The day started with somebody knocking at the door hard on the door. I was still in bed and Subhadeep was up and almost operational . He opens the door and the reception guy with two fully Armoured Army Jawans comes in.

Kahan se aaye ho…. kyun aaye ho… kahan jaana hai…. ID dikhao (where from have you come….why have you come….where are you going….show your ID cards)!! was what followed. Once satisfied, they left and we got along with our daily duties .

The destination for Today, Kargil, was quite far and given the fact that we have to cross Zoji – La, I was bit concerned if not worried. I didnot want to cross Zoji la after dark. But before that, we had some work to be done. We thought of replacing the hand brake lever and a couple of small things before we moved ahead. All these were to be done at the Honda Service center Kashmir Honda. The owner/manager was very non-coperative to say the least. Even after requesting him couple of times to just give sometime to replace the lever, he was talking all bull-shit and kept on doing the work on other’s vehicles, some of whom came after us, instead of our’s. In the meantime, we were joined by Puneet, Bhargav and two of his other friends who had to ride continuously from Ludhiyana to catch up with us. These four Gujrati friends were to accompany us from here on.

Some how, the bike was serviced and we left the showroom at about 12:45 PM. We decided skip breakfast and to keep moving in order to make up for the time wasted. With directions from other people on the road, we were soon out of the city. We kept going on for 20-30 minutes but I realized that in the last more than 20 minutes, I didnot see even a single milestone/board giving the direction for Sonemarg or Kargil or Zoji-la. I doubted our direction and hence, stopped to ask the locals. It was tough to make them understand as I found out that, almost none of them understood Hindi. Somehow we got an army jawan we suggested us to take the narrow road right in front of us which will take us to the Kargil highway. We thanked him and proceeded. Soon we were crossing small villages and then, we were in for a very pleasant surprise.

I braked hard and tried to accept the pleasant surprise that, we were actually passing through an Apple orchard, actually orchards!! We all, immediately took the cameras out and started clicking from every possible angle. After a lot of clicking, we focused on the apples and headed towards them. I actually, had never imagined myself having an apple directly off the tree, so I was enjoying a lot!! We all had enough of the apples to make-up for today’s missed breakfast . I also put a couple of apples in my camera bag . Lost in all this, we did not notice that we were the subjects of curiosity of quite a few school children, standing and enjoying our acts/actions/excitement, call it whatever you like .

After spending almost half an hour there, we resumed out journey. We soon reached a bridge on crossing which, we finally met the Srinagar – Kargil road which made us happy but what was frustrating was that, there was a milestone which said Srinagar 25 kms . We had almost done 60-70 kms since we left srinagar!!!!! As soon as we touched the highway, the landscape around us turned from narrow village roads to green fields on both sides, wonderfully colored and designed small houses. And with each passing km, the vistas around were becoming better and better. We were enjoying every bit of it.

As we kept on moving, hunger started to creep in but we decided to carry on for as long as we could, because it was already past 12 and I wanted to cross Zoji la before dark. After crossing quite a few small and wonderful settlements, we stopped for Lunch at a very very beautiful place. Sumbal. There was only one dhabba and we asked what he had for lunch? Dal – Chawal – Rajma. But wait, he doesn’t have enough food for the six of us:shock:. He told he will cook for the rest of us in half an our so we asked him to go ahead. He was a very nice guy and I talked with him about their life during the month of winters.

He was more than happy talking about as other locals joined. He told that in winters, his village gets fully covered with snow and they have a tough time managing day – to – day activities. Getting drinking water too is not as simple as we would like to think. He and the other locals there were all praises for the army. In winters, the Army provides them with the necessary necessities, starting from the roads to ration, etc.

Even after such hardships, he was all smiling and never seemed to complain. This actually brought a feeling of guilt inside me. We have everything that we need and very much more than that but still we are never satisfied and here are the people who are very happy and satisfied with so less, of everything!!

The lunch was still not ready so I thought of talking a walk upto the Indus that was flowing just 100 mts the shop. It was a wonderful view. Colorful, small houses on the banks of the river or very near the bank were making the vista complete. I would have killed to have a house, a small house here, if I could .

After sometime near the river, we returned back. The lunch was ready by then. It was over in no time and it tasted really really good!! We paid the bill, which was very less than our expectations so, added a handsome tip to it and left after thanking them. Time really well spent.

