Sunday, 9 October 2016

North by Northeast ‘5 - Sonmarg To Leh’

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Sonmarg – Drass – Mulbekh – Nurla Camp - Leh
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Distance this period: 354.66 km Total Distance: 1507.40 km

Sonmarg – 0 km (Day 16 & 17)
Drass – 65.05 km (Day 18)
Mulbekh – 103.12 km (Day 19)
Camp Nurla – 101.15 km (Day 20)
Leh – 85.34 km (Day 21)

There was no hope of road opening next day too. I headed to army canteen for breakfast, by now everybody knew me as a freak cyclist; they smiled enquired if I was doing alright. For two days I was like a guest there.

Outside I chit chatted with truck drivers, listened their wild stories of bear encounter in the region. They advised me not to camp in open till I reach Kargil.

After two days of rest I was ready to take on slushy, foggy, chilly, showery, yes! The Mighty ZojiLa!

Foggy morning, Amarnath Yatra camp below

Road to ZojiLa pass..

Initial climb was good; then some up, started dirt slippery road. Switchbacks after switchbacks I started pushing the bike, by 11:00am I was at the top. Bad surface continues till Gumri, road is tarted after that till Matiyan, then again bad surface till Drass. Met a hotel owner from my own state, he shared some good stories of the area like how locals celebrate 6-7 months of snow, no connection with the world outside. Drass
Kms covered - 65.05
Total expense - 680/-


Then a clear view.. ZojiLa and Yatra camp below.

Greenery strats after the top..

Nice road.. at the end the village Matiyan. Kids surrounded me smiling, I was the only one eating.

It’s a great road till Kargil, some small climb, a little bit of bad patch then all the way a smooth ride to Mulbekh.

At Mulbekh I stayed at J&K PWD rest house, met the caretakere by accident. Booked a room, while I was trying to adjust in my room a young fellow came, we started chatting randomly. Early morning when I saw that fellow again when I went there to pay the bill. I think he was gay.
Kms covered - 103.12
Total expense - 510/-


Kargil approaching.

A selfie on the road.

Entering the land of Buddha.

Just after Mulbekh, there is one small settlement where I had my breakfast. From here the climb begins - Namika La. Today I was to climb two passes – NamikaLa & FotuLa. It’s a gentle lovely climb to NamikaLa. Met a solo German cyclist at the top. The ups and downs continue to FotuLa. The descent is fun and amazingly steep down on some curves. Then all the way down to Lamayuru, Khaltse, and 6 km ahead of Nurla, I camped near road workers camp.
Kms covered - 101.15
Total expense - 200/-

Early morning met a solo cyclist from Hungry, headed Zanskar.

Saspol, then up to Basgo plains and afterwards beautiful down to Nimmu, on this section I achieved like 70 kmph speed. Loved it. Had lunger at Pather Sahib Gurudwara, no, no night stay accommodation available there they said.
After passing the Leh airport, I was kind of scared due to tiredness, also didn’t see any staying accommodation. Then I met Jai - a cyclist from Banglore and he said he know some place. Lovely.
Gomang Guest House.
Kms covered - 85.34
Total expense - 455/-


A lovely gentle climb to NamikaLa

NamikaLa Top..

A lovely climb.. a view to die for..

Peddled All the way up...

A selfie on the road... approaching another top

FotuLa top..
My favorite.. I sat there viewing this for like ages..

The moonland.. Lamayuru.

The road... around magnetic hills





Getting Leh'd today yaayyyy..
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21 comments:

  1. North by Northeast ‘6 – Rest day at Leh’ – Some Random Thoughts10 October 2016 at 14:34

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  2. North by Northeast ‘7 – Rest day at Leh’ – Some Random Thoughts11 October 2016 at 19:58

    […] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] […]

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  3. North by Northeast ‘8 – Khardung Village To Tangtse via ChangLa’ – Some Random Thoughts14 October 2016 at 03:18

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  4. North by Northeast ‘1 – Delhi to Kangra’ – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 04:54

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  5. Epic Bike Trip – North by Northeast – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 04:54

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  6. North by Northeast ‘9 – Tangtse To Nyoma’ – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 06:40

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  7. North by Northeast ‘2 – Kangra to Roadside Dhaba Near Udhampur’ – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 06:44

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  8. North by Northeast ‘3 – Roadside Dhaba Near Udhampur to Sonmarg’ – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 06:44

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  9. North by Northeast ‘4 – Rest day at Sonmarg’ – Some Random Thoughts16 October 2016 at 06:44

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  10. North by Northeast ‘12 – Grampo to Chandra Taal’ – Some Random Thoughts9 April 2017 at 03:17

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  11. North by Northeast ‘11 – Pang To Grampo’ – Some Random Thoughts9 April 2017 at 03:21

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  12. North by Northeast ‘10 – Nyoma To Pang’ – Some Random Thoughts9 April 2017 at 03:24

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  13. North by Northeast ‘13 – Chandra Taal To Hurling’ – Some Random Thoughts10 April 2017 at 00:47

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  14. North by Northeast ‘14 – Hurling To Chitkul’ – Some Random Thoughts11 May 2017 at 20:46

    […] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17][18][19] [20]———————————————– […]

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  15. North by Northeast ‘15 – Chitkul To Sungri’ – Some Random Thoughts29 May 2017 at 17:09

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  16. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘16 – SUNGRI TO DEHRADUN’ – Some Random Thoughts29 September 2017 at 11:37

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  17. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘16 – ‘DEHRADUN TO BIRTHI’ – Some Random Thoughts30 September 2017 at 11:03

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  18. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘16 – ‘DEHRADUN TO BIRTHI’ – Some Random Thoughts30 September 2017 at 11:03

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  19. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘18 – BIRTHI TO DHARCHULA – NEPAL’ – Some Random Thoughts2 October 2017 at 06:05

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  20. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘19 – DARCHULA – NEPAL TO CHISAPANI’ – Some Random Thoughts3 October 2017 at 09:04

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  21. NORTH BY NORTHEAST ‘20 – CHISAPANI TO POKHRA NEPAL’ – Some Random Thoughts8 October 2017 at 01:47

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