My Ladakh Bike Trip (Sep 10 to 20, 2009)

Ladakh was going to happen…and it was going to happen sometime soon. Technically, I was in Ladakh when I was trekking in northern Lahaul (Himachal Pradesh), which is also a part of the Ladakh plateau. Ladakh originally was nearly double of what it is today, in terms of area. It contained the present day Ladakh, Kargil and other Balti areas which are in PoK like Gilgit and the whole of Aksai Chin along with certain areas of Tibet. It is known for its stunning landscapes and mountains. It is a high altitude cold desert.

I planned for my trip back in March, fresh from my Konkan bike trip. I was prepared to do this solo too. One can go to Ladakh between July and September. July is warmer but whether is unpredictable. September is colder, but the whether is stable. I chose September, and it did not disappoint! The standard bikers route to Ladakh is to ride to Leh via Manali. Bikers generally start at Chandigarh or at Manali itself. It is a two day ride from Manali. This is really one of the most stunning rides a person can do anywhere on this earth. The problem with doing this is that one spends two days to get there and two days to return. So, one is short of time to explore the real Ladakh. I had about ten days to fit everything into, so I decided to fly to Leh and arrange for a good bike (are there any?) there. I had spoken to some rental agencies a couple of months in advance, but really, one needs to see and feel the bike to know whether it is fit enough to go through what it was going to go through.

I flew to Delhi on the 8^th of September and spent a couple of days with my cousin in Gurgaon. I was lucky to choose Kingfisher as Jet Airways pilots had decided to start behaving like government bank officials….they went on a surprise strike! I have to mention that the airhostess on my Kingfisher flight to Delhi did take me to the cockpit after landing at Delhi and introduced me to the captain, who showed me around. I have plenty of memories with Delhi, and always have loads of people to catch up with. But we aren’t talking about my Delhi meetups! My cousin very kindly dropped me to the airport at 5 am or so on the 10^th morning and I departed for Leh via a 6:10 am Kingfisher Red flight. The flight towards the end is a spectacular one with great views (see pics) of the mountains from the plane. The landing is quite tricky…the pilot takes a sharp left bank and suddenly straightens out to touch down at Leh airport, which is actually an Indian Air Force airport.

It was a pleasant 8 degrees when I landed, but the sun was out and I was enjoying the weather. My guest house had sent some one to receive me at the airport. It really is a great feeling to have some one hold a placard that reads your name. We drove approximately 3 km to reach Mahey guest house located at Tukcha road. The guest house is a nice cozy place, with a beautiful garden and farms in the front. The farms are also owned by the family that owns the guest house. One is served ‘farm fresh’ vegetable for food. The view (pic on the left) from my room was breathtaking, with Stok Kangri standing right in front. I rested for the day, arranged for permits and met my rafting organizer in the afternoon. I had to meet the District Commissioner and convince her about my permit to Marsimek La.

Wandered around Leh and visited Shanti Stupa (pic on right) in the evening. Did not use the stairs but chose to trek up to exert my lungs a little, keeping in mind that I had to do rafting tomorrow. The views from Shanti Stupa were excellent. I also witnessed a ‘Bhabhi-Nanad’ fight right there, where the ‘Nanad’ was alleging that ‘Bhabhi’ was poisoning ‘Bhaiyya’s’ mind against her. Some one requested them to shut up, as they were screaming at ‘Shanti’ Stupa! I descended down and visited KT Phuntsog at Planet Himalaya to check out the bikes. I wasn’t happy with any, but KT then got a newish 4 speed Electra and I immediately liked it. He wasn’t sure if I could negotiate the reverse gears, I told him that my first bike was a 1983 Bullet Standard. I had the carrier fitted on the bike, and did the needful to ensure that it was in good condition. Later, KT’s friend Manish joined us. Manish is a prolific biker and I had a pleasant conversation with him. Manish also provided me with some spares like a tube and cables along with a tool kit. Manish it seems, was returning from Tanglang La, where he had gone to fix a bike that was abandoned by a tourist who was riding it to Tso Moriri. I was quite content with the bike, and it seemed quite good, apart from the fact that all bullets in Leh are ‘mufflerless’ so make too much noise. This one was also misfiring quite a bit….but I somehow liked the bike and didn’t want to change it. This later turned out to be a super decision. Had dinner at the guest house and rested.

On the 11^th morning, I was to meet Dawa (rafting guy) at 8:30 am. A few others and me were taken to Chilling, which is the starting point of our rafting. The total length of the rafting journey is 28 km (Chilling to Nimu) in the Zanskar river. The rapids end where the Zanksar meets the Indus. There were 16 participants…to be divided into 2 rafts. We were provided body suits to protect us from the freezing cold water and the winds. I promptly refused to wear it…as I was there for the cold! So…Mr. Vijh was going to raft wearing a T-shirt and shorts! The rapids are Grade III ones, but the flow of water is much lesser in September than what it is in July or August. The second of the rapids that we crossed was a huge one…and we were all drenched in a matter of seconds. The water was freezing and I was loving every bit of it. We had to negotiate 6 to 7 such rapids. I was the person who sits right in the front. I was on the right and Ben, an American was on the left. It is much tougher to be in that position and you really need to be quite strong to deal with the rapids. We stopped at around half way for a much needed break. There were a few more rapids and then there were smaller ones. This is when I took some photographs while rowing. Towards the end, we were very tired and the flow of the river had reduced. Due to this, we had to continuously row. I even swapped positions with Ben, because my right and his left arm were hurting badly. We reached Nimmu, after 28 km in approximately 3 hours. At the place where we docked, the organizers (Splash Adventures, Leh) had organized for good warm lunch, needless to say that it was much needed.

We reached Leh at about 5: 30 pm and were quite tired. I headed straight to Planet Himalaya, where my bike was ready. I filled fuel, and also took some spare fuel in a canister, that can be conveniently fitted in the carrier. I rode to the guesthouse, and parked for the night (the bike and myself). I feasted on ‘Aloo Parathas’ and curd, which is a luxury in Leh. The next morning, I was to depart for Hunder, for which one has to cross the World’s highest motorable road —Khardung La —18380 feet ASL.

I woke up at about 6:30 am. Today is the 12^th of September. There was warm water, so I could get ready comfortably. I left one bag with my lodge owner (Chimet Rigzin —Mahey Guesthouse) and look one that I tied on the carrier…and I was off. Khardung La is about 54 kms from Leh. The road initially is a little bad but by the time one reaches South Pullu, which is the first check post on the way, the road and the views start becoming overwhelming. J&K Police checks your Inner Line Permits (ILP) here and then you can proceed to Khardung La. Here, I met another group from Bangalore, with whom I decided to meet up in Hunder, as we were going to stay at the same place there. The last 6 km before Khardung La are tough. The road is unmettalled, there is ice all around, it is cold and my damned helmet visor broke in the morning. Also, there are many army convoys that come straight at you, so you need to slow down to make way for them, which results in you losing your momentum. Due to the steep gradient and altitude, the bike struggles to move from a complete standstill.

Looking back just before I reached Khardung La, the views and the road cutting through the huge mountains looked breathtaking. Many years back, I had seen a similar picture (of the view I had ..pic on the right) of the ‘Road to Khardung La’ in a calendar at my grandparent’s home. It was back then that I had decided to go there one day. I reached Khardung La top in about 2hrs and 20 mins from Leh. There is quite a bit of activity there, mostly due to an army post and the tourists. My GPS showed an altitude of 17732 feet with an EPE of 60 feet. So, Khardung La is nowhere (by my civilian GPS) near the claimed 18380 feet. Some people explain that the hill adjacent (which houses some telecommunication tower) is 18380 feet. I took numerous photos there, including a cherished on with the board that reads, Khardung La, The World’s Highest Motorable Road 18380 feet! I met a couple of American journalists (with a newspaper called the Christian Science Monitor, based in New England, USA) there, and he interviewed me about my ride and experience. He also interviewed me about the whole ‘Enfield Bullet in India vs. Harley Davidson in the USA’ thought. I hope I get to see something about me in that newspaper soon.

