Duration : 7 days, 6 nights
Starting Location : Manali (H. P.)
Destination : Leh, Pangong Lake (J&K)
Mode of Travel : Bike (Rented from bikerentalsmanali)
Route : Manali (H. P.) -> Keylong (H. P.) -> Sarchu (H. P.) -> Pang (J&K) -> Rumtse (J&K) -> Upshi (J&K) -> Karu (J&K) -> Leh (J&K) -> Karu (J&K) -> Pangong (J&K) -> Karu (J&K) -> Upshi (J&K) -> Rumtse (J&K) -> Sarchu (H. P.) -> Keylong (H. P.) -> Manali (H. P.)
Background
As most of the bikers, I was also planning for this trip for so long. Finally I got a crazy friend like me to go on trip like this. Somehow 2 of us convinced 3 more for this trip. Finally we planned this trip in last of June 2015. We all decided to meet at Manali (H. P.). 2 of us(Ankur & Ankur) started from Lucknow (U. P.) at night and reached Chandigarh next morning. 2 more, coming from Kolkata joined us at Chandigarh. We hired a car and reached Manali around 11 PM. Our other friend, coming from Pune, joined us at Manali same night.
Next day we got our bikes, 1 – 500cc Desert Storm and 2 – 500cc Bullet Classic. It took around 3 hours for bikes and printed material to finish. We chose to not begin that day as we have to test bikes and after that get some riding gears and other imperative stuff. We appreciated entire day riding and shopping.
There are couple of necessary things we overlooked in our arrangement, so it took 3-4 hours to arrange everything:
- 5 liters petrol bottles
- Knee and Elbow guards
- Extra tube for each bike
- Foot pump
- Bike straps
- Plastic cover for bags
We have taken Diamox at regular interval to avoid high altitude sickness. Here is chart just to give an idea on the altitudes we planned on biking.
We slept around 11 PM that night thinking to get started early next morning, may be by 5 AM.
Day 1 (Manali (H. P.) to Sarchu (H. P.))
We got up early around 4 and started setting bags and other stuff on bikes. Few of my friends brought huge bags, not suitable for these kinds of trips, even after advising against it. As it was not possible to pack everything, we left some bags at hotel to be picked on returning.
It was a tremendous undertaking. Took around 2 hours to attach everything to motorbikes and prepare. We had 1 rucksack each and still it was excessively. One thing without a doubt, in these sort of excursions, keep insignificant stuff.
We left Manali around 6 early in the day and rode towards Sarchu, our objective for the day, at great speed. Beginning rode was along waterway Beas and it gave us some wonderful morning scenes.
In the middle of overwhelming movement and long car lines, we reached Rohtang Pass around 9. It was snow all finished and we were driving between snow dividers. It was top season around June so you can see vacationer all over. We halted and click a few pics previously continuing towards Tandi.
At Tandi you will find only petrol pump in Manali – Leh highway after Manali and before reaching Karu – Leh. We got our bike tanks filled up along with 5 liters cans we bought. Road after Manali was very dangerous. It was water stream all over road, or in fact over boulders as there was no road. At some places we practically crossed small streams flowing through the road.
You won’t dare put your feet in these streams as water temperature is very low, may be below zero also.
In one of such part of road, water flow was till knees. It was very dangerous as bike silencers are also submerged in water. My friend’s bike was powerful enough to cross that stream easily but my bike 500cc bullet got stuck in mid-stream. My friends(Ankur Nishad) had to step in freezing cold water to support my bike.
We reached Keylong by 1 PM and decided to have lunch there as next decent place to eat was at Sarchu and that too is around 112 KM. We thought this will easy and we hoped to reach Sarchu by 4-5 PM.
After lunch we started and soon height started increasing steadily. Around 3:30 PM we reached Bara-lacha Pass. On the way we saw Suraj Tal, a almost frozen lake. It was magnificent view. For next 1-2 KM stretch, road was mostly along Suraj Tal and we enjoyed that view for good.
In hilly areas sun sets early. We were not aware of this and when we saw darkness engulfing us around 5 PM, we panicked. Still Sarchu was good 20 KM away and suddenly breeze got colder, way colder. We had 4-5 layers of clothing but nothing was of good use. We keep on driving and shivering. We reached Sarchu around 6-6:15 PM and a bad news awaits as. All tents were booked. We struggled for a while before finding a Dhaba-Tent house. A nice couple gave us a comfortable place to stay against a nominal charge.
