[anjan_c2007]

The journey commences and after a day of rest with some sight seeing yesterday, Girish has started riding his moped this morning. With him have joined Mr Rakesh and Mr Prashanth (their backup man and mechanic) on two RE Bullet Classics.





Wishing the threesome a happy, safe and adventurous journey ahead in the most challenging sector.

[anjan_c2007]

As is known today's lap was from Srinagar to Drass on Ladakh. The threesome left Srinagar at 7.30 am touching Sonmarg at 12.00 pm and moving further. The TVS 50 XL covered 170 kms today despite the very hostile terrain. During uphill climbs Girish used pedal power to propel the moped at push by Mr Prashanth was required to provide the initial torque after which the two wheeler climbed.

They reached Drass late in the evening and Girish has said that today's drive was the toughest since 23/09.Drass is freezing cold and they have halted here.

Today's Diary jotting by Girish (09.10.2021)

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 16 - 8th October 2021
*Rest day in Srinagar*

Day 17 - 9th October 2021

Srinagar (JK) to Drass (Ladakh)

Yesterday we spent a good day in Srinagar.
Did some more work on tuning the TVS. After few test rides, we removed the main stand and installed a side stand, as the main stand was too low and it was touching every pot holes and the speed breakers on the road.

As the next leg was mixture of off and on road, it would slow down the speed in the off road section. So removed it for better.
Spent our night at a boat house.
Today morning we departed at 7:30am.
It was a wonderful ride, riding along the Dal lake.
After Dal lake, we took right to Gandherbal.

Passing through residential areas, farms etc we crossed Gandherbal and continued our journey towards wayul, kangan and Gund.
Had few tea breaks with biscuits and cake.

Reached Sonmarg at 12:00 pm.
Visited my good old friend, Mr. Narrinder Singh in his dhaba and had Poori Chole for brunch.
He was surprised to see me again...
At 12:30pm we continued our journey towards our biggest nightmare...*Zoji la pass*

There were more than 100 trucks waiting as yesterday the roads were closed for maintenance.
Cars, cabs , jeeps....All were negotiating their way in between..
What a havoc it was!

And obviously we too continued their way

Zoji La...About 20kms of uphill , dusty kind of offloading. But the good part is that, about 70% is covered with interlock.

Interlock is good for trucks,cars and other bikes...But not for TVS. The tiny tire keeps on falling from one patch to another.

It was the toughest climb of my life I would say , but TVS performed good enough for its engine capacity.
As expected, some areas where the inclination is too steep and rough roads, TVS refused to climb.
I used pedal and used my muscle power.

But still not enough ....Prashanth helped me by towing / pushing the TVS from behind to get the initial momentum. Once the initial is good, it runs well and climbs, but then again same story on the next uphill.
We used to stop a lot to allow the trucks and other vehicles to pass, so we get a good clear road to ride on. TVS also would get some rest.

It was totally a nightmare, at one point I thought that's it ... But we managed to continue and reached Zoji La zero point at 14:50.
A big relief on our faces.

We had kashmiri Khawa,a kind of drink and met so many there and spent 30mins answering their questions.

Zoji La tunnel work is on full swing and in next 2-3 years it will be ready as I heard.

We reached a check.point and asked for RTPCR,as I didn't had it ,but I had 2 doses of vaccination, they allowed me without any problems.

The officer puts his signature on my right palm and gave a slip, which I have to show in the next gate.
Rakesh and Prashanth had RTPCR,so no problems for them either.

Riding through the beautiful road of Gumri, Matayin and pandras, we reached Drass at 17:45pm.

As it was getting darker, we cannot visit the war memorial. So thought of staying overnight and continue tomorrow.

And also it is freezing cold here, Drass is the world's second coldest inhabited area.

Ufff...What a day to remember!

Found a decent home stay just next to the war memorial.

No problem of overheating of TVS , all went well,after Zoji La, I was cruising and was keeping speed around 50km/h. It runs well

Start time - 7:30am
End time - 6:30pm

Total km today - 170km
Total from start - 4185km

Plan for tomorrow - Kargil and Leh.

