Chapter 3: The Plan (Route)

TRAVEL PLAN: LEH Expedition 2012, By: Satish, Badari and Dheeraj

Date	From	To	Route	Start	End	Distance
18 Aug (Sat):	Bangalore	Surat	Bangalore- Belgaum(lunch) – Pune - Mumbai(dinner) – Surat	5:00 AM	12:00 AM	1259 kms
19 Aug (Sun)	Surat	Kishangarh	Surat - Vadodra - Udaipur – Ajmer - Kishangarh	12:00 AM	6:00 AM	822 kms
19 Aug (Sun):	Kishangarh	Hanumangarh	Kishangarh – Sujangarh – Ratangarh – Sudarshahar – Rawatsar -  hanumangarh	6:00 AM	7:00 PM	416 kms
20 Aug (Mon):	Hanumangarh	Amrithsar	Hanumangarh - Srigangnanagar – Abohar – malout – Sri Muktsar Sahib – Faridkot – Kot Karor kalan – Sira – Taran taran - Amrithsar	5:00 AM	12:00 PM	289 kms
21-Aug (Tue)	Amrithsar	Khajjiar	See Amritsar and go to Pathankot – Khajjar (Avinash è Kishatwar)	12:00 PM	8:00 PM	205 kms
22-Aug (Wed):	Khajjiar	udhampur	Khajjar – Pathankot - Udhampur(HALT)	5:00 AM	12:00 PM	266 kms
23-Aug (Thu):	Udhaampur	Ananthnag/ Srinagar	Udhampur - Anantnag/Srinagar(HALT)– Avinash will join us here.	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	369 kms
24-Aug (Fri):	Ananthnag/ Srinagar	Srinagar	Gulmarg, Dal lake, (HALT)
			Floating market > Shalimar Garden
25-Aug (Sat)	Srinagar	Kargil	Srinagar -  Sonmarg(Alt 8694) – Drass( Alt 10170)  - Kargil (Alt 8858) (HALT)	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	208 Kms
			Enjoy the vistas enroute
			Have late meal at Drass is you are a vegetarian as sometimes it gets difficult to find veg. food at Kargil
			About 8 Hrs drive, depend upon the traffic movement at Zozila and breaks you take in between
26-Aug (Sun)	Kargil	Zanskar	Kargil - Zanskar – Zansakar – Padum (HALT)	5:00 AM	5:00 PM	231 Kms
27-Aug (Mon):	Zanskar	Kargil	(PADUM) - Zanskar - Kargil (HALT)	5:00 AM	5:00 PM	231 Kms
28-Aug (Tue):	Kargil	Leh	Kargil – Mulbek (10826) – Hansikot (11925) > Fatu La (13517) > lamayuru (11482) > Khaltso (10269) > Nimmu ( 10369) > Leh (10500)(HALT)	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	227 Kms
			Cover Mulbekh Maitrey, Lamayuru Moanstery, Lunar Landscapes
			On the way -  Gurudwara Pather Sahib, Magnetic Hills, Confluence at Nimmu
			About 9-10 Hrs drive, , depending upon the breaks you take in between
29-Aug (Wed):	Leh	Leh	Stay in Keh (car service, Get Permits, roam around in LEH, Shopping etc) (HALT)
			Local sightseeing include Namgyal Gompa, Leh Palace, Shanti Stupa, Shankar Gompa, Main Market, Hall of Fame, Spituk Gompa, Changspa Road Stroll in evening
30-Aug (Thu):	Leh	Tur Tok	Leh – KHARDUNGLA (Alt 18380)  > KHALSAR > DISKIT (Alt 10310) > THOISE > Hunder (Alt 14271)>  CHANGMAR > BUKDANG > > Tur Tok (17608) (HALT)	5:00 AM	5:00 PM	205 Kms
			NUBRA (17372)
			Head for Nubra Valley and stay overnight at Hunder / Diskit
			On the way enjoy a cup of soup at Highest Motorable Pass (as claimed) Khardung La . Diskit has monasteries with tallest lord Buddha statue and Hunder has sand dunes and bacterian camel safari
			About 5-6 Hrs drive, depending upon the breaks you take in between and at Khardung La
31-Aug (Fri):	Turtuk	Pangong TSO	Turtok – (Return to Satti) – PANAMIK (10442) > SUMUR > > KHALSAR >  AGAM> WARI LA  Tathok > Sakti>   Karu (REFUEL) ( 211 Kms)	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	333 Kms
			Karu > SHAKTI > CHANG LA (17598)> DURBUK >  Tangtse (14500) > Spangmik (334 Kms) ->Man->Merak (353) ->Chushul ( 378) – ( + war memorial  382 kms) > (Rezang La War Memorial 394 Kms)>
			Junction – take right (412 kms) > Dungti ( 435 Kms) > (junction – take Right (444 Kms) > junction @470 –Left Turn> Sumur (555 Kms)
			Sumur > Junction – Left turn (85 Kms)> Mahe junction @ 100 > Junction @ 103 kms -  Left turn > Junctuion @ 115 Kms > Kygar Tso (137 Kms) > Nyoma (472) Hanley- (HALT)
			Sumur has a famous monastery to check out and Panamik has hot water springs
1-Sept (Sat)	Pangong TSO	Henley				204 KMS
2-Sept (Sun):	Henley	Tso Moriri	Hanley >Nyoma->Mahe->Tso Moriri. (HALT)	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	173 KMS
3-Sep	TSO Moriri	Keylong	Tso Moriri – Tso Kar - Pang/sarchu/Keylong (HALT)	5:00 AM	7:00 PM	451 KMS (Deviated route)/
(Mon)			Try to start early in the day so that you reach Sarchu where the accommodation options are better than Pang . Overnight at Sarchu or Pang About 11-12 Hrs drive, depending upon the breaks you take in between			217 KMS From Main road (Leh-Manali)
4 Sept :	Keylong	RoopNagar	Keylong – Rothang PASS -Manali- Roopnagar	5:00 AM	3:00 PM	362 kms
(Tue)			On the way cover Suraj Tal, Deepak Tal which are on the road sides only . About 11-12 Hrs drive (Till Manali) , depending upon the breaks you take in between and of course the mess at Rohtang Pass
5 Sept :	Roopnagar	Mumbai	Roopnagar - Jaipur-mumbai- (NO HALT)
(Wed)
6 Sept (Thu)	Mumbai	Bangalore	Mumbai - Belgaum-Bangalore.

