The day wa
s 17th of September; The morning bright and clear; The wind crisp and dry and the early hours very hectic. We got up quite early, packed up our stuffs, had our showers well - cause we werent going to be having bath privileges for the next couple of days!! Since we had to get our bikes checked for any malfunctions in the air filters or any other nut and bolt for that matter, we decided to go one highly recommended mechanic for the job. We started off for Mohan Sharma's(that was the recommended person) garage with our bikes and getting all our bikes checked took us a couple of hours. We headed back to the hotel to vacate our rooms and it was noon when we finally bade goodbyes to the friendly hotel staff.
s 17th of September; The morning bright and clear; The wind crisp and dry and the early hours very hectic. We got up quite early, packed up our stuffs, had our showers well - cause we werent going to be having bath privileges for the next couple of days!! Since we had to get our bikes checked for any malfunctions in the air filters or any other nut and bolt for that matter, we decided to go one highly recommended mechanic for the job. We started off for Mohan Sharma's(that was the recommended person) garage with our bikes and getting all our bikes checked took us a couple of hours. We headed back to the hotel to vacate our rooms and it was noon when we finally bade goodbyes to the friendly hotel staff.My trip meter read 1672 km as we left the hotel and took the road leading out of Leh. 
All was well as we zipped by the now familiar roads and we were making good time when disaster stuck!! For some time , we were noting a slight mis-alignment in the rear wheel of Sanjay's bike. We had asked him to slow down a bit and get the alignment checked at the next mechanic available , which we didnt have any idea of!! 14 km before Tanglang La , at a very particlularly accentuated bump on the road, I heard a definite crack from Sanjay's bike. He stopped immediately, complaining of a terrible wobbling in the rear. Upon examining his rear wheel, Amol discovered 5 broken spokes!!! After deliberating for a while, I suggested we take the wheel out and rush it back to Leh without wasting any more time. It was already 15.00 hrs and dusk settled in soon at those high altitudes and we were 102 km from Leh at that point. Kenny and Amol headed back to Leh with the broken wheel and we were left behind with our bikes minus one wheel on Sanjay's bike. With nothing to do on the road, Himanshu took out the mats and laid them down by the roadside, on the sheer side of the cliff!! We decided to kill time by taking naps in turns and so we did! It was awful! Every time a truck passed by, the ground shook and we had to get up in fear of falling off the edge!!
All was well as we zipped by the now familiar roads and we were making good time when disaster stuck!! For some time , we were noting a slight mis-alignment in the rear wheel of Sanjay's bike. We had asked him to slow down a bit and get the alignment checked at the next mechanic available , which we didnt have any idea of!! 14 km before Tanglang La , at a very particlularly accentuated bump on the road, I heard a definite crack from Sanjay's bike. He stopped immediately, complaining of a terrible wobbling in the rear. Upon examining his rear wheel, Amol discovered 5 broken spokes!!! After deliberating for a while, I suggested we take the wheel out and rush it back to Leh without wasting any more time. It was already 15.00 hrs and dusk settled in soon at those high altitudes and we were 102 km from Leh at that point. Kenny and Amol headed back to Leh with the broken wheel and we were left behind with our bikes minus one wheel on Sanjay's bike. With nothing to do on the road, Himanshu took out the mats and laid them down by the roadside, on the sheer side of the cliff!! We decided to kill time by taking naps in turns and so we did! It was awful! Every time a truck passed by, the ground shook and we had to get up in fear of falling off the edge!! I tried to get some shut-eye only to wake up with the terrible headache, the reason to which I had absolutely no idea cause I was doing just fine before the nap. Himanshu said that I might have had a sunstroke, cause the sun was bearing down on us and I had all my warm clothes on. Whatever it was, we waited patiently for Kenny and Amol. The wind had begun to play tricks on us and many a times we could hear the thump of Kenny's bike somewhere down below, only to be disappointed upon finding out it was a false alarm. Many a times when we saw a headlight down the road, we would hope it was Kenny's bike on the "rescue mission", a term aptly coined by Kenny. It was getting dark and the wind chilly. We knew we had little time before we had to make a move. At 17.00 hrs , we decided we would head back to Rumtse and stay there for the night. Now the problem was, what we could do with Sanjay's bike. After much debating and deliberation, Sanjay decided he would leave his bike on the road and come back in the morning with the wheel. We would have to make one trip to Rumtse with whatever we could carry and come back for Sanjay and rest of our stuff. We parked the bike on the side on the road and unloaded all the stuff. Himanshu, our "bungee master" began loading most of the stuff on his bike, knowing I wasnt feeling too well. I propped up one bag from Sanjay bike along with my own bike and that was all. Frankly I wasnt even too sure of my reflexes cause I was really feeling wobbly.We started of with our loads, leaving Sanjay with the bike and rest of our bags. I told Himanshu not to rip, cause I wouldnt be able to keep up with him in my current state. We reached Rumtse "down" below some 90 minutes later to an altitude of around 14000 ft. We found one hotel (actually there were only 3 hotels there!) and unloaded our stuff and told the landlady we were going back uphill to fetch one of our mates. But before that we decided to wait for around 20 minutes hoping that Kenny would be back by then and we could go up to Sanjay together. Half an hour later and no sign of Kenny and Amol, we decided to head back uphill to give Sanjay some respite. Sanjay was anxiously pacing up and down as we reached him, cause it was dark by then and the wind was getting cold!
