiful, We took a deviation from the Leh-Manali highway to the Tso-Morri lake near Karu and headed to Chumtang, had a breakfast at the only army camp found on the way, and moved towards Tso-Morri lake, Got the first glimpse of Tso-Morri at around 12.00 pm but still it would take around 50 kms and another 5 hours to reach the Right place and the last model village on this Route Karzok. we went off-roading and took lot of snaps and near and far from the lake and from the top of a mountain ridge, and without any proper road started moving further , the road got worse and was driving carefully on the Rough road to avoid Puncture, which would have been a night mare in this Area. Reached the Karzok village at 4.30 pm, Saw the impressive lake with its changing colors during different times of the day from Light green to dark blue, Took lot of snaps and put up the tent in a shelter which would give Protection form the strong winds otherwise there would have been a chance the that the tent would be blown away.
Day9:- Karzok-Tso Kar Lake-Pang 200 kms
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
On the way I came across geysers there are hot water springs in that area where natural hot water comes out of the Earth at certain places, I could not reach very near to it bcoz of slush , and then moved ahead to Tso Kar lake, It is also called as a white water lake or even Salt lake, bcoz it’s a salty lake and you find white salt on its shores which looks like snow, and it was really adventurous to reach its shores, since there was hardly any humans in that area and it is very remote and it is only me and my machine, after some time finally saw some trucks moving far off road, and I was very happy to see some vehicles after a long remote ride, and thought that might be the Leh-Manali highway and finally joined the Manali-Leh highway, pang was till around 50 kms, we had bypassed the famous Tanglang La which comes on the Manali-Leh road, but we Still had to Negotiate the famous, Very much fun oriented Moore plains, At the start of The Moore plains, I had a dream of climbing one of the nearby mountains when I first visited and had also mentioned about this in my first blog of Leh, this time I tried to do it by going completely off-road and tried to reach of peak of a nearby mountain, which looked like doable from far off distance and didn’t look so steep but when I went near the mountain I was greeted with loose sand where I didn’t got much grip and bcoz of OEM tires I had, I should have got the off road tires ( for those of u who don’t know what is off road tires it is a type of tire with buttons mainly used in off-road bikes which gives very good grip on off roads and loose sands). then I tried to climb the mountain by climbing the ascent but found it too difficult with loose sand and time was running out I returned without success in climbing the mountain, and joined the highway and moved towards Pang through Moore plains, Moore Plains is the Awesome cool place , there are no roads drive where ever u wish completely Plain grounds for more than 30 kms drive where ever u want and at what ever speed you wish, but beware of loose sand in between bcoz of it the bikers may fall down, u need to find the right path by seeing the trails or the dust created by some other vehicles moving far off, It was a total fun and adventure driving in the Moore plains and I enjoyed it a lot, both the drive and scenery after all this is what I wanted to do the most Biking and this is the reason why I had come for this trip, there is no proper road so it is total off road driving make your own roads, Took some self pictures and moved on towards the main road which connects to pang, and finally reached pang at around 5.00 pm,
Pang is a Temporary small settlement of Tents from June to October, Here we can get accommodation in tents and some food like Maggie, After eating Maggie decided to stay here for the night, as next stop was Sarchu, its not a race we had to see the scenery on the way and it would be very cold in certain places in the night, so slept here for the night.
