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Advait astride his loaded Himalayan between towering snow walls, with snowy peaks beyond.

The journeys / 04
Indian Himalaya · June 2024 · Solo

Ladakh × Zanskar

THE LONG
WAY ROUND.

My first long ride.
My own Himalayan. No fixed script.

Follow the road ↓

Just me, the bike, and a road cut through snow.

View photograph ↗︎

Delhi → Manali → Darcha
Then a different idea.

I went looking
for a long ride.
I found Zanskar.

I had bought my Himalayan for the mountains. Until this June, I had never taken it on a big ride. A quick decision at the end of April, some hurried shopping, a train journey for the bike to Delhi—and I was finally going.

The first day meant summer heat I remember as 47°C, and Manali after dark. The next began late and ended at Darcha, around midnight. The checkpoint would let me go no further. I found a bed.

In the morning, I set off towards Leh. Five minutes, a few trucks, a thought. I turned around, went back to the junction, and took the road into Zanskar.

2,900km · total distance covered
19,100ft · maximum elevation reached
14days on the road · June 2024
Advait in black riding kit beside his loaded Himalayan at a forecourt.
A Himalayan, finally headed for the mountains.
Night view from the handlebars towards the Darcha sign.
Darcha, long after the day had ended.
Advait’s hand holding a decorated mug by a window overlooking the valley.
A quiet morning before the turn I had not planned.

One turn.
Another world.

A circuit, found along the way

DARCHA.
BACK TO DARCHA.

A route outline, not a GPS track.
Choose a stop to enter the story.

THE ROAD JOURNALJUNE 2024 / SOLO
PHUKTALon foot ↩UMLING LAapproach only ↩THE LONGWAY ROUND.01Shinkun La02Purne03Padum04Leh05Pangong06Hanle07Leh–Manali highway08Darcha
  1. 01
    Shinkun LaSnow country
  2. 02
    PurnePhuktal · a detour on foot
  3. 03
    PadumA little company
  4. 04
    LehVia Zangla · the long day
  5. 05
    PangongThe lake, the next morning
  6. 06
    HanleAcross the open plateau
  7. 07
    Leh–Manali highwayThe high road home
  8. 08
    DarchaThe turn / the return

The circuit A detour and a turn back

01 / Darcha → Shinkun La → Gonbo Rangjon

THROUGH
THE WHITE.

Within an hour, the world had changed. Snow peaks in every direction. Tall walls of white beside the bike. I had come north with very little idea of what was waiting; now I could barely believe the road I was on.

Shinkun La brought slush and a snowstorm. I kept going over the other side, stopped at a small dhaba, and rode on towards Gonbo Rangjon.

Handlebar view of a paved road between high cut snowbanks.
The road narrowed to a line through winter.
Motorcycle POV riding between tall cut banks of snow.
A line through winter, on a June morning I had not planned.4K · 60 fps

Loaded Himalayan at the prayer-flag-covered Shinkula Top marker.
A pass I had not expected to cross that morning.
A pale turquoise frozen pool in a snow-covered valley under heavy cloud.
Blue ice beneath a changing sky.
~5,050 m

Shinkun La
between Lahaul and Zanskar

Loaded Himalayan on rough ground below the enormous rocky pinnacle of Gonbo Rangjon.
I had taken a turn. It had brought me here.

Gonbo Rangjon

Sometimes the only
thing to do is stop.

Rear view of the loaded Himalayan beneath Gonbo Rangjon, with snow in the valley.
The bike looked smaller here. So did everything else.
Advait standing beside his loaded Himalayan beside a yellow camp tent, with Gonbo Rangjon towering behind.
A place I had not planned for, and would never forget.
The loaded Himalayan and rocky pinnacle of Gonbo Rangjon.
I stopped the bike and looked up. Gonbo Rangjon filled the sky.1080p · 30 fps

A long empty paved road leading through the valley towards Gonbo Rangjon.
For a while, the tarmac was almost too good to be true.

For a while, there was perfect tarmac. Then it ended. Dirt, wind and a very different kind of riding took me the rest of the way to Purne. I found somewhere to sleep, with the whole day still running through my head.

Motorcycle POV along a rough gravel mountainside track passing an excavator.
Dust, loose ground and a road still being made.4K · 60 fps

02 / Purne → Phuktal → Purne

LEAVE THE BIKE.
Keep going.

The next morning, I rode a short, awkward approach, parked the Himalayan and carried on by foot. The trail followed a turquoise river into the gorge.

