Drass Code #3

Majesty!

After I took this snap, one of my gloves was missing. It had fallen over the edge into the valley, about 10m below. In fact, you can actually see it about to fall over, a couple of feet in front of the front wheel. I climbed down to retrieve it. That short trek left me completely exhausted. My metabolism had yet to adjust to the thin air.

The riders, the road, the valley and the mountains. The complete essence of the ride in one shot.

Need I say more ? – Courtesy Prashi

Chaithra had a minor scrape late in the afternoon. Oncoming convoy and a pedestrian left him with no choice but to brake on gravel, allowing him to perform a nice little Bhoomi Namaskaram (Prostration on the ground). He was unscathed, but that was more than could be said of the bike. The headlight & dome were smashed in, and the tank was cracked and leaking.

Chaithra, recovering from the spill.

We reached Kargil late in the afternoon, and quickly checked into a hotel. Quickly unloading luggage, we set out to locate a mechanic to fix Chaithra’s headlight. The existing dome was could not be repaired, but a locally procured fake Yamaha dome was substituted. I do believe it was much brighter than the stock Royal Enfield Thunderbird halogen headlight it replaced. Some M-Seal on his tank took care of the crack too.

We checked up on the route for the next day. All locals were unanimous on one thing, that Zanskar was unapproachable, and the road… well… wasn’t a road at all. Aah… we hadn’t come this far to be scared by such reports. We filled our tanks and my spare can, as we planned to be off early the next day. We expected that night to be really cold, but it really wasn’t too bad at all.