Leh Ladakh - Chapter 6

No, no, no... so many halts. Throwing stones in the river was fun, but leaving this spot and carrying on with the journey was long overdue. We started again, went just a kilometer away from the river and saw another great spot for video shooting. I got down from the car; Amit and Krishna were still inside. I turned the camera on. Krishna started the car and brought the car closer to me. As I was still recording them and the silly boys thought of some prank to pull on me.

They came closer, stopped the car with the engine still running, asked me the directions to Leh. It was supposed to be some scene from the movie where I am a stranger and these guys were tourists asking for directions. Amit asked for directions and I looked at him as if I didn't understand what he was saying. The conversation lasted about 5 minutes and then they sped off. At first, I thought they were still acting, but as I saw the taillights getting smaller, my mouth went wide open and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I was so mad at them that I forgot I was standing alone and crying like a baby. I stopped recording immediately and started looking in all directions. As soon as I was about to cry a bit louder than I was, those two idiots came back. They were laughing, on top of their lungs; making funny faces and apologizing. I know those apologies were not real because all they could do was laugh even more. I took couple of stones in my hands and started running after them. They both got out of the car and we were all running around in circles.

That took about 10 more minutes of our time. Everybody stopped and caught their breath. Another car was nearing us, so we had to stop. Can't let anyone see us acting like lunatics, now can we? Anyway, the car was a Matiz (from the bankrupt company, DAEWOO). Amit had the video camera on and was recording this car. The guy sitting inside waved at him and was smiling. Now I'd like to add here that remember this car. Because this stupid car will cause us a lot of trouble during the trip.

We got back in our car and looked at the time. We wanted to reach Sarchu before 6 pm. We started climbing another mountain and the roads started to get worse. We were gaining altitude. We had a pack of chips which started to bloat from the inside because of the altitude. It has something to do with the logic of pressure and when you go higher and higher above the sea level. We had a deflated small basketball in the car, and once we reached at the higher altitude, due to lower atmospheric pressure, the basketball was inflated to the fullest. (this was a new thing that I found out, that too a practical example. Krishna knew the theory pretty well, smarty pants) Well, I'll have to check that theory for myself. Anyway, as we advanced, more and more landslides were getting visible. On a particular mountain, the road was filled with pebbles and rocks that came sliding down the mountain slopes. There were military machines to clear the road, but as we passed that patch, even the military work stopped.

I was driving now and was being extra careful. We saw a sign that said: Petrol pump before Keylong, 110 km from Manali. Next fuel pump - Leh. Which meant, the next time we can stop for gas would be approximately 365 km away from where we were. Now that was something to get scared about, and we were. We were afraid that if any rock or a pebble cracked the oil chamber of the engine, there would be absolutely no one to help us out. So Krishna took over the wheels. The sun was setting pretty quickly, too quickly I might add. It was getting dark and cold, and to top it off, it was raining. Is this some sci-fi/thriller/action movie that we had so much to deal with at the same time? It felt so, and with those non-functional wipers, the condition started to become bad. We were driving alongside a river that had a heavy flow. When we looked at it carefully, we saw a truck, broken into pieces after falling down the valley. The cabin was separated from the chassis and there was no engine. It was nothing I had seen before.

We kept on driving along the river and now it was really, really dark. Looking down the road, we saw the Matiz, the tires stuck in some rocks and flowing ice water from the mountain slopes. The Matiz was unable to move. Being the noble kinds these two gentlemen were, they stopped the car and got down to help. So the boys were out; wet shoes, socks, clothes...pretty much everything. A few pushing here and there, rocking the car, and the vehicle came out of the small ditch. Now, here comes the main part. As the Matiz came out and went a bit further, Krishna got back into ours and got stuck in the same place. There was a long line of trucks behind us, honking, waiting for us to get the car out of the ditch. But those stupid truck drivers won't understand that we weren't playing some game where we'll see how long can we stay there. It was raining, it was cold, and the temperature was getting low by the second. Krishna and Amit had an idea, and the poor boys were trying to get the car out by themselves. I volunteered to get down from the car and help them. But Amit told me to stay in because there were some scary-looking truck drivers and it would not be safe for me. I got on the wheel and Amit signaled me to accelerate. A little clutching and accelerating was enough for the vehicle to get bad. We realized that the clutch plate of our car had burned to an extent where it was difficult for the car to pick up. We tried our best to get the car back on the road; and after a long, long time and hard work, the boys did it. We got through. Amit and Krishna took their shoes and socks off and wore flip flops. That was some tough luck and no mercy for sometime.