the road tracklog 
from Karu to Srinagar 
from 15/05 to 17/05/2007 

On Monday 14/05 I awaited the opening at 10:00 am of Tourism Reception Centre to present to me, because I had arrived on Sunday day of closing. Then I went downtown in particular to the cybercafé to publish a new page of my website. I had taken with me my laptop. Alas none of the known of me technical procedures obtained connection; FrontPage, CuteFTP or DOS script. Moreover height of unlucky chance it was the day of launching of the new Orange gate. The home page of Orange was illegible! As the day before, it was necessary nearly one hour to send two emails.
In the afternoon I made an excursion in the east of Leh up to Karu to visit monasteries. The road is asphalted and the surface is of good quality. The landscapes are dramatic, desert-mountains, cultures along the Indus River. The Indus valley is in the north of the Himalayas bordered in the south by the Zanskar Range and in north by Karakoram Range, it flows from east to west to run up against Hindukush Range in Pakistan where it inflects towards the south.
The monastery of Hemis is on left bank of Indus River. An asphalt road of seven kilometres curving in the mountain led there. This monastery of the drukpa sect holds its celebrity in particular by a carved and painted slate collection showing the 84 Mahassidha, the great Yogi of the Lamaism. The monastery of Tikse, on the way back, is also one of the most famous in Ladakh for its localization on hillside with at its foot the residences of monks.

Painted slate 
Hemis monastery 
the 14/05/2007 

Tikse monastery 
the 14/05/2007 

Indus valley 
view from Titsey monastery 
the 14/05/2007 

Assigned time, need for going to Gurgaon at the Man-Force workshop for renovation work then to Delhi before June 04 to take a visa to Pakistan, implied the return to Srinagar. The road from Leh to Manali was not opened for trucks. Consequently the 15/05, after my daily visit at a cybercafé, I took again the road at the beginning of afternoon.
I had chosen another cybercafé posting a fast connection by satellite to the price of 120 INR an hour. Indeed connection was fast with Orange thus I updated my website. Alas the jokes of the Orange data processing specialists put in disturbance the notebook of Contacts. Consequently I did not inform my correspondents of this update.
Around 04:30 pm I stopped before the village of Kaltse on the area of the single petrol station between Leh and Kargil. I drove the 98 km in four hours have regard to the crossing of an important military convoy in a very narrow zone where bulldozers worked. En route I took a picture of the confluence between the Zanskar River, at the top, and the Indus River, at the bottom, on the picture.

Confluence Zanskar/Indus 
the 15/05/2007 

The 16/05 I had decided to leave early, 07:00 am. Alas the mechanical incident of the 11/05 happened again. Not loading of the air tanks for brakes with indicators # 2 & # 3 on, it is to say prohibition to drive. I switched off the engine and I decided to have patience. Last half an hour I started again the engine, the tanks of circuits I & II filled of air normally. I waited to drive that the correct level was reached . All the remainder of the day the operation was normal.
The road from Kaltse to Fotu-La has narrow lane with a good surface. It curves in exceptional landscapes and it tumbles from the plateau of Lamayuru to Indus River in incredible zigzags. Then the roadway was degraded up to Kargil where I arrived at any beginning of afternoon. I continued to drive with the hope to find a bivouac in Dras que nenni. I continued up to the checkpoint of Matayen where I was stopped with prohibition to continue before the next morning 05:00 am. I did not have the choice. After the recording of my passport, I was invited to have a cup of tea and to explain from where I came, where I went etc finally the usual dialog with the Indian people and that ended in the traditional question: How costs my truck?
The border Roads Organization, BRO, which manages the road infrastructures from Srinagar to Leh makes a very interesting effort of driver training. I publish two panels representative of its pedagogy.

 
The road towards the Indus River 
the 16/05/2007 

Border Roads Organisation 
Teaching panel 
le 16/05/2007 

The 17/05 I woke up very early with the intention to leave early. At 05:00 am I started the pre-heating of the engine and then I lunched. At 5:30 I switched off the pre-heating and I turned off the engine to check the pressure gauges of the brake systems I and II. I noted that they were at 10 bars. To ensure me of the correct operation of the load I emptied a little the air tanks to have a pressure lower than 10 bars. I started the engine. Alas the pressure of the circuits did not increase and moreover the whirr of the equipment of desiccation was present. I turned off the engine and I restarted the pre-heating of the engine to keep it at temperature. Half an hour later around 06:30 I began again the procedure of starting of the engine. The pressure of circuits I and II increased to reach the normal level of operation slightly higher than 10 bars. The outside temperature was of approximately +6°C with a strong percentage of moisture and an altitude of approximately 3300 m.
At 06:40 I bade my farewell with the chief of police station which made me the accordance. As had said to me one of my friends in Srinagar at the time of a conversation about religions, "Christians and Moslems are cousins". I promised to him to come back.
Landscape, low angle light and cohort of trucks in the rise of Zoji it, 3529 meters are unforgettable. At travellers in camper I advise to make a bivouac at the check post in Matayen, certainly the place is not ideal, but the chief of station is very accessible and that allows a departure in the early morning. While arriving it is necessary without hesitating to overtake the file of trucks up to the station and to address to the chief of station which places the camper in a small trail after the barrier. Thus the departure the following day is done without difficulty in front of hundred trucks without counting coaches and four-wheel taxis in a typically Asian traffic jam.
After the control at the check post in Gumry, at 16 km from Matayen, I stopped around 10 a.m. at the village of Sonamarg to take a brunch of masala dosa with a cup of tea before driving to Srinagar where I arrived at the carpark of JKTDC at 14:00.

 
Sonamarg 
the 17/05/2007 

Ice bridge over the river 
en route 
the 17/05/2007 

The days of May 18/19/20 were occupied cleaning, arranging the body and the cabin of the truck then to prepare the way to go to Delhi at the GPO to take a poste-restante parcel then to drive to Gurgaon at the Man-Force workshop to carry out repairs work done in Kochi. The remainder of the days was devoted to have rest before braving the heat in Delhi.

Ladakh was visited before at the time of my treks in Himalayas. I did not take again what was already presented. I refer the Net surfer interested to the pages of the three trips, the tour of monasteries, the crossing of the Zanskar, the Chardar. Le current trip was done by road from Srinagar and planed the back to Manali. Alas on the 15/05 the road was not open for trucks. I took the Srinagar track again.
The visit of Ladakh in the vehicle makes it possible to see a certain reality, presence of the Indian army, state of the infrastructures, expansion of the villages along the road, Indian tourists. But the underlying reality of Ladakh cannot be understood while going to villages away from the NH1A. For that it is necessary to take his stick and to fit his walking shoes. I could not too much recommend doing a trek.