Manali to Leh Bike Trip

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This time I am gonna share my travelling experience which i had in Leh-Ladakh. I can name it as my desire, my Wish, my long  time plan , whatever , But finally it become True!!. Yes, I have completed my Leh Ladakh Trip.

I would like to thank Venkatesh Mohan for roping me into this trip. I can't think of any other chance of visiting those places without him. Thanks to Swapnil,Santhosh,Kathir,Jagdheesh,Poly-venkat who are all the part of our trip.

 Here is the Complete story of my memorable Trip. I will be splitting this trip into three parts as the contents are huge.

1.Manali - Leh Bike Trip
2.Visiting  Pangong Lake
3.Leh - Srinagar Bike Trip


Part I: Manali - Leh Bike Trip:

 24th Jun'16 - I can't have another day than this as i am so much excited that i am gonna start my dream trip today.

Reached Chennai airport around 2:30 PM and joined with the other guys. We board the flight by 4:00 PM and reached Delhi by 8:00 PM(1 stop in Hyderabad)

In Chennai Airport
Below is the route map.

Chennai-Delhi-Kullu-Manali-Koksar-Sarchu-Upshi-Pangong TSO-Leh-Khardung La-Kargil-Srinagar-Pathankot-Amristar-Delhi-Chennai

Day1: 24-Jun-2016

We started from Chennai and reached Delhi by 8 PM in the Night and got a cab by which we started our Journey towards Kullu. We had our dinner in a Punjabi Dhaba on the Highway. Food was just fantastic.

Dinner in a Punjabi Dhaba on the Highway

Jagdheesh Having some fun
After Dinner we were on the way to Kullu.we spent the entire night in travel.

Cab we travelled to kullu
Day2:25-Jun-2016

It was more than 12 hours we traveled and finally reached Kullu only in the after noon and straight away got the bikes for rental. Venkat was in constant touch with the guy in the below pic "Bindhu"(not sure about the correct name) from kullu and we got the bikes and the required permit papers as well. We surrendered our original ID proofs.

Getting Bikes
After getting the bikes,we filled the tanks and searched for a hotel to stay tonight. We found Hotel Subham Garden Cafe  which is exactly 21 KM from kullu and 19 KM before Manali.

Hotel Subham,Kullu- June 2016

Pic i got from internet(In winter)
After Check in,we got a bit relaxed and went for a short round up in the evening to the Beas river in Kullu.

Apple trees on our way

On the bank the Beas river
We had dinner which was quite good and we got some good sleep.

 Day 3 :26-Jun-2016

From the Hotel we reached Manali and visited Hadimba Devi Temple, then we started our journey towards Leh..

Hadimba Devi Temple
We had breakfast near the  Temple and started towards Leh.. Manali to rohtang pass road is very crowded as it is a peak season here. 
On the way to Rohtang Pass

Checkpost where we need show the permit papers

Heavy traffic to Rohtang pass

The pass is blessed with exquisiteness of nature and promises an exquisite view of the surrounding mountain ranges. The regions beyond the Rohtang Pass are remote and cut away from the reach of the tourists. So we tried to go beyond the Rohtang pass ASAP so that we can avoid traffic , tourists and crowd.We were thinking in that way but God has other ideas.
Punctured bike
Just after crossing Rohtang pass, one of our friend Santosh's bike got Punctured. we spent almost 3 to 4 hours there to get it repaired. We thought of staying in Jispa or keylong but we lost almost 4 hours there.
Place where we spent those 4 hours
Kathir bought some dry fruits with him, which we had as lunch. Thanks to Kathir
Waiting and waiting
Hence we decided to stay in Koksar. Koksar is one of the villages in Lahaul and Spiti District in Himachal .About 19 km from Rohtang Pass, Koskar is the coldest place in Lahaul. It is mostly snowed in during winters but during the summer months,  Isolated mountain areas, panoramic picturesque views and pathways for hiking can be seen. It is 340 km from its state capital Shimla and 70 km from Manali.
Beautiful views(after Rohtang pass)

On our way to koksar
Place where we stayed.
I Just loved this place, beautiful mountain ,water falls nearby, the camp where we stayed and the stars in the night, absolutely mesmerizing. I am not sure how this place could be in winter with the snow capped mountains.

Camp where we stayed



Night View from the camp. PC: Swapnil Akre
Day 4: 27th June 2016

 Today is a exiting day as we are about to cross Keylong, Jispa, Zingzingbar,Bara-lacha-la and Sarchu.We had tea in the morning and started towards Sarchu.

Santosh sipping a cup of tea

Kathir getting his bike ready
                                        
We planned to have our breakfast in Keylong which is 45 km from Koksar

From Koksar
Once you leave Manali, the next petrol pump on is at Tandi, approximately 110 km from Manali. Do not forget to tank up here. In fact, Tandi is believed to be the last petrol pump before Leh. 

Kathir after refilling the tank

We had our breakfast in Keylong.

