24 hours in a paradise called Ladakh

Ladakh, Kashmir (India) - Sept 2006

It was a ten day bike trip I had planned in Sept 2006..3 guys, 3 bikes..the wind in our hair and the sky as our limits...over the previous 9 days, we had conquered 3 of the world's highest motorable roads..overcoming some of the worst roads of the planet, harsh and cold weather conditions, altitude sickness, bike problems and terrible fatigue as we biked day after day over the awe-inspiring Himalayas. But we were not discouraged.

It was the 9th day of our trip. A local Ladakhi friend suggested we try to reach the unofficial world's highest motorable road at Marsimek-La, around 18,640 feet above sea level on our last day. Since we had conquered all other peaks without much trouble, he felt that we must try this too before we ended our trip. He said that apart from our 3 bikes, he would come along with us too driving his jeep. At the very onset, the entire plan was risky and dangerous. Not only were we going to attempt what only few have attempted and succeeded in doing over the past several years, we were also going to push our luck since we had only 24 hours or so left before our flight out of Leh back to New Delhi. If the so called roads were bad so far, the route that lay ahead for this journey had no roads at all. It was going to be a test between man and machine. It was game on.

6am: As the sun rose behind the majestic mountains on our last day, we set off with a silent prayer, shivering from the cold, though we were all covered from head to toe with all the necessary, warm and protective gear. I had no clue what lay ahead, but the excitement of it all was tremendous. We had a long, long journey to complete in around 20 hours and it was not going to be easy. At noon, we reached our first major stop of the day - Pangong Lake, the worlds highest salt water lake situated at 14,500 feet above sea level. The beauty of this stunning lake has to be seen to be believed. But that is a story for another day.

2pm: The true test had begun. We were off-roading over gravel and rough terrain on the Bullet 500cc beast of a bike. We would have to do this for the rest 50 odd kms upto Marsimek-La, the Unofficial World's Highest Motorable Road. The going was getting tough as each kilometre was overcome. Slowly but steadily, we were climbing from 14,000 feet and the altitude was already getting to us. The bikes charged on but it was evident even they were slowly collapsing over the lack of oxygen. Having the Jeep behind us was hardly any emotional support. A few stops and some fine tuning of the bikes to adjust the fuel-air mixture helped, we were once again on the mission but it was also becoming dark steadily. But the heart and mind urged us on, we had to see what lay ahead.

4pm: I was face to face with one of the steepest inclines I had come across in these 10 days. What made matters worse was the terrible condition of the terrain, with loose stones, huge boulders, slush, mud and everything else in between. I tried my best to navigate this stretch and the bike responded beautifully until it could no more. I was stranded in the middle of nowhere on an incline with a bike that would not move. Thankfully, help was half an hour away and with the help of a detour, we were back on track. But not for long.

5pm: 2 of the bikes would budge no more. The terrain was unbelievable and it was going to be foolish to go any further in our bikes. Our destination was still a kilometer away. Both of us jumped into the Jeep, while the lone biker charged on, his Bullet apparently had more life in it than all of us combined by now! Finally...we reached Marsimek-La as the sun was setting..it was a wonderful achievement and perhaps to compliment us, it started to snow..a full blown snow storm. Nothing could be more satisfying than this feeling. A few armymen from the lone army post in Marsimek-La (Marsimek-La is very close to the China border) congratulated us at what they felt was a astonishing attempt by us!

5.30pm The job was only half done, though. It had taken us around 11 hours to reach our destination but what about getting back? We had to return back to our lodgings in Leh before 5am atleast to catch our 7am flight. That gave us 12 hours more in hand. It seemed like a mind-boggling and near impossible task to complete our return trip in the current condition.

What happened finally?