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Old 29th March 2020, 00:52   #1
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An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

11 years ago when a couple of friends had ridden to Leh from Bangalore on their Enfields, I decided I should do it too, on my then 2000 Bullet 350. Since then, every year I planned to ride to Leh from Bangalore, it never materialized due to various reasons. College exams, didn't get permission from Prime minister (Dad) and Home minister (Mum), blah. I came very close to finally riding to Leh in 2017 with a friend who did a solo ride from Bangalore on his 30 year old Jawa. But our man decided to tell me literally 2 days before he left. Just didn't have sufficient time to plan and ride.

2019 was the year I decided to do it no matter what. Three of my friends and I decided to ride from Bangalore. We started planning around March 2019. Our plan was to ride from Bangalore to Leh. Leh to Delhi/Chandigarh because we didn't think it was fun to ride Bangalore-Leh-Bangalore. Also because of time constraints etc.

Two of my friends (Naveen and Vaquar) wanted to ride on their Z800s, IronWolf (Pradeep) on his Interceptor and I decided to ride my MV Agusta F3 800. A lot of people thought I'd lost my mind, which was only partly true A lot of people said it was not possible to ride a supersports on such terrain. Again, partly true. But then I thought to myself, in true Jezza style, how hard can it be!

So we planned to ride in the month of July and we managed to plan stay along the route as much as we could.

After hours of deliberation, our final enroute was:

Bangalore-Pandharkawada-Jhansi-Agra-Amritsar-Srinagar-Kargil-Leh-Kargil-Srinagar-Jammu-Chandigarh Ship our bikes from Chandigarh and fly out.


An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190702180750.jpg

We did a photoshoot almost a month prior to the ride. The Z900 is another dear friend Vino the ironman who did a crazy solo ride from Bangalore-Leh-Bangalore just a few weeks before this shoot.

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo201907021811481.jpg

Your truly and my two minutes of fame

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Amazing photos by a dear petrolhead friend Sanket!

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190702181149.jpg

We had a lot of fun shooting for the ride!

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190702181150.jpg

And then some more!

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Shot at Devanahalli, post Bangalore International Airport

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Loved the photos by Sanket!

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L-R Vinoth, Vaquar, yours truly and Naveen (Unfortunately Pradeep had to rush back before we could take a picture so he missed this out)

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190705180036.jpg

I placed the Claw on to my bike and rode it around my office just ensure things were snug and causing no issues. My childhood friend who thought I've lost my marbles to ride this bike that far!

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190705183859.jpg

Found a secure spot for my brand new unused Jerry Can which I sadly forgot at a dhaba somewhere after Delhi.

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo201907051905151.jpg

Carried additives just in case. Came in handy. Considering fuel quality concerns I didn't want to take chances

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Worked pretty well.

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We met at Airport road for breakfast. Met a few friends who tagged along for a bit.

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Pradeep, Vaquar, myself and Naveen post breakfast

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Few of our lovely friends who came to see us off!

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Few of our lovely friends who came to see us off!

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Day1:

The route from Bangalore to Pandharkawada was almost perfect except for few stretches which were below average. We rode mostly non stop, except for fuel and pee breaks. One very quick lunch break at Hyderabad and we were on our way to Pandharkawada. No hiccups, no issues luckily.

We stayed at Foxtail Eco Resort, owned by a hardcore biker who rides a Triumph Tiger. Unfortunately couldn't meet him as he was away. The staff were extremely well behaved and made sure we were comfortable despite reaching late at night. It was pouring cats and dogs by the time we reached. The path leading to the resort was very slushy thanks to the rain and I was literally drifting left and right!

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/12...3!2d19.9166616

Clocked close to 950 Km on day 1.

At Foxtail resort.

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Great hospitality and an amazing property. Would love to go there again! The owner is an avid biker too. But sadly couldn't meet him since he was out of town when we visited.

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_20190707_093110.jpg

Last edited by vishwasvr : 31st March 2020 at 13:33.
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Old 29th March 2020, 02:27   #2
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190707185230.jpg

Naveen and Pradeep having chai and a gala time!

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GMaps came in handy most of the time!

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Except in such places where it nearly got us killed. This was the place where Vaquar and I were literally stuck! Pitch black surroundings with not a soul in sight. We were more worried about getting attacked by some wild animal (if any) more than anything! Each of these paths kept circling back to the same junction. Or were we just hallucinating?

