Today was the day for Khardung La (K-top). I had seen pics of it so many times and was kinda desperate to take the picture of my bike at the (arguably) World's highest motorable road. We started around 7:30 am after filling up our tanks and took 2 full tanks of 20 liter each in the utility vehicle. There are no gas stations in the Nubra Valley.
The road to Khardung La was pretty good on the uphill. I saw this board of the famous silk route and got pretty emotional. It goes back so long in history. If you think about it that way, you will get high with the thought. I did.
Khardung La was pretty easy comparatively and I would say not so scenic when you compare it with the other passes. We reached the top around 10:15 am and took some pictures. There wasn't much snow. In addition, I was disappointed looking at the garbage people had disposed unresponsibly. Shame on us. Oh well.
The road on the way down is little rough. They were doing road widening and weren't allowing travelers between 10:30 - 3 pm. We didn't have any such issues. But I got a chance to take this picture. Himank is super-awesome building roads at this altitude. Can't talk enough about them.
We descended in the Nubra Valley and it's so gorgeous. So much openness, clears up your mind. We took off our thermals as the temperatures were so nice. The road is beautiful throughout the valley. We were headed towards Turtuk, which is a good 225 km ride from Leh. It's the last village on the border between India and Pakistan.
You feel it. The military posts, their trucks, photography not permitted boards. You are in army-land. At a narrow road, an army truck stopped and gave me the way. I waved at him as a gesture of thanks and the officer responded with a salute. Wow! What a feeling. Never experienced it before. Every person is an Indian here. You get that feeling. It's so true.
While we approached Turtuk, we crossed the Ladakh Sand Dunes.
Beautiful just before sunset. Passing through the villages, the school kids take our their hand for motorcyclists, so that you can give them a nice tap with your left hand. One guy almost slapped my hand hard! When we approached a narrow bridge, a little girl stopped us and demanded chocolates. Shweta luckily had a few in her pocket and gave them to her. So much fun in these little moments.
We were stopped at a check post. Shweta and I were riding about an hour ahead of the group and the documents needed to clear the post were with the service van. I requested the officer to let us go. They were all watching cricket on Dish TV! He was reluctant to let me go. At that very moment, a presumably senior officer, who was sleeping inside the tent said "Eh, jaane de re unko, kyu pareshaan kar raha hai". I assured the officer that my documents will be produced when my group gets there.
We reached the camp site at Turtuk around 5 ish. What a beautiful place in the Valley. We sipped some hot tea along with some biscuits served in the traditional Kashmiri baskets. Loved the experience. Felt like staying here for another day but the schedule doesn't permit :(
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