YHAI National Himalayan Mountain Biking Leh - 2014
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will
see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in
a hundred miles.”
-- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Day 1 - Reporting to Leh base camp
A trip which was over a year in the making was
finally happening. Similar to our last biking expedition to Jalori pass; this
time too we had some last minute cancellations. This time however we had to
cancel our bookings because of the floods in Srinagar. Our initial plan was to
fly to Srinagar from Mumbai and then travel to Leh by road via Kargil. But
sadly, the floods in Jammu and Srinagar had worsened and we had no option but
to change our route in order to reach Leh.
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| View from Flight |
We were scheduled to leave from Mumbai on 7th
Sept and we started rescheduling our trip on 5th Sept. The odds of
finding a cost effective route at the last minute was a real challenge. Akhilesh
and I started our hunt and the best option we could manage to find was to take
a train from Mumbai to Delhi and then fly from Delhi to Leh. This route was
finalized and we managed to book the Samparkh Kranti Express to Delhi starting
from Bandra terminus and also booked the flight from Delhi to Leh at a
reasonable price. Its probably because no one in their right mind would be wanting to
go there during such a calamity.
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| Akhilesh & Me in the flight |
After lot of convincing at home that the impact of
the floods is limited to the Jammu & Srinagar side of J&K and Leh is
more than 400 km away from the impact area we finally set off. We boarded the
train from Bandra Terminus. And as in many train journeys you normally end up
changing your seats (especially if you are a solo traveller or worst two
bachelors) , come Borivali we were greeted by a huge group of senior citizens
going towards Delhi. We made way for them and shifted to the next compartment. And
luckily we got good company to make the journey interesting. As in our last
trip, we started the conversation with our fellow passengers and what better
way to kill time than to play a round of cards. The games went on till dinner
and post that we decided to call it quits. Not to mention the interesting
stories that came out during the round of cards. The stories probably deserve a
separate post. And one thing for sure,
sometimes you can have the most open hearted and interesting conversations with
strangers whom you meet for the first time and probably do not expect to meet
again (Not because you don’t want to but you know this was just a sojourn).
There are no inhibitions and reservations in such conversations.
After a sound sleep, the train took its own time to reach Delhi. It tested our patience to say the least. In the meanwhile we booked the cab from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Mahipalpur which is the area closest to the Delhi airport. We ensured we were close to the airport since we had to catch an early morning flight the next day to Leh.
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| View from Flight |
We finally reached Delhi and bid adieu to our
fellow passengers and by then our cab had also reached the railway station. We
got into the cab and during the journey came some interesting stories from
our driver. We finally reached the guest house we had booked and got fresh.
Since we had the entire evening to spend in Delhi, we decided to venture out. And
an evening in Delhi will usually mean a trip to the Rashtrpati Bhavan &
India Gate. We did exactly that, after some inquiry with multiple people we
finally figured out the optimum route to India Gate. The rest of the evening
was spent roaming around India Gate and we returned back quite late. Off to
sleep now since we had to catch the 6 AM flight the next day. The detailed
escapades from Delhi will follow in a separate post.
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| View from Flight |
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| View from Flight |
An early wake up call and we were off. We had pre-booked the cab the previously night. The cab was on time and he dropped us to the airport. We boarded the flight and we were finally off to the land of unexpected adventure. From some of the content that I had read on the internet, the views from the flight once you hit the Ladakh region are awesome. And to our bad luck we didn’t get the window seat and worst the person on the window seat was catching up on his sleep. This is even more frustrating. Well this is the time I’ll start introducing the fellow participants in the YHAI Mountain Biking Expedition in the sequence in which we meet them. For starters, the person catching up on his sleep was Pratul. We just couldn’t hold ourselves from missing out on the view so we slowly woke him up and started taking pictures. Not to sound rude, we started the conversation my asking him about his plans and this is when he mentioned that he is also here for the mountain biking expedition along with 4 of his friends Abhishek 1, Abhishek 2, Hrishikesh & Priyank who were seated in the back row. By the time we finished the round of introductions, we heard a stud on the aircraft. By God; we thought did the flight just hit one of the mountains :)
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| View from Flight |
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| View from Flight |
We finally landed at Leh airport and oh boy once
we got out of the plane; we immediately felt the difference in altitude. But a
few minutes and we acclimatized (so we thought). We booked a prepaid cab and
since now we were 7 of us and the cab would only accommodate 5 of us we had to
book 2 cabs. This is when we met the 8th participant, Mamta. She
joined us in cab. Just as we left the airport and started towards the base camp
we passed through the many army camps at Leh. This is the immediate thing that
you notice in Leh; the heavy army presence. And very frankly the Indian army
and its jawans became an integral part of this trip and experience has been an
eye opener for us. The generic impression that we civilians have about the army
jawans is of strong hearted men. Well they are that; but at the same time once
you start talking to them you just get to know that they are just like us
waiting to have a good time but by no means will deter from their duty towards
the nation.
