Map created by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks
228 KMs Trip Meter 18356 KMs
Morning was quite unexpected. Something woke me up before the alarm did. It was the sound of rain drops on my tent! Raining outside!! All these it used to be great in the morning. This is kinda depressing. Just lie on the bed thinking that the rain would stop soon. But its going on and on. kill the alarm and wait for the rain to lettof. I keep waiting till like 7.30 and its still raining. Two hours rain and still going on. Now i lost my patience and thought what the heck will ride out any way. One look outside the tent was discouraging! It was cloudy and misty every where and could not see any mountains. Its going to take some time for weather to clear. Could not take pix as my battery was with the owner for charging. Water is dripping into the tent. Lucky that it dripped only to the edge. But it got real cold. Uncomfortably cold.
Get to the dining hall and see the 4 guys also feeling the teeth chatter. They are moving out in their taxi and dont want to get stuck here with bad weather and nothing to do. I just prepare myself so that i can ride out the second i decide. Have some food and things get bettor outside. Rain is fully off and i start loading the bike. My hands are pretty numb and it takes long time to load up the bike. Ride out towards ITBP post and its sunlight now! Man the weather changes quickly here. Offroad till the edge of the water for some pix. Two ITBP folks and start a conversation and i just cant get the pix right. Least they helped in taking a pic of me with the bike. They fancied the bike and took pictures of themselves sitting on the bike, with their fones. I bid fare well and started towards Mahe. It was already 10.30 and the weather was clear now. I got curious about the road that led to the south of the lake and ended. Even the ITBP folks said about it to get a bettor view of the lake. Well in order to stop the war in the head i turned back and crossed the slushy town again and got on to the path heading south. It was all offroad with smooth sand and hoped i would not drop the bike. It was a bit of a climb and i came up to a opening. They were right, can see quite a bit of the lake from here. If only the sky was clear could get bettor color of the lake. But have to take what we get. There was a Bhuddisht ceremony going on and there were lot of piles of stones.
Time to head back and it was like 11 am when i exited the Karzok. Now i can ride out with one mind. Now where are the stones? Just tell myself keep going keep going. After i climb up the valley the path eases out and the weather is once again great!! I stop at open space for a break. Loved walking around. Walked up on the hill top to my left and i see Tso Moriri! Felt i had left it far behind. After some pix session i ride down and there is this plain surface and i get off the path with the intention to ride till the edge. But it was soft sand all the way and handling the heavy bike was difficult stopped the bike mid way on some stones and walked to the edge. And i see the green lake! Its still a few kms. Things are not far noticaly but just that the winding roads increase the distance. Now that i see the lake it means Black top is not far behind. It was great place and spend some time there. But have to move on. Get to the black top and soon the sun is snatched away by the clouds. No sooner the sun is out, it get chilly and wind picks up too! I pick up my pace and ride at around 60-70. The road is just 2-3 feet wide for me cos there is a sand and gravel at the center of the road all the way! Thats makes riding with tricky. Ride down the valley with out stopping much and get to the mahe bridge. No need for entry and i proceed towards Leh via Chumatong.
I am hungry by now and Chumatong is like 20 kms. The ride now is in a valley following the Indus river. Though the surroundings are dramatic, they are kinda unimpressive to me as i am coming for pretty good places the last couple of days. The ups my pace and Have a break at chumatong. All the while wishing for some sunlight. Have maggie there and what else? The sky to the north looks clear and soon i am riding in sun light. Its ride always beside the river Indus switching across sides now and then via bridges. Soon i reach the water crossing i was told about. Not much deep but some looks like some stones in disarray in water. wear my gaiters and cross it. The road climbs up and again down and continues beside the river Indus. Its more like a canyon ride rather then a valley ride. Things are huge and dramatic but some how does not interest me much and i keep riding at a brisk pace. As the sun gets lower its now getting to my eye. Couple of places i would have liked to take a break but the lighting and wind was not good so carried on. 10 Kms to Upshi, near a village is see a brand new BSNL tower. It works said the keeper. Good! Set the fone to access network and made the call home. BSNL is putting up towers every where. In few years ladakh must be well connected to the rest of the world i guess. Reach Upshi by 6 PM. And its a fast ride to Leh but a pain full one. i know i craved for sunlight in the morning but do not want it to hit directly on my eye. It was hurting even through my goggles. Reduced my pace and many curves kinda went blind cos of the light. Only reaching Leh i get relief from it.
Finally i am in leh and the Eastern ladakh circuit went well pretty well. I was happy. am happy. Had decided to rest it out the next day. Did not want to spend time on bike work. As soon as i entered Leh got the engine oil changed, chine set and fueled up. The bike is ready to head south just that i have to get ready. Its still a bliss and cant believe that i managed to do the circuit. Now i can say Ladakh is the best place i visited in the trip. EBC trek was great too, but in trek one would be confined to limited space. Will just laze and blog update the next day.
