My Ladakh My Heaven || Why and How I planned my dream ride

This story is about my dream ride to the heaven on earth- Ladakh, a dream of every traveller, every rider and every adventure enthusiast.

Let me take you through my journey to Ladakh and how I planned it. Hoping some of you can relate to it and  will be able to plan their own trip. 

Just to give a short background: it all started at a very young age. An old photograph of the world’s highest motorable road (Khardung la) always thrilled me. It was clicked when my father who was posted in Leh during his tenure in the Indian army. I had decided back then that I would go on a journey to this point someday. I grew up dreaming about the journey and thinking about it most of the times; planning every little detail about the journey. 

So here’s how it started finally:

 On August’15- 2015, I had saved enough money to buy my own motorbike. I gave myself 4 months to save more money, buy the equipments and research about the routes/places to embark on the journey to Leh-Ladakh. I read a lot of blogs/articles/news to finalise my adventurous trip. I had anticipated the trip was not going to be easy and by mid-February I had decided the dates were May’14 to May’28 2016 as the passes are operational from around 01’May. 

 During the planning phase of this journey I came across a lot of people, some were thrilled to know about my plan, some were scared, some of them even tried to scare me, some wanted to come along and some even wanted me to alter my plan. And there I was, only listening to everything and not wanting to action any of it.

And finally early morning of 14’May, I kick started my bike to go on this long awaited trip I had been been wanting to take in all my life. 

Just to give you a little bit of Idea:

I rode towards Ladakh in the month of May, which is an off season month; allowing me to get inexpensive lodging places and less crowded city. This gave me an opportunity to unwind myself and if you are a peace lover or a Yoga person, this will be the best time in Ladakh for you. This is the time of the year when BRO- Border Road Organisations starts clearing snow off the roads and passes making the road conditions favorable.  The travel experience therefore, was even more challenging but nothing comes easy. I believe – more difficult more beautiful.

A personal recommendation- do not travel to Ladakh in season time i.e June onwards (as it gets very crowded due to increased tourism).

The roads are almost repaired by then, and as a biker you will miss the adventure and risk! I did not have a concrete fixed every day plan, but had a rough follow up giving me liberty to plan on the way. This made the trip flexible and smooth. This also gave me a lifetime experience and memories. I used to leave early morning, as soon as the sun rays hit the mountains, allowing me to cover maximum distance before dark. It is not advisable to travel at night time in the mountains, especially if one is travelling solo.

One needs to understand that everything cannot be executed as planned. Ladakh is unexpected, in terms of weather, roads, landscapes, surrounding, and everything. Though it is fierce sometimes, yet it is the most beautiful place you will ever find yourself in.

All the passes that I crossed are mighty in their own way, be it Khardung-La, Fotu-La, Chang-La, Barlacha-La, Lachung-La or any other. One should respect them and continue on the roads. As they say “Ki Ki So So Lha Gyalo”- my friend asked me to say these lines every time I reached the top of mountain or a pass. It is a prayer that people say whenever they successfully cross a dangerous mountain or reach the summit of a mountain or a pass.

 Pangong Lake, was the most beautiful part of my journey. I visited this serene place twice; experienced two entirely different weather conditions both the times. The first time it was quite relaxed and calm. However during the second visit I was welcomed with snowfall, cold breeze and the coldest temperature I had to survive! 

I had been to some of the extremely dangerous roads Including Agham-Shyok route, this was one time when I actually started to  evaluate if I have  taken the right decision of riding alone, nevertheless I did finish it successfully and without any breakdowns so I am happy. If you plan to visit Nubra and Diskit valley, reach the valley towards the sunset timing, resulting in a spectacular view. The Hundar village which has the Sand dunes also comes as an add-on to the beautiful view. 

In the end all that matters is your experience, and the way you live that time span. Travelling peace is something you cannot get anywhere else and there are moments that I cannot capture in mere words. These moments just have to be felt and I lived those moments and added them as a lifetime memory, recommending every fellow traveller to plan a trip to Ladakh at least once in their lifetime.

The next 15 posts will be my day-to-day journey to the heaven on earth; beautiful yet scary, mesmerising yet fierce, pleasing yet dangerous. 

 

Read my detailed day wise itinerary  of my 15 days solo bike trip to Ladakh, share with fellow travellers and do not forget to leave your comments and feedbacks.

 

KEEP TRAVELLING || KEEP EXPLORING || KEEP SHARING