My world my life !!

Triund - A Trek on 5 Feet Snow

2012-03-09T22:15:00.001+05:30

Trekking third time to Triund had brought me again to Mcleodganj on evening of 2nd March 2012. The Snow at Triund was the key greed to conquer this trek on 3rd March. Jaideep Yadav and Deepak Mishra were too excited to take up the challenge on five feet snow and steep glaciers.

Deepak Mishra had never seen the Snow and Jaideep Yadav had returned unsucesful from Trek to Triund couple of months back. So it was more challenging for me to reach at Triund with my company. Somewhere in mind I was very clear that no matter what happens I will make these guys to reach at the top.

The trek started at 08:30 AM from Mcleodganj. We filled some confectionery, chocolates and water in our backpack. Strangely Jaideep and Deepak were exceptionally excited and energatic to reach the snow point, rather I was surprised that both of them started walking faster than me in the beginning. But it was for a while and soon I took lead. My intention was to pull them upto half of the distance (7 KM) fast so that we have enough time to climb carefully when last 6 odd kilometers comes in front of us with unexpected stacks of snow.

Unlike summer times, the track had become no man land, we the only three trekkers were breaking the silence of dense forest with all kind of noise.

After 2 kilometer trek, we got to meet 4 dogs who looked aggressive initially. But soon we realized that all they need is pampering and some food. They got both this from us so they joined us for rest of the day. With these four dogs running behind and ahead of us, we finally reached the first stop of our trek, Dharamkot.

We bought more stuff to eat at Dharamkot. Most important buy here was Red Bull. We fed the dogs with biscuits so that they join us till last. It was good company from safety point of view.

Little away from Dharamkot, our track started showing some snow staked on the way. This was the time when we could see the full view of Dharamshala and Mcleodganj from top. By this time, signs of tiredness had started appearing on Jaideep's face. Few words of motivation and pampering to Jaideep we moved ahead.

Soon came the turning point of our trek when we moved to the other side of landscape where we could see our first stop/breakfast stop and then on 90 degree look up was Triund. The shining white snow there created an unique energy in body and provoked me to run like crazy to reach there. The beauty of Triund covered under Snow was spectacular and breadth taking. For a while I was lost in a way as if I am wandering at Triund with no relation to this world. But soon I came back to reality as we had huge distance to be covered yet, that too full of snow and steep climb.

We were too busy with capturing the beauty of nature, of-course including lot of photographs of all three of us. After moving little ahead on track, we were in front of the first glacier of our adventure. It was huge, scary, steep and almost negligible marks of foot. Moreover, the noise of flowing water under glacier increased my fear. The glacier was almost 7 to 8 feet fat. There was no scope for error. Above all this, the day had grown hot enough to melt snow, so the fear of some snow coming down had almost fasten my heart beat to extreme. Our non stop chitter bitter had suddenly disappeared and silence there felt more haunting to me. With strange fears crossing my mind, we manage to cross our first glacier successfully.

Our first encounter with such a huge glacier proved two things clearly. First that in our balance 8 to 10 kilometer trek we are going to come across lot of snow and glaciers, second that my both partners will not give up and that was great news to me.

With our first glacier crossing and half a kilometer trek from there, we reached a place called MAGIC VIEW where we had planned our breakfast with delicious Maggi cooked with lot of vegetable. The feeling of reaching at first milestone and feeding maggi was super awesome. We met three trekkers from abroad here. They alarmed us about the track and glaciers ahead. But we ignored it and moved ahead after resting for a while here.

As we were climbing high, the zeal to reach Triund was increasing step by step. The Magic View was the point where never ending snow started and now we had to walk on snow for almost 6 kilometers till Triund. The track ahead was full of Snow, glaciers and steep climb with no marks of foot.

Our mouths were shut permanently and camera was packed. I told both my buddies to focus on their steps invariably. We conquered three times bigger glaciers than first one and way steeper. It was genuinely risky to cross that when water flowing under it was huge. But we had no option than to cross it. This time we just did not stop in the middle and walked carefully on it.

After crossing this huge glacier we were to climb 90 degree for next 2 kilometers and that was Triund. But these two kilometers proved to be the most haunting to me. The only question in my mind was "How we will come down ?" I did not share my fears with Jaideep Yadav and Deepak Mishra as this would have taken them onto the verge of giving up there itself.

800 meters before Triund, Jaideep gave up and refused to climb. The reason was steep valley down looked scary and his shoes were completely wet. Here rather than motivating him I forcibly pushed him to walk up.

The purity of snow here proved that coutable number of people have reached here. Unmarked track proved our point further. We were among very few to reach at Triund. It was amazing to see Jaideep and Deepak feeling proud of completing the trek. The view and feeling was beyond imaginations. Unlike last time Green lush, Triund was pure white. The place filled us with infinite Joy.

We spent an hour over there where we met two young Monks and had heavely delicious steaming Dal and Rice in only shop open at Triund.

Now it was the time to head back to Mcleodganj. The challenge started with our first step to go down itself. It was steep and scary. The same unmarked Snow felt killer. I guided both my buddies to use edge of their shoes and to keep cross feet wherever possible. I did not allow them to put flat steps which are most dangerous on snow. The steep downhill of two kilometer was the most critical part of our journey back with litterly no scope of error.

Suddenly both Jaideep and Deepak gave up and sat where ever they were. To keep eye on them and guide them I was the last one. At one steep path Deepak simply sat on snow and started screaming. Looking at this situation Jaideep turned back upward but I did not allow him to go back. Now this was the most tricky situation for me. Rather than screaming back on them, I decided to go to front and help them. The track was small enough to not to allow anyone cross, so I decided to make my own path on snow. As I reached close to Deepak my right leg bumped into snow and my right leg got stuck till waste. I had no choice than to stay calm. Slowly I managed to come over it. After this I immediately asked Deepak to move slowly and then Jaideep.

Once we crossed the biggest glacier, I could see Jaideep's and Deepak's heart beat coming back to normal. I was happy that we managed to cross the main challenge safely. Moreover when Jaideep was wearing flat shoes and Deepak was wearing shoes with soul which had become flat over a period of time.

On the way back, we met lot of people who were trying to reach Triund. We were sure that none them would reach.

With extreme happiness and satisfaction we trekked back to Mcleodganj. It was long day and ofcourse God had made it really special for me as Snow and peaks of Himalayas are too close to my heart. The day I marked in my life as some of those days where I was fully satisfied with what I did.

First Ride of 2012 Manikaran to Manali (Day 2)

2012-02-29T21:45:00.000+05:30

After long ride on Day 1 of 270 kilometer, I had kept second day for less of ride and more of snow. So the best option was Manali, short in distance and full of snow.

The ride was as short as 3 hours in cold weather with temperature ranging between 0 to 5. The solitude of riding alone was beyond imaginations.

The clouds wandering on snowy mountains were clearly indicating the possibility of snowfall in the valley of Manali. With a mix of excitement and little worry, I kept moving towards Manali. The cold winds blowing from all sides were clear indication of rain and snowfall. But then I had come so long only for this, so it was like dream coming true.

Entering Manali town was not less than a dramatic change in my journey. The town was little crowded with tourists and vehicles moving in all possible direction. Snow on roads had added more fun to the whole story with making almost every vehicle prone for accidents. Being rider of two wheeler I had to be extra cautious of the fact that I needed to ride with solid grip on snow.

After taking some break at Hotel, I headed out to explore new attire of Manali under Snow. The drizzling had started with clear symptoms of snowfall anytime. Almost every corner of the town was covered under thick blanket of snow and roads were slippery with melting snow.

Less explored road towards Rohtang was the main attraction for me. Despite the fact that it was drizzling, I decided to explore the scenic beauty of this less explored corner in winters. Almost no people and very less vehicles moving on this road, I found this as the most attractive part of my trip. The spectacular view of snow covered landscapes in solitude felt soothing to soul.

Near dawn, I had to trek back to Manali. So reached at Mall Road in late evening. The street lights throwing orange reflection on snow was beautiful view to witness. The day felt too short to enjoy the beautiful attire of Manali.

The Holy Manikaran - Endless resource of Natural Hot Water Springs

2012-02-23T19:27:00.001+05:30

Manikaran has been an attraction for Hindu and Sikh pilgrims. Throughout the year people travel from various places to Manikaran. I am one among those who believes in divine powers of God.

After 7 hours continuous bike ride, I was tired enough to sleep in a while. So to avoid that I just dumped my bag in hotel and ran towards Lord Shiva Temple. I could see smoking water in Air all over and warmth of hot water in Air.

As I was moving through the town, I noticed that almost every house has hot water supply from this endless source of natural springs.

The temple campus was decorated with colored papers over it which was making entire valley full of colors and soothing for eyes. I spent lot of time inside temple watching various formation of evaporation out of Hot springs. The floor near Hot Water sources was hot enough to stand on it in cold weather and take the warmth in.

There are number of hot water pools for pilgrims to take holy dip into natural hot water. One can see the immense faith in pilgrims eyes for divine powers of God.

After spending few hours, I turned towards Hotel. Before I could reach hotel, one narrow link road attracted me towards it. Without giving a thought to it, I started walking towards it. Few steps on the road, the town Manikaran disappeared, as I had reached on the other side of the landscape.

Far fledged there snow capped mountain pulled me towards it. Instead of walking on road, I chose some shortcuts by climbing on hills as I wanted to reach near those snow covered mountain before the dawn. I crossed through some very small and ancient villages.

After 3 kilometers trek, I reached somewhere near my destination, where a village fully covered under Snow was exactly in front of me. The view looked breathtaking with darkness slowly covering the landscape and calling off the day.

The solitude of this place fascinated me to spend a night a this village but I had to walk another 6 to 7 kilometers on snow to reach there. It was not prudent to get into that without any lighting arrangement, so I decided to go back to Hotel at Manikaran with a plan to visit that village when I come to Maninkaran next.

The day had gone as per the plan. Now the time was to pamper stomach with lots of food. Rather than making a limited order in Hotel room, I decided to hit a near by Dhaba. Trust me the food was amazingly delicious.