As we moved on, towards Sonemarg, the views kept on amazing us. It was just wonderful. Everyone was enjoying, at times, one of Punit’s friend used to get up from the saddle and danced as he rode .

Soon we reached Sonemarg. Contrary to my expectations, it was not at all crowded. But the place looked awesome nonetheless. Didnot spend much time there and moved ahead towards the mighty Zoji-la.

I realised we actually have started the climb when the tar gave way to kuccha road. I really felt lucky that it did not rain in the last few days. The fact that I was scared of Zoji-la plus the narrow road (if i may say so) would have been scary for me. The views from the top can scare anybody so, what kept me comfortable was ‘not looking down’ .

There were very few vehicles and no bikers apart from us. We stopped at couple of places where the road was being cleared after landslides. The sun was on the other side of the horizon but I was much relaxed now as we had conquered the Mighty Zoji-la.

We continued with the plan to stay at Kargil tonight. We were riding in a relaxed way. The roads were a mix of good or bad. By now, we were riding in plains and we came across many temporary establishments of the BRO who were working hard to keep us connected. By 7, we reached Drass and for some unknown reason, i liked the ride from Zojila to Drass, the terrain, the setting sun, the climate… un-describable. The only thing I was sad about was, as we reached late, we would not be able to visit the Drass war memorial.

After crossing Zojila, we all were riding few kms apart, at each one’s comfortable pace wo I had to wait for others to come in order to decide whether to stay in Drass or Kargil. I personally preferred Kargil because that would give us better eating options. Once everyone came, we decided to move ahead as it was only 7:30 in the evening so, we started for Kargil. The road was real bad, actually it was non-existent for the next 10 kms.
After that, it was freshly laid tarmac and we were cruising at 80-100 without taking any risk. There were incomplete patches at regular intervals but, they were just ‘patches’ .

Just few kilometers before entering Kargil, the road again gave way to potholes and gravel and they accompanied us until we were at the heart of the town.

I directly headed to the district hospital and checked-in in Paradise Guest House, just opposite to the hospital.

Rs.500/room with 3 beds, running hot water and parking. It was a steal!

After dumping all the stuff in the rooms, we moved out and had awesome chicken!! Also, had wonderful chat sessions about the war that happened, their daily life and the so-called ‘azaadi’.

I must say that, wherever I talked about this topic (azaadi) with the locals, they were very much against it. Very much unlike the people in Srinagar.

This wonderful day came to end finally at about midnight.

Enjoy the pics

As we left Srinagar

The apple orchard

Lunch and Fun at Sumbal

The Indus

On the way to Sonemarg

Leaving Sonemarg

Zoji La from here on

Finally In Drass

The destination for today was very close but still we did not start very late. By 7.30 AM, we were on the awesome roads and with cool weather and mild fog around, it was a pleasure to ride. To add to it, the sight of Chenab flowing side by side.

The road, as soon as it leaves Ramban, becomes a mix of ‘good’ & ‘ok’ and at some places, becomes ‘bad’. As we moved on, the more & more beautiful vistas came up for us to enjoy .

One thing I noticed was, there was quite a bit of Army presence for the next 20-30kms from just outside Ramban and even the traffic movement was being managed by them. Every 100mts., there would be a group of 3-4 armed jawans walking with a red flag and communicating via wireless. As we moved on, the road at quite a few places, demanded more attention while riding so in order to enjoy the surrounding beauty, we had to make random stops wherever we saw some space on the road.

The views were really beautiful and the small villages en route were adding to the beauty surrounding us, mainly the design and the bright color of the houses made them look like I have previously seen only in TVs and those of Switzerland and Nordic countries.

Green hills, cloud and then, somewhere at a distance, a tiny little house painted bright red…!! This is something I can’t describe in words.

We kept on moving on the lovely road, the National Highway 1A and the plan was to have breakfast at Banihal. Thoroughly enjoying the vistas en-route, reached Banihal in an hour or so and stopped for breakfast.

Bread-omlet, Maggi & Coffee.

Break-fast done and back on the saddle, the ride continued. The altitude being less here, as compared to Ramban, the roads were straighter now and also, I was very much feeling the rise of mercury!

