Everybody wants to do it:

Courtesy- heavenridersindia.com
As I mentioned, everybody wants to visit Ladakh which is OK but I saw most people who were obsessed with only clicking pictures and not enjoying the place. It is just that one place a person wants to visit because all of their friends have gone there and clicked amazing selfies! I won't hesitate in saying that Ladakh has become a place where people spend money to visit, mainly to click selfies. When it comes to riders, many want to 'conquer' Ladakh by riding from one end of the region to the other end and feel invincible for it. Well frankly speaking, it isn't a big deal in any way, especially after considering the amount of infrastructure that has come up. A road less traveled is one that very few think of riding on but it is just the opposite in case of Ladakh.
Booming hospitality:

60 to 70% Tarred roads:

Touring agencies and backup vehicles:

Khardung La:

The funny thing that I noticed though is that the claimed 18,380 feet altitude of K top has been challenged many a times by various websites that mention the altitude reading to be incorrect. My Barometric GPS meter indicated 17,280 feet while I stood beside the board, looking at the chaos and traffic caused by taxis and selfie obsessed tourists. Another funny thing was that I got stuck in traffic at such a high altitude for 40 minutes, while I stared at another board put up by the Indian Army, advising tourists to not stay at such high altitudes for more that 25 minutes! I can openly say that the K top board generates loads of Tourism revenue for LEH.

Courtesy- budgettriptoladakh.blogspot.com
Thankfully, since Ladakh is at a high altitude, a lot of people who have major health issues would avoid visiting it and that by far is quite a big chunk of our population. BRO (Border roads organisation) sorted the road problem out by building roads in a place with extreme conditions, primarily for hassle free movement for the army vehicles.
I'm not sure if anything would be done to address the 'altitude sickness issue' as that is a natural occurrence. Of course, there are army quarters on the way to Ladakh that provide treatment to people affected by high altitudes but it continues to affect a lot of riders, primarily because people don't want to acclimatize and climb gradually, especially since a lot of them have gotten used to viewing life itself as a race and maybe because it is considered 'manly' among a lot of bikers if one plays around with health and covers the Ladakh region on a motorcycle as soon as possible.
But to a motorcyclist and a nature lover like me, development is a great thing to happen to a region like Ladakh, a lot of the locals too benefit largely from tourism but what pains the most is by looking at a place like Ladakh, gradually lose its essence to discarded mineral water bottles and packets of chips.
By: Ssaajan Manoj Jogia