First Ride of 2012 Nangal to Manikaran (Day 1)

2012-02-22T20:20:00.000+05:30

It was almost two months when I last made a long bike trip and whole credit for this inaction goes to Winters of Northern India. In my three days holidays, I thought of opening up the biking season for 2012. I had never been to Manikaran so my spirituality instincts encouraged me to thump my bullet in the valley of holy Manikaran.

Started late in morning at 09:00 PM, I rode from Nangal towards Kiratpur Sahib where I had to divert towards Manali highway. Freezing cold and fog on the way made my job difficult, though I had no choice than to pull the throttle and ignore cold wind.

During those 80 kilometer run from Kiratpur Sahib to Barmana, the ride became almost hell with truckers everywhere on road. This is the most scary stretch to ride as you feel helpless and are on the mercy of those adventurous truckers who are either overloaded and have almost no control on speed or driving on wrong sides. It took me almost 3 hours to complete this hell stretch wherein I could ride hardly at a speed of 40kmph.

Ride after Barmana became quite fascinating but the job was still not done as I had to ride another 170 kilometer to reach my destination Manikaran.

Roads were quite empty because of very less number of tourists in winters. By this time the day had become little warmer. I had opened the throttle to quite a large extent to cover up the balance distance.

The last leg of ride from Bhuntar to Manikaran (35 kilometer) was fascinating with broken roads, blind curves, steep uphill ride and above that very narrow roads. I managed to cover this distance in an hour time and landed at Manikaran at 02:00 PM.

The ride was too hectic with lesser number of stops to cover distance of 270 kilometer. The tiredness of entire day went away with the simplicity of Manikaran.

The first thing I did was to search a hotel to spend a night, so inquired one hotel which charged me Rs 400 per night with natural hot water for bath and TV without remote. The simplicity of room situated exactly in front of calmly flowing river convinced me to spend a night there.

Mountain Biking - Bhakra Dam Naina Devi Ji Track

2012-01-10T21:36:00.000+05:30

When entire Himachal was showered with fresh snow, I, sitting in foot of Shivalik hills and starving for skiing in fresh snow of Manali and Kufri, made a plan to explore interior tracks of Nangal Dam, Bhakra Dam and Naina Devi Ji temple on the peak of hill.

8th Jan 2012 Sunday, I started off with my cycle, gloves, Jacket with cap, a bottle of water, a Chocolate and some money. The temperature was as cold and windy as 4 degree celsius and clouds were wandering from one mountain to another taking sun often beneath it.

One thing I have always noticed is that whenever I take my Trek Cycle out on road, every one crossing through me gives a strange look towards my cycle and some are kind enough to stare at me also as if I am some alien from different planet. To confess, I enjoy that kind of attention.

When I still had not come to full fledged action, I diverted from Nangal Chandigarh Highway towards my track by crossing Nangal Dam. This dam is situated on a height of around 740 feets and this place is quite a common for me as we frequently spend time in Restaurant (only restaurant in Nangal worth visiting) situated exactly in front of Dam.

After crossing Nangal Dam, the main task was to cross first check post of Bhakra Dam. Somehow I was skeptical that Police at check post wont allow me to go on cycle towards this track. Two key reasons came into my mind, one that no one goes on cycle on this track and second the continuous rain from last two days had made this track landsliding prone.

A Khaki dress borne gentleman was standing firm on the side of the check post but he was too busy reading newspaper when I crossed along some locals crossing on cycle. My main hurdle had passed by.

Immediately after check post, the steep uphill with blind curves track began. Trust me when I am on Royal Enfield, these terrains looks so fascinating to pull the throttle but on cycle it really proved hard. Above all, I was prepared for all this. In process of acclimatization, I took small break and sip of water. I pulled my cycle few steps and rode again.

After riding uphill for around 5 kilometers when I was completely sweating and breathing mouth and nose, I was at the border of Punjab and Himachal wherein I had to enter into Bilaspur Distt of Himachal. Few young kid's curious looks at my cycle made me push pedals hard.

When I reached at first check post of Himachal, police stopped me curiously. They asked my where about and checked my Identity Card. Finally questions came on to my cycle like from where did you buy this, why its tyres are thick and how the gear system works etc etc.

After satisfying Himachal Police of their queries I headed towards the most amazing track of the day. After entering into Himachal, the roads looked wet and slippery with fresh rain. Almost no vehicle and no people around, I found myself riding steep downhill for at least a kilometer when I could see a canal flowing out of Bhakra Dam. Riding along Green calm water made my day.

After a point, downhill steep ended abruptly and a steep road going endless started again. A tough uphill cycling of a kilometer was worth it as I could see Bhakra Dam above me and I could make out in my mind in terms of efforts I needed to reach there.

A narrow track up on a hill with no one around you and deep down aggressive flow of water was fascinating experience to count for. When I reached on the top of the Dam, I had already covered 15 kilometers of cycling. After Nangal Dam, this was my second milestone of the day.

Once I crossed third and last check post of Bhakra Dam, a breadth taking view of Gobind Sagar was spectacular. I have seen it many times but everytime it looks more beautiful and breadth taking than earlier. Calm Green Water spread across hectares, you can see water all over till sight goes. I stood for a while to soak in fresh air and energy.

The distance from Bhakra Dam to Naina Devi was 22 kilometers which is situated at a height of 4000 feet. I started from a altitude of 740 feets and was standing there at 1500 feet height and had to reach 4000 feet altitude in 22 kilometer distance. That was not the only challenge but track had also begun to become narrower from narrow.

With slow pace I kept pushing hard. The track had become really narrow and scary as I gained height. Almost non existent traffic on roads, I could hear the ignorable noise of cycle's chain.

I was riding in my rhythm when I heard some noise in air of a car cruising behind me. I diverted cycle from narrow track onto mud. As car crossed me, I turned my handle bar softly to come on to the track and there I met with first fall from my Trek Cycle. I hurted my Right knee badly and palm. Only monkeys all around on trees and road side could enjoy that fall.

I headed up and counted every mark reading "Naina Devi Ji ..... KM". Almost I remember all of them and these landmarks were put on a every KM distance. God knows from where that energy came which pulled me from Bhakra Dam to Naina Devi Ji, 22 KM and altitude gain of almost 2500 feet.

Among other things, the best part was my Chocolate, It tasted heavenly. It proved to be a life saving for me. It gave energy at every step.

Once I reached Naina Devi Ji temple which is situated on top of the mountain I had to start steep downhill for next 15 kilometers when I would reach Anandpur Sahib. The traffic on this side of the hill was exceptionally high but wider roads made my ride easy. I just let cycle roar on road. But some extremely steep downhill curves forced me to rub breaks occasionally.

At Anandpur Sahib, I got merged with Chandigarh Nangal Highway, again back to crowded life, pollution and noise all around. Next 20 kilometer was the most boring part of the ride with highway and traffic. But I had no choice than to complete it.

After a Lunch break at Anandpur Sahib I rode towards Nangal and it took me an hour to cover flat distance of 20 kilometer.

By the time, I entered Nangal, the happiness in mind overwhelmed me in such a passion that I forgot the tiredness of full day.

When I embarked on this track, I had lot of apprehension about it, but this proved to be the best track I have ever explored in a day. The track is blend of adventure and natural beauty.

Total distance I covered was 82 kilometers in 6 hours 28 minutes in 4 degree temprature, cold winds, cloudy weather and at some places light rain.

2011 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon - One step ahead

2011-12-01T20:21:00.001+05:30

2011 Delhi half marathon was scheduled on 27th November. My left knee had not yet recovered from consequences of toughest ever half marathon done in Shimla on 25th Sep 2011. But my stubborn pulse did not let me drop out of this marathon.

This was my fourth marathon ever and I had not done running at all after Shimla half marathon. There was an uncertainty about finishing Delhi Half. Moreover I could not even adhere to food intake completely.

I made a strategy to go slow in first 10 kilometers so that I am able to adjust my fitness levels and then catch up speed.

27th Nov was a cold morning in Delhi with thin layers of fog untill 06:00 AM. Marathon started from JN Stadium with thousands of enthusiast runners. First two kilometers of Delhi Marathon are always entertaining with different groups of live bands performing on roadside to cheer runners.

I was pleasantly surprised that in first 3 kilometers I did not even feel that I am running after a gap of more than one month. Moreover my knee also supported a lot. Keeping all this in mind, I made changes in my strategy and increased the pace to move ahead of lot of runners.

My run uptill 10 kilometers went quite well with almost no pain in knee. However as I finished 11 kilometers distance, I felt lot of pressure on knee as well as feet, that was the time when I forcibly reduced the pace and took minor break by walking rather than running for few seconds.

The fear of finishing more than my last record time started hammering me somewhere back in mind. I had kept a target of finishing the run in 1 hours 45 minutes but this was ruled at 11 kilometer distance itself. Now I was fighting to protect my last year record of 2 hours 8 minutes.

Untill 15 kilometers I could not believe that I will be able to finish less than last year record. But as I crossed 15 kilometer mark, a ray of hope encouraged me to run faster to finish at least less than 2 hours.

I took three small breaks at 16, 17 and 18 kilometer mark by walking few steps than running. It helped me relaxing the knee a lot.

As I finished 18 kilometer mark, a zeal to do it better than last year made me run faster. My pace kept on increasing untill end.

I was really happy to read timing of 2 Hours 3 Minutes when I crossed the Finish Line. A learning for lifetime to go one step ahead just with determination to do it better every time.

The experience of this marathon ignited a fire in me to test my physical strength more and more.

And I flew like Bird over Solang Valley - Thrill of Paragliding

2011-11-15T21:09:00.001+05:30

This time weekend plan was to hit Manali and experience thrill of paragliding in Solang Valley. Anand, Jaideep and me traveled all the way from Nangal Dam to Manali on Friday (11th Nov 2011) night. We arrived at Manali late night at 01:00 AM. Cold weather at Manali in night was a change for us.

Next day morning, the agenda was to reach Solang Valley for paragliding expedition. It was around 40 kilometer from Hotel where we stayed last night.

The road from Manali to Solang is same as Rohtang pass road untill 10 kilometers from Manali town. This valley has been blessed with nature's love in form of green lush landscaps, dense pine trees and spectacular snow covered mountains peaks.

Solang Valley is known for its adventure sports like paragliding and skiing. Thousands of adventure enthusiast makes a visit here every year.