We finally reached the case camp at Jimmy Guest house. And what better way to welcome us; breakfast was ready :) We had breakfast and tea and here is when we met Anish, Snehal, Dr. Vinod, Dhruv, Swapnil, Raunak, Prasanjit, Poonawala Sir, Erhli, Rakesh and the Vasant family.
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| Jimmy Guest House - Our reporting location |
Just as we finished breakfast we were joined by Meet, Mili & Hamza. Meet was with Akhilesh during the YHAI Darjeeling trek to Sandakphu. We had formally spoken on mail but it was the first time we met face to face. I also happened to meet Vishal with whom I had spoken on Facebook. Now that our stomach was full we proceeded for the registration. We finished all the formalities and requested the camp leader Rupesh to allot a common room for the 4 of us; me, Akhilesh, Meet & Hamza.
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| View from base camp |
We got the room keys and checked in. The room was comfortable with attached bathroom which would like a luxury as compared to what happens once the cycling trip begins :)
We got fresh and as suggested by the camp leader we were not supposed to exert too much since our bodies need to acclimatize. So, what better way to kill time then to play cards. We played cards till lunch and then decided to take a small nap.
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| View from base camp |
By the time we woke up it was already 5 PM and some of the fellow camp members had gone to the local market for some last minute shopping. So, I & Akhilesh also decided to go around and check out some places keeping in mind not to exert too much :)
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| View from base camp |
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| Shanti Stupa - View from base camp |
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| View from base camp |
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| View from base camp |
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| View from base camp |
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| Participants @ base camp |
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| Base camp |
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| Fresh apples @ base camp |
Well going by our past history we are not so much into following the rules. Roaming around the market we happened to see a palace like structure on the top of a mountain. On inquiring with the locals in the market we came to know that it is in fact the famous Leh Palace which is a major tourist spot.
We didn't need a second invitation to start the ascend. But, we were in for a gasping climb. The altitude made it really hard to climb and after huffing & puffing we made it to the entrance of the Leh palace with directions from the locals
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| On the way towards Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| Towards Leh Palace |
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| Information on Leh Palace |
The palace is a 9 storey building build on an inclined mountain cliff. The climb up to the palace takes your breath away while the view from the top of the Leh city is breathtaking to say the least. The top tier of the palace offers a panoramic view of the Leh city. The Shanti Stupa is also visible from the Leh Palace
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| Leh Palace - Entrance |
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| Paintings @ Leh Palace |
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| Top 3 floors @ Leh Palace |
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| Inside Leh Palace |
The interiors of the Leh palace have been converted into a small museum to showcase the artifacts, handicrafts, paintings, etc highlighting the culture & traditions of Ladakh.
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| Leh Palace - A cross sectional view |
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| Ancient artifacts @ Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
We spent a significant amount of our time here just being mesmerized by the views. The breeze was really cold & it was getting stronger by the minute. Since it was now getting dark we decided to start our descend. We came back by the same route and then found some of camp members in the local market.
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
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| View from Leh Palace |
We came back to the base camp & it was time for the customary YHAI soup & dinner. We had the nice spicy soup (just what you need to get heat in your body in this chilly area). While we were having our soup, the camp leader called everyone for a round of introductions. He also briefed us on the schedule for the entire trek along with plan for the acclimatization trek the next day. This also is a standard routine in all YHAI expeditions to have an acclimatization trek. To our surprise it came to our knowledge that we would go to Leh Palace only the next day for the acclimatization trek.
Akhilesh & I looked at each other with exchanged a grin. We smartly handled the case and proposed the Shanti Stupa as the place to go for the acclimatization trek instead of Leh Palace. The camp leader agreed and the plan was finalized :)
The briefing was followed by dinner & since we were to start the trek early next morning we decided to call to quits.But in any trek there are last minute entrants. We were joined by Aditya, Ameya & Punit. While Aditya came to our room, Punit & Ameya went to the next room
The escapades from day 2 will follow soon
Many more memoirs to share .... Sachin
