BCMTouring Group ride to Ladakh

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Prologue

Planning for BCMTouring's first ever group ride to Ladakh had begun in January 2007 and after several hundreds posts in the itinerary thread, it was almost time for the ride to begin. A ride comprising of a dozen travelers from across India, coming together for the first time, to travel together to one of the most beautiful place on Mother Earth; Ladakh.

The Travelers:

1. Bhuwan Singh Jaipur, Rajasthan Royal Enfield
2. Dharam Bangalore, Karnataka Pillion with Nilesh
3. Dheeraj Singh New Delhi Bajaj Pulsar 150
4. Manik Mittal Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Bajaj Pulsar 180
5. Nagadeepan R. Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Honda Unicorn
6. Nilesh Sundar Pune, Maharashtra Royal Enfield Electra
7. Saumitra Swarnkar New Delhi Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi
8. Sparsh Arun New Delhi Bajaj Pulsar 150
9. Shamik Banerjee New Delhi Honda Unicorn
10. Suyash Sonawane Pune, Maharashtra Bajaj Avenger
11. Umesh Soman Mumbai, Maharashtra Honda Unicorn
12. Yogesh Sarkar New Delhi Bajaj Pulsar 180

Day 0, 2nd September 2007: Delhi - Chandigarh - Manali

BCMTouring's group ride to Ladakh was to being on the 3rd of September from Manali, to ensure that ever body would be able to cover Delhi - Manali on their own pace and choice of vehicle, before teaming up for the real ride ahead.

Only Nilesh and Umesh were to accompany me from Delhi to Manali, as most of the riders were either en route or in Manali itself. At 3:30AM I got a call from Nilesh, who was supposed to meet me at Naraina. After the customary departure shot, it was time to start the ride:



However since it was Nilesh's first trip to Delhi, he got confused and we finally met up around Brar Square, where a couple of minutes later, Umesh also joined in and we start our journey ahead.

Thanks to all the rain, NH-1 was in bad shape and since neither of us had the chance to get any sleep before the ride, progress was painfully slow. Soon Nilesh and Umesh started feeling sleepy, which meant we had to take frequent breaks for tea/water to stay awake and intermittent rain wasn't helping either.



It had taken us well over 5 hours to get from Delhi to Ambala (around 200kms) and Manali was still almost 400kms away and roads from here on, were supposed to be worse than what we had already encountered! By the time we reached Chandigarh, it was already noon and after picking up engine oil for Shamik, from Akshay, we started our journey once again.

Things only got slightly better, once we hit the hilly roads and soon Nilesh and Umesh started riding enthusiastically. Though with Himachal all dressed up in green, it was only mandatory that we stopped often for photography.



By the time we reached Mandi, it was already dark. Stopping here would have meant serious delay for others, so after a slightly longish dinner and new found energy, we headed out for Manali. By now, Nilesh and Umesh were riding like pros and due to this, we managed to reach Manali by mid-night, where we were united with the rest of the group, staying at the Himachal Tourism Tourist Lodge.

Even though it was pretty late at night and the three of us had been riding for almost 21 hours and we had a pretty long day ahead of us, it didn't deter us from pulling each others leg and joke around till it was 1:30AM and time to go to bed.

Day 1, Manali - Rohtang Jot - Darcha

Day 2, Darcha - Baralacha La - Sarchu - Pang

Day 3, Pang - More Plains - Tanglang La - Leh

Day 4, Leh

Day 5, Leh - Khardung La - Khalsar - Diskit (Part-1)

Day 5, Leh - Khardung La - Khalsar - Diskit (Part-2)

Day 6, Diskit - Hunder and beyond - Diskit - Khardung La - Leh (part-1)

Day 6, Diskit - Hunder and beyond - Diskit - Khardung La - Leh (part-2)

Day 7, Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso (Lukung)

Day 8, Pangong Tso

Day 9, Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh

Day 10, Leh - Lamayuru - Kargil

Day 11, Kargil - Sankoo - Rangdum (Suru Valley)

Day 12, Rangdum (Suru Valley) - Panikhar - Kargil

Day 13, Kargil - Drass - Zoji La - Sonamarg – Srinagar

Day 14-15, Srinagar - Udhampur - Pathankot - Ambala - Delhi

[akshay4384]

Good old days
I still remember when you landed here

[Yogesh Sarkar]

It was good meeting you, Sunny and Shabz (?) that day.

[Abbas Taskeen]

Good, good, keep it coming ..... what was the day you started ?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Second September, added it to the post.

[Abbas Taskeen]

I am an imsomniac ..... if you promise keep posting your log, i will stay online or else i am going downstairs to F1 qualifying highlights on Star sports which i missed today evening. Seems massa crashed our pretty badly today and had to be hospitalised.

[Abbas Taskeen]

matlab that`s last year ..... Sirjee you r very late.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Second day's log would be posted tomorrow.

Ps. the log is of the 2007 ride to Ladakh.

[abhijithora]

Why not plan a big BCMT ride this year all gather at a middle point example Khajuraho

[Abbas Taskeen]

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

Second day's log would be posted tomorrow.

Ps. the log is of the 2007 ride to Ladakh.

Now that`s very very late.