Rumtse to Darcha : 18.09.07
We left Rumtse
at 07.00 hrs after a very hasty tea and hoped we could gain some time we lost the day before. All was seemingly well and we zipped by the roads. Himanshu was leading and we heaved a sigh of relief as we passed the point where Sanjay's bike had broken down the day before. We hoped to make it to Darcha if we kept the pace as it was and were quite confident we'd make good time since we wouldnt be stopping much for snaps and all. Just one km before Tanglang La, we found Himanshu waiting with his bike parked at the side of the road. We thought it was the usual routine for Himanshu - ripping and leading the way, only to be waiting for us to catch up with him sometime later. But as I approached him, he gave me a "got f****" gesture with his hands! I thought he meant the road, cause we had to pass through some very tricky slush and mud patches and some ice tracks too. But as I stopped near him, he broke to us that his rear tyre had blown a puncture!! It seemed Tanglang La was hell-bent on not letting us go!! Then started the deliberation again!! There was no going back to Leh again knowing it would take the whole 
day and we would be back to square one. Still joshed up from the previous day's "rescue mission", Amol lost no time at all in taking out the rear wheel off Himanshu's bike! Just to be doubly sure it was indeed a puncture, we pumped some air into the tyre with the help of our portable foot pump and took the tyre to a nearby slush to check for leaks, and leak it was! So it was decided that 2 guys would carry the wheel and take it to Pang, some 35 km (presumably) ahead and get it repaired. I suggested Himanshu and I go ahead on my bike and leave the rest of the guys behind with the bike. Some 5 km into the ride, we came across a sign that read " Pang 65 km"!! Horrified we were at the distance to be covered, more so cause we had no means of communicating with the guys waiting for us, we immediately stopped a truck coming from Tanglang La and requested the driver to convey some news from us. We wanted the guys to load Himanshu's bike on a truck, if they found any, and proceed to follow us towards Pang.
We left Rumtse
at 07.00 hrs after a very hasty tea and hoped we could gain some time we lost the day before. All was seemingly well and we zipped by the roads. Himanshu was leading and we heaved a sigh of relief as we passed the point where Sanjay's bike had broken down the day before. We hoped to make it to Darcha if we kept the pace as it was and were quite confident we'd make good time since we wouldnt be stopping much for snaps and all. Just one km before Tanglang La, we found Himanshu waiting with his bike parked at the side of the road. We thought it was the usual routine for Himanshu - ripping and leading the way, only to be waiting for us to catch up with him sometime later. But as I approached him, he gave me a "got f****" gesture with his hands! I thought he meant the road, cause we had to pass through some very tricky slush and mud patches and some ice tracks too. But as I stopped near him, he broke to us that his rear tyre had blown a puncture!! It seemed Tanglang La was hell-bent on not letting us go!! Then started the deliberation again!! There was no going back to Leh again knowing it would take the whole 
day and we would be back to square one. Still joshed up from the previous day's "rescue mission", Amol lost no time at all in taking out the rear wheel off Himanshu's bike! Just to be doubly sure it was indeed a puncture, we pumped some air into the tyre with the help of our portable foot pump and took the tyre to a nearby slush to check for leaks, and leak it was! So it was decided that 2 guys would carry the wheel and take it to Pang, some 35 km (presumably) ahead and get it repaired. I suggested Himanshu and I go ahead on my bike and leave the rest of the guys behind with the bike. Some 5 km into the ride, we came across a sign that read " Pang 65 km"!! Horrified we were at the distance to be covered, more so cause we had no means of communicating with the guys waiting for us, we immediately stopped a truck coming from Tanglang La and requested the driver to convey some news from us. We wanted the guys to load Himanshu's bike on a truck, if they found any, and proceed to follow us towards Pang. Not knowing how lucky the guys would be in finding an empty truck, we moved on , me riding and Himanshu on the pillion with the wheel. We crossed Tanglang La and encountered some really wild patches of ice laden road, some more slush and then we got onto the road. We reached the More plains next and after a while I suggested we switch riders to avoid exhaustion. Himanshu took over from the More plains and suddenly the plains seemed to take longer than it had on the way to Leh. I guess when you are time bound, distances seem to take longer to traverse. It was very irritating to find we had crossed just 2-3 km in about 10 minutes of riding and the milestones, which were placed every kilometre, seemed far in between. After riding on for what seemed a long long time, we crossed More plains and started our descent to Pang. Some 30 minutes later, we reached an Army camp and were relieved to see a puncture repair tent nearby some tent camps. We immediately handed over the wheel to the repair and asked him to get on with the job. Now as we were making plans to head back after the tyre was repaired, the repair guy suggested that only Himanshu head back in a truck with the wheel and I stay back with my bike, cause that would save precious fuel on my bike. He was right, I would be burning off more than half of m
y tank's fuel only on these rescue missions. Just as we were discussing about Himanshu's lift on a truck, we saw a lone rider on the steep road upwards. We thought it was Kenny, but he was moving too fast and seemed to carry little. So we dismissed the idea that it was Kenny and waited for the tyre to get repaired. Just before the tyre was inflated Kenny came zipping on the road and screeched to a halt near us. We were indeed surprised to find him without his usual load of tent, sleeping bag and mat and only half an hour behind us. To our utter joy, he conveyed us the news that they had found an empty dumpster just after we had left and had somehow managed to load Himanshu's bike onto it. Sanjay was following Kenny on his bike and Amol took a ride in the dumpster along with bags and backpacks. We high-fived each other as hopes of reaching Darcha rose again within us! We waited for quite some time for the dumpster to reach us and as soon as it reached, it took us all to task to get the bike down. I wondered how only 5 people had managed to haul the bike into it in the first place! Some precision tilting and eight people managing the bike and ground support, we got the bike back on the ground!! Amol had become a pro in dismantling and putting a wheel back on by now and within minutes the wheel was back on Himanshu's bike - all set and ready to go! After lunch, that is!!