Day10:- Pang-Manali :- 310 kms
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Started From Pang at 5.00 Am, it was very cold, Although it did not matter when I started biking as soon as I started riding felt the effects of cold, Even with the gloves on the hands were biting with cold and were suffering with numbness and pain, faced lot of difficulty in changing the gears of the bike, I managed riding with minimal gear changes , When ever I got a chance stopped the bike and put my hands inside the Jacket to make my hands warmer and again moved on, Crossed Two of the highest passes along the way Lachung La and Namika La, and finally reached the famous GATA loops it is a set of steep 21 loops where we descend into the Sarchu plains, the specialty of Gata loops is that it has 21 steep loops, with proper roads and for the extreme adventurers there is shortcuts thorough these loops where you have to find the way and those shortcuts are very steep at around 45 degree or even more at certain places believe me you wouldn’t have encountered such slopes in the roads in your life, it needs total courage and skills to take on these shortcuts and it was an experience to remember for a biker, if u don’t want to take these shortcuts u can always take the normal road. After Negotiating these curves I reached Sarchu at around 9.30 pm, as expected and without wasting much time moved towards the Famous, Most Awaited, Most Beautiful & Most Dangerous Baralach La Pass on the Manali to Leh highway, it is regarded as Dangerous only because of its unpredictable weather with sudden snowfall the Roads may get blocked any time with more than a feet of snowfall, you are stranded there with no where to go but face the cold and die there, So we moved towards the pass again a steep climb towards the highest point of the pass, as we were approaching the pass were greeted with very good scenery with snow covered mountains, and finally reached the pass and saw the snow covered mountains all around, and it was in fact a beautiful Scene worth remembering for a long time. for the first time visitor it would be scintillating scenery for him, Took some pictures and moved ahead and came across Suraj Kund lake it’s a tiny lake which is almost frozen for most parts of the year, always frozen in the early morning because its right there at Baralach La pass, took pictures of this half frozen lake we reached that spot around 12.00 pm, and came across two huge snow walls, through which the snow cutter had cut the snow and made way for vehicles to pass through it, it had place for only one four wheeler to go through it the other one had to wait until the first vehicle passed through it no issues for the bikes as so, and come June first week these snow walls will be even much taller at that time, after seeing this we quickly descended downwards as its not safe to stay here for a long time, and by Passing Baralach La I had crossed a major hurdle and task in my K2K trip and another only hurdle would be the Rohtang pass near Manali, after which my Kashmir to Kanyakumari trip would be a cake walk for me according to me, after coming down, we had to cross two deep and fast streams with knee deep water, I wanted to be double careful I removed my shoes and DSLR camera in my bag so that in case i would fall off the bike, and crossed it, and took carried the camera by crossing the stream bare footed, I came across another stream as well I remove the camera and gave to some tourist person, after which I would take this camera by walking through this stream from one side to another side, and then we were greeted with some good roads after this, and reached the first small permanent settlement village on this stretch called Keylong, had our first meals of the day as Maggie and moved towards Tandi we were supposed to Refuel our bikes which were hungry since we left leh –Tso-Morri lake and Tandi there is no Petrol bunk all along this stretch of around 700 kms if u come through Tso-Morri-lake, 360 kms if you come directly through Tanglang La, Got enough Fuel to reach Manali, Since I thought of Full tanking at Manali, and moved ahead, again the roads were good and the scenery started changing from the Dessert mountains of the Ladakh to greenery of the Manali, all the mountain's were full of grass and green trees and was a welcome sight for us to see it, and again faced with the ascent of the Rohtang pass, I met a lot bikers coming from Manali on their bullet bikes and they had warned us from before about the great slush of Manali and the road conditions of Rohtang was worst because of rain, and a nightmare for al vehicles bcoz of the never ending traffic jams, bcoz of narrow and dangerous roads, I was very much excited and looking forward to see what it looks like over here, I soon started encountering the bad patch of roads and started moving slowly, add to the woes of bad roads snow and slight drizzle added to the worries driving in the slippery snow was difficult and I was careful, It was difficult bcoz of my OEM smooth tires which were designed to drive on the smooth metro cities and highways did not offer much grip on bike and I was driving slowly, managed to negotiate it and reached the Rohtang top, and what a wonderful scenery, if you cannot visit Ladakh it is ok, but you should see Rohtang in your Life time, bcoz its such a beautiful place, According to me Rohtang & Manali is much beautiful than Ladakh, Ladakh and Manali both have different terrains, its not fair to compare them, took pictures and saw some good roads and was happy but it was not the end, worst was yet to come, Worst patch of slush and Roads were ahead and it was a total nightmare to cross it, with a feet deep slush, it was difficult to cross the through the slush along with the traffic jam, at many places the shoes got struck in the slush, if not for the power of the Pulsar 220 bike it would have been difficult to negotiate this stretch of patch, moving on the edge of mountains by taking narrow stretches to beat the traffic jam, and shoes completely muddy and wet, was really difficulty, but not cursing myself for this situation bcoz after all this is part of adventure and Manali to Ladakh is no mean task, and after all I am behind K2K not Just L2M, these challenges should be overcome, the slush was there for a long duration, after Marhi the road was somewhat better but then I Cleaned my shoes in stream , and started riding but it was now difficult it was becoming cold and the wet shoes added to the worries, drove to Manali, by late evening it was 7.00pm when I reached Manali,
Day11:- Manali – Kullu – Chandigarh - Delhi :- 570 kms.
