My world my life !!

Bike Tour - Leh to Kargill (Day 10)

2013-05-16T12:48:00.000+05:30

It was time to starting our journey back home. Kargill was the destination for the day. An easy ride in the planes of Ladakh region and transition from deserts to Green Lush valley of Kashmir always spellbound people.

This was my third consecutive trip to Ladakh and similar to past two departures from Leh, this time as well I started the ride with heavy heart. Wishing that I will get another chance to visit Ladakh we wrapped up the stuff.

Though the roads are pretty easy to ride on this route but that does not mean that it is not serene. Couple of Kilometers from Leh and we get to see a famous "PattharSahib Gurudwara". Devotees from different corner of world comes here to serve and assist Military which has been running the show for ages.

The next attraction on this route is called "Magnetic Hills". After few curves from PattharSahib, there lies this mysterious spot. On first glance this place does not any different. A flat road in the middle of deserts and giant mountain with no vegetation in front of it. This Giant mountain supposedly contains good enough amount of magnetic that it can pull/shake a bigger things as an aeroplane. The road in front of the mountains looks an upward slope and all the vehicles get pulled up automatically. On contrary I found that road as downward slope. Its all about illusion. But still remains a huge attraction of people.

The third attraction of people is "Sangam" where two rivers Indus and Zanskar meets each others. The best ever view of two rivers Sangam.

With continuous riding of an hour when we were feeling a need for break, a landslide forced us to park our machine on side and wait. We met lot of people here who were on also waiting for the BRO to clear the landslide. The wait was as longer as two hours.

The day had grown hot and hard sun had started hitting us. We stopped for a lunch at one of the small dhaba on the border of Ladakh Region and Kashmir.

Ride after lunch was smooth in the middle of Kashmir valley. As per the plan we reached late evening at Kargil.

Bike Tour – Pangong Lake (Day 8 & 9)

2012-09-30T19:28:00.000+05:30

On are arrival at Leh we had learnt that there was huge landslide on the way to Pangong Lake and thousands of tourists were rescued by Army. Assuming that situation would get normalized in few days we had kept our Pangong Ride towards the end of the trip. Thank fully as per our intuition, the situation had normalized by 9^th day of our trip and we were all set to ride to Pangong Lake.

Unlike our initial days of trip, now we had luxury to start the day little late as the roads were good and huge water streams were just a story now. With lesser luggage, the ride felt great until we started riding steep uphill towards Chang La, world’s third highest motorable pass. Keeping in mind that during 2011 bike trip, we were not able to go to Pangong Lake due to time constraint, I was much more excited to cross Chang La again and witness the divine beauty of Pangong Lake.

Once we crossed the first check post, the bike started losing its power due to low oxygen. Couple of miles ahead and we had severe problem in pulling our 500 CC machines on steep uphill ride. The road to Chang La has its unique daunting curves with roads full of rocks unevenly spread on steep uphill drive. Bikers with lesser CCs in hand were struggling badly and stopping under loosely hanging rocks was not at all choice for anyone. Speed and balance was to be maintained very carefully throughout.

While we were slowly nearing Chang La and Snow Capped peaks were indicating the drizzling coming down, we found caught ourselves in the middle of huge trucker’s caravan moving uphill. At the same time beginning of some of the uneven surfaced water streams added spice to the entire story. Now it was either a truck creating hurdle in our efforts or a water stream. On the other side, the weather was turning cold with every move.

By the time we reached Chang La, we had crossed almost 50 trucks. The sad part was that we had to stop at Chang La and by the time we would resume our ride, these trucks again will be driving downhill on the other side of Chang La downhill waiting for us to repeat the same effort. But there was no question that we would not stop at Chang La.

Ignoring all this, we really felt proud to be at World’s Third highest motorable pass. The surrounding peaks of pass were all covered under thick snow and overcastted weather was clear indication of drizzling any time.

Once we resumed our ride, the other side of the pass was full of snow and roads were completely under water. The truckers had disappeared and we could not see them anywhere. Now we were eagerly looking for the recent landslide spot. In some time we had to stop in the middle of now where as there was road repair work was on. The road from both side was full of vehicles. And later we realized that this was the very same place where couple of days back there was huge landslide.

Ride after this break was extremely smooth and enjoyable. The landscapes of this corner of Ladakh always fascinated me. On the way, stopped at couple of places to relax, to eat and for photography.

In the later part of the ride, we reached a place where in a board was put in to indicate the first glimpse of Pangong Lake. This is where my excitement increased manifold. The blue color of lake always attracted me.

Finally, we reached at the beginning of the lake. The water was calm and blue color was shining under clear sky. With handful of tourists in the area, the solace can be felt despite of the thump of the bullet. There were many camp sites close to the lake but we were looking for the best, and we knew that to get the best we need to ride further. Our destination was village Spangmik. A small village situated at the bank of Pangong Lake is the only best option to stay.

We chose a camp site which was exactly in front of the lake and we opted for a lake facing tent for the night. The hospitality of people here was extremely impressive and we had superbly delicious lunch followed by a coffee under open sky.

After some relaxation time post lunch, we were all over the lake. The place always seemed like a house of god. The water is unbelievably blue and calm. The evening darkness made me realize that the day has come to an end.

Day 10, we had to ride back to Leh and we were nearing towards the end of the mega trip. This brought a sadness in me. But we had no choice than to come back to the reality.

