Ladakh Ride Day 9 – Miserable Day in Leh

It was freezing cold to sleep, I woke up around 07:00 AM and it was still drizzling like the last day. A mountain just appeared through the glass window, what a start of a day !!! Who knew soon it would turn to be an unfortunate day in Leh.

I just called the reception and ordered milk tea. All I wanted to sit near the window, gazing the change of view as time fly. Tea was good, literally reminded about home. So I called my parents, conveyed the experience of the last day. While talking, I thought to go outside to check surroundings as well as our motorcycle. I just got shocked seeing my motorcycle with the broken windshield. I had no idea, tried to figure out what might happen but no luck. Sadly, I went to the room, took the needed wrench set to remove the brackets.

While going back I saw the hotel manager, told him the incident. Frankly, I thought hotel staff tried to move my motorcycle and due to heavyweight, it felled. Actually, due to rain overnight, the underneath soil loosened a bit which caused the fall. Although, the hotel staffs were kind enough to make it stand again early morning. Certainly, I was remembering the quote “Let bygones be bygones” to solace me.

Got ready, cold-started the motorcycle, and started searching for local shops to buy a windshield which significantly reduced wind blast. This time I realized, front disc brake did not have the adequate bite, hence stopping power reduced. It was a serious problem now, riding without a windshield was possible. But how come one will ride in the mountains without the front brake. I was roaming around the city to get a mechanic, but no luck everyone remains closed on Sundays.

After an hour, I found a shop, Tashi Bullet Workshop, the man Mr. Tashi seemed to be a very genuine person. He told me that it is hard to get the windshield in Leh. I scheduled to service my motorcycle the next day. As we already rode 3000 KM.

I came back to the hotel to take a rest. We met two nice families staying at the same hotel. Mr. Raj Singh and Mr. Kuldeep Sharma train people for skydiving. We were sharing each other’s travel stories for a few hours. It was a pleasure to meet these lovely peoples.  

We relaxed for the rest of the day and yes, the drizzling did not stop for the whole day.  

Although, our initial plan was to be in Leh town for two days for acclimatization, sightseeing, and get an inner line permit. Due to rain we wasted a whole day but relaxed properly.