The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.
I took a Very Relaxing bath in the Hot Water spring of the Vashist temple, it is a Sulphar spring which is said to have healing properties, felt Good after taking a bath in this Sulphur natural water spring, And had our breakfast somewhere in between Manali & Kullu, the Dhaba owner also gave us some Manali fruits whose name i don't remember, for a merry 10 Rupees, we find lot of Rafting Camps along this way if you want to do Rafting, in the Beas river, but i had my share of Rafting in the mighty Ganges sometime back, didn't try here, Moved to Kullu, Near Kullu i saw the board to Mani Karan, which is a place of worship for Sikhs bcoz of Gurudwara and Hindus as well because of a hot water spring much hotter than the Vashist spring, From the Kullu highway it is a climb or ascent of around 40 kms we go to a higher altitude it takes a lot of time, bcoz of the small road and twists & turns. The hot water in Manikaran is a boiling hot water where people cook food in this and give it as Prasad or people take the cooked beans in this water as Prasad to home, Again moved towards Chandigarh nonstop from Manikaran, it took a hell a lot of time to go to Manikaran, we washed our bikes in a Stream on the way downhill & Come back to Kullu from where we deviated, it was almost 1.00 pm when we returned down . Then we decided to Ride non stop till Chandigarh bcoz we were running out of time, stopped only for Fuel at Bilaspur, It was again a Ride to Remember not even a single Vehicle would overtake me until Chandigarh either 2 or 4 wheeler although one swift tried to challenge me by offering me a Race I gave a run for his money of swift with my P220, He could never catch me, although he was a local guy would have surprised by the rider of a KA Registered bike overtaking him and riding in such a manner in his home turf, its like beating the lion in the lion’s den, He would have definitely remembered me for a long time, Reached Chandigarh at around 7.00 pm, I had driven with full throttle in the Mountains, but with Average Speed in the Highways as I wasn't interested in setting Speed records in the Straight road, where even the nimble swift was capable of Reaching 150 kmph, I wouldn’t drive more than 110 kmph, although the bike at full throttle can touch 138 kmph, I didn’t wanted to stress the bike too much, it was only driving around Average 100 kmph.
Chandigarh is a wonderful city, Very Well planned, with Wide roads and Signal less Wide circles, a joy to ride, we had a Glimpse to see sec-17, and Rock Garden & Sukhna Lake, and Moved towards Delhi at around 8.30 pm in the evening, Thought of going to Delhi straight away in the night, I moved towards Delhi both after driving for two hours I felt very sleepy, and thought of sleeping in the tent for a while bcoz by the time I reach Delhi it would have been around 2.00 pm it would not be a nice idea to disturb my friend where I was going to stay, but my partner had given a hand, I waited for him for a long time on the highway bcoz tent was with him after waiting for half an hour he never turned up, and finally he came but in spite of trying to stop him he never stopped and went away, the tent, puncture Repair kit & All tools & spanners, GPS were with him, tried to catch him on the highway but he escaped somewhere switched off his mobile, and disappeared without informing me, and it was an another Mental test for me, to Overcome this betrayal, I felt Too sleepy and while driving was loosing control by taking the bike left and right on the highway I was just looking for a place to sleep everything was closed, I found an Auto parked on the Road, the mosquitos, heat of North & the Trucks travelling on the highway made it difficult to sleep, I slept in it for half an hour. I again started to Ride on the highway after travelling for an hour again felt very sleepy, when ever I sensed danger form me that is the bike was going out of control left and right on the highway I stopped and sat on a foot path for half an hour, and Started the Ride again, this time I Moved till Delhi without stop and Entered Delhi, Before this time I had the GPS for navigation to Guide us the Routes, which was with my Partner and he has gone with it, Now from here onwards I had to Drive without the GPS another bottleneck, and it was almost 3.30 when I reached the outskirts of Delhi not many people on the road to ask for directions to Noida my halting place, I Rode without asking a single person for direction straight to Noida with the help of boards and My Previous knowledge of Delhi Roads, and Reached Noida at 4.00 pm,
Day12:- Noida-Noida := 0 kms. Rest Day.
