FreeBird Goes .... @18,634ft - The highest so far

Hiya Guys N Gals,

I know most of yo dont know me but I have been a part of adv since a while now and touring to some of the most rare places on earth... here comes the treat to the rest of the world....

To start with, i will introduce on the journey,
I live in New Delhi, India... and
Destination is Leh,(Ladakh Region) Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Though Leh is officially a high tourist zone but thats not where I am headed. I have been to Leh three times already in past three years which is like 670miles North of Delhi.

My destination was - Marsimek La.
The un-official Highest road in the world (though people say its in brazil)
This is at 18,634ft and is a restricted zone as it crosses over to the border of China and is protected army zone.

Although the more known one Khardung La is at 18,380ft which is publicly announced as the official highest road in world (my doubts).

The journey to Leh is none short of a vista and landscape beauty..
so here i start off...

I will be coming with pics in part as the Days Go by...
Following with the start :

Day 1 : Ride from New Delhi to Manali, 365miles North of Delhi into Himalayas.


As we start, Its just 2.30Am - Sep1.
The Watch goes on the bar. Easy to take down the time checks.



The weapon : A mere ONE Fiddy(150cc) with just 12.8BHP But none less then anything as long as it does move all the way...



Another Friend(Ateet) Joins in and he Rides a 225CC with 18BHP



And the another One Joins in on our way, he is another One Fiddy rider (Nitin).. In love his small yet loveable .... Two wheels.



The Journey started and after hour and thiry minutes, i clocked my 65,000kms with the stock engine.
Reliable !!?
Oh, you can reply on that.


After 80 miles of our ride, we halt for our much desired breakfast break
And our fourth rider(Vibhav) joined in on his One Fiddy too.


The journey after the breakfast carried on, the ride was all on the plains and nothing much but just boring shall we say.... But as they say if its INDIA, its happening... so heres how the happening it could get in morning wee hours...



On the National Highway 21 (NH21), we had covered about 157miles to our next big busy city - Chandigarh. The Board welcomes you in a bigger way. Welcome....



Another two hours and we have gone 200miles north of delhi with a boring plain strech of road and it literally sucks when you are just cruising in at 45mph. So we take a chocolate break next to the river so we can wash and feel fresh...


And now, after 200 miles - we look forward to the hills and the curves and the ride begins.... Finally... the much awaited curves.


And there wasnt much to shoot in the day as we decided to keep our day one for the distance killing ride to cover 362miles. And after a final 15hours of ride we reached Manali in HImachal Pradesh, where we took a hotel room in cheap shoestring budget and ended up taking a walk in the nearby Mall road, and then crashing in to the bed with a Rum to lighten us.

X---- X

X---- X


Well, that consumed about 16hours in total of our Day1 ride.
I know that was all ride no fun, but the real fun is to begin now.
When the Nature showers its beauty...

Coming with the Day2 summary in few hours.... That shall create the magic flowing...

Coming back very soon...
FreeBirD

18,000'++ is crazy! Try not to hyperventilate at that altitude! Have fun and post more pictures.

awesome!! can't wait to see the rest of the pictures, you guys look like fun with the rum!! how much does one of those motorcycles cost?

Awesome pics Lovemax. Awesome.

India is indeed a beautiful place...Chanderjeet have showed us some...lets see more...

I've hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney in California - 14,494 feet.

Child's play I guess! :eek1

Keep it comin!

@ Salt Lick : Yes, mate 18,000ft ++ means more of Altitude less of oxygen and hard to find adrenalin, but you kick yourself with nothing but just that last inch of energy to do and to achieve...

@ Johny Cowboy : Hi Johny, well the One Fiddy shall cost you about 1400$ but are out of production since these bikes had more power but less mileage, and in this country people wanted mileage, so they changed this version. The other 225, ZMA costs about 2000$.

@ chanderjeet : The magic shall be continued.... the real way.

@ AJ : Well, I guess you have never seen this before and shall never see it in this way... It makes you leave the monitor and pop out..

@ Klay : Yo, bro... if you cant make it to this end, thats the best thing to do... i m up there.

@ BMW-K : Child' play.. Lets see it now...

