Thanks for all your wishes guys. Right now sitting in Leh, just reached today afternoon. As I said before, it was a flexi plan hence lots of last second changes:
Day 1: As per my original plan, rode on NH1 towards Srinagar but only managed till Jalandhar thanks to a late start and the early morning Delhi traffic. Could have pushed ahead but didn't want to ride in dark. It was a hot and humid ride, sweated so much, must have lost a few kg's ;-) Day 2: Dropped the idea to ride thru Kashmir valley due to safety reasons and hence rode towards Chamba to join Manali. Night halt was at Chamba. Post Jalandhar heavy rains helped me from extra hot and humid weather. Day 3: Loafed around Chamba and then later in evening started towards Mandi but could only managed to reach Chowari. One of the most scenic ride so far. Day 4: Started from Chowari towards Nurpur from where I was to turn towards Mandi but on reaching Nurpur at 7:30am and watching Pathancoat only 30odd km's, changed the plan after a small chat with Roy to dump the Manali route and ride to Srinagar. What a long day it turned out to be. Post Udhampur till I cross Jawahar Tunnel, the road were a shame for being called NH. It was an diff experience riding in that 2.5km long tunnel and man once out, what a view of Kashmir valley greeted :-) Roads were like from a different planet and it was a "rip" to Srinagar. Dal lake at sun set time is another amazing view. Took a ride in dal lake while sun was coming down. Day 5: First time in ride, didn't feel like coming out of hotel room, as I was able to watch the dal lake from hotel room window. Finally left and decided to ride to Suru valley as I would reach Leh on Sun and won't be able to get permits on that day. Road till Sonmarg is great. Turned towards Suru valley from Kargil and halted for night at Sankoo. Day 6: Target was to climb Pensi La to watch Glaciers but there were numerous glaciers all around me all the way. Around 3:30 I was at top of Pensi La watching my dream glacier :-) Pushed hard on the way back to reach Parkachik in eve. Roads are simply none existing in Suru valley and the fastest I could manage was 24km/hr avg speed :-D Day 7: A bummer of day. When you are at 10,000+ft with glaciers all around you, last thing you need is rain. It was raining since mid night. I waited for two hrs for it to stop, with no singns of it stopping, I rode out. It was freezing cold outside. Managed to reach Kargil where the rain has stopped. Target was to reach Lamayuru. Was expecting some decent roads but post Mulbek the roads are at the most comparable to an average mountain road. By 8 fighting with cold, reached Lamayuru. Day 8: Hey thats today :-D Thought it might be a "straight rip" to Leh but except for a few decent stretches rest all was rip = Rest In Peace kind of road. Reached leh in noon, Got the engine oil changed, having covered over 2,000km's so far :-) Bike and rider both doing fine. More later ... Nav PS: Will try to post pics sometime tomorrow.
