Riding the Himalayas, Final thoughts

June 25th, 2022

So ends another amazing trip and I hope to get all the video and photos uploaded in a few weeks onto various platforms.

India was an interesting place full of new sights, sounds and smells unlike those experienced on past trips to other places.

Great people, good food (even if it did not play nice with me) and absolutely stunning scenery (at least outside of the massive, insane cities).

Reached new heights in altitude (possibly the highest I will ever go) and had an adventure of great interest, fun and challenging requirements.

I managed to survive and not kill myself while in some crazy and even somewhat dangerous situations and enjoyed doing it.

Great tour managers and staff and most of the overnight stops were at least of some interest and fun, though a few were a bit miserable, but all part of the adventure.

We rode approximately 1650 kilometers/1026 miles on some crazy roads on some amazing bikes and enjoyed the time spent with some great people, many whom I hope will remain friends in the future.

But after 3 weeks away, I was ready and happy to be home now!

Till the next trip (maybe as soon as next year?)

The full route of the trip

Day 20 - Long flights and arriving home

June 25th, 2022

Once we were airborne I just tried to rest my eyes a bit, was still quite tired after the previous weeks adventure.

The dinner service started soon after we took off, so I watched a film to keep me awake. (The Kingsman)

When that was done, I tried to watch another film (EuroTrip), but I think I slept through most of the second half of the film.

After I awoke to use the restroom, I decided to try another film instead of sleeping again.  So watched another movie (Uncharted) which I managed to stay awake for.

Around this time they started a breakfast service, so while they were doing that I started a 4th movie to keep me going (The Lost City) and managed to finish it as well.

I was finally getting tired though, so put on a music channel and fell asleep during that hour long music session.  I dozed in and out for the rest of the trip till the snack service came through in the last hour of the flight.

Plane finally landed in Montreal after a 15 hour flight.

Flight Route home

We deplaned fairly quickly and then had a short walk up a corridor.  Here the passengers that would be going on to the USA were separated and had to wait in a roped off section of the hallway for about 20-25 minutes while everyone else continued on to the border control area and into the next phase of their travels.

After everyone from the plane heading to the USA was gathered we were lead down a hallway to a door which was now opened and they scanned all of our boarding passes and asked about the number of bags we had checked.

We next went through a quick security check of our bags and a metal detector walk through.

Next they scanned our passes again (actually the third time now) and went on into customs area.

Here they asked a few simple questions about our destination, origin, purpose of travel and about our checked bags.  Then we were cleared into the gate hallway.

I stopped at this point for a restroom break, then found an empty gate to sit in for a bit.  I had a 13 hour layover here, so was going to be a long day!  I ate a bag of chips I had in my carry on and checked the app to see if the gate had been updated on there as the boarding pass did not list it.  I then got onto the Wi-Fi for a bit, then walked down to find a place to eat while the hall was still somewhat empty of people as I figured it would pick up later in the day.

Had a good sized breakfast while I wrote in the journal to get it current.  Figure I will sit for awhile and read or play online and keep drinking refills.  At some point I will go down to the gate and just sit there for a few hours till I decide to eat again for a late lunch/early dinner.

After sitting for a bit at the restaurant I did walk across the hall to the empty gate there and sat for several hours.  I think I even dozed off a bit now and then and read in my magazine or played on the internet.

Later I went back to the same restaurant to have an early dinner (it was about 2:30 p.m.)  I then again sat around drinking refills for awhile and read or played online.  About 5:00 p.m. I left to find my actual gate (it was just down the hall a bit) and sat there till the plane boarded.

That time came and went, the departure time came and went and no information came from the airline other than the plane (which had been sitting there for over 2 hours now) was being cleaned.

Departure time was updated from 7:30 to 8:00 at around 7:45.  We started boarding at 8:00, so departure was around 8:30, which was roughly an hour late.

Flight was 5 hours long, and I mostly slept other then a few restroom breaks, only waking for the final 30-40 minutes of the flight.  There was no meal on this flight (well, I could have bought a meal, but not paying for airline food!)

Finally landed in Phoenix and was able to get off the plane quickly as I was only in row 15 this time.  Found my way to baggage claim and then waited about 25 minutes for my bag to show up.  I then went out the door and walked a short distance to the private car service I had booked to pick me up who was waiting and had been communicating with me via text since I landed.

Took about 30 minutes to drive me home as it was now almost midnight.  I took a quick shower and was ready for bed then.  I would deal with unpacking and cleaning up the messes the cats left me tomorrow.

See next entry for some final thoughts.

Day 19 - Final Day in India

June 24th, 2022

Woke with the alarm at 8:00 a.m.  Andy was not in the room, so assumed he went to connect with Mark this morning.

I packed a few things, then found a message on Facebook that he was having breakfast with Mark.

I responded that I would join them shortly, but in the time I took to shower and dress, they did not respond and were no longer there when I arrived.  Figured they went to Marks room, so just had breakfast myself and came back to room.  Andy's stuff was still in the room as well.

I checked the pool deck, lobby and called Marks room with no response.  It was now 10:00 a.m. and I had to check out of the room shortly, but not sure what to do with Andy's bags?

I went to the front desk to find out the latest I could check out.  Normal time was actually noon, but I could extend it till 1:00 p.m. if need.  During the discussion I decided in the end to just book the room for another night at the $120 cost even though I would waste about half that.

As I did not have the option to store stuff with Mark since I could not find them, I thought I would rather sit in the hotel room for the day then sit around the airport all day.  (My flight did not depart till around midnight that evening).

So once done I came back to the room to check in with the airline (a broken process that did not work very well on a cell phone) and then I eventually just fell asleep again.

I awoke around 3:30 p.m. and noticed that Andy was back at the hotel with Mark, so he came down to get his bags moved into Marks room. (They did not leave till the next morning).  Guess they had left to explore central Delhi during the day and for some reason did not try to wake me to see if I would have been interested.  Not sure if I would have gone since my original plan had been to go to airport around noon, only changed those plans when I could not find them to move Andy's stuff.

