A Glimpse of God’s Plan- Gayatri’s Bike Trip Review to Ladakh with Thrillophilia

“Ik onkar, satnam, karta purakh, nirbhau,
Nir vair, aakaal murat, ajooni se bhang,
Gur prasad. Jap.
Aad sach jugaad sach,
Hai bhi sach naanak hosi bhi sach.”

We could hear this Mool Mantra in the distance. The sound of the chant vibrated the cold air of Ladakh, resonating with the beauty all around.

Yes, nature is the truth. She is the teacher, she is the guru. She asks us to be fearless and hopeful, she also asks us of humility and compassion.

The famous Gurudwara Pathar Sahib stood firm on the land of Phey, its elegance and calm reverberating in the surroundings. It was our first day in Leh and visiting this gurudwara was a must. The serenity of the place, that too in a setting like Ladakh, where lofty mountains and stout peaks test you for your best endurance and limit, tingled my nerves. The aura of the place was so divine, that we stayed there for almost an hour.

My legs were shaking while entering the gates of the gurudwara, I was stunned by this unexpected encounter.

So, this Ladakh trip was not my plan. I had merely done the booking, and my friends had initiated all the plans and arranged for the flight tickets. Our tour operator, Thrillophilia, took care of the rest of the arrangements.

Since we opted for a bike trip, our packing was a bit different. The heavy jackets and biking gears made the bag so heavy that it felt like it was ripping off my shoulders. But determined, I headed out with my friends for an adventure of a lifetime.

To wheels and wheelies
The collection of Himalayan bikes that were assigned to us gave off a splendid look, adding to the grandeur of the vast valleys. All the women of our batch could ride a bike, including me. We decided to take turns while riding so that none of us would get too tired, and since we were riding in doubles, this plan posed no issue.

That day we were to head out of Nubra. The butter-smooth snaking roads shot up our adrenaline rush and we started to show off some skills. From wheelies, stoppies, and cliffhangers, we indulged in a brief gig of bike stunts. We had exhausted a lot of energy in this, which, later on, proved to be quite heavy on us-

We did not know that there would be such a long stretch of off-roading ahead of us that very day!

Nonetheless, we all reached our destination not exactly in the ‘pink’ of our health, but rather a ‘yellow’ or a ‘purple’. Yes, we were super tired and we had to skip the camel ride for the day.

But as I was travelling, I urged everyone to get up early and take the camel ride the next morning. Although most of them kept on sleeping, me and two-three of my friends went out and did the safari in the morning. After our return, we narrated the experience to our other batchmates, who in turn made a droopy face for having missed the last chance.

We headed off to Pangong that day, which proved to me one of the best rides I had taken in my entire life. The views were so scenic that I felt like never stopping the bike. But reality and practicality hit me when I felt a searing pain in my back a few hours later.

Nah…riding forever would not have been a good idea, I realised immediately.

To capturing moments
We clicked so many pictures in so many poses in Pangong. We also created formations and gimmicks to get that perfect photo with the backdrop of the great Pangong Tso!

We had our big Indian flag with us, which we thought of placing in the Chang Las Pass and in Khardungla Pass. And so we did.

Crossing these two passes has added some special feathers to my hat, and I thank the moment my friends convinced me to come on this trip. Wahe Guru had his blessings on this trip.

Another important episode of this trip took place in Sangam- the confluence of the Zanskar and Indus rivers.

So, the last day of our tour was a leisurely day, and we all decided to do something fun. I did not expect the conversation to take a turn for adventure activities, however, I had to comply with that.  Anyway, I thought, what can be the harm?

I wanted to take a lot of pictures of this ride, so I started to archive the moments from the very beginning. I could get some really good photos before the ride, but...

The post-ride condition of mine was quite poor.

My body was shaking from the cold and I was entirely wet. The ride was very very scary, with turbulent rapids almost toppling and turning our boat. It was my very first experience of river rafting, although the others had done it before. The guide and the river rafting trainer expressed their concerns as well, saying that the force of the rapid was more than they expected…

I just thanked god for keeping me alive. That is why I get so sceptical about adventure sports. But there was another thing that crossed my mind-

The amount of construction and tourism that plagues Ladakh, they are bound to affect the ecosystem of the place. And I believe,

Never mess with nature, she can wreak havoc.

Perhaps this ride was just a glimpse of the same.

While returning to our rooms that day, we again crossed the Gurudwara, and I did not fail to steal a long glance of the same, again.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

Read More: Thrillophilia Ladakh Bike Trip Reviews