Zoji La is the door to Ladakh, and it has a reputation to match. At around 3,500 metres, it is the pass that connects the green, wet Kashmir valley with the high, dry country beyond, and the transformation on the far side is startling: one moment you are among pines and flower meadows, the next you are looking at pale, bare mountains, sand-coloured slopes and a sky of unbroken blue. The reason is simple. The Himalaya catches the monsoon on one side and leaves the other in a rain shadow, so you cross not only a pass but a climate boundary.
The road up from Baltal is one of the notorious ones. It is narrow, carved into steep slopes with sheer drops on the outer edge, and often no more than a single lane wide in places, with tight hairpins and loose gravel in the corners. Traffic is a mix of army trucks, fuel tankers, buses and bikes, and in busy periods the authorities operate one-way timings, so vehicles go up in one window and down in another. You may find yourself waiting in line for hours, so carry water, food and warm clothes. Rain turns the surface into mud, and landslides can close the road for days.
The pass is generally closed by snow for much of winter, usually opening again in spring once the army has cleared the drifts. A long tunnel has been under construction for years to bypass the worst of it, so check the current situation before you plan your trip. Weather changes rapidly, and even in summer you may encounter snow patches, cold wind and sudden storms.
The first proper town on the far side is Dras, famed as one of the coldest inhabited places in India, and then Kargil. Altitude is another consideration: at this height some riders feel a headache or breathlessness, so take it slowly.
On a clear day, the view back across the valleys is memorable, and the quiet at the top, away from engines, is a reminder that you are standing on a very old route between worlds.