I planned to have dinner around 6:00 p.m. and then leave the hotel around 8:00 p.m. and head to the airport.  Flight currently is at 12:30 a.m., so hopefully things will go smoothly with the check in process and bag check and the security lines and such.

I just played on the internet till about 6:00, then went down to reception to request a taxi at 8:00.

I then went to the restaurant to have dinner.  I sent a message to Andy and Mark that I was there, so they could stop by when ready if they chose too.   I waited at the table for about 15 minutes and had no response, so just ordered my food since they appeared to not be joining me.

I was just finishing my meal around 7:00 when they responded. They had been up in the pool, but would be down in a bit.  I waited for them to arrive and they ordered while we talked until I had to leave to get ready for my taxi ride.

Went up to the room and grabbed my bags, then went down to the lobby to check out.  They pulled my final bill and took my card and then added the cost of the taxi at this time.

My bags were loaded into the taxi while I finished paying the bill and then I went out and got into it myself.

Was a quick drive to the airport where I grabbed my bags and went inside.  I could not see any check in lines for the airlines?

I finally noticed that they were all in long desks going down one side, but there was no signage I could see, not until you were like 10 feet from the desk.

I finally asked the information desk where my airline was and they pointed me to Aisle D (I had been dropped of near Aisle M).

Walked down and found the Air Canada lines, packed full of course.  Stood in line about 10 minutes and a guy came down the line checking vaccine status cards.  Then another guy pulled me from the line as they had opened a new line on Aisle C, so he walked me over to that one and I ended up being the first one in line.

Got checked in all the way through and the bag checked in as well.  Then had boarding passes printed for all flight legs.

I left to find the next stop which would be the immigration line.  Most of those were packed as well, but found one that was only about half full.  Only then did I notice my phone was missing.  I had given it to the ticket agent to show the ticket info on the Air Canada app and he had not returned it.  

I had to walk all the way back to the other end of the building and get it.  Thankfully it was still sitting on his desk beside the computer keyboard.

Went back to immigration area and found the lines were now even longer, but I went all they way toward the end of the area and found one that was again only about half full.  Took about 30 minutes to get through the line, but had no issues getting through the process.

Next was a short walk to the security lines.  That process took about 10-15 minutes.  Carry on bags went through the x-ray and I walked through the metal detector and had a full wand pass over as well.

Then, just like in Leh, they had to inspect the camera bag due to the amount of electronics in it, but they were good with just the visual inspection and did not need to scan it a second time.

All that done, I left the security area and walked along a path past all the duty free shops to the food/shopping court where I could finally stop and use the restroom!  Then I went onward and found the gate hallway and walked along till I found my gate.

Once there, I sat down, sorted a few items in my bags, put my phone on the charger and then wrote in the journal up till current time.  Still had 2.5 hours before departure, so will just hang out and kill some time reading or something.

Ended up dozing in and out for most of that time.  Actually, a girl that had sat down around same time I did woke me up when the boarding call started.  I ran off to use the restroom since I was in the last boarding group, then got into the random standing lines waiting to be called up.

Eventually got boarded.  Thankfully the large plane had a decent amount of overhead storage space, plus many of the Indian passengers had checked all their bags and only had small backpacks which they seemed to prefer keeping near their feet.

It is odd that most of the international flights never seem to have the overhead storage issues that plaque nearly every US domestic flight I have ever taken in the last decade.

Flight was ready to take off only about 10 minutes late, so it was now Saturday and we were heading into the air!

Will continue in next entry as it is now a new day.

Day 18 - Forts and Mausoleum

June 23rd, 2022

Woke a bit earlier today to be ready for a day trip we booked the last day in Leh.  I booked a tour for Andy and I to spend a good part of the day with.

We were picked up by a taxi driver at 7:00 a.m. at the hotel and driven over to the train station where he assisted us in finding the correct train, coach and seats.  (He also provided the PDF tickets, which I was able to photograph with my own phone since I had no signal to do anything online).

Train left on time and took us on a roughly 2 hour ride without any stops to Agra.  We were in a first class air conditioned coach and was served a simple breakfast onboard which was included with the ticket purchase.

On the train

We were met on the Agra station platform by our tour guide who would take care of us the rest of the day.

He took us out of the station to a waiting car and we then drove off to our first stop for the day, the Taj Mahal!

We were dropped at the west gate entry and walked into the outer area of the complex.

Arriving at the site (0:17)

The guide gave us a very detailed history of the place and the background and significant details of the various components of the compound and its buildings.

Forecourt and Main gate

We visited several parts of the outer gardens and the various gates before moving into the main complex where the main tomb and its gardens are located.

Taj Mahal

We were not allowed to video in the main complex, but photos were still allowed.  We walked parts of the garden and around the central fountains and did a few photos from specific vantage points he recommended.  We then reached the main platform where the Taj and the mosque and other buildings form the backside of the complex.

We entered the main entry for the Taj platform.  We then had to put on covers for our shoes so as not to scuff the marble floors.  We now ascended the 22 steps to the now fully marble construction.  We moved around the front part of the building to examine several of the fine details and learn about the construction methods used to create them.

Detail work

Next we entered the tomb itself (and now photography was also not allowed) to learn more of the history of how it was built, and the install of the tombs of Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal and later his own tomb as well.

After exploring the various features of the interior, we exited out the back door and then learned about the never completed (and barely started) Black Taj which was to be built on the other bank of the river and connected via a bridge.

Due to political intrigue by his sons, the project was abandoned after only a small bit of wall and some small towers were built.

We made our way back up to the gate we came in from and exited.  We then were able to grab a ride on a cart back to the main exit back to the city.

On our way back to front (Infra-red image)

Back in the car we drove a short distance to the workshops of the 14th generation of craftsman whose ancestors worked on the original construction and have maintained the parts they did since then.  This particular family worked with the fine detail artworks, carving the marble and embedding the semi-precious stones to create the decorative sections and the writing's on the walls.