230 KM from Manali to Sarchu in one day. That too in dangerous and low oxygen conditions. 2-3 of my friends got ill and had high fever. All my friends slept as soon as they touched bed excluding Ankur Nishad.
Day 2 (Sarchu (H. P.) to Pang (J&K))
Trips are best when you lost track of time. Next morning we fought for good 15 min to figure out the date 🙂 As usual I woke up early in the morning but was not sure that we will go forward. 3 of my friends were suffering from fever and were sleeping till 8 AM. We thought its not possible to go ahead so I, along with my one friend, went back a bit to search for a better accommodation, may be proper tents. We planned on staying there for one night and then head back to Manali.
While searching for better accommodation, we came to know that a biker died on the same tracks we covered yesterday due to low oxygen levels. We were lucky that low oxygen condition and exertion we took day before was not that severe. And also we were taking Diamox at regular intervals. Anyways, we finalized one nice tent and came back to Dhaba to tell our friends about it where a surprise awaits us.
Our friends, at Dhaba, were talking to some other bikers coming back from Leh and they are pumped up. I was glad that somehow my friends found inspiration and we can complete pur dream. Our doctor friend, from Pune, gave medication to all ill people and we started next part of journey.
Our heavy bags were bothering us. We left some bags at Manali but still we had extra baggage. We left 1 bag at Dhaba we were staying to be picked up during return journey. An advise, just pack essentials for these kind of trips.
We left Sarchu around 1:30 PM so decided to stay at Pang. Learning from last night, we wanted to avoid travelling in evening. Road was pretty much dirt road where we struggled.
One of my friend faced minor accident, like bike falling down, but in his defense, road was very poor. In my opinion over speeding is also one of the reasons 😉
On the way to Pang we crossed Gata loops, famous for its 21 hair pin bends of about 7 KMs. Then we crossed Lachalung pass. After this, we can clearly see change in terrain color to Ladakh special.
We reached Pang in time and without any more issues or accident. We got a large tent for 5 of us easily as there was enough daylight. Another important thing was the presence of army camps, and in there we found PCO. Yes only postpaid connections, that too of BSNl and Airtel, catches network here. We didn’t have those so we were totally dependent on PCO and luckily Army camps provide PCO facility.
After informing our families that we are safe and on the way, we came back to camp. Had some dinner and prepared our self for a freezing night as mercury goes well below zero at this place.
Day 3 (Pang (J&K) to Karu (J&K) and Leh (J&K))
That night at Pang was coldest I had ever been. Mercury dropped to -11 degrees Celsius along with low oxygen condition. At night, one of us asked for water but no one replied & one of my friend was very serious.
Next morning we came to know that everyone was awake and listening but no one was in condition to speak 😛 May be due to low oxygen or sever cold conditions. So next morning all of us, except me, got some pills from our doctor friend and we got ready for another part of long journey. As road were now in good condition from here on till Leh, we planned on reaching there today itself.
Around 20 KM from Pang, there is wast stretch of plain land, with dead straight road, known as Moore Plains. Sight was mesmerizing with valley one side and mountains other and in between wast plain land.
We enjoyed this part and drove at good speed to reach Debring, from where ascent of Taglang pass starts. We had some minor accidents again today due to over speeding at wrong stretch of road but nothing too serious.
Soon we reached Taglang pass with much time to spare. Had some fun while driving on snow road as there was icy layer on it.
We didn’t want to wast much time so we kept on driving at good pace to reach Karu. Road after Pang was like a bless and helped us cover that distance with ease. From Karu there are two separate roads. One leads to Pangong lake and other to Leh. To save some time, we decided to take shelter at Karu. We booked a hotel and then hire a cab to take us to Leh as we don’t want to tire ourselves. Also we were not sure if local people of Leh will allow commercially rented bikes from other states to enter there. So we decided to go for cab and avoided any risk.
It was sad that we had only half day for Leh but we enjoyed whatever time we had.
There were many mesmerizing temple of lord Buddha, some even 2-3 story tall.
At evening we explored local markets. Had some dinner and came back to Karu, at our hotel.
We hired same cab to take us to Pangong lake next day .We planned on going there and coming back as early as possible so that we can cover some road back to Manali. We don’t want to take risk after what we witnessed in starting few days.
Day 4 (Karu (J&K) to Pangong (J&K) to Rumtse (J&K))
As usual, we planned on leaving around 6 AM but that was just plan. I got up at 5:30 Am and got ready but rest were sleeping. Worked pretty hard to get everyone ready and we left by 7 AM.