Across Khardung La lies the breathtakingly beautiful Nubra valley. It started the long descent into the Nubra, crossing places like Khardung, North Pullu and Khaltse. The Bangalore group that I had met at South Pullu had two bikers who had caught up with me, so we stopped at Khaltse and had something to eat. A few kilometers on, the road splits with one going to Panamik (en route Siachen base camp) and one to Hunder via Diskit (en route Thoise and Chalunka). The places mentioned in brackets cannot be visited by civilians, and are right on the LoC/LoAC. I filled some petrol at a premium at a hand operated petrol pump (on the left) in Diskit. The road to and after Diskit is set amongst absolutely incomprehensible scenery. The Diskit monastery is visible above the village. Diskit was an important waypoint on the ancient Silk Route. I decided against stopping for too long at Diskit and moved to Hunder. The scenery kept changing and suddenly it was like a desert with sand and sand dunes around me. A little before Hunder, there is a small right turn that takes you to the Hunder Sand Dunes and Double Humpback Camel breeding place. The camels were quite extraordinary, and were also very aggressive! A few people from the Bangalore group felt that it was worth paying 150 bucks for a 10 minute ride on the camel. I was happier photographing them. I also met an India Air Force pilot (chopper pilot) and his family there. He is posted at the Thoise airbase, 18 kms ahead Hunder. He showed me, in the mountains that stood ahead us, the route that they fly for surveillance called ‘Yankee Point’, probably because it resembles a ‘Y’.

I reached Hunder and before getting to my guest house, went up to a place called Hunder Dok. This is as far as a civilian can go. I spent some time with the army fellows manning that post, and then returned to Hunder village, straight to my guest house (Snow Leopard Guest House, Hunder). It is worth mentioning that I also crossed the headquarters of the famous 54 RCC of the BRO, which maintains Khardung La and so the road from Leh to Panamik/Chalunka. Snow Leopard guest house ( is a really beautiful place with flowers at full bloom surrounding the cottage. The Bangalore guys arrived to and we freshened up and rested for a while. I was very tired and had a slight headache. Then I had dinner with those folks, great farm fresh vegetables and absolutely amazing curd. On inquiring, the owner of the guesthouse told me that they have their own Yaks (every one has their own farms) so they have lots of milk for the curd. At the dinner table, I got acquainted with a gentleman named Kumar Pal. We had lots to talk about…and before sleeping, we also spent some time on the terrace of the guesthouse, gazing at the millions of stars in the sky. For a person from Bombay (though I have travelled a lot), it was an amazing sight, scary at times. The Milkyway was visible very clearly. I also saw atleast four shooting stars in the 20 mins that we spent there! We retired to our rooms at around 10 am, but decided that we will go for a small trek at 6 30 am tomorrow to a nearby hilltop that houses a famous monastery and some small ruins of an ancient fort that was built by Hunder’s erstwhile rulers.

The 13^th of September…I wake up feeling fresh and raring to go. Kumar and I went for our hike which was small but quite steep at places. The views from the top were very good. We returned and had our breakfast and I (and they) decided to drop the planned visit to Panamik. So, we left for Leh. Around half way to Khardung La, one of the bikes from the B’lore rider got punctured. So, their car stopped with the bike, trying to fix the puncture. They had all the required spares and more. I asked Kumar to join me till North Pullu, so that he can experience the Nubra skies without a roof overhead! And boy, did he enjoy it. We waited for the others at North Pullu for a long time. We interacted with a lot of army folks at their camp in the meanwhile, including people who were heading for Siachen Glacier and some who had returned for them. I have no words to describe these young bravehearts who spend six months on Siachen Glacier. After a while, we decided to head to Leh, leaving a message for the others at the army camp. We crossed Khardung La once again, but unfortunately the souvenir shop (which was closed yesterday as well) was closed yet again. So I couldn’t buy the ‘Khardung La —World’s Highest Motorable Road —I was there!’ t-shirts, caps and other stuff. We reached Leh by about 6 pm. I was dead tired. I joined Kumar at his guest house (Oriental Guesthouse, Leh) where I decided to take a hot shower as I was not sure if it would be available at my guesthouse! The others reached in the meanwhile and I headed to my guesthouse for the night. Tomorrow, I was to head to Pangong Tso, over the mighty Chang La pass, and so were they.

Today is the 14^th of September and I am to ride to what is supposed to be the most beautiful lake in the world. I had not coordinated with the B’lore group, so I left for Pangong on my own. At Upshi, where the road bifurcates with one going to Manali and the other to Pangong, I met the B’lore group, who obviously had left before me. We decided to meet for lunch at Tangtse, which is after crossing the Chang La. The road to Chang La was in great condition, thanks to 51 RCC who proudly call themselves ‘The worshippers of Chang La’. Again, looking back, the views of the mountains and the road that I had just ridden on, were exhilarating. Towards the end, Chang La threw more of a challenge than Khardung La, with my bike stalling more than once due to the extremely steep gradient and non existent roads. There were also many army convoys passing me, for whom I gladly stopped, and waved at the happy to reciprocate drivers. I finally reached the mighty Chang La pass – The world’s third highest motorable road’. My GPS read 17560 feet, which makes it just a little lower than Khardung La. I took the blessings of ‘Chang La baba’ and moved on towards Tangtse. I passed two villages on the way.

I reached Tangtse and the B’lore group arrived shortly. I had Maggi noodles, and boy were they delicious. Here, I also inquired with a local about Marsimek La, and to my surprise not only did he knew about it but also gave me valuable guidance on how to get there. I left for Pangong Tso and soon I could see the B’lore group’s Toyota Qualis in my rearview mirror. I have to mention that most of these roads were freshly laid and 51 RCC had done an exceptional job. Soon there was a board on my left which read, ‘First view of the world famous Pangong Tso’ and there it was…although one could get just a glimpse. Slowly, the lake started unveiling itself, and every corner that I crossed expanded the view. I finally reached Lukung and could see the Pangong Tso in all its glory. I rode down right till the lake and did some photography there. I also tasted the water, which wasn’t very salty. There were a couple of Indian Navy patrol boats there, as the China border passes through Pangong. For a better vantage point, I headed to a higher place near the Lukung tents, from where I could see the lake in all its glory. The B’lore group had also reached in the meanwhile and we continued along the lake to Spangmik. The road is bad, but the views makes one forget about the road. Spangmik is as far as a civilian can go, unless one has a Outer Line Permit. We stayed at a decent guesthouse there (the only brick and mortar one around) for the night and the food served was heavenly. It was very cold that night, as cold as it gets in September. I was in bed with thoughts of Marsimek La keeping me engaged. I was to attempt Marsimek La solo tomorrow morning.