Bike Tour – Tso mori ri (Day 7& 8)

2012-09-23T11:24:00.000+05:30

Seventh day we were heading towards the corner which was new to route for me, Tso Mori ri. We had heard a lot about easy track from Leh to Tso mori ri. The road was supposed to be smooth, no high altitude passes, no water streams and no off roading. Keeping all these things in mind we started from leh around 9:00 AM.

To reach Tso Mori ri, we had to head back on Manali Highway until 50 KMs when we had to divert on different direction at Upshi.

The day was sunny and I was feeling the heat to some extent. Untill Upshi we were surrounded by various bikers and vehicles cruising both sides.

As we took diversion from Upshi, the silence of Ladakh deserts took over. There were no vehicles, no man and no life. By seventh day, I was little bored with overflowing silence at most of the places, so did not like the track much. Over and above it, the sun had started bothering me a lot.

Landslide and road construction at one place wasted our half an hour under harsh sun where we saw some people on cabs travelling to/fro Tso mori ri.

The ride was mostly down hill until first 150 kilometres with all kind of curves and terrains. Every turn to the other side of the valley was bringing new mystery of Ladakh deserts and beauty.

Kiari was our first stop of the ride where Military runs a cafeteria named “INDUS CAFETERIA” at an altitude of 13,500 feet.

Soon after we resumed the ride, we reached at one bridge where some water was overflowing onto the road. The continuous flowing water had made the road very rough with some big rocks lying oddly here and there. This was the first fall of my ride wherein I could not balance my bike on one of the rock under front wheel. I tried a lot to balance it but it had to fall gently. Due to low oxygen I could not lift the bike easily and had to struggle a lot as Anand was quite ahead of me. Well this brought some excitement in the day.

Seventh day was only kept for riding and it was feeling little boring quite often. After my fall, we rode continuously for 01:30 hours as there was nothing much interesting to stop. We stopped at village named “Sumdo” wherein an uphill ride again started towards a small pass. Some bikers riding down from the other side brought some signs of life here.

After seeing some bikers and vehicles, an excitement to ride added some energy in me. Hoping that we will stop at the Pass to capture some serene views of Himalayas I pulled the bike hard. However, we did not even realise when we crossed the pass, It happened due to lack of high altitude of this pass.

The pleasant surprise was the view from few kilometre away from Pass. The green water lake was all in front of us. I was wondering as how come the water of Tso mori ri, which is supposed to be blue, has become green. As we moved further towards the lake, the suspense increased. Later we realised that its not Tso mori ri because we were still 30 kilometer behind our destination of the day.

The green water lake was really an amazing gift of nature for tired riders. We relaxed for sometime and opened the map. There we came to know that the amazing green water in front of us is known as Thadsang Lake. Surrounded closely by mountains from all sides, this small lake is an amazing place for camping.

The last 30 kilometers were terribly off road and some of the places were extremely confusing in terms of which direction to go.

As we were nearing our final destination Korzok Village, we got to see the glimpses of Tso mori ri. The lake was widely spread wherever one could see. The calm blue water was real soothing gel for soul. Riding along the lake made me forget the rough roads which we were witnessing for last 30 kilometre.

The view of village Korzok on the bank of lake and numerous camping sites set the whole aura of beautiful life here.

After scouting at few places for shelter, finally we got an amazing camp site near lake. We offloaded our luggage and biking gears immediately, took some refreshment, relaxed for a while. The absence of thump of bullets was making me feel the saturation of extreme silence here.

The time had come to explore the place. We headed towards lake when we had huge argument on our balance days plan. Finally it ended by the time we reached close to the lake.

The amazing beauty of lake was breathtaking. The sunset made the time extremely divine. With handful of people around, the solace made me feel my presence all over. I was roaming on the bank of the lake until darkness had hit the ground.

Such places makes one feel the true meaning of life, which is simplicity. Away from hassles and worries of city life, this place does not feel anything less than a true heaven on earth.

Day 8^th ride was to head back from Tso Mori ri lake to Leh. It did not bring anything new than what we had experienced previous day except the fact that Thadsang Lake where we had seen it completely green had turned blue.

Bike Tour - Ride to World's Highest Motorable Pass Khardung La (Day 6)

2012-08-19T15:25:00.000+05:30

Reaching Ladakh after continuous five days ride from Chandigarh via Shimla, Kinnaur and Spiti valley was big relief mentally as well as physically. Similarly our bikes also needed some rest and basic checks. Day 6 started late in the morning with breakfast at Restaurant called Gesmo.

After reaching Leh, if you wish to cover surrounded valleys such as Pangong Lake, Khardung La, Tso Mori ri and Nubra, then the most important activity is to obtain permit called Inner Line Permit (ILP) from local SDM office. The process is not at all time consuming and lengthy. Also officials issuing permits are extremely helpful and humble.

I manage to get the ILPs for Anand and me by 12:00 PM. Soon after this our landmark ride started towards World's highest motorable pass, Khardung La situated at analtitude of 18,380 feet. It was my third year in a row when I was riding to World's highest motorable pass.

The weather was completely clear sky and sun was shining hard. After five days we were riding without luggage and it was fun riding on uphill curves.

It was not at all a long distance to cover from Leh to Khardung La but the steep uphill ride was proving tough every now and then. Soon after Leh and before South Pullu (The first check point for security checks), my bike started struggling to pull uphill due to scarcity of oxygen. There were times when I was struggling to achieve the speed of 30kpmh.

Once we crossed the South Pullu, the road began with huge pot wholes, water and mud. Since we were riding without luggage, the suspension of the bike was hitting me hard. Even small rocks had started hitting hard. This further reduced my speed to great extent.

