This is one trip that will be remembered for long. The motorcycle had gone through so much of break downs since April 2018 and after the Nagari ride breakdown, it was revival time for the motorcycle. Each trip was slow and steady and a lot of preparation went into getting the motorcycle prepared for this ride as I had confirmed to Balaji Mohan about joining the K2K - Largest North South Expedition.
A day before leaving bangalore, I took the motorcycle to highlander garage and cafe. Karthik, the chief mechanic, formerly at Tansi Honda, took a look at the motorcycle. Balaji was also there, coincidentally. He specifically said that unless Karthik approved the motorcycle, I couldn't be part of the ride.
Karthik did an amazing job with the service and the tappet sound never came up until now.
Day 1 - September 5, 2018:
I had a long day to ride and decided to start early, yet had not much sleep that night and was busy packing the luggage. There were 2 big bags with the winter jacket and laptop, etc what not and it wasn't possible to tie both bags around. I had to dump the winter jacket baggage and took one small bag along.
A long day's ride to Pune took almost 900 kms and 15 hours. The day started at 6:00AM and I took the first breakfast at Haveri, 330 kms into the ride. A small break and I met a few motorcyclists who were also on the way to Mumbai.
A stop on the outskirts of Belgaum near the Vikas Soudha at 2PM for a few clicks and the ride continued. Another break before Satara for tea. It was almost 530PM by then. I decided to ride towards Pune, and the road after Satara started to get bad due to road work happening on the entire stretch. Finally, at 830 I managed to reach Hinjewadi deviation and tried calling Arun Praveen. He wasn't available. I called up Siddharth Pratap, a school friend, and to my surprise, he was there. Spoke to him and stayed with him that night.
Route taken - Bangalore - Belgaum - Satara - Pune
Distance covered - 900 kms
Time Travelled - 15 hours.
Day 2 - September 6, 2018:
Day 2 started pretty late as I had only 330 kms to ride. It was time to meet a friend from school, Rohit Kailash, at Daman. I started at around 9AM, and was near the outskirts of Panvel by 1230PM. I stopped for a few pictures at Lonavala and continued to ride along. After Panvel and before reaching Ghodbunder junction, it took almost 2 hours and it was almost 230 when i got to the other side of the west coast highway to Daman.
Made it to Daman by 5 PM. Time to settle down for some beer and food.
Route taken - Pune - Mumbai - Daman
Distance covered - 330 kms
Time Travelled - 8 hours
Day 3 - September 7, 2018:
The 3rd day started late at around 9AM and I had a good distance to cover. I was headed to Mount Abu. The route till Ahmedabad was clear.
Took about 6 hours to reach Ahmedabad and I crossed the city into Gandhinagar by 4PM. From Gandhinagar, I took the route via Ambaji to Abu Road. Nice and scenic state highway route till Ambaji town.
Lots of cattle in the middle of the road at a couple of towns on the way.
Route taken - Daman - Ahmedabad - Ambaji - Abu Road - Mount Abu
Distance covered - 640 kms
Time Travelled - 12 hours.
Day 4 - September 8, 2018:
Mount Abu is a small hill station in Rajasthan, roughly 500 kms from Jaipur. I started the day pretty late as I had reached a hotel at around 9PM in the night.
Citing the number of kilometers, and the entire highway being a "big" road, I was in the assumption that Jaipur is easy to reach by around 7PM in the evening. I was in for a surprise.
I stopped at Siroi for a fuel tank up so that i didn't have to fill up again until Jaipur. I had only covered about 100 kms and it was already 12noon. I spent some time talking to the petrol bunk owner and left the place by around 130PM. I still had 400 kms to cover and new that i would reach by around 730 or 8 PM if i rode back to back.
At Barr town, the highway was blocked and traffic was being deviated as a gas tanker had fallen off a flyover. The deviation was 10 kms longer than the usual highway and through some villages with lots of off-roads and slushy patches. The rain gods opened the floodgates making life difficult to ride. I reached Beawar past 5, after having reached Barr at 3PM.
