We had one rest day in Kargil, much welcome after the tough riding. We rode to the Suru river, and it was fun playing in the wet, squishy sand and splashing the Scooty too. I also got my first view of Pakistan when we went to village Hundurman, near the Line of Control. From there I could see village Brolmo (in Pakistan) in the distance. The Kargil market was a lively place, and I enjoyed hot kahwa at the quaint Roots Ladakh café and munched on local baked snacks.
We were now going towards Leh, literally the high point of the ride, but had to battle convoys of Army trucks that you just cannot get past. The roads were a mix of rough patches, straight stretches, and sharp bends that were fun to attack on the peppy little scooter that no one thought would be suitable for these riding conditions. But guess what? The TVS Scooty Zest 110 is more than capable of sticking out its tongue at all the naysayers. We crossed two more passes: Namik La, which I could not find even on Google Maps, and Fotu La, where the rock formations were amazing. Finally, we rode into Leh and settled into a colourful little hotel in the market area. For dinner, we went to the popular Gesmo Restaurant in the Leh market where I had a yummy yak cheese chicken pizza, which was unique as I had never eaten cheese prepared from yak milk.
