Top of the world Bike ride to Umling-la

This is my story on "Top of the world" Motorcycle ride to the world's highest motorable road - Umling-la pass in the Indian Himalayas in Ladakh at 19,000+ feet.

Day 1 - Bangalore to Leh on Flight

Sat 7th June 2025

Amazing to see Indian Himalayas - silver peaks amidst azure blue skies above Ladakh from Plane. Breathtaking beauty. Evening - Golden sunset on icy peaks. Flowers of Ladakh. Poplar trees. Arrived at Leh. we have a mandatory 24 hours rest-in period at high altitude in Leh, to get used to the altitude. We checked the motorbikes a bit. Met up fellow riders (six of us rode together, three (Glen, Godwin, Neeraj) were from Dubai, other three (Balaji, Jojo, Nash) were from India. The company matters on these rides. It was perfect. Pretty jovial team members made the inhospitable terrain quite hospitable.

Day 2 - Leh to Alichi & return

Saw the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, built in 1517ad, in Ladakh. Where Guru Nanak Dev (Founder of Sikhism religion) miraculously converted a stone boulder thrown at him by a demon into a wax boulder with his power of meditation. He is fondly Nanak Lama by locals and revered as one of their own Buddhist lama.

Saw the mighty Indus River merge with Zanskar River at Sangam. This river starts from Tibet in China, goes via Ladakh in India and into Pakistan. This created the Indus Valley civilization. And of course post operation sindoor, India has put the Indus water treaty on hold. In the pic you can see Indus green in color and Zanskar muddy brown color.

We had authentic Ladakhi food in an award winning restaurant called Alichi Kitchen, next to the Alichi Monastery. Nilza Wangmo the founder and chef, was recognized with the highest award for women in India, Nari Shakti Puraskar award by President Shri Ram Nath Kovind for promoting local cuisine with only women chefs and employees, despite many odds. Had local Ladakhi vegetarian cuisine Thukpa and Khambir. Very yummy.

Lastly there were amazing Ladakhi and Tibetan handicrafts in the bazaar near Monastery. The Thangka paintings, colorful beads, the woolen items, silver and bronze statues are simply amazing. I loved a particular Buddha bronze idol with semi precious gems. And packed it up after consulting my better half, who was also keen to get the idol home.

Day 3 - Leh to Maan Village

Leh to Maan village on the banks of Pangong Lake . Via Chang La Pass. Today we started from Leh and climbed all the way up to Chang-la at 17,700 feet. Then reached MAAN village overlooking the Pangong Lake for overnight stay overlooking the lake. Pangong Lake for Bollywood buffs is featured in the 3 Idiots movie where Kareena Kapoor meets Aamir Khan in the end of the movie.

I have never seen a more picturesque lake in my life. Pangong Tso (lake) is 123 kms long is a massive fresh water crystal clear lake with water from Himalayas. It gloriously reflects the blue sky, in a more deeper way. Its almost like Blue Ink we use in fountain pen, was used to fill the lake see pictures.

The only issue is many parts of the ride, you need to climb steep hills. The tarmac could be broken too. And the roads barely have the width to accommodate two cars (one up and one down). You need to be a good car driver and an extraordinarily good motorbike rider with fantastic reflexes and machine control to ride here. One of our fellow riders had a small incident where the rear brakes literally burnt out. Luckily he was fully protected in the fall and had no major harm. Our group captain Balaji Devanathan and the lead rider Prabhat JoJo have done Ladakh rides more than a dozen times and I admire their patience to put up with newbies like me. BTW I'm the senior most member of my riding group and some riders are literally half my age. I thank God I returned to our destination slowly and steadily.

Day 4 - Man Village to Hanle.

Today we started from Man village and climbed up to Hanle town. First we went to the exact site in Pangong Tso (lake) where the 3 idiots movie were shot. I sat on the model bench where Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman sat. On the same yellow scooter in which Kareena meets Aamir. The real lake was as beautiful as it was shown in the movie.

Then we visited the Rezang La war memorial. This is where the infamous battle with the PLA was fought in 1962. At 4.00am on 18th Nov 1962, when the Chinese PLA army attacked Indian postions at Rezang La pass, a group of just 130 Indian army soldiers fought bravely and all of them died in the battle field. But not before killing over 1,100 Chinese soldiers. This was one of the most heroic battles fought by the Indian army in knee deep snow in winter. This battle effectively halted the Chinese army advance into Indian territory. Later when the snow cleared in Feb 1963 they recovered the bodies of Indian and Chinese soldiers. The final rites were done in Feb 1963 at the place where the battle was fought. Its called Ahir Dham as most of the regiment were from Ahir community in Rajasthan. Visiting the memorial and seeing the audio visuals, elevated my respect to the courage of the Indian Army.

Later we drove to Hanle town. Its on the ancient silk route connecting Ladakh to Tibet. Hanle observatory one of the highest optical telescope in the world is here. When China invaded and captured Tibet in 1959, a lot of Tibetan refugees came into India. India gave these refugees permanent settlement here among other towns. HH Dalai Lama is worshipped as a living God by many Ladakhi and Tibetan Buddhists.