I tried to call my friend who was living inside a colony and the Security wouldn’t allow me to go inside the colony without him, all my attempts failed & he did not lift the phone, I had to sit on the Roadside, as it was still night, there would have been suspicion from the cops, I stayed near a Auto stand, was getting Dizziness bcoz of sleepless for the whole night, the Sorrow & betrayal of my Partner who had left me without informing me, and My Dream of Three years of Doing Kashmir to KanyaKumari in uncertainty , and I was in doldrums. I Was totally upset and Called up my younger Brother to explain him what happened, only he knows my situation on that day, My Dream was in jeopardy, Now There was more Risk I Had to Do it alone, Without Puncture kit & Air pump, No GPS, No tent, No tools, No one to help in case of Accident, No Pictures, My younger Brother advised me to Put the bike on Train or Cargo and Come back by flight, and do it next time, But I Knew after doing all through Ladakh, it was Now or Never, I Wouldn’t get a next chance for this in Life, It has to be Now and I had to take this risk of going alone, I waited there till 6.30 and finally went to my friends House in the Morning myself, After taking a shower I went to Give the Much Needed Service for my bike, and Came back to Room and slept for a while as I haven't slept whole night, My biggest problem was luggage with all the luggage the bike weighed 200 kg, I wanted to shed some Luggage to make the Ride more comfortable, After a lot of search for Parcel Office finally I found VRL and felt very happy a Trusted Reliable Transporter of the south, things which were not required now and were only required in the Cold region of Ladakh were sent in the bag, the bag behind the rear seat was lost and it was easy to put my leg on the bike, Had a chat in the Evening with the old friends, and Had Lot of Mixed Reactions of the Place where I Stayed for Three years before missed a bit, and got Prepared for the Final Odyssey Delhi to KanyaKumari , at Least I had to drive Another 2400 kms to Reach Bangalore to take proper rest,
Day13:- Noida-Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Lalitpur :- 536 kms.
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
~Edmund Hillary
Woke up at 5.30 Since didn’t had a Proper sleep day before yesterday and Left the Noida at 6.15 Am, and started towards Agra, got Fuel and Reached Agra at 10.00 Am, Got the ticket to Visit Taj and had a quick glimpse of Taj, there wasn’t too much of a crowd as it was not a weekend and took a few snaps, and came out, I had a plan to take the picture of Taj along with the bike, and that to go to that place I had to Travel Six kilometers on a different route, after asking many people I reached that place but the Police didn’t allow me to place the bike and take that picture that is near the Yamuna bank the Backside of Taj, instead I went to some other place and took a Snap I had to negotiate lot of thorny path to go there still a barbed wire fence came in between me and the Yamuna bank, which prevented me from taking good picture I just took a snap and moved form there in order to avoid further delay as my Target for the Day was still far off. the Road till now was Super, Taj being high on many of the foreigners list of must visit and Indian Govt wanted to present that wrong Indian road conditions to the rest of the world.
I Started My journey Towards My Next Destination Gwalior @ 120 kms from Agra, and the Road From Agra to Gwalior is Very good in fact except for a stretch of 15 kms Near Dholpur which is Very bad because of a Flyover construction which is going on, After Covering around half the distance My tryst with the Rain Started it started to Drizzle and Rain would not leave me until Nagpur that is Next day Evening. I Reached Gwalior in a Wet condition with my Water Proof pants on. I went to Gwalior Fort the only highlight of Gwalior, it was not on my must visit list just I was passing through it and thought of seeing it, In fact Gwalior fort is a very Majestic and beautiful fort worth Seeing, and it was a good stop over for me, Saw lot of people form the city there for a time pass, a Welcome break and people over there thought I was a Press Photographer by seeing my big camera, ohhh!!!, Some girls told me not to put the picture in the newspaper otherwise my dad will take a lesson to me, others just wanted their picture to be taken. I Spent some time over there, the Fort is located on a hill top and you get to see the whole city from there.