Here you go with the Ultimate...
Day1 : there were just no pics at all..
DAY2: let you feel it now... Everyone is invited ..

Lets all take the backseat while i was on the front..

CheerS
~m~

Wow!

Day 1: was all Ride and no excitement,
One fall, for one our riders. No damage to the rider, ofcourse the cosmetics were little out of place, but all tied to the cords, they will hang on for next 13 days to come.

DAY 2 - Day of excitement
After about 5hours of lazy sleep, we started on with a fresh view out of our room. It was bit chilly to see it from this point but oh yeah... we are here to feel it now.
GooD morning everyone, you are here to feel it all..



But that was not all, one of our rider (Vibhav) found out while tying up the luggage, that there is a HOLE in his tank. Something verymuch unfortunate. He took off his tank and emptied up to distribute the fuel to all the other Fella riders, He had no option but to head back 365Miles to Delhi with the temporary fixture on that hole, and soon one more came up. His bike is about 8years old with 1,25,000kms on it. He sure was disappointed to return back... as the we expect the roads to disappear and the weather to get worst, it was not a good idea to carry on further ahead.



The Day begin little late due to the technical snags but the weather sure was not a good one either, The weather men predicted - "wet and slippery roads ahead". After the first 10miles, we were able to see what lies ahead.


Heres the further road ahead.... all patchy and looks metalled but not really. you would find all the potholes every few metres due to rain and weather here throughout the year is like this...


But that doesnt change till another 30miles....
So we keep clicking, and


And we keep clicking, and



And we keep riding ....


And we have our breakfast, finally .... after 38miles of our ride. Though this Rider is still sleepy and not feeling the chill yet... he still thinks he is in his warm bed...


But No, we have to head higher, higher, a little above the clouds -



And we finally touch our first Pass on the long distance roadtrip - This is known as "Rohtang Pass" where out Chanderjeet has felt the same weather before too...


But once you cross this Pass, the weather is all sunny and lot better, its all downhill for next 10miles and you come across the beautiful vista of nature..


And into the valley we reach, and the traffic for the day has started with those big trucks trying to make their way to those far flung areas with the supplies. And right ahead of that traffic comes our two riders.


And then onwards, the roads get better and with the humps and dips in the road, the Guys starts flying... get those wheels in the air, i mean both of em... at the same time...


And then there were no limits to what we were to experience, besides something I have known and known where to find those places which others are going to miss.... so for rest of them here it comes


And soon, everything from our journey is to become the past. As they say keep going on, what's gone is gone.. look ahead - something new and pleasant is waiting for you.


Alright... SO, what do you think ...
aah .... this ..


ohh... this was we are not going to make a fuss about it, as this smooth road comes only for a distance of about 10miles... And you are over 16,500ft - the weather scares you with cold and strong winds, with the mist of water droplets in the air... it makes you run .. fast now.



And we finally find a place for us to rest at 14,400ft and this was a big mistake which costed us a lot of time but we shall see as it still is to happen but this is the martian landscape we end up in.. Check out for those yellow canopies... they were the Tents, which are put on this road each year as travellers travel by on this prominent most adventurous road.



The day 2, as we called it the Day of excitement was nothing short of natural beauty. But do tell as how you feel and you like it... while the more is never enough as we say so i shall come back again into the act with more following in right away... with Day3 - the Day in the cold desert at 14,000ft and A flat tyre.. with something we know as 'Pretty Adventure'

Hi Gadget Boy, i like your KLR... that killer
But till the time i dream on for that killer, I want you to munch some more popcorns, as I get way more for you very soon...

Enjoy...
~m~

What a fantastic adventure. Great report.

Thanks for sharing ths report! You might consider sharing some Dehli traffic pictures, that can be an adventure in itself. Passing a cow on the highway at 90 kph can be quite an adventure.

Wow...thanks for posting this ride...how about this front page material

~m~, you guys know EPIC.


Respect.

Mani dude,

Respect

Post the real pictures.
I think we are generating a lot of tourism for india. Which is good. Keep posting brother, next year, me and you can go to Marsimikla together on your KLR. Two UP

That's a beautiful ride.
You guys rock


.

Yes..I feel it. Kindred spirits you and I...India is in my future.

more.....more....more....