With bikes at the New Delhi railway station. Waiting for the Jammu Rajadhani
Shared taxi from Jammu to Srinagar - the back seats are not really comfortable :(
Bikes on top of the shared taxi
A dam enroute Jammu - Srinagar
Inside the Kashmir Valley
Transit Camp of Indian Army where we stayed at Srinagar
Mess at the transit camp
This shot and the next one cost me three bee stings!
This and the previous photo cost me three bee stings
Dal lake at Srinagar - we were roaming around trying to find a place to charge my camera's battery. There were protests happening in Srinagar against the alleged rape-murder of a two people by the CRPF. For the convenience of tourists, the Dal lake was still open to them to roam around.
Me at the Dal Lake
Praveen at the Dal Lake
Shikara ride - Shikaras are the beautifully decorated ferries which are everywhere on the Dal lake
The clear water lake was about 15 feet deep according to the Shikara owner
House boats on the Dal lake offer a great variety of accomodation on the Dal lake
The grass on the right side (with the soil which is about half a foot thick) is actually floating on water and can dragged away by tying it to the Shikara!
Inside a shop in the floating market
Nehru Park on an island in the Dal Lake
We then went to the Nishant Garden and these flowers were just amazing. Some people thought they looked like butter flies but for us they were more similar to a face.
Look at the blurred flower at the back - it is not different from any of the faces you see on the Cartoon Network
More faces
Thats me!
Lots of faces
Assembled bikes at the transit camp
Friends we made at the transit camp - Capt.Navendu (third from left) was our host here
My bike (a six month old Firefox Target) with luggage for the next ten days
Praveen's bike (a three week old Cannondale F9)
4KM after we started at the Dal Lake
Hazrat Bal mosque across the Dal Lake
Heading towards Sonamarg
At the first Maggi break of the cycling trip. We had maggi almost on all the days atleast once between the meals.
Our performance was at its worst on the first two days. Probably due to insufficient of acclimatization or the food
That is Sonamarg!
We met Capt.Abhishek here and this photo was shot just outside his office.
We missed withdrawing money at Srinagar and hence were running out of cash and could not afford another stay at Sonamarg. We started to Drass at about 12:30 in the afternoon. This shot is on the climb to Zozi La, the first pass on the Srinagar - Leh highway
After quite a lot of climb we felt tired again (a little walk would stabilize the body in the low oxygen conditions)
Zozi La is probaby somewhere at the top there (where you see snow)
4 KM to go till we reach the pass! We were already exhausted and were hoping a truck to help us reach the top
... and we found some help.
Zozi La
An amazing downhill from Zozi La. We touched a speed of 62.9 KMPH downhill
A good number of Indians do this route on motor bikes. We came across around 20 such motorbikes
Bikes meet snow. Snow meet our bikes.
The road downhill was not great. It had lot of pebbles, water and even ice at a few places
That is the downhill from Zozi La
At a camp close to the Tiger Hill - the Bofors Howitzers were about 50mts away from here! We stayed for the night at Drass (a place locally popular as the second colded permanently inhabited area in the world)
The next day it was a ride till Kargil - mostly plains. The climate started being overcast and occasional rain
The Kargil war memorial at Drass
The enemy here means Pakistan - the stretch here is directly visible from the Pakistani posts on the other side of the LoC
Kargil town from ”Tibetan Food2“ where we stayed from two nights
At the Kargil town you find almost everything - from cycle spares to truck mechanics. Mobile phones seem to be a new trend here there are a lot of shops that copy songs and videos to your phone.
Leaving Kargil
We started down below beyond the bridge
A few local kids
Going to mulbekh was actually travelling upstream, but the rest day and food we had at Kargil made the ride pretty comfortable
We reached Mulbekh by noon. Our initial plan was to stay at Mulbekh for the night, but since we have time we had lunch here and proceeded to reach Budhkarbu (which is about 40KM from here and on the other side of Namika La)
These mountains are very different from the ones visible from the Kashmir Valley. Its all barren here, there and frequent winds
Stephen (German) was cyling from Leh to Srinagar. Leh (3500 meters above MSL) is located much higher than Srinagar (1700 meters above MSL) but the different is not much of a concern. Its the passes that matter a lot and there is a lot of tailwind when travelling from Srinagar to Leh.
The lowest point in the farthest visible range is the Namika La. It is tough to estimate the distances but it could be about 25KM from here. After we crossed the 8KM milestone, the weather became extremely bad with our fingers freezing and heavy winds. We started looking for help and we found an Army truck that helped us reach the top of Namika La.