After some more twists and turns came Quazigund. No stoppage here and then again, after riding some more, came the Titanic Viewpoint.

Had to stop here and see for myself, how does the ‘first view of Kashmir Valley‘ look! The temperature here was quite hot, well, comparatively. We made our way through a significant number tourists who were busy clicking & getting themselves everywhere.

The view from the viewpoint is actually quite nice and gives you a quite a wonderful view of the Kashmir Valley. All the greenery, smoke rising from one of the small houses in one of the villages below, green fields, high rise mountains at some distance, all this very much made a wonderful view!

After some 15-20 mins there, we started to move our way down and into the Kashmir valley. The sun was shining bright, it was not at all cold or even cool.

After some more time, I noticed in one of the sign boards that we were in Anantnag. Anantnag, the place whose name I used to hear in the TV. Terrorist activities and other such kind of things. I was riding through this place today! Again a strange sort of happiness ran through my nerves. With a smile on my face, I rode on.

With lush green fields on both the sides as well as a bright sun overhead, I was not sure if I wanted this ride to go on and on or just to reach Srinagar fast. But, despite the heat, the greenery all around made me stop and enjoy them.

When in school, I remember reading about cricket bats being made in Kashmir. I remembered this when I saw shops selling cricket bats all around Anantanag. Bat making really seemed to be a BIG business there. Atleast for 10-15 kms, there were bat making factories and shops selling cricket bats.

With the scorching sun above and the greenery around, the ride continued. Soon we were in Srinagar town. Significant military presence as the town started. I knew that there were good hotels in Boulvard road, by the Dal Lake but would cost a bomb. So, took suggestions from Narender bhaiya and he suggested to head to Lal Chowk where lots of good budget hotels are there.

When in Lal Chowk, I noticed 2 aromoured vehicles of J&K Police and the army were parked on the two sides of the Watch tower and were keeping a strict eye. Anyway, got a hotel for Rs.650/- for two. The hotel was all wooden and the 4 walls of the room were of thick glass on wood framing. A very different and nice experience .

We freshened up and the headed out in the city. The first thing to be done was to get my saddle bag repaired. Being a Sunday, most of the shops were closed and the street market was going on full swing. Lots of different kind of stuff and at first glance, quality did not seem to be bad.

After a couple of rounds of the main road, I got a cobbler who was ready to do the job for 120 bucks. I readily agreed and he actually did a nice job. As I was waiting for the bag to be repaired, quite a few funny incidents happened with me.

As I was sitting there with two BIG cameras hanging from my neck, the street vendors thought I was some newspaper or TV guy and one after another, 5-6 shopkeepers called me and asked me to click them with their shops. Once the photos were taken, all of them asked me kab aayega TV me? Kaunse akhbaar me aayega? (when it will come on TV? In which paper the photos will come?).

Then, as I was walking on the foot-path, one guy (who already seemed to have done a lot of shopping) came to me and asked ‘how much for the big-camera?’ (pointing at my D3100). I politely told him, I was not selling cameras. I guess two cams around my neck confused him.

The other funny incident went something like this, waiting for the bag to be repaired, I was sitting in front of a closed shop. A lady walked towards me with her two kids licking on ice-creams and asked ‘ek photo khichne ka kitna?’ (how much for 1 photo?) :p.

All this was enough for me and I packed both the cams in the camera bag!!:mad:

The bag done, dropped it at the hotel and headed towards Dal. No proper lunch on this day, had whatever we got in an around places we visited. Dal was looking beautiful with not many tourists but the was hot. After some clicks here, we were kind of bored and just to pass time, moved ahead to see other ‘parks’. Went to the Mughal gardens and spent some time there (read slept :p)!!

Couple of things I noticed in Srinagar which were strange to me, almost all the youngsters with bikes were riding very very rash, in the heart of the city and none of them were riding with less than 3 guys on a single bike. The cars too were running WITHOUT the concern for others on the road. Made me think, if they actually DESERVE the Pakistani roads!!

The other strange thing here was, lots of private vehicles had NO numbers on them instead, were having all sorts of filmi names on them!!

Nothing much to do in the day, went to the Dal again, when it was getting dark. Some more photos and them off to hunt pet puja.

For dinner, had really nice Kashmiri ‘Rishta’,'Goshtaba’ and some other local cuisines (don’t remember the names ) and then ended the day!!

