As We Step Out- Parenting, Unschooling, and more

  III: Entering J&K After effectively putting in a litre of fuel in the tank, I finally set off for my dream ride. I had to look for a petrol pump to fill up the tank so that I can be on my way. I asked the locals, and was told to follow the road through which I exited; it would take me to the main road and the petrol pump would be right there. Reached the main road but the petrol pump was no where to be seen! Would have continued for possibly a km more, and the engine started knocking; I knew what was coming. Hoping to see a petrol pump very soon, I continued, being very, very gentle on the throttle, applying the 'lift and coast' technique as much as I could. The bike could not go for long, and soon it stalled. I did not want to damage the fuel pump, so I did not push it after it failed to crank in one or two attempts. I saw a gas pump on the opposite side of the road. Parked the bike on the side and walked over. I was told the nearest petrol pump is 1.5 - 2 kms ahead.  I...

After getting a good nights sleep, I was all ready and excited to enter Kashmir. Mounted all the luggage, had a chikki and I was back on the Xpulse. The plan was to head towards Srinagar and onward to Sonmarg today. As I left Udhampur, was welcomed by beautiful vistas, like the below, and this really got me excited for what was in store ahead! The closer I got to Srinagar, I started coming across more and more of military convoys crossing the highway. Whenever there was a big convoy, the military would literally block the traffic to side of the road, for the convoys to pass un-interrupted. And these blocks would last from as low as to 2 minutes to more than an hour! During one of such long blocks, a family in car approached me and picked up a conversation. These convoy blockages were completely new to me, so I asked them if it was a regular phenomena - and indeed it was. What this meant was that the locals simply could not plan their travel/ commute etc reliably since you never know ho...

 Sonmarg was indeed an incredible place. I discovered that a lot of activity happens here around April and May - Skiing, Snowmobiles, etc. A few treks as well. Hmmm, lot of things to be planned with the family! It was going to be a long day, since the plan was to reach Leh. So I decided to start early in the morning. I was up and ready by 6 AM. And that was a big mistake, since I clearly was not ready for what was coming. Up until now, it was cold. But pleasantly cold. Sonmarg itself got extremely cold late in the evening, but nothing that I cannot handle, I thought. However, today was different. The winds were heavy and extremely cold. BRO was working on making the Zojila Tunnel to ensure 12 months connectivity to Ladakh - currently there is no road connectivity in winters under the snow. That meant numerous deviations and extremely bad roads. Google maps too got confused and started showing random directions, so I turned them off. The cold winds, along with the difficult terrain,...

 Today was going to be about rest, relaxation, acclimatization and doing the necessary chores. I made the below list of things to do: 1. Have clothes washed - Visited the beautiful Leh market the previous night and found out a place for laundry - handed over clothes then, with a promise to get them back today afternoon. The Leh market itself is very pretty, well planned and fabulously maintained. 2. Get essentials - oxygen pump, jerry cans to carry fuel - Purchased a portable O2 pump. Also bought 2 5 litre cans and 1 10 litre can, since I was not sure how I would be mounting these on the bike, with an agreement to return the ones I dont end up using. There was not going to be a petrol pump after Nubra valley, so it was imperative to carry fuel. After numerous trials and errors, I concluded the best way is going to be using the tail bag's side pockets to host 5 litre cans on each side. While in the market, met an elderly couple from Pune whose son was in the army and posted around L...

 Since I decided to tag along with the bangalore couple, and they were going to get late, I had some time to spare in the morning. Plus, it was not going to be a long riding day, so I took it easy. That enabled me to spend time in the morning in Zaltac itself - found a friendly dog and a cat. Also had a heartfelt conversation over Kahwa with the property manager, Santosh. I was baffled at his journey - the man at such a young age, had shown tremendous character, maturity and had assumed family responsibilities. It was very inspiring! The property itself was superb - the garden being very passionately developed and maintained. There was just one more guy from Andhra in the dorm. The common bath and toilets were extremely clean. We finally started at around 10:00AM. As we started climbing towards Khardungla, there was a checkpost and the inner line permit was checked for the 1st time here. As we rode further, the bangalore couple was falling behind quite a bit - I waited for them on ...