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190708015251.jpg

Used live location on WhatsApp to keep track of each other at all times.

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Pradeep waited for us to reach the new hotel in Jhansi, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited........

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My bike at the end of that dreadful stretch. Never seen it so dirty! Thankfully nothing happened to the bike in the slush!

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-photo20190708023432.jpg

I'm sure Vaquar will agree too!


Day 2:

We had a good night's sleep and we were served decent breakfast and we were on our way to Jhansi.

Pandharkawada to Jhansi was also acceptable on most stretches.

Our first hiccup occurred when we reached Jhansi around 11pm and we were stood up by the owner of the Haveli that we had booked well in advance for some unknown reason. When 2 of my friends (IronWolf and Naveen) reached first (they found out that the road to the accommodation was apparently dug up and weren't able to figure out an alternative path to the accommodation)

To make matters worse, the owner who answered the call said she'll call back but switched off her phone after a while. Leaving us no choice, IronWolf and Naveen found another place not too far from this accommodation.

Our ordeal started when IronWolf sent us the exact location to the new place and Vaquar and myself got lost in the middle of the night! Vaquar and I somehow got into some very narrow village roads thanks to Google baba and spent close to 2 hours trying to get to the new accommodation that we were supposed to go to. Every road (more like the lack of it) seemed to leading to the same spot and they were nowhere to be found. We later realized we had selected "bike route" option. Worst mistake of our lives! Lol! We somehow managed to find the main road and tried looking up alternative routes but with no luck. It was 3 am already and we decided to find another place to stay for the night (or whatever was left of it) since both of us were super exhausted and really frustrated at this point. We managed to find a place 10km and rode all the way and bunked in despite some drama again at the hotel manager.

Anyway, at this point it was close to 4am and we really didn't care anymore about anything and we just wanted to sleep.

Clocked close to 790 Km on day 2.

Link to the hotel we stayed at. Found them online.

https://goo.gl/maps/kf2fX5S2PX171je69

Last edited by vishwasvr : 1st April 2020 at 02:37.
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Old 29th March 2020, 16:39   #3
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2734.jpg

Finally when we managed to reach a decent hotel after the nightmare a few hours before at Jhansi when we got lost, thanks to Google maps!

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Ever seen a supersports this dirty? Well, now you have!

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Vaquar's Z looked sexier with all the muck haha

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So did mine!

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The next morning was little colder thanks to the showers.
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An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2725.jpg  


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Old 29th March 2020, 17:18   #4
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2724.jpg

Once we hit the highway, it was a breeze.


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Agra-Delhi expressway was very good.

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How's that for popping a wheelie!

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Day 3:

The following day was still chilly and rainy for a little bit. We managed to find a decent washing place to wash our bikes and we were on our way to Agra. We were behind schedule and it was close to 13:30 by the time we hit the highway.

Jhansi to Agra was mostly good too. Except a few patches just after Jhansi, where the roads were very bad. Monsoon wreaked havoc wherever it could and this delayed our trip further.

By the time we reached Agra, it was close to 8pm already. I didn't want to sleep late, wake up late, blah again so managed to convince the boys to bunk in at Agra and not Amritsar as planned because that would entail a good 4 hours or so from Agra and we would again reach midnight or past midnight.

Luckily boys agreed and we stayed at a decent place that we found on Oyo.

Since Pradeep and Naveen were a few hours ahead, they wanted to check out the Taj Mahal and a few other places. Vaquar and I were slightly behind so we decided to give the Taj a miss.

Clocked close to 270 Km on day 3.

The stay at Agra was a short one. The next day we headed to Amritsar via Delhi

OYO 1835 Sun Hotel Agra
Plot No. 4/305, Near, Police Chowki Rd, Baluganj, Rakabganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282001
083770 04514
https://maps.google.com/?cid=13898090369977427772

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Old 29th March 2020, 19:24   #5
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-9f4b03a57a434c1897ad1e33dda68877.jpg

Encountered rains enroute a few places up until Agra

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Vaquar and I decided to get our bikes washed. Vaquar also questioning a few of his life choices. Samosa for breakfast? Ummm...ok?

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Vaquar made peace with it and inhaled the samosa!

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Squeaky clean and all set to hit the highway!

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Z all set to hit the highway as well!

