Ladakh Diaries. Think how different your life would be if youve never answered the Mountains.

The sky was dark with clouds, a cool breeze moved the top of the trees, the complete group was gossiping near the bonfire. They were all excited because we were night camping near the beach with cliffs on both the sides. They were talking about the dream locations of every one, and finally it’s my turn. I was very quick enough to say ladakh, every photographer has his bucket list of locations they dream of photographing one day. For some, the list is five places long; for others, there are hundreds of places they hope to shoot. But for me it’s just one at a time. I always wanted to take a bike and go out for a spin among the mountains, without thinking about anything but the ride am taking. What could be a better place than a Manali leh ride, to satisfy my travel buds? But at that moment am not sure that I will be travelling the mountains just because I shared my dream location with them. The moment I said ladakh one of our organiser asked me to pack my bags in the month of July. That’s how I got a call from the mountains and i was lucky enough to answer them, and now here I am sharing my ladakh stories and photos with you.

“Traveling, it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” ― Ibn Battuta

Guess the above quote is absolutely true in my case. Manali - Leh highway, Every bikers dream destination, and now i could say this is checked off from my bucket list. I felt writing the complete journey in a single article will make the readers bored, so i thought of splitting them, and below are the links in the order of our journey.

Royal Excitement: Taking the road less traveled

RothangPass: Gateway to Heaven on Earth

Bumpy rides on the Broken roads of Manali Leh highway

GATA Loops where AMS kept us in an Infinite loop

More Plains: A Biker’s Paradise

There was pin drop silence around, and suddenly the bell rang. That was the moment everyone in the class was waiting for. The end of the final exams, and now the only thing on everyone’s mind is how to enjoy the summer holidays which lasts for 2 months. Before going home, I decided to ride a two wheeler for the very first time. First time? Yes in fact I want to lean riding a bicycle. One of my friends had a bicycle, and I thought of mastering it on my way from school to home. At that moment am not aware that all my summer plans will be broken coz of that one decision. Call it enthusiasm or a bit more i.e. over enthusiasm, I started riding without any help and the result, myself on the ground, with my head spinning and the bicycle on top of me with the wheels spinning. There were many scratches on my body, and by the very first look, one can say that I need a bed rest for more than a month to recover completely. All my summer dreams were shattered, after getting myself injured, and spending most of my summer holidays behind the walls, I thought I would never risk riding a bicycle again. Every time I see a bicycle I remember the incident and fear strikes back. After 6 months, I started again and this time with the help of my dad. I finally learnt, riding bicycle the hard way. But as they say “No Pain No Gain”. We fall again and again, make mistakes in the process but continue to learn from it. If you’re passionate enough to start something, be strong enough to finish it. If I had not finished the task of learning bicycle that day, which is almost 18 years back from now, today I might not have travelled the Manali-Leh roads.