After we crossed Chushul village, snowfall started. Tiny snow flacks were falling and everthing seems to be turning into white. We were glad we didn’t got here from bikes. Our car tires were slipping like anything on snow covered road. Military trucks were struggling, even though their tires were chained.
We enjoyed snowfall well after Chang La, a high mountain pass. Climb to this pass is very steep and required careful driving. Snow slowly started to fall and it was just amazing.
Everything was covered in snow, like someone pained white all over.
We had awesome tea at Chang La accompanied by very disciplined mountain dogs and live snow fall.
Terrain shift quickly from snow covered peaks to grassy plain land once you descent from Chang La. Here you can see animals enjoying nice lovely weather.
Here it comes. Pangong lake, for which we struggled so far. Different shades for mountains and in between colorless water, just amazing view.
It was raining when we got there but we didn’t cared for that and clicked some pictures in lite showers. Lucky rain stops soon and we got chance to click some amazing photographs.
You can click as many pics you want but can never ever capture the beauty of Pangong lake with mere camera. The experience something totally different when you are there.
We had to head back so that we can start return journey that day itself. We don’t want to take chances seeing the conditions we faced while coming.
We came back to Karu around 3-4 PM and decided to leave for Rumtse and stay there.
We booked a government guest house there and we were the only guest there 🙂 Again mercury goes below zero at this place in night and we struggled after having 2 blankets each.
Day 5 (Rumtse (J&K) to Sarchu (H. P.))
None of us slept good that night. It was way to cold and may be low oxygen condition. When we got up in morning and checked our bikes, we again got surprised. There was snow cover all over the seat :).
We packed out stuff and left as soon as we can. We want to reach Sarchu as we don’t want to stay Pang. Our last experience there was dangerous ;). Sarchu was around 180 KM away. Again, this road from here to Pang was super smooth so we hoped on covering distance quickly.
Amid icy rods and freezing weather we reached Tanlang La. Had some quick pics before proceeding further.
We stopped at Pang for quick lunch and then headed to Sarchu. You may tend to take shortcuts in these areas but avoid that feeling. Dirt rods are too steep and slippery.
We picked our bags from Dhaba and headed to search for better accommodation. As this time we reached early, we got plenty of options. We finalized a nice set of tents and enjoyed rst of the evening at leisure.
As we got two full days, so our next day plan was short. Just from Sarchu to Keylong. We had already covered major part of our trip.
Day 6 (Sarchu (H. P.) to Keylong (H. P.))
It was another cold night. Staying at Dhaba was much better than tents. In tents, cold breeze will enter for sure from somewhere while at Dhaba this was not an issue. It was around 130 KM drive today so we were not in hurry.
On the way back road condition started deteriorating but thankfully this time we had enough time. We drove carefully and at steady speed. Soon we reached Baralacha La. It was all downhill from here.
Just after Baralacha La, it was Suraj tal. This partially frozen lake again took our breath away.
On the way back, at Zingzing Bar, we had lunch. At any remote place in India, you can find one thing for sure, that is Maggie. At Keylong, we found one descent hotel at reasonable good price. After hot shower we headed for local market for an evening walk.
To get out of Hotel at market side, we came down around 5-6 floors. That doesn’t seemed too much while coming down but sure took an eternity to climb up. We slept soundly that night and got much needed rest.
Day 7 (Keylong (H. P.) to Manali (H. P.))
Mere 130 KM left for final stretch of our trip. We had an sense of accomplishment when covering this final leg.
Road till Rohtang pass was not good but after that it was super smooth.
We reached Manali comfortably around 4-5 PM. Gave back bikes, picked up our luggage and searched for bus or cab back to Chandigarh. Buses were full so finally we got an cab and said good buy to Manali.
Afterwords
Cab drive at night was risky. Driver was dozing off. We asked him to take nap and then resume driving. After good 1-2 hour sleep, he drove at good speed and we reached Chandigarh in the morning. One of my friend got in flight to Pune and 2 got in fight to Kolkata. Rest 2 of us got full day to spare as we had train in the evening. We were too tired to do anything but decided to explore famous Rock garden.
Finally we boarded the train and as soon as we got our berths we slept.
When we arrived at Lucknow, we were still very tired. When you complete trips like these, you learn many aspect of life. And surely you improve a lot as a person.
