Ladakh 2018 Diaries Page 2 - Prepping the bike and the gear, findin...

August is here and I am counting down the days to go before I hit the road to the mountains of Ladakh. It's been a busy couple of days thus far. For a road trip of this magnitude: 26 days, 5000 odd km and encountering some of the difficult terrains out there; requires quite some preparation mentally, physically and mechanically. There's only 8 more days to go before I take the flight to Delhi and hit the road a day after, on the 15th of August.

A view of the mountains from the Zoji La pass, enroute to Kargil from Srinagar.

The gear

For a roadtrip of this kind, the gear requirements are multiple. I have two saddlebags which will take the bulk of the essential items I need for the road. The saddlebags take all the essentials and still have a room for little more. I usually avoid filling the bags to the brim because I always assume I need space for more items that I may buy on the road (souvenirs, replacement gear, etc.) The saddlebags have a capacity of 35 liters on both bags combined. I prefer the bags to have as minimal a capacity as possible due to two reasons:

Higher the capacity, the more one tends to fill the bag with items that may not be essential.
Packing requires some knowledge of what is necessary and how to pack. Optimum use of space is made.

So, the saddlebags hold multiple essential items: sleeping bag, chain lubrication, chain cleaner, WD40, a powerstrip, a first aid kit, rain covers, tool kit for the bike and for dealing with punctures on the road and little odds and ends such as additional plastic bags for waterproofing of items, paper rolls and additional bungee cords.

The tank bag holds multiple essentials for the electronics - cameras, lenses, chargers, the batteries and many little important things - earplugs, an additional clear visor for the helmet and the phone. The tank bag has good enough space to fill all these and then some more.

The other essentials I am carrying are three-man tent since we intend to camp out at some places in Ladakh. Finally, I have a tripod stand for the camera since I have plans of shooting some timelapse sequences and long exposure photographs. A 3-legged camping stool completes the list.

Hope is fully loaded now. The bags seem to fit well on the minimal space the rear seat has.

The saddlebags hold all the essentials and have room for some more essential items that I may pick up on the road.

Since Ladakh is at a very high altitude and we will be touching altitudes of over 18000 feet, Acute mountain sickness can be a real problem. Acclimatisation is very important. Although we are taking the long road to Leh via Srinagar and Kargil where the highest point is no more than 13500 feet, precautions are necessary when on the road for extended periods.

Tablets for the most common of problems when on the road for extended periods of time - pain spray, pain relief tablets, medication for diarrhoea and sore throats. Diamox takes care of AMS and headache in general.

Medication forms only a part of the first aid kit. Other essentials for dealing with minor scrapes, bruises as well as first aid for crashes completes the list.

A minimal take on the tool kit. Only the screw heads and spanners that fit on the bikes are carried. Zipties can be incredibly useful in keeping things in place if nuts and bolts go missing.

A survival kit for emergencies. Torch, matches, knives, multi-tool that can handle all nut and bolt sizes, bandaids, medication for common ailments, a compass, hand sanitizer included.

One of the things that we do require essentially while on the road is clean water. In India where getting clean water at most places is like looking for a needle in a haystack. On such occasions, mineral water bottles are the only solution if you have to be sure of the water. But this brings with it a problem. On the road, I estimate that each of us will need at least 2 litres of water at the minimum. So for the three of us, it will be 6 litres or 6 bottles of water per day.

Over 20 days, that is a 120 bottles! That's a huge amount of plastic trash that needs to be disposed off. This is something that we were all keen to avoid. So we hunted around for water bottles that help us purify water from any source such as streams. And Ladakh has plenty of glacial streams that have fresh flowing water. It would be a crime to use plastic disposable bottles.

So we got these water bottles with a filtration unit from The WildLife Company. They look quite sturdy and look capable of taking the abuse of being on the road for a month. How they function is another question entirely and will be put to test in the field.