We propped the rest of our bags onto our bikes and were ready again for trip 2. Still no sign of Kenny and Amol. We decided to give the guys some more time and if they didnt turn up, we'd scoot downhill. When Kenny and Amol failed to turn up even by 19.30 hrs, we decided it was about time we left the place or it would get unbearably cold. The only respite was that the sky was clear and there was moonshine all over the place.
Himanshu w
as of the suggestion that Sanjay ride on my bike and that way we could all leave together downhill. But Sanjay felt I couldnt do it, and he was right, neither did I. So he decided to hitch a ride on a truck and let us go solo ahead. We waited for a truck and soon Sanjay got a lift from a tanker heading towards Leh. He told us to ride safe and stop the truck at Rumtse in case he missed the hotel. And so we started off and soon were ahead of the truck , heading towards Rumtse. Somewhere downhill, just before Rumtse, I saw one solitary headlight coming from the opposite direction. Somehow, even before the other bike reached recognisable distance, I knew it had to be Kenny and Amol and I turned on my blinkers. And it WAS Kenny and Amol! I briefed them of the situation as Himanshu caught up with me, and soon Sanjay too in the truck. Amol was of the opinion that two bikes head back and get Sanjay's bike. So we decided I lead the truck and download all the bags at Rumtse, while Kenny, Amol, Himanshu and Sanjay headed back uphill to the stricken bike. I led the truck and offloaded all the stuff at the hotel and then began my patient wait for the rest of the guys. I knew it'd take some time as it was already dark and that meant much longer travel time on the road. So I helped myself to some lemon tea and wafers at the hotel and popped in a "cold and flu" tablet in some hope to ease away my headache.
as of the suggestion that Sanjay ride on my bike and that way we could all leave together downhill. But Sanjay felt I couldnt do it, and he was right, neither did I. So he decided to hitch a ride on a truck and let us go solo ahead. We waited for a truck and soon Sanjay got a lift from a tanker heading towards Leh. He told us to ride safe and stop the truck at Rumtse in case he missed the hotel. And so we started off and soon were ahead of the truck , heading towards Rumtse. Somewhere downhill, just before Rumtse, I saw one solitary headlight coming from the opposite direction. Somehow, even before the other bike reached recognisable distance, I knew it had to be Kenny and Amol and I turned on my blinkers. And it WAS Kenny and Amol! I briefed them of the situation as Himanshu caught up with me, and soon Sanjay too in the truck. Amol was of the opinion that two bikes head back and get Sanjay's bike. So we decided I lead the truck and download all the bags at Rumtse, while Kenny, Amol, Himanshu and Sanjay headed back uphill to the stricken bike. I led the truck and offloaded all the stuff at the hotel and then began my patient wait for the rest of the guys. I knew it'd take some time as it was already dark and that meant much longer travel time on the road. So I helped myself to some lemon tea and wafers at the hotel and popped in a "cold and flu" tablet in some hope to ease away my headache.It was 21.30 hrs, when the guys returned and settled into the warm comfort of the hotel. We soon had dinner and were ready to hit the sack at 23.00 hrs. Our cell phones had been on a recurrent alarm for 06.00 hrs all these days now , so we didnt set any alarm inorder to get up early and make up for lost time!!
p.s. I had coined the term "bungee master" for Himanshu some days back on the road. He had a knack of packing up things on his bikes with the bungee cords and that dexterity prompted me to credit him the title "bungee master", to the approval of Kenny too!!!
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