Beautiful Keylong
Place where we had our breakfast in keylong

After that we had a photo session on the banks of the river Bhaga

On the Banks of the river Bhaga

we stopped at a repair shop in Jispa for some minor issues with the bike,we had photo sessions in there as the locations are beautiful.
Repair shop in Jispa
                                          
On the way to Sarchu

 Zingzingbar:

 Zingzingbar is a road building camp and tea house situated 18 km from Bara-lacha-la on the Manali to Leh road in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
ZingZang Bar

Roads become worse

Suraj Tal

Suraj Tal or Suraj Tal Lake  is a sacred body of water, literally means the Lake of the Sun God, and lies just below the Bara-lacha-la pass (4,890m) (8 km (5.0 mi) in length) in the Lahaul and Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh state in India and is the third highest lake in India, and the 21st-highest in the world.Suraj Tal Lake is the source of Bhaga River which joins the Chandra River downstream at Tandi to form the Chandrabhaga River in Himachal Pradesh (Source :wikipedia)
Bara-lacha-la


Having lunch (Biscuits)


Driving Dangerously


A place just before Sarchu PC: Venkat

One of the waterfall on the road


                                         

Finally we reached Sarchu in the evening and we got a dormitory to stay for a night and we had dinner there. Sarchu lies on the boundary between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) .An Indian army camp is sited nearby as well.

 We traveled 154 km today from Koksar and had our night stay in Sarchu. 


 Day 5: 28th June 2016

 It was freezing cold in the night. It was more than two days i spoke with my family. People told us there is a BSNL landline available in the Army camp as there are no network in my mobile. so myself and Kathir went to the army camp and made a call to our home. But we need to pay for that. We informed our friends and they too made use of it.

We started from Sarchu after sipping a cup of tea and driving towards Leh

Today we are about to cross  Gata Loops , Nakee La , Biskynala , Lungalacha la, Pang Moorey Planes, Taglang La and upshi.


Gata Loops:

It is a series of twenty one hairpin bends that takes you to the top of the 3rd high altitude pass on this highway, Nakeela, at a height of nearly 16000 ft.  

Nakeela:

Nakee la Pass is third of the five passes to be crossed while traveling from Manali to Leh. you've got to be really careful with the wheels because of difficult road conditions that could test the patience of even the most seasoned drivers.


Biskynala:

We stopped at this place to have some food. We got maggi noodles there.
TSE -Wang Restuarant Biskynala 

Having food(not sure whether it is lunch or breakfast)

We crossed Lachungla pass which is located 54 km from Sarchu. 



Pang:

Pang has some basic tented accommodation and food also available.

A view Point after Pang


Moorey plains:
Moorey plains is crossed by the road from Leh to Manali. This stretch of 40 km falls in between Leh and Sarchu on Leh–Manali Highway. This road has an average elevation of 4800 metres and is flanked by mountain ranges on both sides. At some places the road runs along the Sumkhel Lungpa river featuring some stunning sand and rock natural formations.[1]
The plain area starts after covering around 4 km uphill road from Pang towards Tanglang La pass. The road is mostly on the plain for around 30–35 km, before it again starts to rise to Tanglang La. Flanked by beautiful mountains on both sides, this area is a major attraction to the Bikers heading towards Leh from Manali. (Source : Wikipedia)

The Place is mesmerizing with some wonderful views.

Moorey plains






In the backdrop of Moorey Plains

After taking some pics in the moorey plans we started towards upshi. So far everything was going good until Jagdeesh Bike got puntured this time. Since we had some puncture toolkit with us, we tried our best to fix it by our self and Jagdeesh knows how to dismantle the punctured wheel. So he tried best to fix it but we need few more tools to fix it.


Punctured bike and Santosh taking rest


In the below picture you can see a tent where we met some wonderful people who helped us to fix the wheel and they are very generous enough to reject the money we gave for fixing the wheel. But we insisted on and gave the money to their children. We had some really nice conversation with them as well. As they have the ability to adapt these conditions, they are able live upon these plain hills.

Walking towards the tent for help

Kathir taking rest in the meanwhile

After thanking those people who helped us, we started towards upshi for night halt. On the way we crossed Tanglangla which is claimed to be the second highest motorable pass in the world followed by Chang la pass. 

Conquered Taglangla 

Finally we reached Upshi which is 49 km before Leh and got a dormitory named Holiday Inn which lies on the Bank of the Indus river. We were so tired and got some good sleep after our dinner.


Place where we stayed in Upshi

29th June 2016:

Today we started from upshi in the morning and reached Pangong Lake in the evening and halted there tonight.

30th June 2016:

We spent our entire day again in Pangong Lake. I will share the experience in Pangong Lake in a different post.

1st July:

We reached Leh in the evening
Entering Leh



Leh

Finally we reached Leh and we are set to explore Leh Now.


Leh Palace

The Manali to Leh is one of the best road trip you can ever experience in your life and i can say its a life time trip for me. More Details about Pangong Lake, Khardunga la are yet to come in this blog.

       Thank you                                                                                                                                                              




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