Life on the other side of Khardung La

2 hours later it will grow dark and I am still an unknown distance away from Khalsar. So far no milestone has given me this information. An upper bound of 50kms should be a safe consideration. A further downhill should give a good speed but the roads do not support it and are way to narrow and curvacious.
This was the situation at North Pullu and despite lights, I did not want a ride in the dark night. I accelerated spontaneously and tried to maintain speed above 30 on those rugged downhill with almost no weight on the saddle. Bike control was an enhanced skill and my bike had achieved a top speed of 75 kmph just a few days back. There was hardly any one coming from the opposite direction as no one attempts to reach Khardung La in the evening and also hardly anyone left in the direction. The road was laid out just for me :)

There was no hesitation to stop and take pics. The terrain was way too interesting. Also the place has varied wildlife due to the altitude variation (A drop of over 2000m) which I was unable to spot on the speedy downhill late evening ride but later observed pretty well on the return way up. There was just one village, Khardung, on the way till Khalsar. 

Characteristic erosion patterns

Meandering River at Khalsar

The Route approx.

A look at the bigger picture after lots of focus on J&K. The map shows only the major locations.

End of a long ride

The velometer reaching 5 digits made it a long ride. The ride is over but there is a lot to be shared. I spent over 6 weeks in J&K and away from internet and telephone at times, which I hardly ever missed. The blog shall remain active in coming future and postings might be a bit regular again.
Entering J&K from Udhampur side, saw me drenching in the rain almost everyday till Zojila. So far there had been some tough rides but Zojila was a different level. It wasn't tiring but the weather made the going difficult. It was a heavy snow fall and I had to stop short of what I had planned; a rare event as of then. The next morning I headed towards Kargil but one slip and there was a scare of any wet road.

 Later on the road till Leh the passes steadily rose ensuring a better acclimatization. On the way I was fortunate to have luxuries of a kerosene heater at times which usually makes one suffocate after a while. Riding becomes difficult after such times.

Srinagar-Leh route has fascinating and varying landscape. One of such extremes is at Lamayuru which is called the moonland. The pictures tell the remaining story (at the end)

Road after Khardung La

In order to get to Nubra and Shyok valleys, there was the first huge obstacle: Khardung la and though there were suggestions to cross it in the first attempt, I took a day off for a rehersal/acclimatization/check ride. There was a headache on the following day as well and Iwas slow enough to take around 3 hours for the last 12 kms of the climb. It usually is a great relief to reach the top after working your heart out. But stories change over 5000m. Descending was time consuming as well. Reason evident from the pic above. The ride till Khalsar showed a terrain which made the experience far more thrilling than that of Lamayuru. (coming up in later posts)

Moonland, Lamayuru