The design, cutting, engraving of the cavity and then gluing the stones into the marble pieces was explained and shown to us by the owner of the shop and some of his workers.  Today the family works on preservation of the Taj as well as other UNESCO sites in Europe that were built with similar methods, but the skills were lost in Europe over the centuries.  So they have come to the Indian families who still practice and pass on these skills to assist with those sites now.

They of course also create modern pieces of artwork to sell that range from small objects to life size statues and full sized table tops.

I was not planning to buy anything, but then my eye caught a medium sized piece that was a table with a chess board integrated into it, all marble with amazing shell and stones inserted to create the design pattern around the board.   The purchase included a custom built wooden stand for the marble top and marble cut chess pieces in a simple case. 

It was not cheap, but was still a good price for what it is, and the shipping cost to send it back to the USA was covered by the Indian government due to some agreement they had.  So I bought it, and arranged to have it shipped once the stand was built.

My new chess board.

After this we went over to a local restaurant (Bon Sizzlers) for lunch (included in the tour price).  The place was really nice and located in the basement level of the Hotel Parador.  They started us with serving various appetizer plates until we told them to stop. (they would keep brining new ones out as we finished the previous).  Once we stopped those, we then were able to visit the main buffet, which they took time to explain all the various items and also pointed out the desert bar for when we were done with the meal.

Entrance to lunch restaurant

After lunch we next visited the Agra Fort which was built in the century before the Taj Mahal and started by Shah Jahan's grandfather and expanded as time went on, much of it done by Shah Jahan himself.  There were later modifications by other rulers and also by the British during their time in the country.  Today a good part of the fort is still used by the Indian military for various functions.

Entrance to Agra Fort

Only about 1/4 of the fort is open for tourism, but that part includes the amazing views of the nearby Taj Mahal just down the river a ways.

View toward the Taj Mahal

We explored the plazas, gardens, palaces and other components of the fort which included some amazing architecture and detail in design.

At this point the tour was basically done, but as Andy had been talking with the guide in detail about many of the British sites around Agra and the parts they played in the local history, the guide decided to stop at a site on the way back to the train station that had some history to it.  It was a small section of a bungalow palace used by visiting monarchs and heads of state over the last 100 years of British rule, and even some after Indian independence.

Today part of the building is occupied by a bank, but the other part is occupied by a family that has been associated with it since the mid 1800's and are artisans of metal and stone to make jewelry and other art objects.  They also work in the area of embroidery, and made much of the finery for the royals, and other persons of the state as well as for the animal transports (think Elephants) that were still used at that time.

We started by visiting the museum onsite that contains many old photographs and documents signed or belonging to various heads of state (including the Queen of England) and even several celebrities who have visited over the years that family has been there.  Also many of the pieces of art they had done that were part of the families personal collection were on display, both metal and fabric pieces.

The artistry and skill in both of these pursuits was amazing.  While I have no use for jewelry, I did admire many of the pieces on display in the shop for people to purchase.  I did end up buying a few cut stones that were cool looking, though no clue what I will do with them and probably a dumb purchase, but did it anyway.

I then visited the embroidery store and much of that work was just amazing.  Mostly wall tapestry or table covers and other similar things.  The costs were a bit high, but still very reasonable for the level of skill, but I was already spending more on this trip than planned, so decided I did not need anything this trip, but maybe the next time I visit?

We left this place for the train station to catch our train back to Delhi.  We made it just in time to board the train (guess I spent too much time looking at stuff) and had a relaxing ride on the way back.  We were seated in front of two women who we had seen on the same train that morning on the way over, also taking a tour.  We had actually exchanged a few words with them that morning as we both met our guides on the platform.

Both were from South Africa and were in Delhi for a business conference, but had a few days to spend on personal stuff as well.  Andy and I spent most of the trip back talking with them about various topics.

Once back in Delhi we were met by the same driver who dropped us off that morning.  He took us to the car and we (slowly due to much worse traffic now) drove back to the hotel.

After a quick stop in the room to refresh, sort and pack a few things we went down for dinner at the restaurant and then returned to the room after the meal.

Mark was now at the hotel as he had travelled back from Leh today, but he was not responding to our contact attempts, so we figured he must have fallen asleep.

I spent some time getting the days events in the journal and Andy fell asleep.  Now I think I am ready for bed myself.

Good night!

******More Day 18 Photos******

Day 17 - Back to Delhi

June 22nd, 2022

Was up at around 7:00 a.m.  Showered and dressed, then went down for breakfast.  After I checked over the room one last time, I brought bags down to lobby and checked out of the room.  I verified the taxi time and paid the fee to the hotel (who would pay the driver when they arrived).

Sat in the lobby talking with some of the others while we all waited for taxi's

Jerry left first at around 8:15, then Dick, Dave and Scott left about 9:30 a.m.   Andy had left early before I came down, and I did not hear when the two Australians were leaving (Robert and Simon).

Mark and Milos are both going to stay another night in Leh, so said my goodbyes to them (I might see Mark again on Friday as he is staying at same hotel in Delhi that I booked for myself and will be letting Andy stay with me tonight and Thursday night.)  At around 10:00 I went out and got into my taxi.

Taxi ride was the usual traffic and arrived at the airport in about 15 minutes.  Walked from the parking into the secure area, then at the door to the building they checked ID's and tickets before letting us inside.  Once inside had to have all the bags scanned and then any bags that will be checked were tagged.

I next found the check in counter and waited in line a bit.  At the counter they checked me in since I had not been able to do so online, printed ticket, and weighed and checked in my 2 bags (only allowed 1 carry on, so had to check the backpack as well).  During that process he let me know I was overweight on the bags (something I expected).  But to help me out, he tied my backpack straps to the duffel handgrip, making it 1 bag instead of 2 I guess, but it saved me money that way by only paying the overweight charge on 1 bag instead of that charge and a 2nd bag.

