Post 1. Leh to Changla (Ladakh Season 2014)

Morning view from our guesthouse window

This year the Zozilla Pass opened very late. Hence when we flew in by May end Leh was just waking up and local ladies could be seen haggling for flowers freshly brought up from Srinagar.

Mohan the Enfield Master

We spent our first day trying to tune the rented Desert Storm Royal Enfield’s at Mohan the Mechanic. He was from Jammu and for the last two decades he and his brother had been at the outskirts of Leh reviving battered Enfield’s that had survived the ordeal up the land of the high passes.

He said business was good but the crowd had dramatically changed. From predominantly foreign bikers his customers were now mainly locals and domestic bikers. Unlike those tourists on shoestring budget, the new clients paid well.

We knew it was risky to rent a bike in Leh because rental companies have one agenda, to quickly cash in their bike before its totally trashed. Novice bikers who have never ridden even an automatic scooter before, rent an Enfield and ride into the high mountains only to return on trucks. Which also explained why most rental bikes were not more than two years old.

Thankfully, there are exceptions and our Ladakhi friend replaced those dud bikes by the days end with two brand new Standard 500 Bullets. It had barely done 450km’s, the distance from the Srinagar showroom to his shop in Leh. We were thrilled.

Ray gets enough fuel for few days.

I was on Dimox pills but my friend Ray wasn’t. He had easily climbed Everest Basecamp and hence concluded he was immune to altitude sickness. And besides, our friend Gulzar had said local Ladakhi’s thought Ray looked like a wrestler. Who needed Dimox?! 

After getting our new bikes and collecting Ray’s permit, we settled into Chopsticks, the most popular Pan Asian restaurant in town.

Next morning our guesthouse owner asked us to reconsider going up to Pangong so soon without acclimatizing. This was the first season when Indian’s no longer needed permits and hence many tourists thought they could save their money by driving straight up to the ‘3 Idiots’ lake. One such tourist had already died due to Acute Mountain Sickness.

Apple blossoms in full bloom.

We thought the old lady was being over-cautious and we happily rode off without giving her a second thought. The sky was stunning blue and the road from Leh to Karu and then up towards Changla was absolutely flawless. With brand new 500’s that had barely been run-in we rode off full throttle.

A dramatic change of scenery every hour.

Waiting for Indian Army Trucks to pass by before resuming our black ice dance routine thanks to our road tyres.

Only when we started to climb dramatically that our hearts started to pump wildly and I felt light headed. The last 20km’s to the Mighty Changla Pass was tough with all the slush, mud and snow. But it was an adventure we will never forget.

When we reached the top, we were the only bikers. Tourists in Toyota Innova taxis kept videoing us, clicking photos and cheering us on! But the most surreal thing happened when we stopped to catch our breath at the top. 

Feeling super light headed but glad to have made it to Changla Pass at 5360 Meters.

A young guy in his early twenties came running out of his car and grabbed my hand.

“Sir, can I take a photo with you! Sir please!”

I thought why not.

Then he went on to say how he loved my show, how he followed everything and is looking forward to the new season. The altitude had definitely got to this boy but my mind was frozen too. So I just smiled and let his dad take the photo.

Profusely thanking me, he then ran off, shouting “Thank you Raghu, you rock! I love MTV Roadies!”