I Started My journey Towards Jhansi and the Road Started to deteriorate from now onwards I would get bad roads with mud and slush Rains, and a total havoc, and I would be cursing myself why am I doing this K2K, and that too why did I choose this Route, there is a reason for choosing this route (This is the route Used for creating the Limca Book of Records fastest Kashmir to KanyaKumari on Bike), in fact this was a survey, scrutiny of this route and feasibility of check up of breaking the record. In fact its difficult to break this record, Even if I take the risk and pain & breaking this, who’s going to appreciate it, will I get what I want May be not, I continued my journey towards Jhansi in Rain, and at last reached Jhansi in rain, after enquiring people I got the Famous Jhansi Ki Rani ka Quila ( Fort), There I met a man who talked to me after seeing my KA Registered bike & told him about my K2K Journey how my partner left me from Chandigarh, It was raining and went inside to see the fort it was neither as magnificent as big as Gwalior fort, its famous just because of the heroics and bravery of the Jhansi Ki Rani. very less tourists or hardly any were there, and because of rains the Daily scheduled Sound & Light Show was cancelled. and I didn’t had any other reason to stay there, Went out of the Fort, there a person waited for my arrival whom I had talked to before I went inside the fort and he had actually collected information about how to reach Nagpur through Lalitpur-Sagar-Laknadon, which he was not knowing, and all the people there supported my journey , with there well wishes they advised me not to travel in the late night and stay in Lalitpur and go next day early morning, as the area is a bit Dangerous, it was dark & roads not in a good shape. I wanted to go to Khajuraho if at all I wanted to go there here was the deviation I need to take, to Chatarpur but because of the Rains and bad roads I was not Motivated, and instead decided to go to Lalitpur.
I had My Dinner at a Good Restaurant in Jhansi, and Started my Journey towards Lalitpur@ 100 kms from Jhansi, It was Raining I started driving slowly in the night with less visibility and as Always the journey is not always as Smooth as reading this blog, with totally wet Shoes it was a total mess for me to ride in such a condition it was almost unbearable to ride with the wet shoes now, so I removed my shoes and Wore my slippers, and tied the shoes with lace behind the bike, and Continued the journey, I was Constantly & Repeatedly asking the truckers for the right direction to reach Nagpur bcoz I wanted to make sure I am in the right Road, as a Wrong Road will lead to lot of penalty in terms of petrol and time, the Roads were bad with lots of Rain Water filled potholes, I Came across a Major Military town called Babina, a big military settlement which itself has converted into a small town, I had Company of some bikers thought halfway and afterwards it was a totally haunting place, with no one on the highway and I Remembered all the Ramsay horror movies of signs of Some Ghosts Coming over there unfortunately I didn’t encounter any ghost, Just before 15 kms from Lalitpur I Realized I had lost my shoes and the probability of finding the shoes in the Dark & haunting Roads looked bleak even if I turned back and I didn’t knew how far back I had to go to find it, I Cursed my luck and Continued towards Lalitpur, and entered the city and Saw a marriage party going on the way, Stopped there for a while to see the Central Indian marriage on a chariot with Currency Garlands on the Groom, and Stayed in a hotel in Lalitpur.
Day14:- Lalitpur-Sagar-Lakhnadon-Nagpur-Wardha :- 600 kms.
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.
I woke up at 4.30 AM and Stared my Journey towards Nagpur at 5.00 pm, had a 50:50 mind as to go in search of my lost shoes and loose time & Petrol or Continue Towards Nagpur, with the Probability of finding the shoes looked very bleak as passers by could have picked it up by now, I Decided to Go towards Sagar the next biggest city along way, the Rains didn’t stop and they would give me company all the way till Nagpur, For some reason I was not wearing the water proof pants & I was totally wet, and stopped for a while in Search of breakfast, but without any success in finding a proper breakfast, again continued Riding in the rain, ( The Moto I follow during rains is continue riding & don’t stop because when u Ride you might go to a place where its not raining instead of staying at one place this principle has worked many a times, but this time it was raining for a distance of over 600kms) and Roads were worst, with None of the bridges ready with the National highway under Construction and For the First time New highways are being constructed in this area which is part of Vajpayee Dream Stretch of North South Corridor, so there is lot of deviation & bad stretches to bypass the bridges, it will take another 4 years for Completing these highways, if Crossing Ladakh was one adventure without Roads, Crossing this Stretch from Gwalior to Nagpur was another Adventure. On they way before Sagar I heard a Strange Noise from my bike something was making a huge noise, and after slowing down and careful examination it was something toughing the chassis, and I stopped the bike to see a big nail pierced through the Rear Tire A nightmare.