From Beawar until Jaipur was raining heavily and took over 4 hours to cover. I finally reached Jaipur at 1030PM and settled down at the hotel Vaishali Bhagat - The Bikeress had blocked rooms for.
All the luggage was damp and I had to unwrap everything to get them dried.
Route taken - Mount Abu- Sirohi - Barr - Beawar - Ajmer - Kishangarh - Jaipur
Distance covered - 490 kms
Time Travelled - 11 hours
Day 5 - September 9, 2018:
The rain had not settled till then. It was raining all through day 5.
Day 5 was a no ride day. As the clothes were getting dried, I decided to go out and have some food. Vaishali Ma'am came to the hotel by around 11AM. We took the motorcycle to a mechanic who did a basic check and topped up engine oil alongside servicing it.
We took a small ride around town and we visited places where biker meets happen regularly. By evening a couple of other bikers had joined us at the hotel.
Ma'am took us to a customization shop and I got a saddle stay fitted to my TB. Now on, my saddle bad wasn't rubbing against the rear tyre anymore.
Dinner and a couple of beers to settle down for the day.
Route taken - Jaipur City
Distance covered - 30 kms
Time Travelled - city commute only
Day 6 - September 10, 2018:
Day 6 started early and Vaishali ma'am and I were to ride to jammu, roughly 800 kms away. We exited city at around 630AM. 100 kms into the ride, we met fellow bikers and a few people flagged us off with the indian flag.
Such an honor, being a biker. We bid adieu and continued riding to Rewari. We reached Rewari and stopped at the Haveli for breakfast. the hotel is run by a fellow biker. We had done about 200 kms and it was around 9AM. 2 hours at the hotel, talking to Sumit Dar and the hotel owner.
We left the hotel at 11AM, and Guru Nayak, in the meanwhile, had caught up with us at Rewari. We were 3 bikers now. We deviated to Sonipat from Rewari towards Rohtak. We stopped at Sonipat for lunch to meet a fellow biker. It was about 130 PM.
An hour post lunch, we headed towards Chandigarh. On the way Pali Singh got to know we were crossing Karnal and stopped us to have a quick chat with him. We deviated to his RE showroom and an hour went there. We left Karnal at around 5PM.
When we reached the outskirts, it was almost 7PM and Jammu was never a possibility. We decided to halt at Ludhiana. We had 1 more motorcyclist join us, and we were 4 now.
Route taken - Jaipur - Rewari - Rohtak - Sonipat - Karnal - Chandigarh - Ludhiana
Distance covered - 600 kms
Time Travelled - 15 hours
Day 7 - September 11, 2018:
This day started pretty late as we headed to Amritsar, roughly 150 kms away. We left at around 8AM, stopped midway for breakfast, and reached Amritsar by around 11AM.
We met one other biker KPS Sethi of Amritsar Bulls club, went to the Golden Temple, spent some time there and back to their shop in the market area. It was almost past 1 when we left Amritsar towards Jammu.
On the outskirts of Amritsar, we met one more biker at a Dhaba, spent some time talking and also stopped at a RE showroom to get a basic service done. When we left Amritsar it was roughly 5PM.
We still had about 200 kms to reach Jammu. We managed to reach Jammu by 930PM and settled down at Rohit Raina's place. He manages a group named Boom Shankra - a jammu based biker club.
time to settle down for some beer and food.
Route taken - Ludhiana - Amritsar - Pathankot - Jammu
Distance covered - 350 km
Time Travelled - 8 hours
Day 8 - September 12, 2018:
Day 8 started off early as we had a different terrain to cover. This route was new to all of us. Rohit was supposed to ride with us via some smaller in-roads of J&K state, however our arrival was delayed by a day.
We made it to Udhampur in no time and stopped for breakfast. After Udhampur, the roads got a little worse and we had to wait at Patnitop tunnel as vehicle movement was restricted on either side of the tunnel. After a 20 minute wait, we were permitted to go through.
Until Ramban, the route was fine. After Ramban, we saw the longest traffic jam of our lives, trucks running to almost 40 kms towards Srinagar. A 3 hour wait there ensured that we got late on this day too, in spite of starting early.
