YHAI Leh-Ladakh Mountain Biking Expedition 2007

YHAI National Himalayan Mountain Biking Expedition at Leh-Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir during August - September, 2007

20/8/2007
Jammu Tawi express boarded at 7.30 am from Bandra Terminus. My Dad came to drop me. Finally I, Rupal, Prutha left for our Leh expedition. Hiren boarded the train from Surat at 12.30 pm.


21/8/2007
Reached Chakki bank at 1.00 pm. Went from Chakki Bank to Pathankot by rickshaw paying Rs. 100/-. They charge Rs.10 per passenger. The taxi is too expensive from Chakki bank. The taxi price was Rs.3,500/- after discount. So we hired a taxi (Tata Indica) in the market for Rs.2,800/-. Left Pathankot for Manali at 2.15pm by Tata Indica - N.K. Tours & Travels. Our driver was Kuldeep Singh. Had lunch at Hotel Jyoti in Pathankot at 3.30pm. The food was pathetic, only toilets were good. Then left for Manali at 4.00 pm. Had a halt for dinner at Dear & Dear Restaurant at 10.00 pm. I had lot of pit problem. So had to halt many times during the journey. Reached Manali at 1.45 am. Checked in Hotel Aroma. First he said 450/-. We decided finally on 350/- for double bed room. Check out 12.00 noon.

22/8/2007
We left for paragliding at 11.30 am. Mr. Bunty from Northern Adventure Tours arranged the trip for us. He charged us 4,000/- for 3 persons with transportation. We left for Nagra Valley at 12.45pm. Nagra is 22kms from Manali. We saw beautiful sunflowers very huge in size & lot of apples on the way. My pilot was Tensing who had 10 yrs paragliding experience. The valley was about 1000 ft high. The experience was thrilling & excellent. Then we booked our seats for Leh with Valleycon Travels near behind the bus-stop. He had 4 seats available in a mini-bus booked by some foreigners. He charged us 800/- per person. The bus will come at 2.00 am & reach Leh at 6.30 pm. Then we had lunch at Hotel Sagar veg restaurant. The food is too good. Then in the evening we went for shopping. I bought a doll & Art piece.

23/8/2007
We left for Leh at 2.00 am in the morning by Mini bus. It was a 12 seater bus including driver. The scenery is just excellent on the way to Leh. It is worth seeing it!!!! If you plan to go to Ladakh I think it is best to go by road from Manali to Leh. I pat myself for this wise decision. The scenery is breath taking. We had a halt at Tangalala, the second highest motorable road of the world. The climate was too cold there. We reached Leh at 8.30 pm. Checked in Hotel Zar-La. Mr. Ghulam Mohammed guided us to the hotel & helped us to reach the destination. In the evening we had lot of difficulty to find a veg restaurant for dinner. All veg restaurants were closed. Finally we had dinner in a mix restaurant. I had grilled sandwich.

24/8/2007
We reported at YHAI at 10.00 am. The reporting was at Semnet Guest House. That day was a rest day & we were not even allowed to go outside. The vegetation in the garden was amazing. We enjoyed sunflowers & colourful flowers by observing them in the guest house garden.

25/8/2007
Today was also the rest day. After lunch & rest we went to the market at 5.00 pm. I & Hiren went for the cultural show at Tibetan Kitchen at 6.00 pm. But unfortunately the show was cancelled as there were only 2 of us to see the show. Then all of us roamed the streets of Leh. Everything is too expensive at Leh. All the things are from Nepal & Tibet and the prices are double for everything. We bought a ladakhi style pant for Rs.220/- each. Today was also the flag off for first batch of YHAI in the morning. Today I called up Mom & I came to know that Dad has meet with an accident. So I was a little upset. But the day was good. We had apple juice, it tasted really good. The shop we bought pants from told us that the three most important things here are: eat butter in the breakfast for throat, drink lots of water & drink apple juice after dinner. The temperature is -35 C in winters but there is no snowfall in Leh. Then we inquired for River Rafting. They have two main routes for 1 day rafting: Phey to Nimo Rs.900/- & Chilling to Nimo Rs.1,400. Phey to Nimo is grade 2 - 2.5 on Indus River & Chilling to Nimo is grade 3 - 3.5 on Zanskar river.

26/8/2007
Today we went for an aclimitization walk to the Leh Palace. It was an excellent view of the Leh city from the top. Then we had bath at Hotel Zar-La as there was acute shortage of water at YHAI base camp. He charged us Rs.30/- per person. Then we had an orientation at 3.00 pm. Shalini became our group leader. I was made the environment leader. Our group of 12 participants was amazing. I, Rupal, Prutha, Shalini from Mumbai; Hiren from Surat; Kripan & Sandeep from Calcutta; Yadav from UP; Alkesh from Nagpur; Robin from Delhi & to be doctor Nidhin & Sharad. The group was very diverse & we all jelled along well. The best part was all were between 20-30 age group. Then in the evening we went to the market. Eagerly waiting for the expedition to start.

27/8/2007
Today it was cycling aclimitization. We were asked to choose our bicycle. I was feeling it very tough & difficult. But Hiren helped me a lot to choose the best bicycle. Then in the evening we went to search for hand gloves. Finally after roaming for two hours we found one. Then we had Gol Gapa & dinnner.

