5000kms, 12 Passes - A Ladakh Chapter

tsk1979

Some trips are like no other. They are a test of man and machine to the limits, and take you literally to no mans land.
2009 August September, we(me and wife) embarked on such a trip on our steed (A tata Safari 4x4).
5000kms of driving over 20 days, 12 high mountain passes, including one 18300+ feet in height.
The trip was to the land of Buddha and monastories(its another matter, we hardly saw any as it was more of a trip dedicated to lakes and mountains).

The first part of the trip involved getting to Leh, the capitol of Ladakh. for this you can either go via Kashmir, or take the shorter and tougher Manali Leh highway.
Altitudes of 4000m above sea level often mean Altitude sickness, so we chose 2 nights at medium altitudes of 3000meters or whereabouts.

the first night was at a small town called Sissu.
Getting there meant crossing the Rohtang Pass. In August end, its more or less tame(by local standards) with no ice on road, but the road(can't call it that) surface is so bad that I had to pussy foot and gingerly go over the moon crater like potholes
This pic was taken just around sunset. We were still a fewkms from the pass. Up there a few kms means hours.


The pass came and went in darkness, so no photo ops at the top.

It was finally around 10pm we reached Sissu.
My back was hurting(1 week before the trip I developed back pain, and the bad roads were not helping at all).

Sissu night went well, thanks to the nice weather. It was not too cold, and fortunately no AMS at all.

Next day we woke up very late, as our next destination, the town of keylong was just 90 minutes away

Some pic enroute to Keylong






the last filling station. Next one was 365kms away near Leh. Anyways, we had tanked up at Manali, and with a lot of fuel in jerrycan(which was unfortunately not as well sealed as we hoped), we decided to pass this one.
Fuel at this pump is of dicey quality, and common rail diesels do not like bad fuel


Enroute




We reached well before sundown, rested and took a stroll


An obligatory star trails shot. You can make out the milky way


After that it was time to dinner and sleep.
Next morning start was planned before 6am. 350kms seems like a breeze on the highways, just 4 hours, but over hear it usually means 15 hours of driving.
So we took all the rest we needed!

TO BE CONT.........

tsk1979

The highway - Part 1
5:40am, we were on the road. There was hardly any traffic(August end signifies start of low season), but we did have to slow down for sheep on the highway.
A pic near sunrise


Notice the barren moonscape. As you go further, vegetation vanishes. At this altitude, winter temperatures often touch -20, and summer sees little rain. The soil is also not fertile, and all you get is next to the rivers
Our breakfast stop


Around 7 we started proceeding towards BaraLacha La. The second pass of our journey. Some sections of road were tarred, but quite bumpy due to potholes


Peaks catching the sunlight


A lake on the way called deepak Tal


More pics en route


Look at the colors, they are real, no Post Processing juggelery


Those lofty peaks are near the pass, which we are going to


And then like a miracle, the road gets tarred. Nice smooth twisty tarmac, unexpected


Ascending the Pass


Suraj Tal Lake


The Baralacha La 16040ft above sea level!




We spent couple of minutes there, as its not advisbale to loiter at those altitudes for long(esp since we had spent only 2 nights at high altitude!)

TO BE CONT......

leaforte

Very cool shots, but the one that got me was 365 km till the next fuel station. Wow. Get it when you can, as most wingmen/navigators profess!

tsk1979

The road.. CONT...
As we headed down, the landscape became even more bleak. This is serious rain shadow area, and it rarely rains here(however freak floods wrecked havoc in 2005)



Its autumn, and streams are running low




The scenery is unlike anywhere else. And traffic was almost nil




Soon it gets flatter, we are nearing Sarchu, a preffered night halt due to its midway status. However, accomodation there is limited to tents, and it gets very very cold at night, hence our decision to make Keylong the halt point


The road-- not too good


A breather. Look at the sky. At this altitude, polarizer gives you a black instead of deep blue sky


Rock formations, a hallmark of this route. Later, they get even more dramatic


The Sarchu tents


My attempt at some artistic shooting


Rock formations, again






A landslide, we had to wait only 10 minutes there, thankfully. Sometimes these take days to clear.
Alien landscape


Soon we reached the Gata loops. These are famous winding section of road, which climb to the Pass called Nakeela.
The road loops and loops


Offroaders like to do it right up the mountainside, instead of taking up the loops. Hence I also did the same.
But first try almost ended in a disater.
As I came up a shortcut, the wheels started loosing traction near the top, where it was steeper than normal due to road relaying.
Midway in the incline I had to shift to low ratio.
And as I started again, the clutch got stuck(later diagnoses as faulty spring).
She started slipping sideways, and possiblity of a cartwheel hundreds of feet down was looming, but somehow we saw through it.

Later shortcuts were not so difficult, and gata loops were done away quickly


The loops when looked at from above


A rock formation after the loops


Finally we were at Nakeela Pass, 15547 feet above sea level.


The road all but vanished, with lots of broken stretches


We were to descend a little and then climb upto another pass called lachung La. Here also I decided to take an easy shortcut and shave off half a km


Our ride was coated in dust, and unfortunately the internal recirculation was not working properly, and lots of dust was coming inside. At such altitudes its a big big problem as your breathing capacity reduces even further!


Meanwhile the road got worse






We crossed the minor pass, and reached Pang, our lunch halt. The fuel from Jerry can was also transferred to the tank.
Pang


After Pang come the famour Morey Plains.
Before 2005, they were flat plains, with speeds upto 100kmph possible, however after 2005 floods, the surface became a torture, with lots of sand and dust, and bumpy ride




More plains


After this would come Tanglang La, our last pass of todays journey(5th of the total journey), and then Leh


The road to Tanglang La


TO BE CONT.....

tsk1979

leaforte wrote:

Very cool shots, but the one that got me was 365 km till the next fuel station. Wow. Get it when you can, as most wingmen/navigators profess!

This is nothing, on a few legs later, we had to go without fuel for 600-700kms, and jerrycans kept us going.