After hours on the trail came Phuktal: white buildings rising into a huge cave. I had never seen anything like it. A journey that had been all engine, wind and road became quiet for a while.

White and ochre Phuktal monastery buildings sheltered beneath a huge cave overhang.
Phuktal. I had never seen a place like it.
The curved cave roof framing monastery buildings, the turquoise river and distant fields.
The mountain became a roof.
Advait with a blue backpack on a prayer-flag-covered footbridge above the river.
A day off the saddle, still moving towards something unfamiliar.
The cave monastery of Phuktal seen across the river.
A monastery inside the mountain. I had never seen a place like this.1080p · 30 fps

Steep stone steps climbing towards white monastery buildings beneath an overhanging cave.
I followed the steps into the rock.
An ornate wooden monastery doorway with metal lion-head knockers and an orange awning.
Small details, after the scale of the gorge.
Stone steps rising from a dark passage towards daylight.
A little light at the top of the steps.
A narrow gravel road cut into a steep gorge above turquoise water.
A thin line above the river.
A walking POV on the gorge trail beside the turquoise river.
For a day, I left the engine behind and followed the river.1080p · 30 fps

I walked back the same way, collected the bike, and returned to Purne for another night. Some detours are the reason to stay.

03 / Purne → Padum

A LITTLE COMPANY.
A LOT OF ROAD.

I met two riders and joined them for the day towards Padum. There was room for company in a solo journey, too.

Rough stretches, new tarmac, villages and green fields. By evening I had a bed in Padum. In the morning, the others had their own direction. I went mine.

Motorcycle POV on a paved road towards snow-covered mountains.
A sweep of tarmac, white peaks ahead, and a little company for the day.4K · 30 fps

A gravel curve above a river in a deep dry valley.
Nothing straight about the way through Zanskar.
Green fields and a settlement in a broad valley surrounded by mountains.
Green returned to the valley.
A panorama of green fields, settlement and mountains near Padum.
By evening, the valley had opened into fields and a place to stop.1080p · 30 fps

04 / Padum → Zangla → Leh

THE DAY
THAT KEPT GOING.

I started late again. I wanted a way through to Leh without the usual overnight stop in Kargil, so I asked around, looked at the route, and set off.

There were long stretches with nobody else in sight. The Zanskar River beside me, loose rock under the tyres, unfinished roads and enormous bare mountains. I stood on the pegs and let the bike move beneath me.

I remember the scale most of all. How small the road was in that landscape. How much attention it asked for. There was no room in my head for anything beyond the next stretch.

Motorcycle POV along a rough canyon road beside a green-grey river.
Only a narrow line of road between the cliff and the river.2.7K · 60 fps

A narrow road and green-grey river pass through a deep rocky canyon.
The road looked almost too small to belong here.
A hand holds a glass of tea outside a restaurant with a Village Neyraks sign.
A glass of tea, a quiet stop, and a long way still to go.
Motorcycle POV following a narrow rocky road through a riverside gorge.
I remember how much attention the next stretch asked for.2.7K · 60 fps

A loaded Himalayan is parked near prayer flags below snowy mountains.
Prayer flags, the bike, and enough space to hear myself think.
A high road crosses open slopes beneath snow-covered mountains.
Another stretch of road, folded into the mountains.
A roadside BRO marker identifies Sirsir La.
One of the names my photographs remembered for me.
Motorcycle POV along a gravel road in a wide bare mountain valley.
The canyon opened. The mountains kept going.2.7K · 60 fps

The photographs hold on to names I could barely take in that day: Nerak, Sirsir La. My memory holds on to the riding. A valley, a climb, another turn, the light slowly leaving.

I reached Leh late at night. For once, the next day had nowhere further to go. I stayed an extra night, ate well, walked around, and let the ride settle.

Motorcycle POV on an unfinished road beside concrete protective pillars.
Concrete, cliff and open valley. Seconds from a very long day.2.7K · 60 fps

A Magnetic Hill roadside sign is illuminated at night.
A familiar name on a sign, after a very unfamiliar day.
Advait takes a selfie inside a bus.
For once, I was letting someone else do the driving.

05 / Leh → Chang La → Pangong

FIRST, THE STARS.
THEN, that blue.

From Leh I climbed towards Chang La, back among snow and bright mountain air. Pangong came at the end of another late arrival.

That night, the sky was full of stars. In the morning, the lake was turquoise—so clear and so blue that I kept stopping just to look. Riding along it felt almost unreal.

