Day 1 — The Journey Begins
It was June 2017, the beginning of a journey that eight of us from Gurgaon and Delhi had been waiting for.
The destination was Leh.
But before Leh, we had a long road ahead of us. Our first target was Manali, and from there, we would take on the legendary route towards Rohtang Pass and eventually Leh.
I reached Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba in Murthal around 9:00 PM.
I was riding my 2012 Royal Enfield Thunderbird, and while the summer night was still hot, I was already feeling the excitement of what lay ahead. I was there before the others, waiting for the rest of our group to arrive.
The first one to arrive was Ashok Chauhan.
Slowly, the night started turning into the beginning of our adventure.
We stopped for some food and tea. Sitting there with a plate of paratha and a hot cup of chai, it felt almost like any other night at Murthal. But for me, it was different.
I knew that this wasn't just another bike ride.
We were about to ride hundreds of kilometres toward the Himalayas.
The excitement was building.
One by one, the rest of the riders arrived until all eight of us were finally together. There wasn't any big ceremony or dramatic moment. We simply met, checked our things, put on our riding gear and prepared the bikes.
By around 12:00 midnight, we were ready to leave.
Eight riders.
Eight motorcycles.
One destination.
Manali.
At that moment, we had no idea what the road ahead had in store for us.
We knew that the journey to Leh wouldn't be easy. But knowing something is difficult and actually experiencing it are two very different things.
We started our engines and pulled out from Murthal into the summer night.
The real journey had begun.
Our target was Manali.
But the road had other plans for us.
And before we would see the mountains of Ladakh, we were going to face a lot of challenges.
At that moment, none of us knew exactly what the next few days would bring.
The First Break
We had one rider leading the group — Amit.
The night ride had started well. The roads were relatively quiet, and we were settling into our rhythm. But after riding for some time, Amit started feeling sleepy.
Instead of pushing himself, he made the sensible decision to stop.
He stopped the entire group near the Karnal Toll Plaza.
We all pulled over together.
It was our first proper break of the journey.
For around 30–45 minutes, we rested, stretched a little and gave ourselves some time to recover. It wasn't a long stop, but after the excitement of starting the journey, it felt good to simply stand around with the bikes and the group.
There was still a very long road ahead of us.
Eventually, we were ready again.
Helmets went back on.
Engines came to life.
One by one, the motorcycles rolled back onto the highway.
We continued towards Manali.
At that point, Leh still felt like a distant destination.
We were only at the beginning.
And we had no idea how many challenges this ride was going to throw at us before we finally reached the mountains.
The Gurudwara Halt
By around 5:00 AM, the long night ride had started taking its toll on all of us.
Somewhere after Ambala, we came across a Gurudwara. Everyone was feeling sleepy and exhausted. After riding through the night, we knew that continuing further would only make things more difficult.
We decided to stop and rest.
We took one room in the Gurudwara, parked our bikes and finally allowed ourselves to relax. The tiredness that had been building up during the night quickly caught up with everyone.
It was supposed to be just a break, but we ended up sleeping for several hours.
When we finally woke up, it was around 1:00 PM.
We had spent the entire morning recovering from the night ride.
The journey had already taught us our first lesson: sometimes, no matter how excited you are about reaching your destination, you simply have to stop, rest and let your body recover.
Falling Behind Schedule
Our original plan was ambitious — we wanted to reach Leh in just three days.
But looking at our progress so far, it was becoming clear that we were already falling behind schedule. The long night ride, the early-morning stop and several hours of rest had taken away a significant amount of time.
We had lunch around 2:00 PM and then got back on our motorcycles.
The road towards the mountains continued, and we kept riding.
By around 7:00–8:00 PM, we finally reached Mandi.
By then, everyone was tired again, so we decided to stop for the night. We found a hotel, checked in, parked the motorcycles and settled down.
Six members of the group decided to have some alcohol and ended up staying awake until late into the night.
It had been a long day.
Our three-day plan to reach Leh was already looking difficult, but the journey was still only beginning.
Tomorrow, we would have to get back on the bikes and continue towards Manali.
Day -2
The Late Start
I had already told everyone the night before that we needed to wake up early and start riding around 7:00–8:00 AM.
Our original plan was to reach Leh in three days, and after losing so much time already, I knew we couldn't afford another late start.
But the morning didn't go according to plan.
One by one, everyone started getting ready, but nobody seemed to be in a hurry. Even something as simple as tying the luggage properly was taking a lot of time. The tiredness from the previous day's ride, combined with the late night, had clearly caught up with everyone.
I kept thinking about the clock.
7 AM passed.
Then 8 AM.
Still, we weren't ready.
Eventually, after getting everything together, we finally started riding at around 11:00 AM.
Three hours later than we had planned.
Our destination was still Manali, and we had a long stretch of road ahead of us.
At this point, I was beginning to realize that reaching Leh in three days was becoming more and more difficult.
But there was nothing to do except start the engines and keep moving.