Today is the 15^th of September…the big day. I woke up at about 6:30 am, and went

for a stroll along the lake for some photography. The B’lore group left for Leh without eating, but I needed to eat before leaving, as I knew Marsimek La (M La) would be a tough ask. Till this point, I wasn’t even sure if ITBP would allow me to go to M La solo. I started my journey towards Phobrang, the last ITBP post before M La. On my way to Phobrang, there was an ITBP policeman on the road, who gladly accepted my invitation to hitchhike. I had a nice conversation with him, and this helped me greatly in the ITBP Subehdar Uttam Singh agreeing to let me go to M La. After finishing the permit related formalities, I had tea with the Subehdar and left for M La. Just before leaving, he asked me that cameras aren’t allowed, so if I had one, I should deposit it. I had anticipated this and had thus concealed my camera from Lukung itself. There was no way I would have gone to M La without a camera! The track (there’s no road) in the beginning was quite good, although it was sandy at a lot of places and I nearly toppled more than once. In a few minutes. After about 6 kms, there was a steep sandy section with more than one track. The shorter tracks are steeper, and unfortunately I took the shorter one. In no time my bike stalled and in fact, it started rolling backwards. I somehow managed to turn it around and went backwards to try the other route. The other route (towards the right) was quite steep itself, but allowed one to keep the momentum going and thus negotiate the gradient. I still had to alight and push the bike a little at a couple of places, in first gear. Pushing the bike is quite a pain due to low oxygen levels. I had to take a small break after doing so, which I utilized for photography. It was then that I realized where on earth I was standing. For a second, I was a little scared! I soon continued on the tracks and again there were many sandy slopes which one needs to be careful on. I fell down, which was more of a topple, at one of them. There was no damage to the machine or the man. I continued and soon I could see M La at a distance (you can make out where a pass is by looking at the mountains). This gave me the much required energy as it was getting very cold and windy at this moment. I was at 16000ft now. Then I crossed some relatively flat and easier sections to come up to a point from where the last ascent began. Looking at the gradient, I seriously doubted the ability of my Bullet to overcome it. After a few metres, the bike stalled repeatedly and there was no way it would get to the top with me on it. So I had to now permanently alight, and push it up along with the engines own torque. Its pretty unbelievable that an Enfield Bullet with 27NM torque, full accelerator in first gear doesn’t even move an inch. So it was like, five meters at a time. After five meters or so, I had to stop for at least two to three minutes to recuperate, breathing heavily.

Each time I stopped, I had to look at the track and decide on the next short term objective, that is the next point that I had to push up till, before I could treat myself with a breather. My GPS showed 17000ft now. I looked around and I realized that I was high and alone. I could see the pass clearly now. Just before the pass I could see some camp like structures, which looked abandoned. I continued on my painful ordeal and even dropped the bike one, as the wheel got caught in sand and the bike tilted towards the wrong side. It took me a good two minutes to pick it up! Slowly and steadily I was getting there. I checked my GPS and I had finally crossed 18000 feet, the first time I saw this reading in my GPS. I was dead by this time, and I was having serious thoughts of leaving my bike here and hiking up the remaining few hundred feet. But the adrenalin of reaching the top made up for the low oxygen levels and the cold. I dumped a lot of stuff from the bike including my helmet, spare petrol, tool kit, spares etc. near that camp that I mentioned. It took me another 15 minutes to reach the top from there. At 11:35 am, I reached Marsimek La, and became one of the only people to reach the top solo, on a solo permit (pic below left). I spent around 15 minutes at the top, photographing and recording videos. It was extremely cold and windy, and I was probably closer to China than to my own people, so I needed to leave soon. Also, today I had to go all the way to Leh by evening, which seemed like impossible at this moment. For all who don’t know much about it, Marsimek La is the Highest Motorable Pass in the World and is also the highest point man can reach with a vehicle. Its altitude is 18634 feet, although my GPS showed around 18300 ft.

I kissed the Marsimek La milestone, paid obedience to the ‘Chak De Mandir’ and started descending. The descent was obviously very steep and I was struggling to keep the bike under control. I had my second fall soon, during which my spare petrol can and my camera tripod were completely damaged. Luckily I was fine and so was the bike. The remaining journey back to Phobrang was full of desperation, as I somehow wanted to be teleported there! Just before reaching Phobrang, I took this photograph and then concealed my camera just the way I got it. I was greeted by an excited Subehdar Uttam Singh who congratulated me for the feat and so did some other soldiers. Then I spent some time browsing their records to see if any other solo biker on a solo permit had gone here, and I couldn’t find any. He too said that I was probably the first one, or one of the only ones. I was low on petrol now, and technically there wasn’t any petrol pump till Leh, which was 145 km away. I left Phobrang and asked around at Lukung for some petrol, and I managed to find a couple of liters in black (for Rs.70 a liter).

I moved swiftly to Tangtse, on the way to which I met this Swiss lady (on the left) who was cycling to Pangong lake from Leh, alone! I stopped at Tangtse and had Maggi at the same place, and also thanked the people who had guided me to M La, for their help. I quickly reached Chang La pass, and it was snowing there! But after completing Marsimek La, this seemed like a prank that ‘Chang La baba’ was playing on me. I crossed Chang La and in no time crossed Upshi, Thiksey, Shey and reached Leh. I did stop along the Indus for a small break near Thiksey. I rode straight to Planet Himalaya to tell them about my successful excursion and also informed the B’lore group who were waiting to hear from me. Tonight was a night of satisfaction, and I had the best sleep of this trip. Tomorrow, I was to head to Dah Hanu valley to meet and stay with the famed Dardi people, who are considered to be the purest Aryans in the world.

Today is the 16^th of September and I woke up at 7 am. I could see that it was snowing in the mountains (in the pic), so I decided to leave a little later for Dah-Hanu. One needs to travel on the Kargil highway till Khaltse, from where a road bifurcates to Biama-Dah-Hanu-Batalik. All these are Dardi villages. It took me about 5 hours to reach Dah village. I rode for nearly 80 kms along with the Indus (above right), with each corner greeting me with new views. Dah village is on a small hillside and one needs to park your vehicle below and climb for 15 mins. I went to the village and found a homestay sort of a guesthouse there (Skyabapa Guest House). The Dardi people are believed to be pure Aryans. Their features are completely different from other Ladakhis, with green and often blue eyes, sharp noses, fair complexions and an all together different language called Minaro. I quickly made friends with some village children with whom I wandered across the village. The village has a primary school and a newly built medical sub-center. I met a lot of people, who were warm and welcoming. It was pretty ok to ask women to pose for a few pictures, and no one took any offence if you did so. I met a couple of absolutely gorgeous women including these ones. Later in the evening, I met Radhika Bordia, who is a journalist with NDTV. They were filming a documentary on the Dardi people. I then spent some time with my house owner named Lundpa Dorje, and listened to him about how these supposed Aryan people ended up here. He also narrated me some rather funny incidents of foreigners (notably 2 German women) who wanted an offspring from a Dardi man. He also said that off late, many Dardi people from Dah-Hanu valley have started going to Leh for work and study. The girl in pink, whose photograph I showed above, studies in Leh. Lundpa Dorje’s cousing Dolma cooked some delicious food for me with help from their Nepali cook. Dolma also promised to don the traditional Dardi dress called ‘Chaiz’ in the morning, so that I can photograph her. I slept early as I was very tired due to the ride and the considerable time I spent climbing up and down the village slopes.

Today is the 17^th of September. I woke up at 6 am and wandered around the village for a bit. There was good breakfast served at around 7:30, post which Dolma was ready in the houses’ garden/farm donning the traditional ‘Chaiz’ (below). I took several pictures of her, out of which these few are almost picture perfect. I bought some home made apricot jam from Lundpa and then left for Kargil via Batalik. This road is generally closed for tourists, but since I held all sorts of permits and also a few army officers’ cards, they allowed me to pass through. Batalik is also a Dardi village, which was in the news during the Kargil war. It took me nearly 4 hours to reach Kargil and the road towards the end was quite bad. This is my first view of Kargil (below), nestled in the lap of these mighty Himalayas. Just behind these mountains is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Kargil, Drass and neighboring POK areas extending up to Gilgit are all ‘Balti’ areas. This region is in fact known as Baltistan. The people speak Balti as the first language and the majority of people are Shia Muslims. I was just riding through Kargil, scouting for a good place to stay when I saw ‘Imam Khomieni Chowk’(left below)! I later learnt that Kargil is known as mini-Iran due to the huge number of Shia Muslims who stay here. The people were incredibly gorgeous and I actually spent a lot of time in the main market just looking the those pretty faces. Some of the women were extra ordinary, but unlike Dah-Hanu, I couldn’t request any one for a photograph here. I checked in at a guest house called Carvan-e-Sarai. The place was owned by Mr. Wani and his two sons Ilyas and Mustafa. They were originally Kashmiris who has migrated to Kargil a few generations back. They were one of the few Sunni Muslims there. I had wonderful lunch, made by Uttrakhandi cook. During lunch I had a nice conversation with Ilyas about Kashmir, Kargil war, Pakistan and India. He was a well educated and intelligent chap, and was quite patriotic. In fact, to my surprise, this whole region is very pro-India and anti-Pakistan. Later, I learnt that the occupied Balti areas in POK are also very anti-Pakistan. Ilyas also spoke about the hardships that they had to face during the war, but also praised the Indian Government for speedy post war rehabilitation.

