Sleepless in Sarchu

The idea was conceived in Manali probably over ginger tea. How 'bout a business executive ripping across Ladakh trying to make his meeting in time? We volunteered Bansi for the job and he refused of course - until we presented him with a shiny new red tie! The next three days saw executive Bansi waking up early, adjusting his tie, staring his RX100 and sending it from Manali to Leh! Day one was sweet, climbed over Rohtang pass, which at 14000 feet is still a baby compared to the ones to come. The sun shone bright and wild flowers and horses roamed freely. We reached Keylang chased by a thunderstorm which never materialised. Day two was also a breeze, we made it over the dreaded Baralacha pass without any issues other than a few sore bums. Cruised downwards and made it to Sarchu which is nothing more than a bunch of tents and an army base. By sunset it got real cold and we were in a tent sending soup and coversations with some army boy from Karnataka (our license plates attract much attention in these parts). One peg was good for me but Bansi really started bonding with the boys and while I covered myself with razais and tried to sleep he continued sending in the outdoors. Then headache came. Then nausea came. Classic symptoms, I remembered reading, of altitude sickness. By morning I was sleepless and fully headached. Brushed ice off the seat of my bike and realised the battery was dead. Aaaaa! A couple of wires and a jumpstart did it, a disprin and a paratha later we were off. The headache persisted though and just before lunch I had a beautiful crash as I was oversped over unfriendly terrain. No damage done except my headache became a little worse. After luch we climed up up up and suddenly with one spectacular view we hit the magnificent morai plains at about 15000 feet and I got the photo I'd been waiting for, for three days! Further up took us over Tanglang pass at 17000 feet and simultaneously my head began to split while the sky started snowing on us. What??? That was a painful descent, I didn't see anything and I didn't think of anything except losing altitude, the only real cure for altitude sickness. A little lower down at Rumtse, Dr Bansi provided some tablets, Maitreyi a head massage and I was soon feeling a whole lot better. Reached Leh in one piece. Really tired. And really happy!