What a pleasure to find Baralacha pass so empty
Since we started from Jispa, we have reached here much earlier than those starting from Manali or Leh or even Pang
We were the lords of the pass!
What an absolutely divine view
The Tsarup river looks magnificent with the giant sand sculptures on its banks, like an army turned into pillars by an evil magician
Tea time at Sarchu, and playing with the tea stall owners kids. Who needs expensive toys when you can play with an old can?
Delzad is scared of kids! Even cute ones like this one
The kid, on the other hand, is not scared of Delzad.
They have realised that he is a big softy
We met Ronald Shalo - the 'Scooter nomad' - who is travelling all over the country on this ancient bucket of bolts.
The Sarchu river meets the Tsarup to form a huge river bed
And the Gata loops start! They take you up a 1000 ft in just 22 loops!
And we can hardly wait! This is the best part of the road! WOO HOO
Bend and turn, bend and turn...scrape the footpegs!
And we have done it! What an awesome ride!
13780 ft to 15302 ft in 21 loops!
Just look at those loops!
And at the top of the loops is the high pass of Nakee La
What roads! What views! Now we come to the next high pass of Lachulung La
This is the Dementor zone - from Lachulung La to Pang - where you feel tired and grumpy. High altitude, long ride and tough terrain really drain you
But after Pang, we hit the Morey plains!
Now this is the road of dreams! Beautiful smooth roads, beautiful views, beautiful weather!
40 km of bliss
This is Debring - the turnoff to Tso Kar and Tso Moriri. the place we had taken a wrong turn last time and started riding back to Leh rather than to Manali
The shadows lengthen as we cross Tanglang La
Getting dark as we near the Indus
And darker and darker
And very dark indeed. Trust me, you don't want to ride here in the dark. But we managed, and hit Leh in the night. ALL 4 PASSES IN A DAY! AWESOME! WOO HOO!