In the afternoon, I left for Drass and Mustafa joined me on the bike. Originally, I was to stay

here for a day, and spend another day in either Drass or Mullbeck (towards Leh). But I thought a day was enough for here, and I had some shopping to do in Leh. The road to Drass was extra ordinary, with Pakistani p

osts looking at you through their binoculars. A board warned people of the same (right) . Mustafa added that before the Kargil war, Pakistan used to shell this road daily, and it was nearly impossible to travel so freely

, without fear on this road, as we were today. We reached Drass in about 1 ½ hour (54km) and the famous Tiger Hill greeted me (below right). Standing right in front of Tiger hill was an awesome fee

ling. We had tea at a small joint where we met some other travelers from Bangalore, who were travelling from Srinagar in a Gypsy. I managed to take one photograph of these pretty children in Drass. Also, people of Drass are known to be very strong and brave, and the picture on the right shows is why!

We left for Kargil after spending a couple of hours in Drass. We stopped at the superb Kargil War Memorial along the way (3 km from Drass). There was a War Gallery there, which was very well stocked and maintained. Here is one of my favourite pictures from the gallery (left). We left for Kargil, as it was evening, and I didn’t want to ride at night. The ride back was good, and we met the Gypsy guys once again. Their car was stuck in 4WD and they were struggling to get it back to 2WD. We reached Kargil in the dark and immediately feasted on some more great food. I slept after some more chats with Ilyas and Mustafa.

Today is the 18^th of September and I woke up at the regular 6:30 am. I was to ride all the way back to Leh today (240 km). I left after some breakfast but soon the road turned horrible. There was a major road widening project that the BRO has undertaken, and as a result, the present condition of the road (or whatever one calls it!) was terrible. I crossed the Fatu La pass, which is the highest point on the Srinagar-Leh highway. But after all the big La’s that I have crossed, this one hardly counted. My back was broken by the time I reached Lamayuru (left). I stopped at Lamayuru for lunch and explored the Lamayuru monastery , which I found quite boring. The food was quite pricey too, and the owner/waiter was the first rude person I met in Ladakh. I left Lamayuru soon, and the road was now much better. I reached Leh by 5 o clock and was very tired. I unsaddled from my bike, thanked and kissed it, and went to meet Manish and KT at Planet Himalaya. KT removed the carrier from the bike, since I wouldn’t need that tomorrow. I did some shopping in the evening and treated myself to an excellent sizzler dinner. I went back to my guest house and spent some time chatting with Rigzin. I slept early due to the fatigue that BRO’s ambition had imposed on me!

Today is the 19^th of September and I woke up at a leisurely 8 am. I had breakfast with a Czech couple Andre and Linda, from Prague. I also met a German-Austrian couple from Vienna. I spent the after noon doing accounting, packing up, making phone calls, checking emails etc. In evening, I did some more shopping and spent some time with a Kashmiri shop owner. Most handicrafts, Pashmina type shops are owned by Kashmiris and not Ladakhis. When I was about to return the bike to KT, the bike didn’t start. The first time during the whole 1300 km, the bike didn’t start. Perhaps it didn’t want me to leave it and go away. I said goodbye to it and KT/Manish and I returned to the guesthouse. I settles accounts with Rigzin and had dinner with him. Rigzin said he will arrange for someone to drop me to the airport in the morning, at around 6: 50 am. I finalized my notes, reviewed some photos and slept.

Today is the 20^th and I can hardly believe its all over. But if it doesn’t end, then it won’t begin some other time. Stanzen dropped me to the airport on time and I flew to Delhi. The flight was normal apart from the fact that there were 25 odd American-Indian school children who were very noisy. From Delhi airport, I went to Kashmere Gate ISBT and boarded a Volvo for Chandigarh. I had informed my folks that I will reach by 5 pm, and for your information, it was my cousin’s wedding this evening. I alighted at Zirakpur and reached my cousin’s house in Panchkula at around 5:07 pm to find my cousin from Melbourne there to greet me. You have already read god’s thoughts…the rest are all details. I reached Bombay on the 22^nd night, as my flight got diverted to Ahmedabad due to bad weather. As I reached home, I felt victorious and satisfied with the last fortnight!

PS: Please scroll to the bottom of this page to see my complete photo album titled Ladakh on Bike 2009 and others.

Back from Ladakh

Back from a mesmerizing Ladakh trip...did all that I had set out for...and more...Marsimek La!! Scroll to the bottom of the page for pictures and vidoes...and watch out for my travelogue soon.

Final Itinerary

After much delibrations, here is our final itinerary for our Ladakh biking trip:

Day 01 is September 10th. Most of this will be done on a hired bike from leh. So if any one is interested, you must be willing to hire and ride a bike through the highest roads on earth and willing to tent in the wilderness.

Day 01: Arrive in Leh. Complete day for rest and leisure to acclimatize. Evening Visit to Leh Market & Shanti Stupa. Overnight at a hotel.

Day 02: Go for white water rafting from Chilling to Nimu on the Zanskar river till it meets the grand Indus. These are Grade III to Grade III B rapids. Will be back to Leh by 4 pm. Evening free to visit to Shanti Stupa, Samkar Gompa (Leh Gompa), Namgyal Tsemo (Victory fort) and Leh Palace.

Day 03: Ride to Khardung La and continue to Hunder for over night stay.

Day 04: Next morning, either go to a double humpback camel breeding farm at Dikshit, or visit Panamik, the last village on LAC before the Siachen Glacier, and the leave for Leh. Stay at Leh.

Day 05: Head to Pangong Tso over the mighty Chang La pass. The journey will take atleast 5 hours. Stay at Pangong in tents.

Day 06: If whether, health and authorities permit, attempt the first solo ride to the top or Marsimik La or return to Leh. Ride to Alchi and stay there.

Day 07: Ride to Dah Hanu valley via Khaltse. Spend day exploring one of the most secluded tribal regions in the world, who are known to be the purest Aryan race in the world...the Dards. Stay at Dah or Biama.

Day 08: Move to Drass via Kargil through the spectacular terrain. Day for Drass exploration and stay at Drass.

Day 09: Ride to Kargil, explore the area. Ask locals for other places to see. If we have time then move to Lamayru and stay there, else stay at Kargil.

Day 10: Depending on whether we stay at Lamayru oor Kargil, ride to Leh. Explore the remaining sights of Leh and possibly shop a little.

Day 11: Leave early morning for Delhi.

Leh Update

All is set. Bikes have been arranged for as well...directly in Leh...from Planet Himlaya, Leh City. Will arrive in Leh on 10th Sep morning...and 9 days of non stop biking and photography.

Itinerary for Ladakh, Nubra and Zanskar in September

Here is our plan for Leh in September. Day 01 is September 10th. Most of this will be done on a hired bike from leh. So if any one is interested, you must be willing to hire and ride a bike through the highest roads on earth and willing to tent in the wilderness.

Day 01: Arrive in Leh. Complete day for rest and leisure to acclimatize. Evening Visit to Leh Market & Shanti Stupa. Overnight at a hotel.

Day 02: Day 02: Visit to Shanti Stupa, Samkar Gompa (Leh Gompa), Namgyal Tsemo (Victory fort) and Leh Palace. Possibly visit to Shey, Thiksey, Hemis monastery and Sindhu Ghat. Some of this can be left for Day 5.

Day 03: Visit Likir, the confluence of rivers Indus and Zanskar, then visit to Alchi and then ride, back to Leh

Day 04: Ride to Khardung La and continue to Hunder for over night stay.