Chapter 2: D Day in waiting..

LAST 2 WEEKS

I got my leaves approved a month back before the trip and our preparation started with drawing a checklist from various sources on the net. It took a couple of days for us to arrive at an exhaustive list of things to be done before our trip. The list was floating around on the mails for some time until all of us had put in our piece of brain in making the list complete.

The first thing that we purchased was 3 JERRY CANS from a street hawker in PEENYA INDUSTRIAL AREA. The separate chapter on the preparation would be dealt at the end of the travelogue for new travelers. As the days passed by, the list kept getting more and more complete and we had last 3 things in our list that was not reaching any headway.  We decided to raid JC Road as a last resort. We were successful in picking the TOE ROPE from Reliance AutoZone and the search in JC Road was futile for the Toeing RING. A flash in the mind….we realized that it may have come in as a component in our car maintenance kit. A deep search for the same yielded positive result. Kaiyalli beNNe iTTukonDu tuppakke huDukida hAge!! One of the surprising tick in our list was the System G (Fuel additive) that we were searching was available in a store in JC ROAD.

 LAST WEEK

With 8 days to go and my excitement levels at an all time high. Our preparation calendar was in lot full swing. Rushing back from office at 4.30 to start working on purchases and fitness between 7.30 – 8.30.

 The week was spent in packing food and clothes. As an unwritten agreement, we had to ensure that our luggage did not exceed the space available for packing our luggage in the Dikki of the car. As we realized on the day of travel, we indeed had excess luggage. The first one to be dropped was the Jerry can (count down to 2 from 3). Avinash was broad hearted to accommodate some of our heavy luggage in his car.

The bowl full of excitement is already spilling over. Such rigorous preparation was indeed required for an odyssey that we embarked for the first time. I think by now you've probably figured the math of the trip. So before I dwell any further and bore to death anyone else taking the effort to read this, let me explain the route. It’s a 9000 km ride down, crossing 7 states in first 7 days (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir) (that’s what the Google map shows), over 19 nights and 20 days ending back in Bangalore, making it an average of a leisurely 1000+km/day until Punjab and a leisurely drive of 250 KNS per day in the Himalayan region. Night halts along the route were scheduled for Punjab, Himachal and Kashmir destinations.

What makes the whole journey worth it has some breathtaking scenery for company. Riding along cliffs on one side with a drop to the ocean below on the other, very few experiences come even close. The scenery is truly wrapped around you. It does make for one monumental journey. Secondarily it’s the destination itself......Kashmir. I really don't need to write about that now, do I? The ride this year involves just 2 cars. A formidable SCORPIO of Avinash and Our very own MARUTI DEZIRE (being tested for its limits). I hoped Maruti guys give us some free services (or at least discount) for the photos which we are going to share with them. With time I'm hoping the tribe increases and not the Mom's blood pressure. But we were hooked, its going to be love at first ride. I don't know how soon the next updates going to be but if you're still interested; you're definitely going to find a lot more to read in the days to come.

