Never Turn Back If You Face This On The Road To Leh

Trip on the road to Leh was planned by the gods, I swear. It was a chance outing with a friend. Both of us were supposed to drive up to Rohtang Pass, soak in the views, eat some sandwiches, and return the very same day. But it started pouring as we drove ahead on the serpentine road to the 4th highest pass in the world. Within 30 minutes, the roads converted into a 2-feet-deep puddle of muddy slush as my friend Nitin and I pushed the bike for kilometres at end. Then came a clean patch and we hopped back on the bike thinking the ordeal is over. However, the slush welcomed us again at the very next bend of the road. Five hours later, we were mud-covered sitting at a wayside shack. Yes, it took us five hours to complete a 52-kilometre drive.

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The Way Back Or Not - We Had To Make A Decision!

 

“Why did those guys turn back halfway, man? They were carrying 5 liters of extra fuel. Hope ours will last till we are back.” Nitin and  I were happy to have finally reached our destination. We were shit scared thinking of the slushy mess that lay on our way back. And we were worried about the fuel. We didn't know where to find the next one. Nitin said - “There’s no way we can get back on that road, bhai. We’d die for sure!”. “True that.” I said. There was no way we could maneuver those hairpin bends without slipping down the valley. After frantically eating three plates of Maggi, tea and a few sandwiches, we mulled over the only choice we had – to move ahead to Keylong on the road to Leh, another 65 kilometres away. Looking at the near past happenings, it was a crazy decision. But you can't exactly sleep at the Pass and the bad weather just didn’t seem like it will drive by us anytime soon.

 

And Heaven Unfolds On The Road To Leh…

We were at a mountain pass. Forward or back, we had to go down. So we went. Climbing down into the valley we got more mud on the way. A few moments later, Chandra River was revealed in all its glory. The valley shone as the clouds gave way to the sun. It was pure heaven.

 

After 10 kilometres or so, we were driving on some amazing valley though the village of Kokhsar surrounded by seasonal waterfalls. “Bro this is heaven, man”, Nitin said, as I taped my HI8 camcorder on top of his helmet. We suddenly found ourselves praising the rain gods. The Sissu Waterfalls in the village of Sissu is the best and most prominent of them all. You'll see it on the other side of the valley from the road.

Moving along the road, it unfolded a fresh view at every bend. We went through rainshowers and soft drizzles, gushed through waterfalls that fall on the road, saw two rainbows at the same time, and drove kilometres at end without a sign of human habitation. The road didn’t seem to end and our bike’s brakes started hissing.

 

Two Hours To Sundown, 25 Kilometres From Keylong, And A Broken Bike

“Sid, we are so screwed. The brakes are gone, I think. Bhai, yahaan mechanic bhi nahi milega” (We won't find a mechanic here bro). After driving for some time, we were thrilled to spot a lone wayside auto-repair shop. This was in the village of Kokhsar. Sadly, the mechanic told us that he does not have an extra pair of disc brakes but we can get the same in Keylong. As if we hadn’t already gone through so much trouble for our drive atop Rohtang, now a brake failure stared us in the face. Once again, we mulled over the only choice we had - to move forward. So we continued driving.

Losing our mental grip on the mountains, getting stranded in utter cold in the night, lack of food and water, especially warm clothing – the fears were all great and real; the views, even better. They made us forget everything as we continued driving on the smallest of gears to finally (and luckily arrive in the won of Keylong). We were welcomed by a majestic Tibetan style gate with little gompas scattered all along.

First Things First…

Find a mechanic, and give in our motorcycle for repair! And we found one. The sun was still up and the winds, chilly. The altitude and tiredness from a hectic day gave us a bad headache. However, we still managed to take a stroll down the marketplace and climb up to the Keylong Monastery for a quick visit. It's  a steep 1 km climb from the bus station.

The town of Keylong is sleepy and is usually used by the locals as a night’s stopover before moving on to Leh, which is another 350 kilometres ahead. It takes about 9 to 14 hours to reach there depending on weather and road conditions. The next legitimate stop on the road is not even concrete. It’s in the form of group tents at Sarchu.

We returned to the Keylong main town just before sundown and parked ourselves at a nice roof-top restaurant for a hearty North Indian meal.

 

Hotel Or Night Shelter?

The hotels in Keylong, the best of them will come at a price lower than Rs. 500 per night. The reason: Keylong makes for a quick overnight stop for locals who prefer to stay at the Rs. 50 night shelter than a full-fledged hotel. We checked out a few hotels, but finally decided to spend the night like a local – in the night shelter!

Trust me fellas - it’s warm, it's clean, and a great choice for boys travelling alone (if old men snoring don't bother you!). If you’re travelling with women, hotels are clearly the best option.

 

Morning Breakfast And Return Trip

We paid Rs. 100 to the landlady and went straight to the mechanic. He was fast asleep inside his workshop and it took us 15 minutes to wake him up. Luckily, he had finished repairing our bike. We took the bike, visited some nearby Gompas and headed out on the road back to Manali. The clouds had all gone and the roads were lit up bright by the sun. We were carrying no sunscreen. Within 20 kilometres of our drive our skin started burning and by the time we reached home, the sun managed to carve brand new noses for both of us. We finally had our war scars, albeit in a very funny location.

We reached our hotel in Manali by 5 pm, rested a bit, and walked up to the Sundance Café for some good food and beers (for Nitin). Our Manali - Rohtang - Ketylong trip had just come to an end, and we both knew this will be etched in our memories forever.