The very first view of Solang valley looked like a paradise full of greenery. Para-shoots in clear blue sky increased the excitement to experience this adventure.

An excellently maintained Cable Car took us to the peak of the mountain along-with our pilots carrying big backpack of para-shoots. As cable car moved up, the valley looked too small and in a while we disappeared towards the top of the hill.

All three of us decided that I will go first, then Jaideep and finally Anand. As we reached at take off point, pilot started putting on harness and helmet on me. It all reminded me of my Bungee Jumping at Rishikesh in Dec 2010. The valley down was similar to that of Bungee Jumping. Little bit of nervousness, but I was all set for this thrilling experience.

Then there was a time when I was on front and all ready to pull the para-shoot against wind. The only thing I knew was that wind will push the para-shoot behind and we will have to pull it ahead with full force. As Pilot gave green signal, I started moving ahead along with pilot. It was really heavy, infact heavier than what I had imagined.

After five to six steps, I lost the contact with earth. Assuming that we have already taken off, I just stopped putting any effort to touch the earth. One hit on my legs and I was completely falling down. My head was down and we were falling really fast. Thanks to Pilot's skills that despite all this we were able to take off.

As the para-shoot took off in Air, the noise cooled down and view changed in seconds. Valley looked too small, dense pine tree forest looked tiny, people looked like dots and houses looked like small toys displayed for sale in Kids store.I could see the entire valley below us like a book full of painting. Zing zag wind moving up and down helped our para-shoot to take free falls and gaining height in seconds. This entire play went on for around 7 minutes when Pilot made an excuse that wind is not enough to stay flying for long.

No wonder I wished this thrill to last long. While preparing for landing, one could feel the speed of falling down as gravity pulls down the para-shoot hard. Contrary to my impression, landing was too smooth. I did not even feel it at all.

Those 7 minutes, I wished to live it again. But we decided to keep this excitement in mind so that it becomes a reason to come back to this place again.

Soon Jaideep also landed. We waited for 5 minutes, 10 minutes and half an hour but Anand did not reach down. We called him up, but no reply on phone. We looked for organizer, he was also not around.

After sometime, Anand landed at Solang Valley. To our curiosity, he shared his experience. Anand and Pilot had crash in first take off, all credit goes to Anand's heavy built. In second take off finally they could be successful.

I watched for para-shoots flying in sky for long and wondering if I can take para-shoot alone in sky and hover around full Himalayan range. Free like birds to fly from one beautiful place to another and story continues.

It was not only paragliding which made this weekend special but also a nice and humorous company of Jaideep and Anand added spice to it.

Bike Trip to Chamba - The ride back to work via Chamba Jot

2011-11-09T21:54:00.000+05:30

My journey back to work from Hometown started after spending two days at home. The distance to be covered was 300 kilometers which was full of narrow hilly terrains.

This time I had no choice than to ride non stop as I had only this day available with me. I started my journey back at 7:30 AM. Those awesome serene views and Ravi River flowing along was spectacular to watch. Until Chamba I did not see any traffic. Moreover being cold morning people were not yet out of their homes.

After reaching Chamba, I had two choices for route, one goes through Banikhet and other goes through Jot (highest pass of Chamba) and reaches Nurpur. The second option was my choice because of the terrain it offers and beautiful landscapes one get to see.

The diversion from State Highway towards Chamba Jot started with Steep uphill and narrow link in the middle of crowd of various shops. In entire Chamba bike trip this was the time which I enjoyed the most. Me and My Bike, we were the only two riding on those blind narrow curve with elevation of around 70-80 degree.

From Chamba to Jot is around 35 kilometer and this is all steep uphill with narrow roads, hardly a car and a bike can cross each other at their normal speed. Jot is highest pass of Chamba. 6 - 8 months this place experiences extreme cold and snow. There are limited number of shops here offering Tea and food. As I reached there, I first ate my breakfast and then headed to trek further to explore this place. After walking for 1 kilometer I reached at the extreme top of the mountain which was relatively plane area.

The view from top was breathtaking. One side one can see villages of Chamba district and on the other side one can see some areas of Kangra district. The green lush paradise under open sky, looked beautiful and soothing to eyes. I spent an hour wandering at Jot, clicking pictures and relaxing for a while under soft sun.

I resumed the ride soon after reaching at Road. Now steep downhill ride was going to be boring for me due to my less comfort with downhill fall. Above this the road came out to be broken and horrible. I stopped at many places, this time not only to click pictures but I had started feeling tired of that downhill fall.

On this narrow terrain, I escaped thrice from getting under Local Bus on blind curves. For those local drivers it was quite normal, but every time it happened with me, I told myself to be more careful here.

The steep downhill road of Jot ends at place called Chowari. After crossing Chowari, the traffic increased significantly with every tom, dic and harry riding bikes at great speed without helmets.

Soon I crossed Nurpur and Jassur. I was pretty accurate on time keeping in mind that I had spent lot of time at Jot and then rode very slow on downhill.

After Jassur, I had picked up decent speed but I was unable to understand that why it was taking longer time than normal.

By 2:00 PM I was near Pong Dam and this was the day when I was about to ride over Pong Dam bridge in clear weather. The beautiful pure blue water of dam made me enjoy the view before I rode ahead. The Pong Dam experience always brings unique feeling. Riding over bridge in the middle of huge dam on both side and bridge made at height of not more than ~ 20 meters from water level is truly amazing to see.

My last lap of trip from Mubarakpur to Nangal was again horrible because of dirty broken/under construction road.

This trip was special because it was on the route which I had never done on bike before but traveled a lot on that. So a unique feeling of riding on those spectacular and unexplored routes made me feel proud of it.

Bike Trip to Chamba - Khajjiar to Chamba & beyond Day 2

2011-11-07T18:40:00.000+05:30

It was afternoon time when I started my ride from Khajjiar. Now ride untill Chamba was steep downhill. Somehow I am not comfortable riding in steep downhill terrains, so my focus on road was more than the serene views around me changing with every curve. However after a while my stoppage for photographs continued.

One can see Chamba town after few kilometers down from Khajjiar. It looks huge especially after crossing through Dalhousie and Khajjiar with isolated roads and dense forest.

Before I could reach Chamba, I sensed that my bike need small maintenance of chain and breaks. So I decided to visit Royal Enfield Service Centre in Chamba. It took me half an hour to service the bike, and then I was confident to ride ahead.

I rode through Chamba town, and took diversion towards Bharmour to reach my hometown, which was 35 kilometer from Chamba. These 35 kilometers were supposedly the most difficult one. I filled my beast with petrol pump which was the last petrol station on the route.

Assuming that nothing need to be done on bike after filling petrol, I pulled the clutch and shifted first gear down to move on my ride. There came the twist in ride, Clutch cable broke down. In contrast of weather of Dalhousie and Khajjiar, Chamba was hot in afternoon time. I inquired about mechanic shop, thankfully it was just half a mile away. A local boy helped my out moving 300 KG heavy machine on crowded road. Sweating was too normal after pushing bullet for half mile on uphill slope. With my good luck, I was carrying extra clutch cable. Not to be surprised that mechanic did not have clutch cable of my bike.

The journey after repair of my bike was smooth, and road ahead turned out to be pretty decent. Every mile on this road reminded me of my old memories of travelling on this road in local buses, sometimes early morning with lot of luggage, sometime travelling standing in bus, sometime travelling with bad health, sometime travelling on roof of bus and most importantly travelling from Chamba to hometown with lot of excitement without any specific reason.

Memories of my old times in Chamba and places around it got refreshed in my mind. This road was so familiar that I just kept on riding with countable stops to capture the pictures.Perhaps I am so familiar with each and every landscape of this corner of the world that my camera will not be able to capture it better than my heart does.

With my brain running into past and coming back to present with sudden appearance of a vehicle on curves, I arrived at my destination.

Another story to remember, another ride to count for, another experience to possess for lifetime.

Bike Trip to Chamba - Khajjiar, Mini Switzerland Day 2

2011-11-01T20:50:00.000+05:30

In two hours from Dalhousie, I arrived with my Classic 500 beast at Khajjiar. After a joyful ride and serene landscapes, I was not at all prepared for the spectacular beautiful landscape of Khajjiar. I had never expected that this small place can be such a wonderful paradise. The greenery of this place was extremely soothing to eyes and incomparable.

Being, so called "Off Season", Khajjiar was not at all crowded and this is the way I like to visit such places. I parked my bike on road side, offloaded my backpack and got down there in to the beautiful landscape. Khajjiar is small place surrounded by forest of pine trees and in the middle of mountains there is beautifully maintained huge landscape spread in acres.

It took me a while to believe on my eyes to see such a wonderful place. By the time I realized that its a reality I had found a place on beautifully cut green grass under sun to spend sometime alone.

At one end of the landscape, there were small tea shops and restaurant. On the other extreme end of the landscape I saw a small cottage, which fascinated me a lot. I inquired about it and learnt that its a guest house maintained by Himachal Tourism. A zeal to spend a day ignited inside me. But will be fulfilled later.

Sitting in calm environment of Khajjiar, I never realized when I spent two hours sitting there listening to Song "Nothing gonna change my love for you".

The best thing to see Khajjiar from birds eye is paragliding here. Organizors charge pretty decent amount for paragliding here, but trust me, its worth considering. Shortage of time did not allow me to climb to that tall hill and then take off. But two things were planned that day itself, one to stay in cottage on extreme end of the landscape and second paragliding.

My meal here was again, Maggi. Every-time I eat it, it taste more interesting than ever.

Before I fell in more and more love with Mini Switzerland I decided to move ahead. So with little disappointment and little happiness I rode ahead down towards Chamba.

Bike Trip to Chamba - Dalhousie to Khajjiar Day 2

2011-10-31T21:48:00.000+05:30

Night stop over at Dalhousie on first day of the ride was very fascinating and eventful. I was in no hurry for my ride from Dalhousie to Chamba and beyond. It was quite unlike me that I planned to get up late, entire blame/credit goes to cozy weather of Dalhousie.

I had two routes, one goes through Banikhet to Chamba and second goes from Dalhousie to Khajjiar and then finally Chamba. I Chose second route, because the terrains on this narrow road takes the rider to highest point of Landscape and Khajjiar, an attraction to me to spend some quality time there.