Cost me 1,100 rupee (approximately $15) for the checked bag and then they handed me the boarding pass and got my change.  Also gave me a tag to attach to my carry on bag.

I then entered the line for the security checkpoint and was stopped almost immediately by a girl with a form I needed to fill out first (as a foreigner).  I stopped in an open section of the queueing area out of the way and did that, then gave it back to her.

Reached the security checkpoint quickly, very short line.  Bag was x-rayed and I walked through the metal detector and also a check with a wand.

My bag had too many electronics in it, so it confused the x-ray scanner.  They pulled me aside and asked me to open the bag and then had me remove about half the stuff into a plastic tub and looked over the rest of the stuff visually.  They then scanned the bag and tub and returned them to me and everything was good, so just had to repack the bag at that point.

Once repacked I walked a short distance to the waiting area for the 3 gates at this airport and found a place to sit (was very busy here).  The plane boards at 11:50 a.m., so will just have to listen as there are no signs or indications as to which of the 3 gates will be used or what flights were boarding at any given time.  But all gates are within a small area about 100 feet across, so guessing they may only board 1 gate at a time?  Hopefully will not be too confusing.

Leh Airport gate area.

I wrote in the journal while waiting to burn time and then will just sit the rest of the time and people watch.

At the airport (0:46)

So while I was waiting I overheard a call for a flight on the same airline I was flying (Spice Jet) but could not hear the details as the sound quality was horrible and the noise level in the room was quite high, which combined with my hearing issues in high level white noise, made it nearly impossible for me to decipher what was being said in heavily accented English.

Since my boarding time was still 30 minutes away, I assumed it was another flight, but after sitting for 10 more minutes I had a nagging feeling, so I got up and went over to the line and asked a group of guys in line what flight that line was for.

Turns out it was my flight which had started boarding early!  So I got into line.  Line moved fairly quickly to the gate entry where they scanned the boarding pass and I went through the gate.

On the other side we were being loaded onto shuttle busses just outside the door which would drive us out to the plane.  We waited in line here again, as they only had 1 bus at a time.  I had to wait for 2 busses to fill before I got on one, the first was pulling out as I entered the room and the 2nd filled up when I was like 1 person away, so had to wait for the 3rd bus.

The shuttle drove us out to the plane which was on a side standing where we then walked up the stairs to get into the plane (and we actually boarded from the rear of the plane).  I did manage to get overhead space for my bag, but had to go 3 rows in front of my seat to find it, so was a bit of a hassle to then back up to my seat.

Flight took off early as well and was just a normal flight, nothing special.  Got some good views of the surrounding mountain peaks before the cloud layer got in the way and blocked much of the view except for a few short periods (which I took advantage of with both photos and videos since I had the window seat.  Girl in the aisle seat had me do some video with her phone as well).

Looking down at the peaks (0:51)

Himalayas from 35,000 feet.

Landed in Delhi soon after, though I did fall asleep I think on the flight for a bit, so made time go quicker.  Got off the plane via stairs again and loaded onto another shuttle to drive over to the terminal.  Then waited about 25 minutes for my checked bag to show up.

I left the terminal, but I could not see any information on getting over to the metro train, which would have taken me to the hotel station for about $1, so I just grabbed a private car service/taxi to take me which cost me 1000 rupee (about $13).

Took 10 minutes by car and I was there.  Staying at the Roseate House hotel this time.  Went through the security check to get into the hotel (and again had a security check to get into parking lot as well) and went to check in.  While I was doing that I heard Andy's voice further down the desk and got his attention (he was asking about if I had checked in yet).  That made it easy to add him to the room (though it did raise the price some).  They were even able to change the room as I had originally booked one with a single bed, but now we had two beds.

Hotel courtyard.

We went up to the room, organized our stuff, cleaned/refreshed up a bit and then went to find lunch at one of the hotel restaurants.  After a great meal, went back to the room and tried to find something on TV, but we were both tired and Andy fell asleep soon after.   I sat up and watched Deadpool and a few random shows as I changed channels.

We then both went back down for dinner later, then back to the room.  I updated the journal and then prepared what I would need for our excursion tomorrow and then went to bed.

Good night!

******More Day 17 Photos******

Day 16 - Final Ride day

June 21st, 2022

I woke up way too early today, but decided to just get ready instead of trying to fall back asleep.

Got my gear on and packed up the misc. stuff and then went to get some tea, only to find I was locked in the tent.  The doors latch from the outside and cannot be opened from the inside if that happens.

Andy had left earlier and latched the door, trapping me inside!

After a few minutes of not seeing anyone outside, I tried to remove the bolts holding the latch on and while the nuts came off, the bolts were too tight in the wood door to slide out.  I tried to jerk the door hard a few times, but no movement.

However, a guy loading a car outside about then heard and came over to open the latch on the outside of the door.

Finally got over for my tea and also had some breakfast.  Then retrieved bag from tent and dropped it off at the truck to be loaded.  I then loaded up the bike and was ready for the ride back to Leh now.

Moring at Pangong Tso

The return trip retraced the route exactly, so nothing new road wise to see.  We left early enough to avoid the worst of the traffic, just the usual taxi's/trucks and a few military convoy's (I think these occur daily).  Weather was nice today, so no issues with going over Changla pass again.

Made good time back to Leh with very few stops, we were all just tired and ready to get off the bikes I think.

Over the pass and on the way down to Leh

Once back at the hotel I sat in the lobby a bit and then got a key for a room and cleaned up.  Had a room to myself again tonight.  Thankfully the truck with the bags had also made good time and was onsite, so was able to change into my camp clothes to be more comfortable.

Spent the next hour repacking and getting bags ready for the flight back to Delhi tomorrow.  Sadly the new bag I had bought was not as big as I had hoped, so still needed to fill the backpack with a few things, but it was big enough to get the boots in , so will be able to wear my shoes on the plane now instead of the boots.

