Day 8: The height of achievement....

Day 8: Leh to Khardung La

We couldn’t wait to reach the highest motorable road in the world, which, in fact, was just 40 kms away from the hotel. We came across both- the good road and the bad road. Some roads had potholes, while some potholes had roads.

It was a mix of emotions as the flock of riders reached the highest motorable road. Some were seen yelling on top of their voice, others were in tears, and a few were simply speechless. Everyone was congratulating one another, celebrating the moment which had not come that easily. Vishnu Vardhan Kuna from Bangalore had waited for 13 years while Raja Swaminathan from Delhi for five years due to his job commitment were in tears and smile at the same time.

Joseph Julian, a designer from Chennai, shed 40 kgs of his weight especially for the trip. His entry had been rejected last year due to excess weight. Julian had then purchased a brand new bike exclusively for the trip. Everyone got acclimatised to the climate and spent almost an hour on the top, though we had been recommended to stay there for just twenty minutes.

By then, I had clicked umpteen photographs and could easily compete with any professional photographer when it came to the numbers. Apart from the pictures taken from my personal camera, I had clicked snaps for almost all the riders with their cameras.