As we progressed uphill, the view of hills on all sides emerged more and more spectacular. The snow capped mountains with clear blue sky was a view to count on.

We crossed lot of landslide prone areas with melting snow hanging on head. The water on road had increased drastically and it was making really difficult to ride with a stable pace.

Each and every terrain and view reminded me of my past two year's ride and fellow riders. Every time it was joy to ride to World's highest motorable pass.

As we say, great things does not come easy, similarly Day 6 ride proved very tiring and hard on me despite its shortest distance among other days we rode so far. At one point in time I was looking forward eagerly to reach the Pass not out of excitement but just to finish the ride.

Finally I manage to reach Khardung La and believe me, in fraction of seconds I forgot the tiredness I had. The place offers a soothing effect of its aura on people. The snow all over and smiling faces of people makes one feel proud. The colorful flags dominantly present in every corners where human being can reach were flourishing in Air and making a smooth noise in ears. The sun was also feeling soft on head now.

The feeling of achievement, pride and success made me completely overwhelmed. I was wondering whether I will be able to make to this place ever in my life.

We had a long photo session at Khardung La. Post photo session, we headed to the restaurant run by military for some food as our stomachs had started starving for lunch break. At such places when it comes food, what else can be other than Maggi. The delicious Maggi cooked in the form of soup cum noodles were great to fill the appetite at World's highest motorable pass.

Another attraction for me was the Souvaniour Shop of Khardung La. I bought few of them and those Mugs everyday reminds me of that spectacular ride we had.

While starting the journey way back to Leh, we decided for another photo session as we knew that we would not be able to revisit this landmark place.

Day 6 was the most important as a rider because this was the day which differentiated our trip from other road trips as no other place can offer you a ride to World's Highest motorable Pass.

Bike Tour - Keylong to Leh, 4 High Altitude Passes & Morray Planes (Day 5)

2012-08-15T10:21:00.000+05:30

The aim of Day 5 was to leave hotel at 05:00 AM so that we are able to avoid some of big water streams on the way. Both disciplined riders made it on time. We hit the road at 05:00 at Keylong. The sky was clear and it was cold while riding before sunrise. It was so early in the morning that we spotted numerous rare species of birds wandering on road searching for their livelihood.

The road was mixture of bad and worst. While we only two riders were riding early in the morning I was eagerly waiting for the first water stream on our way. And we did finally reach there. The stream was unexpectedly huge, wide and noisy. The white water was making the surface invisible.

I was in full mood to get into the water and get wet completely. Though it was early morning and getting into the water was not less than freezing the feet I roared my bike into water stream first. The flow of water was extremely fast and it pushed my bike's front wheel outside. Since I had expected this to happen, I was fully prepared for this. With some tussle with water rapids we crossed it.

The count of water stream kept on increasing as we moved ahead towards Jispa and eventually Bara Lacha La. While we were riding uphill towards Bara Lacha La Pass, my feet were completely wet and numb. The numbness had started hitting my hands as well. The power to pull the throttle had reduced significantly and so as the bike. It was starving for oxygen big time and covering the distance was just becoming a challenge.

In the hope of lot of Snow at Bara Lacha La, we pulled our bikes despite extreme cold. The Suraj Taal immediately before Pass was a stunning peace of Nature's blessings. The reflection of Snow, sky and mountains in the water was breathtaking.

In a kilometer's distance from Suraj Taal we reached at Bara Lacha La Pass. The pass was covered with thin layer of snow and wind blowing from all side was making it difficult to stand there for a while also. The snow on both sides of the road continued for at least a kilometer from Pass and it felt really great to ride along the snow.

On the foot of Bara Lacha La pass we stopped to gain some energy under sun and have some breakfast at Bharatgarh a camp site. Here we got to know that there are no more water streams beyond this point. Well that was some relief.

Our plan at Bharatgarh took new turn when we decided to ride upto Leh same day instead of ending the ride at Pang. It was difficult to think that we will be able to ride 400 KM in a day on Manail Leh highway which offers all possible hurdles such as Snow, extreme weather conditions, deserts, off road, high altitude passes, water streams and much more. But we proved the saying right, "where there is a will there is way."

With refreshed energy and new target of reaching Leh same day, we had no choice than to ride hard towards Lachung La and Tang Lang La passes. By now we had started facing continuous problem of low oxygen and which was resulting in huge power loss of our bikes.

Unlike my 2011 bike tour to Leh, this year we met very few riders on the way. Perhaps one of the key reason I realized later was that we use to start our ride early in morning so we were always ahead. Soon we crossed Lachung La and Tang Lang La Passes and reached Pang by 12:00 PM. Well it was lunch time then and a deserving little long break.

Sitting under clear sky and sharp sun rays, we finally were in Ladakh. The landscapes of brown colors all the sides with no vegetation is all about Ladakh.

After lunch at Pang, it was the time to indulge in sand deserts. Yes we were heading towards Morray Planes now. Morray planes are one of the best stretch for riders where they enjoy 25 KM ride in the middle of sand. You go in any direction for those 25 KM but you will end up reaching at same place.

Once we crossed the huge caravan of military in first 3 KM, we were all free to ride off road. Sands all over and no direction where to go, we had fun. Those never ending 25 KM were extremely fascinating though tiring. By the time we finished Morray planes, we were all covered under Sand, be it our shoes, gloves or jackets.

