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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