Preface
We had finished the primary Ladakh circuit without missing anything in last 8-9 days. The previous day we did a short journey from Tso Moriri to Leh (link), where we reached Leh by evening and roamed around the markets of Leh. We were very tired by the long journeys, but we had 2 more days and Ladakh is incomplete without visiting Kashmir for real.
We usually never comeback on the same way, but we had to do this as we didn’t have any option. The outside bikes are not allowed for sightseeing in Leh, so we have to rent bikes from Leh itself and hence should go with the return journey.
Plan for the day
We stayed at a decent place in Leh as we needed to take good rest, check our bike and fill up our tanks before proceeding ahead. The distance was far, but the roads are extremely good and the area is very well populated as well. So it wouldn’t take much time and we have much frequent villages for support incase anything goes wrong.
Leh -> Magnetic Hill -> Alchi -> Lamayaru -> Kargil -> Dras
Preparing for the ride
We didn’t carry much luggage as the stay was only for one day. We started like around 8AM, filled the tank and left exploring the beautiful Leh city and the stunning Leh monastery, Leh airport. The road was too good, too good, I instantly started cruising 90+ kmph easily as they were wider and traffic was lesser too.
Even the markings were so attractive with yellow color, the beautiful morning light, the cool morning breeze and the humming of the engine sound, the Instagram reels wala Ladakh was right infront of us. Ladakh is a parallel universe, every new turn you find a brand new sight, each becoming better and better. The traffic wasn’t much and most of the roads was in plains, so we could travel at a great speed.
Magnetic Hill and Sangam
This were the first and the only points we would be exploring today. As reports suggest, if you stop your vehicle at that point and change the gear to neutral, the vehicle starts moving automatically even if the road appears straight due to some magnetic power. But in reality, the road is actually bent but it doesn’t appear bent, that might be the reason for this rare occurrence.
Once you move a little ahead, we get to see the gorgeous Sangam, the confluence of Indus and Zanskar river. The colors of both the rivers are different, but it merges to become one and appears surreal. The road and view point is at a height, so the panoramic view is fabulous. One can visit the river bank and enjoy rafting too.
Zanskar River
This same Zanskar river starts from Zanskar valley and merges Indus river here to flow to Pakistan later. The road from Padum to Leh runs parallel through Zanskar river and its currently one of the most challenging roads of Ladakh. The most parts road doesn’t exist at all and its totally remote, very muddy and no people mostly live there. The remote and offroad experience would be worth experiencing if you love adventure.
Even the famous Chadar lake trek happens on Zanskar river during winters when the lake is frozen. This is another very interesting trek of India. Also recently Zanskar valley has became very popular tourists destination after better road between Manali to Padum. Shinkula Pass is a very famous tourist spot, which is also the highest point of Zanskar Valley.
Towards Moon land, Lamayaru
The later road was actually plain with beautiful views but it was getting quite boring. Honestly, the actual fun is in riding on the bad roads. Soon we reached Lamayaru and the beautiful patterns of the mountains was actually very interesting. We took a lunch break looking at the beautiful mountains which actually looks like the patterns found on the moon. Once done we started ahead.
We started the Fotu La pass climb, since the road wasn’t bad, it actually didn’t take much time. Again the average road started and we were moving at a good speed. But the ride was getting boring and boring, since we didn’t have anything much to explore on the way and it was very hot as well. We crossed Namkeela Pass and proceeded ahead.
Kargil
We took a small tea break before Kargil and before reaching Kargil it was already very dark. But the roads are open for vehicles round the clock, even night vehicles ply in these roads. We had an amazing dinner at Kargil and got ready for the further journey. It was 8PM already and our plan was to stay at Dras, visit Zoji La pass and then visit the Kargil war memorial and return back to Leh by evening. But we were already late and still there was 60 more kms left to travel.
Though it was late, we still planned to travel at night with proper caution. The road was pitch dark and road would be visible only at the last moment, but still we managed to ride safely. It was very cold and the important hills of Kargil war were right beside us, but not visible due to total darkness.
Conclusion
It was already late since we reached Kargil war memorial, 5km before Drass. We planned to stay right infront of Kargil war memorial and hence we can start early in the morning to Drass and visit war memorial, then head back. Since we were tired we closed off early and were mentally prepared for the next and the last day of our Ladakh ride.
