miragerahul

Hello friends,

An illusion, a dream or a whim of a man can lead him to places.This quote is apt for people
who always dreams of highlands with their open eyes. I too have a similar fantasy and I am
able to satiate it for time being, till I start again for some new terrain;some new place;
some other time.

from the time I started biking, This was the first time(and for sure not last) I had a co-biker.
My friend and roommate who just quit his company and started his own venture joined me for this trip.
But that was going to change soon.As I made the return leg all alone because he stayed back
in Chattru to have some more time for introspection and thats when things changed for me.

Riders

1. Me (Fz-16)
2. Vibhav (Cbz xtreme(borrowed from his friend )


This was Vibhav's first outing since he had mishap while doing cycling in mountains
where his left hand got multiple fractures and had to undergo an operation. So I was
extra cautious and very supportive of his riding style

Planned trip itinerary:
8th Sep: Indirapuram -Chandigarh
9th Sep: Chandigarh -Reckong Peo
10th Sep: Reckong- Kaza
11th Sep: Kaza-kibber-losar-chattru
12th Sep: Chattru- Manali
13th Sep: Manali-Indirapuram

Which eventually turned in to below
9th Sep:Indirapuram -Fagu (driving time(4 A.M -8 P.M(Rain Rain Go away; it was raining
cats and dogs all the way up to shimla) )
10th Sep:Fagu -Pooh ( 11 A.M -8 P.M)
11th Sep:Pooh -Kaza ( 9 A.M -3:30 P.M)
12th Sep:Kaza-losar-Kunzumpass-batal-chattru-Rohtang Jot-manali-Chandigarh -Indirapuram
(nonstop 9 A.M(12th sept) -9 A.M(13th Sept))


14th was my b'day(thats one of the prime reason I drove non-stop from Kaza),

MG

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My photography page: Gourab Das Photography

miragerahul

Thanks MG

miragerahul

Day 1 -> 9th Sept 2011:

The day begin excitedly at 3 A.M, when we woke up and got started for our dream ride.
We left the home by 4 A.M and before we had reached sonepat;it started raining cats and dogs. We stopped at one dhaba and
had some parathas and tea and waited eagerly for the rain to stop. But the rain had other plans so we changed our plan
acccording to the mood of the rain-Gods. The worst part was both of us didn't have any protection for my saddle and vibhav's
backpack.Thankfully We had put all of our stuff in polybags so we set out to hit the road again; hardly drove for some kms and all
of a sudden rain-God furiously poured again to add to our misery. We didn't have choice but to stop at another dhaba and
hence began the wait for rain to subside and yes it did subside after 1.5 hours. We moved ahead but rain accompanied
us till shimla. Due to which we managed to cross shimla only in the evening and the misery continues when we had to take
a stop at fagu for the night at the HPTDC rest house which costed us a fortune at 1280 INR .No photos for day 1 because
of rain rain and some more of rain

miragerahul

Day 2 -> 10th Sep 2011:

I slept badly and finally woke up at 9 A.M after Vibhav's continuous pestering from 7:30 :P. I wanted to sleep like hell
and yes I achieved the objective by my sheer laziness. We left the hotel after paying the hefty sum of some 1600+.
Vibhav had a plan to have a typical back pack trip and the very first night woke him up from his day dreaming.
But I consoled him by promising the better days ahead . Left at 11 A.M from fagu; I was supposed to be the organizer
of this trip; my first time as a organizer and yes I did fare badly. But at this point I like to acknowledge my co-rider
he was supportive of whatever I decided upon and never cribbed upon anything during the entire trip.
I joked before starting from Fagu that we had to reach to Pooh by evening which was some 200+km from there.
By 5:30 P.M we were at reckong so I decided to drive for some more time and pushed ourself for Pooh and yes We did reach Pooh
by 7:30 and managed to get place to rest our butt at pwd guest house after some pleading for 380INR.Not bad finally I saw
smile at my co-rider's face






Vibhav(co-rider)

me



Pooh

Mik

Lovely pics. Its amazing that mostly all of us tend to stop at the same place to take pics :-)

Very interested in 12th Sep log. You crossed Rohtang in near darkness , is it!!

miragerahul

Thanks Mik
I believe most of us have same eye for beauty(o no no not that one..)

No, Rohtang was crossed well before the last rays for the day.

miragerahul

Day 3-> Sep 11:

We started from Pooh after our breakfast at 9 A.M as lazy bum which was indeed me decided to reach Kaza before sun sets upon us.
I was bit relaxed this time and drove leisurly for a change as distance to cover for the day was very less as compared
with other days. I was riding ahead of Vibhav all the time.Just before Nako I was waiting for him to catch up with me and
there I met a group of 6-7 local women who were waiting for some transportation to reach Kaza. One of the lady
approached me and asked if I could give lift uptill Kaza. I laughed and showed her the saddle but she insisted upon the
lift and the best part was she asked me to take 2 of them to Kaza. Though Later on I realized she was indeed joking
with me all the time. Vibhav reached after some 10 mins and I offered them all of the chocs, biscuits and cashews which
we were carrying which they happily accepted and showered upon with all the blessings in the world. The lady also offered
me to come to her village to have lunch at her home. I was moved with this gesture and told her that we would give it a try.
Some five minutes later we bade them goodbye and there they started singing and dancing on the road; there way of saying
thankyou I believe.

We rode ahead and after having tea at Nako. The best part was we both were driving at our own speed and as I was leading
all the time I make sure to check out on Vibhav after every 20-30kms.When we were some 30 kms from Kaza I told him
to meet me at petrol pump.

Finally we reached there around 4 and took guest house near petrol pump for some 300INR(more smiles for both of us).
We ordered some omlettes and tea which was a real nightmare for me. My stomach got upset after some time and
I vomitied out everything I had during that day. I skipped dinner and slept after taking some medicines.

























to be continued...