28/8/2007
Today the expedition started. We left Leh at 7.30 am. The initial biking was good but when the uphill started it was getting difficult. Total was 42kms. We reached Basgo at 6.30 pm. We had lunch at Gurudwara on th way at 14,000 ft. It was too good. At last it was too difficult for me. Then, Alkesh took my cycle at last. It was too difficult for me to pull it any further. At Basgo camp we meet Hungarians staying in Japan: Balaz & Olga.

29/8/2007
Today was the trek from Basgo to Nurla. The start was a little not little very difficult. Then there was a slope - downhill. The last 6km I & Rupal went by truck. We reached Nurla base camp at 3.30 pm. It was the most beautiful camp.

30/8/2007
We left for Lamayuru from Nurla. It was the most interesting route. The last 7 kms we had to go by a tempo or a truck. We left our bicycles down & boarded a tempo for Lamayuru. We visited the Lamayuru Monastery. It had its own beauty. Then we had dinner and played cards. The lost interesting was the moonrise. It was the best natural beauty I had seen till date.

31/8/2007
We left from Lamayuru to Nurla. Reached Nurla by 2.30 pm. Then headed towards the lakeside restaurant.

1/9/2007
Started for Leh in the morning at 7.30 am. Started cycling & then boarded a bus halfway upto Basgo. Rested a while at Basgo & then left for Leh. On the way took a military van upto Gurudwara. Had lunch at Gurudwara & then left for Leh. Went in a truck and unfortunately the truck dropped us 10 kms away from Leh. On the way visited Hall of Fame. The museum is amazing. It still has all the things of Pakistani soldiers displayed in the museum. Worth visiting!!! Finally we completed the expedition successfully.

2/9/2007
Today we did White water rafting from Chilling to Nimo. Left at 12.30 pm for Nimo. Collected the raft from here and headed towards Chilling. Started river rafting at 3.00 pm. We were 9 of them. I, Rupal, Prutha, Hiren, Kripan, Yadav, Sandeep, a lady from Poland & the guide Kalu. It was a great experience for all of us. Then we had dinner at Leh veg restaurant. Then we celebrated farewell. Then we collected our certificates and started packing our bags to leave the next day in the morning with lots of memorable moments with us.

3/9/2007
Kalu had told us during rafting that the cost for a second hand raft is around 1.5L to 2L & a new one around 5L in Nepal. He was from Nepal. He stays 2 months in Leh, 5 months in Rishikesh & other time in Nepal. We left for Srinagar at 6.00 am bus of J & K STRC. The cost of ticket was Rs.620/- per person. We are taking with us all the lovely memories of heavenly Leh-Ladakh with us. These 11 days at Leh were the most amazing days life had unfolded for me.
Thank you GOD & LIFE for this wonderful experience of my life which I will cherish throughout my lifetime. The night halt was at Drass. In Drass there is hardly electricity. We got a three bedded room for Rs.300/-in Hotel Hill View. Had dinner at Drass at 8.30 pm.

4/9/2007
The beauty on the way to Srinagar was very beautiful. My heart was beating very fast when the bus was passing through the narrow roads. Deep valleys on one side & huge rocks on the other. Heard about Kashmir a lot but never knew will visit Kashmir so soon. One thing is true - believe in your dreams & they will come true. Reached Srinagar at 10.15 am. Had started from Drass at 4.30 am. First the environment was a little uncomfortable. Muslims all around, every few minutes an army personnel standing with AK-47, protests happening……Then searched for Hotel. We saw a few hotels & houseboats. Then finally landed at Hotel Mirage, YHAI accomodation. It is Rs.500 for a double bedded room. But only 2 persons can stay in a room. For each extra person it is Rs.270/-. The accomodation is excellent. The hostel is new. It just opened on 24th Aug 2007. then we had a Shikara ride in the evening at Dal Lake. Even that experience was great. The beauty of Dal Lake is excellent.

5/9/2007
First in the morning we celebrated Rupal's birthday. Then we went to Krishna Dhaba to have lunch. The best place for vegetarians to have food. Then we rented an Autorickshaw from autostand for a day tour. He charged us Rs.500/-. We started at 1.00 pm. First he took us to Sankar Acharya Temple - Shiv Temple built in 5th BC by Pandavas. The we went to Cheshmashahi, one of the Mughal Garden. Nobody knows where the water in the cheshmashahi comes from. It is flowing all the 365 days of the year. Then we went to Nishat, the next Mughal Garden. Then we went to Shalimar Garden. There we clicked photos by wearing Kashmiri dresses. Need to be very careful from these photographers. They charge Rs.40/- per photo. We told him to click one photo for each one of us. But he kept on clicking different photos & then asked us to pay for all. So be very careful!!!!!! Then we went to Hazrat Bal. It’s a beautiful mosque. Then finally went back to Krishna Dhaba to have dinner & went back to Mirage.

6/9/2007
Left for Srinagar Airport in the morning. Our flight was at 10.30 am for Mumbai. Again an experience for me as it was first flight of my life. Enjoyed each
moment in the flight by gazing the beautiful sky & the feeling of you being above the sky is worth cherishing. Reached Mumbai at 1.30 pm & back to

Home Sweet Home !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!