supposed to visit the lake in October but the earthquake had led us to cancel it that time). The 1st of May came and went; the heart-break and sadness grew bigger and more painful. Then slowly the thirst for adventure and riding started overtaking our emotions and within a couple of days I and Kinjal were ready to complete the trip to Ladakh version 2.0 sans our bike gang members. The old excitement was back as we started planning and preparing for the trip. We met members of SWAN, who had visited the lake a few weeks earlier. They advised us to take full protection and warned that the roads were in pathetic conditions and how difficult it was up there. One of my dad’s office colleagues too had expressed his desire to ride with us but then his ailing heart condition forced him to back down.
As regards preparation, we borrowed one set of biking gears from a member of SWAN who happened to be our friend. I had been planning to learn how to repair punctures but had not been able to learn till then. So we scraped the idea of taking any spare tubes or foot pump and
risked a gamble with fate. I had learned how to make the mixtures lean or rich and how to adjust the clutch cable (though I seriously doubted being able to do that if the need came). There was also the possibility of the road being closed due to landslides but we were ready for
It was now the two of us, me and Kinjal. The continued obstacles had made us determined more than ever to complete the trip. It had become a sort of challenge to both of us. Ramneek Singh, of Xkmph who had made the trip a few weeks back helped us a lot sharing his experience with us. I was sure about not being approved leave for four days and hence planned to just bunk office and doing the explanation later. Dr. Kinjal Banerjee (yes he is an eye surgeon), who has been my companion and pillion in every crazy trip of mine was also ready as ever. Preparing for the ride:
Travelers’ Adda
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