Rohit Nalluri

Late in July of 2011, my friends and I took our motley collection of motorcycles on a 2100 kilometer long journey across a narrow band of the Himalayan mountain range. What we saw took our breath away, and since then our collective “Julys” have been tainted with the color of the mountains.

Five years on, it has become difficult to measure half a decade in anything other than the span of time it has taken between trips to the Himalayas. It is as if I can see the crisscrossing routes of my life spread beneath me like a map, a confusing spider web of roads that look like tangled telephone wires, and here and there are clear, concrete, solid looking pointers that mark important destinations. Five years is a long time to let pass before you revisit one of these. But it is finally happening. Once again plans have taken shape, ideas have taken form, thoughts have exchanged minds and money has exchanged hands, and once again we are embarking on a journey that is guaranteed to cause earthquakes on the surface of our conscience. I call them soulquakes – a word that I haven’t used in a long time. How do I justify, to myself, not using a word that I coined for myself?

Yikes.

Once again, then, to the mountains!

The Route

This time around, the route is different – longer and complex. We will touch down in Chandigarh in the second week of July, unload our motorcycles from the train, ride to Dalhousie via Dharamshala , cut through India’s longest tunnel –  The Chenani-Nashri (if it is open by then) and reach Srinagar. Along the way, we must visit Khajjiar, and if time permits, Gulmarg.

After a rest day in Srinagar, we will ride due east, through the pine-infested meadows of Sonamarg and Zoji-La, to reach Kargil. Here, I plan to catch a glimpse beyond the LOC and wonder what it was like to be a soldier in ’99. From Kargil, its a 110 km jaunt to Lamayuru, and here we will visit one of the oldest Gompas in Ladakh. Situated at a height of over eleven thousand feet, the monastery is so nestled into the surrounding hill that at first glance it looks like an outgrowth of the rocks. Then the colors explode into the senses and the sight of orange-robed monks flitting about adds movement to the scene.

From Lamayuru, it is a fast ride to Leh through the Hangro loops, where we will steal a much needed rest day, before riding over Khardung La into Nubra Valley. Separating the Ladakh and Karakoram mountain ranges, it is a valley formed by the confluence of Shyok and Siachen rivers, and, like the rest of the plateau, is a high altitude cold desert. Check out this description from Wikipedia:

On the Shyok (pronounced Shayok) River, the main village, Diskit, is home to the dramatically positioned Diskit Monastery which is (sic) built in 1420 AD. Hundar was the capital of the erstwhile Nubra kingdom in the 17th century, and is home to the Chamba Gompa. Between Hundar and Diskit lie several kilometres of sand dunes, and (two-humped) bactrian camels graze in the neighbouring “forests” of seabuckthorn.

We hope to give our bikes some rest here and ride the bactrian camels. The sand dunes also provide a wonderful opportunity to test our two (modified) Hero Impulses.

We shall return to Leh, load up on fuel, food and rest, before riding to Pangong Tso via the vertigo-inducing Chang La. We’ve been wanting to spend a night on the banks of this chameleon lake since missing out on an opportunity in twenty-eleven, and this time we will. We will return to Leh the next day, fuel-up again, and carry as much food as we can to accomplish another thing that we’ve dreamt of since 2011 – camping out in the massive sandbox that is Morey Plains. During my last visit to this enormous, sand-filled region, we were riding in the dark, when I saw, for the first time, the backbone of Milky Way.

After what will be a magical night in the plains, we will take the Tso Kar route just before Pang to visit the lake, before riding onwards to Tso Moriri. From Tso Moriri we will return the same way and most probably end up calling it a day at Pang. It will help our timeline if we can push on to Sarchu, from where it is a day or two to Manali.

With more than 2500 kilometers to be clocked, the trip is shaping up to be an adventure in every right. We are carrying tents and sleeping bags, first aid kits and spare parts, thermals and rain gear – in short, everything that we didn’t have the last time when we went as complete novices. We’re doing different things to prepare – I am jogging and working out, trying to get into shape. But I am also trying to write as much as I can – Last time I visited Ladakh, I wrote a book because of and about the experience. I am wondering what will be the literary result of this new experience, and I do not want to fall short on this account.

 You can read about my previous trip to Ladakh here.