Namika La was a relatively lower altitude pass there were a good number of settlements after we crossed it
That is Budhkarbu
We reached Budhkarbu and found that there were no places for the night stay and we had to ride further till Hinaskot for this Tourist Bungalow
Morning at the Tourist Bungalow
The keeper of the Tourist Bungalow
This is what I meant by extremely cold! The water dripping from this tap got frozen due to the cold climate
Started riding to reach Alchi which is across Fotu La (the highest pass on the Srinagar - Leh route). We started very early with the hope that the climate will be favorable and were determined to ride to the top this time ;)
On our way to the top (in the background) we met another German who was on a cycling holiday since August, 2008! He has been riding in Russia, China and started at Manali and is going to Srinagar via Leh. This is the fina leg of his cycling trip
Fotula Top - This time we reached here with out any help. Starting early helped us reach here when the weather was clear and from here it is a downhill till our next night halt at Saspol (near Alchi)
That is the downhill from Fotu La. Take a look at Tata Sumo on the left side of the shot to get an idea of the size of these mountains.
That is Lamayuru Monastery - the place for our lunch
Rotating these things is believed to free us from the sins that we committed
Thats an army Convoy. This road is open for about 6 months in a year. The change of postings happen during this time as well has food and oil are stocked for the rest of the year
Once beyond Lamayuru, the Indus river joins us. We ride upstream Indus till we reach Leh. Leh is believed to be on the crossroads of the Silk route and many people who visited this place knew Indus. It is through these travellers and business men that India got its name and so did the Hindu religion.
The gorge that Indus creates is very different from the patterns on the wind eroded mountains of Ladakh
A beach ;)
Once we reached Saspol, it was time to do a little cleaning (and fixing a flat on my bike). There were a lot of dusty roads that made the bike (specially the chain and gears) very dirty.
We stayed at “Alchi View”, a family run guest house and this is their Kitchen. In winters they use this huge thing to cook their food. Along with cooking food, it helps them keep the cooked food and the room warm.
Going to the 1000 year old Alchi Monastery and temples
Nothing else can get you closer to the Alchi Monastery!
Outside the first temple - look at the stairs to go up! Photography is not allowed inside the temples here.
Inside a small Chorten (small stupa) at Alchi.
A broken construction at Saspol
That is Saspol (shot from Alchi)
Inside a small Monastery at Saspol
Alex, the guest house owner's dog
Starting to Leh. We had to take a day break at Saspol due to a pain in my Knee. One day's break fixed it and we stared going the very next day
The ride here is uphill till we reach the Likir Monastery (which is about 14KMs from Saspol)
Going away from the highway to visit the Likir Monastery
Thats the monastery. The climate looks good now and about half and hour from now we had a slight snow fall!
The dark cloud that brought in a slight snow fall at Likir.
On top of Likir
The sky is clear again. We started back to join the highway to Leh
That is a pretty long flat road!
We tried hard to convince ourselves that the vehicle is actually going uphill, it was pretty clear that it isn't - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_hill
Cannondale and the Cannondal Mandir near the Magnetic Hill
A little around this place (after crossing Patter Sahib Gurudwara) starts a 10+ KM downhill with the completely road visible and gentle curves. We touched a speed of 77.7KMPH on that slope.
Welcome to Leh!
Army settlements on the banks of the Indus river
The Indus river
Another monastery just beside the air force station, Leh
We see a lot of these stones in Leh and here is what they are - shot in front of the Hall of Fame Museum (Leh)
The hall of fame museum houses many exhibits to explain the life of Ladaki people, the wildlife here and ofcourse the life of army personnel here and at Siachen (the battle at Siachen is the longest and the costliest war where each involved country spends about Rs. 3,00,00,000 per day to sustain its soldiers there)
My cyclocomputer showing the max speed of 77.7 KMPH
Leh Market
Motor bike trip to Khardung La. Again the weather was bad and this road was closed two days after we went up
Snaps from Khardung La
The downhill from Khardung La, towards Leh. We gain an elevation of about 1800 to 2000 meters from Leh to Khardungly in about 40KMs
Shanti Stupa at Leh
A temple at Shanti Stupa
The protected monument board at a broken stupa
The broken stupa!
On our way to the Pangong Lake in a shared cab - breakfast break
Climbing up to Chang La, which is another 5000+ meters pass.
Going downhill from Chang La.
A partially frozen lake
Pashmina goats. The wool from these goats is used to make some of the finest shawls found in India
Himalayan Marmots
A wild Yak
First look at the blue Panggong Lake
The blue shades of the lake keep changing with the angle of sun light and with the clouds
Desert like sand at an altitude of 4200+ meters near Panggong Lake
Sculptures on a rock near the Shey Palace
The Shay Palace
Thiksey Monastery
Prayer hall at the Thiksey Monastory - photography is allowed, but not flash in this monastery
Shots from the top of the monastery
Inside the Thiksey monastery
Paintings inside a temple in the Shay Palace
Stupa at the Shay Palace
Sindhu Dharshan festival at Leh. We were here too early and there were not many thing happening. In the foreground is the target at which a few archers are shooting
The archers
A bike can get you anywhere - taking a look at the fish breeding canal
Himalayas from inside the flight