Day 05: Next morning, either go to a double humpback camel breeding farm at Deskit, or visit Panamik, the last village on LAC and the leave for Leh. Stay Leh.

Day 06: Head to Pangong Tso. Stay at Pangong in tents.

Day 07: Return to Leh. Leave for long journey to Dah Hanu (160 Km). Stay there either at Biama or at Dah.

Day 08: Move to Kargil from here through the spectacular terrain. One map book shows a direct road to Kargil from Dah Hanu. If not, we return to Khaltse and ride to Kargil.

Day 09: Explore Kargil, visit Drass. 62 km between the two. Ask locals for other places to see.

Day 10: Head back to Leh.

Day 11: Leave early morning for Delhi.

Born Free...Taxed to Death!

One may argue that developed nations have higher tax rates than India. Australia, Canada, USA, all have very high tax rates. The tax payers money is of course used to provide world class amenities to the 'tax payers'. In some Scandinavian nations, progressive taxation is very severe. So you really pay the price for being rich. But... in return 'you' get the best infrastructure, power, water, the best public schools, the best healthcare, and numerous social security benefits. For example, Canada...if you are ill you can just visit a govt. hospital and be assured of world class treatment. In USA, the public schools are generally better than the private schoals!

In our nation, the middle class, as I mentioned earlier, exists only to pay tax. You will be shocked to know that just about 2% of our nation pays income tax. Another major difference is that we pay tax so that the government has money to feed the poor. We pay tax so that farmer loans can be waived. We pay tax so that farmers get free power. We pay tax so that poor people get rice at Re.2 a kg. We pay tax so that diesel is subsidized. We pay tax so that the poor children can study at government schools. We pay tax so that the slum dwellers get free electricity and water. We pay tax so that they get rehabilitated in SRA buildings, which they rent out and continue staying where they were. I am not against the poor getting sops, but doesn't mean that we only earn and pay for them.

The biggest joke...tax evasion...has never even been mentioned by any political party in their agenda. There is such massive tax evasion in this country, that a little bit of effort will result in huge revenue generation. Octroi, sales tax, VAT are failures. Octroi was supposed to be abolished, with the introduction of VAT...but now the govt. is reaping double benefits. The octroi checknakas, are corruption nakas for me. There is corruption in all the aspects one can think about at an octroi naka. From weighing the trucks to declaring the value of goods, its all theft. Try getting a truck past an octroi post, and you'll be hunted down by cops in minutes. Why is that I never see a cop chase a traffic offender?

Sales tax and VAT...issues which pain me. Sales tax and VAT are to be borne by the seller. He is selling something...so he bears a 'sales tax'...similarly with VAT. Instead they just pass it on to the consumer...and conveniently mention...price-so and so + so and so % tax. Its your tax god damn it. Apart from that, I don't know if even 1% of all sales transactions that occur in India are properly documented i.e. issue an invoice or a cash memo that can be accounted for by the taxation authorities. How many times to you buy something and the seller proactively gives you a cash memo. The corruption is so deep rooted, that if you insist for a bill, he will give you an estimate. Most 'aware' people are satisfied with that, but don't realize that the estimate again is not accounted for. A bill book must be numbered, and one copy of the memo will be retained by the shop keeper. I wonder if all sellers even have bill books with them.

One more crappy tax that was levied...to kill the middle class community further was the service tax. The most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I pay tax on my income...TDS...etc. (refunds never come back) and I am taxed for paying my electricity bill! I go to a restaurant to eat my food...using my 33% taxed income...and they charge me a service tax on it? The businesses shamelessly levy it on the buyer! Ok...you want us to pay for it...so include it your food costs...and charge us accordingly. Its NOT my tax..its yours.

Tell me something...how many doctors pay tax? How can their income be accounted for...the private practitioners? There is no billing mechanism. Transactions are in cash. If you want a bill, it is just a written note on a precription...that again cannot be accounted for. I don't think any private practitioner pays complete income tax. What are the tax authorities doing? Nothing...they are aware of this for decades...they still don't have a mechanism to monitor their income.

I buy petrol...it is taxed...I buy food it is taxed...I buy rail tickets...there is a service charge...I use a phone...it is taxed...and I pay for all this with my taxed income....and 98% of India doesn't pay income tax. Sales Tax, VAT, Service Tax are anyway borne by the 2% who use it!

Born free...taxed to death...

Na Samajh Party...Samajwadi party...Na Akal(i) Dal...

The jokers of Indian politics....Amar Singh and co. are back. They did a good job by supporting Congress during the nuclear deal trust vote, but I guess thats all they have ever done.

How can a party insist on fielding a person who is convicted of a serious crime? Sanjay Dut...? I am not against Sanjay Dutt...but the party knows that the guy is convicted and is even sentenced to prison. Why do they need the Supreme court to tell them that convicted people cannot contest! And more over...as soon as SC stopped Dutt from contesting...these guys make him the party General Secretary. Just shows the respect they have for the law, for the constitution and the SC. Here is a candidate who is forbidden to participate in the election process, and you make him the face of your party, for some cheap publicity. God help U.P.!

Thats not all. I saw their manifesto today, which was in the headlines. So, the SP wants to minimize the use of computers, do away with mechanical farming and work towards reducing the number of english educational institutions. What can one say about the future of the nation if such people are a major part of shaping it. Abu Azmi's wealth (declared) was 224 crores...no wonder he can afford to support this crap. I think they look upto Sudan or Cuba...thats where they want us to be in 20 years. As the Mumbai Mirror pointed out, all of the major leaders' children study in convents and premier schools in Bombay and elsewhere. When asked about why their children don't study in Hindi or Urdu medium schools...they say India is not limited to Bombay...easy esacpe huh! I remember when Shiv Sena and more lately the MNS play the 'mee marathi' card everyday, I had once written to the newspaper advising Raj and Uddhav to withdraw their children from American School and St.Xavier's college respectively and put them in the BMC run Marathi medium schools. Will they do it? My suggestion is ridiculous...


Na Akal Dal....the Akali dal...another bunch of fanatics. The guy (Sikh journalist in Delhi) throws a boot at the Home Minister of India and these folks offer him two lakh rupees as a reward. They even promise him a poll ticket. Looks like everyone who either throws shoes or stores AK 47s gets a party ticket. There were Sikhs in Mulund (Bombay) celebrating the guy's actions. Fantastic..the only 'akalmand' community in India has now become 'Na Akal'....great going. It was PC's gentlemanliness that he didn't even have the scribe arrested. The guy realized his mistake and apologized and even his family were apologetic...may be these people should try doing this to Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the interior minister of Saudi Arabia! They whole community would be beheaded. Is Saudi Arabia a little far fetched? Okay...try doing it to the Chinese counterparts.

Our country is the epitome of freedom...misused and abused freedom... Churchill said...that if they were to make India independent...it would be ruled by goons...some helpless people like me wonder if we were better off under them!?

More later....

Elections around the corner..

I looked at the elections of the manifestos of the Congress and the BJP...both of them contained crap...nothing that would put a smile on the face of a middle class Indian. Congress promises rice at Rs.3 a kg so BJP promises it at Rs.2. Lucky for us that the Congress didn't offer it at Re.1 a kg...!

The same old stunts...Congress' politics though vote bank and primarily appeasement based, have been consistently so for the last many decades. They do not claim to represent the middle class. Actually no one claims to represent the middle class....the middle class only exists to generate the tax...

BJP on the other hand had given a brief ray of hope to the middle class; but has now completely deserted them too. Terrorism and PM bashing is the only agenda on hand. I wonder if the BJP have a magic wand that they will wave and terrorism will get wiped away! If they have such a card up their sleeve, they can consider selling it to the US! Or is it that they propose to tell us that having laws (POTA blah blah..)will deter people who kill themselves in the name of religion. Having laws doesn't even ensure that Indians stop at traffic signals!

