Day 14, 3 July, Nubra Valley via Khardung La

Today, we had to collect the permit from the agent. After morning breakfast, I went to the agent around 11 am. The agent had arranged them but he missed to add Tso Moriri in the list and it was for 4 days only instead of 7 days.
We could start at 12 pm. First stop was at Khardung La around 40 Kms away from Leh.
Road conditions were pretty good for first 30 kms although it passes through mountains. Only the last part of 10 Kms till Khardung La was in bad condition. However, the ride was full of excitement and as usual the scenery was awesome.
We reached the Khardung La summit at 1.30 pm.
It is the world's highest motarable pass at the height of 18380 Ft. We spent some memorable time at the top, played in the snow. Probably, the temperature was under 0 degree Celsius. Then we moved towards the Nubra. Driving around the summit was pretty much hard because of the road conditions & low temperature. Our bodies were shivering & hands were frozen.

Around 3 pm, we reached at south pullu. Here, one has to submit the permits. Also, we had our lunch although it was not so much tasty.
Next, we passed by Khardung village then Khalsar. Here, we came across the Shyok river valley. It offers magnificent vistas of the wide riverbed. Soon, we were at the bifurcation one leading to Diskit and another leading to Panamik.
Road from here was a straight line for next a few kms. By the time, we were getting the glimpse of the famous sand dunes formed in the riverbed. Around 6 pm, we arrived in Hunder. We decided to spend the night at Hunder instead of Diskit as Hunder is close to the sand dunes desert.
Soon, we found a good guest house called Snow leopard GH at an affordable price of 300 Rs.

After putting out luggage inside, we immediately went to the sand dunes area as we had enough time to check out the area. Here, one can take double humped camel ride. It reminds us the old silk route days. Then, we came back to the room. At the time of dinner, we had company of another group from Canada.
We had some good chat along with the dinner. Mr. Ali Kazmi and his group were pretty excited to know about our experience. It was really nice time we spent with them.
At night, we decided to head towards Leh directly after visiting Sumur and Panamik rather staying overnight at Sumur.

Day 13, 2 July, White water river rafting..

Today, our plan was to go for white water river rafting. As the organizer had asked, we reached at their office at 8.30 am. Initially, we were only 2 in the cab which was supposed to take us to Chilling, the starting point of rafting.
On the way, the cab driver picked up 3 more persons, Ronan from UK, Jagdish and Asha from Delhi.
After a drive of 2 hours, we arrived at Chilling. It was around 11 am.
They had life jackets and wet suits for us to keep us safe from drowning. The leader of our raft gave us brief instructions about the safety and the use of paddle to give direction and speed to the raft. There was a kayaker as well for our safety.
Around 11.30 am, we started our rafting expedition. In the beginning , the water current was not so fast and rapids were also not that hard to pass. So, everybody was relaxed and busy in giving pose for photo shootouts.
Suddenly, there came one big rapid. Since, our raft was not in good speed, it could not punch through the rapid and it flipped throwing all of us in water. For first a few seconds, I did not understand what had happened. When I realized that I was in water, I was in shock. Then, I started looking for the raft. It was 2-3 meters away from me. Suraj was behind me. Later, he told me, he could not swim upwards for some time because of some obstacle above his head.
I held his hand and we were trying to get to the raft. After some time, we reached up to the raft. But, the raft was still in flipped position and we were flowing along with the raft.
Major problem were the cold water and rocks in the riverbed. The kayaker asked us to keep our head and legs above water to avoid any mishaps due to rocks.
After 5 minutes, the raft leader started to flip back the raft. He asked to leave the rope attached to the raft. As I left the rope, I went away from the raft due to the speed of the flow. Next 5 minutes, we all were in the raft.
There was a bad news too. When the raft flipped, the cameras drowned in the river. Sterling directed the raft on river shore for some rest. Most of us were shivering due to cold water. Ronan had a small cut on his nose. Rest of us were in good condition.
After some rest of 10-15 minutes, we started again. Later, we had 3-4 such rapids. However, this time, we were ready to face such situation. It was really amazing and thrilling experience to pass through those rapids. You need to really push hard to pass through them.
It was 2 and half hours of journey before we arrived at Nimoo.
We changed the wet clothes. Meanwhile, lunch was ready. We had our lunch leisurely as we were really hungry.
Return journey was pretty quite after some initial chat. Between, Asha insisted to gift us a new camera, as she was holding our camera when the raft flipped and she was feeling guilty about it . After buying a new camera, we headed back to our room and Asha and Jagdish went to make inquiry about their return journey to Manali.
There was a bad news. The inner line permit was not ready yet as the DC office was closed because of the holiday (Hemis monastery festival). The agent told us that he would arrange it till 11 am, the next day.
Rest of the day we spent doing nothing much. Just wondering around and dinner.
Next day, we had to head to Nubra valley after collecting the permit.

