5000kms and 12 Passes, a 20 day wild wild ride to the roof of the world!

[tsk1979]

Continuing from where I left last time... I was talking about the awesome views.
There is a big problem with Manali Leh highway. If you go there, and click a million pics, and if I go there and click a million pics, all will look different. Seriously!






We continued on our journey, clicking lots of thing, however if we started to click everything, the journey will never end. We will spend the entire 3 weeks on this highway itself






And then as we approached Sarchu, the bad roads came back, Dirt tracks are okay, but its the potholed roads which take a toll on the back

However how bad the road does not matter, the scenery was as awe inspiring as before, infact getting better

The white elephant

As we approached Sarchu, the famous rock formations got more abundant, and with intermittant sunlight and clouds we expected some great light

Finally Sarchu came, with its tents

The uber expensive tents

A different view


Inspite of mixed roads, we were making good time till now, and my back was somewhat holding up. Pang was still far away, and there were the Gata Loops and the two passes to conquer.
With a prayer it was time to move forward. The time was not even 10:30 and the morning was young.
Some more rock formations with shadows of clouds



CONT....

[amitoj]

Those are some of the most breathtaking pictures i have ever seen! Amazing stuff, Tanveer.

[greenh0rn]

^+1. Tanveer, which camera do you use?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Those are some of the most breathtaking pictures i have ever seen! Amazing stuff, Tanveer.

Originally Posted by greenh0rn

^+1. Tanveer, which camera do you use?

Thanks for your comments, I use a Canon 350D with 18-55 kit lens.
On this trip I also got to use the 75-300 Telephoto lens for the wild asses

[greenh0rn]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

On this trip I also got to use the 75-300 Telephoto lens for the wild asses

Nice nice, waiting to see some of your 300mm pics! Have to repeat this, the pics are simply stunning!

[tsk1979]

The scenery sure was nice, but my back was feeling the brunt.
Tried reclining the shotgun seat and putting cushion etc., but not much help.
Pang was still hours away.
So nothing else to do but move on and on and click

The scenery

The roads worsened even further with tell tale signs of landslides abound

More scenery from around the area


And then, we came to our first road block of the day


The reason was a landslide, and a bulldozer was busy clearing the road. The jam took only minutes to clear, thanks to hardly any traffic.
One thing I notices during the entire journey. We did not see a single car. Only MUVs mostly Qualis sumo, Xylo, and a solitary private Delhi innova, with whom we will indulge in friendly race between shortcut and speed on the loops!

For now it was time to move on and up towards Nakeela

Thankfully near the Famous Gata Loops the road became excellent, almost unbelievable excellent


Couple of more tarmac pics. This is a rare sight in those parts!

Getting low


And with the Gata loops came the shortcuts.
The lure of the shortcuts is a dangerous thing, and the temptation is so strong that even smooth black tarmac cannot lure you away.

So up we went on the first shortcut we saw, It seemed easy, though steep.
However at that time did not know that it would almost end in disaster...
CONT!

[tsk1979]

Below is a GPS log of Gata loops. The thick line are the loops which have been very accurately mapped in openstreetmap, and the thin red line is yours truly. the track goes from left to right



After taking the first minor shortcut, the target was the next major shortcut.
The second one.
If you see we climb up, go wrong way and then go back

Now the story.
I took the elephant up the shortcut, in 2nd low. rpm at 2500 and we were climbing up nicely, and then things started to get tough. From gravel it turned into sand, and I had to shift midway to 1st low.
With the engine howling, rpm at a sweet 25-2800, we gently trudged up and near the top a sight greeted us which made my knuckes go white, and palms sweaty. The road had been recently relayed, and the road surface was a good 3-4 inches higher than the shortcut. Not an issue really, but near the side of the road, the sand had piled up.
And near the end it was much much steeper. Kind of like OTR obstacles.
If we lose momemtum here, offroad tires or not, wheels will spin

So with a prayer it was time to continue on, and then there is a shrill blast of a loud horn. We are near the top, at the place where I need momentum, and an army 4x4 stallion is hurtling down.
So what to do?
Stop, on the sandy incline, few feet short of the road.

