[laluks]

Day 10
21st August 2011
Jispa - Leh

We reached Baralacha La by 08:00AM


Altitude of Baralacha La


Some pictures of Baralacha La










NJ at Baralacha La


Team getting ready to roll


We moved on



continued...

[laluks]

Day 10
21st August 2011
Jispa - Leh

The climb down from Baralacha La




Some tea shops




Horses!


The roads ahead towards Killing Sarai




Some pictures near Killing Sarai






continued...

[laluks]

Day 10
21st August 2011
Jispa - Leh

Started getting to see some witty boards


I think this is the case in the plains too


Colourful mountains everywhere






Shiv Mandir


HVK Scorpio looking on the colourful mountains


Discovery Bolero


Sarchu is another 7Kms


continued...

[laluks]

Day 10
21st August 2011
Jispa - Leh

Tents at Sarchu


Beautiful views till Sarchu


















We reached Sarchu by 09:30AM


Altitude of Sarchu


Leh is still 252 Kms away


continued...

[laluks]

Day 10
21st August 2011
Jispa - Leh

We stopped at Sarchu for a quick tea break.

Some more tents




We were ready to roll by 09:45AM


Police Check post at the Border of HP and JK


Some distances ahead




We are in JK


Another 250 Kilometers to Leh.

continued...

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by JeepCaptain

Thanks Motomaverick, You are added to the 2012 list.If you are in FB you can add me and will keep you posted about next years Himalayan Adventure.
You can search FB by my tbhp handle.
Cheers

JeepCaptain, I too would like to join 2012 expedition , provided there is a place available. Also, is it necessary to be on FB to be able to participate in the discussions? I am a bit averse to the social networking sites in general.

Would the 2012 team be going to Ladakh only or to some other place?

[JeepCaptain]

Wonderful pics Lalu. Every pic of you makes me regret of my decision to go back to cochin and miss this sector of Expedition!

But that also give me another reason to go back next year !

I will wait for you to finish posting pics until Leh and then I will start posting pics from my Camera taken by NJ & JP.
Cheers
JC

[laluks]

Originally Posted by JeepCaptain

I will wait for you to finish posting pics until Leh and then I will start posting pics from my Camera taken by NJ & JP.
Cheers
JC

Jeep Captain please go ahead, I might need some more time to post

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

NH22 used to be a narrow road, but now widening is almost complete in most places, and it is a wide 2-laned road with lots of broad road shoulders. Road conditions are also fantastic in comparison with what they used to be earlier. Places like Malling Nullah which were horror stories are almost "tamed". Small roads like the Karchcham-Sangla-Chitkul road are in great shape with tar roads throughout.

The road to Ladakh is in the best form I have ever seen. Hardly the "adventurous" road of yore, it is well tarred for long distances and in many sectors and the zing has gone out of it!! Driving to Ladakh is now possible for any car without any tension whatsoever - if any one tells you that it is the privilege of only 4WD SUVs, he must be either pulling your leg or unaware of current driving conditions. Having said that, there are a few bad sections undoubtedly - like Rohtang Pass, More Plains, etc, not counting the Lahaul Valley between KUnzum la & Gramphoo.

With initiatives like the Rohtang Pass Tunnel, I guess one can rate the efforts to improve roads in HP as among the best in India.

I have never been to Ladakh, but think that the place remained beautiful because of difficulty in travel in that part. But with newer roads, it too would get commercialized with more and more people travelling there making it a crowded place like other tourist places in India. And slowly the plastic waste, garbage would accumulate in that part too.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by shipnil

I have never been to Ladakh, but think that the place remained beautiful because of difficulty in travel in that part. But with newer roads, it too would get commercialized with more and more people travelling there making it a crowded place like other tourist places in India. And slowly the plastic waste, garbage would accumulate in that part too.

Till 2 years ago, only foreigners and some motoring enthusiasts used to visit Ladakh. But one single movie has changed everything and going to Ladakh is now one more tour for every tour operator. Hotel rates have zoomed up, the place is getting filled up with makemytrippers and cleartrippers, with prime attractions being the "school" where the movie was shot, the "bridge" where the movie was shot and the "lake" where the movie was shot. Luckily, most parts of Ladakh have not yet been invaded by these new discoverers, so some of us still experience the old Ladakh.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Till 2 years ago, only foreigners and some motoring enthusiasts used to visit Ladakh. But one single movie has changed everything and going to Ladakh is now one more tour for every tour operator. Hotel rates have zoomed up, the place is getting filled up with makemytrippers and cleartrippers, with prime attractions being the "school" where the movie was shot, the "bridge" where the movie was shot and the "lake" where the movie was shot. Luckily, most parts of Ladakh have not yet been invaded by these new discoverers, so some of us still experience the old Ladakh.

Amen to that. Thankfully, there exist lakes and tracks, of which many people do not even know. And the best part is they are equally, if not more, beautiful as the touristy ladakh.

[codelust]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Amen to that. Thankfully, there exist lakes and tracks, of which many people do not even know. And the best part is they are equally, if not more, beautiful as the touristy ladakh.

Used to worry about this a lot, but not much these days. I am looking forward to the day when we can do Manali-Leh non-stop on good roads so that we can spend a better part of the time exploring the far away circuits. The road really loses its charm (mostly the adventure part of it) after doing it a couple of times.

Even in Himachal the scenario is pretty similar. Most of the tourists don't venture beyond a ~10 KM range from the major centers (Shimla, Manali etc). Beyond that boundary there are plenty of lovely nice little nooks and crannies with nice bargains to be had.

I am more concerned by how people make absolute junk yards of these places once big time tourism descends on them. Most of us do our bit by carrying our litter with us, but it is simply not enough anymore. It is such a shame.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by codelust

Most of us do our bit by carrying our litter with us, but it is simply not enough anymore. It is such a shame.

Our Litter Policy

What is my no-litter policy on long drives?

- I do not buy packaged water, so no plastic litter

- I have plastic bags in my car which are garbage bags, all rubbish goes in, NOT out of the window

- The only garbage that is tossed out of the window are apple peels and any fruit waste which is organic anyway

- The garbage bags are emptied at petrol pumps which normally have garbage bins. Or it simply waits till I see one. Maybe in the hotel room.

- I do not throw out toll tickets, that is also kept inside (since I need them for my log books, they are not disposed of anyway)

- I refrain from using plastic as much as possible. The water bottles that I use are my own and are not thrown away, they are refilled.

During this Ladakh trip, BolBolero added one more:

- For those who smoke, please do not throw out cigarette butts from the car or stomp it out on the ground. A butt takes about 25 years to disintegrate. Carry a small container to keep all the butts, which can then be emptied in the garbage bins at petrol pump. The other alternative is to keep them in the car ashtrays.

[Sutripta]

^^^
Question is, where do the roadside petrol pumps dispose off their garbage?

Regards
Sutripta

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
Question is, where do the roadside petrol pumps dispose off their garbage?

Regards
Sutripta

We cannot reform the whole world.
We cannot carry our garbage in our car all the while.
All we can do is to reduce the garbage that we generate and dispose it off responsibly.