Book summary

Authors Col RS Sidhu, Mechanised Infantry Regiment Capt NS Bisht, 8 Gorkh Rifles Cmde Ravi Nautiyal, Indian Navy Ladakh Through The Eyes Of Whimsicals, A picture book which portrays a novel motorcycle odyssey DEHRA DUN – LEH – PANGONG TSO - CHUSHUL – SIACHEN BASE CAMP – DRAS – GULMARG – DEHRA DUN, stretching over 3200 kms and 18 days, in August 2021. This journey is unique in the sense that it was undertaken by four Dehra Dun based armed forces veterans in their sixties, on four motorcycles, on backpack basis. This motorcycle odyssey to the remote peripheries of The Great Karakoram and Ladakh mountain ranges, involved negotiating seven of the highest motorable mountain passes in India viz: Baralacha La (15912 ft), Nakee La (15547 ft), Lachung La (16616 ft), Tanglang La (17480 ft), Khardung La (17982 ft), Chang La (17688 ft), and Zoji La (11649 ft) which is technically one of the most difficult motorable pass to negotiate. An extract from the Foreword to the book, by Mussoorie based Mr Ganesh Saili, renowned author, historian and photographer of Uttarakhand, best describes the subject matter, “…What motivated these sixty-plus ‘youngsters’ to leave the comfort of home and hearth to go where those who hang up their boots rarely go? How did their families react? What were their experiences? How did these brave men cope with their machines considering the fact that two of them had not been on two wheels for thirty years? All these questions and more are answered in this book…”