Leh Spiti Tour

How it started?

It was Saturday sunny afternoon of 2nd July’16, waiting for my turn to see the orthopedic doctor and fix

my surgery date to get the implant removed from my right forearm.

I was advised to be seated patiently and wait for my name to be call out. In the midst of that half-full

waiting room with unknown faces sharing pleasantries, I was lost in thoughts.

There was a war between my mind and heart on the things to happen in course of next few

weeks/months and slowly my thoughts gained control over my heart and concluded the matter.

Then comes my turn to meet the Doctor and I walked into the room with mixed emotions. As usual it

started like any other doctor meeting and things unexpectedly took turn when he asked about my

interests. I was on full throttle for next 20 minutes talking about my road-trips, showing pics and vlogs.

My blabbering almost surprised him and he was curious to know my plans for next road-trip, that’s

when I said its Spiti Valley and I am not gonna do it as the roads get closed by the time I recover from

this surgery.

The next few lines from Doctor reverberate in my ears and that discussion will remain very close to my

heart. This is what he said to me “Everything can wait but not your Dreams. Go and chase them before

the time runs out”

So by the time I walked out of the hospital, I was so elated that I am doing Spiti trip this year.

How?? When?? Where?? Are some of the questions to follow but I was least bothered to find an answer

for any.

I know everything gets sorted because it’s all about Mountains, Mountains and more Mountains.

Though it sounds filmy, I have immense passion for mountains.

Chapter 1

In the next few days, most of my friends are made aware that I will be riding again to Himalayas this year

and the invite is open for everyone. As always most of them had shown genuine interest and wanted me

to share a trip itinerary and budget plan.

I came up with initial itinerary and estimated cost for the trip and that’s when Arijit hopped in and said

he would like to join me on the Spiti tour given the number of days are reduced/adjusted. In order to

accommodate him, I revisited the itinerary and came up with a new one which suits our requirement.

In the interim, Kiran (Brother in law) and Ricky have decided to join us on the trip. And this is what I call

the magic of brainstorming over alcohol.

By now I have three riders who are game for this trip, but the most difficult part was to schedule them

considering their individual requirements.

Initially we thought August last week is good considering the rainfall in Himalayan range but

unfortunately it doesn’t fit into Kiran’s schedule due to other travel commitments.

I moved the itinerary a week ahead to onboard Kiran, later got to know that it disturbs Arijit’s schedule.

This is when I was really disturbed and decided to move the tour plan to mid of September to

accommodate everyone, but Arijit was really kind enough to adjust his schedule and was ready to fly on

Aug 20.

Chapter 2

On 20th July, we booked the flights with departure as 20th Aug and return on 31st Aug from Delhi to

Hyderabad.

I was not ok with the concept of booking return tickets so early and had a strange feeling that the last

day of the trip will not be as planned.

Couple of days later I had this message from Arijit to check if we can also do Ktop in this trip, as doing

another trip to mountains is far impossible anytime soon. I was quick to confirm that it can be achieved

given he takes few more days leave from work. He promised to get back to me seeing his other

commitments at work.

He somehow managed to get the additional leaves approved and was keen to do the Ktop along with

Spiti.

Now we are at cross roads again. I need to come up with new itinerary, budget calculation and etc. No

wonder I became an itinerary expert for Leh and Spiti tour, thanks to my boys... lol

We decided to catch up on friendship day to sort this out and after lot of devising all of us agreed to

extend the trip and complete Leh as well.

By this time, we had a group on WhatsApp to discuss various things like things to carry, places to visit

and etc. We started ordering items like riding gear, action cameras, etc and thanks to technology for

giving us a scope to do daily jam.

In another weekend, the tickets were rescheduled and were eagerly waiting for the D day.

The Spiti trip has now successfully changed to Leh and Spiti tour.