Thanks for all the support and blessings.

*Get vaccinated...It's your responsibility*

Even in these tough conditions, the TVS 50 XL did 170 kms today.

Pictures to follow soon.

[anjan_c2007]

The pictures speak :-

[anjan_c2007]

Today forenoon Girish was at the Kargil War Memorial

(#kargilwarmemorial#k to k diaries#TVS XL 50#2021#)

[anjan_c2007]

Girish with his TVS 50 XL and with his co-riders Mr Rakesh and Mr Prashanth have reached Leh this evening (10.10.2021).

That's the successful "Conquest of Leh" by the rider and his timeless TVS 50 XL and speaks volumes about the mission and its objectives which have been fulfilled.



Image sent late this evening !

Today's diary jotting by Girish (10.10.2021)

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 18 - Drass - Leh

Woke up late as it was very cold and also the war memorial opens at 7.00 am.
It was -1 degree early morning , even by using 2 blankets , we were like.

7.30am visited the Kargil War Memorial and paid our tribute to the bravehearts.

Met many Malayali, Tamil and Kannada speaking soldiers and had a good chat with them.
Left at 8.45am towards Kargil town and onwards.

Cruising through Thasgam, Kaksar, Hardass, we passed Kargil on our way to Mulbek.
Had a quick bite on the way and after Mulbek, I faced a little bit of power drop with the TVS.
We stopped at a old bus stop and started rectifying the issue. Cleaned the carburetor, re-tuned and after few test ride, Prashanth said all good to ride.....we then continued and were about to enter the Namik La pass.
The roads were very good and TVS with little push climbed it very easily.

Cruising via Khangral, there it comes the mighty Fatu La, this is another challenge for the TVS.
Cruising on the curves and struggling to climb some part, Prashanth again pushed a bit, as soon as it gets the momentum it cruises again.
Prashanth and Rakesh helped a lot, Rakesh by physical push.

It was so windy in the valley and the wind pressure made riding very difficult.
At last, after all pedalling, pushing and towing, we reached Fatu La at 4:20pm.

Couldn't spend much time as it was windy and freezing, so we continued our journey towards Lamayuru and further on.

Up on reaching Khaltse, we been stopped at Covid check point. After showing vaccination report and RTPCR, they allowed us without any problem.

Riding via Nurla reached Saspol at 6.45pm. We had 70km on the board to Leh.

Rakesh motivated to ride further till Leh. So we decided to continue the journey.
As we had 3 vehicles together with sufficient lights, we continued.

After Fatu La, it wasn't that cold, so it was a easy ride.

Passing via Nimmoo, Magnetic Hill, Gurudwara Patther Sahib, we reached Leh safely at 9.00pm.

*One more tough day to remember, but not as though as Zoji La*

Start time - 8.45am
End time - 9.00pm
Total km today - 278km
Total km from start - 4463km

Plan for tomorrow - Local sight seeing

Thanks for all the support and blessings

*Get vaccinated...It's your responsibility*

[anjan_c2007]

Pictures from yesterday's journey to Leh:-











The above pictures are from the Kargil War Memorial



Leh 154 kms











Arrival at Namikala (12,198 ft above mean sea level)









The TVS 50 XL gets some healing touches by Mr Prashanth



Arrival at the Fatula Top 13,479 ft above mean sea level (HIGHEST POINT ON SRINAGAR-LEH ROAD)





Arrival at Magnetic Hill well known for the gravity playing traunt and driver's mistaking reverse uphill movements of their vehicles !





Arrival at Leh (above picture, also shared yesterday in the trailing post)

[anjan_c2007]

Salutes to Girish, the invincible TVS 50 XL and to Messrs Rakesh and Prashanth.

Impossible becomes path breaking and possible.



Reached Khardungla this morning!

[anjan_c2007]

The two hired RE Bullet 500 STD's (not RE Classics as said earlier) lacked in performance and were swapped by the agent for two RE Himalayans yesterday. Yesterday was a rest and sight seeing day. Today after the departure at 7.05 am the last tough 39 kms from Leh to Khardungla were covered in three hours and the destination was touched at 10.00 am.