Day 12, 1 July, Leh Sightseeing

Today, our first priority was to get the inner line permit for restricted areas. However, we found that the rear tyre of the bike was punctured again. So, we had to search for a puncture repairing shop. We came to know that there was no such shop close to main bazaar. So, we walked around in search of the shop.
Meantime, I asked Suraj to bring the bike while I waited for him. But, he took other road and went in other direction. Fortunately, one military person from Maharashtra saw the number plate and helped him to fill air in the tyre. After waiting for a long time, I returned back to the room.

Between, Suraj came back. He was exhausted after walking down with the bike. Then, I took the bike to get it repaired. It was almost afternoon till all things were settled.

Later, in the evening, we went to Shanti Stupa. It is one of the best places in Leh. It is located on a hill and offeres panaromic view of Leh city. Also, the stupa has magnificent structure of the white dome.
One of the important part of our plan was to do white water river rafting. So, we went to Splash Adventures located in the main bazaar. Also, I asked them to arrange the inner line permit.
I did not want to waste our time anymore. The agent charged 1200 Rs per head for river rafting and 100 Rs for inner line permit other than the wild life entry charges and red cross fund charges. We chose the Zanskar river stretch from Chilling to Nimoo.

Rest of the time, we spent in wandering around and exploring Leh city. The city was full of foreign tourists and we had a feeling that we were not in India. In the middle of city, one can easily spot the ancient structure of Leh palace although we could not visit it. But, it was truly beautiful.

Our time in Leh was full of relaxation and we enjoyed our stay there although we did nothing much other than eating delicious food and rest :).. That's the life, isn't it?

Day 11, 30 June, On the way to Leh

On that day, we had plenty of time as Leh was no so far. So, we planned to do Alchi and Likir leisurely.
Except first a few Kms, road was in pretty good shape. Therefore, our progress was nice and smooth. We reached Alchi around 8.30 am. One has to take a right turn after Saspol while going from Kargil to Leh.

Alchi Gonpa dates back to the year 1000 AD and was built by the Translator, Rinchen Zangpo.
After spending some peaceful time inside the Gonpa, we had some breakfast and headed towards Leh route. Next destination was Likir Gonpa. Likir is also one of the best gonpas in Ladakh.
Likir also offers some of the best scenic views similar to most of the gonpas.

We left Likir around 11 am. Except the small stops at Indus valley and Magnetic Hill, we reached Leh at 1 pm. To talk about Magnetic hill, here one can experience magnetic field sitting inside a car. If we turn off the car engine and stand still, the car starts moving slowly. We could not experience it as we were on bike.

Soon we were in Leh, first thing was to find a good and economic accommodation. I found a local boy who helped us to find an accommodation near main bazaar at Ashoka guesthouse.
Rent was 300 Rs per night. Next, we had to arrange inner line permit for the other regions, we had planned to travel. So, after taking a quick lunch, we headed to D.C. office located near polo ground in Leh.

It was 3.30 pm and we were unfortunate as they accept the application till 12. So, they asked us to come the next day. We had plenty of time in hand so we headed for Shey Gonpa.
Shey Gonpa is located 15 Kms away from Leh. The main image inside the Shey Monastery
is that of Buddha Shalyamuni. It is a huge image of the seated Buddha.
It is also famous for the Shey palace, the ancient monument.
Later, we decided to move back to Leh instead of going to Thiksey Gonpa which was just 2-3 Kms away from there. Actually, we were already exhausted by the journey and needed some rest. We arrived at the room around 6.30 pm.

Later, we had our dinner in a restaurant near main bazaar and had a small walk around.
This was our first day when we were quite relaxed after a long time.

Day 10, 29 June, Kargil - Leh

Today, our first objective was to get the bike puncture repaired. So, I went to the repair shop at 9 am.
He started the repairing work after some time. He found and repaired one puncture at the sane place which was already patched. I asked him to recheck the tube to ensure the tube is in good condition and my doubt turned out to be correct. There was another puncture in the tube. By the time, all the repairing was done, it was 10.30 am.
I went to the Hotel and asked the owner for some hot water. Unnecessarily, we waited for it as it took long time and by the time we started it was 12 pm :(..
Now, we were on the way to Leh. Road conditions were better than Kargil-Zanskar route but not so good to drive fast at 40 Km/h :). Our earlier plan was to visit Lamayuru, Alchi gonpa and try for Likir gonpa if we had started early in the morning. Now, we had to restrict our plan to Lamayuru visit only before reaching Leh.

Again, we underestimated the road conditions. Till Mulbek, road was really good. We covered this 40 odd kms in one hour and 15 minutes. Here, we visited the famous Buddha statue of Maitreya. It is believed that the 9 meter high statue carved out of solid rock was built in 7th or 8th century. After taking lime ginger honey tea which tastes really nice, we started our journey towards Leh.
We thought, we would do it without much trouble. But, the best lesson there is, always expect the unexpected :)
Road conditions started deterioting as the road widening work was going on everywhere. Although, the scenic beauty of the mountain was truly amazing. It is said to be like moonscape land.
Meanwhile, we reached Lamayuru at around 5 pm. Here, we visited the famous Lamayuru gonpa. As it is located at good height, it offers some of the breathtaking views. Then, we left Lamayuru around 5.30 pm. We were thinking of finding some accomodation at Alchi which is 50-60 Kms from there.