y tank's fuel only on these rescue missions. Just as we were discussing about Himanshu's lift on a truck, we saw a lone rider on the steep road upwards. We thought it was Kenny, but he was moving too fast and seemed to carry little. So we dismissed the idea that it was Kenny and waited for the tyre to get repaired. Just before the tyre was inflated Kenny came zipping on the road and screeched to a halt near us. We were indeed surprised to find him without his usual load of tent, sleeping bag and mat and only half an hour behind us. To our utter joy, he conveyed us the news that they had found an empty dumpster just after we had left and had somehow managed to load Himanshu's bike onto it. Sanjay was following Kenny on his bike and Amol took a ride in the dumpster along with bags and backpacks. We high-fived each other as hopes of reaching Darcha rose again within us! We waited for quite some time for the dumpster to reach us and as soon as it reached, it took us all to task to get the bike down. I wondered how only 5 people had managed to haul the bike into it in the first place! Some precision tilting and eight people managing the bike and ground support, we got the bike back on the ground!! Amol had become a pro in dismantling and putting a wheel back on by now and within minutes the wheel was back on Himanshu's bike - all set and ready to go! After lunch, that is!!We had paran
thas and dal for lunch at one of the tents and at around 14
.00 hrs we decided it was time we moved on. But as we started loading our bags onto our bikes , Kenny found one of his jerry cans missing and Himanshu, his scarf. Search we did, but couldnt locate either Kenny jerry can or the scarf. We suspected the tyre repair guy to be the culprit, but couldnt prove anything and we didnt want to waste time by getting into any sort of argument. Kenny decided it would be better to forgo the 5 litres of petrol and get on our journey. So we started off again on what would be a non-stop ride to Darcha via Lachulunga, Nakeela, Baralachla and Sarchu. Dusk had settled in by the time we had some 40 km yet to cover till Darcha. We rode carefully in the dark on the downhill road and soon , we could make out the familiar dhaba lights below of the tents and hutments.
thas and dal for lunch at one of the tents and at around 14
.00 hrs we decided it was time we moved on. But as we started loading our bags onto our bikes , Kenny found one of his jerry cans missing and Himanshu, his scarf. Search we did, but couldnt locate either Kenny jerry can or the scarf. We suspected the tyre repair guy to be the culprit, but couldnt prove anything and we didnt want to waste time by getting into any sort of argument. Kenny decided it would be better to forgo the 5 litres of petrol and get on our journey. So we started off again on what would be a non-stop ride to Darcha via Lachulunga, Nakeela, Baralachla and Sarchu. Dusk had settled in by the time we had some 40 km yet to cover till Darcha. We rode carefully in the dark on the downhill road and soon , we could make out the familiar dhaba lights below of the tents and hutments. 
20.00 hrs and we checked into "our" Lama Dhaba, to be greeted by the cheerful Lama dusting off our dust-laden apparel. My tripmeter read 2080 km and my bike was all dust and mud, the red colour hardly visible with the layers of dust on it. We were surprised to find a busload of foreigners making camp at Darcha for the night and staying at the dhabas there. On our onward journey, we found hardly anyone at Darcha and now there was this big "mela" of foreigners and Indians alike!
After the usual "OB/BP" combo, we had some dinner and prepared for sleep, tired as we were from the non stop ride. 22.30 hrs and we were on our beds and had hardly counted a couple of sheep before sleep caught up with us.
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