I travel the 'highest motorable road' by motorbike over Khardung La to flood-damaged Nubra Valley
I travel the 'highest motorable road' by motorbike over Khardung La to flood-damaged Nubra Valley
Although I set out three days ago to go to Nubra Valley, it was late in the day when I reached the first checkpost at South Pullu before Khardung La. My inner-line permit only allowed me to pass before 11.30am, and it was well after that. I talked to the police officer, looked at the sun, and headed back down the 25 kilometers to Leh. Although I didn't make it to the pass, I met a number of bicyclists en route, including the Swiss couple bicycling around the world whom I had met in Spiti Valley!
City of Leh in Indus Valley
I got back to Leh and got some much-needed rest. By 9.00am the next morning, I was headed back up the pass. The weather now was very clear and I had excellent views the whole day.
The road is in good condition for most of the way. The entire road is paved, but it is interrupted with rough dirt and stone where landslides have occurred and the road has been cleared with bulldozers. The road is a key supply route for the Indian army to Kashmir, so it is constantly being cleared.
Subtlely racist sign made by Border Roads Organization
The last eight kilometers to the top are rough because of constant landslides. The Bajaj Pulsar 150cc handled fairly well. It is a street bike, so the suspension is not great on the dirt.
Women Nepali workers clearing the roads for the Border Roads Organization
I arrived at Khardung La at about 12.00pm. The pass is an army base. The soldiers live there year-round. Most seemed to be from places warm and low like Kerala and Karnataka.
View of the peaks to the north of Khardung La
Indian soldiers at Khardung La
There were plenty of tourists at the top, including mountain bikers who are hauled up by jeep and then ride back down to Leh.
Alexander, a Russian who carried his bicycle over a neighboring pass to Nubra Valley, and then bicycled back over Khardung La
The pass is at 5602 meters or 18,380 feet, ostensibly making it the highest motorable road in the world. I guess that is a little checkmark for my travels, if you're into that sort of thing. I had the requisite photo of me taken.
Khardung La, highest motorable road at 18,380 feet, or 5602 meters
The far side is rough for the first 8 kilometers. The landscape is dry and steep. The erosion of the river valleys reminds me of the American Southwest and other dry places.
The Nubra Valley
A branching valley off of the Nubra River
A jeep tackles a road repaired after a landslide
Passing into Khalsar and Diskit, I was struck by the damage done by the recent rains. This area usually gets almost no rain. In the recent rains, parts of these villages have been wiped out by landslides from the nearby mountains.
A building in Diskit half-covered with a landslide
The road along the Nubra Valley
A building in Khalsar, partially destroyed by flooding
A woman and child live in a tent on top of their partially destroyed house in Khalsar
I stayed in Hunder, a quiet village. Hunder is the last place one can go to in the valley; the remainder of the road is restricted to military.
After a peaceful evening at Milky Way guesthouse eating with a sociable Italian couple, I got some rest. The next morning I set out in the opposite direction.
The 8 kilometers near the top were the most difficult on the motorbike. I was in the middle of a large convoy of military trucks. There were large stones and rough patches. The bike had trouble not stalling at this altitude. (I suppose it will never be tested at a higher altitude!) I had to give it full throttle and ease the clutch halfway to keep it from stalling uphill over the rocks. And I needed to do it without hitting the supply truck in front of me or stalling it and annoying the truck driver behind me, as he tried to get his vehicle up the rocks.
Workers lay asphalt on the road from Khardung La to Khalsar in the Nubra Valley
I stopped only for a moment at the top the second time. The rest of the ride was fast. I rode in the middle of the convoy, keeping control over the dirt spots.
A supply truck in an Army convoy passes from Khardung La on the way to Leh
I got into Leh at about 4.30pm, in time to book a flight at the Jet Airways office.
I travel the 'highest motorable road' by motorbike over Khardung La to flood-damaged Nubra Valley