Post the traffic jam, we met a cyclist from Bijapur named Ravi who was cycling across india supporting the army and naval officers who died in war-fields, supporting their efforts.
After a brief stopping and pictures, we continued riding towards Srinagar. We had reached Srinagar at around 7PM and it was already getting cold. We had planned to halt at Sonmarg, but that wasn't a possibility.
we met a fellow biker, one of Vaishali ma'ams friend and went to his store. He arranged for our stay.
Route taken - Jammu - Srinagar
Distance covered - 270km
Time Travelled - 13 hours
Day 9 - September 13, 2018:
We decided to start early so that we could reach Leh by evening. We had a long way to go, roughly 440 kms one way and decided to cross Kargil before afternoon. someone had warned about Zojila Pass and its treacherous terrain.
Prabhakar was already at Srinagar and had joined us. Now we were 5 bikers towards Leh. We rode till the outskirts of Srinagar and halted for some tea. Sonmarg was still 30 kms away and we decided to reach as quickly as possible as we had a long day ahead.
zojila pass wasn't that scary and treacherous as others had warned about. It took a brief 30 minutes to ride atop and to the other side of the pass. We made a stop after sonmarg for some breakfast. Noodles and tea was the requirement of the hour. In the meanwhile, Kayyum Khan and Afzal bhai joined us. We were 7 of us now.
We reached the war memorial and spent a couple of hours paying tribute to the war heroes who died in the Kargil war against Pakistan. It was past 1230PM and we decided to continue all the way to Leh as we had roughly 260 kms more to Leh and about 6 hours more to ride.
30 kms after Kargil, my motorcycle saw the 100000 kms milestone on the odometer. I stopped to click a pic of it and also got to meet a cyclist from England (who wasn't on social media, so nice). A small chit chat with him and then continued towards Leh. It was almost 4 in the evening and it was getting cold.
Until Fatula Pass, Kayyum and I continued to ride. We still had another 120 kms to Leh. We knew it was going to be next to impossible night riding towards Leh. It would take us another 4 hours riding in the biting cold, something that we decided to avoid.
Kayyum and I found a homestay at Lamayuru and settled down for the day. Other riders, Dharmesh, Kalpesh, Afzal, Prabhakar, Guru, Vaishali ma'am and Ritesh caught up with us.
Time for some beer and food to celebrate the ride together. We were merely 100 kms away from Leh now.
Route taken - Srinagar - Sonmarg - Drass - Kargil War Memorial - Kargil - Lamayuru
Distance covered - 330 kms
Time Travelled - 12 hours
Day 10 - September 14, 2018
Day 10 started at around 7AM as we had to reach Leh and meet the other riders. Morning was super cold and riding beyond 40 kmph wasn't possible. We had a small distance to cover and it wasn't too difficult a day to ride.
We stopped at Nimmoo for breakfast, as usual, noodles and some tea before leaving to Leh.
We had rest of the day to get our motorcycles checked, fill up fuel, meet other riders, etc.
Route taken - Lamayuru - Leh
Distance covered - 115 kms
Time Travelled - 3 hours
Day 11 - September 15, 2018
The original plan was to go to Khardungla and return by afternoon yet my motorcycle had some issues and I wanted to stay back. The passes were obtained but I decided to get motorcycle serviced and prepare myself mentally for the next day's ride.
My motorcycle silencer exhaust had generated a hole and I had to get that replaced. Took a while to find a shop that had a stock exhaust. Replaced the exhaust and it was time for a photoshoot with the Advento 360 group and fellow riders.
The following evening, we got our log sheets attested by the police inspector at Leh Police Station, near to our place of stay.
Route taken - No ride day - Leh town
Distance covered - 30 kms
Time Travelled - Nil
Day 12 - September 16, 2018
We were going to attempt a Limca Record for the Largest Contingence of Riders from Leh to Kanyakumari.
We had a nice dinner and every one was nervous about the first day of riding as there were so many stories and versions from each rider about how Tanglangla was going to be like.
I was a little nervous and kind of scared, what if, I get hit by AMS and my motorcycle breaks down or if lots of black ice comes in the way, etc etc. So many things were running in the mind.