So here is our plan as refined by Sri HVK. HVK needs no introduction to highway enthusiasts... However, for the audience of other category, He is a phenomenon by himself. Once cannot replicate the knowledge (call it HUMAN GPS) or the dedication to help travelers who are novice to new vistas. He spends 24 hrs a day tracking his mentees on G-LAT (Google Latitude) and I don’t think he has time for sleeping! If you are more interested to get in touch with a movement called HVK, visit him on the Facebook / Net (Details at the end of the travelogue).

Chapter 1: The Prelude....

The Prelude…

My mind was tiring faster than normal in line with what my Facebook status (Excited, anxious (keeping fingers crossed for a good weather)..... experiencing multitude of emotions on getting LEHed in 24 hrs.. All set for a 9000 KM Himalayan Odyssey on SWIFT DEZIRE :) ) might say, I was counting down the days to the drive. No night has passed without a scary dream of adventure on the Himalayan terrain. This does make the wait seem a lot longer especially when you consider, that the actual bit of adventure (a 20 day drive is far too short compared to the wait itself). Adventure is out there and u need to find it, the chance that it will come looking for you at your office desk is highly unlikely. You can be a couch potato all your life and watch the world go by on your 50" LED TV programmed to Discovery HD  (like ONE CAR TOO FAR / Ice Road Truckers - India )but trust me it doesn't really cut it.

The very thought of Ladakh came to our minds in various points in time. 2 colleagues (Prashanth Kumar M and Pavaman M) in 3 trips had already filled the mind with blue skies. But their trip was on their bikes and I was very clear that I needed to go by car and not by bike.

The final kindle came in from our very own Avinash Madan, who did this circuit in 2011. The moment I saw the pics collection from Satish Bandi sometime during September 2011, we both decided to do this circuit in 2012. I had planned my long leave immediately and had communicated to my manager about my non availability for 3 weeks during Aug / Sept 2012 way back in Oct 2011. The thought was still in hibernation until June 2012. One fine day Satish told me that Avinash has planned a LADAKH trip this Aug, my immediate response was “I’m IN“. Thus the first affirmative action had yielded the multitude of thoughts for next actions. How to convince the family? How to travel? Which vehicle? What budget? And a very subtle question… Are we capable?

The first task of convincing people at home was a daunting one to begin with. We had to use the pictures from Avinash’s previous trip was a good tool to convince that the adventure was within our capability limits and we are not taking up any undue adventure and risking our lives. The same was a similar concern at office too. As my daughter would miss the class, my wife was not in a mood to spoil her classes and join us. However, she was magnanimous to wish us a happy journey with a small sponsorship too.

 Bandi started off with a search for a right lens. Though landed up with 10 -22 Lens for his NIKON D3100, he was looking out for options of whether to lend or buy. As the results were tempting, he just decided to pick one and he requested his friend to get a lightning shipment from AMAZON. The lens made it to Bangalore right at the time when we had to start for the trip.

 DJ had an immediate approval from his family. Many were thrilled too as he was taking leave from Office !!! In the last 12 years of his working… he had never gone on such a long leave, and he planning for leave itself made history in his office. He was pretty excited and started preparing for KT at his office for his colleagues to handle his responsibilities in his absence.

 Most of the time since me and Satish travel by the same bus, we kept on discussing all possibilities for our trip and one fine day we met Avinash, to get a rough map, schedule and preparation tips for this trip. It was one hell of a meeting where we almost bounced with a lot of information that could not be remembered. Some jotted down notes was the only source of memory for that meeting. Avinash had also promised us to share his copies of the maps that he referred during his last trip. In fact each turn on the circuit was etched in his mind as we realized later during the trip.

Trying to locate the route on Google maps seems to be as futile an attempt as looking for intelligent life on another planet, though I'm sure their silence on the matter is evidence enough of their intelligence. Coming back to the point, I guess we're just going to be fully using all our gadgets (Courtesy Bandi and DJ) it as it comes and hopefully document the ride a lot better. Which would involve tracking the route on GPS (iPHONE ?), photo/video documentations  (CANON , NIKON , PENTAX) and each crew member’s photo and video log at the end of a day’s ride?  We also prepared ourselves with a portable voice recorder to record our memoirs by voice as we very well knew we would not have energy to pen / key down the travelogue. This should be fun and I can hardly wait. 

Ladakh Expedition-2012

Some go to Work .....Others go to Ladakh  and WE GOT LEHed...

Coming up !!

Travelogue of our first ever adventure tour of LADAKH