Yogesh Sarkar September 2nd, 2007
Almost ready to start from home, Nilesh and Umesh will be riding with me to Manali where majority of the guys have already reached and are waiting for us. It will be another Sunday meet for us, this time in the lap of Himalayas. With 12 guys from 5 states joining in…
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Yogesh Sarkar September 1st, 2007
The Ladakh 2007 trip has started for many and will start for the rest in a matter of hours. Already the advance team consisting of Dheeraj, Manik, Nagadeepan, Saumitra, Sparsh and Shamik has started from Delhi and they should be in Manali by the night fall.
While Umesh is already in Delhi and will most probably leave with me on Sunday morning, Dharam, Nilesh and Suyash will be arriving in Delhi by tomorrow afternoon. Bhuwan on the other hand has decided to start his ride from Jaipur tomorrow morning and would be riding all the way to Himachal for a night stop.
After months of waiting, the ride is on and fun is set to begin…
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Yogesh Sarkar August 30th, 2007
Following is the itinerary that we will be following on our trip to Ladakh:
Day 1, Manali - Rohtang Jot - Kokhsar - Tandi - Keylong - Jispa - Darcha - Baralacha La - Bharatpur - Sarchu, 230kms: The fun starts on the very first day, as we traverse through broken roads, slush, water/river crossings and cross two high altitude passes, Rohtang La 13,050ft and Baralacha La 16,500ft.
Day 2, Sarchu - Gata Loops - Nakee La - Lachulung La - Pang - More Plains - Tanglang La - Upshi - Karu - Leh, 260kms: Another hard day of riding while covering three high altitude passes; Nakee La 15,547ft, Lachulung La 16,616ft and third highest pass, Tanglang La at an altitude of 17,582ft.
Day 3, Leh - Thiksey - Leh and local sightseeing, 80kms: A day to unwind, get the bikes serviced and visit Thiksey and other historical places in Ladakh’s capital, Leh.
Day 4, Leh – Phyang – Khardung La – Khardung – Khalsar – Diskit – Hunder, 110kms: Conquering the worlds highest Motorable road at 18,380ft and then ride to the magnificent Nubra Valley, a stone throw away from the Siachen Glacier.
Day 5, Hunder – Diskit – Sumur – Panamik – Sumur – Khalsar – Khardung – Khardung La – Phyang – Leh, 200kms: Sightseeing in the beautiful Nubra Valley and then ride back to Leh via the highest Motorable road in the world, Khardung La.
Day 6, Leh – Shey – Karu – Shakti – Chang La – Tanksey – Lukung – Spangmik - Pangong Tso, 170kms: On day six we plan to ride to the largest salt water lake in Asia, Pangong Tso. En route we will be crossing the second highest Motorable pass, Chang La (17,800ft).
Day 7, Pangong Tso – Phobrang – Marsimik La – Phobrang – Pangong Tso: Ride to the worlds highest Motorable pass, Marsimik La, 18,634ft and then come back to the Pangong Tso.
Day 8, Pangong Tso – Lukung – Tanksey – Chang La – Shakti – Karu – Shey – Leh, 170kms: ride back to Leh for a final night there.
Day 9, Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Khaltse – Kargil, 293kms: Ride to the town Kargil on the Leh – Srinagar highway.
Day 10, Kargil - Sanko - Parakachik – Rangdum (Suru Valley) - Panzi La - Padum (Zanskar Valley), 245kms: A back braking journey through Suru Valley to the Zanskar Valley, there are no roads for over 170kms and one has to negotiate trails filled with rocks, sand and water to reach the capital of Zanskar Valley, Padum.
Day 11 – 13, Zanskar Valley: Exploring the Zanskar Valley and visit numerous Buddhist Gompas Zanskar Valley is famous for.
Day 14, Padum – Panzi La – Rangdum – Parakachik – Sanko – Kargil, 245kms: A hard days of riding and we will reach the town of Kargil
Day 15, Kargil – Drass – Zoji La – Sonamarg – Srinagar, 205kms: An early morning start should take us to famous Zoji La pass, from here the Kashmir valley begins.
Day 16, Srinagar – Banihal – Udhampur – Jammu, 300kms: From Dal Lake to the beautiful Kashmir valley to the famous town of Jammu, the kms pile up.
Day 17, Jammu - Pathankot – Jalandhar – Ludhiana – Ambala – Delhi, 590kms: After a long ride from Jammu, we bid Himalayas a final good bye reach the home base, Delhi.
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Yogesh Sarkar August 29th, 2007
After the fantastic BCMTouring group ride to Pushkar, Rajasthan in November 2006; the seed were sown for another BCMTouring group ride, this time to the Land of many passes, Ladakh. A place which is considered to be the Mecca of Motorcycle Touring and a hot favorite amongst adventurer travelers from across the globe.
Planning for the Ladakh 2007 trip started as early as January 2007, with the trip planning thread receiving a whopping 435 posts and over 16,000 page views! As we enter the final phase of our trip preparations, with only five days to go for the actual ride to begin from Manali. We have started this blog to enable us to share our experiences and photographs during the course of this expedition. Yes that’s right, we will be updating this blog on a periodic basis during the course of our 17 days ride to world’s highest passes and some of the most beautiful vistas known to mankind.
A ride that is as much about exploring the majestic Himalayan and Karakoram ranges and experiencing the cultural heritage of India, as it is about the biking brotherhood and coming together of 12 adventurers from different parts of India, with the goal of conquering the world’s highest passes and traversing through suspension breaking trails.
The twelve adventurers who are part of this expedition…
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