Ladakh Ride Day 17 – Banihal to Pathankot
The weather in Banihal was quite pleasant in the morning. We decided to start a little late, and at best, we would stretch till Jalandhar on day 17 of our Ladakh Ride. It was a clear day, sitting next to the beautiful garden and swiping all the pictures from the last few days, I felt quite relaxed.
Around 9:30 AM, we started from Banihal, and moderate traffic congestion was there, and within a few kilometers, it became heavier. It was a stop-and-go kind of situation. Although we were gazing at the beauty around us. A few patches had slush due to the rain that happened last night. Very soon, we were bored with the traffic, which was so dense in places. As usual, like the last day, we started to ride in the opposite lane, although most of the time, it did not work, and we ended up waiting in a queue for a long time. It was frustrating; on top of that, we started to feel warm. In the Morning, it was cold, so we thought it would be moderate throughout the day, but after Ramban, we had to stop aside to remove all thermal wear. Luckily, we had an extra pair of bungee cords, so we tied everything to saddlebags.
Traffic conditions were the same till the Chenani National Tunnel, and again, this tunnel made us happy like water in between desert. This time, we crossed it slowly to notice sounds echoing inside; it was a smooth ride. After crossing the tunnel, we saw a few food stations, so we stopped and had our lunch.
Our plan was to take the Jammu National Highway instead of the shortcut state highway towards Samba directly (more than 45 kilometers). So, we handled the last 20+ kilometers of bad stretch with the happiness of getting a good highway back again. But after reaching Udhampur, we saw some bad patches on the highway, so we decided to take a U-turn and take the known SH route towards Samba. In these bad patches with some good views and lots of pain in the body, we finally reached Samba.
For the first couple of Kilometers, we sped like 90-95 KMPH, after that we settled down on a steady 70-80 KMPH because of drowsiness. Our bodies were aching like hell, and we wanted a good amount of rest, so we decided to reach Pathankot by sunset.
We were checking on the Goibibo, MakeMyTrip apps to get some good deals. We reached Hotel Abhi International, found on (Goibibo), and checked the rooms. Finally, I made the payment for the booking on the app with a good discount. It was our first time booking a room through the app. And we got a shock from the hotel manager that there is no confirmation for our booking. Somehow, the guy felt our tiredness and allowed us to check in first.
We called the customer care, and within 15 minutes, the manager got the booking confirmation email. I must admit the quality of support Goibibo had provided; otherwise, we would have had to pay again. We ordered some snacks and tea, freshened up, and went outside to try local panipuri (Gol Gappa), one of the best panipuris we had ever.
I came back to the hotel room, packed everything properly in bags, put everything on the charger, switched on the AC, and crashed in Bed.
Conclusion
Being a remote place, a lot of preparation is needed before the Leh Ladakh Tour, be it mentally or physically. Don’t forget the weather in the Ladakh region is extreme, and most of us are not accustomed to it.
So, be prepared, and everything in your Leh Ladakh tour will go well. You may also check out below generic posts below to make your Leh Ladakh trip successful and memorable. I am sure you will love it.
- How to prepare for Ladakh
- Things to Carry in Ladakh
- Medicines needed in Ladakh
- How to fight AMS or High Altitude Sickness
- Mobile Network Connectivity in Ladakh
- Inner Line Permit Procedure for Ladakh
- Complete Guide for your Ladakh Trip
If you are doing a road trip to Ladakh, you may find my Kolkata – Ladakh – Kolkata on a Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 journey helpful.
Lastly, get Leh’ed soon.
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