When done, I went down to the lobby again to do some online stuff and talk with any of the guys, though most were still in rooms and a few that had not gone to the lake were out riding for a last bit of fun before they picked up the bikes later tonight.

I returned to my room about 3:00 p.m. and laid down for a nap.  Dinner for the whole group was going to be at a local restaurant and we would head out from the lobby about 6:30 p.m., so was able to get a good rest in before that.

Around 6:00 p.m. I went down and hung out in the lobby while everyone slowly trickled in.  We then walked over to that nice pizza place we had been to a few days earlier - La Pizzaretta.

Rahul, the tour leader, was treating the entire group and crew for the tour ending/farewell dinner.  We all got seated and ordered drinks and food and then talked in our smaller groups as the night went on.

Final night farewell dinner.

A few would get up and move to different tables, and a few would stand and address the group as a whole, like Milos who had collected a tip kitty again to give to the remaining support crew.  I again gave 1000 rupee to that collection. 

Also ended up having a conversation with a woman sitting alone at the next table section (we sat on the ground here at a low table, and each table group had a low wall around it) which was next to me.

Do not recall exactly how the conversation started, but had noticed her watching the group most of the evening (probably because we were a bit loud trying to be heard over the 2 table groups).

She was from Israel and over in India seeing the sights in the Ladakh area.  She also was near the end of her trip, leaving the day after our group would leave.

Once dinner was over, we came back to the hotel and I spent some time booking an excursion for Thursday the 23rd that Andy and I would take.

Once done with that, had a few small conversations with the others, then went to my room to write the days journal.  Will be up at 7:00 a.m. again, mainly so I can have time to get breakfast and then will check out of room and just sit in the lobby till the taxi comes at 10:00 a.m. to take me to the airport. (I had put in the order for a taxi the day before).

Just hope things goes smoothly at the airport, could not get the web check-in process to work on my phone, so not sure if that will be a problem when I arrive or not.

This was a wonderful adventure and experience and I had a lot of fun, even during the more trying moments.  I am physically wore out, body hurts in many places, but few more days to go on the trip, though no more motorcycle riding or really hard stuff now.  Will soon be back down in the lower altitudes and warm weather of Delhi!

Good night.

Ride Route (147km/91 miles)

******More Day 16 Photos******

Day 15 - Another Pass and a Salt Water Lake

June 20th, 2022

Was up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready for the final adventure of the tour.  Had breakfast and waited to hear what the plan was.

The weather was not too bad this morning, so the plan was to go ahead and head toward Pangong Lake as per the itinerary.  Several people though decided they did not want to take the risk and were going to stay behind.

The Austrians had already left for the airport to head home, a few were going to just stay in Leh for the day, and a few more would ride with us to the top of Changla pass, but then come back to Leh instead of going on to the lake.

Only 4 of us were going to make the full trip.  Jerry, Andy, Milos and myself, and of course the support staff.

Leaving for Pangong (1:02)

We got on the road and fought through the crazy traffic in town for about an hour or so till we reached our fuel stop at the edge of town.

Once filled up, we hit the main road for a bit and then turned onto the Changla pass road.

Going up was not too bad, the road was in decent condition lower down, but higher up had several areas of construction that had torn things up a bit.

As usual I was soon left behind with the sweep rider to make my own way.  Made it to the top without issue, though did put on my rain jacket and gloves half way up to stop the cold air from getting into my riding gear ventilation.

Going up the pass (1:10)

On the way up Changla

At the top it was busy and the ground had a thin layer of snow and was wet, but not horrible or impassable.  Got out the GPS to get a reading and it said 5380m/17650 feet.

Changla Pass (0:31)

Checking the Altitude (0:41)

At the pass

We did the usual photos around the top and wanted to get moving, but Milos had wandered off to get some tea.  So while we waited for him all the lined up cars suddenly were released and took off, so we were now behind a huge line of cars and trucks that took forever to get around.

About half way through that mess, an attempt to pass by a stationary military truck on a very muddy cliff edge slipped my back wheel and I went down hard next too and partially under that same truck.  Only a few inches farther out and the bike would have gone over the edge.

The fall busted the hand guard on one side of the bike and for a few seconds I was actually stuck under the bike before I could maneuver my foot around and extract myself.  As I was now partially under the very high sitting truck, I was worried if he started to move things would get bad!

I got up and slapped the side of the truck good and hard to hopefully draw attention to my condition, and then walked out in front of the bike and truck so the driver would see me.

At this point the sweep rider had parked and got off his bike and a motorist in a car heading up the mountain that was stuck in the other lane also got out to assist.

We got the bike back up on its wheels and rolled it out in front of the truck to get off the edge and out of the snowy mud.  Thankfully the truck has left a good distance between it and the truck in front of it, so could move around well.

A military individual was now standing there as well, I guess checking to see if everything was good?  I gave him the thumbs up that I was fine and nothing was amiss now.

Got back on the bike, started it up and everything seemed to be working.  Continued on down the road and around the traffic and eventually got in front the the slow moving cars at the front of the line and able to move easier now and a bit quicker.

Rest of the route was bit easier now that the traffic mess was behind us, though did get stuck behind another very slow moving military convoy of large trucks for a bit and had to stop for a construction work area while they moved some equipment around on the road, but both of those only lasted a few minutes.

Had another technical water crossing today while stuck in the middle of the military convoy, but managed to get across without issue.

Finally reached our lunch point and was able to rest a bit and get some food.  Took off the rain gear as it was warming up here and starting to get stuffy in the jacket.  We waited there till the support truck caught up to us as they had been stuck in the traffic much longer.

Lunch stop

Once back on the road the air was still a bit cool at speed, so maybe should have left my outer layer on, but decided to just deal with it instead of stopping and getting left behind even more.

Traffic became a bit more congested again as we turned off and moved down the road toward the lake.

Lots of taxi's, busses and bikes on the road, so several annoying moments, but still making good time overall.