Pics to follow:

Breakfast at Banihal

Subhadeep busy with it

Inside Jawahar Tunnel

Right after Jawahar Tunnel

Some from the Titanic View – point

The bright Sunny day and the Highway!

Logs of Willow trees to be cut for seasoning

One of the many Bat shops – Anantanag

Wood being seasoned for making Cricket bats

Srinagar – Not too far

As we moved ahead towards Srinagar

The Saddle-bag being repaired

One of the vendors who asked me, ‘photo kis akhbaar me aayegi‘

Dal at noon

The road by Dal

A Kashmiri kid

Some from the Mughal Gardens (Shot by Subhadeep)

This is what I actually went there for :p

Facebook’s new venture, eh!!:p

Never before have seen this avatar of a rainbow

This fort was just on the other side of Dal.

Some views from the Pari Mahal

Dal looks much more gorgeous at and after dusk!

And a ‘bokeh’

Some more pics from Day 3 follow:

The buttery for breakfast!

Entering Jammu&Kashmir

The Beautiful Mansar Lake en-route Udhampur

No lights and broken road inside

Vistas En-Route

One of the Railway Bridges enroute

Greenery all-around

Most of the waterfalls we crossed were dry so this one was a refreshing sight

Some more greenery

Dam at Udhampur

A Temple on the Highway

Lovely Roads & Villages en-route

The plan today was to reach Srinagar by the end of the day and after talking to Narender bhaiya, it seemed very much doable. But, before starting for Srinagar, visits to the Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bagh had to be made. So, the day started at 6AM and after freshening up, we were at the gates of the Golden temple at 6:40AM.

The Golden Temple in the morning is no less magical than at night. The Golden Temple bathed in the rays of the bright morning sun is bound to leave a mark on you. It very much left on me! The morning visit was dedicated to photography and thats what I did, for the next 30-40 minutes. I saw a camera-crew there who were most-probably telecasting the live prayer songs that were going on there. I clicked and then clicked some more and then headed to the Jalianwala Bagh.

Even at this time in the morning, it was quite hot and humid because of which, I planned to make the visit at Jalianwala Bagh a very short one. Went in and saw the memorial pillar which, till that time, I had only seen in TV & books. Then had a look at the Sahid Kuan which now has a wall around it that bars you to actually look uptill the bottom of the well.

The sight of the well, the place from where innocent people were shot at and the bullet marks on the wall is bound to bring a thousand thoughts in your mind and make you more or less emotional .

Clicked a few snaps there and then headed for the hotel. I wanted to leave the city mess as soon as possible in hope of getting some respite from the heat. After asking a couple of locals about the correct route, we were out of the city in no time. The city and the outskirts, both were equally hot . It was almost 8.30 in the morning when we finally stopped for breakfast at a small road-side dhaaba!

We ordered aaloo parantha which came with lots of butter! Even though I wanted to have all of it, I finally returned one of the two BIG pieces of butter as I realized that even one piece won’t be finished by both of us (it turned out to be true). While having breakfast, we had a nice chat with a local about our ride. He was pretty curious about my knee-protectors and was insisting I accept that I was actually part of some racing team and have not just come to ride and see places :p.

Break-fast done, I was back on the saddle, hoping for some respite from the heat. The road was a mix of excellent and under-construction patches and all in all,was very good to ride on. I was enjoying the greenery on both sides and the awesome tarmac!

The wonderful & mostly straight road allowed me to maintain a constant speed of about 90-100kmph (except the under-construction stretches) pretty safely. The guy at the dhaba had told us that after reaching Pathankot, the weather will be much more pleasant and so, I just wanted to reach there as soon as possible (no careless riding at all). Narender bhaiya had told me to ask about the Udhampur by-pass once I am near Pathankot and not to go inside Pathankot but I somehow got confused and went inside Pathankot. After asking few already confused people who had no idea what I was talking about, I got one guy, most probably from the army, who told us to track back some 3 kms and then take a right from there or ask somebody. Reached the point from where we had entered the city and then asked for directions. Was told to go till towards Lakhanpur toll. I was there near the Lakhanpur toll soon. Clicked some more pics and then finally, entered in Jammu & Kashmir. Again, a little sense of achievement was felt .