Immediately after Morray planes, the uphill ride towards Tang Lang La pass, Worlds second highest motorable pass at height of 17,582 Feet, starts. This pass has longest uphill ride with road full of mud and one feel the scarcity of Oxygen to large extent here. Since our bikes were struggling to pull uphill, we had no choice than to move ahead steadily.

Finally we reached Tang Lang La completely tired and drenched. We were still carrying the dust which we accumulated in Morray planes. The view from this pass is the most beautiful among all other passes which falls on Leh Manali highway.

Leh was still 100 odd kilometers from here so we decided to move ahead faster. The snow on the other side of the pass was a spectacular view to watch.

After 10 kilometers downhill from Tang Lang La Pass the road was amazing to ride and we pulled the throttle as high as 90 kmph. One break at a small town and we resumed the ride again to reach Leh.

Finally we made the day come to an end at 05:00 PM when we reached Leh. The ride of 12 hours with 400 KM was an achievement for us. Despite the fact that we had to cross 4 high altitude passes, Morray planes, Countless water streams, Snow, harsh weather conditions, we made it possible.

Bike Tour - Kaza to Keylong, en-route Holy Chandertaal (Day 4)

2012-08-12T13:10:00.000+05:30

Untill our Day 4 ride, we had sufficient petrol available on the way. Kaza to Keylong was the ride where we had to carry fuel.We went to the only petrol pump in Kaza on Day 3 evening itself. There we got to know the never heard story of not able to provive petrol. Since petrol pump's temperature had increased under sun, it was unable to pump out the petrol. This funny story made us worried as we were planning to leave at 5:00 AM next day. Petrol Pump guy assured us that he will come in the morning at 5:00 AM to provide us the petrol.

Day 4 morning we arrived Petrol Station at 5:30 AM and to our fears Petrol pump was closed. Since the weather was cloudy and we were expecting some rain on the way made me more impatient. After various calls to Petrol Pump employee, he landed at 6:30 AM by when a long queue of vehicles had gathered.

Under cloudy weather we started the ride at 07:00 AM from Kaza towards Losar, Chandertaal and finally Keylong. We had heard a lot about this stretch. It was isolated, full of landslide prone areas, water crossing , too narrow and off road tracks.

The deserts of Spiti valley continued and mettled road disappeared soon. We were riding on rocks and water often. The day was too cold with windy morning. Met a group of riders before Losar who were struggling to ride on this track and one of the riders escaped from a fall with marginal difference.

We reached Losar, a small village, where we stopped for Breakfast. The day was turning to be more cold and since we were heading towards Kuzum Pass which is known for its haunting steep downhill track with lot of mud, it made me little worried.

Before riding beyond Losar one need to enter its details with Police at Losar. So we registered ourselves there and moved ahead. The most worst roads have started now with rocks and water on the road. I experienced first imbalance of my bike of this trip. While I was riding on rocks and water, I turned my bike to the other side of the road assuming that rocks are big enough to take the turn. But it proved to be other way round and small rocks with water imbalanced my bike. Somehow I managed to lift the bike before it hit the road.

The road towards Kunzum Pass was in bad condition. Windy weather with no sun on top had made the ride more difficult. We met few riders on the way along with some cars plying towards Keylong/Manali.

I had heard and read a lot about Kunzum Pass and its challenges. So I was excited to ride up there to 4,551 Meters and see the famous Kunzum. In couple of hours from Losar, we arrived at the top of Kunzum Pass. The wind had increased manifold and flags all over the place were creating a soothing noise. Snow patches on the top scattered unevenly made the view spectacular.

Riding down from Kunzum Pass to Batal (Apprx 30 KM) was the most difficult track so far. Steep downhill road with Mud, water and rocks made it difficult to ride. But we kept moving as our next destination was Chandertaal. With lot of patient to ride slow, we finally arrived at Batal where we inquired the off road track towards Chandertaal. Here we came to know that the off road track to Chandertaal diverts five kilometer before Batal. We had no energy to ride back those horrible tracks again back and then 13 kilometers most challenging road to Chandertaal.

But without wasting much time, we rode back to reverse those last five kilometers. I was curious to see the board which was put at Diversion point because we did not notice it while going down. When we reached that point, we saw a big board which we had conveniently missed, it proves the horrible condition of the road which forced us to continuously focus on road rather than hoarding around it.

So far we were not aware that we had taken up the most challenging 13 kilometers of the trip. Though HPPWD has declared this as Jeep Road I would advice people to not to take Cars/Jeeps on this road. Huge rocks falling on the road from landslides are big hurdles and the width of road is exactly equal a sedan car. Above this, the uneven surface of the road is good enough to imbalance any car with speed more than 10kmph.

To add more spice to the adventure, there were two giant water crossing coming straight down from Kunzum Pass. We saw one Mahindra Jeep standing well before the first water crossing waiting for someone to come as he was not able to dare to cross the stream. So we two Bike Riders became the motivation. We had crossed so many water streams that it was normal for us to get indulged in water. But the freezing water under cloudy weather was challenge for any biker here.

The road till the end was narrow and difficult. Last two kilometers we experienced riding on sand with risk of imbalance. But finally we reached the end of the road where some camp sites were also available. My impression was little different that we will be able to ride upto Chandertaal but in reality we had to walk almost half a kilometer to be able to see the Lake. So we walked slowly as we were badly tired. The day was still cloudy but the excitement to see Chandertaal pulled us towards it.

The first view of Lake took all my tiredness away and made me realize that its worth putting an effort to mark your presence here. The true unexplored and untouched corner of the world, Chandertaal made us relax for a while. There were no people except three people other than us. The wind blowing on face and making soft noise in the ears felt heavenly and washed off whole body ache in seconds.