Both the parties don't want to focus on the core issues, a list headed by population. In the 1950s Veer Savarkar had advised Pt. Nehru that we should focus on stabilizing population, But Pt. Nehru's argument was that ours is a new nation that needs many hands to build it. Pt. Nehru passed away, and others forgot that we aren't new any more and that we have too many people for any sustainable progress to be made. Sanjay Gandhi is the last person I know who spoke about the need to stabilize population, more than two decades back. All the 'solutions' to the problems that we come up with today, are only immediate solutions and shortcuts, that 'may' temporarily resolve some issues. Sometimes I feel that is India really my nation? Doesn't become so because I was born here...? Am I needed? For anything other than paying tax? My vote doesn't count and is not even sought!

More later...

Have Decided to Share More Thoughts

Since I won't be traveling much in the next few months owing to the heat and my knee injury, I have decided to start putting down my other thoughts....just randon things that come to my mind, at this blog.

North and Central Konkan Bike Trip 17-18 and 24-26 January, 2009

I always dreamt of biking the whole of Konkan, and covering it unlike others. Sea forts and the glorious history of Konkan is something that has always intrigued me. Last week, I did a solo trip to North Konkan in which I covered Arnala fort and the Bassein fort. I also visited a really old church at Vasai. Arnala is a small fishing village about 17 kms from Virar. The Arnala fort is on a small island. The island houses a village, fort and a private resort. A mosque and a temple peacefully co-exist inside, without any qualms. The watch tower (Buruj) at the tip of the island is a source of mysterious stories.

The fort was originally constructed in 1516 by a local chieftain of Gujarat, Sultan Mahmud Begda. In 1530s, the Portuguese, after establishing at Bassein (Vasai), conquered this fort, started reconstruction and named it as Ilhas das vocas. The Portuguese retained control of the fort for over 2 centuries. In 1737, Chimaji Appa, brother of Baji Rao I, took control of Bassein fort in a battle, the Battle of Vasai. Soon after this, Shankarji Pant, Chimaji's general persuaded him to take on Portuguese to get Arnala Fort. The first attack was routed by Portuguese' naval force. Soon it was followed by a second assualt, which took Portuguese by surprise and they lost control of the fort. Marathas controlled the fort till 1817, when they were attacked by British and forced to surrender.

The Portuguese established a fort in Bassein, present day Vasai, on the mainland just north of the Bombay archipelago. The fort was fronted by a harbour. With this as the main base, they built other smaller forts, and strong houses in many of the islands. In the 18th century the fort was attacked by the Maratha army under Baji Rao Peshwa, and fell in 1739 after a three year long campaign.

The remains of the fort can be reached by bus or taxi from the Vasai railway station. The ramparts overlook Vasai creek and are almost complete, though overgrown. Several watch-towers still stand, with safe staircases leading up.

The Portuguese buildings inside the fort are in ruins, although there are enough standing walls to give a good idea of the floor plans of these structures. Some have well-preserved facades. In particular, many of the arches have weathered the years remarkably well. They are usually decorated with carved stones, some weathered beyond recognition, others still displaying sharp chisel marks.

Three chapels inside the fort are still recognizable. They have facades typical of 17th century Portuguese churches. The southernmost of these has a well preserved barrel vaulted ceiling.

I had a nice time visiting these places solo. The road from Vasai to Arnala was gorgeous, and passed through typical and small villages with a lot of Banana and Chickoo plantations around. An interesting thing about Arnala was that the Arnala village is mostly Christian/Hindu koli community whereas the residents inside the fort referred to as ‘killedars’ are the Muslim fisher folk. Bassein fort was a nice place, and a commanding structure too. A typical feature of Portuguese forts (which was re affirmed at Revdanda in the weeks to come), was that there are 4 to 5 storey high structures (generally watch towers...see pic). I have not seen such kind of architecture in Mughal or Maratha forts.

Moving on to Central Konkan…

I had drafted an itinerary and invited fellow bikers to join me for the trip. I got some responses and finally we were 4 bikers who left on the morning of the 24^th of January. We headed straight to Alibaug via Pen. At Pen, two bikers from Pune viz. Girija and Gaurav joined us. Anurag and I had started together from Bombay. We reached Alibaug at around 9:30 am. It was high tide and the magnificent Alibaug (Kulaba) fort could be seen a mile into the sea. We decided to finish Alibaug fort right away and head south, instead of what we had through earlier, where we were to synchronize with the tide timings and walk to the fort. We hired a relatively expensive speed boat (Rs.100 per person and six can fit in a boat) to the fort, although the ride compensated for the cost. We alighted into the crystal clear waters of the fort. I had already changed into my slippers, whereas others were struggling to keep their shoes dry! Built on a rock island near Alibag town, 112kms south of Mumbai, the Kulaba fort is an imposing structure, measuring roughly 275 metres from north to south and 100 metres from east to west.

The height of the fort-wall varies from 6 to 8 metres at different places. It has a wide parapet with 17 bastions. The main gateway of the fort, called Maha Darwaja (see pic), is in the north-east corner and faces the city. The teak-door had strong iron-spikes driven in them. There is also a small gate on its southern side. The masonry of the fort is without lime mortar. Inside the fort there is a fresh water tank, a well and several temples, the Ganapati temple being still in good condition. In the northern corner of the parapet, there still stand two English canons facing the open sea. To the south of the fort was ship-dock, visible even now at low-tide.

The Kulaba fort was Shivaji’s last construction and was completed almost on the eve of his death in April, 1680. It attained importance under the Angres (Kanhoji Angre was the Maratha Naval Chief) and was the main base of the Maratha navy. It had palaces for the members of the Angre family, houses for their officers and storing arrangements for grain and other necessities. None of the buildings have survived. The rule of the Angres, who were also known as Kulabkar, came to an end in 1840 AD.

To the north of the main fort, there is a small fort-like structure called Sarjyakot (see pic), sometimes referred to as the 18th bastion of Kulaba. Sarjyakot was constructed to answer the artillery of Hirakot situated on the Alibag shore.

We returned to Alibaug in around an hour and a half. By the time we reached, there was a lot of crowd at the beach and near the pier as a lot of picnickers had flocked here to make the most of the long weekend. We had some coconut water and moved towards our next destination Korlai fort.

Korlai fort is about 30 kms south of Alibaug. One has to pass through the famous settlements of Chaul, Revdanda, and Korlai. While crossing Revdanda, I could see the Korlai fort on my right and it looked so inviting. It is built in a hill which intrudes into the sea. The population of the Korlai village is around 3000. It has separate sections for the Christians, Hindus and Muslims. A small community of less than a thousand people in Korlai, especially the descendants of the original converts to Christianity, still speaks a unique language known as Portuguese Creole (a blend of Portuguese and local Marathi). It is also called ‘Kristi’ language, that is, the language spoken by the Christians. The locals refer this language as ‘Naw Ling’, meaning ‘our language’. This language originated among the Christian farming community in upper Korlai from around 1520.

After the Portuguese vacated Korlai in 1740, following their defeat by the Marathas, there has been little contact between the local community and Portugal. In spite of this, the Portuguese Creole has continued for nearly three centuries as a result of relative cultural isolation of this village.

For many years, Korlai and its Christian inhabitants were relatively isolated from the Marathi-speaking Hindus and Muslims surrounding them. With the improvement in transport and communication, the isolation of the Korlai village has broken down and the more dominant languages such as Marathi and Hindi are increasingly spoken by the younger generations. Hence, the Portuguese Creole of Korlai is gradually on the verge of fading away.

There are two routes to the top of the hill where the fort is situated. The right side route, a narrow walking path climbs up through acacia trees to the top. The left side rough road near the beach leads to a light house. From behind the light house there are flights of steep steps leading to the western entrance of the fort. We took the latter route and reached the western entrance of the fort facing the sea.

The Korlai fort is 2,828 feet long, and its average breadth is 89 feet. The fort can be entered by eleven gates, of which four are outer and seven are inner. Except the outer wall on the eastern slope, the fort is in a fairly good condition.

