It’s human nature to compare things, places and people with what we have seen/experienced in past.

In the same spirit I was comparing Spiti with Ladakh on my recent trip to Spiti, maybe due to the fact that I had heard from so many people that Spiti is better than Ladakh and what not.

This very fact almost ended up ruining my Spiti trip, since every place I went to in Spiti; I ended up comparing it with places I had visited in Ladakh and more often than not getting disappointed with it for not living up to the expectation or should I say the benchmark.

Even though I was visiting places that I had never seen before, I was getting disappointed by them even before having a chance to experience them properly, add to this the photos that I was clicking weren’t as impressive as the photos I had clicked in Ladakh and that factor add to the woes as well.

It took me three days to finally come out of the shell and accept Spiti for what it was, Spiti and not a replacement to Ladakh!

I have learned one important thing from this trip, which is to stop listening to people who try to compare one place with another, because every place like every individual is different and comparing two isn’t just unjust for those places, but also for you as you attempt to become a critique and believe me being a critique is not the best way to enjoy a place or for that matter any thing!

So go out there and enjoy the place for what it is, not what you perceive or expect it to be.

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Here are five reasons why we in India don’t need lanes:

5. Money can be put to good use: Since India is a developing country, instead of wasting money on such trivial issues as road safety, we should use them to send delegations of bureaucrats and politicians to foreign countries to find out what we can do to become more like them!

4. We are a democracy: India is a democratic country and thus it is the right of every individual to drive/ride the way he/she wants, after all if our forefathers followed rules we still be under the clutches of British Raj.

3. Utilizing resource to the fullest: We believe in using resources to the fullest, so when you can have three cars, a bus, and couple of two wheelers driving parallel on a three lane road then why in heavens sake, do you want to restrict it to only three vehicles at a time?

2. Makes people spiritual: Yes that’s right; all it takes is speeding bus flying past inches from you to make even the staunch supporter of atheism remember the mighty lord!

1. Who has time: That’s right, who has time to see if they are in the appropriate lane or not? Especially when you can talk on your mobile phone, listen to music while staring at the pretty young thing in the car next to you!

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Alright people here is the new ladakh itinerary that we will be following for BCMTouring’s group ride to Ladakh, changes have been made since all those who are interested in this trip also want to go to Zanskar Valley.

Day 1: Delhi - Manali
Day 2: Manali - Keylong
Day 3: Keylong - Sarchu/Pang
Day 4: Sarchu - Leh
Day 5: Leh (visit the local attractions and nearby places and chill out)
Day 6: Leh - Khardung La (highest Motorable road) - Diskit - Hunder (Nubra Valley)
Day 7: Hunder - Panamik - Khardung La - Leh
Day 8: Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso
Day 9: Pangong Tso - Marsimik La - Pangong Tso
Day 10: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
Day 11: Leh - Kargil
Day 12: Kargil - Rangdum
Day 13: Rangdum - Padum
Day 14: Padum - Rangdum
Day 15: Rangdum - Kargil
Day 16: Kargil - Zoji La - Sonamarg - Srinagar
Day 17: Srinagar - Jammu
Day 18: Jammu - Delhi

As you can guess from the above itinerary, it’s not going to be a walk in park. And this is kind of what the idea is, adventure travel to the max with loads of off road riding and camping involved.

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The Plan:

Explore the highest Motorable passes in the coldest desert of the world, to witness and experience picture perfect landscape of Ladakh, which truly is heaven on earth.

When?

Starting first week of September.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Delhi - Manali
Day 2: Manali - Keylong
Day 3: Keylong - Sarchu/Pang
Day 4: Sarchu - Leh
Day 5: Leh (visit the local attractions and nearby places and chill out)
Day 6: Leh - Khardung La (highest Motorable road) - Diskit - Hunder (Nubra Valley)
Day 7: Hunder - Panamik - Khardung La - Leh
Day 8: Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso
Day 9: Pangong Tso - Marsimik La - Pangong Tso
Day 10: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
Day 11: Leh - Kargil
Day 12: Kargil - Rangdum
Day 13: Rangdum - Padum
Day 14: Padum - Rangdum
Day 15: Rangdum - Kargil
Day 16: Kargil - Zoji La - Sonamarg - Srinagar
Day 17: Srinagar - Jammu
Day 18: Jammu - Delhi

Please keep at least one day spare in case there is any delay.

Expenditure:

Expenditure for food and accommodation would be roughly Rs. 500 a day, on twin sharing basis (room).

Fuel cost will depend on the vehicle, we will be covering roughly 4200kms.

Those who are interested in bringing their own cars, and would like to share fuel costs with people, who would be interested in coming to the trip without their own vehicle. Please post the details of your vehicles along with your experience so we can find people who might be interested in doing this.

Who can join?

If you have a motorcycle/car and jest for adventure travel and have driven/ridden in hills and/or ghats, then you are welcome to join us for this adventure and fun filled tour. If you haven’t done any touring in hills/ghats or are just thinking of starting your stint with touring then you have plenty of time for few trial trips to get the endurance and skills needed for trip of this magnitude.

If you don’t want to bring your own vehicle or don’t own one yet and still want to be a part of this adventure trip then let us know, we might just hire a vehicle or find some one who would be willing to take you in his/her car on fuel cost sharing basis.

People who have already confirmed:

1 Bhuwan Singh Royal Enfield Thunderbird
2 Dixit Sardana Hero Honda CBZ
3 Eric Bajaj Pulsar 180 Classic
4 Manik Mittal Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-I UG3
5 Prithviraj Ray Yamaha RX 135
6 Salil U Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-I
7 Shamik Banerjee Honda Unicorn
8 Sumeet Popli Bajaj Avenger DTS-i
9 Sumit Bajaj Honda Unicorn
10 Sunil Gupta Bajaj Pulsar 150 DTS-i
11 Yogesh Sarkar Bajaj Pulsar 180 Classic

Click here to join us…

Here are top five reasons why tourers are different from “enthusiasts”:

1. Tourers want vehicles which are comfortable rather then something fast but one can sit in/on it for more than half an hour.

2. Tourers like vehicles which can sustain long term moderate strain; after all, for how long in most of your touring expedition do you drive/ride at 90% of the capability of your vehicle.

3. Tourers prefer usability over looks; after all how good is a good looking convertible or single seat sports bike if it can’t even carry couple of day’s worth of cloths and essentials?

4. Performance on paper is not the only criteria, after all what good is the 0-60 timing if you have to change gears every time you need to overtake a truck on the highway?

5. Range matters more than the top speed, after all what good is a 300kmph top speed if you have to stop every couple of hundred kilometers to tank up?

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