Chapter 3

The mission begins

Men – Sai Sathuluri, Arijit Yadav, Kiran Ganji and Rajesh Veeramachineni

Machines – RE Classic 350 * 3

Miles – 2000

High Level Itinerary –

Aug 20 - Hyderabad to Delhi to Manali

Aug 21 - Manali Rest Day

Aug 22 - Manali to Bharatpur

Aug 23 - Bharatpur to Leh

Aug 24 - Leh to Ktop to Leh

Aug 25 - Leh to Jispa

Aug 26 - Jispa to Batal

Aug 27 - Batal to Kaza

Aug 28 - Kaza Local Touring

Aug 29 - Kaza to Pooh

Aug 30 - Pooh to Sangla

Aug 31 - Sangla to Anni

Sep 01 - Anni to Manali

Sep 02 - Manali to Delhi

Sep 03 - Delhi Rest Day

Sep 04 - Delhi to Hyderabad

As it happened…

Day 1 -

Started from home at 8.30 am

Reached RGIA airport at 9.45 am

Boarded the flight at 11.30 am

Arrival in Delhi at 2 pm

Lunch at Vaishno Dhaba

Boarded the Manali bus at 5.30 pm

Got to Haryana by 7.40 pm

Dinner at 10 pm @ Green Valley Punjabi Dhaba near Chandigarh

Day 2 -

Chai Break near Mandi at 7 am

Reached Manali at 10.30 Am

Lunch at Phunksuk

Bike Modifications and Visit to local market

Dinner at World peace cafe

Day 3 -

Started from Manali at 8.15

On Rohtang pass around 11

Lunch at Koksar

Reached Tandi at 3 pm

On Barlachala at 6 pm

Stay @ Sunrise Dhaba at Bharatpur

Day 4 -

Photoshoot near Sarchu

Lunch at Pang

Smooth roads after pang

On top of Tangla at 5 pm

Reached Leh at 8 pm

Stay at Solpon Guest House

Dinner from Otsal Restaurant

Day 5 -

Visit to KTop

Shopping in Leh market

Evening Lunch at Pizza Hut Restaurant in Leh

Fuel Reload & Bike fixing at RE service center

Dinner from Otsal Restaurant

Day 6 -

Early start from Leh

Lunch at Pang

Chai break at Sarchu

Stay at Padma Lodge in Jispa

Drinks and Food at same place

Day 7 -

Late start from Jispa

Lunch at Sissu

Chai Break at Chatri

Reached Batal at 7 pm

Dinner & Stay at Chacha Chachi Chandra Dhaba

Day 8 -

Rainy morning in Batal

Trek to Chandratal Lake

Lunch at Tenzen Camps near Chandratal

Pit stop at Kunzum pass

Reached Kaza by 6 pm

Drinks & Dinner at Winter White Spiti

Day 9 -

Visit to Key Monastery

Visit to Kibber Village

Visit to Langza village

Visit to Komic Village

Visit to Hikkim Post office

Evening Stay at Winter White

Day 10 -

Lunch at Tabo

Reached Sumdo at 3.15 pm

Massive landslides enroute Sumdo to Chango

Reached Nako at 6 pm

Stay at Valley View restaurant in Pooh

Day 11 -

Ride via Spilow and Kinnaur check post

Fuel refill at Powari

Visit to Sangla Valley

Started to Chitkul Valley

Spend time at Army Checkpost in Rakkcham

Return to Sangla and Stay at Mount Kailash Hotel

Day 12 -

Breakfast at Kailash Hotel at Sangla

Road closed at Wangdoo due to landslides

Snack Break at Rampur

Diversion at Sanjee towards Manali

Hotel and Dinner at Anni

Day 12 -

Ride through Jalori Pass

Reached Manali by 2 pm

Party at World Peace Cafe in Manali

Day 13 -

Manali to Delhi

Delhi Local Touring

Day 14 -

Delhi to Hyderabad

We had dealt with everything possible in those two weeks be it an evil emotion, harsh weather or a bike

failure but we stood strong as an unit and conquered those mighty mountains.

I would like to take this as an opportunity to thank my fellow riders Arijit, Rajesh and Kiran for trusting

my decisions and being a great wall of support throughout the journey.

Big thanks to each and every one who played their part in making this trip a huge success.