Untill I started the ride, I was unaware of harsh wind going across. As I started ride on steep uphill curves of Dalhousie under dense forest, I realized that there is no petrol pump untill Chamba, and I needed to fill the stomach of my Classic 500 Machine. So moved back towards Banikhet. It took me extra 45 minutes to reach back at same point from where I had returned.

As I got out of dense pine trees of Dalhousie town, the serene view of landscape down there forced me to stop for a while. Thin rays of sun made me felt like Vitamin D deficient, It filled me with immense energy and enthusiasm. Thump of my bullet in isolated narrow uphill terrains felt like soft music playing slowly in ears and filling me with joy and happiness. Hide and Seek between Sun and dense forest made me busy tracking my own shadow again and again. This was the true fun of solo riding.

On the way, I found beautiful views of landscapes at every curve. There was a time when I said to myself that "This is the last stop, now I will ride non stop untill I find a dhaba for breakfast", but the beauty around me did not let it happen that way. A slave of natural beauty could not let the serene views go away without capturing that in my DSLR.

Finally I found a small tea shop. Now after so many experiences, it goes without saying that, if nothing is available to eat, "Maggi" will be there. Same thing happened here, so I ate delicious Maggi sitting under Sun. A Cup of Hot Coffee woke me up to ride ahead.

In few minutes, the rider was again lost under dense forest of pine trees. The eco of thump and horn of bullet made me feel as if someone is around me. Bullet speed reduced to 20 kmpl at every blind curve assuming someone would be coming from other side but no vehicle crossed me on that road. My rhythm of riding for a while and stopping for a while to click photographs continued untill uphill terrain ended. Once I rode downhill, I could see a beautiful landscape (unlike others) down there with unprecedented greenery on ground, Finally that was Khajjiar.

Bike Trip to Chamba Himachal Pradesh - Day 1

2011-10-30T11:46:00.000+05:30

October 2011 month was almost about to end as Dry Month for Bike Trip. Even it was more disappointing for our rider group as we had dropped the idea of Spiti Bike Trip few weeks back.

Diwali festival is the time when everyone runs towards their homes, so did I. And I planned a bike trip. With insufficient number of holiday (five days), I made a plan to take my route in such a manner that I am able to cover some of the best routes and best places.

My ride started on 23rd Oct from Nangal. Weather was pleasant with low temprature in early morning at Nangal. Riding towards Una till Mubarakpur (approximately 50 KM) is the most horrible road. It spoils the entire rhythm of ride. The road is under construction from last more than 2 years and shameless government is sitting like puppet in Shimla.

By the time I crossed the horrible stretch of my ride and reach Mubarakpur, clouds have started gathering above me. I could see layers of thick cloud coming down far ahead of me.This time I was not ready for Ride full of rain. However destiny had to shower its love on solo rider. It started with criss cross wind trying to push my helmet from one side to other side. Lately I could see some drops of rain falling on visor of the helmet. In no time, there was hardly a space of my visor to see out.

I must confess that though I love to ride in rain but rain of this season is too harsh, even lightest rain can come out to be big challenge for a rider. My mantra of Riding hard in rain also seemed ineffective, because riding hard here means hitting hard yourself.

Cold temperature outside made its way slowly to enter me through gloves, Jeans, Shoes and to some extent through small gaps of helmet. In an hours ride in rain, the situation exactly felt like childhood days when we use to play for hours n hours in snowfall and come back shivering like crazy in search of bonfire at home.

My hands were cold, legs were shivering and face was insensitive. There came a time when my DSG Biking Jacket also failed to protect me from cold weather.

I started scouting for a Dhaba for breakfast and to take shelter from rain. In the meantime I happen to arrive at Pong Dam. Coincidentally I have crossed through this dam three times on bike and every time It was raining heavily. However the thrill of riding over Pong Dam Bridge is awesome in rain. The bridge goes above Dam and the feeling of so close to water is thrilling. It is even more thrilling when water level is higher.

Few kilometers after Pong Dam and I spotted a Dhaba. Entering inside Dhaba was very soothing as it protected me from cold winds. From backside of Dhaba, I could see serene view of Pong Dam with pure blue water. Greenery around Pong Dam looked fresh as rain had washed it to its best.

By the time I resumed my ride, the rain had stopped but not fully. The drops of rain were falling here and there with wind going in every possible direction. It again made me remember those Snowfall days when snow use to fly in rhythm with wind.

By 2:00 PM I had not reached even Banikhet, and I had taken almost shelters at five different places to hide from rain and cold. My last stop was at PWD Rain Shelter near to small temple where I was alone hiding under that shelter along with my bike in other corner of shelter. It took me almost an hour there, but rain was in no mood of mercy on me. After all I started my ride in rain and moved ahead.

I still had to ride almost 160 kilometer to reach my destination. It seemed difficult, so by the time I reached Banikhet, I decided to end the day at Dalhousie. The view of Banikhet and valley around it looked fully winter season to me. As I rode further towards Banikhet, the temperature had further gone down to large extent. Though people have come out on roads after long rainy day, but it was all too cold.

My hands were in worst conditions, so was the case with legs. I so desperately wanted a Hotel now. I still had to ride another 10 kilometers, and those 10 kilometers proved to be the most challenging for the day. The temperature had reached Zero degree, fog with almost no visibility made it more thrilling.

Finally I reached Dalhousie at 04:00 PM.I looked for hotels around. Oak Valley was first and last hotel where I inquired about room availability. Wait of ten minutes for hot water felt like years. After two hours, I got some heat back. I never realized when I slept.

Late in evening walk in dense forest of Dalhousie was spectacular. Now that cold weather and sharp wind was feeling so good. Spent few hours sitting in cafe, reading some blogs, chatting with friends and most importantly that hot coffee made with lot of sugar in it. The evening was so calm and soothing that I wanted it to last longer than normal.

The benefit of solo ride is that, one feel its own presence all over. The rider is the king of every decision or move. Every time I ride alone, it makes me more closer to me than earlier. It make me feel my importance more.

The day in Dalhousie was different from one more aspect that I was in no hurry to get up early next morning.

Shimla Half Marathon 2011 - It took my breath away

2011-10-07T19:44:00.000+05:30

25th Sep 2011, a day for Shimla Half Marathon, which I was waiting for last few months. Running half marathon was no big deal to me but running at the altitude of 7,500 feet and elevation of almost 70 degrees, that is what made my curiosity to touch skies. Out of excitement I had planned three days long weekend starting 23rd Sep untill 25th evening. Last minute developments made my plan really hectic and I reached only on 24th midnight.

My day started at 4:30 AM and one hour before the big bang I was at Mall Road Shimla. The race was to start at 6:30 AM and early morning weather was really cold and was working like teaser for people who had come from lower altitude and hot climate. Interactions with running enthusiast made all mood to run as crazy as I could think.

Half Marathon started with down hill run, as the event progressed with around 300 meters, the track suddenly became narrow and extremely steep. The strategy to run here was to go steady so that blood circulation of legs does not gets affected as run ahead was extremely tougher than this. I made my run as steady as I could make it and stuck to same rhythm until the steep downhill. The downhill track went up to 4 kilometers and this distance was good enough to disturb blood circulation.

Next 1 kilometer was relatively flat track and most of the runners looked to be taking benefit of this track. The serene landscapes and tracks surrounded by pine trees caught everyone's attention. It felt like a dream run in the middle of heavenly valley.

The toughest part of Shimla Half Marathon came after 5 kilometers, when the track seemed disappearing into dense forest with steep climb of 80 degree and altitude gain of 1,000 feet in a distance of 1 kilometer. I could see people walking up and disappearing into the forest one by one. This was the stretch of two kilometer which forced everyone not let them make this marathon as an opportunity to set best self record.

Shimla Half Marathon, made me realize that this distance running is rhythm less. Down hill, Steep uphill and flat tracks ensured that we do not stick to one rhythm. No matter how many marathons you have done at flat tracks, this one stand out among all others.

When I ended, steep uphill track, lot of people had gone ahead of me. The kilometer mark read, 9 Kilometer. That was the time when most of people resumed running. It looked really a big task to complete 21 k run at that stage. The track was still not flat and slow uphill was still on and my fight with pain in legs started here. Due to different pace at different time, down hill run followed by flat and uphill walk disturbed full rhythm. Above physical strength, but makes long distance running possible is mental strength. That is what I made sure that I do not give up mentally.

It was hardly half a kilometer track when downhill steep started and that added all the spice to run. Now the strategy of Running and Walking had to come in. This way I could preserve some energy and utilize it at flat track.

Pine tree dense forest working as blanket was protecting runners from Sun.The sad part was the water arrangement, there were hardly three places where water was available. Above this photographers (hardly two places) were carrying tiny cameras and some of them were trying to click photographs from mobile phone cameras.

Last 9 kilometers were too soothing with no runners around and calm forest. Tracks was too attractive and reduced my pain. My walking and running strategy went until finish line.

The learning from this marathon was that this is perhaps the toughest, the most beautiful marathon and the rhythm less long distance run.

Ladakh Bike Trip - A letter dedicated to fellow riders

2011-09-30T20:42:00.000+05:30

This is dedicated to riders with whom I rode :-

Hi Riders !!

You rode hard, you rode disciplined, you rode passionately and more than that you rode safely. The Leh’ed with all you was pleasant and memorable experience for lifetime. Every day brought some good memories to save in kitty of best experiences. I envy all of you for what you do and what you have been doing.

From Top Left : - Sudhir, Mohit, Anurag, Akshay & me

Anurag Party :- Man, I have no words to convey thanks to you for making me part for such a great biker group. I really feel lucky and would love to go on more rides with you. And personally I have tremendous respect for you as person and Like you a lot.

Sudhir Party :- You are super cool dude. I envy your each and every act. Mentioning one or two things would be insult for your overall Cool Dude aura. But still remember one thing, “ Party !! Photo Banta hai”. Dude whatever you do in your life, you would be highly successful just because of your attitude and passion. There was a time when I started enjoying your bike’s breakdowns, I don’t know why.

Akshay Party :- I need to learn one thing from you is how to respect the feelings of parents. Man I am touched the way you convinced Mom everyday about trip saying how easy the road ahead is. She is really lucky to have you as Son. Convey my regards to her.

