17 July 2010

That night's sleep was one of the sweetest ever. Doley was the first to get up. I woke up at around 9 am to find him playing with a baby. Doley loves babies. One of the elders was praying in the neighbouring room and that acted like a catalyst to our sleep. Mobiles were still not working. We had to ride to Karu, 20kms away to get the signal. Talk about out of reach. Since Doley and I were awake, we went to Karu to call Gyan and look for a puncture repair shop. We found the shop, but all the PCOs were not working. Something to do with the crashed Airtel tower.
We rented a pickup truck to fetch the bike from Meeru. He charged a very nominal Rs 500. That's another beautiful part in Ladakh. Locals do not try to fleece you. Doley, Ajit and Saurabh went with the truck to Meeru. We all regrouped in Karu. Back on all of our bikes. The 30 kms to Leh passed smoothly. Finally, we had reached Leh, 9 days after we left Delhi. Gyan met us outside a small workshop near the circle and guided us to their hotel. He did not reach their without a mis-navigation. He and Dutta had reached Leh last night at around 11 PM only and crashed into the first hotel they saw.
Now the hotel did not have enough capacity. An alternate one was found nearby, Hotel Choskor, with indoor parking in the lawns, balcony for the night, which we did not get the time to use. All of us were angry at Gyan for deserting us. Gyan informed us that he had two punctures when he inspected the bike(Puncture #3). We would have to get the bikes checked up today. But first, we desperately needed a bath. After freshening up, everyone was mighty hungry. The hotel did not have any eating facilities. So, we went out exploring.
From this day on, "Knowledge Conflicts" happened throughout the journey. It is inevitable that if the number of veterans in a group exceed one(our group had three), then they are always found clashing over the places to go locally. Hey, even I'm not exempted from this. Its just comes naturally. I'm not saying there are ugly spats. Its just harmless fun for the others who just follow. Wait, can't describe that as harmless. While looking for a place to lunch, we were roamed around and around the entire town, sometimes following one veteran, sometimes the other, with no conclusion. Vihans had had enough and then applied brakes in front of an ideal place, 100 Oceans Bar and Restaurant. Beer was very much needed. Rohit had cider juice in a beer bottle so he did not feel left out. Beer has all kinds of benefits. It removed all the friction and anger we had been feeling this time. I've always voted beer to be made available as easily as bottled water. Just try and reap the wholesome benefits. Maybe, we can even resolve the Kashmir issue through beer. A bad joke to say at this instant since we were going to be in for a rough time crossing Kashmir.
After beer and lunch, we went to the mechanics, again splitting up. Mohan Sharma. He looked very busy at the moment. So, I went to the neighbouring Bansals. Not a patch on what Mohan Sharma could do. I should point out here a thorn stinging at my side. Ajit did not take photos of us here as he found the location unattractive. I plan to keep reminding him of this point in all our future meets.
Gyan, Doley and Dutta, the "Kela" crowd, were dispatched to get Tee shirts and permits made for the whole group. Ajit met them at Shanti Stupa. In the evening, all of us gathered at the Fort Road market. More personal orders for personal Tees were placed. For dinner, the "Kela" crowd informed us that they had already eaten. We went to Penguin Garden Restaurant for beer and dinner. All kinds of cuisine was ordered. Momos, Grilled Chicken, Chicken Salad. The world cuisine was integrated at our table.
We went to bed earlier than usual as next day was to be the day of reaching the World's Highest Motorable Road and beyond.