Arrived near the lake and regrouped with the others, and then we all rode into the camp site area and found our specific swiss tents.  This was a massive area built up of several campsites all with tents and support buildings, almost a small town you could say.

Campsite area: our tents off image to left

Once we had gotten our tents assigned and dropped off some stuff we sat around for a bit, totally wore out.  But we all wanted to go explore the shore a bit and get photos of the lake and surrounding areas.

So we got back on bikes, just minus some of the luggage and rode back down the big hill to the road we came in on.  Milos and I sat at that the road for a bit waiting for Jerry and Andy, but for some reason they were not coming down, so we decided to head down the road a bit, but it ended soon after, so we waited there to see if they would catch up with us, assuming they had seen what direction we went.  But after a few minutes no one came, so we decided to just keep going on our own.

We took a small dirt road next to the paved road up to a large levelled area and stopped for photos.

At Pangong Tso (0:51)

Then we continued on another small dirt track up the side of the hill.  Milos had ridden ahead of me, so when I reached a spot where an even smaller road turned off, I stayed on the better road, which of course then dead ended at a camp site just around the corner.

I turned around and tried to head back down the road, now seeing Milos higher up the hill and knowing I needed to take that other road, but when I dropped off the level onto a bit of a steep incline (instead of going back 10 feet to get the road easily) I managed to tip the bike over when I lost momentum trying to turn.  I just let it down softly and stepped aside.

I stepped around to lift it, but a guy in the campsite saw and had already run over to help me.  Id probably been okay on my own, but always nice to have assistance in lifting a bike.

I got myself onto the correct road and rode up to meet Milos and we continued on with this road which was moving us higher up the hillside and eventually found a dirt trail that led up to the paved main road that ran along the entire lake shore.

Headed down that road with no real goal in mind when Milos saw a small dirt trail heading down and looked like it would get us pretty close to the shoreline.

Bounced down this road and it ended at a large parking area. We stopped and walked a good mile at least to the lake shore for some photos and to sit and relax a bit to the sounds of the water lapping at the shoreline.

Road down to shore

On the shore (0:34)

Just amazing (0:31)

After taking several photos and videos I headed back toward the bike as I was getting tired now and the light was starting to drop as the sun was beginning to set behind the surrounding peaks.

Looking down toward China

Milos caught up to me at the bikes, but he wanted to ride back up the same route we came down, whereas I was going to leave via the dirt road back through another camp area and to the main road.

Once on the main road I headed back toward our camp location. While on the way, Jerry and Andy passed me just before we reached a turn that would head down the hill on a dirt trail and come in behind our tents.  This saved quite a bit of time over going to the main road back down to the turn off and then backtracking to the campsite.

Our tent for tonight

Once back, I sat in the tent after unloading the bike and rested for about 30 minutes.  I was sharing this tent with Andy tonight, and he had left to go over to the restaurant.  I changed into the camp clothes and walked over to the restaurant to have some tea.

Spent the rest of the evening there talking with the riders and support crew about all kinds of things.  We eventually were able to order up some food around 7:00 p.m. and then about 8:00 p.m. the main buffet dinner was served.

Had a fair meal, talked more and then Andy and I returned to the tent to get ready for a long overdue nights rest.

I put all my batteries on the charger and organized the gear some to make it easier to deal with in the morning and then decided to go ahead and stay up to write in the journal and Andy went to sleep.

We may try to get up around midnight to check out the stars outside, would be cool vista I think.  Will be up again at 7:00 a.m. so we can be ready to leave around 8-8:30 a.m.  Have to back track over the same route we used to get here, go back over Changla and back into Leh to the same hotel.  We will stay there again and have our final dinner with the group.

Then we will sleep and in the morning the tour will be over, but not quite the trip yet, still a few adventures left before leaving India for home.

Good night.

Ride Route (156km/97 miles)

******More Day 15 Photos******

Day 14 - Changed plans

June 19th, 2022

Woke up a bit later today after a restless night.  Since we had no specific riding plans for today, most of us were in no hurry to get going anywhere.

Since today would have been our return trip from the Nubra valley, we had nothing planned, so it was another free day to do whatever we wanted.

While having breakfast it was decided that we would make a second attempt to go up to the top of Khardungla pass and would be leaving around 9:00 a.m.

We all quickly got ready and grabbed only the things we thought we would need for the quick day trip since we would be coming back to the hotel again later in the day.

Weather looked great today, clear skies and dry.  As we headed up the same route the roads were good and traffic a bit less hectic today.  The journey all the way to the checkpoint was smooth and no massive line of cars today, only a few at the gate, but did notice a huge number of motorbikes parked around the area still. 

After stopping, we found that again bikes were not being allowed up, though this time it was uncertain why, the top of the pass was in clear skies currently and the snow from the day before was almost gone, and even the temperatures were nice, well above any freezing point.

So we checked in with the security people and then joined the other 100+ bikes to wait for the signal that we could proceed, which they kept saying would probably come soon.

Waiting to go up the pass (0:58)

Waiting at the checkpoint

But as we waited, the temperature started to drop, the clouds started to move down the mountain and even had a few snow flakes flying around, though not sticking too badly.  This was about an hour after we got there, so we were a bit frustrated now, if they had let us go, we would have been up and on our way down by now.

Around 1:00 p.m. it was looking like another lost chance as the weather was starting to get worse, and heard that even some cars that were being allowed up were having some trouble with slick muddy spots on the road.

Another wasted day? (0:40)

Not looking good!

Most of the group was still waiting, though the 3 Austrians had decided to leave as soon as the first snow flakes started to swirl around.  But now that we had been waiting for 4 hours, most of us were done with it and decided to head back to the hotel.  Again a few stayed behind in the hope of being let up (which they did get about 2 more hours after we left).

Once I got back to hotel, went to room, changed and sorted the bags again.  Then did a few things of laundry in the sink this time as there was not enough time to have hotel do it again.  I then came down to lobby to use the internet and write in the journal.

After awhile doing that I became tired, so went up to room, checked on the drying laundry and then laid down and took a 2 hour nap.