Diary jottings by Girish for today 12/10/2021

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 19 - Rest day in Leh

Day 20 - Leh - Khardungla - Leh

Yesterday woke up late as it was very cold
After having Tea , we asked for different bike from the agent as the 500 STD was not mechanically sound.
He provided with 2 Himalayans.

Rakesh and Prashanth went for local places where I went and searched for a transporter to ship my TVS back. After a long search, found one.
Got the inner line permit too.

Today morning we started at 6.30am. it was cold though.

I wanted to go to Khardungla as early as possible to miss the ongoing traffic.

After filling our bikes, we left Leh at 7.05am.

Cruising the roads of Khadfungla, we reached South Pullu at 8.50am.

There I met Mr. Narasimha, from Delhi but originally Mangalorean, he was very happy to speak Tulu.

We had a tea break and continued our journey to Khardungla.

The uphill ride was fun, again lot of peddling, pushing etc finally we reached Khardungla at 10.00 am.

It was just 39kms from Leh, took us 3 hrs to cover.

We met lot of tourists who were amazed to see the TVS.

When we reached, there was no big crowd.
As the tourists leaves Leh hotels after breakfast @ 8. 0 to 8.30am. thats why I wanted to start early.
We spent a good 1.5 hrs there. Had lemon tea in a cafe there. We also found our 2019 Bajaj M80 sticker.
So happy .

Soon a lot of tourist taxis started arriving and the crowd was like crazy.

At 11.30 we started descending down towards Leh. Reached Leh at 2.00 pm.

Had our lunch at a Punjabi Dhaba.
Prashanth went back to the room, myself and Rakesh went ahead to the transporter to book my TVS back to Bangalore.

All went well and we are back in room at 4.00 pm.

We had plan to visit Pangong and Nubra, but as it is very cold here in Leh, there it would be freezing.
Khardungla was 2 degree when we reached.
So cancelled everything and we are heading back.

In the mean time Mr. Ajay Nayak from Mangalore booked our return ticket for tomorrow to Bangalore.

A memorable day for me ....

Successfully completed K2K...Which is Kanyakumari to Khardungla for the 3rd time.
( There are few make fun of K2K and this is for their information )
2018 - Lamby scooter 150cc
2019 - Bajaj M80 74cc
2021 - TVS XL 60cc

*Disclaimer*

For the roads here, gearless vehicles are not recommended.

100cc plus ...Like new TVS XL100, Activa, Access type can do.
Very difficult with 60cc.

But I am very happy with the support of Prashanth and Rakesh, I was able to conquer Khardungla.

Actually we planned to go to UmingLa. But police and military denied permission.

I thank one and all here for your prayers, blessings and support.

Start time - 6.30am
End time - 4.0pm
Total km today - 88km
Total km from start - 4551km

Tomorrow flying back to Bangalore and bus to Mangalore.

Thank you all to be part of my lifetime journey

(some more pictures to follow)

[anjan_c2007]

The images from yesterday's conquest of Khardungla by Girish:-





















































And lastly today 13.10.2021 at Leh airport accorded a send off by Indigo Airlines, before boarding the flight to Bangalore en route back home to Mangalore !

[anjan_c2007]

The exemplary efforts put in by Girish to cover the total 4551 kms, and post Srinagar with the help of Mr Rakesh and Mr Prashanth alias Pacchu, showed, and its for everyone to see and praise the outcome.

The warm welcome to team K2K back home at Mangalore yesterday, with accolades for Girish is noteworthy.

Diary jotting from yesterday 14/10/2021 by Girish
(trip back home and welcomes)

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 20 - Leh - Bangalore

As it was freezing cold we had to shorten our ride

Booked flight to Bangalore via Delhi.

12.50pm was the flight and flight got delayed about 45mins due to runaway congestion in Leh airport.
Reached Delhi at 3.00 pm plans it was hardly 30 mins to board Bangalore flight.

