The most dangerous road in India can possibly applied to many of the high mountain passes and roads of the Himalayas, but there is one road that gets this tag more often than most. Whether it is for the sheer drops that surround the side of the road, the risk of landslides, the lack of human settlements or any amenities, the weather and above all, the endurance required and the lack of room for careless mistakes; The Killar Highway offers all these and then some more.
Connecting the village of Killar, one of the few 'big' villages in the isolated Pangi Valley of Himachal Pradesh with the border town of Kishtwar, the Killar(not killer) highway is an extension of the isolation of the valley itself. Everything I have mentioned above make it a road that is not for the beginner. It requires patience, effort, and above all, a cool head and the ability to keep calm in the face of things going left. It is a highway that also rewards the rider, in terms of a challenge, and offers some of the most beautiful, rugged and raw sights of nature at her finest (and dangerous).
This road, we took it on, during our ride towards the Himalayas of Ladakh. We made our way across the mountains of Himachal, ascending the Sach Pass, and coming down to the Pangi Valley before ending our ride late in the night at the village of Killar. it was an 14 hour, 140km endurance affair on some of the coldest and difficult roads we had ever faced.
And we were not done yet. The Killar highway was next.
Morning. Killar offers beautiful views of the Himalayan mountains...
which was probably the best way to start our day, cause bad roads came calling.
Isolated settlements, raging rivers, badly broken roads - The Killar highway was just revealing itself to us.
... sheer drops that surround the side of the road, the risk of landslides, the lack of human settlements or any amenities, the weather and above all, the endurance required and the lack of room for careless mistakes;
.
.
Not what we signed up for, but then, what did we sign up for?
It was a nightmarish road at places. There had been rains at some parts of the valley the previous night. This had made the mud roads worse, and the bikes struggled to get across, slipping and sliding their way across the mud was the rear rubber tried to get the faintest of grip. By the end of the day, our bikes were more brown than their own colour.
Slow going and patience were the norm of the day. At one point, we had to stop for nearly half an hour while a landslide was cleared further up the road. At another time, we made our way through a narrow part that was cleared for us at another landslide area. We met 5 people in all our time on the road. Two were clearing landslides in an earth mover machine, and three others were hauling away smaller debris down the valley into the river.
One of the bikes (the KTM) ran out of fuel, while the Enfield (Thunderbird) lost the rear brake due to a broken oil reservoir. Imagine riding on roads like these with only the front brakes on a motorcycle like that.
It was Himachal Pradesh at its rawest. A pure, undiluted nature ruled supreme here.
Roads like these meant I had to help the others get their bike up the road at times, sometimes having to do it myself.
The first signs of Hope, as we realised that roads like these meant there would be tarmac somewhere going further.
And we were soon rewarded for the back breaking ride we had for the past day and half. The good roads started again, before the village of Paddar, where we halted for quick fix on the bikes, and headed out to Kishtwar. The highway was replaced by dust, mud and rocks for another 20 kilometres or so. But as evening arrived, we hit the highway to Kishtwar, riding easy on those amazing tarmac roads. It was a little over 5pm when we rode into Kishtwar, and found a place to rest, eat, and a place to get the bikes washed. What a ride it had been!
More stories of this adventure in my next post. Thanks for reading!
If you want to follow this photoblog and related posts of my Himalayan adventure, here are the links to the previous posts.
Himalayan Odyssey
The ecological price of travelling
My roadtrips:
A solo backpacking trip across the UK
Cycling 500km across Europe: Dtube
500km of cycling across Europe - A photolog
Exploring God’s Own Country on a Motorcycle – Dtube
About Me:
Motorcycle Stories - How I got into Motorcycle racing
A high-speed crash and life lessons
Until next time.