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110 KMs Trip Meter 16621
Get up feeling good. Load up the bike and get rolling by 9 am. Feeling light today. the bike because lot of fuel from both the cans have been dumped into the tank and me too cos now there is no thinking and no choice and just have to do it. So at the end of the road i take the offroad with positive mind. It seems my riding has improved and after an hour realize i am averaging at around 18 kmph! 4 kms is a plus too. Guess one always improves working on something continuously. I peak at the mountains more frequently and take more breaks. Sit and enjoy the beauty around. Make it to the tea stall by 12 and earlier then i took from the tea stall to padam the previous day. Have food here cos there is pretty much nothing till Rangdum. Spend quite some time there too. Get going and with a free mind things around looks more beautiful.
Take more breaks and enjoy the wide open isolation. With music in ears even do a jig. Felt euforic and really enjoying the days ride. Do off with the plains and ascend towards panzila. Then is see a bullet coming down. Its Gail from france and one tough guy cos he said "Its a bit rough but ok"!! With a small chat we bid adieu and i climb up a couple of switch backs and Dirang durung glaciar looks even bettor this time as there are no clouds above. Some clicking and posing. I ride up to another point where we can see the cravecses at the end of the glacier. As i am pulling out the cam i see a cyclist approach and stop for a chat. Its Ciril from Switzerland. Its the same guy i had passed by when i started from kargil. He is just taking two days for my one day's bike ride. We stop for a long chat. He is traveling with lil info and much on hear say. He did Manali Leh and Nubra but missed Pangong Tso cos he simply did not know! Its already 2.30 and the next settlement is 30 kms away for him to get any kinda stay. Boy is is traveling light! Has plans to put the cycle on pony and trek up to dracha and then do spiti as he heard about it only late! Now this is a real tough guy. Dunno what drives these people to do such things! Travelers meet and move on! so do we. Now its the long grueling decent down Panzila. I pass by the Zanskar board and now i can say that i rode Zanskar valley but i still have the long suru valley ahead of me.
Now that i am riding back i should have seen all that there is to be in this route. But i am missing the colors that lured me here. But yogesh says that those colors are available only in September. Hmmm... Any way it was now or dunno when for me. But this is a good ride as well. Getting to see the greenar zanskar and see lot of birds, flowers and huge fluffy yellowish brown squiril kinda animals scamper across the road ever so often,
Rest of the day's ride is mostly negotiating the decent from panzila. Get to the the flats and now have to do couple of water crossing. Though not big but still need to concentrate. Were nothing while going. Well come evening all the water crossings swell. Reach Rangdum by good 3.30. I get waved by a person at the entrance. i know its basically to invite to stay them in their house. But i just waved back and went straight to Dorji's house. I am welcomed for the home stay and the huge room with a panoramic view of mountains around is all mine again. Its quite windy on the colder side so did not stroll out and was dead tired. Had a Maggie and dozed off only to be waken up for dinner. Then i crash for the day thinking about the impending water crossing tomm.
Take more breaks and enjoy the wide open isolation. With music in ears even do a jig. Felt euforic and really enjoying the days ride. Do off with the plains and ascend towards panzila. Then is see a bullet coming down. Its Gail from france and one tough guy cos he said "Its a bit rough but ok"!! With a small chat we bid adieu and i climb up a couple of switch backs and Dirang durung glaciar looks even bettor this time as there are no clouds above. Some clicking and posing. I ride up to another point where we can see the cravecses at the end of the glacier. As i am pulling out the cam i see a cyclist approach and stop for a chat. Its Ciril from Switzerland. Its the same guy i had passed by when i started from kargil. He is just taking two days for my one day's bike ride. We stop for a long chat. He is traveling with lil info and much on hear say. He did Manali Leh and Nubra but missed Pangong Tso cos he simply did not know! Its already 2.30 and the next settlement is 30 kms away for him to get any kinda stay. Boy is is traveling light! Has plans to put the cycle on pony and trek up to dracha and then do spiti as he heard about it only late! Now this is a real tough guy. Dunno what drives these people to do such things! Travelers meet and move on! so do we. Now its the long grueling decent down Panzila. I pass by the Zanskar board and now i can say that i rode Zanskar valley but i still have the long suru valley ahead of me.
Now that i am riding back i should have seen all that there is to be in this route. But i am missing the colors that lured me here. But yogesh says that those colors are available only in September. Hmmm... Any way it was now or dunno when for me. But this is a good ride as well. Getting to see the greenar zanskar and see lot of birds, flowers and huge fluffy yellowish brown squiril kinda animals scamper across the road ever so often,
Rest of the day's ride is mostly negotiating the decent from panzila. Get to the the flats and now have to do couple of water crossing. Though not big but still need to concentrate. Were nothing while going. Well come evening all the water crossings swell. Reach Rangdum by good 3.30. I get waved by a person at the entrance. i know its basically to invite to stay them in their house. But i just waved back and went straight to Dorji's house. I am welcomed for the home stay and the huge room with a panoramic view of mountains around is all mine again. Its quite windy on the colder side so did not stroll out and was dead tired. Had a Maggie and dozed off only to be waken up for dinner. Then i crash for the day thinking about the impending water crossing tomm.
Bike J&K tourist Bungalow in padam....
My room there... It was badly maintained as it was dusty...
The petrol cans secured like this....
The trick is to let the rear foot peg take all the weight... the fastening is just to keep the can in place....
The kharshar monastery which i did not visit....
Leaving padam....
Not long before the end of road...
Have to get out of the way of these dust monsters...
An early break in the ride...
Biscuit break...
Flowers again...
Its not a cow and a calf but a calf and a sheep!
Some narrow path....
Some bad roading!
Cute donkey calf...
At the police checkpost tea stall.... Thats my slice bottle btw ;)
Bike there....
See a lot of these guys... here is the head....
and the rest of the body!
Approaching panzila climb...
Another break... No 1 around... the whole place just for me!
A straight dash before the climb...
The glacier again....
This is Gail from france. Tough guy cos he said 'Road is bit rough but ok'!!
Gail riding away...
More pix of Dhirang Dhurung....
Now posing with bike pointed the other way ;)
Ciril the adventure cyclist from switzerland....
Long time to go if not way!
I stay away from the short cuts....
The mountain with quite a pattern... Rangdum is right on the other side of that mountain!
Trucks taking the short cut....
Finally approaching Rangdum....
Go straight to Dorji's home...
Those are Dorji's kids fiddling with my things....
Zimbo dung bricke!!
Mountains all around Rangdum...
The house look tatched but great inside...
Vertical travel for the day...
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