Karnataka to K-TOP
Origin
Destination - Ladakh
Dates - 6th June 2008 to 21st June 2008 (16 days – Bangalore to Bangalore, 14 days - riding)
Itinerary
|
Route |
Date |
Comments |
|
|
6th June |
Start from home |
|
|
6th June |
Stop 1 |
|
|
7th June |
Stop 2 |
|
Kud – Patnitop - Jawahar Tunnel - |
8th June |
Stop 3 |
|
|
9th June |
Stop 4 |
|
Kargil - Fotu La – Lamayuru - Leh |
10th June |
Stop 5 |
|
Leh – Thiksey – Shey - Leh |
11th June |
Stop 6 |
|
Leh |
12th June |
Stop 7 |
|
Leh -South Pullu - North Pullu – Khardung La - |
13th June |
Stop 8 |
|
Hunder – Diskit - Nubra Valley - Khardun La - North Pullu - South Pullu – Leh |
14th June |
Stop 9 |
|
Leh – Karu – Upshi – Rumtse -Tanglang La -Tsokar lake - More Plains – Pang |
15th June |
Stop 10 |
|
Pang - Kanglajal nala - Lachung La - Naki La - Gata loops - Sarchu – Bharatpur - Baralacha La - Mehendinagar – Patsio |
16th June |
Stop 11 |
|
Patsio - Darcha – Jispa – Keylong – Tandi – Sissu – Gramphoo – Rohtang La – Marhi - Manali |
17th June |
Stop 12 |
|
Manali |
18th June |
Stop 13 |
|
Manali – Kullu – Mandi – |
19th June |
Stop 14 |
|
Sonipat – |
20th June |
Stop 15 |
|
|
21st June |
Back home |
Participants
|
Name |
Bike |
|
Rahul Chauhan aka Mat |
RE Thunderbird |
|
Jaskanwar Singh aka JK |
RE Thunderbird |
|
Nishant Jha aka Che |
RE Electra |
|
Sandeep Singh Chaddha aka Chaddhaji |
RE Standard 350 |
|
Dinesh Singh aka Deenu Kaka |
Pillion with Chaddhaji |
|
Sunder Sankararaman |
RE Thunderbird |
|
Deepak Khemani |
Pillion with Sunder |
|
Amit Pandit aka Pandit |
RE Machismo 500 |
How it all began!!!
I then joined the local (
Finally on Apr 16th, I got the 1st E-mail about the trip To Ladakh. (Thanks to my having joined the RTMC group!!!!). I have always been enthusiastic about traveling. (Not boring bus/ train tours, but trips where I needed to drive/ ride to reach the destination. Well the e-mail did come and I read it and wished I could go too. I sighed and just went to bed.
Next day, I could not think about anything other than riding to Ladakh. In the end I gave it some serious thought and wondered how everyone else who did this ride, actually went about doing it. They too must be working and surely they must be making limited money too. DUH! One thing was for sure. They would also have invested a lot of time and money to achieve this feat. If they could do it, why couldn't I? This was the sort of thought that went through my head all day on the 17th of April.
Most of my friends just laughed it off. Some said that for the same money, I could go to
Preparations underway
Next came the huge task of having to ask my manager for a 2 week leave. My leading a team meant a lot to the organization (especially when I was away for extended periods;-) But then Martin Luther King Jr.’s words flashed in my mind "I have a dream....." I decided that I am going make this dream a reality. So on May 7th, I dropped a note to my onsite manager requesting for a 2 week leave. I was dead sure that he would downright reject my application. But he said that he would get to be with a reply by Friday, the 9th of May.
9th May came and I got no response. BUMMER. As the saying goes, "No news is good news". So I thought that it was a NO. By then the guys sent me the application to register for the Ladakh Ride and then a reminder note too. Since my conscience would not leave me alone, I ended up asking my manager again on the 13th May about the status of my leave application. I got a response from my manager on the 14th May approving my vacation. (YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE. Ye hui na baat).
Once I got the permission of my manager, I started getting the bike ready for the trip. One weekend it was the Gearbox work. Next weekend it was the chain sprocket. This week, it will be the brakes and fluids/ cables replacement. Then the "Birdie" will be all set to go. Of course, I still need to buy spares
One day after a long time, I met my friend Deepak. He is as much as an "escapist" as I am, if not more. Just one mention of this trip was enough to convince him to accompany me on this trip.
Sometime in the beginning of May, one of my friends borrowed my Digital SLR as he was going out with his team. When he tried to download the photos from the card, it seems like he jammed the card back in the wrong way and after that the camera would just not work. It just kept giving a card read error. BUMMER. So I started calling up and visiting all the Canon stores to try and figure out how I could get it fixed for cheap and in record time ;-). Then I found out that
The daunting task was convincing my parents that this was a safe trip and I absolutely have to go. As expected it would be tough but was not too bad as I knew that everyone at home (Grandparents included ;-) had just seen the movie "The Bucket list". (It is about 2 terminally ill guys Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson who know that they are not going to be alive for long and come up a list of things they want to do before they "Kick the bucket" (Hence the name). That played a lot to my advantage, I must say ;-)
Since I was running out of time, I registered and paid up for the tour on May 18th to sort of make a reservation and not be left behind ;-). On 22nd May, I sent all the relevant docs or so I thought. Being the absent minded professor that I am, I had forgotten to send photos and Deepak's application form. I sent it out on 24th hoping that it would not cause any problems.
With all the research that I had done, I came up with a list of the things I would need to take and also the things I should not take. A really HUGE list indeed!!! Then came the big question of how do I take all this stuff???