I spent sometime there sitting on the side of the lake and imagined a small tent, bonfire and my loving one with me. Well that was just a dream and soon Anand made me realise that we need to head back soon as we were to still ride another 140 kilometer and it was already 01:00 PM.

We rode back from Chandertaal and haulted at Batal "Kangri Dhaba" for lunch. This guy happened to be from Bharmour, near my hometown. So we chatted in our Pahari Language while we were having lunch.

The road from Batal to Gramphoo was no good at all. Rather it worsened further. Since we were exiting from Spiti Valley and entering the green lush valleys, Snow capped mountains had spread huge mesh of water streams through out the stretch between Batal and Gramphoo.

We crossed countless water streams and most of them were huge, some were giant enough to push bike's front Tyre outward with the flow. Due to all kind of hurdles we were unable to hit the time which we had kept as a target. Anand was getting irritated badly today.

While we were not even sparing rocks for hard riding, a landslide because of increased water at one place made us wait for half an hour.

Once we crossed a place called Chhattru, the Greenery had started increasing drastically. The waterfalls on the other side of the valley were spectacular. One of the stretch between Chhattru and Graphoo reminded me of Chitkul valley.

Gramphoo brought us some relief when we merged into Manali Leh Highway. We were still 50 KM behind Keylong but since the road condition was good we were quite relieved.

With Spectacular views of waterfalls, Glaciers, Green lush valleys and civilization, we manage to reach Keylong at 05:00 PM.

Chanderbhaaga Hotel of Himachal Tourism at the outskirts of Keylong town became our shelter for night.

Bike Tour - Kalpa to Kaza, Exploring Deserts of Spiti Valley (Day 3)

2012-08-04T11:16:00.000+05:30

The road was never expected to be good for Day 3 onward ride. Rather we were heavily dependent on weather conditions now. Starting early from Kalpa was the right decision to move on.

Expecting lot of rain and harsh cold conditions we started the day at 06:00 AM presuming that we will encounter some landslide and road blockage which will eat up few hours.

The haunting terrains and mysterious curves with narrow road continued once we resumed the ride from Powari. The road was extremely rough and downhill for first few kilometers. The speed of our bikes could not exceed 30 kmph.

Some of the terrains were so fascinating that I wanted to stop for a while but the narrow steep downhill tracks did not suggest so.

Finally we got our first stop when we turned sharp left into the cave and there was giant water fall with deafening noise. It was crazily scary waterfall exactly over the head. Thank God, that there was bridge to cross it else this would have surely become a show stopper for us and it would have sent us back.

We gathered some courage to park bikes near the bridge and stop for a while for some beautiful photographs.

The tracks were isolated and there were no habitat places for miles and miles. Roads were cut through rocks and many places rocks were hanging like dragon overhead. We were experiencing the best of the ride on such terrains. The best part was that we did not leave all available opportunities to stop at such places and fetch some memories in e-mode.

After riding approximately 50 kilometers from Kalpa, the vegetation and greenery of the valley had slowely started disappearing and brown colored mountains were smelling an air of arrival of heavenly Spiti Valley. This slow transition from Kinnaur valley to Spiti Valley was soothing with sunrise in different corners of landscapes.

By the time NH 5 was to end at a village named Sumdo which was the last village of Kinnaur District, the vegetation and greenery had disappeared completely. Now we were in Spiti valley of Himachal. I call it the Ladakh of Himachal Pradesh. Similar to Ladakh, this valley was not an exception to anything which happens in Ladakh. One can see colored flags tied over mountains, houses and trees (if any).

The Spiti valley houses also resembles the similarity with houses of Ladakh. From concept to colors, everything was identical. The stunning blue sky was another similarity between Spiti and Ladakh.

While I was lost in comparing landscapes, skies, houses and people of Spiti with Ladakh, an extremely mysterious terrains (rather I would say haunting) took us to the other side of the mountain in couple of minutes. On the other side, we saw curvious road going uphill and disappearing into the sky which clearly reminded me of some of the passes on Leh Manali highway.

After riding uphill, it was Nako village. There is a high altitude Nako Lake which sadly we did not cover just because it was 13 kilometer away from our route.

We kept riding ahead with the hope that next village would be further on a heigh altitude where we will have our lunch. However the road proved us wrong and Nako was the highest point and soon we were riding downhill.

Finally we landed at very small village where we had lunch and moved on. Since we were riding in the middle of deserts the day was quite hot.

The road had become flat, the valleys had become wider, the sky had become clearer and day had grown hot. We parked our bikes in the middle of nowhere,put off all gears and rested for half an hour. The valley was scaring silent and isolated but lying down under sun and blue sky had no comparison.

Unlike the other days, we were heading to finish our day by 02:00 PM itself. We were approaching Kaza town and the view from far looked like a dream or fairy tale village. A village decorated with colord flags all over was spectacular to watch.

After entering the town, we landed at a small Hotel where we decided to stay for a day.

Bike Tour - Sarahan to Sangla Valley, Chitkul & Kalpa (Day 2)

2012-08-02T08:01:00.000+05:30

The day started with cozy weather covering entire Sarahan valley under clouds. It was difficult to come out of bed early in morning so we started the ride comfortably at 07:00 AM.

It was nice to cut the dense clouds in Sarahan and Ride ahead. Moreover downhill drive was free fall as there was almost no traffic.