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Sorry about the disgusting looking picture! But this was the state of my feet enroute Amritsar. Was pouring cats and dogs and my feet was soaking wet for a good 8 odd hours. This was the result. Had to pull over closer to Amritsar to ease off a bit and then soldiered on to our hotel.



Day 4:

We regrouped at Agra finally. The stay was fairly good. Agra to Amritsar was mostly a breeze. Amazing roads, barely any traffic, excellent weather made it a super riding experience. The Agra-Delhi expressway was also quite fun except for a few stray cows and people happily strutting their stuff with scant regard for cars and bikes zipping across the tarmac.

We stopped a few times for fuel, pee breaks etc and managed to reach Amritsar almost on time.

Clocked close to 690 Km on day 4.

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Old 29th March 2020, 19:37   #6
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An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2793.jpg

The beautiful Golden Temple at Amritsar. The Harmandir Sahib in all its glory.

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Beautifully maintained place.

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Us belting some yum Punjabi fare

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I fell in love with Amritsar.

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An eerie reminder of how humanity sometimes fails us

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Messing around!



Day 5

We spent the next day doing touristy things, Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara had been on my bucket list. So we covered a few places like the Jallianwala Bagh and Attari border (I now hate to call it Wagah border because apparently Wagah is on the Pakistan side and Attari is on the Indian side! A fact not many people know sadly!)

This Attari border show was boring. Sorry, I'm not an over-the-top patriot, but was ridiculous. The whole thing is well orchestrated on both sides and sadly I could see through it. But a lot of people were having a ball singing songs in praise of our country blah. We waited for almost 2-3 hours in the hot sun, sweating like crazy, only to see the BSF making people dance around. The main beating the retreat/closing guard was a one time watch.

We managed to move on and had dinner along the highway and retired to our rooms for the night.

We hired local rickshaws to ferry us around and bumped into a super chatty Sardar who was happy to show us around Attari and give us insights on how life was and is become now in Punjab!

OYO 8673 Hotel Hollywood Heights
Plot No. 9-10 Hotels Lane 2, INA Colony, Amritsar, Punjab 143001
083770 04514
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1tCwgKShCrJ8P2LE8

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Old 29th March 2020, 19:50   #7
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An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2802.jpg

The street food scene in full action.

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Golden temple during the day. Really loved the energy.

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Panoramic pictures don't work with people walking around haha

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Four of us heading to 'Langar'

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Langar

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Very simple fare. Was a quick affair and we were on our way out!

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We got into an auto to head to Attari-Wagah border ceremony.

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Strutting around town!

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Bullet marks at Jallianwala Bagh

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And goofing around!

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At Attari border!

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At Attari border!

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At the entrance of Jammu & Kashmir

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Enroute Jammu

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Enroute Jammu

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The jawan was from KA and was super happy we spoke to him!

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Amazing landscape just as we enter Jammu

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Inside Jawahar Tunnel

Day 6

We managed to start early morning from Amritsar and we headed toward Jammu. Almost no hitches up until we reached just before Ramban where non J&K vehicles were not allowed post 2pm. This was a bit of an unexpected surprise.

We met a few bikers at the border of Punjab and Jammu who told us that we can't go to Srinagar post 2pm. On enquiring with the locals they said that wasn't true so we were confident and rode along.

Pradeep and Naveen reached around 16:30 and called us to let us know that were kind of screwed at this point. Non J&K vehicles were indeed not allowed to pass beyond 2pm.

Vaquar and I reached an hour later and we were exploring options to stay back for the night. I was really disappointed because this would mean we will lose another day. So I rang up a few well heeled friends and pulled strings to get us into Srinagar by hook or crook. A complete shot in the dark and it worked! A dear friend helped us with his "influence" and get us into the Kashmir side of the Jawahar tunnel. We were super excited after this string pulling antic of ours!!!

We entered Kashmir around 9pm and we didn't stop much since were equally apprehensive about the situation.

We were stopped only once by the Army/Military for a "security check'' and after exchanging friendly banter we managed to reach our destination in one piece.

We stayed at a friendly Oyo affiliated place and the owner was very friendly and made us feel at home.

We were served good food and we called it a night.

Clocked close to 450 Km on day 6

https://goo.gl/maps/kCG5mYYzoG2rE9jg7

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Old 29th March 2020, 20:18   #8
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_2863.jpg

Enroute Kargil from Sonamarg.

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Once you enter Kashmir, the atmosphere changes drastically with Army posted everywhere. There is a sense of fear that hangs heavy in the air and you can almost feel it.