Reached Bangalore at 7.15pm and we took the fly bus to Majestic.

Started raining and there was no bus seats available to Mangalore due to Dasara festival. All buses were full.

We had to stay in Bangalore and booked bus next morning.

Day 21 - Bangalore to Mangalore

Mr.Shridhar Kacchu from Kings Raid Bangalore welcomed us at 6.30am , we had coffee and we left Bangalore by Volvo bus at 8.00am.

Reached Mangalore by 5.30pm.

I been welcomed by Mr. Shriniketh, proprietor of Team Mangalore Kite as well as member of Coastal Retro India. Scooterists at Mangalore bus stand. He was waiting at the bus entry point.

Outside the bus station ,Mr.Ajay Nayak , member of CRIS as well as Mangalore off roaders was waiting with his TVS 70 cc.

It was a fun ride I must say

I rode 4551km with TVS XL and again had to ride TVS for 15kms.

We rode to my home by doubles and it was a great surprise as usual by fellow Mangaloreans ....

Mr. Shawn Fernandez, member of CRIS and United Bikers Mangalore.

Mr. Ashwith, member of CRIS as well as Mangalore Bulls.(Enfield bikers )..
Mr Shivraj, Reshma, Priyesh , Dhanvith, Jefforn, Mahesh, Vijayanna, Janna, ....Members of CRIS were waiting near my house with a banner and gave me a warm welcome ...

Reached home by 6.30pm and was welcomed by my wife and son.

What a day to.rememeber ....Never expected this

I here by thank each one if you for the love and respect

The support and blessings I received is Immense

Total km - 4551 k.
Petrol used - 123lts
Oil - 6.5L

Repairs -
Service 2 times
Once changed chain
2 times clutch
1 time cooling fan
1 time break pad
1 time changed piston.

Thank one and all...
If I name them it will cross to China

Thanks all for the support and the blessings rendered....

Great brotherhood and I am totally overwhelmed and from the bottom of my heart I salute all and my Pranamam to all

Thanks being partner of my journey

Pictures from the homebound trip :-



Airborne



Arrival at Bangalore



Bus to Mangalore









Warm welcome at Mangalore



The cake of victory to commemorate the successful K2K journey

[anjan_c2007]

According to a message from Mr Girish Venkatraman, his Kanyakumari to Khardungla trip on his TVS-50 XL, that he had successfully completed during mid- October 2021, has now been recorded in the India Book of Records.

Hearty congratulations to Mr Girish for this unique and remarkable feat.







His personal message

Very happy to inform you all that my name is registered in *India Book Of Records* for my TVS K2K journey.

It's said Maximum distance covered on a moped by a quadragenarian.

I will be in their next edition book.

Thanking you all who supported me during this journey.

Totally overwhelmed 🙏

[ringoism]

There was a foreign travel company around 15 years ago that started out in their marketing with an admission that after some hundreds of years of worldwide exploration, there were almost no real frontiers left to discover, and the future of adventure travel was going to come down to finding less common, more creative - and perhaps more challenging - ways of getting there.

In their case they divided up some dozens of takers into teams of three and dropped them into self-decorated Bajaj autorickshaws at Calcutta. It was a Great Race of sorts, with basically only one rule: Whichever team arrived in their rickshaw at the specified venue in Manali first, by whatever means, won!

Some great fun that at points must have got pretty crazy.

This thread represents another adventurous option.

Those XL's / Supers were everywhere in the South in the early 2000's when I lived there. Only rode one once, rented as a tourist at Pondicherry, but for the masses they certainly served to "put India on wheels".

I'd like to get one for my wife in lieu of a scooty, being that they're so light and easy to manage, that the 16" (15"?) wheels should be better in potholes, that you can carry plenty on them with great efficiency, and that there's no damage-prone bodywork.

The XL Super, being a two-speed & bigger displacement, isn't that slow, either, and they're well-nigh unbreakable. Great (legendary) form of Indian transportation.

Good fun - kudos!

-Eric