Ladakh
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It was a trip where Murphy's law was in full force. Everything that could go wrong did, and some. I drove around in circles trying to find fuel for my motorbike, got lost in the dark on the shores of the Tsomoriri lake, camped out in the wild, got bike's tires punctured and was rescued by the unlikeliest folks possible.. the Changpa nomads living high up in the mountains around the Tsomoriri lake. Needless to... (more) |
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Ladakh was the reason why i decided to take my bicycle with me to the Himalayas. The lure of cycling in the mountains with its crisp blue skies and snow capped peaks was too enticing to ignore. I had traveled Ladakh by motorcycle back in 2008, but this time i decided that a bicycle would be a better option. Going by cycle meant going slowly.. a 200km trip from, say, Leh to Pangong lake which can be done in a... (more) |
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Ever since i was bitten by the travel bug, Ladakh was one place that i always wanted to go. The pictures i've been seeing from friends on Flickr were all stunning and it looked as if it was almost impossible to take a bad picture in Ladakh. So with all these high hopes i finally got a chance to travel to Ladakh for a couple of weeks during October 2008. And it didn't disappoint. |
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Towards the end of my Ladakh trip i had become very proficient in hitchhiking around the place. I no longer hesitated to stick out my hand to flag down any passing vehicle. I knew that people would stop if they could spare the space to take you on board. So i no longer worried about finding transportation to anywhere in Ladakh. That little theory of mine was put to the test when i went to the Nubra valley. And i barely made it through. |
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In between Leh and Pangong Lake lies the mighty Chang La pass. At over 5400m high, Chang La is officially the 3'rd highest mountain pass in Ladakh (after Khardung La and Tanglang La). After successfully cycling across the Leh - Manali highway i did not think that crossing Chang La on my bicycle would pose much of a problem. But i was wrong. |
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After 5 beautiful sunny days around Pangong Lake, the weather turned for the worse and dropped a ton of snow on the mountains around Chang La. I had to find a way back to Leh. Cycling was impossible now, but i had not planned on cycling back anyway. So i waited at Tangste, hoping to get ride on a jeep or truck going towards Leh. |
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One of the things i'am unhappy about myself as a photographer is my reluctance to take more portraits while traveling. There are some good reasons for it. But still, at the end of a trip when i look back at my photos, the ones that bring me the most joy are the ones with people in them. If i had taken a portrait of someone, then more often than not, it means that i had interacted with that person before taking... (more) |
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This is a folk tale about how the Tsokar lake in Ladakh lost most of its water. It also explains the origin of the tiny Tso Kiagar lake on the way to TsoMoriri. The story was told to me by a local from the Thukje village. |
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It was a late October day. Cold cloudy and overcast. A dramatic change from the pleasent sunny weather just a day before. Â I was cycling back from the Pangong lake to the Tangste village. It is normally a pleasent ride, mostly flat and downhill (from 4400m to 3950m over the course of 25 odd kms). In the mountains, downhill rides such as these are to be savoured but today i was'nt enjoying the ride all that much.... (more) |
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Things did not start smoothly for my Manali Leh ride. After traveling around Himachal by bus it was finally time for me to start cycling. I went to Palampur to collect my bike (I had left it at the home of a railway employee who had generously offered to store my bike at his place when i was away). My plan was to start riding from Palampur to Manali, spend a few days in Manali and then kick onwards... (more) |
Tsomoriri is, in my opinion the most beautiful of all the 3 big lakes in Ladakh. So a trip there well worth the effort, especially if you make it a circular route and come back via the TsoKar lake and Taglang La.
This is probably the most funnest, the easiest (after ChangLa), friendliest and the most visually breathtaking ride experience available in Ladakh. And definitely my top favorite among all the cycling routes in... (more)