Get to the dining hall and see the 4 guys also feeling the teeth chatter. They are moving out in their taxi and dont want to get stuck here with bad weather and nothing to do. I just prepare myself so that i can ride out the second i decide. Have some food and things get bettor outside. Rain is fully off and i start loading the bike. My hands are pretty numb and it takes long time to load up the bike. Ride out towards ITBP post and its sunlight now! Man the weather changes quickly here. Offroad till the edge of the water for some pix. Two ITBP folks and start a conversation and i just cant get the pix right. Least they helped in taking a pic of me with the bike. They fancied the bike and took pictures of themselves sitting on the bike, with their fones. I bid fare well and started towards Mahe. It was already 10.30 and the weather was clear now. I got curious about the road that led to the south of the lake and ended. Even the ITBP folks said about it to get a bettor view of the lake. Well in order to stop the war in the head i turned back and crossed the slushy town again and got on to the path heading south. It was all offroad with smooth sand and hoped i would not drop the bike. It was a bit of a climb and i came up to a opening. They were right, can see quite a bit of the lake from here. If only the sky was clear could get bettor color of the lake. But have to take what we get. There was a Bhuddisht ceremony going on and there were lot of piles of stones.
Time to head back and it was like 11 am when i exited the Karzok. Now i can ride out with one mind. Now where are the stones? Just tell myself keep going keep going. After i climb up the valley the path eases out and the weather is once again great!! I stop at open space for a break. Loved walking around. Walked up on the hill top to my left and i see Tso Moriri! Felt i had left it far behind. After some pix session i ride down and there is this plain surface and i get off the path with the intention to ride till the edge. But it was soft sand all the way and handling the heavy bike was difficult stopped the bike mid way on some stones and walked to the edge. And i see the green lake! Its still a few kms. Things are not far noticaly but just that the winding roads increase the distance. Now that i see the lake it means Black top is not far behind. It was great place and spend some time there. But have to move on. Get to the black top and soon the sun is snatched away by the clouds. No sooner the sun is out, it get chilly and wind picks up too! I pick up my pace and ride at around 60-70. The road is just 2-3 feet wide for me cos there is a sand and gravel at the center of the road all the way! Thats makes riding with tricky. Ride down the valley with out stopping much and get to the mahe bridge. No need for entry and i proceed towards Leh via Chumatong.
I am hungry by now and Chumatong is like 20 kms. The ride now is in a valley following the Indus river. Though the surroundings are dramatic, they are kinda unimpressive to me as i am coming for pretty good places the last couple of days. The ups my pace and Have a break at chumatong. All the while wishing for some sunlight. Have maggie there and what else? The sky to the north looks clear and soon i am riding in sun light. Its ride always beside the river Indus switching across sides now and then via bridges. Soon i reach the water crossing i was told about. Not much deep but some looks like some stones in disarray in water. wear my gaiters and cross it. The road climbs up and again down and continues beside the river Indus. Its more like a canyon ride rather then a valley ride. Things are huge and dramatic but some how does not interest me much and i keep riding at a brisk pace. As the sun gets lower its now getting to my eye. Couple of places i would have liked to take a break but the lighting and wind was not good so carried on. 10 Kms to Upshi, near a village is see a brand new BSNL tower. It works said the keeper. Good! Set the fone to access network and made the call home. BSNL is putting up towers every where. In few years ladakh must be well connected to the rest of the world i guess. Reach Upshi by 6 PM. And its a fast ride to Leh but a pain full one. i know i craved for sunlight in the morning but do not want it to hit directly on my eye. It was hurting even through my goggles. Reduced my pace and many curves kinda went blind cos of the light. Only reaching Leh i get relief from it.
Finally i am in leh and the Eastern ladakh circuit went well pretty well. I was happy. am happy. Had decided to rest it out the next day. Did not want to spend time on bike work. As soon as i entered Leh got the engine oil changed, chine set and fueled up. The bike is ready to head south just that i have to get ready. Its still a bliss and cant believe that i managed to do the circuit. Now i can say Ladakh is the best place i visited in the trip. EBC trek was great too, but in trek one would be confined to limited space. Will just laze and blog update the next day.
At the camp waiting for the weather to clear up..
Thats my tent...
The dining hall tent... the Special seat in the center is reserved for Dalai Lama only...
Some last clicks of the lake i think....
The ITBP helps me with a snap...
There they are....
Riding up to the view point...
Yes can see a lot of lake from here....
Some Buddhist ceremony going on there..
The Karzok town...
Quite a pile of stones!!
Riding back to the town...
Last ride by the lake...
The stones again....
Last gazes of the lake...
Avoid taking the smoother looking by paths, they might as well be sand traps...
The hotel owner at Leh was right, maruthi wans now make it here, Just that the roads have not improved but the driving skills have!
Looks like chunks might fall off any time....
Get off from the huge stone path....
Nice place to take a break....
Can still see Tso Moriri....
Trucks making their own road....
Lot of options ehh???
Ride to the plains....
Can see the weather changing lake below... it also means black top is nearby....
Steed waiting...
At the lake...
Looks like salt!
The ripple ride again...
Aaaah black top!
Weather did change at the lake sun's out!
Ride back towards mahe....
Back in the narrow valley....
Candy mountain again! yes i was hungry again!
Riding towards Chumatong... and looks like the wall might fall off any time!
Precarious stones above!!
I have a narrow corridor to stay dry, lucky the road falls under that corridor!
Nala crossing again!
Ride by the Indus canyon....
Now who did this?
Following the river....
An army memorial near Kairi...
Road through shining stones!
In between trees out of no where!
Just ride along Indus....
Green carpet at Himya...
Dramatic mountains...
When you see a BSNL tower, you stop and make calls!
Its sun glare ride for the rest of the 60 kms... very pain full !
Reach the Leh Manali highway....
On it...
Strange flower...
Some trees after Karu....
A stray yak... pic is bit shaky cos i was afraid it would charge! have seen them do it!
Lone threatning cloud near Leh....
Vertical Travel for the day....