The day started at around 530AM and everyone was getting ready and prepared gradually for the ride. I fueled up at the nearest petrol station, and stopped at Karu for a fuel break and breakfast break. A plate of noodles and I was back on the road. Google maps showed Jispa at 8 hours for 300 kms.
From Karu, until the top of Tanglang La was a non-stop ride and the roads were laid well. Going up Tanglang La got worse as my fingers started freezing in the cold and at one stage i couldn't feel a thing. Once atop the pass, Alpesh, Rupesh and Vaishali ma'am had stopped for a photograph. I joined them for just 2 minutes to pose for a group photo.
I continued to ride after that towards Sarchu. The high altitude was giving me little headaches and I was in no mood to stop anywhere. I continued riding till I reached Debring. We stopped for some noodles and chai. Fellow riders recommended having ginger, which keeps one warm from inside. Some ginger paste from the small eatery helped in riding continuously to Sarchu.
The ride was going well till Pang. From Tanglang La to Pang and until the Gata loops was at an altitude varying from 4500 to 5300 MSL. Until Pang, the roads were nice and the ride was pretty quick. After Pang, until Lungalacha La and Chang La the route was off-road, with little gravel, to bad patches and some nice tarmac.
A few kms before the Gata loops, some of the riders had stopped, and we realised that Santosh Munna had had a fall when negotiating a turn. Luckily, he was unhurt, only the spare fuel had gone down from the can he was carrying on his motorcycle.
Gata loops, a loop of roads winding above a huge mountain for about 21 kms. One has to be very wary and cautious at each turn. One could easily get distracted by the adjacent mountains. Unforgiving terrains and amazing views of the valley on either side.
I continued and reached Sarchu at around 1230PM. Fellow riders joined in the meanwhile, and it was about 130PM when I left from Sarchu towards Jispa. We still had about 110 kms and expected about 4 hours more to ride. Baralacha La was the most broken high pass that we had to ride as the entire route was full of huge stones and broken all over the route. Barely 25 kms on either side of the pass, it took more than an hour. Just down of Baralacha La and it was time for another tea break.
Most of the riders were behind and Shivashankar and I were riding ahead of the entire group. Just after Baralacha La pass, I was waiting to see the spot were George had showed a video of his motorcycle being pushed through a water crossing at zing-zing bar, but unfortunately a steel bridge had been constructed across and I couldn't identify that place at all.
After zing-zing bar, all the way to Darcha, the valley was to the left of the road and it was scary to look down. A couple of water streams where we struggled to ride through and we had somehow reached the Darcha check post where all riders were supposed to ride together from. Only Balaji and a few others new where the accommodation was booked.
From 530 all the way till 730AM, I waited for other riders to join as most went ahead. A few riders decided to stay on the main road deviation to the stay, yet Alpesh, Rupesh and Vaishali ma'ams cluster came in at 7PM. Kayyum, Afzal and the other riders were way behind. It was time for us to ride up to the campsite, yet only Vaishali ma'am had BSNL phone connectivity.
We tried reaching Balaji, the guy at Leh who arranged our stay, and finally found the place after riding back and forth to Keylong and back.
It was past 9PM when we got to the campsite. Tents had been allocated to each of us and night was biting cold. Near sub-zero temperatures.
Route taken - Gangtok - Leh - Karu - Tanglang La - Sarchu - Baralacha La - Jispa
Distance covered - 330 kms
Time Travelled - 10 hours
Day 13 - September 17, 2018
The day had to start early as we wert to ride towards Chandigarh. We started the day at 7AM and reached Tandi for a fuel stop at 8AM. The next stopping was supposed to be Manali, 120 km from Jispa.
From Tandi till the foothills of Rohtang Pass, the ride was peaceful. Upward to Rohtang Pass was a slightly slushy route for about 2 kms. On the other side of the pass were some traffic jams and broken roads at some junctions.
We managed to reach Manali by 12 noon. The regular route was blocked as a defence ambulance had fallen into a gorge. After a 30 minute wait, we took a detour and got onto to an off-road route that connected to the Kullu road.