Talking about the heat, I was finally in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and it was still, as hot as Amritsar! To add to it, I was wearing the heavy Riding Jacket:(! I was already frustrated at the heat but thought moving ahead could bring some respite and hence continued after a couple of minutes’ break just after the Lakhanpur toll.

As I wanted to skip Jammu so the plan was to take the Udhampur by-pass. Asked couple of people about it and was asked to go uptil Samba and then take a right for the Mansar-Udhampur by-pass.

The road continued to be awesome and straight and riding on it was sheer pleasure. One after the other, small towns passed by and the hills that seemed to be quite far, started to come closer and closer. Hunger was creeping in but I preffered to push on rather and planned to have lunch in Udhampur because I was not at all in a mood to have lunch in this heat. Rode on through the small and beautiful towns which had significant presence of the Army and finally after some more time, at an intersection, asked for the route to the Udhampur bypass.

There it was, just on my right side! Took the right turn and started towards Udhampur. There was immediate change in the road condition. The wide and awesome taramc gave way to a 2-lane broken road, with potholes and unmarked turns. The road passed through quite a few small small villages. The condition of the houses said that this section is not one of those where the politicians have paid any importance to.

Very soon, the hills started but there was no respite from the heat!! The road condition improved after some kilometers only to detoriate again. The ascent was quiet steep compared to what I had expected. With each turn, the scenery turned better and better. By now, I was quite hungry and having doubts if Udhampur for lunch will be too far for my stomach! Moved on and then saw a beautiful lake and at a distance. Some colorful flags were also seen which meant either an Army establishment or a tourist place. I wished it be the later, which will definately be a good news for my stomach! On reaching there, I came to know it was Mansar Lake and more importantly, not an army establishment.

‘Khaana!’ came the sound from inside me! . Went to the parking and asked for the location of resturants! Were shown the direction and we immediately started walking in ‘that’ direction. As we walked, we got a lot of curious looks owing to our attire . Out of hunger, we didnot even bother to remove the luggage from the bike and headed for ‘fooooood‘!

After crossing quite a few eateries who were selling just chips & maggi, we finally came to the JKTDC resturant where we had a ‘full’ lunch! Service was good, food was Ok, was not very expensive but I didnot get the room freshener or anything I asked for to get rid of the flies!

Once out of the resturant, with the tummy filled, I realised how beautiful the lake was. Took few snaps of the lake and surroundings and then back on saddle. It was almost 3.30-4PM so it was almost clear that we are not going to make it to Srinagar today. The night-halt will be decided depending upon where we reach by evening. For now, Ride…

By now, the roads have improved and the ride was pretty comfortable. Many small and beautiful came and passed by. The greenery all around was making the ride all the more enjoyable. We came across quite a few railway bridges enroute which were quite BIG in size. Also rode through tunnels which was a first-time for me.

Okay, I have not mentioned it till now but, I was not able to purchase DIAMOX either in Delhi or in Amritsar and I HAD to get it in Udhampur but I was not sure how big a town/city Udhampur was, which was a bit of concern to me. As I entered Udhampur, it seemed to me more of an Army cantt. than a Civilian town. It is actually a civilian town with significant Army presence as opposed to my first impression.

Asked for Medical shops when in Udhampur and was directed to the Hospital Road . To my relief, got Diamox in the second medical shop where I checked . Taked up at Udhampur and moved ahead.

Place for tonight’s halt, Patnitop seemed to be the obvious choise but we still had quite a few hours left with us before sundown. Also, staying at Patnitop meant reaching Srinagar late which in turn meant, high chance of wasting one more day in Srinagar. So, I decided to stay somewhere in Ramban or Banihal.

As we started the ascent for Patnitop, finally the weather started to become pleasant and then cooler. Patnitop seemed to be a quite beautiful hill station with a wonderful weather. Withing a span of 30 minutes, from bright & hot to a misty & cool weather, it was a very welcome change, something I really enjoyed, so much so that, once I even thought of taking the night halt here .

A call to Narender bhaiya brought my mind back in place and I decided to move ahead, atleast upto Ramban. As we moved away from Patnitop, the temperature again started to rise (as we were descending) and I was wishing that Ramban be atleast as coool as Patnitop, if not more .