The top of the hill is bastioned and surrounded by a parapet. It has a large underground rain-water tank with three openings, each one foot wide. The water from this tank is supplied to the rest house near the lighthouse. The temple of Ratneshwar is located near the water-tank. We also came across the ruins of the church which is now partially roofless, except for the coffered vault in the chancel.

There are three Portuguese inscriptions (see pic) within the fort. Over one of the inscriptions surmounted by a cross is a coat of arms with a shield, the Portuguese star in the center surrounded by seven castles. The other inscriptions, one over the chief entrance, the other over an altar in the chapel, are worn out and unreadable.

Going westwards we came across two bastions, the one on seaside is called San Diago and the one on the creek side is called San Francisco. In all there are seven bastions originally bearing the names of Christian saints. However, during the Maratha occupation of the fort (1740-1818) these bastions were given Marathi names.

Korlai was initially known as the ‘Rock of Chaul’. According to an article written by Prof Clancy Clements, Portuguese invaders arrived on the Konkan coast in 1505, and captured the Revdanda and Chaul forts by 1523. Following conversions to Christianity among the local inhabitants, the Portuguese replaced Marathi with their own Portuguese language in certain coastal areas.

Between 1505 and 1594, the Portuguese army fought several wars with local rulers and finally established their supremacy over the region in 1594. The Korlai Fort was captured from the Nizamshahi rulers of Ahmednagar and a village (Korlai) was established at the foothills. The Portuguese built the St Mathews Church in the fort around 1630 for the use of the army.

In 1684, Chatrapati Sambhaji, son of Chatrapati Shivaji made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the fort from the Portuguese. The Korlai Fort was finally conquered by the Marathas in 1740 and later acquired by the British in 1818 following the final defeat of the Marathas.

We also managed to get a 'guided tour' of the Korlai lighthouse (see pic) courtesy of Mr. Khan, who is the caretaker there. He explained to us the functioning of the lighthouse and some intricacies too. It was built by a French company.

It was quite hot now, and we were quite drained and hungry. But we needed to head to Murud Janjira before stopping for lunch. It was around 20 kms south of where we were. The road was not the best, but was okay. We crossed the beautiful Kashid beach before reaching Murud village. I also saw the locked palace (see pic) of the Nawab of Murud. There was a board warning trespassers against trying to enter it. It belongs to the descendants of the Siddi royal family; although they now supposedly reside in Indore. We had our awfully oily lunch at the only visible restaurant, post which we headed for the grand Murud Janjira. Being a weekend, and Murud Janjira being so popular anyway, there were a lot of people who were going/returning from the fort. A sizeable chunk of the people around us were Muslims, and of distinct Persian descent. We took a boat to reach the small and only entrance of the grand Murud Janjira (see pic).

Janjira is one of the strongest marine forts of India (the word ‘Janjira’ is a corruption of the Arabic word Jazira for island). The fort is approached by sailboats from Rajapuri jetty. The main gate of the fort faces Rajapuri on the shore and can be seen only when one is quite close to it. It has a small postern gate towards the open sea for escape. The fort has 19 rounded bastions, still intact. There are many canons of native and European make rusting on the bastions. Now in ruins, the fort in its heyday had all necessary facilities, e.g., palaces, quarters for officers, mosque, a big fresh water tank, etc. On the outer wall flanking the main gate, there is a sculpture depicting a tiger-like beast clasping elephants in its claws. This sculpture, its meaning difficult to interpret, appears on many fort-gates of Maharashtra.

Originally the fort was small wooden structure built by a Koli chief in the late 15th century. It was captured by Pir Khan, a general of Nizamshah of Ahmednagar. Later the fort was strengthened by Malik Ambar, the Abyssinian Siddi regent of Ahmednagar kings. From then onward Siddis became independent, owing allegiance to Adilshah and the Mughals as dictated by the times. Despite their repeated attempts, the Portuguese, the British and the Marathas failed to subdue the Siddi power. Shivaji’s all attempts to capture Janjira fort failed due to one reason or the other. It is one of the only ‘unconquered’ forts in India. When Sambhaji also failed, he built another island fort, known as Kansa or Padmadurg (see pic), just 9kms north of Janjira. Padmadurg was visible to our north to us. India’s third largest canon named ‘Kalal Bangdi’(see pic) is at this fort, and it is believed that when the enemies knew that the ‘Kalal Bangdi’ was ready to fire, most of them fled any way. It had a range of 12 km. In the limited time we had, I managed to run and cover the whole fort. There was absolutely no one on its rear side, owing to the limited time we had.

We headed back to Murud and clicked some beautiful pictures of the setting sun (see pic), against the fort’s backdrop. We had to leave immediately, as I had decided that we must reach and halt for the night at Indapur, on NH17, so that tomorrows journey to Harnai would be simpler. We managed to somehow reach Indapur negotiating the darkness, mosquitoes, and unknown roads, only to find no accommodation at Indapur. We finally managed to find a good (too good for my budget) place to stay on the highway in between Indapur and Mangaon. We enjoyed a nice meal, where I chose to relish on sea food. The next morning, one of the bikers, Girija, decided that he has to head back to Pune for some reason. I tried convincing him against it, but to no avail.

The remaining three of us headed towards Khed in the morning at 6:30 am. After a few kilometers, Gaurav’s Thunderbird’s clutch cable gave away. I had to race ahead to stop Anurag and get him back. It was decided that they will wait, slowly head to Mangaon or someplace, fix it, and meet me at Harnai in the afternoon. I reached Khed solo at 9 30 am or so. After a quick breakfast and some research, I made up my mind to first go to Dabhol from Dapoli instead of Harnai. I wanted to visit Gopalgad fort at Anjanvel. The road to Dabhol was not the best. It had many cashew plantations around. I reached Dabhol in an hour, and was greeted by the excellent views of Dabhol and a creek separating it from Anjanvel and Guhagar (see pic). On reaching Dabhol, I found out that the Eicher India Map Book in association with the Survey General of India has let me down, as it failed to indicate that there was no bridge connecting Dabhol to Anjanvel. Luckily, there was a ferry service, which was a large boat like thing that could take cars, bikes, people and even buses across the creek waters. The ‘launch’ (as that vessel is referred to commonly) got a tourist bus from the other side, which struggles to alight at the Dabhol side’s pier. We had to wait for a good thirty minutes there watching the fun. I met a group of people with their families and luxury cars. They turned out to be senior managers at Infosys and Wipro.

Finally, we crossed over to the other side, and I headed to Anjanvel, which was at a distance of 11 km from the jetty. I passed through the massive Enron project of the Dabhol power plant. There were a couple of other groups at the fort, which overlooks the sea. There is a moat around it (see pic), securing the land entrance. Gopalgadh (Anjanwale Fort) located at the top of the mountain this fort covers 7 acres area. In it there is a place called 'Padkot' where there are pillars which reach out to the sea. It is believed that in the year 1699. It was built by Siddhi Khairath Khan. It has assumed importance due to Dabhol creek. The fall of Maratha Kingdom was seen by this fort and as such has historical importance. Shivaji Maharaj captured this fort in 1660. At that time a godown was built for Maratha troops. In the year 1699 Khairath Khan captured this fort and it was under his control for 46 years. In 1736 Chimaji Appa captured it. In 1745 Tulaji Angre captured it until then the fort was known as Govalkot, but due to Angre it came to be known as Gopalgad. During the Peshwa rule Sardar Biwalkar captured it and t was under Maratha rule till 1880.

I explored the fort and got to see a few rare birds around. This place is known for its migratory birds (see pic). After exploring the fort, I headed back to the jetty. Again, my bad luck struck. The vessel’s turbine had stopped working on the other side, so we were all stuck. To go to Dabhol/Harnai by road from here meant and extra 80 km! No way! I headed to the passenger jetty hoping to convince some one to take my bike in a boat there. After spending some ½ hr there, I managed to persuade a small boat to take me to the other side. Another biker (local) also joined me. After we got to the other side, getting the bike out was another pain. As we landed at the passenger jetty, there was no pier there, and there were steps instead. I had to request 5-6 people to help me pick up my beast step by step. Every one was surprised as to what a solo rider from Bombay on a sexy looking Karizma is doing in Dabhol! Without even having any lunch, I hurried towards Harnai. Anurag and Gaurav had reached and were already relaxing at a resort on the Karde beach near Harnai.

