Discover Khardung La on a bicycle seat

Relive the magic of the Silk Route as you cycle down one of the highest motorable passes in the world - Khardung La - and know what being alive really feels like Seated on a bicycle seat with the wind in my hair and the world at my feet, quite literally, I had a sudden flash of memory. A stuffy night, a couple of years ago when I was thumbing through Robert M Pirsig's seventies bestseller, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I came upon a phrase - "In a car, you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realise that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame," Pirsig talked to me through the pages of his book. "On a cycle, the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it, and the sense of presence is overwhelming." I understood what Pirsig meant then, but the full-blown impact of those words struck me only when the pedal was well under my feet and I was whizzing through stunning Ladakh landscapes. I zipped down one of the highest motorable passes in the world, Khardung La (la = pass in Tibetan), that lay 37 kms north of the city of Leh and acts as the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys. Though the milestone at the very top informs you that you are on the world's highest motorable road, this snippet of trivia is debatable, the internet will tell you. Earlier in the day, our motley group of five had climbed aboard an SUV stocked with mountain bikes and helmets for each of us. Two others were attempting the climb on a Royal Enfield Bullet. Stroll through the Leh market and you will stumble upon travel operators wooing you with an offer to organise a similar cycling trip. The uncompromising adventure freak will tell you that the real test lies in cycling to the top of the formidable Khardung La and back. We, however, were using our first time out here as a recce till we develop the stamina and courage to cycle the entire route. That's what we told ourselves and our not-in-perfect-shape bodies. For now, we acquiesced ourselves with going up in a car and riding down on our sturdy cycles. Freewheeling Gloves. Check. A thick jacket. Check. Sunglasses, monkey cap and emergency first aid following us in our car. Check, check, check. We started out early, passing the first 24 kms to the South Pullu checkpost where you need to show your permits, and then further on to the K-top which stands at a dizzying 18,380 feet. The good thing about going up in a car is that you are totally free to look around, gape at the stark vistas, give an encouraging thumbs-up to those going up on cycles and ride in the open rear with the wind slapping your face. For the memorabilia junkies, there's a souvenir shop at the top to tell the world about your accomplishment. For those with a bottomless pit for a stomach (read: us), there's a small canteen serving piping hot Thukpa, maggi, chowmein and tea. Chat up the army men taking a quick break here and then driving on to the Siachen glacier. Since you have climbed almost 7,000 feet in a couple of hours, it's advisable to eat a bit, not exert yourself or hang around for too long at the top. After a couple of pictures and words of encouragement, we set off on our cycles. A third of the road down is more gravel and loose rock, which means that you have to be careful about where and when to brake, changing gears, and how to turn. Try not to go too fast at once, exhilarating as it may seem, else you might be left with a scar on your hand like the one I sport now. Or far worse. You may even be tempted to discard the gloves in favour of a better grip on the brakes, but resist doing that. The wind might end up numbing your fingers temporarily and you can't afford that on the gradients here. The beauty of this bike ride is that you barely pedal through it. Since it's an even descent most of the way, you exercise your brakes around the bends and at other times simply go, "Wheee!" over the hairpin bends and the dramatically plunging road. Wave to a friendly yak, give the right of way to cars and trucks, get stunned by the seemingly unending natural awesomeness flash before you. Let single-minded concentration take over and understand what it means to be alive at that very moment.