Mumbai To Ladakh Solo on p200

Back in January me, my friend Amit patil, Charu started to plan to ride all the way to leh from mumbai, one hell of ride, once in a life time event.
Patil said "Abhi nahi gaya toh kabhi nahi jaa payega" and after marriage your wife wont let you go. But being all software professionals and busy with work, we dropped off but Patil went to leh from mumbai solo on his p200.

Here is the man and machine:-

Amit:-

August 18 2007: Start from home.Its a saturday.A good nights sleep is absolutely essential for a ride and I slept early and woke up at around 4:30 am.(Deleted all the porn movies from my pc previous nite incase I dont make it back)Mom had made some cutlets previous night so that I dont waste any time in ordering food on day 1.Start from home at around 6:00 am.Tilak and send off from home...even the neighbourhood aunty is awake to wish me luck..Tie up saddle bags,sleeping bag and tripod using rope used for hanging clothes.have about two pieces of 15 meters each.One rope suffices.The descision to use this rope instead of bungee is foolish I realise later.I dont wear the carbon fiber gloves of cramster i have as I need a good control of accelator(again a foolish descision as I realise on 'minor' fall on day 2).I wear the k2k jacket and skating knee caps(which I later remove for want of circulation to my legs....again a foolish descion).
5 kms into the ride from andheri i reach malad flyover.I am carrying a small sack having about 4 liters of water and cutlets in silver foil and half a dozen bananas.The small sack is resting uneasily with sleeping bag behind my back.I dump a two liter water bottle on the flyover and tie a one liter bottle to my saddle bags( which falls off at the bumpy road near manor)and have a liter in sack....The load off my back makes me comfortable.
See a chick with boyfriend on a Bike who keeps staring at me for my strange gear.This is not the first time I am stared at.I get used to it by day 2 and I keep getting stares till chandigarh
I keep drinking water.....peeing after every hour or so(to avoid dehydration)....ride at 60-70 and progress is good.Stop at dhabas occasionally to buy new water bottles.road from baruch till vadodara is bad and progress slow.After vadodara the road is welcome.

Reach ahmedabad at around five-six.
Had spoken to vimal(friend from gujrat) and enquired about towns after ahmedabad.Gandhinagar and himmatnagar are next towns.Take the ring road.spot a reliance petrol pump across the road.Attendants boys crowd near my bike.Maharastra number plate??where are you coming from???Biking all the way???Yes I am going to jaipur(dont mention ladakh for fear of freaking them out )After filling up take decide to stop at ahmedabad.Take a left turn and start searching for a hotel.

Amazing feet i must say.
Amit:

riding solo means just not feeling brave or feeling you are a superman/invincible.It means being vigilant all the time.Here is an episode I would like to quote.


When I reached pangong I stayed in the eco-tents put up over there.I was only Indian tourist there.Three firangs and their guide later came and put up in a barrack style room abt 50 meters from the eco-tents.Apart from four of us and the driver/guide of firangs vehicle there was tent owner and his helper cum cook.There was none one else.I had some itch of staying in tent(It was near full moon of raksha bandhan and I had planned my journey so that I can camp at pangong on full moon and stay in tent)

I was offered a meal by tent-owner and his helper(Which was billed of-course)Later after the meal I realized that I was fast falling into sleep.I shook myself awake and realized at that point I could have been drugged/poisoned in meal by tent owner.If he had done so he would have been richer by 1.5-2 lakh counting my cash,bike,cellphone,cameras,equipment.There was a possibility that he could have crushed my head with a stone and I would have never woken up.

The tent owner and his cook knew I was alone and we had negotiated upon the rent on that particular day itself.So there was no possibilty of anyone else knowing I was with them at that particular time as I didnt interact with the firangs who kept to themselves.My parents would have known I was going to pangong thats it.Pangong is so big(134 kms).Tent owner could have killed me ditched my body anywhere where I would have rotted for eternity

Staying in a hotel room and bolting the door from inside is a different thing but being in tent alone meant being vulnerable all night.So that dream night I had been looking forward to for so long....I never slept.Having studied martial arts I aint scared of getting mugged/knifed(I can manage that) but head being crushed by a stone or being killed in one blow while you are asleep is not what I like.People say culture in ladakh is nice and people goody good....but it doesnt take time for rot to spread and greed is a primitive instinct.Of course I wasnt poisoned or drugged or not even a remote attempt was made to mug...but its good being paranoid and vigilant rather than being dead and sorry.

Moral of story:STAY VIGILANT AND ALERT FOR THREATS.On road people may stop you and ask for help.Just analyze and make sure it isnt ambush.It is good to be paranoid sometimes.

He is back, alive and kicking. I call him baap of bikers.
Here is his complete story on xbhp
Amit Patil's Blog
Here is his complete photo album