I woke up when Dick knocked on my door to deliver the T-shirt I had ordered (He had found a tailor that would customize a shirt they sold with our tour name and date the day before, so all of us ordered a shirt and we all paid a bit extra to get shirts for the support crew as well.)

T-shirt group had made

I then went down to the lobby to see if there were any dinner plans among the group as it was around 6:00 p.m. now.

I ended up going back to the Leh View Restaurant with some of the guys, same place we had visited the first night in town, for pizza again.  Had another great meal there and was very hungry as I had skipped lunch today and had only snacked on a candy bar earlier.

It was looking a bit nasty weather wise, so was no surprise that we had to walk back to hotel in a light rain.

Weather looking less friendly

Sat around the lobby for about an hour on the internet or talking amongst the group, but soon found I was starting to drift into a sleepy state now and then, so probably time to head up and get ready for bed.

We are scheduled to ride to Pangong Tso (Lake) tomorrow, which is well over 100km (62 miles), and will require going over another pass which is at 5369m/17,616 feet, and due to the recent weather, there is no certainty that we will be able to go over.  If we do make it though, will then be a cold night camping by the lake (could get down around freezing).

The other issue is if things would get worse after we get to the lake, we could get stuck on the other side which would of course impact travel plans for the following days.  While I would probably be okay with my flight back home, the flight from Leh to Delhi could get messed up.

Will see what the morning brings, but right now the weather is not looking favorable.  And while the hotel is expecting us back for the night of the 21st, we would not have rooms for the 20th if we choose not to go to the lake, so would have to find another place to stay that night.

Good night.

Ride Route (45km/28 miles) roundtrip

******More Day 14 Photos******

Day 13 - The Highest Pass

June 18th, 2022

Woke up early to prepare for the ride over Khardungla and into the Nubra valley.  It was not a very auspicious start to the day though.

Overcast, cold and had been raining much of the night and even snowing at the higher elevations.  As were were all loading up our bikes it started again to lightly rain.

To add to the fun, all the bikes were nearly empty of fuel, a few would not even start up in the lot.  Many of the riders took off with the lead rider to head to fuel station, and a few were stuck in the lot waiting to get fuel from the cans carried on the truck.  I unfortunately was caught behind a group of these and could not get around them to head on myself, so just had to wait there in the rain.

The last of us finally got going as the rain started to come down harder now.  Made it to the fuel stop and had tanks filled, then we headed out through town to the start of the Khardungla pass road.

Traffic was insane as usual, and the wet roads and now steady rain were not helping matters.  Visor on my helmet was fogging up so badly I had to ride with it cracked open a bit, and even open it fully a few times, which made things so enjoyable with a wet face, but the foggy visor made navigating the cars, potholes and flooded sections impossible without opening it.

We eventually reached the main road up the pass.  Here my life long challenge of always being 2 seconds too soon or too late for something hit me again.  Oncoming cars meant that all the group were able to get on the road except me, I had to wait a minute for an endless line of cars so I could pull out onto the road.

When I reached the checkpoint the support truck was still there (and the sweep rider was still behind me) and they waved me on through as they had already cleared all the bikes and riders.

I was basically riding on my own now at this point as the sweep rider had stopped with the support truck for some reason.  This was a very unpleasant ride at this point.  Wet roads, blowing winds, and heavy traffic that was in some crazy rush to get somewhere.

The higher we went, the worse things became.  Rain became snow, wet roads were now slushy roads and the winds and cold did not improve either.  Eventually came to a line of cars backed up for at least a mile.  I had seen a few of the guys sitting on the side of the road a bit earlier, but had passed them by to keep riding.

I reached the security checkpoint after filtering through and around the mess of cars and trucks on some very crappy road surfaces.  I then noticed no one was there?  After a few minutes the rest of the group showed up and we were pointed over to a spot on the side of the road.  Somehow I had missed the bulk of the group and passed everyone to arrive first at the checkpoint (and of course had no paperwork or anything, and the guards had already been pointing and yelling from a platform higher up to bring my papers up).

After a few back and forth conversations, it was revealed that no motorbikes were being allowed up the pass currently (and some busses and cars were even being held up) due to the weather.

Khardungla Checkpoint (0:43)

We decided to wait for 30 minutes, but as no change came, the group turned around and headed back down a short ways to get out of the mess of cars where we stopped to regroup and discuss options.

Waiting at South Pullu checkpoint

Most of us were at this point tired, cold and kind of annoyed. (Except the 3 Austrians who did not even come with us, they were still back at the hotel).  It looked like the chances of making the Nubra valley were not good as we needed to be over the pass by a certain time to make the trip.  Many of us were ready at this point to just go back to Leh now.  But a few wanted to go back up and wait to see if they could at least get the chance to make the top of the pass.  So they and the lead rider went back up to wait it out. (3 hours later they did get the chance to ride up to the pass).

Stopped to discuss options

I returned to the hotel with the rest and got a new room (this time by myself again) and changed out of my riding gear and sat down to relax.

Spent some time then on the internet before laying down to take a nap for about 90 minutes.  I went back down after I woke to see if anyone else was around and were interested in walking over to the market place.  (It was no longer raining in town at least).  Mark was sitting in the lobby and thought that would be something to do, so we headed over.

Our first stop was the chemist again so he could pick up something and I needed more decongestant as I had used my last one that morning and my sinus were really stuffed up and were draining into my throat causing an irritation and cough.

We then wandered around and "window" shopped and then stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant (Chef's Kitchen) that was mostly Chinese food up on the 3rd floor of the building with a great outdoor seating terrace with nice views.

Lunch after failed pass attempt (0:27)

Lunch today.

After a very good lunch we wandered a bit more and I found a shop selling large bags.  I had been hoping to find a larger duffel bag in the hope of getting more of my equipment into it for checking it on the plane for the trip home so I could avoid wearing my riding boots on the plane again and perhaps not have the bag under the seat either.  I found a good sized duffel for $10.  (It says North Face, but pretty sure it is a Chinese knock off, like most things for sale here).