Drizzling did not leave us and continued this day as well. However this day's attraction was the spectacular terrains of Kinnaur Valley. We came across all those scary and haunting terrains of Kinnaur which I had seen till day in photographs only. Slippery roads under rain made our ride more fascinating on these terrains.

Though I am well versed with narrow roads of my hometown Chamba but Kinnaur is unbeatable. The narrow roads on high hills made me cold blooded couple of times. But since I was aware that this is once in lifetime trip, we took some risk and stood at very narrow roads under hanging rocks to capture some nice memories.

While we were enjoying our ride on mud, narrow roads and scary terrains, well before a small station "Tapri" the road was blocked due to landslide and road maintenance. We were forced to wait here for at least half an hour when we finally crossed it.

Tapri was the first stop for breathing and break fast. The clouds had scattered and day had grown little warmer by now. Rest of the work was done by freshly made hot parantha and steaming dark red colored tea.

With nice feeling after lovely breakfast at "Punjabi Dhaba" we moved ahead towards Karcham, the point where we had to divert towards Sangla Valley and Chitkul Village. Somehow I was enjoying the rough tracks with my RE Classic 500. The machine was rocking on each and every patch of the rough track.

As we moved ahead of Karcham towards Sangla Valley, the uphill terrains filled completely a new energy in me and it was spectacular to ride on those mysterious terrains and curves.

Riding uphill against gravity in low oxyegn, we finally landed at Sangla Valley. The spectacular views of Sangla Valley made me stop at some of the very narrow corners to collect nice photographs. The green lush valley with various colors of house popping out of the pine tree jungles was a breath taking view to witness. Clouds wandering over it made it stunning combination of colors.

Since our target was to reach Chitkul by noon and we had plan to have lunch at Chitkul so we rode ahead without spending much time at Sangla Valley.

The road took 360 Degree turn when mettled road abruptly disappeared. We were riding off road in the middle of fields and jungle often. We crossed very first water stream crossing well before Chitkul in the middle of dense forest.

This was one of the corner of this world where I wished that this road should never come to an end. The valley was spectacular and riding was easy with no traffic on it.

As we were nearing Chitkul, the dense forest had started disappearing slowly and mountains have started widening from all sides. Before I could realize that we are about to enter Chitkul, a small Restaurant little far from road signaled that we are about to reach our destination. And yes one turn from that point and a board welcomed us. We could see the entire chitkul village from this point and believe me it was soothing to watch. Fully lush green and wide open valley with handful of houses, it was really heartening to see people living in such remote corners of the world.

Finally we got into our senses after digesting the beauty of Chitkul and rode into the middle of the village to find out some eating point or Dhaba. At the end of the village, we landed at a house cum guest house cum restaurant where both husband and wife were owner cum cooks.

Those delayed Maggi servings and Coffee was nice experience to fill in the kitty of memories. Immediately after long lunch break and lazy times, we rode back towards Sangla and Karcham so that we can finally reach Kalpa which was the last destination for the day.

Soon we reversed entire distance from Chitkul to Sangla and Finally Karcham. Now we had to move towards Kalpa. Suddenly, the road was spectacular to ride along with the river. But the joy of riding on such a superb road was short and we were finally again in the middle of rough tracks. Since our last destination Kalpa was not far, we rode happily.

Like our Day 1 destination Sarahan, Kalpa was also 15 kilometers off route from our main route towards Kaza. But since I had heard lot of great about the place, we did not mind to ride those 15 kilometer. Once we diverted from Powari towards Recong Peo and Kalpa, the ride was exactly like Sarahan uphill ride except the fact that Day 2 road was open unlike Sarahan which was fully covered under trees.

Recong Peo was way above what I had an image of this town. This small town was spectacular to watch and riding in the middle of this town is worth remembering. After taking multiple zig zag turns on hill we reached Kalpa. The very first thing I noticed was that the town was completely clean and organised. None of water streams were crossing over the road. This was stunning to watch.

We were determined to stay at Himachal Tourism Hotel, Kinner Kailash. So we rode to the hotel and finally got the best of the room with spectacular view of Holy Kinner Kailash from room.

Bike Tour - Chandigarh to Sarahan (Day 1)

2012-07-22T20:29:00.000+05:30

After long wait of more than a month, finally the D Day had arrived on 4th Jul 2012. Both RE Classic 500 were serviced thoroughly on previous day and pampered properly as the ride ahead was difficult and adventours.

Out of excitement I had short sleep and got up at 04:00 AM at Chandigarh. We manage to hit the road by 05:00 AM. The morning was quite hot even at 5 AM, but in the hope of great weather ahead I ignored the wind blowing on my face.

Once we hit the new bypass for Shimla near Pinjore, the weather changed dramatically. The cold wind blowing on face felt like heavenly touch and beautiful uphill terrains encouraged me to pull the throttle hard.

The clouds were coming down fast and we were heading into a mystical world behind clouds. Soon the visibility reduced drastically which ofcourse did hit our pace to large extent.

Once we reached Solan, the mysterious clouds welcomed us with drizzling and added interesting aspect to our first day riding. We were not able to see anything beyond 100 meters and clouds have made a thick white cage around us. Above this, there were no vehicles moving early in the morning.

I had started feeling hungry once we crossed Solan but there were no dhabas open at 07 AM so we kept riding.

The clouds were continuously wandering on mountains, often taking road beneath it and sometime suddenly making a view fully clear. With this play of hide and seek with clouds, the increasing traffic from the other side made us realized that we had reached Shimla.