Manali was waiting.
Reaching Manali
Finally, after hours of riding, we reached Manali around 5:00 PM.
For a moment, it felt like we had made good progress. We had finally reached the point where the real Himalayan ride was about to begin.
But soon, we discovered another problem.
A few members of our group didn't have the required permit to cross Rohtang Pass.
We couldn't simply continue without sorting that out.
Our leader took responsibility and went to arrange copies of the required permits so that everyone could continue with the group.
At the same time, we noticed another issue.
A few of the bikes didn't have proper luggage carriers installed. With the rough roads and the amount of luggage we were carrying, we couldn't just tie everything directly onto the motorcycles and hope for the best.
Those riders went to get luggage carriers installed on their bikes.
So instead of immediately heading towards Rohtang Pass, we found ourselves spending more time in Manali getting everything ready.
The mountains were finally in front of us.
But before we could ride into them, we still had a few things to sort out.
Into the Night Towards Rohtang
Our next destination was Keylong.
But by around 7:00 PM, darkness had already started settling over the mountains. We were still in Manali, dealing with the delays and preparations from earlier in the evening.
Everyone eventually came back together around 9:00 PM.
The temperature had dropped noticeably. The warmth of the day was gone, and the night air had become cold.
We knew we were already very late, but stopping in Manali wasn't part of our plan.
So we decided to continue.
We started our motorcycles again and moved towards Rohtang Pass, with Keylong as our next target.
The conditions were completely different now. It was dark, cold and unfamiliar, and we were heading deeper into the mountains.
The road ahead was waiting for us.
And this time, there was no more daylight to guide us.
Rohtang Pass — 2017
The Rohtang Pass of 2017 was nothing like a normal mountain road.
There was hardly any proper road in many places. Instead, we had to negotiate our motorcycles through huge boulders, flowing water and patches of snow scattered across the route.
And we were doing all of this at night.
The darkness made everything even more difficult. Every obstacle on the road had to be approached carefully. The motorcycles were bouncing over rocks, water was flowing across the route, and the cold was getting stronger as we climbed higher.
But somehow, we kept moving.
Finally, at around 12:30 AM, we reached the top of Rohtang Pass.
After such a difficult climb, we desperately needed something to eat. We found a small roadside dhaba and requested them to serve us whatever food they had available.
They made us Maggi.
Sitting there in the cold night at Rohtang, with a hot plate of Maggi in front of us, it felt like a luxury. After fighting the rough road for hours, even a simple meal tasted amazing.
A few members of the group also started drinking some alcohol.
Personally, I didn't like it. We were already at high altitude, it was extremely cold, and we still had a long and difficult road ahead of us. I preferred to stay focused on the journey.
But everyone had their own way of dealing with the exhaustion.
We finished our food, got ready to move again, and looked out into the darkness.
We had crossed Rohtang.
But Keylong was still waiting for us.
Lost in the Darkness
After leaving Rohtang Pass, we started moving towards Keylong.
There was no mobile signal on that route, so once we left the pass, we were completely cut off from the outside world. There was no way to call anyone or check where the others were.
We rode a few kilometres through the darkness when we suddenly realized something was wrong.
There were only four motorcycles with us.
The other four riders were missing.
We stopped and waited, expecting them to appear from behind at any moment. We stood there in the dark, chilly mountain weather, somewhere before the Thandi area, watching the road behind us.
But they didn't come.
Minutes passed.
There was no phone signal.
There was no way to call them.
And there was no way to know exactly where they were.
The darkness around us made the situation even more unsettling. We didn't know whether the other four riders had stopped somewhere, had faced a problem with one of the bikes, or had simply fallen far behind.
After waiting for some time, we had to make a decision.
We couldn't keep standing on the road indefinitely, and we didn't want to continue ahead and make the group even more separated.
So we decided to camp near the road.
The idea was simple: if the other four riders came through the same route, they would see us and know where we had stopped.
We set ourselves up beside the road in the cold darkness and waited.
Four riders together.
Four somewhere behind us.
No mobile network.
No way to contact them.
Only the road connecting us.
That night, somewhere between Rohtang and Keylong, the adventure suddenly became much more real.
Day 3 — Waiting for the Others
I woke up early the next morning, around 6:00 AM.
The first thing I realized was that the other four riders still hadn't reached us.
We had spent the night camping beside the road, expecting them to arrive at some point, but there was still no sign of them.
The morning was quiet and cold. I decided to walk towards a nearby river for a little privacy.
While I was there, I came across a local honey farmer.
He was a very friendly and welcoming person. We started talking, and despite the circumstances, his simple hospitality immediately made me feel comfortable. He offered me a cup of tea, which was exactly what I needed that cold morning.
I also bought a few bottles of honey from him.
It was one of those unexpected moments that stay with you during a long journey. We were strangers, far away from home, but a local person had stopped to offer me tea and share what he had.
After a few more hours of waiting, there was still no sign of the other four bikers.
