Riding to and Exploring Leh

                        On the sixth day of the trip, we continued our ride to Leh from Khangral, which was our stop the previous day. There were lot of monasteries on the way at Lamayuru, Alchi, Phey and many more. Other major spots on the way were the Magnetic Hill as well as the Hall of Fame Museum. We couldn’t visit the latter as it was closed for lunch break when we reached there. On reaching Leh town after 3PM we immediately went to the DC office and obtained the Inner Line Permits that are needed to visit the protected areas around Leh.






                         In the evening we visited the Leh Palace, built in the 16th century. The roofs of this 9 floors high palace provide a panoramic view of the Leh town bordered by the Himalayan mountain ranges. The palace has a museum as well that has plenty of ancient paintings.
Leh Palace

Leh town view from the palace roof


                          After visiting the palace, we went to a local workshop and got our bikes serviced, since it's so important to keep the bikes in good condition as the rides will be getting tougher the next days. We met a few other riders at Leh, a group of 3 guys from Kerala, and also a guy from Guwahati. They also joined us for the next few days when we visited the major destinations in Leh. In the evening we visited the Leh market. 
Traditional houses in Leh

Almonds - Roadside view

Apples - Roadside view
                         The overwhelming cold forced us to rush back to the hotel without spending much time in the streets. After dinner we retired to bed, with all the excitement of conquering one of the world’s highest passes the next day…

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