I remember the moment when you were trying to overtake a truck in rain and your bike gave up . And thanks for discovering another Maadla..lol

Mohit Party :- You did something which unexpected. Knowing you for a day, I thought you will wrap up you trip from Manali when you faced breakdown at Rohtang Top. Hats off for what you did, rode all the way from Manali to Leh alone. If I was in your place, I would have surely given up at Manali. Its big achievement, share it with proud with others.

Guys, lets catch up sometime in future again to accumulate more experiences like this.

Maadla :P

Ladakh Bike Trip - Jammu to Chandigarh, Last day of epic ride in rain (Day 11)

2011-09-26T21:14:00.000+05:30

Day 11, The legendary ride was riding towards its end. The day started with expression, "Its raining outside yaar." Last day of our ride reminded of Day 1 when we left Chandigarh in similar kind of rain. We prepared ourselves for all kind of adversities and left hotel despite the fact that it was raining heavily in Jammu.

We got an advantage of rain in the form of less traffic on city roads. Once we crossed the city, the heavy rain had got converted into drizzling. It was the best time to soak in some air and try to dry up the cloths.

Water logging till knee spread wide in small town on highway felt like crossing a lake on boat.

The roads were very good and we were riding at a great speed unlike other days. After covering more around 100 kilometer we stopped for breakfast at roadside dhaba. Typical monsoon style, by the time we finished off with breakfast, it started raining again.

The entire ride till Pathankot was hide and seek between we boys and rain. There were times when it rained very very heavy and visibility became zero.

Pathankot also did not brought much traffic jams for us and we crossed the city easily. It was complete contrast in weather with Sun on top of us. We rode in hot weather and there was no sign of rain.

Akshay and me realized after 15 kilometer when stopped by Mohit that Sudhir's bike had another breakdown. Now it felt really disturbing and we rode back 15 kilometer in hot day. Fortunately mechanic was nearby. We spent an hour at Mechanic's garage for repair and then rode again towards Chandigarh.

We hardly rode for 15 kilometers and rain came down. In few minutes, drizzling got converted into heavy rain. The rain was so heavy that a thick layer of water on helmet's visor made visibility zero. But the best part was that we did not reduce our speed. This was hardly for 10 minutes and in those 10 minutes we were wet as if we just came out of swimming pool spreading water all over. It felt really hard after drying ourselves in last 2 hour in hot sunny day.

The next main town on the way was Hoshiarpur. That heavy rain had converted this town into a lake. Believe me it was literally like a lake. Depth of water upto 2 feet was all over wherever I could see. Over and above that we forgot the way. It took us half an hour to cross the town in middle of trucks, buses and jeeps throwing water from all sides. The worst part was buses which were moving or overtaking us from both side. The water flow at that time was pushing us to other side and maintaining balance on bike became very challenging. However above all, my only aim was to not to let water go in exhaust of my bike and I succeeded in that.

Once we crossed Hoshiarpur, we stopped at Dhaba for Lunch. We took off everything except T shirt and Jeans. It was all wet with dirty water of road.

Post lunch I diverted towards my new place to dump the luggage which I was carrying for last 11 days and joined boys later on the way to Chandigarh.

Ride till Chandigarh was comfortable with lot of things going in mind. The feeling of accomplishment, moment of proud, experience of life time epic ride, great company of people and breadth taking himalayas, with all these things I finished my ride at Chandigarh.

Later I learnt that Sudhir's bike had another breakdown and they reached late again.

All boys spent an evening together to celebrate the accomplishment of successful journey, epic ride, heavenly paradise and lot more.

All of us lived our life in these 11 days and enjoyed every moment of it. We struggled, we screamed, we laughed, we pulled, we respected, we fought , above all we rode hard and finished the ride with some of most memorable experience, some funny some serious and some just normal. That is all about our badly planned well executed ride to Ladakh.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Srinagar to Jammu, Down from heaven to ordinary life (Day 10)

2011-09-24T21:21:00.000+05:30

Originally Day 10 was kept as a rest day and a day to explore Kashmir, especially Gulmarg and Pehalgaon. However we had to finish our ride on Day 11 at Chandigarh. It looked very difficult to ride for 600 kilometer that too on hilly terrains. Moreover exhaustion of House Boat and hot weather at Srinagar also forced us to run away from Srinagar. So we changed our plan to make ride little comfortable and decided to ride up to Jammu on Day 10.

We had enough time to reach Jammu, so we started at 12:00 PM noon from Srinagar. Extreme hot day of Srinagar made it difficult to even prepare our bikes with all luggage tied properly. By the time I prepared the bike for ride, I was sweating all over, it reminded of summers of Delhi. It was not at all a good feeling of being in Kashmir Valley.

We had still not seen the other hurdle which is normally seen in metros and other big cities and that is traffic jams. We almost wasted 2 hours in traffic jams and rode hardly 30 kilometers. Once we came out of the traffic jam, all of us had lost each other and every one thought that rest of the riders are behind him.

I stopped at a small tea shop to pick up water bottle when all four riders flew from behind and did not notice me at all. I rode little fast and got hold of Mohit but that time other three riders had disappeared.

Srinagar Jammu Highway has lot of small towns around it. Diversion to left and right in these towns made our life difficult as we had to inquire locals at every such diversion about correct road to Jammu. Mohit and me rode almost 2 hours alone without any clue of other three riders. The terrains full of greenery and trees made it more difficult to spot fellow riders.

Finally we decided to stop at a Dhaba for Lunch assuming that other three riders have gone way ahead. We ordered food and ate leisurely over 20 minute. When we were about to start our ride back, all three riders appeared on road. Fortunately they could see us and stopped. Pleasantly surprised, the gang was restored back again. The whole way from Srinagar to lunch spot, I thought that other three riders are ahead of us but they had lost their way at one place and that was the time when we rode on right road and rode ahead of them.

Ride after lunch was like fight of five cats with infinite dragons. We were only the riders riding downhill towards Jammu whereas uphill ride was over flooded with buses, trucks, cab and jeeps. It was all Amarnath Pilgrimage time and thousands of people were driving uphill. The worst part was that the taxi cab drivers were driving and overtaking at the places which were not obvious for overtaking. The only one thing which was in our favor was the good condition of roads.

Perhaps this was the only day when we did not stop anywhere for photographs or to appreciate serene landscapes and nature.

Srinagar Jammu highway offered us two fascinating experiences of riding. First was 2.5 kilometer long tunnel in which it feels like riding with close eyes, no matter how sharp is your bike's headlight it is bound to be dark in there. Second was Patni Top with some crazy terrains in the middle of pine and oak trees and cold climate.

We reached Jammu at around 08:00 PM. After learning the lesson from mistake we made at Srinagar we decided to look for Hotel at the outskirts of Jammu. Hence we rode on the by pass road of Pathankot.However with the help of directions given by locals we ended up landing in the middle of Jammu city.

Air conditioned rooms of Hotel after spending a night in hot house boat at Srinagar felt too soothing. This was third day when we played cards till late night 02:00 AM.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Kargil to Srinagar - Kargill War memorial Drass, Zozila Pass, Sonmarg gateway to heaven (Day 9)

2011-09-21T06:12:00.000+05:30

More than half of the night was spent playing cards. Day 9 ride was different from other days because of no option than to start the ride at 04:00 AM in the morning. All this was done to cross last pass of our epic ride, Zozilla Pass.

We had heard a lot of Zozilla Pass from most of the riders and feedback was not at all good. Mud, slush, water, rocks and above all narrow roads and steep downhill ride, this is all we knew about Zozilla. Later we learnt from Hotel manager that its not only the road conditions which makes Zozilla tough for ride but also Army Vehicle convoys. Many a time Army blocks one way movement depending on their convoy timing. So we had no other option than to leave Kargil early morning at 04:00 AM.

Sleep of two hours and our alarms started ringing at 03:00 AM. Except Sudhir, all four of us hit the road sharp at 04:00 AM in a dark and scary morning of Kargil. We left Sudhir at his luck and rode ahead. By the time light came down, we were riding on fairly good roads. Being able to see landscapes in early morning was exceptional feel.

In an hour Sudhir caught us on the way. He must have ridden really extraordinary in dark when he had no headlight of his modified Pulsar. I really felt bad for him. But as usual it looked very normal to him.

The morning was freezing cold. My riding gloves had given up and it was sucking all the air in it. By 06:00 AM I had started feeling hungry but no option to stop. Moreover the nervousness to conquer Zozilla pushed everyone hard this day.

But above all lies the Patriotism. No matter how late we were, there was no question of skipping, Kargil war memorial at Drass. We reached Drass in 2 hours from Kargil. In freezing morning of Drass (World's second coldest habitat), we saw Kargill War memorial Gate at roadside.

Kargill War memorial - Drass

Kargill War memorial, a place dedicated to all our heros who sacrificed their lives in 1999 to capture back Tiger Hill. The calmness of the memorial there tells the whole story of braveness of our soldiers and Army. The memorial had all the walls with names written of all our heros who laid their lives to earn the victory for our country.

Tiger hill is clearly visible from this memorial at Drass. The peak was covered with thick layer of snow and was too steep to climb up. Infact the sky touching Tiger Hill climb looks almost impossible to conquer. However our defence forces made it all possible. Really proud of those Heros.

We left from Kargill War Memorial at Drass with heavy heart after spending around 20 minutes there. All of us desperately needed Tea or coffee in freezing morning. Ride for another half an hour and we get to see a Dhaba where we took Tea and breakfast. It was all done in hurry.

Next was Zozilla Pass on our way. The easy uphill ride started with slush and water on road. Trucks made it more difficult to ride along with tourist cabs trying to overtake from left and right.

As we rode closer to Zozilla pass top, the road became very narrow. The river flowing fast far down in sharp valley of mountains made the ride very scary task. But roads were not as bad as we were told by almost everyone. Trucks have slowed down almost to 5 kmph, we always had to wait for driver to give us signal to overtake trucks.

We did not even realize when we cross Zozilla top, where all of us wished to have at least one photograph. The down hill ride made us realise that we missed our spot.