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Lot of stretches were pretty empty.

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Watch out for rocks falling out of nowhere.

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Nasty accident.

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Would love to have a home in Sonamarg someday!

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Sonamarg is incredibly serene

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Day 7

We reached Srinagar pretty late and had a quick dinner before calling it a night.

We headed to Kargil the next day via Sonamarg, not many hiccups up until Zoji La.

Zoji La was a bit of a nightmare considering it was a hot afternoon by the time we hit the peak. It wasn't easy riding on such bad roads on a supersports! But I somehow managed to cross Zoji La without major issues. I bottomed out a few times, but that's the worst it got.

Once we reached Drass, it was relatively easy to reach Kargil and we halted for the night.

Clocked close to 200 Km on day 6 but took us nearly 12 hours!

The place where we stayed at Kargil for the night. Food here was really expensive. We decided to eat out.

https://goo.gl/maps/wjECPP6n991eJ4cG9

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Old 29th March 2020, 20:31   #9
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An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-img_4005.jpg

Day 8

We started a little late to Leh from Kargil. The weather was incredibly beautiful on the way to Leh. Sonamarg and a few other smaller towns were really beautiful. This was my second trip to Jammu & Kashmir. The first was a solo trip back in November 2013. But the farthest I had been to was to Srinagar.

We stopped at a few places to chill out and take pictures.

We finally reached Leh around 4pm. We checked into Serchen Villa via Oyo as usual

https://goo.gl/maps/WaE2PnwwFcD9ogTR6

I decided to give myself a break. I retired early that evening and the three lads decided to head out to town to check out Leh in all its beauty and grandeur!

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The landscape is incredibly beautiful.

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Day 9

We spent a day trying to acclimatize ourselves before we took on the mighty Khardung La the next day. We relaxed and strolled around the town centre.

After a hearty meal, we headed back to get ready for the next day's ride.

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Day 10

My friends and I decided to head to Nubra Valley via Khardung La.

So I decided I would only ride to Khardung La and then come back to Leh because I didn't want to risk riding the F3 to Nubra and Pangong as decided, thanks to more non existent roads and water crossings! And boy was I right! More on that later.

We started around 10am from downtown Leh and it started raining cats and dogs just a few minutes into the ride. We had to slow down because visibility was very bad due to heavy rains. I was apprehensive about reaching the summit because of a very bad patch in the last 10km or so to the summit.

I slowly climbed the pass where a number of Bullets and Himalayans were happily chugging along! I had to grin and bear it!

The roads weren't very wide, and the horrible taxi drivers had scant regard for bikers. One guy really ticked me off and tried to push his way through and I'm literally at the edge of the road! I was really shocked at this and I didn't have any option but let him get out of my sight.

After this point, the weather got better and stopped raining. But it was really cold and I had a hard time riding up.

I could feel the oxygen levels plummeting gradually and out of the blue the Google maps lady said, "Your destination is on the right"! I just could not believe my ears! I finally made it in one piece!!!!

We were greeted by scores of bikers strutting around posing for pictures at the famed Khardung La name board!

Once we reached, we spent a good 90 odd minutes taking pictures when we were not supposed to have spent more than 20 due to low oxygen levels!

Pradeep, Vaquar and Naveen headed to Nubra while I turned around to ride back to Leh. The descent was equally tricky, and I managed to reach Leh downtown in one piece. I was grinning ear to ear all the way down. First F3 to reach Khardung La. I was like "Yay"!

I took my time to reach Leh and got to my hotel room around 6pm. I did some local shopping to unwind and I asked my hotel owner to set me up with the bike rental guy. She was kind enough and arranged for a RE Bullet 500 for 3 days. The bike I got was in decent condition, except for usual damages which they noted down. I paid 3000 for 3 days.

An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La-whatsapp-image-20200126-15.34.24.jpeg

Finally atop the mighty Khardung La!

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Day 11

I started relatively early the next day and rode to Khardung La again. This time didn't stop for too long. Clicked a few pictures and I was on the way to Nubra Valley. Stopped for a quick lunch at North Pullu and rode straight to Hunder where my friends had camped. They were doing local sightseeing by the time I reached Hunder.

I wanted to save some for the next trip so I didn't go to Turtuk and other places they went to. I wanted to unwind and relax the whole time.