A roadside welcome marker identifies Chang La top.
Back among the snow, with Pangong still ahead.
Advait stands with a loaded Himalayan beside snow at a mountain pass.
Me and the Himalayan, further into this than I had ever imagined.
Sunlight breaks over snow-covered mountains above a parked Himalayan.
The road could wait while the light did this.

Pangong / after midnight

The Milky Way is visible across a star-filled night sky.
I had arrived late. The sky gave me a reason to stay awake.

Pangong / the next morning

A narrow gravel spit divides blue lake water beneath mountain ridges.
The kind of morning that makes the long way feel easy.
~4,350 m

Pangong Tso
blue water, high on the plateau

A wide view of turquoise lake water and bare mountains.
I could have stayed here looking for much longer.
Advait stands with folded arms on pale dry ground near Pangong, with distant snow-covered mountains behind.
A photograph of me, in a place I would keep returning to in my head.
Pangong Lake is seen from the road, with blue water below bare slopes.
I rode on, but kept finding a reason to stop.

06 / Pangong → Rezang La Memorial → Hanle

THE LAND
OPENED OUT.

I rode on past the Rezang La Memorial towards Hanle. The scenery changed again: broad, dry ground, pale sand and a sky with nowhere to hide.

I had one small skid in the sand. People nearby helped lift the bike, and I was on my way. A brief reminder that a solo journey still has other people in it.

Hanle was my stop for the night. The next thought was Umling La.

A loaded Himalayan is parked on an open plateau under thin white clouds.
Beyond the lake, the landscape opened into something else.
Advait stands at the Rezang La War Memorial.
I stopped at the memorial and took my time.
Sunlight breaks through heavy cloud above a wide mountain landscape.
Even under heavy cloud, there was something worth stopping for.
Motorcycle POV following a rough sandy track across an isolated high-altitude plateau.
Beyond the lake, the land opened into a completely different ride.2.7K · 60 fps

Open hills beneath a dramatic cloudy sky near Hanle.
I did not need to reach every place I had thought about.1080p · 30 fps

Umling La / the approach

I turned back.

I had left late. The bike was not responding as I wanted, and I had no company. I stopped short of Umling La and came back. There was already more in this ride than I had ever imagined.

07 / The plateau → Leh–Manali highway → Darcha → Manali

THE SAME JUNCTION.
A different feeling.

I found some company, stayed in a village on the way back, and rejoined the Leh–Manali highway. The exact place names have blurred. The high roads have not.

Lachung La, more bends, more cold air. Then the road led back towards Darcha. The checkpoint where I had made that unplanned turn was in front of me again.

Advait and his loaded Himalayan stand beside the Lachung La marker.
Me, the Himalayan, and another high place on the way home.
A mountain road passes between deep banks of snow.
I had left the heat behind a long time ago.
Snowfields and high white mountains fill a wide landscape.
Still enough space here to make everything else feel small.
A Darcha junction sign points towards Shinkula and Padam on one side, and Baralacha and Leh on the other.
The same junction. This time, the whole ride was behind me.

Darcha → Darcha / June 2024 / Solo

ALL THAT ROAD.
STILL THAT TURN.

I reached Manali after dark. About two weeks earlier, I had set off on my first long ride. Somewhere along the way it became the most adventurous thing I had ever done.

I think about the landscapes. I think about the Himalayan carrying me through them. And I think about how quiet my mind felt when the whole world was just a road to follow.

Ride a few moments again ↗︎

18 films / original moments

BACK IN
THE SADDLE.

The road at its own pace.
Open a film for the complete clip and original sound.

The road journal / June 2024

THE FRAMES
I BROUGHT HOME.

People, places, pauses.
Open a photograph to see the whole frame.

124 photographs

Places, heights and the route remembered

This is my personal account of a June 2024 ride. The route diagram is a schematic, not a GPS track. The uncertain Padum–Leh stretch is kept broad. My photographs confirm Nerak and Sirsir La, Chang La on the way to Pangong, and Lachung La on the return. I turned back on the approach to Umling La; I did not reach the pass. I visited the Rezang La Memorial without claiming a crossing of the battlefield pass.

Rounded elevations: Shinkun La approximately 5,050m (Border Roads Organisation / PIB); Pangong approximately 4,350m (District Leh). The official permit circuits distinguish the Chang La route and Pangong–Hanle corridor. The remembered heat, conditions and length of the ride come from my own account.

Keep wandering

Next / March 2025 / SoloKhopra RidgeAll six journeys ↗︎
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The photographs
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Ride films

Ladakh & Zanskar / June 2024 / Solo

Use the player’s sound control to hear the original audio.