Ride on the other side of pass was amazing to me. The road was well built with rocks properly settled under the mud, but steepness of road was all worth riding. This was the only place where I saw a nervousness on the faces of each and every truck driver. Every trucker had maintained a distance of at least 300 meters from each others. Hats off to those truckers who drive loaded truck with one sided wheels many times in air and almost 90% chances of imbalance.

Although down hill was too steep, but it was not a big challenge for bikers except the fact that riding above 2nd gear was not advisable at all. Once we finished with Zozilla pass, we felt like reaching our destination and what else one expect as Gift of nature than serene, breadth-taking and beautiful Sonmarg ? The awesome road of Sonmarg helped us open our hands with full throttle.

We spent sometime at tea shop at the bank of river full of white water. Maggi, Tea, Coffee and lot more, we filled our stomachs well and decided to have lunch at Srinagar.

Traffic on Sonmarg to Srinagar had increased drastically. With very less stops on the way, we reached Srinagar at 2:00 PM.

Disappointingly, Srinagar was too hot during day time. First it took us time to locate place to reach house boats then lot of time spent to find out parking for our bikes.

Another disappointment was Dal lake's dirty water which was smelling all around. We chose one of the house boat for our stay. It was not so fascinating as we had heard about house boats. It was too hot inside house boat also and there was no air conditioning.

Shikara ride on Dal lake in the night was the best in Srinagar with Cold breeze. We spent an hour and went back to house boat. Nothing else to talk about Srinagar.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Leh to Kargil, Serene Kashmir Valley (Day 8)

2011-09-18T10:55:00.000+05:30

Day 8, we were set to ride back, not via Leh Manali highway, but Kargil, Srinagar and finally back to Chandigarh. I had heard a lot about beauty all around, on Leh Srinagar highway. All of us were excited to hit the road at the earliest.

It started with really superb roads of Leh and classic terrains around magnetic hill.I am in love with Ladakh so much that I really felt bad while leaving the place. I never liked coming back from this heaven and go back to work and boring life of city. I was lost in so many thoughts that Anurag had to push me hard entire day to match the speed with fellow riders.

The beauty of landscapes, roads, terrains, monasteries, Army convoys and simplicity of people was spread wherever sight went. Suddenly the place was looking so fascinating that it became difficult for me to ride back.

The traffic on this route was very high especially because of army vehicle movements. In one moment we all were lost in the middle of trucks and other moment we were riding alone in beautiful Himalaya's Ladakh range. I stopped at many places to click photographs whereas Anurag and Akshay always waited for me by controlling their frustration about my slow speed.

In four to five hours ride, we started to get the feel of Kashmir Valley with cold breeze slowly crossing us and sign of some vegetation on landscapes. Lunch at small village in old dhaba with old man was superb food. This Kashmiri Dhabawaala served the lunch with Rice and Dal with almost no spices but the taste was life giving.

The old wooden houses of Kashmir reminded me of my hometown Chamba. We were riding in Kashmir valley and that feeling of being close to nature in heaven was evident.

Kashmir

Kargil, I am sure, will always remain very special name for every Indian. So were we excited to reach the place. We reached Kargil by 4:30 in evening. We had an image of Kargil as a small village full of camps for bikers and tourists, however we found full fledged town there. After riding full day without crossing any major town, it felt really soothing to come back to civilization again.

Kargil

After checking in at the only Hotel Green Land, we decided to explore the town and find out War memorial there. But we learnt that War Memorial is not in Kargil and we will have to go to Drass for the same. Since Drass was en route next day we kept this agenda for next day.

On Kargil streets

We met an Army man at Soveniour Shop, who told us about the War we fought in 1999, showed the places and direction of Tiger Hill which was the main target for our victory. He was kind enough to offer us tea. It felt really proud to talk to him and felt proud to be an Indian. Akshay and me bought T shirt and cap as memory of that place.

Once we were back at Hotel, I decided to take out play cards. We played till midnight when we realized that next morning ride will have to start at 4:00 AM with no choice to delay it.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Off Road Biking to Pangong Lake, Twist in plan with dangerous river blocking our way (Day 7)

2011-09-16T19:10:00.000+05:30

Morning at Hunder on Day 8 was pleasant with sun rising clear in the sky. As normal practice we were running out of time when we finished our breakfast and luggage loading on bikes. The day was going to be unexpected because we had chosen unexplored route to reach Pangong Lake from Nubra Valley.

Nubra Valley deserts

The ride started at 8:30 AM. As we hit the road, in couple of kilometers, Himalayan Odyssey bikers started appearing here and there. We ignored the crowd around us because in an hour or so we had to divert to different route.

We had just completed 30 KM of ride for the day when weather changed suddenly and it started drizzling . All four guys stopped to put on rain coats but not me. I had lost sadle bag last day somewhere near Khardung La, which had 5 leter petrol, Rain Coat and some T shirts. I packed my DSLR in two layers of polythene and rode ahead.

Our way separated at Khalsar towards Pangong Lake. This was the point where we said Good Bye to crowd of bikers and rode towards unexplored route and almost no vehicle moment on it. Initially the road was awesome but soon sand on narrow road in wall like mountains and river flowing along it slowed down my pace. From left to right hand side driving also did not help much. All other four riders rode hard ahead of me.

From one of terrain I saw never ending desert and brand new straight road in the middle of it. Now we had to go down. The ride looked too easy for a while. For our surprise, we saw a jeep coming from other side. He advised us to not to go on this route as road is closed few kilometers ahead. But we were determined and moved ahead.

The Ride on brand new built straight road was crazy. It felt like we are riding on sea bed with big walls of mountains shaved by sea water. Riding alone can sure be scary task here. Its a no man land with no clue of lives for miles and miles from here.

On the way was a place called Agham, and every kilometer was marked. So we decided that once we reach Agham we will take a break. As we were reaching near Agham, the road condition started to deteriorate and in few kilometers we were riding on rocks and sand on road. I was eagerly waiting for Agham and my hunger was demanding something to feed in. As I read Agham 1 kilometer, I took a cool breadth and rode ahead.

Arrival at Agham was surprising. This place had only one house and co incidentally an old lady came out of the house and said, "Julley" which means Hello. All hopes of getting some food had shattered.

Around 200 meters from Agham, there were two roads, one straight and another up north diversion. There was no sign board, no people and no vehicle. Looking at the map we had a clue on which road to go but we did not want to take any chance keeping in mind time availability. So we waited for sometime and we got to see one jeep. Our idea about the road was right. Jeep driver also told that, "Road is very good and you will enjoy the ride".

The road beyond Agham was actually no road. In sometime the entire road disappeared and had some mark of Army truck moment. This time Ladakh had some unique roads to us on offer. The entire desert was full of hug rocks on which we had to ride. The mantra of surviving here was only one, "Ride Hard". There was no other option to ride here. There were times when both wheels of bike were in air, front wheel was forcibly thrown to either direction by huge rocks under it and rear wheel got stuck behind adamant rocks.

The sun had come up and sky was clear by afternoon when we were riding off road. We had to remove warm clothes as it was turning to be the hottest day of the trip.

Mohit (top), Sudhir and Anurag hiding from Sun

The story of riding on rocks did not end here. A patch of around 400 meters very close to river flowing along with extremely narrow path was all under landslide, actually I should say, Rock sliding. It seemed that fresh sliding has happened as we were unable to see any mark of vehicle moment on accumulated rocks on road. In this situation it was very dangerous to ride. Applying the mantra of riding hard on it was never a choice. With lot of struggle I manage to cross. Anurag and Sudhir always made things look very easy but for me this ride never looked easy though I enjoyed every bit of it.

Riding on rocks - Me

The ride continued and river flowing along us kept spreading wide and wide. We crossed the river at a camp of BRO workers, the bridge was well built by Indian Army. Road on the other side was no more different and ride further continued off road on rocks.

We happen to meet two BRO workers and I asked about the road conditions ahead. They just said," You have to cross this river five kilometers from here, and if you cross the river and then road is ok." That was disappointing. We had already spent half day riding till this point.

Since there were no roads, so all of us kept riding in different paths. In sometime, I saw that Akshay and Mohit disappeared, I could see little bit of truck wheel prints going towards river. This was the time to cross river but it was evident from far itself that it is just not possible to ride through high current water, especially when you never know how deep the water is. We met two BRO workers here as well, they clearly said no to cross the river.

River which changed or spoiled our entire plan to reach Pangong Lake

In five minute time we were clear that we are going back to Leh. It was already 2:00 PM there and we had to ride back all the way till Khalsar, ride uphill to Khardung La and followed by downhill ride of another 2 hours from Khardung La top to Leh.

Ride up to Khalsar felt damn fascinating with off road riding, big rocks on the way, sand, river, brand new roads, straight road till eye site goes and a close escape at rock sliding area. None of us except Mohit had guilt of not reaching Pangong. The whole credit goes to the valley in which we were riding. As a rider it feels a sense of achievement when we ride off roads which are unexplored, and this was one of them for us.

A lunch on the way to Khardung La top was big energy booster. The sky was very clear and we were happy that today we will have ample time and space at Khardung La for photographs as entire Himayalan Odyssey had gone early in the morning.

After crossing North Pullu, all of us got stuck at landsliding area where BRO was trying to clear the mess. We were told that the road will be clear by 5:30 PM, almost delay of one hour in our ride. What else other than photography for bikers, we spent entire one hour making different and repeated poses. Mohit was still disappointed.

Landsliding delayed our plan to reach Khardung La before Sunset

The thirst of previous day of photographs at Khardung La was fulfilled today with Sun set and bright weather with no bikers there. The top looked very quite and calm with few army people, few tourists and some bikers, unlike last day. All of us very happy this day.

Finally Khardung La pass with lots of space for us posers

With lot of stop overs for photographs and other breaks we reached Leh at 8:30 PM. Mohit had already booked rooms for us.

The plan to visit Pangong Lake did not materialse next day also as ride from Leh and back would have made entire day hectic keeping in mind long stretch yet left for our trip.

Ladakh Bike Trip - World's highest motorable pass, Khardung La (18,380 feet) and Nubra Valley expedition (Day 6)

2011-09-14T15:32:00.000+05:30

Late risers started the Day 5 at 8:00 AM in Leh. The day marked was for the most important milestone of the trip, world’s highest motorable pass Khardung La with 18,380 feet altitude. For later in day we had plan to reach Nubra Valley, explore Hunder Village and Sand dunes of the valley.

