Bunny

The pictures : http://www.xbhp.com/longdrives/aug2004trip/aug2004.htm

3 zmas , 4 xbhpians , 1150 kms , unknown land , uncompromising weather ..
well we have just gone through something we will never forget.. ok there are leh-ladakh trips but this was different, this was mind-blowing, this was scary..
what follows is a long, detailed travelogue,what we and our bikes went through. fasten your seat belts,get some Pepsi and pop-corns and read on..

7th aug 2004
DAY 1:
0650 hours : i left my place to meet Sunny on the Safdarjung airport flyover at 7:15.. the wind was cool and i knew i was heading for something special. i reached the meeting pt at 7:12 and gave sunny a missed call to indicate that i have reached. but sunny is sunny and came half hour late. his excuse : the petrol had finished. anyways we proceeded to Patparganj to pickup his school time fren kunal. we left Patparganj at around 9:45 only to notice that Kunal didnt have a helmet..neways we picked one from a roadside vendor (shops wudnt hv opened up). and we ripped the road to Meerut for our breakfast at nikhil's (nikhilsc) home. the highway till Meerut was starting to congest with traffic and villagers and their cows and tractors and stuff.. but we managed good speed and reached Meerut city.. god.. this was worse than chandni chownk!! too much traffic.. after unlimited abuses (to the traffic and ourselves!!) , wheelies , skids to scare away the traffic to give way , we reached nikhil's place. his mom is a principal and the house is above the school they own. really a nice place. after getting some licks from nikhil's bitch..err.. i mean the female dog he has ,we sat down to dinner.
finally at around 1pm we left for Mussoorie , not knowing wat was to come ahead..
i was on my bike with my luggage tied in cords. sunny and kunal had their stuff in one bag ( i still dont know how they did it!!). and nikhil had his stuff in his bag. their bags werent tied to the bike. sunny and nikhil took turns to carry kunal and soon we were managing good speeds. before Dehradun we raced on the narrow highway , sunny and nik had close calls with the traffic, sunny jumped a speedbreaker with kunal as the pillion at around 70kmph!! they both were airborne along with the bike.. god..
we reached Dehradun and didnt take the usual route to Mussoorie but a different one thx to nik which was awesome.. the roads and the scenery.. really.. see it in the pics for urself. we took lots of snaps , of me wheeling (yes , i wont change hehehe) , me and nik cornering and stuff .we also took a pic of a mini cloud-burst..it was a gr8 sight and we gave it the name "phenomenon". rains were our companion all the way till Mussoorie. had food at a nice small dhaba-cum-shop. eggs and maggi. at this pt we all got used to sunny's fav words " bhains ki aankh" and "bhains ki poonch" and "bhains ki aankh ki poonch" (bull's eye,bull's tail,bull's eye's tail) !!!!! nik got his pet name from sunny "mcleodganj" which was sometimes pronounced as "mc-loda-ganj" by us.. hehehe we were beginning to hv fun not knowing wat lay ahead......