We reached Ramban in an hour or so, riding side-by-side with the furious river (which river it is?) which made the ride and the place all the more beautiful!

Once I reached Ramban, I was thinking if Banihal can be done before its late night but then, we decided to end out day here. The town of Ramban is a pretty small one. While looking for a hotel, we actually came to the other end of Ramban and then had to return after realized that we were actually out of the town.

Finally got a double bedded room in a hotel just by the side of the highway which gave a very nice view of the town on the other side of the river for Rs.850/-, freshened up and went out for dinner.

Had a very good dinner at the JKTDC resturant which just by the highway and then returned to the hotel and ended the long and tiring day .

About Mobile Networks:
Only BSNL Postpaid worked. Reliance and TataIndom Postpaids did not.

Some Pics follow:

The Pristine Golden Temple

The other side of Golden Temple

A different angle

Jalianwala Bagh Memorial

The bullet marks

More pics of Day 3 to come…

They say, ‘A trip to Amritsar is incomplete if you miss the daily beating Retreat Ceremony at the Joint Check Post‘!

One of the two must-visit places when in Amritsar on my this trip was the Wagah border’s evening retreat ceremony!

I very well knew that in order to get a good seat, I have to reach there by ~3.30PM but that was not to happen and I could only reach there by 5.30PM, roughly 40-45 minutes before starting of the parade.

A couple of kms from the parking and you start to see the crowd increasing making it look like a ‘mela‘ by the time you reach the govt. parking area!

People from all walks of life, kids, adults and old, man and women. From different parts of the country and beyond come here to witness this perfectly co-ordinated ritual performed by BSF Jawans in ceremonial uniforms from India side and equally fierce Pak Rangers from the Pakistan side.

The ceremony begins with a couple of BSF Jawans marching towards the Border gate to stand in attention there. Two Jawans from the Pakistan Side to approach the gate marching in sync and stand in attention at the gate, on the Paki side.

The first two BSF soilders to march to the border gate were from the Ladies battalion of BSF.

Once the first batch of the soilders are there at the gate. One after another, some more groups of soilders continue the parade turning the environment to electric. With patriotic songs playing on both sides of the border and with excited screams of ‘Jai Hind’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai‘ on Indian side and ‘Pakistan Zindabad‘ on the Pakistani side, the environment is worth witnessing.

You really feel the adrenaline rush in your veins! Kids, Ladies & Men dance to the songs of patriotic songs and run upto the border gate and back with the Tri-color in their hands and kind of a undeclared comptetion goes on between the Paki and the Indian side, as to who can be more louder.

This continues for some more time and then, just before Sun down, a final batch of BSF jawans prepare to march towards the border post to lower the flag. Same happens on the other side and the Pakistani and the Indian soilders, all of them above 6′ tall and with handlebar moustaches,march towards the gate pounding their feet fiercly on the ground.

Two soilders from both sides start lowering the flag, very much in sync with each other and finally respectfully fold the flag and return back while a 3rd soilder standing there, bangs close the border gate after a very formal hand-shake with his Pakistani counterpart and starts returning to the post.

This marks the end of the flag-lowering ceremony.

There is also a daily flag-hoisting ceremony that happens daily but as far as I know, this event is not open to the general public.

Some pics of the ceremony follow, hope you like it.

People running with the Tri-color towards the border gate as Patriotic songs play in the background

BSF Jawans come out of their post as the parade is about to begin

The gate & open stadium on the Pakistani side

A view of the Indian gate and the Pakistani Gate

Notice how both the flags are lowered equally

As our destination for the day was Amritsar, which was just 142 kms, we started from our hotel at about 8.30AM. By the time we left for Amritsar, the sun was already shining bright and I could very much feel the effect of that inside the riding jacket.

Ok, one thing I should have talked about in previous day’s post is that, on our ride from Delhi to Ludhiana, the saddle bag mounted on the Pillon’s seat has been constantly smooching the rear tyre and the base of the right side was almost open wide. The damage was so much that the bag’s surface, the hard plastic inside the bag’s floor, a shirt, a muffler and a thick sweater of mine, all of them lost a part of them. The worst casualty was the sweater which was having a big hole at the center of it.

I noticed this after unloading the bags at the hotel. So today, the first thing to be done was to do some kind of jugaad about the bag. Just out of Ludhiyana, there was some small village with few houses most of which had pieces of wood infront of them. Went to one of the houses where one sardar ji was walking around.

