Day 6, October 6 2007: Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Fotu La – Kargil

Ever since I’ve been connected to the biking community (a little over a year now), I’ve heard things like “Leh – Kargil is a lovely road, it’s a breeze!!”. What I fail to understand is how can a 20 km stretch be the defining criteria for a 230 kms distance. I kept telling Rohon that this would be an easy day and Rohon could’ve killed me for raising his hopes. The only good patch was the Leh – Nimmu teeny weeny 25 odd km stretch,

which is again followed by dirt tracks and gravel filled mountain roads. We decided not to believe in anything anyone had told us. There were numerous times when cabbies and the locals told us that the roads ahead were good, instead all we got were those dreaded “under construction” gravel and dirt tracks.

The Indus kept us company throughout the route.

It was time we started taking things as they came and not expect too much. Our expectations had only caused disappointment and anguish. As we crossed Fotu La (which is the highest point on the Leh Srinagar Road at 13,647 ft) the landscapes were getting prettier. The games played by the Sun, the clouds and the mountains were simply breathtaking.

All throughout the day, the Avenger’s suspension bled profusely and left stains all the way up to the fuel tank. We were getting worried about the time we had left on us before it would give up. Checked in to Caravan Sarai Hotel, during the twilight hours. Strongly recommended by Bhuwan who was here a month back, it was better than we could’ve asked for. Gulped up the OMR, the hotel caretaker, Mr. Shiv Ram played the perfect host and cooked the best meal of our trip. Amazing Dal Chawal, better than any thing we’d had in the last whole week. While in Manali we learnt that Raid de Himalayas was beginning the next day ex-Shimla and these fellows were scheduled to be in Leh a day after us. Infact their itinerary was running at a day’s lag. All throughout the ride, we were wondering how these guys would end up doing all this, these guys would be running on a tighter schedule, their bodies would go through torture with less resting time, higher speeds and of course at the rate the weather was getting colder, they’d die in the wind chill. We’d been observing the Raid Officials hanging around in Leh since we had arrived. They were to arrive in Kargil the next day and were to stay at the same hotel as ours – Caravan Sarai. Shiv Ram Ji was proud and excited in anticipation of hosting them. Diamox was no longer required as we returned to the warmer areas. But Diamox had done its bit and served us well. I dont know what it would've been like without the regular dosage.


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