Around 6.30 pm, we arrived in Khaltse village. Khaltse is a very small village located along the Indus river.
We were not sure of the road conditions till Alchi. Hence, we decided to find some accomodation there only although we had 1.30 hour in our hand.
We could find a good guest house for night halt. There was only one guest house left as the other was closed due to repairing work ;). It was pretty cheap only 150 Rs for a night.

We went to sleep very early to start early the next day.

Day 9, 28 June, Back to Kargil

As we had planned, we departed pretty early at 5.30 am. First objective was to cross the stream Abran as early as possible to avoid any problem.
Now, we were quite used to the roads so the speed was pretty fine. We reached at Abran around 8 am and we crossed the stream easily.
After some time, we stopped at the Darung Drung glacier for some photo clicks. We could feel the freeze in the atmosphere.
It was around 10 am till we arrived at Rangdum gonpa. Gonpa is located at some height from the road. I climbed up to the gonpa while Suraj waited for me at the middle of the way as he was not feeling good to climb up.
Gonpa was pretty beautiful. Also, being on some good height, it offers some of the best views of landscape.
There is a military camp at the base of the gonpa hill. One of them was from Maharashtra, so he asked us for a cup of tea. There were around 5-6 of them. We had small chat about our journey and some other stuffs.
After experiencing nice hospitality from the army people, we headed to Rangdum village where we had to have some food before continuing to Kargil. Within some half an hour, we reached at Rangdum.
We ordered the food which contained some rice, Dal and Gobi. The food was not that good so we did not finish all. Anyways, we had some good talk with the people living there about their lifestyle, wildlife in the area etc. They told us how much difficult life is in winter about water and other things. Also, one of them told that he spotted the famous snow leopard (cheetah in his words) on the outskirts of village. That was really amazing to listen as it inspired me visit the place again :)
Later, we continued our journey to Kargil. We had sufficient time in hand so we were not that much worried. Only thing was that the water passages which creates problems as the day passes by.
With some small halts, we passed Panikhar and reached Sankoo at around 4 pm. Probably, we took wrong route as it was not looking familiar. Also, the distance we covered was more than actual distance. At Sankoo, we had some tea with snacks at the same restaurant. Again, we were ready to move ahead.
Around 6.30 pm, we were close to Kargil and unfortunately, the rear tyre of bike got punctured.
First thing was to search for a puncture repair shop. I asked Suraj to wait with the luggage and I went with the bike to find any shop around. However, there was no such shop around. They were at Kargil town which was around 3-4 Kms far. I walked down in search but unfortunately, they all were closed as it was Sunday and there was no way to get it repaired until the next
day :( .
So, I left my bike in one shop and returned back where Suraj was standing with the luggage.
One local person told us that we can go by a bus in the market and he will help us finding a hotel.
Then, we reached at the market and stopped at the hotel for a rent of 350 Rs.
The next day, we had to depart for Leh and the major issue was repairing of the puncture which was not possible before 10-11 am.
So, our plan was to try to leave Kargil as early as possible.

Day 8, 27 June, Zanskar Valley

The day started quite early. We had to try to get our bike across. In between, we were searching for the keys of the bike. Last day's incident had lead to big confusion and I had forgotten the keys at the bike.
Certainly, we were worried about the bike's security. It was about 4-5 Kms of distance from the village. We started moving towards the bike and within 1 hr, we reached at the stream. It was a big sigh of relief to find bike along with the key :)
Water level of the stream was decreased significantly so we could get the bike across it.
Here, we met 2 guys from New Zealand. They were riding a truck from Panikhar. But, they had to spent the previous night there itself as another truck was stuck in the stream.
Then, we came back to the home where we had spent the night. The owner offered us some tea along with bread.
There were 3 children in the family. The youngest was about 2-3 years old and he was really cute.
Before leaving the home, I gave them 300 Rs. Although, all the things they had done for us, were invaluable. With a humbled mind, we left for Padum.
Meanwhile, the bike carrier was broken at two places and the bad roads made it difficult to keep the luggage tight on the carrier.
On the way, we decided to visit Karsha monastery, the biggest monastery in the Zanskar region.
We reached there around 10 am. The monastery is located up on the mountain. Climbing up to the monastery was quite a bit tough task. Low oxygen level at that height made it really difficult. Our condition can be imagined easily as we had to take break after climbing up just 2 or 3 steps.
Finally, we reached on the top. The panorama one can see from here is amazing.
You can see Padum village on the other side of Zanskar river. After spending some 30-40 min, we climbed down and headed towards Padum. Roads from Karsha to Padum was really good, a well laid tarmac one.
It was really easy to find tourist bungalow as the village is not too big. After having lunch, we decided to take some rest instead of continuing to Zangla. Also, we had to get the carrier repaired. Between, the brake lever got twisted as our bike skidded on a rock.
We spent rest of our day doing other important things and took some much needed rest.
Next day, we had to start pretty early so as to reach Kargil on the same day.