Rumble through the passes

 

Rumble through the passes:

Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations! (the signboards say)

Your head within the helmet, with just a whiff of air sneaking through and making its way past the balaclava to your nose,

It's just you and the mighty Himalayas, and the rumbling sound of the engine and the gear shifts,

And the heartbeat at every curve with the valley as a witness.

Blacktop and offroad, soaring to dizzying heights.

Windblast through the air vents, wading through dust and ice,

Blazing sun to freezing cold

The real deal is the passes,

Shinkula gave us the creeps,

Baralachala was a massive build-up and did not deceive - through Suraj Tal and snow,

Sarchu was a dustbowl,

Gata Baba was watching as to why these guys didn't quench my thirst, but still let the newbies pass,

Nakeela and Lachalung La were gentle bystanders,

It suddenly seemed like the path had fangs by the time we reached Pang,

More plains were like an F1 track (notwithstanding the horrific GoPro video of a previous BMW crash)

Then came the gamechanger that elevated the bike ride to another level - as it brought out the survival instincts, raw survival instincts.

Tanglang La waited for us patiently and when the time came, gave us a proper churn - Full on frontal visceral attack!

Through engines and exhausts, and out of the world, kind, truck drivers, and chais and maggis, not to mention stuttering teeth and shivering body and near frostbite fingers, the pass let us go!

On sheer exhilaration of having survived and adrenaline, and with near-empty tanks we entered Ladakh and stuttered to Leh!

Nordon's cordon took us through Magnetic Hill, castles, anthills, thukpas, Skyu, Gurgur chais, Chang and Dzos.

The mighty Khardung La was surprisingly gentle but then came the real offroad after North Pullu!

Offroad that put the exhausts to shame!

With the inspiring story of a German hand, we entered the beautiful Nubra!

The soothing sound of the streams across the Retreat and the Stone hedge was matched by the Ladakhi folk dance.

Double hump camel and sand dunes flagged our return back!

Through Whiskey and Brandy bridges, breathtaking vistas, and the NehruKund bridge (!), we landed in the Ride Inn,

To inspiring tales of life-changing bike trips,

Like the one we just had!

Rumble through the passes!

Fast changing landscapes - snow, sand, stones

On the way to Shinkula

Photo idea credit - Sid

Companion through the passes

Sangam at Leh

Just after Khardung La

Of prayer flags, mountains and bikes

So much more to do and look forward to!

The saviours!