The beautiful city of Shimla was completely drained under rain. The heavenly feeling of this beautiful city teased me to give a thought to stay for a day here in such a beautiful weather. But our mega tour had to be accomplished by sticking to the plan, so we did that.

Once we crossed Shimla, we realised that its only three hours since we started our ride and we were at Kufri. Now this was the high time for breakfast, so we stopped at small dhaba for break.

After Kufri, the entire ride was downhill untill Rampur. With roads in excellent conditions and weather becoming warmer, we manage to cruise faster. The another benefit of clear weather was awesome view of valley, which we enjoyed the most.

On our way we met lot of cyclist downhill in colorful apparels. I did get carried away with the idea of cycling but my cycling was way away from me.

By the time we reached Rampur, the day had grown, the sky was clear. The town was extremely crowded. This was the last place where we had to fill our petrol tanks as we were told that there was no petrol pump before Sarahan. So we filled our tanks here and rode ahead.

As we crossed Rampur, we got to see rainy weather far on mountains, in the direction where we were heading.

Jeori was the next station on highway from where we had to turn right to reach Sarahan. This was the another stop where Petrol pump was available after Rampur. Road condition was not so excellent but keeping in mind what we will encounter in later part of our trip, these roads were good.

The uphill ride of approximately 20 KM from Jeori to Sarahan was the highlight of the day. In the middle of dense forest of pine trees the curves of roads felt excellent to ride. As we started on this stretch, the clouds again caught us from all sides. Freshly showered roads and valley was the proof of recent rain.

Once we reached Sarahan, we enquired the room availability at Shrikhand Hotel maintained by Himachal Tourism but there was no availability. Finally we landed at some small hotel where we spent rest of the day.

Bike Tour - Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Ladakh & Kashmir

2012-07-22T11:34:00.000+05:30

This time I had planned a longer and wider bike tour covering some of the spectacular valleys of Himachal and J&K for any biker and photographer.

We started with plan of six riders and by the time we were to hit the road, we left with 2 riders i.e Anand and me. The entire blame goes to office schedules.

Nevertheless we were in really very high spirit to ride hard and ride longer. I was eager to ride to Kinnaur and Spiti valley of the Himachal. So we covered all these places before heading towards Ladakh. The day wise tour was:-

Day 1:- Chandigarh to Sarahan via Shimla
Day 2:- Sarahan to Kalpa (covering Sangla Valley and Chitkul Village)
Day 3:- Kalpa to Kaza
Day 4:- Kaza to Keylong (covering holy Chandertaal enroute)
Day 5:- Keylong to Leh (the original plan was to stay at Pang but we got the benefit of early birds and landed at Leh same day)
Day 6:- Leh to Khardung La, World’s highest motorable pass
Day 7:- Leh to Tso-Mori ri Lake
Day 8:- Tso-Mori ri Lake to Leh
Day 9:- Leh to Pangong Tso Lake
Day 10:- Pangong Tso Lake to Leh
Day 11:- Leh to Kargil
Day 12:- Kargil to Gulmarg
Day 13:- A day at Gulmarg
Day 14:- Gulmarg to Jammu
Day 15:- Jammu to Nangal Dam

We rode 3,500 KM in 15 days trip and this was truly mesmerizing.

Since we were aware of our mega plans, we serviced our bikes at Chandigarh a day in advance and carried some of basic spare parts with us, which are:-

Tyre Tubes

Clutch Cable

Accelerator Cable

Spark Plugs

Chain Locks

Electrical Fuse

Tool Kit

Engine Oil

Two containers of 5 ltr each for Petrol

On Safety gears, below list accompanied me:-

DSG Biking Jacket
RST Gloves
Knee cum Shin Guard
Helmet

Taking learning from my previous experiences of Bike Tour, This time I had Saddle Bags from Cramster which made my entire trip extremely comfortable.

And I forgot to mention about the the most important fellow of my mega tour, The Diva, The Lady of my passion, ROYAL ENFIELD CLASSIC 500. A true companion of my solace and life.

Mountain Biking - Exploring new tracks

2012-06-03T14:57:00.000+05:30

Our every day Mega Morning initiative had brought us to such a verge that we had run out of new tracks on and off road for Cycling in and around Nangal situated in the foothills of Shivalik Hills. Gaurav and me were starving to explore new tracks for our pulses to come back to normal.

Everyday morning when we hit the road either on cycle or on a run, we do not come with pre decided plan. 2nd June 2012 Saturday was not different from our normal routine. We manage to hit the road at 05:00 AM with a clear aim to explore new track.

Crossing through NFL jungles we went out of Nangal town and were wandering somewhere in the forests along side serene Nangal Dam. First Rays of sun in front of serene and soothing water filled more energy and excitement to pedal hard.

So far the track was not new for us. After pedalling 10 kilometer with a blend of uphill and downhill ride, we took a diversion towards new corner of the valley. In couple of moments we were right in front of humungas Nangal Dam and stable green water to cross. Wait wait, I am not going to say that we crossed it either by riding on water or by swimming along with our mountain bikes.

There was a 100 years old bridge to cross to reach other side of the dam. The length of the bridge was approximately 500 meters and looked too giant standing tall in the sky. Bridge was narrow enough to not to ride on it so we had to walk on it with our cycles. With our every step, the movement of bridge increased a lot and looking down into the green water of dam made it more challenging for us to concentrate. There was another thrill to the game, since steel made bridge was broken at many places, people had put wooden floor on it which was also too old and damaged badly. We had no choice than to cross it smilingly. Surely we soaked some blood here.

