Day 4 – From greenery to no vegetation (Koksar-Sarchu)
25 Oct 2014Woke up to realize where we were. It was extremely beautiful with sun shining brilliantly between mountains, a river flowing by, a waterfall. It was a welcome surprise from the last day’s ride in mud. Roads were good for most part of the ride till Baralacha pass. You will also encounter a number of streams flowing on the road. The rubber boots were very useful.
All of the bridges will be similar to this one made of just iron and iron sheets lying on them. Only one vehicle can use it at a time.
Refuelled at Tandi. We also got minor repairs done here. Keylong, which is ~10km here, is the last place where you can get motorcycle repairs shops and ATM machines.
Once you cross Jispa, you will not see any vegetation, only some sort of grass. The mountains are barren with snow on top.
A block of ice near Baralacha pass. It was hard quite hard.
Once you start descending, the roads are terrible. Sarachu is only 40 km from here, but it took more than 2 hours to reach there. We reached around 8pm. Got a tent. It was really cold there.
After living in Bangalore for 4 years, I had forgotten what cold felt like. I went inside dropped my riding jacket and shoes and pulled 3 quilts on top of myself. After a few minutes I was not able to breathe properly. Finally I removed one quilt. This is where AMS had started to set in. I was panting all the time, taking deep breaths in between to calm down my breathing. My feet were very cold, I kept rubbing my hands to warm them, but it did not help. My socks were so cold that I was not able to figure out if it was just cold or wet as well.
Also I broke my spectacles here, and I had to ride to Leh without them. If you wear spectacles carry an extra pair.