Hunder was bit of a challenge for me since there was no network whatsoever. I realized I wanted a few luxuries after all! Plus in Hunder apparently you don't get electricity 24*7. They get electricity only between 7pm-11pm. So we made the best of it and called it a night.

The place where we stayed.

https://g.page/himalayanbunker-nubra?share

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The place where we stayed at Hunder

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Day 12

The next day we checked out around 8am and stopped at Diskit Monastery. We clicked pictures and headed to Panggong lake.

This stretch from Hunder to Panggong was absolutely horrible at some places closer to Panggong.

I made the right decision by renting a Bullet and not ride my F3 because there's no way any supersport that could have crossed the few rivulets that we encountered enroute Panggong.

While it was fun trying to wade through the rivulets, it was also becoming fairly hard to maintain balance, considering the fact that I hadn't ridden a Bullet in eons!

Once we reached Panggong, one can see why it is a must see place. But frankly I'm not a fan of Bollywoody locales and I hated the fact that everyone chanting the name of the movie shot here. The place is not very well managed or developed and we found a few shanties across the road from the lake. Paid 2400 bucks for 4 people for a night. Which seemed steep for the facilities but we din't have much of an option.

The lake itself was fabulous. 25% of it in India and 75% in China made it a unique place. But personally, I felt it was overrated because the name of the movie is attached to it more than the geographical wonder!

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Boys had a gala time!

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Last edited by vishwasvr : 1st April 2020 at 03:26.
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Old 30th March 2020, 01:56   #10
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

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I have no idea what I was doing nor do I remember sitting in this position

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Panggong is truly an amazing place. But sadly, all you hear is 3 Idiots ka location hain!

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Panggong lake makes for a beautiful backdrop for movies so no wonder it is fairly sort after.

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Panggong is almost an untouched beauty. But sadly there are neither any decent places to stay nor is it close enough to Leh or Hunder. At least half a day's journey to either places makes it difficult to plan to visit Panggong.

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Surreal locale.

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Day 13

The next day we rode back toward Leh via Chang La and encountered more horrible roads. Chang La was the second highest motorable road and we experienced mild snow fall at the peak. The stretch from Chang La to Leh was equally bad until you get the highway.

We stopped for lunch on the highway and then rode back to Leh where we stayed for the night.

I clocked 500 km on dot in 3 days. The Bullet was a decent machine to travel on, I didn't have any problems thankfully and used up just 5 liters of fuel that I carried with me in a cheap plastic “jerry can”.

Day 14

We took a day off and did touristy things and walked around the town. Shopped a little around town buying small trinkets etc. We enjoyed a very peaceful evening and started packing up with a very heavy heart and called it a night.

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The trip had been nothing but astonishing for us. Brought us closer as friends. As bikers. As brothers. We fell more in love with our bikes than before. We truly were, men & machines.

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Day 15

We settled the bills at Serchen Villa and started to Srinagar fairly early in the morning.

We rode at our own pace and each of us almost a few kilometers ahead/behind each other. I was thoroughly enjoying every bit of the ride. In my head I was thinking, I am officially mad to ride the F3. I dreaded bike breaking down for whatever reason and to my surprise it held up pretty well throughout. Except on Zoji La from Sonamarg.

We rode almost non stop, only stopping for fuel and toilet breaks. Pradeep and Naveen were ahead of me and Vaquar by a good 40-50km through the ride till Sonamarg.

I had decided to transport the bike from Drass to Sonamarg just because I didn’t want to risk the horrible roads on Zoji La again. Once bitten twice shy!

Vaquar and I reached Drass and asked a few locals to transport my bike over Zoji La and we found a nice chap who was willing to do so. We negotiated the price and he agreed to ship the bike for 3000. At this point, Vaquar too decided to ship his bike and he was extremely lucky (more on that later).

We encountered probably the worst weather I’ve ever seen. As soon as we reached the foothills of Zoji, it started raining very heavily. Coupled with the fact that the road (or the lack of it) made it worse. We sat on the bikes to make sure it doesn’t get damaged during transit and boy it was one hell of a CrossFit-HIIT-Zumba-Aerobics-Salsa-Pole Dance and all kinds of workout all rolled into one! I developed extra strong forearms, biceps, shoulders, quads, gluetes, hamstrings etc! I specifically told the driver to drive at 10kmph (exaggerating) else we would be thrown out. So he drove as carefully as he could but even that was way too bumpy. By the time we reached Sonamarg, we were completely knackered and drenched to the bone!

