Zipping across the Himalayas
As an annual trip to Ladakh in the Himalayas, my biking club and I did 3,000 km from New Delhi to Leh via Manali and back.
The roads to Leh are generally open from May to August and the area is snow-covered for the rest of the year. This year the region had no summers, it was a winter following the last, resulting in late and partial opening of the roads.
The Ladakh region is the part of the Himalayas that is very well connected by road network (courtesy Border Road Organisation BRO). Most roads of Ladakh are the highest motorable roads in the world. Like “Khardungla pass” at 18,360 feet is the highest motorable road in the world.
The views in Ladakh are beyond one’s imagination. It is said, if you haven’t been to Ladakh then your imagination just cannot imagine the place.
The very unique pleasurable madness in riding across those mountains is very addictive.
The road from Manali to Leh is one of the most adventurous rides across the world. BRO spends a lot of money and labour on maintaining the roads but the roads are all snow-covered for more than eight months every year and thus they deteriorate.
There are a lot of “water crossings”, called nalas in the local language. Due to extreme height and the intense hilly conditions, building a bridge is nearly impossible, so the traffic has to go through the water which can be upto 3 feet in some places.
The percentage of oxygen in the air at that altitude is quite low and can cause dizziness. On the other hand, the ice-capped mountains; the walls of snow on both sides of the roads are beautiful.
There is no petrol pump from Tandi to Leh that is a stretch of 365 km and one has to carry petrol to cover this distance.
The road to Ladakh is increasingly becoming the most sought after destination by travel enthusiasts across the world.
Ladakh is an extremely beautiful place and it rightfully demands from the tourists to drive responsibly as the roads at this height are dangerous. Ladakh and the roads through the Himalayas have almost no service centres/mechanic workshops or spare part distributors; so one has to very wisely design his trip to this region. It is advisable for first-timers to go with a professional tour club. The trip to Ladakh guarantees nature and adventure to the extreme.
The writer is the owner of The RODS Biking Club
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