Me riding towards Rohtang Pass

Bikes were relatively less loaded as we had left major luggage at Leh. I was carrying some petrol for on the way thirst of my Royal Enfield Classic 500. In the middle of thin and ignorable clouds we started uphill ride to conquer world’s highest motorable pass “Khardung La”. Cruising on curves of South pullu we were surrounded by Himayalan Odyssey Biker. We stopped on the way before south pullu to let Himayalan Odyssey Bikers go ahead of us so that we enjoy the ride in thump of our bikes only.

Roads filled with Bikers

South Pullu is the place wherein anyone driving/riding beyond it need to carry permission. We submitted the permission and decided to ride rather than taking a break. The weather was turning cold and clouds had become darker and thicker than earlier. By this time Himalayan Odyssey’s most of the bikers had gone way ahead of us and roads were calm and empty. Before we could see the first glimpse of Khardung La top, snowfall started around Himalayan peaks and soon it did not spare us as well.

Riding through moderate tough roads with big rocks on it never felt tough and challenging because of two reasons, the first was that we had ridden way tougher roads in last 4 days and second was the excitement to write a history of our bike trip by touching world’s highest motorable pass, Khardung La top. I had lot of memories of Khardung La from my 2010 Leh trip, so I had an predefined image in my mind. But this did not dilute my excitement of registering my presence there again.

Mission accomplished

Soon we reached at our key milestone of the trip. Khardung La top had a surprising view stored for us. All the Himalayan Odyssey bikers and other two biker groups had made entire top overcrowded. Some lazy people travelling in cars added more spice to the view and left almost no place to park bikes. All the boards of Khardung La top had queues of riders for photographs. We manage to get some photographs of all of us but not even single picture was satisfactory due to unwanted people’s appearance in one or the other photograph. It was really an important milestone for us and all of us wanted quality photographs here.

After a halt of fifteen minutes at Khardung La top, we started towards Nubra Valley with downhill ride on the other side of the top. We four bikers were again lost in the crowd of around 100 bikers. The roads were very bad and clearly that was evident from our speed as well. Steep downhill ride for me had proven always heavy on me. In an hour ride we reached South Pullu, a second check post where travelers need to submit the permission copy. We needed a break here. Maggi and coffee was much needed at this time and tasted delicious. It was well deserved break. This place again was filled up with bikers everywhere.

The road ahead of North Pullu was very easy and enjoyable till Hunder, which was our last stop for the day. After crossing all bad roads and riding in first/second gear, it was the time to pull throttle to extreme. However the fascinating terrains and beautiful mountains of Nubra valley made us stop at many places to capture some memories. All of us loved every moment of the ride and it was evident on our faces.

Khardung Village

To our surprise Mohit caught us on the way. He started his ride at 11:00 AM from Leh. He covered the distance in 3 hours which we had covered in 5 hours. Mohit did not even bother to stop at Khardung La top for photograph.

Anticipating petrol stock out at the only Petrol Pump at Hunder, we decided to fill our bikes first. By this time we were riding ahead of Himyalan Odyssey and we took advantage of this at Petrol pump. In few minutes, a long queue formed up behind us for petrol. Unlike other petrol pumps it was not an automatic pump and looked more like hand pump with manual pumping of fuel from storage tanks. Since it was not electric petrol pump, the measurement of petrol was also done in standard 5 liter container.

The only petrol pump at Hunder

Few kilometers ahead of petrol pump was Hunder village where we had the plan to stay for night. After scouting few streets of village we manage to get a good guest house where we were the only guests for night. Some snacks and coffee and we were all charged up for exploring Hunder village. Anurag, Sudhir and Me manage to climb to the monastery right on the top of the village. The whole valley looked serene from this point. All three of us made most out of this place with some epic photographs. We returned happily jumping down like monkeys. On the way down, Mohit was waiting for us whereas Akshay was missing. Later we came to know that he was relaxing at Guest house.

Birds eye view of Hunder Village

An evening with calmness of village, noise of flowing water stream and chirping words was soothing after 5 hectic days of ride. The dinner was planned in lawn with bonfire. The warmness of bonfire after dinner made us sleep early.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Witnessed simplicity and hospitality of Ladakh (Day 5)

2011-09-12T19:38:00.000+05:30

Four days continuous ride in Slush, mud, water, rain and snow, we found ourselves back in civilization once we rode into Leh town. We were happy like kids to wear new cloths after four days ride in all kind of possible weather and road conditions.

Day 5 was a day to explore Leh town and to obtain Inland Permit (ILP) from local SDM office. Anurag and Sudhir went for repair of sudhir's bike whereas Akshay and Me went to SDM office to apply for ILP. ILP is a permit issued by SDM to visit Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake. In India when we talk about Govt office, it is always linked with bribe, inefficiency and delays, so we were skeptical about getting permits on time.

We filled up required form and arrived SDM office. We were told to meet a lady in her office. I could see part of the name plate outside her office wherein I learnt that she is ADM. We entered the room and told her about the permission we needed. She was extremely polite in her behavior and greeted us with smile. She studied the form in hurry when she was preparing herself for meeting with her boss. If I were in her place I would never have attended the request keeping in mind that in next five minutes an important meeting is lined up with boss.

She told us to write a request letter along with form we had filled up. She asked, "Do you have plane paper ?". The obvious answer from our side was, "No". She searched her drawers (in between giving some instructions to her PA in Ladakhi dialect regarding preparation of meeting and too busy with phone as well). At the end she gave us plane stamp paper to write a letter. By the time we wrote letter and submitted it back to her, she was getting late for the meeting.

She signed the permission form but she needed to keep one copy for her records as well. We stupid did not have second copy. Any other government officer would have thrown us out with out permission but this lady was extra ordinary with cool temperament. She handed over the blank form to us and said, "Fill it up exactly like original". However she could not hold herself for few more minutes so she took the blank form from Akshay's hand, signed it and said, "Please fill up same details and submit it to my PA".

We were touched with her polite behavior, blind trust and support she extended to us. This all happened in 10 minutes time and believe me those 10 minutes were extremely busy for her. I can not imagine an officer of ADM level at any other place in India helping strangers and signing blank form. This is true Ladakh we witnessed.

The story did not end here, at the end of this process and before she left for her meeting, She did not forget to say, "All the best, ride safe and enjoy". This was true humanity. Imagine a person who receive thousand of requests everyday for such permission but she never disrespect tourists and behave so politely. Unlike other tourist places, this is what makes Ladakh the true heaven on earth.

I felt very enlightened after this experience. Somewhere it touched deep my heart and I have an immense respect for that lady ADM because they are the one, who writes small small pages, full of great memories/experiences in everyone's life, who visit Ladakh.

Rest of the day was spent with bike's minor repair, except Sudhir's bike which was again under major repair. We ate a lot, enjoyed roaming on Leh's streets, lined up in front of J&K Bank ATM for long time, bought jacket for Sudhir after searching entire Leh market and lot of gossips.

By evening Mohit had also reached Leh. He showed great mental strength by riding all the way alone from Manali to Leh. It was unexpected out of him. I must confess that If I was left alone at Manali due to breakdown, perhaps I would not have reached Leh. This was the great example of never give up spirit. But he had to ride one more day alone to Nubra Valley. Since he reached late in evening he could not get the permission to ride to Nubra Valley. Another day was due for him to ride alone.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Pang to Leh, Moray Planes and Taglang La Pass with Extra Luggage (Day 4)

2011-09-10T19:43:00.000+05:30

Pang is a small valley full tents wherein all travelers (mostly bikers like us) on Manali Leh highway takes shelter for night. Leh is 200 kilometer away from Pang.

A view of Pang

The ride from Pang to Leh seemed easy as compare to last 3 days ride. On the way we had to cross Moray Planes (riding in sand and deserts) and World's Second highest motorable Pass, Taglang La pass of 17,582 feet altitude.

The day started with Coffee prepared with love by Ladakhi host lady. By day 4, we all had become habitual of performing some standard activities in morning except the obvious ones. These activities were to pack the bags, load it properly on bikes, tighten bungee ropes hard and check your bikes.

While we were busy wrapping our way towards Leh, the Host lady handed over some chocolates and biscuits to us. She said "This you eat on the way and ride safe". It was so touching and humbling experience that my entire day was all happy.

Sudhir loaded his bag on my bike and he was pillion with Anurag. Hardly few kilometers and his bag tilted on one side and mine to the other side. I had no option than to carry his luggage on back. It was really uncomfortable riding with that tall and heavy bag.

Overloaded me with Sudhir's luggage

My struggle with Sudhir's luggage was on and road suddenly disappeared, thats was the beginning of Morray planes. There were plenty of pathways in entire desert and all ended at one place only. The road became softest possible. Tyres of my Royal Enfield were in sand many inches. I was trying hard to maintain the balance of my bike and "extra luggage" loaded on me.

Morray planes

We stopped at no where in the middle of desert away from normally followed routes and had fantastic photo shoot. Despite low oxygen all of us made all possible efforts to click best of pictures "in Action"

Posers trying to have fun at Morray planes in Low Oxygen

Moray planes took us almost one and half hours to complete and it was really fun to ride on sand with no idea of how deep the sand was. Now the steep uphill ride was towards world's second highest motorable pass Taglang la. By now we were bored of crossing passes. In an hour or so, we reached at the top of Taglang La pass. To our surprise, most of us had headache due to low oxygen. Another surprise was Sudhir's quietness. He was disappointed as he was not riding today and above that he had severe headache.

Downhill ride of Taglang La pass towards Leh was painfull. Most of the road was under repair and a layer of stones was everywhere to ride on. As it is I was facing huge problem in downhill ride and by now Sudhir's heavy backpack was hitting me hard on soldiers and neck. Anurag was kind enough to take the backpack from me for rest of the ride. The combination of good roads and less luggage gave me enjoyment of heaven.

Finally some good roads to ride

Upshi was the town where we stopped for Lunch. Leh was hardly 50 kilometer away from here. Surprisingly we were riding on time that day. The first major milestone was an hour away from us. We all sitting quietly waited for lunch when all of us were complaining about noise of silence.

