Last night was the worst so far. One, the insanely cold night air was creeping in to the dining area where I was sleeping. Two, the excitement of riding to the highest motorable road in the world!
After speaking with the guest house owner, we (the two friends from Hyderabad - Pankaj and Mani, and I) decided the skip the longer route through Photi la, and instead take the route which goes through a village, passing through ~60km of non stop off road connecting near Nurbule top and then onto Umling la.
This off road stretch was unlike anything I had seen so far - massive plains with mountains offering magnificent vistas. This route was not on google maps at all, so that was going to be added challenge. Luckily, we noticed poles placed every now and then, and those acted like our torch bearers. This off road was surreal, made even more special by the free roaming herds of 'Kiang' - animals that look like horses. The whole journey felt nothing short of a movie!
Reached Umlingla top without much of a drama. Took some customary pictures and started our ride down right away. The elevation got us tired very easily, so we decided to take a power nap at one corner of the road. We lost our way on the return leg somewhere in the 60km offroad stretch - took an additional 1.5 hours to get back to Hanle! This also took me through the toughest water crossing in the journey so far.
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After today's ride, I certainly deserved a good night's sleep, but the current dining area setup was not going to offer me that. Checked with Pankaj and Mani - they too were going to stay another night in Hanle, but the current room was not available for tonight. Decided to tag along with them for finding a room together for the 3 of us.
Found one without much of a trouble, and moved in. Headed out in the night to take a look at the famous Hanle night sky, but to be honest, I was yearning to get to the bed for a good nights sleep.
After another hearty conversation with the hyderabad garus, I swept myself under the blanket and was off to sleep at literally, a blink of an eye!
Tomorrow was going to be another special day!
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