Bangalore to Leh, Gama to Lama

[yamraj]

A prologue

This is an account of the trip to Leh that we recently went on. A trip that that was almost 5 years in the making. A trip that was constantly plagued by postponements and doubts. A trip that was ardous and difficult to say the least. A trip that was one of a lifetime.


Peep peep, don't sleep
There might be some parts that you might find not so interesting. But peep peep, don't sleep. Cause - just as in the mountains - carry on for around the turn you might find something that grabs and holds your attention. So, bear with me through the thick and thin of this travelogue and I promise you a journey.


Lets take a quick walk down the last few years:
2005 Q1. We plan to go to Leh in the summer during my summer vacations.
2005 May. The roads are closed due to snow. We replan and go to Kinnaur instead. Our love affair with the mountains is born.
2006 Q1. We plan to go to Leh in the summer after my college is over.
2006 May. I was looking for a job change, couldn't be away for long. We plan to do the trip next year.
2007 Q1. We plan to go to Leh in the summer.
2007 May. Rashi cannot get hols. Lets do the trip next year. Damn and blast.
2008 Q1. We plan to go to Leh in the summer. Lets definitely do it this year.
2008 May. We have to move into our own flat. Rashi won't get hols after the move. Crap! We don't have any other option. Lets definitely go next year.
2009 early Q1. We plan to go to Leh in the summer. We are going no matter what this year.
2009 March. Rashi has her leave approved. For a shorter duration. We will have to split.
2009 April. Do we do this in June or do we do it on September? We decide on September as we both have some work at office in June.
2009 July. We start preparing for the journey and the stay. Jiju will most probably join us. Mamaji has dropped out.
2009 August. We start preparing the car for the journey. I drop the cab service and start using my car for driving to office again. Jiju will join us. Nandika initially said yes and then dropped out.
2009 September. We are finally going this month. Most preparations done. Jiju will join us. Mamaji and Nandika will also join us. We will take two cars. Mamaji's WagonR and my Shararat. (For the uninitiated, thats the name of the Palio 1.6)
2009 October. 8296 kms. 24 days. Bangalore-Leh-Bangalore. Yes we did it !!



Characters
Rakesh 'mamaji' Taneja - famous for "S-a-uh", he who always knows the easier way.
Rashi 'planner' Bhalla - she who plans and always has a backup plan
Kanishk 'yamraj' Jethi - Chief Snowbutt, he who drives long and hard.
Ashish 'tough terrain' Kakar - Jiju, he who drives on the toughest terrain.
Nandika 'model' Taneja - she who is always ready to strike a pose.
Palio 'shararat' 1.6 sports - she who munches miles and spits out potholes.


When you think characters, you always want to paint a picture of the characters in your mind. Let me help you a little with that painting. Instead of letting you build the character sketch all on your own, let me provide you with a snap of all of us:

Jiju, Nandika, Mamaji, Rashi, Kanishk

Julley
That's such a happy word and it invokes such happy feelings. A word that holds the essence of being in Ladakh. A word that I used a lot our Ladakhi sojourn. A word that is used as a greeting. Since we are beginning our journey together, a greeting is in order.

Julley


Now, get ready to tighten your seatbelts and proceed on the journey from Bangalore to Leh, Gama to Lama....

To be continued....

Hot Links


Day-1: Blore - Davangere
Day-2: Davangere - Panvel
Day-3: Panvel - Baroda
Day-4: Baroda - Gurgaon
Day-5+6: Around Delhi
Day-7: Gurgaon - Manali
Day-8: Manali - Keylong
Day-8(2): Manali - Keylong
Day-9-misc: Keylong - Leh
Day-9 Keylong - Leh
Day-9(2): Keylong - Leh
Day-9-misc: Keylong - Leh
Day-9(3) Keylong - Leh
Day-9-Video Moore Plains
Day-9(4) Keylong - Leh
Day-10 Leh
Day-10-misc Leh
Day-11 Leh - PangongTso - Leh
Day-11(2) PangongTso
Day-11-misc PangongTso
Day-11(3) PangongTso
Day-12(1) Leh - TsoMoriri
Day-12-misc Leh - TsoMoriri
Day-12-misc-2 Leh - TsoMoriri
Day-12(2) Leh - TsoMoriri
Day-12(3) Leh - TsoMoriri
Day-13(1) TsoMoriri - Leh
Day-13-misc TsoMoriri - Leh
Day-13(2) TsoMoriri - Leh
Day-13(3) TsoMoriri - Leh
Day-14 Leh - Khardungla - Leh
Day-14(2) Leh - Khardungla - Leh
Day-14(3) Leh - Khardungla - Leh
Day-15(1) Monastery circuit
Day-15(2) Leh - Lamayuru
Day-16 Lamayuru - Sonamarg
Day-17 Sonamarg - Patnitop
Day16/17 Misc-pics
Epilogue

[chaithanyarayapudi]

Nice Start Yamraj; i'm ready for the journey

[yamraj]

Thanx Chaitanya. Am writing the first days account right now.....

[Pavan Singh]

Awesome start Kanishk.
Seat belts are on.

[VedUpadhyay]

prologue with full description nice one.. your and rashi's comments were seen into manali-leh road status many times so now good you'd done it... congrats to all of this trip!!!

[RajeshPunia]

Nice start. Waiting for next

[hiambuj]

Interesting !! & exactly what we expected after some little conversations with you over the forum !!!

Go go go !!!

[ThrottleKing]

Very nice start Kanishk.
Please bring on the stuff before we sleep

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Nice starters, waiting for the main course

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by pawsingh

Awesome start Kanishk.
Seat belts are on.

Thanx. The next installment coming up before the end of the day.

Originally Posted by vedupadhyay

prologue with full description nice one.. your and rashi's comments were seen into manali-leh road status many times so now good you'd done it... congrats to all of this trip!!!

Thanx. The trip was awesome. Will try and bring some of the awesomeness from that trip into this travelogue

Originally Posted by RajeshPunia

Nice start. Waiting for next

Coming up...

Originally Posted by hiambuj

Interesting !! & exactly what we expected after some little conversations with you over the forum !!!

Go go go !!!

Interestingly, that "Go go go" should come up somewhere in the travelogue. That was Rashi's war cry

Originally Posted by ThrottleKing

Very nice start Kanishk.
Please bring on the stuff before we sleep

PEEP PEEP. Dont Sleep

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

Nice starters, waiting for the main course

Main course coming up next....