Last stretch of first major milestone was very easy to complete. We reached Leh in late afternoon. Searching a hotel was never a problem in Leh.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Keylong to Pang, An encounter with River Crossing, Baralacha La & Nakeela Pass (Day 3)

2011-09-08T19:02:00.000+05:30

A night at Keylong after tough riding through Rohtang top felt too short. The plan was to start early the day so that we are able to reach Pang on time. The distance was approximately 180 Kilometer. The day ahead was full of countless water or say river crossing, passes and no roads.

We four riders started the ride at 8:00 AM with empty stomachs with a plan to stop on the way to feed some fuel to body. First my bike did not start in the morning and secondly I had to stop for ten minutes to tie my luggage again on rear seat. After an hours ride we stopped for breakfast and then started the ride again in sometime.

Breakfast break. Fifth rider Mohit left at Manali due to breakdown

This time Akshay and me were ahead of two other riders and road was average. As we took turn to left, a small river was there to test our water riding skills. It was spread across few meters with average depth of water. We crossed one by one comfortably. Since it was our first encounter with river crossing we did not leave the chance to capture some pictures.

First river crossing, an easy hurdle

There was no look back after first river crossing, we crossed countless rivers, some gentle some rude, some deeper and some wider but above all we rode hard.

On the way we had to cross Baralacha La pass, which is known for storms, freezing breeze, lots of snow, low oxygen and extreme weather conditions. The pass is on the height of 16,000 Feet. At the foot of pass itself weather conditions started changing from sun light to drizzling and cold breeze.

While we were preparing ourselves for steep height of Baralacha La, the last and biggest encounter with river crossing was yet to be accomplished. I was riding ahead of the group so reached early at the spot. Noise of water and imbalance of a car crossing the river shaked me badly. Once the car came out of water, I decided to cross with some idea in mind about the line to follow. It was completely different from other water crossing because of uneven surface, deep water, big rocks and invisible surface because of white water. As I moved ahead the front tyre kept on going deeper and deeper. By the time I reached the middle of river, the rear tyre got stuck with a big whole and a rock. The flow of water moved my direction little upward from front and down south from rear. A push of strange biker from behind helped me getting out of the mess.

Me a Spectator for another rider struggling to cross the deepest water we crossed :)

The water was damn freezing and I stayed at least for two minutes in water. Over and above that it was drizzling continuously for almost half an hour. Later reached other riders. All of them crossed comfortably but it was almost impossible to escape from that water with dry shoes and trouser. We enjoyed lot of other riders struggling to cross the river.

The steep uphill ride towards Baralacha la started immediately after this river crossing. These guys had some problem with their K&N filters while crossing river. After some temporary arrangements we started the ride and rode on roads with more than 8 feet snow around it. All our photo freaks did not leave the opportunity to captures some pictures here, no matter how cold their hands and feets were. After this we decided to stop at Baralacha La pass for a while for photographs but we did not even realize when we crossed the pass and started downhill ride.

On the way to Baralachha La Pass

A break at a site at the foot of Baralacha la pass was next stop over for us for lunch. The kerosene stove was all covered by our feets. Even simple food tastes like anything at such places. We all enjoyed Dal and Rice here. The good news was that there was no more water crossing and road was relatively good ahead of us. Half day had gone and we had hardly finished half of the distance.

On the way we had to cross two passes yet, Nakee La (15,547 feet) and Lachung La (16613 feet). On uphill ride towards Nakee La, we happen to ride on Gata loops which was fun to ride.

Few kilometers before Nakee La we realised that Suhdir's bike is again due for breakdown. He rode ahead of us till Nakee La pass where we three riders stopped for a while. By the time we reached downhill of the pass, it was time for Sudhir's bike to load in truck. We negotiated with truck driver to deliver bike at Leh. It took us almost one and half hour to release Sudhir's bike. This breakdown addressed Akshay's and mine fuel problem as we unloaded all petrol from Sudhir's bike.

Sudhir's bike ready for major breakdown

The bad news we got from shopkeeper was that there is still one river to cross and that is way bigger than what we had crossed throughout the day. He even advised us to stay back in the night and cross river early morning next day. But we wanted to reach Pang.

Loading bike on truck was really challenging in low oxygen

Now Sudhir was pillion with Anurag. We rode fast so that we could reach Pang before dark. The road kept on becoming worst and worst as we rode uphill towards Lachulung La pass. A river started flowing on our right side. Somewhere in mind it came that if at all we have to cross this river, it will be very dangerous to do so especially in late evening when there was no one on road except our three bikes and four people.

The rocky mountains started looking horrifying in the evening and view no more fascinating. The narrow roads, rocks and dust made it really tough to ride. In an hours ride and the same river was flowing in front of us. The water was clean enough to see the surface but challenge here was deep water and width of river. We had no choice, so Akshay took the lead which helped me a lot to understand the surface to some extent. With nervous hand I also tighten the throttle. With some minor jerks here and there I manage to cross the river. Anurag as usual crossed it effortlessly, despite the fact that he had pillion. It was the biggest relief I could ever get.

Mountains looked scary in dark

The darkness was increasing every moment and the calmness of mountains seemed attacking us. The road immediately after the river was cut in mountain and was filled with rocks, above it the road was narrow enough to slow down the speed of rider like me. I rode easily with the happiness that river crossing was successful.

Me riding hard towards Pang

We were the last rider for the day. We reached Pang at 9:00 PM. The good thing was that Anurag had identified tent for night stay.

The hospitality of Ladakh is unprecedented. The lady in tent served food with affection to us. She was kind enough to ignite kerosene stove for us. She took care of every small thing we asked for. The day ended with good memories and great experiences.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Manali to Keylong, Test of our preparedness by Rohtang Pass (Day 2)

2011-09-06T20:22:00.000+05:30

Day 2, we started our day at Manali. Late risers, we were way behind our target start time. Blaming each others we set our bikes for ride and easily forgot that few of us need to carry extra petrol. We wasted almost an hour just to search containers for petrol and fill petrol in bikes and containers.

Anurag & Sudhir nailing corner on the way to Rohtang Pass

The ride from Manali starts with uphill ride towards Rohtang Top. We really enjoyed terrains till few kilometers. When I got busy with clicking some pictures and leaning my 500 CC machine on hilly corners, three riders disappeared. As I thought of catching up with them, the road full of slush and mud welcomed me. The mud kept increasing with each meter I crossed. Above this, huge traffic jam was awaiting for all of us. I rode almost 3 kilometers in slush and broke down. I stopped the bike and took some breath. Since I had to catch up three riders ahead of me, I again started to ride in water, slush and mud. Soon I got to see our two riders waiting in traffic.

Rohtang Pass on the way struggle with Mud

We wasted almost 2 hours at the same spot. As we started to ride again, the slush and mud looked damn horrible ahead. Long patches of slush were all set to test the capability of each rider. It was not a children game, a serious rider could only take on it.

We had planned our breakfast at Rohtang Top but we reached there for lunch only. Now plan to reach Sarchu looked difficult, so we decided to stay at Keylong. Food at 13000 Feet height after struggle of 4 hours tasted delicious. After lazying for couple of minutes, we all started our journey downhill to reach Keylong.

Ride on the other side of Rohtang Top was steep downhill with bad roads but no slush or mud. In an hour, we realised that Mohit is not seen for long time. We waited for him, we inquired other fellow riders but no body had seen him. Akshay and Anurag decided to go back. As these guys went back, Sudhir and me started downhill ride slowly so that they can catch us later. The roads were good and no traffic as everyone was stuck at Rohtang top in traffic.

In later part of day, Akshay and Anurag reached us on the way. Mohit's bike had ignition problem at Rohtang Top so he had to go back to Manali for repair. Now we were only four riders riding towards Keylong. After spending sometime with at Mechanic shop for basic maintenance, we reached Keylong well on time.

Keylong is small town of Lauhal spiti district of Himachal. The place was very quite and calm.

Day 2 was way harder than Day 1, and we knew that Day 3 is going to be very challenging with River Crossing, passes with low oxygen and extreme weather conditions. We discussed our plan again as there were so many things which had changed in last two days.

My beast resting on the way

Everyday I closed my eyes with expecting more excitement and challenges on the trip. Day 2 was the only day when my mind gave up at one moment, but determination of finishing the challenge kept me going.

Ladakh Bike Trip - Chandigarh to Manali, An epic ride Kick off (Day 1)

2011-09-04T09:02:00.000+05:30

Biking season was on and what else for a biker living in foot of Himalayas than to take on Ladakh Bike trip. It was long awaited dream to embark on this adventure and it materialized in year 2011. I was fortunate to get the company of few cool riders, Anurag, Sudhir, Akshay and Mohit. Sudhir & Mohit rode from Indore, Anurag from Gurgaon and Akshay and me joined them at Chandigarh.

Anurag, Sudhir,Me,Mohit and Akhsay

A day before start of the bike trip, I was pleasantly nervous with lot of questions arising in mind. But above all I was confident that this trip is going to be lifetime memorable experience.

The trip got postponed by one day at Chandigarh itself due to Sudhir's bike breakdown which took a day to repair. Pulsar 200, which has nothing left of Pulsar after modifications except the engine.

With full excitement and enthusiasm, all five riders started the ride from Chandigarh in heavy rain. Knowing the fact that we will encounter heavy rains ahead, we rode hard to reach Manali before sunset. Delicious breakfast at Dhaba on the way increased our body temperature little. However the rain outside was unprecedented. There was no point in waiting for the rain to get over, so we enjoyed the ride in rain as well. Our pace went down when modified bikes of Sudhir & Akshay did not keep up in heavy rain. We lost lot of time.

A view of Valley on the way to Manali

By afternoon, the rain finally showed some mercy on us. After that we rode comfortably till Manali. However we were quite late to reach Manali. As we crossed Sundernagar, the serene green lush valley of Kullu Manali fascinated us a lot. Struggling with traffic of trucks and tourist cabs we manage to reach Manali by 9:30 PM.

Posers :- Me, Akhsay & Sudhir

Unexpectedly everyone slept after dinner. The day was tough to ride with rains. Knowing the fact that many more challenges are ahead of us on the trip we all lived with the day happily.