Flipside
Pack Dog
We did this trip a few months ago and I haven't gotten around to posting it partly because of the copious amount of video footage I had to process to build some watchable video clips and partly because I was lazy busy.
Still, I wanted to write something up to help guys that want to do this trip and maybe open a channel of useful information.
The trip originated from hours of youtube adv trip binge watching and sprouting with countless late nights at Firemans. The trip was finalized last year after probably 2 years of failed attempts because of work commitments, bad timing and other "stuff". (The company going public was apparently more important :/)
Finally it was myself and my mate Willem that had committed. There are many ways to do the Himalayas, groups, mechanics, support vehicles, etc. we had agreed the only way to do it was "solo", rent the bikes and do our own thing...which we did.
The route was as follows:
The part we did was Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in India:
Fly to Delhi
Fly to Kullu and take a crazy taxi ride to Manali
Get the bikes
Ride:
Manali-Jispa
Jispa-Sarchu
Sarchu-Tso Kar
Tso-kar-Leh
Leh-Diskit
Diskit-Pangong
Pangong-Thiskey
Thiskey-Leh (leave the bikes)
Fly Leh to Delhi
Fly Delhi to Cape Town
In summary, the trip was incredible, some random tips and things I did not know before going:
1. The altitude is uncomfortable, but don't let this put you off the trip, it's fine.
2. Hoot around corners, you'll learn this soon enough.
3. The traffic cops wont bother you once they learn you're a foreigner
4. The more north you go the friendlier the locals get, most indian bikers will ignore you.
5. Don't worry too much about food and water, there are dhabas everywhere along the route with water, coffee and 2-minute noodles, stop at every one.
6. Layer your gear and take winter and summer gloves, my winter gloves were great on the passes (5000m+) but I was hating it in the low lying areas(3000m). The temp differences were massive.
7. Learn your bike's plates, there are 1000 police stops where you have to give them your info.
8. Save your hotels on google maps in Leh and Manali, there's no street names and numbers and the taxi's won't know where you are going.
9. There's no beer in Thiksey
10. Eat everything but only drink bottled water.
11. You won't eat meat, we had vegetarian curry for 2 weeks. You'll also have curry for breakfast and the only dessert you will ever get is milky rice pudding.
12. The route is not technical, however, the longest day we had was 12 hours riding from Diskit to Pangong.
Manali to Tso Kar:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3hIBkART80[/youtube]
Sarchu to Diskit:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ48RGIrgxc[/youtube]
Diskit to Leh:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Rgk99ymPE[/youtube]
As for the title, it refers to Khardung La topping 5,359m, depending on your source. It being the highest motorable road on earth, well, I'd like to believe it is...
Still, I wanted to write something up to help guys that want to do this trip and maybe open a channel of useful information.
The trip originated from hours of youtube adv trip binge watching and sprouting with countless late nights at Firemans. The trip was finalized last year after probably 2 years of failed attempts because of work commitments, bad timing and other "stuff". (The company going public was apparently more important :/)
Finally it was myself and my mate Willem that had committed. There are many ways to do the Himalayas, groups, mechanics, support vehicles, etc. we had agreed the only way to do it was "solo", rent the bikes and do our own thing...which we did.
The route was as follows:
The part we did was Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in India:
Fly to Delhi
Fly to Kullu and take a crazy taxi ride to Manali
Get the bikes
Ride:
Manali-Jispa
Jispa-Sarchu
Sarchu-Tso Kar
Tso-kar-Leh
Leh-Diskit
Diskit-Pangong
Pangong-Thiskey
Thiskey-Leh (leave the bikes)
Fly Leh to Delhi
Fly Delhi to Cape Town
In summary, the trip was incredible, some random tips and things I did not know before going:
1. The altitude is uncomfortable, but don't let this put you off the trip, it's fine.
2. Hoot around corners, you'll learn this soon enough.
3. The traffic cops wont bother you once they learn you're a foreigner
4. The more north you go the friendlier the locals get, most indian bikers will ignore you.
5. Don't worry too much about food and water, there are dhabas everywhere along the route with water, coffee and 2-minute noodles, stop at every one.
6. Layer your gear and take winter and summer gloves, my winter gloves were great on the passes (5000m+) but I was hating it in the low lying areas(3000m). The temp differences were massive.
7. Learn your bike's plates, there are 1000 police stops where you have to give them your info.
8. Save your hotels on google maps in Leh and Manali, there's no street names and numbers and the taxi's won't know where you are going.
9. There's no beer in Thiksey
10. Eat everything but only drink bottled water.
11. You won't eat meat, we had vegetarian curry for 2 weeks. You'll also have curry for breakfast and the only dessert you will ever get is milky rice pudding.
12. The route is not technical, however, the longest day we had was 12 hours riding from Diskit to Pangong.
Manali to Tso Kar:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3hIBkART80[/youtube]
Sarchu to Diskit:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ48RGIrgxc[/youtube]
Diskit to Leh:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Rgk99ymPE[/youtube]
As for the title, it refers to Khardung La topping 5,359m, depending on your source. It being the highest motorable road on earth, well, I'd like to believe it is...