We then stopped at a grocer and picked up a few snack foods.  Then it was back to the hotel where I again did a bit of internet browsing and took another nap.

A bit later I was again in the lobby on the internet and Andy and Mark came down.  We were all ready for food, so walked over to another place near the market place we had been told about (Il Forno) to have dinner.  Took a few minutes to figure out how to get up to the place (and we actually ended up finding a back way up some rickety stairs, not the main way) on the 3rd floor of the building.

We were seated in the outdoor seating area and our orders taken.  Soon after a live music act started to play.  They were actually pretty good, playing mostly western style songs.  Dinner was very good, but being outside was probably not best choice as it started to cool off rapidly and the noise from the street below us was quite annoying (some traffic cop walking up and down the street just randomly blowing a whistle for no apparent reason we could determine).

Dinner views from Il Forno

After dinner we walked over to a nearby ATM so Mark could get some funds to repay me some money I had spotted him earlier in the day.  After that we took the slow walk back to the hotel in the cold night air.

We sat in the lobby for a bit, then headed up to our respective rooms.  Did some usual night time tasks and then headed to bed.  

Good night.

Ride Route (45km/28 miles) roundtrip

******More Day 13 Photos******

Day 12 - Rest Day in Leh

June 17th, 2022

Today is a rest day while the new bikes are being arranged and delivered.  Woke up early still to get passports dropped of so they can also get our permits arranged and then went to have breakfast.

Spent some time on the internet then to catch up on things and post some stuff about the trip.  I then did a bit of bag organizing and picked up my laundry which I dropped of yesterday which cost me 320 Indian Rupee to have cleaned. (Roughly $4.40).

I then decided to walk down to the market street again to meet a few of the others at the German bakery we had seen the night before (Bodhisattva Restaurant and German Bakery).  Bought a piece of chocolate banana pie (140 Rupee/$1.85) and then walked over to the chemist shop with Mark and Andy as we all needed some kind of medicine.

I picked up a bottle of hand lotion as my hands were really dry and peeling, and starting to cause soreness along the finger nails due to the dry air and wearing the gloves all the time I am guessing.  Also needed some kind of pain killer as I was about out of what I had brought with me.  They had a type of aspirin so that is what I picked up.  (99 Rupee/$1.30 for the lotion, and 11 Rupee/$0.15 for a dozen aspirin).

We then walked through the rest of the market place to see what else was there.  We then crossed over to another market nearby that was just a narrow, dingy alleyway with lots of shops in it to see if it had anything interesting.  (You could buy pretty much anything you can think of in either place).

Main city market street

We came back around on another alley of that market and back down the main market street.  The others wanted to stop again at the German bakery for a snack, but I was not really interested in that so kept looking around.  Wandered around a book store for a bit, but nothing that grabbed my eye (and books are bulky and heavy, so best to avoid buying them on a motorbike trip!)

I eventually found my way back to the hotel and sat in a chair in the room and sort of took a nap for about an hour.  When I woke up, took a few photos from the balcony and then went back down to the lobby where the internet worked best to see if it was working now (the power had been off for a bit earlier today, so of course no internet either).

Old Palace on nearby ridge

While in the lobby one of the guys came in and said the new bikes were onsite now, so we all went out to check them out and lay our claim to one.  A few even took a quick ride on them to see how they liked it.

After I grabbed the key to the bike I wanted, I came back into the hotel lobby and got onto the now working internet.  I was trying to book my hotel for the 2 extra nights I would have in Delhi before my flight back to the USA.  This ended up being a bit of a pain as the site I normally use for such things kept seeing my Indian IP address so kept asking me to provide all kinds of local ID information I of course did not have.  I finally used a different site to book and had no issues there.  Found a different hotel near the airport again and booked the 2 nights. (This one was a bit more expensive, but also nicer place).

Many of us were now in the lobby on our phones or laptops, so of course we started to talk about various things as well.  Mark, Andy, Jerry and myself decided to go out to a nearby Italian restaurant (La Pizzaretta) for dinner tonight, a place the tour leader had recommended.

La Pizzaretta for dinner.

The weather was starting to look a bit dreary and it was getting cold as well, but we walked the quarter mile to the place.  The tables were ground level and you sat on the floor on rugs around the table in a covered patio space.

Great food and atmosphere, though they did have the music a bit loud.  Definitely recommended place to eat at and reasonably priced as well.

While we were eating the wind actually picked up a bit for a few minutes and blew some stuff around the courtyard seating area, but did not last too long.  Near the end of dinner it also started to rain very lightly, so we headed back to the hotel before it could get worse or colder.

Sat again in the lobby on the internet for a bit and then went up to my room to take care of my usual nightly tasks.

As my room mate (Dick was still sharing this room) was going to sleep (after being out drinking all day!!), I decided to come down to the lobby for a bit and also to see if I could get a bottle of water from the hotel and catch up on the journal.

Drank my water and wrote the journal, so thinking it is time to head up and get some sleep myself.  We have an early start tomorrow again with 7:30 a.m. breakfast, then we will need to setup the new bikes with our bags and tie downs and cameras before we take off for the days ride.

We will be heading north to go over Khardungla pass, which until recently was the highest pass in the region open to the public (at close to 18,300 feet, though recent surveys have indicated it may only be around 17,600).  I will try to get a reading on my GPS when we get there.

[NOTE: A new pass called Umlingla is now considered the highest, though for a long time was only open to official or military access, but believe they are allowing limited tourist access now.  It sits at just over 19,000 feet, but is also just an up and back, you cannot go over the pass as it is along the Indian-Chinese border and no cross traffic is allowed (nor has the road been developed to allow it).  Perhaps a future trip?]

We will go down and camp on the other side of the pass in the Nubra valley tomorrow night, then return back over the pass again to come back to Leh.

Good night.

******More Day 12 Photos******