The Road to Zanskar, Vol I - Gonbo Rangjon

By Meneenja

I finally arrived in Zanskar's magnificent valley. one of the most pure, undisturbed valleys in the region of Ladakh, India. After years of planning, I finally decided to go overnight to Leh, the capital city of Ladakh, via the Zanskar region. This time, however, I was accompanied by my friend Sai, who was riding his Hero Xpulse 200, a perfect match for my Royal Enfield Himalayan.

I'd already undertaken an adventurous attempt to cover the Zanskar valley in 2021. After leaving Srinagar, Kashmir, and riding through the Pangi Valley, one of the most difficult off-roading tracks in the Indian Himalayas, and exiting at Darcha in Lahoul, Himachal. After Darcha, the Manali-Leh route splits, with one road leading to Shinku La, the high mountain pass required to enter Zanskar Valley.

helipad before reaching sh

My motorbike had died just before reaching Shinku La, where my clutch plates had burned up due to excessive acceleration, and I had to turn back and follow the more regular Manali-Leh highway to reach Ladakh. Even though I wasn't sure if my ageing Royal Enfield Himalayan (Eskimo) would be able to make it to Zanskar, I made the decision to try.

We packed for both motorcycling and mountaineering because we also intended to climb a few mountains in Ladakh. We had a tonne of gear, including food for the campsites, sleeping bags, tents, ice axes, ropes, and snow boots.

We departed Manali at midday on the first day and arrived in Darcha a few hours later. It was part of the plan to visit the 5-year-old boy I had made friends with at one of the tourist shelters in Darcha a month earlier when I had cycled there. My little friend and I spent some time together drawing and playing after I bought him some colours and a colouring book.

5yo boy at Darcha

About three o'clock in the afternoon, we resumed our motorbike journey and made our way to the top of the pass—the formidable Shinku La, the entryway to the Zanskar Valley.

pass signage

Here, we discovered an abandoned army-built bunker at the top of the pass and made the decision to spend the night there. It took us about four hours to ride from 2000 metres to 5000 metres, and although camping at the top wasn't the best option, we did it. The night was uncomfortable; we could feel the shift in altitude in our bodies. We tossed and turned, but we made it through the night because we had climbed a 6000-meter peak just two weeks earlier, so we were reasonably acclimated.

Because we were having trouble sleeping because of the altitude, we were both exhausted and grumpy when we woke up in the morning. We went outside to check on and warm up our motorcycles before packing our bags. The X-pulse had died. The battery was dead from the low altitude and the chilly night, and it refused to start. In the end, I had to push the bike to gain momentum while my friend attempted to start it in second gear. I hadn't done anything so difficult in a long time. It was quite the ordeal to run and push a motorbike at 5,000 metres, but luckily the bike started after a few false starts, and we were able to begin our descent towards Zanskar.

For the next ten or so kilometres, the roads were absolutely awful. Horrible, to me, means a lot of slush, mud, and dirt with countless water crossings. As we descended from the Shinku La, we slid and swayed past hundreds of labourers who were positioned on the sides, slaving away in these inclement weather conditions to construct the new all-season roads that will link Ladakh with the rest of India.

Although these workers are paid more per day than those who would build a regular road, their working conditions are appalling. Imagine having to labour in this chilly, high-altitude desert with blazing sun and arid winds. After navigating the winding roads for a while, we arrived at the bottom of the valley and took a quick break.

A massive rock loomed directly in front of us. However, we were unable to locate ourselves because we were on the mountainside. We finally made it to the front of the enormous mountain, where a camping area and a few tents were located, after fording a few more streams and water crossings. As we turned around, we noticed the formidable Gonbo Rangjon towering over us. The people of the area refer to Gonbo Rangjon, a solitary, lofty rocky precipice, as God's Mountain and regard it as sacred. Every time you look up at this magnificent mountain, you are in awe of it. We made the decision to camp at the campsite beneath the massive mountain's shadow.

gone

campsite Ariel gonbo gonbo We prepared our cameras to record the Gonbo Rangjon sunset as night fell. We tried for hours in the bitter cold to capture the ideal images and videos that would do this amazing mountain justice. The Milky Way chose to come into view as the sun was setting, directly above the mountain's peak, giving the scene even more drama. We were able to get almost perfect shots under the perfect night sky, despite the fact that there were still a few lights from other campsites that prevented us from shooting in total darkness.

gonbo night sky Milky Way

gonbo night sky Milky Way Over dinner we met a Swiss couple who had hitched a ride from Leh to this mountain because it was the top of their Zanskar sightseeing list. The locals told us stories about this peak, one of which was that people had seen the mountain lit up at night in various places, almost like lanterns were being set atop it. We said our goodbyes and went to sleep inside our tent.

from the side

mountainside I got up early in the morning and set up my cameras to take pictures of the sunrise. After that, I took a seat and enjoyed my coffee as I watched the sun rise over the mountain. Even though we had only travelled a few hundred kilometres, the ride had been fantastic up to this point. However, we had left the metalized roads far behind and were only going to encounter unpaved, desolate roads and trails. Anticipating several days of off-roading in the mysterious Zanskar valley, we were excited. We quickly packed our belongings and headed to the next location, the historic Phuktal Monastery.