For Mom, Love Steve

After conquering the Khardung La, I stayed for two more nights in Ley, partially to rest a bit, but also to prepare for the upcoming ride to Manali. Basically, the road is 460 kilometers with about 270 kilometers of it a barren wasteland of high snow passes, crap roads, river crossings, no petrol, and only a couple of temporary tent outposts set up for the truck convoys that make there way to and from Manali/Ladakh for the five months that the passes are open.

I did keep an eye out for other riders so that possibly I could go with someone else, but I heard about one other guy who had just left. Oh well, I figured I had made it that far alone, and Schwinn was running okay, so what’s a guy to do. I had less than a month to go on my Visa and still a decent distance before getting to Nepal.
[read on]

Michael and Edith’s bike.

Nissan and Roni’s ride.

The bikes at the top. Home of the world’s highest gift shop as well.

I made it.

The snow was deep at the top. Props to the Indian Army for keeping the passes open.

The Nubra Valley.

Schwinn versus Lorry.

Camel chasing.

Prayer rocks.

Artistic shot.

Bactrian camels left over from the days of the Silk Route. Double humpers.

In the dunes.

Got Ice(icles)?

This was a near miss. I was rounding the bend when I came head to head with a big lorry. You can see the little water filled skid mark where I skid into the snow bank. Had I been a second faster, I would have smacked right into the truck in the middle of the water. They are not able to stop as getting going again would have been a problem and it would have locked up the pass. Not a lot of passing room. The days are set for one way traffic but bikes are let through as they are easily run over. I was going up on a down day.

The Ley side road.

Schwin versus Marmot.

The welcome gate during a Free Tibet march. The friends i met at the temple. [Continue reading this entry]

We'll start back up at the top of the Zoji La pass which was the only available road into Ladakh and my second time over. [Continue reading this entry]

One of the claims to fame that Ley has is that it is the gateway to the Nubra Valley and at the base of the mammoth drivable ... [Continue reading this entry]

After the usual top three traveler to traveler questions (1) Where are you from? 2) Where have you been? 3) How long have you been traveling?), which is quickly followed by a questionable look after ... [Continue reading this entry]

I hope you had a great Mom's Day. These are some kids that I met while checking out this old Temple (oldest in Ladakh). They took me through all these secret passage ways ... [Continue reading this entry]

Having conquered the Zoji La Pass a few days prior, which was the only way into the Himalaya lined state, I took off this time fully loaded with saddle bags and as much fuel as ... [Continue reading this entry]

I was really looking forward to this part of my trip as spending the last four months either at the beach or in the heat of central India started to wear a bit. ... [Continue reading this entry]

The good news is that I am still here and still getting free internet. The bad thing is that I will probably be taking off tomorrow morning to start heading towards the mountains. I ... [Continue reading this entry]