Eventually, we decided we couldn't wait there any longer.
I started packing up the camping equipment, securing everything back onto my Thunderbird and getting the luggage ready for the next part of the journey.
The four of us then continued towards Keylong.
When we reached Keylong, we stopped for breakfast.
But even while sitting there and eating, our minds were still with the other four riders.
We had no mobile signal and no way to contact them.
So we waited.
Four of us were sitting in Keylong, having breakfast and hoping that, sooner or later, the other four motorcycles would appear on the road.
The journey had already become very different from what we had planned.
And we still didn't know where the other four riders were.
The Others Finally Arrive
After waiting for several hours in Keylong, the other four riders finally arrived at around 11:00 AM.
We were relieved to see them.
But instead of simply being happy that everyone was finally together, the situation quickly turned into an argument.
They were angry with us.
They started shouting that we had left them behind and hadn't gone back to find them.
We tried to explain what had happened from our side. We had waited for them in the darkness, but there was no mobile signal, so we couldn't call or locate them.
More importantly, going back wasn't as simple as it might sound.
There were no petrol pumps along that stretch, and we were already travelling through a remote mountain route. Turning around and riding back several kilometres without knowing exactly where they were could have created another problem.
We couldn't simply ride back and search for them as if we were on a normal highway.
But they weren't able to understand our situation.
The argument continued, and eventually they suggested that we should stay in Keylong for another night.
That meant another delay.
Our original plan had been to reach Leh in three days, but by now the schedule was slipping further and further away from us.
We had started this journey as a group of eight, with one destination in mind.
Now we were learning that keeping eight people together on such a difficult route was going to be just as challenging as riding the route itself.
Day 4 — Towards Baralacha La
Day 4 started pretty much the same way as the previous days.
Everyone woke up late.
I, however, was already prepared and ready to ride on time. By now, I had realized that if we wanted to make progress, I had to be ready before everyone else.
Before leaving Keylong, I checked with the others about the water crossings we were going to face on the route ahead.
I knew that crossing the cold mountain streams would not be easy, and I wanted everyone to be prepared. I specifically asked whether everyone had gumboots, because they would be useful for getting through the water without soaking our feet.
But there was another problem.
Nobody had brought gumboots.
So the group had to go into the market to buy them.
Once again, we were delayed.
The others went looking for gumboots and came back later, while I waited with my bike and the luggage already packed.
Finally, around 11:30 AM, we were ready to leave.
We started riding towards our next major stretch of the journey:
Baralacha La → Sarchu → Leh.
This was going to be a completely different part of the ride.
We were now moving deeper into the Himalayas, leaving the relatively familiar roads behind and heading towards some of the toughest and most remote sections of our journey.
The road ahead was waiting.
And this time, we knew there would be water crossings, high passes and much more difficult terrain waiting for us.
Baralacha La — The Reality of the Route
As we continued towards Baralacha La, I started noticing something about the person leading our trip.
He seemed very confident—perhaps more confident than the situation demanded.
The route ahead was getting tougher with every kilometre. We had to ride through mud, water and patches of snow, carefully making our way across the difficult terrain of Baralacha La.
It was nothing like riding on a normal mountain road.
Eventually, we managed to cross the pass.
After getting to the other side of Baralacha La, we stopped for a short break. We took some time to recover and prepare ourselves for the next stretch.
Our next target was Sarchu.
But the real challenge was still ahead.
Somewhere on the route was a large and famous water crossing. The nala was not an easy crossing—not even for a motorcycle, and difficult enough that even four-wheel-drive vehicles could struggle with it.
We had no choice but to get involved directly.
The water was freezing cold, and at places we had to actually stand in the stream to help rescue and move the motorcycles through.
Then our leader attempted to cross it.
While riding through the water, he lost control of his motorcycle and both the bike and he ended up in the freezing water.
The situation suddenly became serious.
We helped him and got the motorcycle out of the water, but the incident shook him badly.
The confidence he had shown earlier was suddenly replaced by nervousness about continuing the ride.
For the first time, I could see that the mountains were beginning to humble us.
This wasn't just a motorcycle ride anymore.
Every crossing demanded concentration.
Every mistake had consequences.
And the road towards Sarchu still lay ahead.
Before Sarchu — The Leader Gives Up
Before we could reach Sarchu, the situation changed again.
Our leader decided that he could not continue riding any further. The water crossing had already shaken him, and on top of that, he was also experiencing mountain sickness.
He decided to stop the ride.
At that point, I started setting up camping arrangements for the group so that they could get inside and take some rest. The weather around us was harsh, with very strong winds blowing through the area.
While I was trying to arrange everything and get the group settled, the constant delays and confusion were becoming frustrating.
Eventually, Ashok Chauhan and I went somewhere to have lunch.
We were both irritated by the situation, but there wasn't much we could do except take a break, eat something and prepare ourselves for whatever came next.
The journey that had started with eight riders and a simple plan to reach Leh was becoming more complicated with every passing day.
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