Day4: Leh Manali

Pang to Sarchu
This ride included two 5000m passes to be crossed... this sounds tough but the passes are close enough and not much altitude is lost in between. After the first pass, Lachulung la( various other names: Lachung La, Lachalang La), I encountered the first major technical problem on the bike. The rear wheel gained a degree of freedom. It started wobbling. I found that it was lose so removed it and checked. All seemed to be good but soon started wobbling again. I tried to see if the frame had deformed( though unlikely), but that wasn't the case. Replaced the axle but that didn't help. It was the wheel that was sliding on the axle and the nut that needed to be tightened was a large one. After this realisation, I didn't have to worry much. If it had one bad, I would have got assistance from some trucks moving south. But now I was stoppin the bikes to have a look at their tool kit. In between the Lachulung la and Naki La (the second high pass of this day's ride: 4922m by myGPS), their is fortunately a suitable place for setting up parachute restaurant and fortunately I found a large team of riders with a support vehicle. Here I would get the tools and when I did, I found that the nut could be comfortably tightened by hand.
Just a small jump across NakiLa were the Gata Loops. The meandering river was again in sight during the descent. After the loops was a long traffic jam. The Whiskey Bridge was undergoing construction ( Bridges here are almost reconstructed every year and this was at the start of the season. 3 bridges named: whiskey, brandy and twing twing).fortunately in between, I could carry my partner and run across. Had I been a little more fast, I would have been the first person in my direction to reach Sarchu but who cares about speed ;)
A flat and broad valley. The greenery felt pleasing and one can understand why Army personnel complain of the beautiful deserts.

 Among the many shots are some of the self taken pics which were at times hard to take but fun. On this ride I missed out on a pic of fighting marmots. Would like to watch them some time.

Frozen fall

from Lachulung La

A peak I wish to climb, seen after Lachulung La

at Naki La

Descent just after Naki La. Gata Loops start some distance later.

Meandering River and a small fragment of Gata Loops

Introducing Green

Night Shot

It was getting dark while I reached and this place was perhaps as cold as Pang (one of the coldest feels). The sky was clear and got some good shots at night.