coz we got late in the mornin,and coz we took so much time at nik's place and coz we took so many stops for pics we reached the outskirts of Mussoorie by around sun-set.. a road diverts to Dhanaulti 3kms b4 Mussoorie. on the whole road till Dhanaulti (abt 25kms) , we came across only 2-3 vehicles. it started gettin dark so fast,to make matters worse it started drizzling and fog engulfed the whole area. we stopped twice to tk pics of the view of Dehradun (it was so beautiful , the view of the city from above).. we were still abt 15kms away from the city , which we managed to cover in abt 45 mins! we cudnt go above 20-25kms. twice i missed the curve and was abt to go down the mountain along with nik and sunny ( they were followin my trail like obedient puppies hehehe).. jokes apart , it was a scary drive all the way upto dhanaulti (7425feet) which didnt hv electricity! wen we entered the small city , ppl looked at us with surprise,shock,amazement. on the road we felt like the real rodies , never giving up , doing wat others wont even think of doing. the visibility was hardly 5 mtrs (not kidding). we called up our homes and stayed the night at garhwal tourism's hotel at a nice spacious room (only 400bucks). had lots of eggs for dinner and hot soup ( i went for my whisky instead). the hotel had a generator but they warned us that it wud be switched off at 10pm.. but they did it at 9:50 and we had candle light dinner..wow.. the original idea was that nik wud sleep on the sofa but he didnt budge and we 4 slept on one bed.. (now dont start gettin ideas).. at 2am something happ to me (sunny,nik and kunal stop laughing).. at dinner i took my pegs very fast and that didnt do ne good to me. i was abt to puke. we had blown off the candles b4 sleeping. i was frantically searchin for the lighter and the candle. i managed to light up the candle but as i opened the door of the loo , it got blown off.. **** , i had to puke , it had reached my mouth.. i cudnt hold it now.. stupid lighter, it refused to light up.. it kept making noises tick tick tick but didnt light up. finally i threw up .. god... i was makin so bad noises..sunny later told me how he cudnt control his laughter.. after i puked , the lighter lit up on the 1st try! they all got up and started laughing on me..neways we all retired again n slept till morning..

Day 1 : Delhi-Dehradoon-Mussoorie-Dhanaulti
(didn't enter Dehradun and Mussoorie cities)
total distance covered : app 350kms
road conditions : Delhi-Dehradun. one lane highway mostly. practice caution. after Dehradun,nice roads till Mussoorie.Mussoorie-Dhanualti:narrow , not nice roads. good only for abt 5kms or so. dont know abt the other Mussoorie-Dhanaulti road
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DAY 2:
got up at around 7 and left the place by around 8:30..headed to view pt , abt a km away. one gets a superb view of the hills and plains (yes,Dehradun again).took snaps and headed to Rohru for the night. reached Mussoorie thru the same road we took on day 1. at Mussoorie purchased jeans (40 a piece!!!) we were an attraction in the town.. 3 zmas with the real rodies.. we had decided to go to Delhi via Rohru-Shimla and knew it wud be a looong trip so sunny filled up the 3 bikes with his card.. my zma took 12.3 liters and returned abt 32kmpl , not bad , considering the way we drove.
from Mussoorie we headed to Yamuna Bridge and Mori..nice cute roads with superb scenery all around. stopped at many places for snaps. had brunch just b4 Kempty falls. the place were we ate over looked the falls and we got a birds view of the falls and the artificial mini lake made their for tourist. again had eggs and paranthas. after Yamuna bridge , the road sometimes became boring but we had a nice view of the roaring Yamuna.. in June,wen i had done this road, it was almost dry..
at Nowgaon (4527feet), me and sunny had an argument whether to go to Yamunatri (60kms) or Rohru..and i felt bad n irritated and started ripping ,didnt care for them to catch up and started ripping..doin 70-80 where one shd do 40-50..had 2 ultra close calls but didnt stop. finally stopped around 15kms away and waited for them to catch up.. at the next photo stop,we made up the differences and once again got united. took snaps 2gether like bade miyan-chote miyan..
reached Mori and all the camps which i had come across in June had packed up.the Tons river was our constant companion..it was roaring , was flowing quite fast.. the roads became nice around Mori and we took snaps with the kids who were with their sheep. one kid aimed his toy gun on Kunal's head and Kunal smiling obliged for the pic.. how sweeet.
had food at Tuini (3521feet), a small town from where one roads goes to Chakrata and other to Rohru.
again eggs and maggi. ppl started crowding around us.. wen we left , again dey surrounded us!! happens happens..
yet again it got dark but thx god no rains and we managed good speeds and reached Rohru (5115feet) , a nice cute town on the Pabbar river. we stayed at hotel chansal of Himachal tourism where me and doc stayed in june. got two rooms for only 550! the rooms were very very nice. had dinner in the main bazaar.. for a change had chicken and dal roti. retired for the night and sunny , nik kept fighting to charge their respective batteries (the cam's). this time i went slowly with my booze..

