Day 10-11-12-13 End Part
Pangong-Drass-Udhampur-Delhi
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The night was very difficult in that tent but night but at the same time it was very satisfying for me. I was very content very satisfied and very happy after scaling my long pending dreams of riding my scooter to Mighty marsimik La Pass at almost 19000 feet very near to China border and a very steep, broken and difficult Road takes you to that high pass of Ladakh.
Next day when I wake up I found Pangong lake foggy and some rain. Weather was very cold gloomy and depressing type, coming out of my Sshed and preparing my scooter was very troublesome।
Around 6 7 a.m in the morning I started my scooter towards Changla pass and found almost 10-15 kilometers road before pass cover with snow. Road was wet and sleeping many vehicles were coming from Leh side and riding scooter was very difficult for me. But somehow I reached Changla top but ddi not stop and saw a crowd going towards Pangong Lake. I did not stop at Changla and keep going towards Karu as I was descending Chang La top someone from a moving Duster car wave towards me and ask me to stop I stop my car and I was happy to see one of my friend Manav Gill and Anil Gupta Sir going towards Lake. It was very nice meeting them and I told them my marsimik adventure after few minutes another friends Vikas Sharma and Reverend Rajdeep Singh Ji also reached there. It was very unexpected small get together near top, we talk for next few minutes and say goodbye to each other and continue towards our respective destinations. I crossed Leh town and kept going towards Lamayuru. I was surprised to see a very smooth plane and pothole free road. my speed was good and I was munching miles very fast. Kids were playing on the road and they wanted to shake hands with me. Around 5 in the evening I reached Lamayuru. I was double minded whether to stop here for night stay or continue towards Kargil.I gathered some courage and again started my ride towards target, few sections between lamayuru and Kargil very bad and slowed me down but somehow I reach Kargil around 8 in the night and straight away went to petrol pump ffor refuelling as I was refuelling, A man on a Bullet bike also entered into the pump and parekd his bike near me and said to me sir,” I saw you today at Pangong Lake lake.” I ask him about his plan for night stay.He said,he is a Kashmiri and he is going to Srinagar due to an emergency. I asked him whether we both can ride towards Drass,he said yes.So on that moonlit night,I spent one of the best 2 hours of my life riding in a shining highway totally empty and silent.It was a very thrilling ride. It was 11 P.M when we reached Drass.My new friend went towards Zozila and I checked into a very dirty hotel room for a price of 500 including mutton rice.
Next morning on 12 June ,I woke up very early and came out of hotel room there was a tea shop I ordered one cup of tea, sorry 2 cup of tea and recharge myself for next tough ride. I left Drass and reached Meenamarg post then came Gumri grasslands .Gumri was Green and there were many nomads huts. It was time to some photography and I clicked some beautiful photograph. Morning was very cold and I reached Zozila and stop for some snacks after spending of an hour I left Zozila Pass and reached Sonmarg. I did not stop there as I was in hurry to reach Srinagar and cross it as early as possible. I reached Srinagar and found it very crowded and took half an hour to cross the city. I was very homesick and wanted to cover as much distance as I could riding through Kashmir Valley and on Jammu Srinagar highway was very lonely but somehow around 7 8 p.m I reached Udhampur and settled into hotel and ordered two beer and one tandoori chicken for removing tiredness of 450 km. I slept peacefully. Next day on 13th June, I came out of the hotel at 4 A.M and started riding towards Pathankot it was around noon when I reached Pathankot I was nearing towards home journey from Pathankot toward home was uneventful but very lonely. Finally after 18 hours I reached my home in Delhi and United with my family. It was a very emotional moment when I finally saw my kids after 13 days of Ladakh ride.I was very weak but very content .Thus came to end of one of the very satisfying ride of my entire scooter riding in which I scaled mighty marsimik la,the Pinnacle of high passes of Ladakh. No scooter has ever reached at such Heights
Thank you friends for reading my blog, thank you for encouraging me and boosting my morale.This journey was a very small part in the bigger journey of my life.I would like to be in constant nomadic state and would love to see unseen places,people,cultures of this world as much as I can.Here comes an end to my Ladakh 2016 Scooter Ride.
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