Vaibhav Vaingankar from Siolim, Wolfgang Furtado from Aldona and Neeraj Buccam from Quepem are
all 25-year-old bike enthusiasts. All three are software developers by
profession, with Vaibhav and Neeraj working for Persistent Systems, Verna,
while Wolfgang works for Vacation Labs, Porvorim. They met as students of
Masters in Computer Application in 2013 at Goa University. They redefined
friendship goals recently when they went on a 21-day bike trip from Goa to
Leh-Ladakh.
“We all are members of Khaji Boys, which we formed during our
hostel days; we also belong to the Goan biking group Goan Enthusiasts and
RiderS (GEARS). Plans for such a trip took root in our hostel days but we were
dependants then and such trips need lots of preparation. So after graduation,
we all got jobs and from day one we started saving towards this trip. Our first
task was to buy bikes because you can’t have a ‘bike trip’ without one.
Secondly, proper riding gear is important because safety is our priority. We
invested some time and money in gathering all the riding gear. Third came the
route plan. I did a lot of research on the route, like learning about the
challenges we could face during the ride and choosing the right time to travel
so we could ride smooth and enjoy every moment,” says Vaibhav.
Getting to Khardung La, which is 18,398 feet above sea level,was
not an easy task for the boys, who live almost at sea level. The KTM Duke 390
was the beast of choice for the three of them, torque bikes in mid segment to
climb such high altitudes. They travelled almost 7,000 km covering 11 states in
21 days in extremes of nature, right from 45°C in Madhya Pradesh to -4°C in
Ladakh. “Ladakh region is part of the Great Himalayas. There are two main
routes that connect to Ladakh by road: Srinagar-Leh highway and Manali-Leh
highway. The region experiences heavy snowfall and routes tend to remain closed
due to heavy snowfall. The routes are open only between June to mid-October.
This is the only time Ladakh is connected by road,” explains Wolfgang, about
travelling during this time of the year.
How safe was the journey for these boys braving the climate and
terrain? “With luggage, the journey became more challenging. The places we
travelled were completely new to us and as the sun set, the dangers of getting
robbed on the way increased. There were times when we had to do late night
travelling to reach safe places to take halts for the day. As we reached Jammu
and Kashmir, the risks surged due to strikes happening on the border areas; the
narrow road conditions didn’t help. We climbed up to Khardung La, where the
oxygen levels in the atmosphere are very less. Due to rains, we faced
landslides that forced us to halt till the roads opened up. Road conditions
after a little rain were challenging, to say the least. We are grateful to the
Indian Army for their help in difficult situations,” recounts Neeraj.
He adds, “We were living our dream. Khardung La, the world’s
highest motorable pass, lies at an altitude of 18,380 feet. It is the dream
destination for every biker. We travelled till the top, facing the coldest wind
breeze with sub zero temperature. It was not just us who were struggling to
reach the top, our bikes too started underperforming due to lack of oxygen
required to fire up the engine piston. It was not at all easy to climb up to
the top; we had to stop on the way just before reaching the top due to some big
stones that had rolled onto the road; that’s where the Army people cleared them
for us. The place was full of snow. As we reached there, other people visiting
the place kept starring at us, seeing us fully suited up in our riding gear,
with our luggage on our bikes. Some people even approached us out of curiosity,
seeing the Goa vehicleregistration plates. They actually clapped for us after
knowing that we had travelled on bikes all the way from Goa. We all felt so
proud.”
The boys also followed a strict schedule while riding to cover
the distance within a time frame. Vaibhav says, “When the ride was planned, we
had decided we will not ride after sunset. As we started heading north, the
heat started affecting our ride. We took halts just after covering 300
kilometres by afternoon. The heat was so unbearable that we decided to halt in
Indore. Later, we started riding before sunrise and sometimes we continued to
ride even in the night just to avoid the Sun. On two occasions, we had to ride
for more than 18 hours just because we wanted to avoid the heat.
In Amritsar, they were joined by four Goan bikers, Amit
Chiplunkar, Akshay Govekar, Girish Faldessai and Akshay Naik. Two of them were
supposed to meet them as the part of their plan. They all were part of the
journey till they returned to Delhi. Two boys flew back to Goa from Delhi while
the other two joined Vaibhav, Wolfgang and Neeraj till they returned to Goa.
“During our journey, we met many people with similar mindsets. On our way to
Ladakh, we met fellow Goan Riders who joined us on our journey. Best thing
about this journey is we made good new friends,” says Wolfang.
Speaking
about their next trip, Neeraj says, “Let it remain a surprise. Nothing is
decided as of now. We haven’t even come out of our journey to the heaven. Now
that we conquered the North, we might plan for smaller rides in India.”