I stopped for fuel and continued past Kullu. I stopped for lunch at the same hotel that i had stopped 5 years ago in 2014 after the spiti ride.
I was in 4 layer clothing and it was getting humid now. After ordering food, i decided to change over and removed 3 liners and stuck to only one tee.
It was past 10 when we reached chandigarh.
A long and hard day with roughly 380 kms in hilly terrain and 70 kms on 4-lane highway.
Route taken - Jispa - Keylong - Manali - Bilaspur - Chandigarh
Distance covered - 450 kms
Time Travelled - 15 hours
Day 14 - September 18, 2018
The day started early and we had to reach Gwalior by evening. Santosh, Shannu and I started at around 7AM from Chandigarh. The roads were clear and we were at good speed until 35kms outside of Delhi.
I had lost them ahead and wasn't sure which route to take. I asked a passerby and he showed me the EPE (Eastern Peripheral Expressway aka Ghaziabad Expressway). I wasn't too sure about the Yamuna Expressway, so the route was the EPE and the plan was to exit at Palwal, however that wasn't the designated route for K2K.
I was riding on this empty 6 lane expressway when i spotted the Buddh International Circuit and the Yamuna Expressway. I tried to take a couple of deviations to reach the yamuna expressway and failed in the attempt. Continues towards Palwal and deviated on the road towards Agra.
Agra to Gwalior was a little over 100 kms and it was only past 230 in the afternoon. Halted the day at Gwalior at around 430PM.
Route taken - Chandigarh - Delhi - Agra - Gwalior
Distance covered - 640 kms
Time Travelled - 10 hours
Day 15 September 19, 2018
The day started early and we had to ride till Nagpur, via Jhansi. A long day ahead and about 800 kms. The scare given by fellow riders was about cattle on the highway. Reaching Jhansi, 150 kms away was a little challenging due to cattle in the middle of the road and a lot of highway deviations.
We halted on the outskirts of Jhansi for breakfast. It was already 10AM and we still had 650 kms to go. The next break was roughly 350 kms away for a fuel stop. After lunch, it was another butter smooth ride until the Pench National Park.
Reached Butibori, 30 kms past Nagpur at around 8PM.
Route taken - Gwalior - Jhansi - Pench National Park - Nagpur
Distance covered - 800 kms
Time Travelled - 14 hours
Day 16 September 20, 2018
The next day was a short day and towards hyderabad. I started early and halted at Adilabad for a quick service and replacing the fork oil seal in the motorcycle.
Adilabad to Hyderabad was an amazing stretch and the day ended at 5PM. Some Pakwaan Biriyani and chit chat with fellow riders to close the day.
Route taken - Nagpur - Adilabad - Hyderabad
Distance covered - 500 kms
Time Travelled - 11 hours (3 hours service halt at Adilabad)
Day 17 September 21, 2018
We had a little over 700 kms to reach Krishnagiri, past Bangalore. The day started at around 630AM. A couple of fuel stops between the route and we reached Krishnagiri by 630 PM.
Route taken - Hyderabad - Kurnool - Bangalore - Krishnagiri
Distance covered - 720 kms
Time Travelled - 12 hours
Day 18 September 22, 2018
Last day of the ride and we had about 560 kms to reach Kanyakumari. The day started pretty late, around 9AM, as some of the bangalore riders, including Balaji and Surendra had stopped at bangalore to go home and then ride the last day.
All riders assembled for a quick catch up for the last day and all of us decided to halt at Virudhunagar by around 3PM, where Jude's parents had arranged for some snacks and a small reception of all riders. I rode back to back and reached Virudhunagar by 2PM, and took a small lunch break.
The ride continued at around 5PM and we had about 200 kms to Kanyakumari. Last leg of the journey was slow due to heavy breeze as all riders reached Kanyakumari and halted at 9PM.
Route taken - Krishnagiri - Salem - Madurai - Tirunelveli - Kanyakumari
Distance covered - 560 kms
Time Travelled - 12 hours (3 hour halt at Virudhunagar)
For pictures of the trip, please check the album:
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