Dear Bad Planner (and those with a potential to suck at it) - If there is one thing you should know, its the fact that there is nothing in your control.
Now that the Leh machine was ready to roll, it was pretty simple from here. Or at least that's what I thought.
This was our magical super awesome worlds best itinerary, Or a.k.a "The Plan" (Which is borrowed BTW and not my own idea). We ship out our bikes in the DD Exp. and we start riding from Chandigarh.
Day 0 - Reach Manali, get the permits ...Blah Blah, 300kms
Day 1, Manali – Rohtang la – Kokhsar – Tandi – Keylong – Jispa – Darcha – Baralacha La – Bharatpur – Sarchu, 230kms
Day 2, Sarchu – Gata Loops – Nakee La – Lachulung La – Pang – More Plains – Tanglang La – Upshi – Karu – Leh, 260kms: A hard day of riding while covering three high altitude passes; Nakee La 15,547ft, Lachulung La 16,616ft and third highest pass, Tanglang La at an altitude of 17,582ft.
Day 3, Leh – Thiksey – Leh
Day 4, Leh – Phyang – Khardung La – Khardung – Khalsar – Diskit – Hunder, 110kms: Conquering the worlds highest Motorable road at 18,380ft
Day 5, Hunder – Diskit – Sumur – Panamik – Sumur – Khalsar – Khardung – Khardung La – Phyang – Leh, 200kms
Day 6, Leh – Shey – Karu – Shakti – Chang La – Tanksey – Lukung – Spangmik – Pangong Tso, 170kms
Day 7, Pangong Tso – Phobrang – Marsimik La – Phobrang – Pangong Tso: Ride to the worlds highest Motorable pass.
Day 8, Pangong Tso – Lukung – Tanksey – Chang La – Shakti – Karu – Shey – Leh, 170kms
Day 9, 10, 11 - Climb a mountain (preferably Stok Kangri 6100 Mts)
Day 12, Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Khaltse – Kargil, 293kms
Day 13, Kargil – Sanko – Parakachik – Rangdum (Suru Valley) – Panzi La – Padum (Zanskar Valley), 245kms
Day 14 – 13, Zanskar Valley: Exploring the Zanskar Valley and visit numerous Buddhist Gompas Zanskar Valley is famous for.
Day 15, Padum – Panzi La – Rangdum – Parakachik – Sanko – Kargil, 245kms
Day 16, Kargil – Drass – Zoji La – Sonamarg – Srinagar, 205kms through to the Kashmir valley
Day 17, Srinagar – Banihal – Udhampur – Jammu, 300kms
Day 18/Day 19, Jammu – Pathankot – Jalandhar – Ludhiana – Ambala – Delhi, 590kms
This looked freaking awesome (at least on paper). We were going to ride almost 3400 kms in 18 days, averaging almost 180 - 200 kms of tough riding every single day. Then somewhere in the middle of this I wanted to climb Stok Kangri.
I hate to burst the bubble now. None of this happened. In-fact, the 2 other people who were supposed to accompany me split. I had to ride alone, had a couple of falls, lost my spare fuel and got even sent back in some places because of "Pakistan issues". Like I said before, nothing is in your control. But here's the cool part of the story. I Did climb a 5000 mt Mountain, I went white water rafting in the mighty Indus , Crossed the mighty Zanskar in a DIY rope bridge, stayed in villages that are accessible only by feet, Went to a local farm and plucked my own fresh apricots. Met people who mattered. It was all worth it at the end of the day.
At the end of the adventure, I was unhappy that I did not have enough time to deviate from my plan (as I did, which you will read about in the future posts) . So, Time is what you need (a lot of it) and not a "Plan".
Now that the Leh machine was ready to roll, it was pretty simple from here. Or at least that's what I thought.
This was our magical super awesome worlds best itinerary, Or a.k.a "The Plan" (Which is borrowed BTW and not my own idea). We ship out our bikes in the DD Exp. and we start riding from Chandigarh.
Day 0 - Reach Manali, get the permits ...Blah Blah, 300kms
Day 1, Manali – Rohtang la – Kokhsar – Tandi – Keylong – Jispa – Darcha – Baralacha La – Bharatpur – Sarchu, 230kms
Day 2, Sarchu – Gata Loops – Nakee La – Lachulung La – Pang – More Plains – Tanglang La – Upshi – Karu – Leh, 260kms: A hard day of riding while covering three high altitude passes; Nakee La 15,547ft, Lachulung La 16,616ft and third highest pass, Tanglang La at an altitude of 17,582ft.
Day 3, Leh – Thiksey – Leh
Day 4, Leh – Phyang – Khardung La – Khardung – Khalsar – Diskit – Hunder, 110kms: Conquering the worlds highest Motorable road at 18,380ft
Day 5, Hunder – Diskit – Sumur – Panamik – Sumur – Khalsar – Khardung – Khardung La – Phyang – Leh, 200kms
Day 6, Leh – Shey – Karu – Shakti – Chang La – Tanksey – Lukung – Spangmik – Pangong Tso, 170kms
Day 7, Pangong Tso – Phobrang – Marsimik La – Phobrang – Pangong Tso: Ride to the worlds highest Motorable pass.
Day 8, Pangong Tso – Lukung – Tanksey – Chang La – Shakti – Karu – Shey – Leh, 170kms
Day 9, 10, 11 - Climb a mountain (preferably Stok Kangri 6100 Mts)
Day 12, Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Khaltse – Kargil, 293kms
Day 13, Kargil – Sanko – Parakachik – Rangdum (Suru Valley) – Panzi La – Padum (Zanskar Valley), 245kms
Day 14 – 13, Zanskar Valley: Exploring the Zanskar Valley and visit numerous Buddhist Gompas Zanskar Valley is famous for.
Day 15, Padum – Panzi La – Rangdum – Parakachik – Sanko – Kargil, 245kms
Day 16, Kargil – Drass – Zoji La – Sonamarg – Srinagar, 205kms through to the Kashmir valley
Day 17, Srinagar – Banihal – Udhampur – Jammu, 300kms
Day 18/Day 19, Jammu – Pathankot – Jalandhar – Ludhiana – Ambala – Delhi, 590kms
This looked freaking awesome (at least on paper). We were going to ride almost 3400 kms in 18 days, averaging almost 180 - 200 kms of tough riding every single day. Then somewhere in the middle of this I wanted to climb Stok Kangri.
I hate to burst the bubble now. None of this happened. In-fact, the 2 other people who were supposed to accompany me split. I had to ride alone, had a couple of falls, lost my spare fuel and got even sent back in some places because of "Pakistan issues". Like I said before, nothing is in your control. But here's the cool part of the story. I Did climb a 5000 mt Mountain, I went white water rafting in the mighty Indus , Crossed the mighty Zanskar in a DIY rope bridge, stayed in villages that are accessible only by feet, Went to a local farm and plucked my own fresh apricots. Met people who mattered. It was all worth it at the end of the day.
At the end of the adventure, I was unhappy that I did not have enough time to deviate from my plan (as I did, which you will read about in the future posts) . So, Time is what you need (a lot of it) and not a "Plan".
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