Day 9

It started raining cats and dogs at night. Somebody hinted what an opportunity - “safe passage” to quit. Vijay was quick to completely dismiss the suggestion and said “rain or sunshine I will ride to Tanglangla”. Jokes apart, we were ready for the ride early morning and were glad to be greeted by a beautiful and a sunny day. With so many days of riding behind us, our tails were up. Little did we know what we were up for! It was a beautiful and a sunny day to start with. Our Guide even told us “I wish it gets cloudy so that is does not get too hot”. Sure enough the rain and hail Gods obliged him. It started hailing. It became bitterly cold. All of us had to put our life’s best experience to tackle this one. No amount of physical strength or training could take us to the Pass. Our hands froze and we started complaining about near frost bites. I had to light a small fire to thaw my hands in order to feel my fingers once again. Just further ahead Raman had to pay a local to light a small fire for him to warm him up. Raman decided just 200 metres short of the Pass that he had had enough and called it the end of his trip. On seeing Vijay and Yogen in no better condition he decided to join them and reach the Summit. As usual Gagan had reached the top well ahead of others, admitting that this was probably the toughest day of riding in his life. The expedition was successfully concluded at the top of Tanglangla.

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Day 8

Next day we started the steep uphill ride towards Lachungla. Thank God it was only 7 km. Anju rode along with Gagan to reach the top before anyone else. As the road was extremely bad to Pang we decided that all remain in close contact with each other. Unfortunately, Anju who had been riding extremely well fell on the downhill stretch. We all thought she had a sprain, but we later found out that it was a multiple “rotational” fracture. With a tear in her eye, she slipped into the car. She went for some medical aid to the Dispensary in the Army Camp at Pang. However, Gagan, the group leader accredited her with having successfully completing the trip. The journey continued towards Morey Plains and Debring. Morey Plains were extremely beautiful and gave us a lot of opportunities to click many photographs. Regretfully, the wind was against us and the plains were like an uphill ride. The day was painful and tiring. The trip was taking a toll on Vijay. It was his sheer will power that was keeping him going. It was probably this reason that he did not want to attempt Tanglangla and was even prepared to undertake an extremely long (200 km) detour. We all wanted to do Tanglangla and prevailed upon him. We decided that we would ride up to Tanglangla and conclude our ride there. After all it was only a downhill joy ride from Tanglangla to Leh. We would then take our coach to Leh via the long detour.

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The Accident As we cycled round the corner of the hillside of the Lachung La-Pang road, there was the scene we were dreading to see. Anju was lying in the slush, obviously in pain with Yogen holding her swelling ankle in his hands. He kept repeating “She fell down…she fell down”…poor guy was in shock. He then looked me in my eye “Vijay….(I was ready, my mind racing to the availability of first aid…doctor….heptr evac….)” he said “…..take a photo”(!!!!!!!)…man, Yogen had never lost it….I burst out laughing and turned to get the camera.

Day 7

We woke up early morning to live another day. It was a fantastic ride up to the start of the Gata Loops. We all did the 32 km ride in good time to be ready for the dreadful Gata Loops. Somehow we were adequately warned of the uphill ride to Gata Loops and then the further steeper ride to Nakeela at a height of 15627 ft. When we saw Gagan struggle a little climbing Nakeela we were reassured that he is also human. We were greeted at Whisky Nala with a cup of hot tea by Raju guide. This was the only night we all slept in tents provided by Raju, while all the other nights we had been lucky to get a roof over our heads. Raju guide runs a travel expedition company called Magic Mountains. His details can be viewed on www.magicmountainadventures.com. We had engaged his services to provide us with all preordered meals, tented accommodation and all other logistics support. His service was commendable and we would highly recommend his services if somebody were to take this trip. We must also thank Brig Vikram Dogra, Brig Micheal Matthews, Kumkum Chaddha and Col R.R Seth for our enroute accommodation. Gagan, Vijay, Manpreet and Ramandeep decided to drive up to Pang and find out what could be the next course of action. They came back with some good news. Vijay was able to make contact with Brig Micheal Matthew in Leh, who advised him that the Army had just opened a new route to Leh from Debring. This was via Mahe bridge running alongside the Indus River. However, it was a 200 km detour. God! 200 km in the hills. Moreover, the route was patchy and susceptible to landslides. Vijay insisted that we take the new route, take an extra day or two of riding and skip Tanglangla. Vijay who is generally a cool nut, his insistence was uncharacteristic. While we did not disagree with him we did not want to forgo the thrill of reaching Tanglangla. Tanglangla @ 17470 ft is the 2^nd highest Pass in Leh region after Khardungla.

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