Leh

I took this photo of Leh on July 1. A little more than a month later, parts of Leh and its surrounding areas were completely obliterated by flooding and mudslides during a freakish downpour in the middle of the night. 165 are dead with hundreds injured and scores still "missing".
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/165-dead-in-Leh-flash-floods-81-foreigners-rescued/articleshow/6286099.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Leh-now-battles-food-water-shortage/articleshow/6284908.cms

Looking at some of the photos of places around town that we recently visited and is now destroyed is disturbing. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Leh-now-battles-food-water-shortage/articleshow/6284908.cms (warning, some photos are very graphic) They're upsetting not so much that we could have been there while the mudslides happened, but also knowing how kind, friendly, and sweet the people of Leh are.

While natural disasters may be unavoidable, tragedies such as this are not necessarily so. I have to wonder what difference it would have made if Leh and its surrounding regions had better infrastructure (I can speak from firsthand experience about the poor roads and drainage) and had a greater investment in development. Poverty and tragedy from disasters are always intertwined- the current floods in Pakistan and China, the recent earthquake in Haiti are examples as is Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans.

While the Indian army and several large NGOs are responding to the crisis http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health1/ngo-seeks-public-help-in-leh-relief-work_100409069.html

http://www.savethechildren.in/component/content/article/49-newsflash/328-a-public-appeal-to-support-relief-efforts-in-leh.html
, their immediate relief, while absolutely critical, are still no substitute for longterm development efforts. Avoiding such future tragedies in Leh (or anywhere else in the world) requires not only a substantial investment in financial, social and human capital but vision as well.

Traversing the Manali-Leh Highway (4)

Day 5: Sarchu to Upsi

The morning starts off with a typical boring scene along the Manali-Leh highway...


Lachulangla- at 16,600', the 3rd highest motorable pass in the world


Pang is one of the temporary tent "cities" where you can get basic supplies and a bed if need be. We stopped to grab lunch at one of the many tent dhabas along the way.



We actually stopped off at the same dhaba for food on the way back. I recognized one of the dhaba owners from her photo in a book, so we cut out her page and gave it to her.


Her name is Dora and has 2 kids that she sees only once a year. She only makes about $1000 a season. She was so happy to see her page that she gave us some candy when we left, I felt like I 6 years old again, hah!


Morey Plains-


As much as I love the Royal Enfields, I'm not the biggest fan of any part but the engine on this bike. After I heard a clinking sound of metal hitting asphalt, I just knew that it couldn't have been good...

Yep, that's my rear brake. Never thought to bring an extra one of those, doh!

Ordinary if this was New Delhi or any other major city this wouldn't have been too bad, but it's still nearly 200kms from Leh! I still had to go through such Manali-Leh highway sights such as...

Tagalangla- at 17,500', the 2nd highest motorable pass in the world.



Going up without a rear brake wasn't too bad, going down was a different story. Let's just say it took awhile...

Finally, we're starting to see stupas and prayer wheels! After 487kms, several stops for attention-needy PEG, lots of magi (ramen), momos (potstickers), and thukpa (noodle soup) at tent dhabas, and 6 scenic, yet grinding, days, next stop Leh!

Traversing the Manali-Leh Highway (3)

Day 4: Keylong to Sarchu

The day begin as usual, pack the bags, load the bikes, struggle starting them up cold... PEG must have be a bad influence on Meeraj's bike.
http://flic.kr/p/8nWH5j


The scenery is nothing really to write about.


A few of the switchbacks heading up to the high altitude passes (after the first 20 I lost track...)-


We finally reach Baralachala at 16,500'. The mountain mountains finally begin.


It's as cold as it looks, but we're too distracted by the scenery to really care.


Baralachala is one of the (many) passes that we were a little concerned with before leaving New Delhi. On a Manali-Leh Highway touring Internet forum, stranded bikers posted updates like-

"I was riding with bikers who have done the manali-leh route almost 4-5 times and they could swear on their bikes that this was the scariest experience of all and they have never seen so much water and snow before."

Yep, not too much of a confidence builder, and the posted photos and videos also made Baralachala look umm... a bit "challenging" thanks to a recent avalanche.

Photo/Video a few days before we got there-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oAbqofWsPw&feature=player_embedded


Snow is one thing, but snow+bright sun results in water. Lots of it. Hard to believe it's not a river.


Crossing the Baralachala nallahs with PEG, the 400 pound she-beast of a bike-



I actually made it through the Baralachala nallahs in one piece without falling, but unfortunately I wasn't so lucky at crossings earlier in the day. At one point PEG was underwater for 5 minutes, but surprisingly started right away without any problems. My psycho ex-girlfriend definitely has a split personality. Nothing is quite so tiring as getting thrown off into snow melt/rivers and having to pick your 400 pound bike back up. Ugh! Manali-Leh Highway: 6, Me: 2.
Meeraj's Baralachala crossing video (be sure to watch the last 2 seconds, hah!).


After a long and exhausting day, we finally arrive at Sarchu, tent city.

The mountain scenery is almost like a painting which makes it all worthwhile.