We told him that our bag was torn because of rubbing with the tyre and it would be great if can allow us to pick up couple of sticks from his stock of wood so that we can do some kind of jugaad to save the bags from any further damage. He happily agreed to our request and actually told us to pick up as many we needed.

Thanked him and picked up a stick and was trying to fix it on the side of the bike but we had nothing to tie the wood. Sardar Ji saw this and came up with a couple of coconut wali rassi and even tied the sticks on both sides himself. This gesture really touched me. After bidding him good bye, moved on.

The road ahead was awesome and I was maintaining a good speed. Plan was to have break-fast in an hour or so, wherever there is a good dhaaba which we did after about one hour of leaving Ludhiana.

On the way to Amritsar comes the Lovely Professional University where I have a brother studying. I thought of meeting him by lunch time so, after moving further for sometime, stopped at a dhaaba just next to LPU. Gave him a call and asked him to come to the dhaba. He came but after a long time, by when, my lunch was over. Was with him for 5mins or so and then we moved on towards the destination of the day, Amritsar.

We reached there by 2PM, taking quite a few photo breaks. I repeat, the roads are lovely!

First job in Amritsar was to get the bike washed and basic lubrications done. This took close to 2 hours in the Honda showroom. In these 2 hours, we met a guy in the showroom who tried a lot to scare us I guess!!

Yes, he came up with all sorts of stories of chain snatching, pick-pockets and what not!! He suggested us not to keep more than 3-400 of cash with us .

Okay, from the service center, we straight away went to look for a descent hotel and soon checked-in into one for Rs.1000/- for a double bedded AC room.

Had to catch the Parade at Wagah so took bath quickly and then after a quick – late lunch, left for Wagah. With awesome roads to ride on and lovely people to guide us, we were on the right path in no time. I was keeping an eye on the mile-stones as they came and then suddenly I see a big board which said Lahore 34 kms!! I braked hard and then began the photo-session .

After a couple of minutes, back on the road.

Just 1km ahead of the point from where no vehicles, you will see lot of people calling you to park the vehicle. I did not stop there as I knew that there is a Govt. Parking which is nearest to the entry. Went there and parked. My first impression after seeing the huge crowd was, ‘is it a mela!!’. As I moved forward, in the scorching heat, I saw the male gallery was jam-packed . I somehow pushed myself in that crowd and in half an hour, in my second attempt, was able to get a good place from where I can get a good view of the happenings.

I liked the parade over-all sans the crowd and the dhakka-mukki!!

After the parade was over at about 6:45PM, we left for Amritsar and now the plan was to directly pay a visit to the Golden Temple.

We reached there at about 8PM and man!! When I actully got to see it, the feeling was amazing. It was a dream come true for me. At night, its a very different experience al-together. It was quite hot even at the night but still huge number of devotees were there, doing there part of the voluntary service. Kids, old people, young girls, uncles, aunties, everybody was doing some voluntary work. It was really nice. We left the mesmerizing place at about 10:30PM with a lot of photos.

I am coming again in the morning, I said to myself.

Reached the hotel, got freshened up, ordered dinner and then off to sleep.

Photos of Day 2:

Meet-up with brother near LPU

The awesome road towards Wagah

Getting a much-needed care

The board which made me STOP

One more here

Just 1km more

A Sikh lady with her Kirpan

This crazy fellow was actually doing a wheelie with his Tractor

Few shots of Golden Temple at Night

After having a wonderful time at Anup Sir’s home, Anup Sir dropped me to the NDLS station from where, the bike was to be collected. Also Subhadeep, the other rider joins me from here. I had thought that we will be starting from Delhi by 12.30 – 1PM but were only able to leave by 3PM because of the time taken for the bike to be delivered and the city traffic mess.

Next important thing was to catch up with Narender bhaiya with whom I really wanted to meet before I start the trip. He was waiting for me, on the way and had come from quite far just to meet me(sorry bhaiya for making you wait for so long). Finally caught up with him at the Mukarba chauk, it was really nice to meet him in person . He gave some valuable tips and suggestions for our ride and then in half an hour, we had to leave.