The truck passes by, and its time to see what happens.

Transmission locked in 1st gear 4L, I gently nurse her forward, and the wheels start spinning, but we are moving, then suddenly something slips somewhere, and the car starts sliding sideways.
This is panic time, any more and we will go cartwheeling sideways!
Time to stop, gently reverse, reaim and try again. This time I use what Samurai called the Gypsy technique. All revs gung ho.
And we are on the road, albeit facing the wrong way.
so time to go and reverse at a suitable spot.

But as you can make out from my track, we did not miss the other shortcuts, and the next one saw us bypassing quite a few of the loops!
View from the top

The Final loop

Can you spot the white elephant!

See those loops

Next up it was time to head to Nakeela.



As you can make out, after the loops the road all but vanished.
Nakeela, our 3rd pass of the journey was coming up.

CONT....

[lordofgondor]

Amazing pics & great narration man. I am so reliving my journey again.

I see you've left us at a cliffhanger!

[tsk1979]

It was around noon that we hit Nakeela

Pang was around 2 hours away, but before that we had the short drive to the 4th pass of the journey, lachungla.
The road

The distance was short no doubt, and there were ways of making it shorter. The short cut
Here is a gps log of the same short cut

On the shortcut. Towards extreme right you will see vehicles on main track

The short cut

The ride

Pics of the scenery

More

At the top of the shortcut, Lachungla is coming!

Finally around 12:45 we were at Lachungla

The road worsened, and there were river crossings also, but all dried up. Drought had taken its toll here

The scenery

Now if this is a road...


My back was now at its worst
The topography changed slightly, signalling pang was near

The views were good, but I was not really enjoying all this much

Intermittently there was tar, but potholed tar which is worse than the dirt tracks

Many times tar gave way to bumpy gravel

The rocks were coming near.. where was Pang?

Any time now eh? It was 1:30, and there were still 30 agonizing minutes to go

Couple of pics of an arch



A makeshift bridge

More rock formations


Finally around 2, we were at Pang. My back was splitting now, and I just crashed at a dhaba. Got mornings Aloo Paranthas heated, and also got hot water filled.
There was another problem.
The leaking jerry cans fumes were making the inside of the car unbearable, and coupled with the dust it was very nauseating.
So time to put those 33 liters in the tank.

I was not in a position to lift even 3 liters let alone 33,
So here my wife had to do the lifting.
We took out the empty can, put funnel over it and put it on the ground. My wife tilted the heavy can, and in three installments put 10 liters of fuel in the tank each time.
So with the cans empty, we were set to go. No fumy troubles now, just the dust which was being fed to us in generous doses even on recirculation mode.

I made my position on the shotgun seat, next would be the legendary morey plains where hopefully there will be some respite from the bad road.
Pain spray and hot water bottle was a great relief and off we set towards the plains, hoping against hope for a 120kmph flat top sambhar lake equivalent....
CONT

[amitoj]

I am just glued to the photos here.

Tanveer, have you used a filter also when taking these photos?

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The uber expensive tents

Is that Rashpian campng site? How expensive are those tents now?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by amitoj

I am just glued to the photos here.

Tanveer, have you used a filter also when taking these photos?

I use a Hoya CPL for daytime shots

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Is that Rashpian campng site? How expensive are those tents now?

Dunno, there were lots of camping sights.
Rates are variable.
If you reach at noon on a nice clear day you will get a nice swiss tent for as low as 1000rs, however if you reach in the evening with nowhere else to go rates can climb upto 2500rs

[Rudra Sen]

Make hay while the sun shines. If they're booked well in advance then one gets an even better deal. Rashpian guys were telling me that they pay a huge sum every year to block their camp site.

[adc]

Fantastic pics Tsk, all these Ladakh travelogues out here this time is making me cope better with my inability to go this year.

Particularly interesting will be track pics at Sach Pass and Marsimek La, sure you have tried the latter?

[tsk1979]

Yup we tried the latter, but no Sach Pass as we did not do Chamba Circuit