After Sarchu, all the way to More plains comes a very unassuming, or rather plain section of the route. I call it the Srinagar Leh section of the Manali Leh highway.
Potholed road which is rather boring and bone jarring. Similar landscapes devoid of anything interesting except for a couple of Arches photographed to death, and some bridges with names which get old after a while.
Like someone tried to be clever, but then the joke got old. However, the passes are nice, rising above the narrow valley, with flags fluttering:
Arch:
We made few stops, heading all the way to a place called Pang. If Sarchu is Hauz Khas, Pang would be Ber Serai. Its dusty, crowded and lacks the feel. But its a good lunch stop for those who start early from Keylong.
Moreover it lacks a fancy name, or Salutation, unlike Sir Bhum Chun.
However what comes after Pang is really nice. The More Plains. Once upon a time the road here was a series of dirt tracks, but now arrow straight tarmac runs through. To get really nice pictures, you have to get on a Dirt track:
The views are truly stunning:
It is here when you can transcend, find the limits of your soul, or go on a Journey of discovery. Some discover god, some find themselves, some find the meaning of life. As for us, I found that there was something wrong with the brakes of our white elephant:
On the fast black tarmac, the photo stops made me realize, that the pedal is not behaving as it should. I feel, discovering such things can a have more profound effect on your mood than discovering the limits of your soul.
But for the next few hours, there is absolutely nothing. So you take a picture an move on:
Next comes Tanglang La, a very nigh pass, and as we zoom downhill, the white elephant loses its brakes.
If you have never pulled the handbrake at high speed, that seems like a good idea. However I have done so. So I do not. Instead I just kick down to second gear, and the brakes come back.
The brake tank has a vacuum leak.
Gata loop shortcuts? Flying rock at Rohtang? Pang?
It could be anything. Getting under the vehicle with a flashlight reveals a mangled brake vacuum tank with a tiny puncture. Some extremely brilliant engineer decided that its an excellent idea to put such a critical component at one of the lowest points of the vehicle, making it more like "when" it will get damaged instead of "if".
However she has taken worse, so at 2500+ RPM, more pressure is being built than its being lost. Driving mostly in 2nd and third, we hit Leh close to 9 pm, and she happily turns on the service light complaining about vacuum leak. Talk about delayed reaction.
Next day is permit time and also fixing the vacuum tank time. It takes us about a couple of hours at the Tata workshop in total to get it removed, welded and fitted. Fifty rupees well spent. Its also a good time to get another check up done. Where we are going, there is no civilization.
I did takes a few pics in Leh, but you have seen enough, so don't bother about them.
We will talk about the next day. When we go to Zanskar.