I was not having the puncture repair kit Nor the Air pump, I had to remove this Nail, No tools Either, Later I used a stone to remove the Nail, to my Luck it has crossed the corner of a tire through sideways and not to the center of the tire which could have Caused full blow up, and as it was a tubeless tire it had withstood this debacle, with the suspicion of loosing air from tire I Moved ahead to find the nearest Puncture repair shop, I Reached Sagar, I had not lost air, so I Continued my journey towards Nagpur, it was difficult some times to find the Road bcoz of Construction, and once upon a time I came to the same circle three times while asking for the Nagpur way and again somehow came back from where I had left, oopps like a maze, totally confused by so many peoples instructions, Finally I managed to escape from that Circle and headed towards Nagpur, very few vehicles plying on this stretch, I Reached Lakhnadon in the late afternoon, had a meals at a Road Side Dhaba, There were Some good stretch of roads Near to 100 kms from Nagpur I got Good set of Roads and felt like I got a new life again, I was cursing when this bad stretch of roads end, all these stretch I was driving at 70 kmph, Now I was again back to 100 kmph towards Nagpur and again Started gaining pace, Finally Reached Nagpur at 7.00 pm, Had Biryani at the Famous Babul Hotel, Full tanked the bike with 17 liters of petrol and checked the Tire pressure and Continued my Journey towards Hyderabad in the night, I travelled till Jamb & I felt very sleepy but continued and felt I was again loosing control of the bike on the highway and decided to stay at a Dhaba, although I had the dinner again I Took the dinner for the second time and slept in the Dhaba, the owner a Sikh was kind enough to offer some place to sleep on the coat, I hardly slept as the television was running through night and workers were awake.
Day15:- Nagpur-Hyderabad-Bangalore :- 1000 kms
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Yes this was a Marathon Run of 1000 kms in an eagerness to reach my Base Camp Bangalore, woke up at Early morning 4.50 and left by 5.00 Am, As I had hardly slept & was feeling drowsiness even during the morning and day time and the bike was going out of control as soon as I realized I was going out of control I would stop the bike for 5 mins to get rid of sleep, and Riding Consistently at 100kmph I reached Hyderabad at 12.00 Pm, The Road Condition from Nagpur to Hyderabad was very Nice, this is the only stretch along my journey where I found the Min Speed limit of the highway board displayed to be 100kmph, Because of the Rains the bike was very dirty with mud on the chain it badly needed a service, the Bag on the bike, clothes, Books, Driving license everything inside the bag was wet which I realized only after opening the bag in the service station, The guys were kind enough they serviced the bike in a quick 2 hours in the mean time I Washed my Bag which was a total mess, and I got a total fresh Bag and bike which was riding like a butter now, a Total fun to drive , I wondered whether a service would make such a difference or is that the bcoz of rains its condition was so bad. It was 2.00 pm I decided to meet a friend of mine who told me it will take another 1.5 hours come to some place.
