Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 25, Oct 13

The couple of hours of shut eye turned out to be four hours. That is four hours lost out of the designated 24 for the FIVE PASSES effort. But it was worth it. There is no point in being foolish and pushing the body beyond what it can take. The extra two hours sleep meant that we would be fresh for the rest of the day and beyond.

Engine revved, we started the climb to Tanglang La. The snow was relentless. And the ice on the road made driving on it precarious and dangerous. We were not doing too well on time, but we were on the move. Soon enough, we were at the world’s second highest motorable road, Tanglang La. And the temperature was easily twenty below zero. I had to step out to take some pictures and give some sound bytes for the camera, and I froze. Despite wearing pretty decent boots, I could not feel my toes. I had good gloves on and my fingers were numb. I was wearing two fleece balaclavas and it was as if my nose and ears had fallen off. Less than ten minutes later, it was inside the relative comfort of the vehicle. But the inside of the windscreen was caked with frost which had to be physically scraped out … with bare hands. That was not a happy experience either, but it had to be done if we were to see where we were going. And we had better see where we were going, particular because we were going a down a winding road, caked with ice, at over 17,000 feet in altitude.

Soon enough, driving gingerly, we came down below the snow line, just as the sun became visible above the distant mountains. We crossed Leh just as the town was waking up and we sped towards Khardung La. Traffic was low given that it was early morning and we did fairly decent time. The South Pullu check post came soon enough and we found ourselves in a grid lock. Lots of Army trucks were lined up as were a few civilian trucks and some local taxis. Not knowing why the jam, Sushil went out to investigate and came back a few minutes later with bad news … no one without snow chains on the tyres were being allowed further. There was just too much snow and ice on the road and it was too dangerous. We found the Army truckers busy fixing chains on their vehicles. We had none!

Nevertheless, after a while we found some vehicles moving forward and we just followed them. A couple of kilometres up, ooops. The vehicle started skidding badly, without any traction whatsoever. We somehow parked next to the road and watched as some hapless trucks and taxis tried to negotiate their way up. They were having a rough time. The cliff was right next to the road and the way some of the vehicles were skidding, it is a marvel that we did not see a couple of them go over the cliff. I tried walking on the track and nearly slipped and fell a few times. It was packed ice and I could not even walk, let alone drive on this.

That was that. After having driven more than 460 kilometres, we were just 10 kilometres short of Khardung La and a new record, when I had to take a call … the record or my life? I chose the latter. The mountain will still be there next year, but I was not prepared to risk my life and the life of the crew on roads like these. The expedition was on abort. Just 10 kilometres to go and we had to turn back. I stood quietly next to the road, the tears freezing on my cheeks. Not again, I kept telling myself. A couple of years ago, on The Cliff Riders expedition, the weather had forced us to abandon the effort, even before we had started. At least this time we had made the effort, and just 10 kilometres short, we had to abort it.

And the saddest part of it is that alongside aborting the FIVE PASSES effort, the other efforts too had to be aborted since they were in continuation of the first one. I missed one meant that I had missed all the chances. I could not face myself and the tragedy that fate was playing out in my life. But that is life and in extreme sports, we need to accept these tragedies with the chin held high.

I could still try and make the attempt at the maximum passes in 24 hours, but we had lost a fair bit of time at South Pullu. And we would not have the time to drive down the Tso Moriri axis, which meant that at least three more passes had to be bypassed. We would only have Tanglang La, Nakeela, Lachulung La and Kang La. In addition to Chang La and Wari La. Six passes in 24 hours was not writing home about. I know if the weather was right, we could have attempted at least twelve. So there went the MAXIMUM PASSES IN A DAY.

And with the weather the way it was, there was no way I was heading to Manali and risk being stranded somewhere en route. On the way up, we had witnessed abandoned settlements. After a fortnight the rest would also have packed tents and left. I did not relish the thought of being stranded on this route. It is a bad place to get into a survival situation. So Srinagar it was. And that is where we headed from Leh and a bite to eat. With misty eyes (and I thought the windscreen was dirty), we drove on towards Srinagar and Delhi.

Had it not been for the status of the expedition, this drive could really have been enjoyed for its spectacular beauty. It is nowhere near as tough and rugged as the one from Manali to Leh, the landscape is gorgeous, villages dot the route and the drive is exquisite. But the expedition kept playing out in my mind and the mist (on the windscreen!) refused to clear up.

After a good dinner at Kargil, we headed towards Drass and soon it was dark. The roads would open to traffic at five in the morning. We just curled up once again in the vehicle and waited for dawn. Incidentally, Drass is also the place with a recorded temperature of -65 degree Celsius, making it the coldest place in the world after Siberia. The night was likely to be cold. Nevertheless, after a couple of cups of tea, we drifted softly into slumberland.