8th aug 2004
Day 2 : Dhanaulti-View pt-Mussoorie-Yamuna bridge-Mori-Tuini-Rohru
distance covered : app 250kms
roads : nice little mountain roads. possible to avg 30-35kmph.
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DAY 3:
the original plan was to leave at 7am for Chansal pass (15282 feet high).. but we got late and left by around 9 only. had breakfast at Chirgaon , 15kms away. the ppl thought we were govt officials who had come for inspection purposes!! had eggs again. the roads were so beautiful. we were like in the bottom of the valley with moutains emerging from both the sides and the Pabbar river flowing along the road.soon after Chirgaon , tarred roads finished and we were driving on roads made of rocks , a bit muddy at places. we left the river and now the roads were becoming steep. we crossed over a small bridge and then the actual climb started. it was all 1st/2nd gear for the next 12-14kms or so. we were gaining height so fast on the narrow road.nik carried kunal coz sunny's bike's chain was very loose. apple trees started appearin along the roads and we ate them lookin at the beauty all around. i filled my jacket's pockets with them sometimes there were so bad patches were kunal had to get down else the bike wud bog down. the bikes really performed well , the torque doing everything. small village children cheered us all along the road. the area is so virgin , not at all commercialized. dey must be surprised to see us there.they screamed,shouted,smiled,girls shying away blah blah blah. ultimately we reached a pt where the so called road was just 6-7 feet wide all full of slush and mud. sunny's bike got stuck but i took it out. we parked our bikes there and started our trek to the pass. the road was still there but it was gettin too muddy and full of rocks.plus we didnt want to strain our bikes more. by road,the pass was another 20kms or so but by trek , it was abt 4-5 kms..we thought we wud do it but we were wrong.within 5 mins , except nik ,we 3 were breathing like a dog who just chased a cat all over the town..we were coughin , we cudnt tk it ne more. my head started aching,may be due to the height. we were atleast 11000feet high now..we came across a mini flower valley. it was beautiful. soon we stopped at a house where there were 2 small brothers. dey had 3 dogs, kaalu , tashi and 4got the 3rd's name. we took pics with the dogs and the chickens and the brothers. dey told us the pass was abt 2 hours away (for us it wud be atleast 4 hours). dey also told us how wild bears tend to attack the face and tk out the eyes.. listenin this , me and sunny shelved the plans to trek upto chansal pass.. while kunal and nik wanted to go but it was already 1pm and we had to go back to Fagu. so we trekked back to our bikes and started the descend slowly slowly. reached back to our hotel at Rohru.had hot soup and moved on towards Fagu. got our chains tightened just after Rohru. 3kms from Rohru we moved away from the road down to the river bed thru a small road which passed thru a workshop where dey were preparing a modded Maruti 800 with 205/65 R13 rubber on wide alloys!!!!
parked our bikes on the river bed and it started drizzling .me and sunny played catch-m-catch with the ball but i threw a bad throw and the ball went into the Pabbar river.we spent abt 1.5 hours there taking pics and playin in the water. we also saw a bull tryin to f*** a cow.. bhains ki aankh hehehe two wild horses also started gettin wild , playin around, lying and rolling in the mud.. animal stuff!