I took this opportunity to go to Freeway19 a Fun club on the outskirts of Hyderabad where I found my favorite ride Go-karting, Archery, paintball, Shooting and other fun games, I Decided go for my favorite Past time Go-karting there, waited for my turn and I was just about to climb my Kart, Suddenly a Stupid Karter hit my Kart from behind when I was standing on my kart to sit in it, and I fell down on my back, it hurt me so much ** Conditions apply ( Read the end of the blog for the full form of **), I scolded him ( I am so angry if I find him now would definitely punch him) and Completed my karting, then did a Round of archery and left from that place, met my friend had a chat with him, I left to see the Hyderabad city at late 5.00 pm, Saw Husain Sagar lake, there was traffic nightmare everywhere had to frequently stop to ask for correct route so many times, took the wrong route and had to come back, this is what happens of not having a GPS Navigation, then left for Charminar took some pictures in the Evening, the Charminar was lit with Colorful lights and it looked so beautiful. I came back to my bike and found that I had lost the bike key somewhere I doubted weather some one had pick pocketed my bike key, and was again totally pissed off, I had thought of this eventuality and had a Spare key of my bike but that key was with my Partner who had long been missing from Chandigarh. What to do, brain ticked I thought of going to all the places near Charminar where I had gone and after searching for a while I found the key still lying on the ground, This Time I should say luck was with me, Yes I Was a Lucky Chap, Got the keys, the traffic police were doing checkup right at the place where I had parked my bike, but luckily I escaped from them and left that place. I eat a samosa and Jaleebi and Full tanked the bike and left for my Most Eagerly awaited destination Bangalore, at 8.00 pm in the night. I Continued riding Through the highway in the night the Volvos were Going at blazing speed I too maintained a steady 100 kmph but one of the swift was going at 150 kmph, I could not catch it but started going at my own pace, Soon the Sleep started attacking me, and I slowed down my speed finally it reached a stage where I was taking the bike out of control yawning left & right, and Stopped at a Dhaba to sleep, I slept there with my helmet on outside bcoz it was cold it would have been such a scene to capture by picture right but unfortunately I was a self photographer this time, didn’t had enough motivation to click further pictures, I woke up, and started driving, this is one of the Nicest Roads , and Reached the Karnataka border at chickballapur toll plaza, I was happy to see the board in Kannada, you will know it when u do such a long journey, I was feeling happy every time I was inching closer to Bangalore. crossed the toll gate and took a stop in the sight of Nandi hills had my breakfast there, and Started my journey to my House in Bangalore Crossed the Yelahanka through the airport Road, I was feeling very happy I was very close to my dream and I did it alone, Delhi to Bangalore in spite of all these Rains, Slush and odds.
Day16:- Bangalore-Bangalore:- 0 kms, Rest Day.
Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.
Reached my Room at 9.00 Am, in the Morning, I was Very happy internally and Relaxed and took rest full day staying in Room as I had not slept in the previous night, I slept for a while, and offloaded all the luggage, and I was not at all worried for my final odyssey of Bangalore to KanyaKumari @ 700 kms, as Compared what what I had done in the Last 15 days the next task is going to be a Cake walk for me, and confident of doing it. in one day to reach KanyaKumari one day to return, I took only a Small bag this time with very minimal luggage, a cake and water to eat got everything ready.
Day17:- Bangalore-KanyaKumari-Madurai-kodiakanal:- 1150kms
It always seems impossible until it's done.
Yes this was also a Marathon Ride of 1150 kms, after all my target was to Complete 1600 kms in 24 hours which I failed to do, as I spent 6 hours in Kanyakumari seeing various places, and I woke up at Early 3.30 and left the House at 4.15 and Full tanked with Petrol and Started the journey at 4.30 Am in the morning. Crossed Electronics city at 5.00 Am, it was drizzling but I Continued Riding above 100 kmph as I had kept high targets to reach, I Increased my pace after krishnagiri, to above 120 kmph Average and at times touched 138 kmph, as small sprint run, I washed my wet shoes in a petrol bunk on the highway and reached Madurai at 11.00 Am, and had breakfast there, As I was confused to go to Rameshwaram or Kanyakumari after thinking for a while I Made my decision to Go to Kanyakumari as that was my primary target,
After Madurai I drove consistently at 90 kmph and Reached Kanyakumari at 3.00 pm, First I went to see the Vivekananda Memorial, it is situated in the sea, so we need to go through a Boat to reach there, Swami Vivekananda had swam across the sea to go there for Meditation. Next to the Vivekananda memorial in the sea there is Poet Thiruvalluvar Statue in the sea, these two look stunning as they are illuminated with color lights in the evening. After Seeing the Vivekananda Memorial I went to see the sunset point.