I reached the Harnai village by 4:40 pm. Gaurav and Anurag has confirmed that they were tired and not inclined towards visiting Suvarnadurg (see pic). The island fort of Suvarnadurg stands close to Harne in Ratnagiri Distric, a natural harbour famous for fishing and its marketing. A very strong fort, its walls are cut out of solid rock and the ramparts are raised by using huge square blocks. No mortar was used in the walls. The fort has many bastions and a postern gated on the western side. The hidden main gate opens towards the east. It has on its threshold a carved figure of a tortoise and on the side wall, that of Maruti (Hanuman). Inside the fort there were several buildings, water tanks and a place for ordinance. All the buildings are now in ruins.

The fort was probably built by the Bijapur kings in the 17th century. Captured and strengthened by Shivaji, it became a stronghold of Maratha navy and remained with the Peshwas till 1818 AD. It was one of the main naval bases of the Angres.

Gova, Kanakadurg and Fatehgarh forts on the mainland are separated from Suvarnadurg by a narrow channel. The small Gova fort was stronger than the other two. It has two gates, one towards the land and another towards the sea. On the wall of the sea-gate there are carved figures of a tiger, eagle and elephants. The old buildings inside the fort are in ruins. Kanakadurg has the sea on three sides. Nothing remains of the fort, except two broken bastions. There is a light at its highest point. Fatehgarh is in complete ruins. Most probably, these three small forts were built by Kanhoji Angre (1667-1729AD) to protect Suvarnadurg from the land route.

I reached the pier (which is largely surrounded by fishing boats) and inquired about boats to the fort. Unfortunately for me, the wind was blowing hard now, and so the boats (small ones unlike the ones that take you to Murud) will not venture into the sea. I clicked a few pictures of the grand looking fort and resigned to my luck. The boatmen did offer to take me there tomorrow morning, but I knew that I wouldn’t have time then. I met an Israeli couple, and interacted with them for some time. They were the first foreign tourists that I had seen all through this trip (all of them just go to Goa I guess!). I headed to Karde beach and tried to find the other guys but couldn’t. I was busy capturing the gorgeous sunset anyway (see pic). Post sunset, we met and headed to the resort. These guys had got a wonderful place, quite expensive. I stayed there in an extra bed. The view from the room’s window was fantastic. I had dinner at the hotel’s buffet, which was excellent. We were dead tired and my cervical was aching badly. We rested for the night and woke up only by 7 am.

After checking out and cleaning our bikes, we headed back. At Mahad, I told these guys to carry on towards Bombay, as I had planned to go back to Revdanda and Chaul to cover some things that we had missed earlier. I left the NH17 at Kolad and reached Revdanda via Roha.

Formely known as Chaul Fort, it is now popularly called as Revdandakot because the Revdanda village lies within the fort walls. There are many names to this fort. Some say it falls in 'Revdanda-Agarkot-Chaul' complex. However, Chaul town is now situated 4km away from Revdanda and villages in this proximity all share a common bazaar at Chaul.

Formely a Portuguese town, Chaul is situated about 350km north of Goa and 60km south of Mumbai, at the mouth of the Kundalika river. Chaul was located on the low Northern bank, opposed to a promontory (cape/peninsula) on the South bank, which was called "Morro de Chaul" (Mount of Chaul) or Korlai. In 1521 Chaul was brought under the Portuguese control, and in the same year, the first fort was built. In October 1531, they erected a massive, square stone fortress at Chaul, which also contained a church and dwelling-houses for 120 men and this fortress was named "Santa Maria do Castello" (Saint Maria of Castello). The Portuguese town developed around this castle. However, 1558, a treaty was enforced prohibiting the expansion of the town's fortification. In Nov 1570, Chaul was attacked by Nizam Shah. He laid siege for months and the town was reduced to shambles. However, in July 1571, the siege was raised and a treaty was signed. After the siege, the town was rebuilt, and the town walls with several bastions was built around it. In April 1592, the Moors from Africa, began a new siege of Chaul, but after an hard battle, the Portuguese succeeded to supress the attack. In 1594, the Portuguese, conquered the adjoining fortress of the "Morro de Chaul" - Korlai. Owing to the repeated attacks by the Moors against Chaul, in 1613, new defense works were carried out.

The Portuguese power declined and Chaul, slowly, lost his importance. In March 1739, Chaul and the fortress of "Morro de Chaul" (Korlai Fort) were besieged by the Maratha Navy commandeered by Kanhoji Angre. On 18 September 1740, a treaty was signed and Chaul was handed over to the Marathas.

I also saw the ruins of the famous Saint Barbara tower inside the fort (see pic). The tower was originally seven storeys high, and one could see Bombay from its top. Its now in ruins and only 3 of the 7 storeys now stand. After exploring the Revdanda fort and the ruins of a Portuguese church and a seminary, I headed to see the oldest (in use) church of Revdanda. It was a small Mother Mary church (see pic).

I was curiously looking around when a gentleman asked me if I would like to go inside. I said I would love too. He then introduced himself as Issac Saporkar (see pic in white shirt), the custodian of the keys. He was Jewish, of ‘Bene Israel’ descent. He was the head of one of the six Jewish families that live in Chaul and Revdanda. He had distinct Israeli features, even though his language was that of a local Maharashtrian. The local hindus and Issac Saporkar refer to Mother Mary as ‘Devi’ and sometimes ‘Samudra Devi’. Issac Saporkar also added that on Sundays, Christians from Korlai come to this church for their mass.

I had lunch at a small restaurant nearby and headed to my final destination of the trip; one which was hard to find…one that was lost in time. I was trying to find the Samadhi of the famous Maratha naval chief Kanhoji Angre. Born in the town of Alibag, little is known about his early life except that he was involved in daring exploits at sea and that his father was Tanoji Angre, a commander under Maratha Chhatrapati (Emperor) Shivaji.He spent much of his childhood in the fort at Suvarnadurg Fort, of which he would later become governor.

He was originally appointed as Darya-Saranga by the chief of Satara in 1698. Under that authority, he was master of the Western coast of India from Mumbai to Vingoria (now Vengurla) in present day state of Maharashtra, except for the property of the Muslim Siddis of Janjira who were affiliated with the powerful Mughal Empire. Kanhoji initially started by attacking merchant ships of the British East India Company and slowly gained respect from the sovereign and notoriety with the colonial powers. When Maratha Chattrapati Shahu ascended the leadership of the Maratha kingdom, he appointed Balaji Viswanath Bhatt as his Senakarta ('Commander'), and negotiated an agreement with Angre around 1707. This was partly to appease Angre who supported the other ruler who claimed the Maratha throne, Tarabai. Under the agreement, Angre became head of the Maratha navy. He also played a role in the Maratha conflicts against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who was camped in the Deccan.

He was born into the Agri tribes of northern Konkan, which is one of the aboriginal (Adivasi) tribes of the Deccan, although some Western accounts have described him of being of an African (Habshi) extraction.

After spending half an hour trying to locate Kanhoji’s samadhi, I found it behind a very old temple, hidden by the thick vegetation around it (see pic). I clicked a few photos and paid my respect to a great warrior. I was experiencing a sense of completion after this. I headed back to Bombay and reached home by around 5 pm on the 26th of Jan. My odometer had clocked 770 kms over the last three days. It was a magnificent trip, which re-emphasized my outlook that Konkan was probably the most important place in world, as it had all the major powers of the world vying to control it. I am already looking forward to my third and final phase of Konkan, in which I shall cover south Konkan and Goa.