Day 5 - Hanle to Umling-La.

In the movie Mckenna's Gold the cinematography of Arid Arizona and grand canyon was so brilliant, as a young kid, I wondered, whether such beautiful landscapes existed on earth? When we rode our bikes on the flat land from Hanle towards Chisumle it reminded me of that movie. About 20 km of beautiful, arid landscapes. Later we rode up from Chisumle to Umling-la pass in the Himalayas. Its the world's highest motorable road at over 19,000 feet. Its even higher than Mt Everest base camp at 18k feet.

The journey to the top was not easy. In just under 12 kms we climbed over 4,000 feet from Chisumle at it took almost an hour. The roads are single lane roads. A vehicle has to stop and give way to another vehicle coming from opposite direction. This drive or ride is not for the faint hearted.

When I reached Umling La the world's highest motorable road, it was freezing, windy and literally breathtaking in a low oxygen environment. It was also figuratively breathtaking in its views. I felt, top of the terrestrial world. 11th June 2025. An unforgettable day in my life. After we came back to Chisumle we drove via some of the most spectacular curvy winding roads I have even seen. The journey was quite memorable. Hope my pictures do some justice.

Day 6: Hanle to Nyoma.

This is just 70 kms but we are climbing down. And the road is a single lane highway. If you see an army truck or a big passenger vehicle on other side, you need to get off the road and give way to the bigger vehicle as a motor biker. Nyoma for long was the only permanent settlement in the Changthang.

Few words on the flora and fauna of Ladakh. Its a cold and arid desert with almost no rains. In winters there is snow fall. Its quite an inhospitable place for any flora to grow. Despite that, there are hardy grasses, shrubs, and some trees. The fauna includes various birds and animal species like Kiang (Wild Donkey), Changthang Pashmina goats (produces the finest wool), Dong Yak, the snow leopard, Himalayan Marmot, Chiru the Antelope. I got to click pictures of Wild Yaks, Pashmina goats and Kiang.

We had a cottage in Nyoma just 500m from Indus river. Did you know The Indus River, is also called the Sindhu River, Sengge Chu ("Lion River") in Tibetan, Abaseen ("The Father of Rivers") in Pashto, and Shendu in Chinese. The Indus River flows through the modern countries of China, India, and Pakistan. Tomorrow we ride along the Indus for many kms on our way back to Leh.

Day 7: Nyoma to Leh.

This was one of the most spectacular rides I have ever done on my motorcycle. Almost 200kms but it took over 6 hours of winding roads up and down the hills. For about 100 kms we were riding parallel to the Great Indus River. It was glistening in the sun. The back drop for the river ranged from snow capped peaks to mountains either barren or filled with Poplar trees.

Through a common friend, we got a chance to meet some Indian army men, who were curious to know about where these middle aged bikers are from 😀 our group had good mix of Tamil, Sindhi, Marathi, Rajasthani, Nepali speaking folks. We conversed in our own languages and they were happy to hear their mother tongue. They were kind enough to offer some good lunch. It was inspiration to hear their stories on how they guard our nation in these cold unforgiving terrain.

Finally I'm back in my hotel. What a great experience the last week has been.

This is my third Himalayan ride after Tawang and Darjeeling. Ill focus on what made this Ladakh trip unique.

1. Highest altitude I have ever reached on a Motorcycle (19,000 feet)

2. Lowest oxygen environment, which demanded a lot of stamina

3. One of the team members was less than half my age at 26 years :-)

4. Most complex route I have ridden so far, Tarmac, Off-road, Sand, Snow

5. Breathtaking scenery almost at every turn. Arid landscapes, snow capped peaks, lush green valleys, golden sunsets, the bluest of skies and lakes.

6. Unique flora and fauna of Ladakh - Poplar trees, Wild Yaks, Pashmina goats

7. Unique Buddhist culture. And some great Ladakhi food (Thukpa, Khambir)

These trips require lots of mental & physical preparation and fitness. I am glad I pushed myself to do this. And find a week, to accomodate this ride, to pursue my passion for Motorbiking, despite busy schedule.

A huge thanks to following

Balaji Devanathan & Prabhat Jojo, Red Panda Adventures. This is the third time I'm doing a Himalayan biking trip with Red Panda (After Darjeeling in Bengal, Tawang in Arunachal and now in Ladakh). Their choice of hotels, motorcycles, back up vehicle, route planning, food, medical emergency planning is simply superb.

Back up crew Pawan and Konchuk.

My fellow riders from Dubai - Neeraj Tahiliani, Glen & Godwin Aranha. We hit of instantly - the wavelength and humor. These men drive their big BMW 1250GS in Dubai and do frequent biking trips in Europe. They are also doing their second trip with Red Panda Adventures. Shows how much they like these trips.

The group fondly called me "Tau Ji" (ताऊ जी), a respectful term used for an older paternal uncle, considering I'm the oldest at 55+ years riding a motorcycle! The youngest members at 26 years are less than half my age. Showing age is just a number if you have the passion, determination and energy to do these things.