I was freezing my gentleman’s area by the end of it! Ugh never again I promised myself! LOL

We managed to get the bikes off the truck and we discovered Vaquar’s bike had a flat tire! Extremely lucky that he decided to ship the bike, else had he ridden the bike and if this puncture occurred on Zoji then he’d be doomed for. The weather that day, coupled with the drab, hostile environment made it looks like the sets of the movie 300. Darkest skies I have ever seen, even darker, rocky, horrid mountain landscape I have seen. It didn’t look so bad when we came the first time because it didn’t rain, it was just the opposite. Hot afternoon and dusty roads.

Anyway, we managed to reach a small tea shack and the local Kashmiri lads were kind enough to set a small bon fire with discarded carton boxes. I was really touched by their gesture but at the same time felt super guilty about the air pollution. But I had no choice. I was freezing really bad because I was completely drenched.

We weren't in a position to ride to Srinagar to catch up with Pradeep and Naveen so we decided to stay at Sonamarg for the night.

Once we warmed up a little, the local lads helped us find a decent accommodation at a small motel near by. We parked our bikes and freshened up.

Sorry unfortunately the motel is so small that we're unable to find it on Google maps But don't fret! You guys are not missing anything at all!

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Place where we parked our bikes overnight. Didn't realize how beautiful the area was until morning after.

Dinner was simple, Dal roti for me and Biriyani for Vaquar. We called it a night.

Meanwhile, Pradeep and Naveen soldiered on to Srinagar because they had escaped the horrid weather at Zoji La and reached well within time. They found a place at Srinagar and bunked in.

The Kashmiri lads at Sonamarg who went out of their way to help us. Big thanks to these guys.

Day 16

We had a decent night’s sleep. The room wasn’t fancy but we had to make do with what was available. We had a quick breakfast and headed to Srinagar.

It was a beautiful sunny day. Sonamarg has its little charm. Quaint wooden mountain homes, little shops selling knick knacks etc

The ride to Srinagar was more or less peaceful. No drama whatsoever.

We were riding at our own pace until we all reached Jammu the same evening. Jammu was a lot more humid than I expected, maybe also because it was a bit lower in altitude.

We had a quiet dinner and called it a night.

We stayed at Hotel Corporate Villa

http://hotelcorporatevilla.com/

Pradeep and Naveen had reached Chandigarh because the riding gap was beginning to increase by the hour and we decided to regroup at Chandigarh.

Day 17

The next morning, we all headed out to Chandigarh post breakfast. The journey from Jammu to Chandigarh wasn’t anything exciting. Encountered some bad traffic just at the border of Chandigarh. We reached Chandigarh around 4pm, after a fairly warm ride.

https://goo.gl/maps/jL8CkRdNzQAC62vm8

We didn’t have a great experience with the hotel. We had booked a particular room at a particular pricing via Oyo. But when we checked in, they refused to let us use that room and insisted that we upgrade to a more expensive room. They initially claimed the rooms were all sold out when the truth was that the four of us and a few other chaps were the only guests at that time! We got it sorted out thanks to Oyo. We rested up and went into town for a little bit and called it a night.

Day 18

We spent the day relaxing and did touristy things in and around Chandigarh. Man this place was really well planned back in the day! Designed by a French architect, retains its lovely charm. Boy oh boy, money speaks and how! Fancy cars, fancier number plates! People were fairly sweet and welcoming. Our taxi driver for the night gave us an insight into how things were back in the day! Sweet gentleman!

We had a good time, and decided we have to pack our bikes and bags and have them shipped to Bangalore via “Agarwal packers and movers”

This was one hell of a funny story.

So we were scouting for movers in Chandigarh and we found VRL. They quoted 11k per bike with insurance and a cage. We thought it was reasonable and decided to go for it. But in the last moment they said it would cost 14k per bike because our bikes were more than 500cc! This really annoyed us because they did take a look at the bikes and we were waiting for almost an hour in the sweltering heat. Zero customer centric attitude.

We decided to check others and walked out. I was searching on Google for packers and movers and I saw “Agarwal packers and movers”. Knowing the ‘’original’’ Agarwal, I thought it was the same and rang up the number mentioned. The gent sent me the location and we headed to the new place. The location was in a really narrow lane and we were a bit apprehensive about the chap. Virtually no space for even a car to come in, forget a truck! When we spoke to the chap he said they transfer the goods onto a smaller auto and then goes to the yard where they ship it out in trucks. Seemed legit.