Just after coming out of the city mess, the sight of the highway was very welcome. At-least riding without any jam would give some respite from the heat. It was already too hot & humid for me. The plan for today initially was to reach Amritsar but as it was already almost 3.30PM by the time we left Delhi so the fact was that, reaching Amritsar before late night was not going to happen. So, night – halt was decided at Ludhiana.

It was almost 4.30 in the evening and we were hungry and were looking for a good dhaba where we can freshen up and then have our late lunch. We halted at this big dhaba on the road-side, somewhere in or around Sonipat and ordered butter-nan, butter-paneer and rice. When the food came, we realized we had ordered way too much . The food was delicious and we gorged to the brim .

After some 40 minutes there, we started again. There was nothing special about today’s journey but as I was riding through the towns Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal,etc. about which I had only read in my school books until now, a lot of strange thoughts came to my mind. It felt great to realize that I was actually riding thorugh these towns, on a bike. I was feeling something strange inside me. Was it kind of a sense of achievement? I don’t know but what I can tell is, I was smiling from inside and was really enjoying the journey .

Nothing eventful or interesting more in the day and out next stop was at Ludhiana at about 8.45PM. Checked into a hotel for which cost us Rs.1100/- for a double AC room. Opted for having dinner outside. After dinner, retired for the day at about 11PM.

Some photos of the first day:

With Anup Sir, in his *den*

With Narender bhaiya

Subhadeep and the food

Ready with the Steed

I just returned couple of days back after living my dream of Riding to Ladakh on a bike.
My soul is still there and memories are afresh and I am virtually still somewhere in the barren mountains of Ladakh.

The full journey has touched me in many ways. One thing that has happened to me after this ride is, now I am more Hungry.

Now I realize why people say you can Never go to Ladakh just once!. I have just returned and I want to go again, as soon as I can.

I know this is not possible for now, so I will live with the memories for until I head there again .
I will be sharing my experiences of these 2 weeks along with the photos of the day to day events of the trip soon, hope people will find it interesting.

Cheers!!

At times, it seems it was just yesterday when I decided to ride to Ladakh, across the Mighty Himalayas, on two wheels and now when I look back, I see, its been close to three long years during which, a lot have changed in my life.

When I think about this dream of mine, the one of riding to Ladakh on a bike, I see the resolve has not changed at all. Each day of these past 3 years have been used to prepare for this dream, in whatever small way it may be.

Today, after these long 3 years, as I type this, I am hours away from The Moment when I actually go to Live my dream, the dream that have been very much alive all these months and years.

In less than 24 hours, I am going to actually start my journey. All stuff packed and I am very much ready to go!

All I am feeling now is, ‘Is it happening for real?? Am I dreaming?? ‘!!

I am not able to phrase my feelings, so its better try not to mess up this post.

Here I come Ladakh!!

With less than 18 days left for the ride of My Life and lot of things yet to be done (purchased), I was really getting worried if I will be able to get everything done before time. The couple of weeks (read weekends) which I have are the only days that I have FOR ME to get the left things done. The weekdays and part of the next weekend is already allotted to something else .

Ok, so among the things that were yet to be purchased, one of the most important things was the Saddle-bag. I decided to get it done today anyhow and so, after lunch, I headed to the Cramster outlet which is in Cunningham road, here in Bangalore.

I wanted to purchase the Stallion saddle-bag instead of Colt because of the more space it provided but I was not sure if it would fit bikes with up-swept exhaust (mine being one). On asking the seller, it was confirmed that the Stallion won’t fit my bike and hence, Cramster Colt it was.

The price has slightly increased from the previous version and now it costs Rs.2,300/- instead of Rs.2,100/-. Made the payment and headed for my bike to see how it looks in it’s place. It was a perfect fit and I must say that the Cramster guys have designed this bag keeping a lot of things in mind. For a perfect fit, the Colt has strips at the right places and also, what I felt is, the bag will sit perfect when fully loaded.

Speaking about the space it provides, it seemed enough for me if you don’t want to carry a lot of stuff with you. The bag also has side pockets which can be used to carry water bottles. One more thing I liked in it was, on both sides, it has straps on the covers which will be definitely useful in carrying my Tripod .

There’s nothing new to talk about the material, it very much looks pretty ruf-n-tuf and is water-resistant.

Here’s a shot of my Cramster Colt.