The Specialty of Kanyakumari is the only place in India where you get to see Stunning Sunrise as well as Sunset, why because it is the southern most tip of India, otherwise you see sunsets on on the west coast and sunrise in the east coast, and you can see both here had a few Snaps, bought some Souvenirs over here, did some night Photography experiments, Left the place after having my dinner at 8.30 pm, I felt sleepy on the way and stopped where ever I was going out of control, Reached Madurai at midnight 1.00 pm and Took rest for some time at a place and started moving ahead, I saw the board deviation for Kodaikanal instead of going to Bangalore I decided I will go through kodaikanal and took the deviation turn, after driving all night I reached kodaikanal at 6.30 Am.
Day18:- Kodaikanal-Palani-Erode-Krishnagiri-Bangalore:- 450 kms
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Took shower in a hotel and had my breakfast went out for sightseeing, the places to see in kodai in the order of importance according to me are, Kodai lake, Rose garden that’s all rest is created for name sake, like croakers walk, Green valley view point, pillar rocks, Guna caves, devil’s kitchen, and dolphin’s nose, after going to the observatory, I spent the rest of the time in Sitting by the lake, watching the lake and tourists over there. had my lunch and left for the day at 1.30 pm from kodai, I drove through the mountains and went down to reach Palani, there is the famous Palani temple over there, I took the last picture of the trip as Palani temple, and moved Quickly towards Erode, and took some shortcuts through bhavani-Mettur-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore, Reached Bangalore at 12.00 pm in the Night, By this I had Completed my Dream Run of Doing Kashmir to KanyaKumari on bike, Was very happy and Relieved, I think it would be end of an Biking Era.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
** I had a Hair line fracture, I Realized this only after a month when I took a X-Ray after experiencing pain.
Bikers Section:-
Bikes to Choose:-
- Bullet thunderbird :-
Minus Points:- Mileage is less, Not As reliable, Not Sporty.
- Pulsar 220:-
Minus Points:- No Luggage carrying Capacity, Difficult to Carry Extra petrol.
Myself being a Sporty Rider its always a Sports bike, its suites my riding style, it was clear for me it has to be P220.
Important things to Considered while taking the bike to Ladakh.
- New Set of Off Road tires Must, Most Recommended Michelin Sirac, Very much need for better grip in offroads.
- Get the bike Serviced and checked up before leaving.
- Get two sets of gloves one for the cold region to ride in minus temp and another for the plains.
| No | Item Description | Buy | Day1 | Day2 |
| 1. | Railway Bike Parcel Receipt | |||
| 2. | Bike key and Spare key of bike | |||
| 3. | Helmet, Gloves, Knee Guards | |||
| 4. | Vehicle docs, RC, Insurance, Driving license, Pollution (3 copies) | |||
| 5. | Voters id Card or PAN Card | |||
| 6. | Spare key of your motorcycle | |||
| 7. | Puncture repair kit, tubeless & With tube. | |||
| 8. | Camera , Battery | |||
| 9. | Foot or Electric air pump | |||
| 10. | OEM Tool kit | |||
| 11. | First Aid kit | |||
| 12. | Woolen Cap | |||
| 13. | Balaclava | |||
| 14. | Sunscreen lotion | |||
| 15. | Tissue Papers to clean Visor | |||
| 16. | Jacket, Wind Cheater | |||
| 17. | Torch, Mobile | |||
| 18. | All the maps and Places to visit. | |||
| 19. | Small Book, pen | |||
| 20. | 1 Liter Water Bottle | |||
| 21. | 2 Pairs of Socks | |||
| 22. | Clutch and accelerator wires | |||
| 23. | Bungee cords, cotton chords | |||
| 24. | Screw Driver set | |||
| 25. | Electricians & Scotch tape | |||
| 26. | Headlight and brake light bulb | |||
| 27. | Clutch and front brake lever | |||
| 28. | Petrol pipe 1-2 meter long: | |||
| 29. | Tripod For Camera (Optional). | |||
| 30. | Match box, | |||
| 31. | knife, Nail cutter | |||
| 32. | Sunglasses | |||
| 33. | Insulation tape | |||
| 34. | Mobile charger | |||
| 35. | Medicine, Fever, Headache, diarrhea, Common Cold | |||
| 36. | Cold Drinks, Juice, Glucose & Biscuits | |||
| 37. | A Mobile charger for the bike | |||
| 38. | Towel , Soap, Tooth Paste & Brush | |||
| 39. | Lux woolen inner wear | |||
| 40. | Pant & Shirts. |
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