We spoke to him and he seemed like a decent chap and frankly we were running out of patience. He quoted 8k per bike with insurance but no cage.

I had a hunch that this wasn’t the “original” Agarwal packers and movers! And voila! A little digging and I realized he wasn’t the original APM! I found the ‘’original’’ APM which claimed that a bunch of “fake” companies with the same name were misusing and stuff! This guy was so small, that his name didn’t figure in the fake list! LOL!!

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Frankly, it didn’t bother us too much later because we thought hey if you can ship our goods safely, then it really doesn’t matter who is the original one and who isn’t, right!?

I geo-tagged the location and took clandestine pictures and videos (you know, just is case some monkey business goes down)!

The four of us discussed and he seemed like a decent chap, so we decided to go ahead and left our bikes and he started with the packing which was essentially just cardboard material with bubble wrap etc.

We crossed our fingers and left.

Last edited by vishwasvr : 1st April 2020 at 03:50.
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Old 30th March 2020, 23:09   #11
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

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Doggo got swag!

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The contact information of the "Agarwal packers"

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My bike all wrapped up. Was honestly not sure we were doing the right thing but we took a shot in the dark!

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This is the entrance to his office. No judgements but we're one really smart set of people! LOL

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The gent in red shirt was the chap we interacted with. Seemed like a decent chap.

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The way our bikes were packed wasn't exactly awe inspiring to say the least! But he kept assuring that it will be delivered safely and boy did he keep his word!

Day 19

We packed up, had a hearty breakfast and headed to the airport. Our sojourn had come to a fun end!

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Yours truly touchdown at Namma Bengaluru with a hunch after a good 5000 Km riding the F3 !

I'd like to finally thank Pradeep, Vaquar and Naveen for being such kickass ride buddies! Travel makes you a better person. So does riding a motorbike.

Looking back at the photos, I've decided to ride again this year hopefully. Provided Covid-19 decides to exit the planet asap.

As you can imagine, had it not been for this 21 day lockdown, god alone knows when I would have put up this write up. The same goes for my trips to Germany from 2011 to 13, 2019 US vacation, 2017 solo ride on my then Z800 from Bangalore to Nagaland for the Hornbill festival etc. All of the write ups have been gathering digital dust on my laptop. Hope to upload them soon!

About a week or so later, we got our bikes. Two bikes were delivered by BlueDart and two bikes were delivered by SafeExpress! So our man had a real clever idea, just have a small office, use a popular name, outsource the job to someone else! Brilliant I say! Anyway, thankfully all four bikes came in 1 piece, each! No major dings, scratches, etc. Just a minor crack in the fibre number plate which was not a big deal at all!

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First 2 bikes came in Safe Express. The other 2 came in Blue Dart, but I was not at my office when the bikes were delivered.

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Heart stopping moments.

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Heart stopping moments.

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Getting the bikes out.

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Bikes arrived in a truck.

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Broken number plate only casualty.

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Broken number plate only casualty.

Was fairly happy with the service. Not sure if I'd do this ever again but yeah!

Last edited by vishwasvr : 31st March 2020 at 13:28.
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Old 1st April 2020, 08:03   #12
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle Section. Thanks for sharing!

Shortly going to our homepage. Keeping this thread here instead of the travelogue section so that motorcycle fans don't miss it.
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Old 1st April 2020, 09:16   #13
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

Simply amazing! Thanks for making me and I'm sure a few others, especially on our forum, eat humble pie. There are a bunch of us who think MVs only make great show pieces and there is no fun in touring on a supersport. Also you all look like a bunch of fit guys and that makes a world of a difference, greater than the choice of bike in fact.
Oh lovely pictures btw.
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Old 1st April 2020, 09:53   #14
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

Epic adventure Vishwas!

Nice to see the beautiful MV Agusta F3 being challenged to its limits in such terrains! Totally out of its elements!

Interesting rear tyre - Is that a Pirelli MT60?
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Old 1st April 2020, 10:08   #15
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re: An Italian Stallion conquers the mighty Khardung La

1. Wow! Seldom do I hear tales of those who successfully conquer such dodgy terrain on a supersport.

2. I envy your friends circle, mine would die of shock the moment I mention riding to the North or North East.

3. Hope to read more of your adventures!

Cheers,
A.P.
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