This bridge called "Handola" was the beginning of exploring new track. The track ahead was completely off road and full of odd rocks lying all over the place. An old railway track joined us soon and we learnt from a local that we were heading towards Bhakra Dam through an off road track. We rode along with Railway track and valley full of plants and trees.

While riding off road for few kilometers we crossed a very small village when off road track abruptly ended and a smooth beautiful road welcomed us with easy uphill ride. This was the beginning of Bhakra Dam territory. At a diversion of road towards two direction, we inquired about both tracks from a policemen guarding Dam territory.

Again with no plans, we decided to go on a different route than one which went towards Dam. We crossed a bridge over Dam outlet and reached on the other side of the dam. It was like going into the different world where there is nothing called noise and life. For miles and miles there was no churping of words and spotting a human being was almost like next to impossible. But surprisingly road was newly built and street lights at almost every place.

The sun had grown harsh by this time and we had locked around 15 kilometer with half of it an uphill ride. The serene track covered with trees on one side helped us pedaling harder to ride an uphill track with 250 meter elevation in three kilometer distance. We rested, we drank water, we slogged and above all we thoroughly enjoyed.

We were riding along with Dam and harsh sun rays made us pedal fast to reach somewhere. By now we were targeting to reach above the altitude of Dam and see the real beauty from top. Finally with lot of sweat and pedaling we manage to kill the altitude and reached very near to top of the dam.

There was another thrill waiting on our way, and it was nothing but a dark tunnel. Crossing that tunnel on a cycle with no traffic was fun to do it. We were so badly tired that wanted tunnel to not to come to an end. But it was shorter than expected.

The uphill riding had not yet ended and seemed that this will go long.But we were not yet broken and decided to move ahead. Soon we realised that this road will take us to Jawali Ji of Kangra District if we are able to manage another 80 kilometer riding.

After moving out of Dam territory, we started spotting few houses close to road. Spotting people here was equally difficult and we were clearly riding in isolation.

The day had started growing hot. By now we were more than satisfied to explore new area, new track and new fun.

We decided to turn back after 21 kilometer of riding. We knew that on our way back we have more than 10 kilometer down hill riding. By clearly knowing the fact that its a NIL traffic area we did not even touch our brakes and let cycles plays with tracks. The terrains were thrilling and maximum speed we touched was 60 kilometer per hour. This seemed exciting and provoking to ride hard.

We were not yet done with uphill riding and another 2 kilometer of uphill was still left. This proved to be a challenging task with sun clearly coming on the face and boiling water in our bottles becoming undrinkable. There was no other way to continue pedaling hard and what can stand in front of stubborn minds like ours.

The last stretch of downhill involved some traffic. I was so exhausted by this time that even hot air gave me so much of enjoyment as if I was running out of Oxygen.

Soon we entered Nangal where we rode on inner roads of BBMB and NFL to avoid traffic and reached back home.

This was among some of my toughest tracks and I fully believe in the fact that there is nothing called Free Lunch in this world. The spirits are high to write some more pages of fun to make people believe that Life is Beautiful and You Can do it temperament. Use your mental strength than physical strength to stand out from the crowd.

Cycling Expedition - Bhakra Dam

2012-03-11T12:45:00.000+05:30

The spring season in northern India is at home now. On the foothills of Shivalik Hills at Nangal what best could be other than hitting the road on cycle and explore Bhakra Dam with new look of nature in Spring.

This time I was not alone as Jaideep Yadav was all set to join me with his new Hero Octane Cycle.

Our expedition began at 07:00 AM on March 11, 2012 in relatively cold weather from Nangal. We carried bare minimum stuff with a bottle of water and chocolates. We thoroughly enjoyed empty roads and roads along Nangal Dam. We crossed first check point and stopped for a tea break.

The track ahead was steep uphill until last destination. We slowly moved up and enjoyed the cycling track a lot.

While on the way back we stopped at Nangal Dam and the beauty of water was amazing with sun shining on it.

The total distance we covered was 17 kilometers with a gain of 200 feet in altitude.

Donate Blood - Spread Humanity and Love

2012-03-10T19:00:00.002+05:30

After moving from Delhi in April 2011, I did not get time at Nangal to voluntarily donate blood after every three months. Every time some or the other excuse had put this noble cause on back seat. My pledge to donate blood every quarter was not adhered. It stayed in mind for last 10 months as burden on me and felt guilty many a times.

March 09, 2012 was the day when I suddenly decided in office to complete this long pending task, so I rushed to Government Hospital in Una (Himachal Pradesh). Blood Bank staff was sitting idol and my entry made them little active.

It has been my experience that every time I say that I want to voluntarily donate blood, staffs reacts as if they have not yet come across any voluntary blood donor.

It took me hardly 10 minutes to complete the formalities of donating blood. My fear of injections always haunt me and nurse who injected the needle ensured that it reaches deeper than I had ever experienced. It was little painful but the feeling of donating blood to save a life without any self interest was above all.

It was so relieving to come back to routine of blood donation as if I have completed my toughest examinations of my studies.

The idea of organizing a blood donation camp cropped in my mind and just imagined that it will be such a great cause if I am able to encourage few youngsters to contribute to this noble cause. This chain can spread such a beautiful message and we can save so many lives. Every single life deserves to live happily in this world. What can be more soothing and satisfying than to save a life who need help ?

It was my 5th unit of Blood donation and till the time I stay fit and healthy I will continue to increase this number every quarter.

The need of the hour is to encourage as many people as possible as demand of blood in India is always significantly higher than supply. Young India, please come forward and spread humanity far.

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.