Travel | Destinations
Khardung La
Riding on some of the highest tracks in the world to Khardung La leads Salil Kumar to rediscover life's simplest truths
- By Salil Kumar
- Published: 19:37 October 23, 2009
- REGION
- Asia
- HOLIDAY TYPE
- Adventure Travel
I stood on Khardung La, the highest road in the world at 5,600 metres, with my chest puffed up with egotistical pride. I thought: Salil Kumar, you took on the world, battled the elements, and came out triumphant. You looked death in the face. You must be the man Nietzsche had in mind when he wrote of ubermensch.
I looked at the board that proclaimed the fact that I was indeed standing on top of the world. I concentrated on the "18,300 feet bit" rather than the "5,600m" bit. Later I would tell people that Khardung La is at 18,300 feet and ignore the metric equivalent. Now even I know they mean the same. But for some reason I thought 5,600m was small — that people would only appreciate the scope and breadth of my achievement if they came face to face with that infinitely higher number. So 5,600 was elided.
Daydreaming
Oh, it would be some homecoming. I had visions — of reporters in Dubai beating a path to my doorstep to get hold of the scoop; of receiving congratulatory cables from heads of states; my face would be plastered everywhere; I would say "gentleman explorer" when asked what I did for a living. It was all heady stuff.
For about two minutes.And then, from the other side of the mountain pass, came two cyclists. Cyclists! Under their own power! At 5, 600m! No, make that 18,600 feet!
I crash-landed, my ego deflated. I felt fat and pudgy. I briefly considered pushing the two off the mountain or running them over for intruding in my daydream. In the event, I put my helmet on, kick-started the motorcycle and followed my level-headed friend, who had left some 10 minutes earlier.
So I went on a nearly-month-long motorcycling trip to the Himalayas. You should too. They are emphatically the biggest — and maybe the most beautiful — thing on earth.
To gaze up a snowy peak is to learn afresh about truth, beauty, honour and valour. To ride into the maw of a towering rock face is to come to terms with our own fragility and nothingness.
No pain, no gain
Above all, to be among the mountains is to learn — or rather relearn as I did during my peregrination — that truth, the one that Jack Kerouac, Che Guevara, and the guy who wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance forgot to mention: It's a royal pain.
Oh well, the pain is gone now and the pictures aren't that bad — even though I say so myself.
Itinerary
Day 1: Delhi-Bilaspur.
Day 2: Bilaspur-Manali.
Day 3: Stay at Manali. Acclimatise. Get motorcycle serviced. Buy spare cans.
Day 4: Manali-Keylong. Along the way get spare petrol from Tandi. On your own now. No petrol pumps or mechanics for the next 400 km or so.
Day 5: Keylang-Pang.
Day 6: Pang-Leh - civilisation, finally.
Day 7: Poke around in Leh
Day 8: Leh-Diskit - Pose for smug photos on K-top.
Day 9: Stay at Diskit. Ride a camel - a camel! On a mountain! — in Hunder.
Day 10: Back to Leh.
Day 11: Head for Pangon Tso. Camp overnight.
Day 12: Back to base again.
Day 13, 14 and 15: Recharge your batteries, visit local monasteries and cafes, buy souvenirs.
Day 16: On the road again. Head for Kargil - where the 1999 war between India and Pakistan took place. Stay overnight at Drass, 55 km further on. Drass is the second coldest village on earth - in case you are wondering how cold, the record there is minus 60 degrees Celsius.
Day 17: Cross Zoji La and arrive at Sonapur, Kashmir.
Day 18: Chill out at Sonapur
Day 19: Go to Gulmarg. Enjoy the vista.
Day 20: Stay at Gulmarg.
Day 21: Downhill all the way to Jammu. Visit Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.
Day 22: Head back up to Dharamsala - in the mountains.
Day 23, 24 and 25: Relax in Dharamsala
Day 26: Head back to Delhi.
Get the lingo
La: means a mountain pass in Tibetan, as in Khardung La, Nakee La
Tso: means a lake, as in Pangong Tso, Tso Morriri
Jhuley: hello, hi
Get the gear
- Cheap use and throw clothes
- Thermals (must)
- Gloves, jackets and riding boots
- Tank bag - for maps, camera and maybe some snacks
- Tool kit
- Spare parts - tubes, clutch and accelerator cables, chain lock, spark plug, headlight bulb and wires (to jump start the battery in case it drains).
- Two cans for extra petrol
- Paper soap
- Toilet roll
- Sun block
- Torch
- Bungee nets and cord to tie luggage
- Tarp sheets
- Cash (ATMs are mostly non-existent)
- Sleeping bag
- Tent - one or two-man
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