I knew that the trip starts off from Chandigarh, which is nowhere close by. How do I get there? How do I get the "Birdie" there? It was Logistics time!!!
I inquired at the local railway station and the rates they quoted (Rs. 19/ kg) was just outrageously expensive. Again RTMC came to my rescue, that too on both counts. I posted a question in the mailing group and got a response directing me to get some saddle bags to carry the stuff (from Cramster in RT Nagar) and also a much cheaper option to get my "Birdie" to Delhi. (1/2 the price that the Railway guys quoted). Greenway Express which is a freight service that RTMC has a deal with and frequently uses.
Going back to the list I had made, I needed to get started. Knowing that getting stuff my size is scarce and that time was running out, I still kept postponing it till it was too late and I had just one week left. Well a consolation was that I placed the order for my medical kit on 26th May. So that just left me with clothes and also spares.
On the 27th, I got the news that Camera was fixed and will be shipped today. WHEW.
Deepak, the lazy bum friend of mine has been avoiding me for a while now, God alone knows why. (Just kidding). It was his responsibility to take care of logistics of us getting to Delhi on time and also getting back to Bangalore. It is already the 27th. Let alone shopping, he did not even know what to take and what not to. I need to catch him and set him straight.
Finally on 29th, I got fed up and went to get myself a pair of gloves and a raincoat. These were things I was sure that I would have difficulty finding. I thought of trying my luck at the local shop at 4th block Jayanagar. And guess what? I found my size. How lucky can a guy get???
Next good news on the 29th was that Deepak had booked the ticket for the onward journey or rather his cousin had. What ever, our tickets were done. A major expense L
Anyway last update for the 29th was that I dropped the bike off for its final service and cable changes and oil changes, one day in advance. I also gave my mechanic Lokesh, a list of the spares to be bought. Another major expense L
I called Deepak on 31st night and put the facts on the table. "Boss we just have one week left before we start. I at least am dreaming up things and planning and also shopping, but you are as irresponsible as I thought you are and are not even dreaming of things ;-). Kal subah, if you are not there at my house at 9AM, you can do your own shopping as I am going to leave you and go." Seems like my threat finally paid off. I get a call at 6AM asking me as to when we intend to leave ;-) And he was at my doorstep at around 10AM too (very very punctual by his standards).
We first went and bought him some gloves, thermals and socks for him and me. Then we went and got me a jacket. All this was done in 4th block Jayanagar itself, where I had done my shopping the previous day. Then we went to Commercial Street to see if we could find him a good raincoat. He ended up buying a Leather jacket from a Kashmiri Emporium run by a dear old man who gave us many a piece of advice about traveling to those heights, things to do and things not to do.
Our last stop for the day was the Cramster shop in Hebbal to buy the saddlebags. The Cramster guy has loads of great stuff. The sad part is that he also knows that he is the ONLY guy in town that has them. So he has the liberty to price them as he likes. Another major expense J
I loved the magnetic fuel tank bag and almost bought it but for once my brain functioned and over-rode my heart ;-) Major expense saved J
I picked up the serviced bike on Sunday, the 1st of June. Just 4 more days to go. Yipeeeeeeeeee.
The bike was supposed to be sent on the 3rd so that it reached on the 5th, one day before I reached. On Monday, before going to work, I remembered and went and picked up the packing material for the bike from the Royal Enfield Showroom in Jayanagar.
As far as I remembered, I was supposed to go and drop the bike off by around 4PM on the next day. So before I left for office the next day, I called Abrar Bhai from Greenway Express shipping to let him know that I would be coming that afternoon and to my shock, he said that "Sirrrrr, wo train aaj to 1.30 ko nikalta hai.". I was like “Doesn’t the same train leave at the same time on all days?" He said NO and that I would to drop the bike off before 12.30PM instead of 4PM. The time was 11.50AM and this time I thought that I was royally SCREWED. Then I thought, "What the heck? I am so close to making my trip and I cannot let such a small thing screw it all up for me." So I took all the "packing material" and took off.
I needed to reach the Yeshwantpur railway station and all I knew was the general direction of where it was. I was low on fuel too. So I started tearing up the Bangalore roads like there was no tomorrow and heading towards Yeshwantpur. Took a small break to fuel up and at that point called my friend Rajeev and asked for directions. I reached just in time. They stop taking packages 30 mins before the train leaves, but I persuaded him to take mine as a last min case. I helped load the bike on to the train and left Yeshwantpur station a very happy man indeed.
2 days before D-Day.
In the meantime Deepak informed me that helmets are not allowed inside the cabin of the aircraft. We were really lucky that we had only 3 pieces of baggage - the saddle bag, Deepak's bag and my backpack. We would just put the helmets in to another bag and check it in.
We still had minor shopping to do. No packing had been done yet. I knew what bag I was going to take - saddle bags ;-) but Deepak did not. I had one in mind, but Mr. Deepak Vetoes saying that my bag looks flimsy and he has a much stronger bag. I must say that I did suspect an ulterior motive of him getting a bigger bag, but he did not. It seems that he was much more worried about my bike being able to take us both all the way to Ladakh than I was. After all he knew that since he couldn't ride a bullet, he would be the one who would have to lug all the luggage and walk, if my bike did not make it. Since it was his luggage that was going to be in that bag, I left the choice of bag to him.
Just before D-Day 5th June 2008
Well as luck would have it, just a few days (12 to be exact) before the day we were supposed to leave for Delhi, the Bangalore airport got shifted from HAL to Hebbal that is some 47km away from where I stay. BUMMER!!! Logistics again!