we left at 5pm (!!) we still had to cover 90kms! from Hatkoti (3630feet)we took a sharp right towards Theog. straight goes to Tuini. came across many small traffic jams coz the roads were narrow. the roads started climbing up and up and soon reached Kharapatthar (8820 feet) by around 6:20pm. there we saw a sign board and a jeepable road going to "gir-ganga"(app9250feet). a 6km jeep road. we decided to go for it against all odds. it was already getting dark and we still had to cover 50kms (2 hours) of driving to reach Fagu. we had hardly covered 500mtrs on that road when we knew we were into something very diff.. this was worse than the road to chansal pass.. it was like driving in a forest. steep roads and mud and slush and water. i moved on to sunny's bike with kunal as pillion. initially for around a km i managed to drive the bike but then on a slippery turn i slipped the bike 90degrees facing a deep mountain drop!! the bike got stuck so many times. we kept laughing on each other. after sometime sunny got on to his bike back and praised how well kept my bike was (thanku thanku).. the next 4kms were covered in around 20mins.. me n nik decided to go ahead and sunny and kunal kept comin slowly slowly coz at many places kunal had to get down from sunny's bike. soon i saw in my rearview that even nik had stopped. i waited for him in the wilderness.. loneliness.. those weird noises of insects made me shiver.. i was wet coz of drizzling , my shoes were all wet coz at places the bike got stuck in mud.. i decided it was now or never.. i knew i was going into an unknown place but i proceeded..after sometime i reached the spot. it was a small nullah type with a stream flowin with a nice ancient mandir. i went back to tell them that it was near but they had made it slowly and slowly and were almost their.the best part was the fantastic tea prepared on not a gas stove but on burning wood.. coz we were 2gether and helped each other , we made it. i know if i was alone , i wud hv never made it till there. i cant describe the feeling of being lonely , in dark, all wet,shivering in the wilderness,in a forest.. we started back with our headlights on doing no good coz of the fog.. stayin together we managed to come back to the highway. how can ppl live in these places.. we cm across 5-6 villagers going to their mountain huts back..hats off to them.. this stretch was the worst we did. bikes gettin stuck in mud , we all alone , tryin not to slip and fall down the mountain.. we cudnt see a thing in the fog but WE STAYED TOGEHTER AND DID IT..
the 16kms up and down and the rest we took , took us abt 80-90 mins or so..
by now fog was all around and the roads were wet. we kept going slowly slowly and all vehicles we passed were very nice , the fully loaded trucks even slowin down to let us pass. jus a touch of a horn and they gave side wenever possible. i raised my hand in appreciation everytime i passed them. good good.
we reached Kotkhai (5032 feet) quite late and the 1st thing we did was call up our homes. mom was angry coz i called up late. nik was busy with his mobile msging to the fairer sex
there was a trucker dhaba also next to the std shop. we had food with the truckers and this one guy, drunk , kept poking in and again and again.. ass****
we took out the map and decided to go till Fagu. it was around 10pm now. this was really a diff experience for all of us. drivin in the rain and fog.. we kept pushin our bikes slowly slowly.sunny and nik filled in petrol near Chhaila (4771 feet). B4 Theog (7758feet), sunny's bike's chain started gettin too tight and lack of chain cover made matters worse. the chain was very dry..we decided to tie my luggage to sunny's bike and i carried kunal as pillion on my bike. the roads got steep till Theog. at Theog ,a right goes towards Narkanda-Sangla on the Indo-Tibet highway. we took a left towards Fagu-Shimla.sunny's bike started givin probs. wasnt gettin enuf power. the carb seemed to be at fault.nik drained the carb but it didnt help either. i drove his bike upto Fagu , it jus refused to go over 40-45..pick was down as if 3 ppl were riding the bike. at Fagu , there was no light and the whole town was deserted. Fagu is 8250 feet high and it was quite cold here. plus we were all wet too.. i told them , lets go further till Shimla, atleast we will be in a nice place in a nice hotel.. so we started again for Shimla , abt 20kms further away.. reached Shimla (7557feet)by 00:15 hours, past midnight!!! checked into hotel Madhuban. the road upto the hotel parking is abt 100mtrs long but ultra steep , i knew it coz i hv been here twice. as i was leadin all the way , i straight away drove up , but all the 3 were in for a shock. it was jus too steep. wen we reached the top , sunny and nik was amazed and once again sunny said "bhains ki aankh ki poonch , kya road thi yaaaaar"
i was also impressed by the way my zma with kunal as pillion climbed up without a hitch.. we woke up the guy at the reception and checked in the room. it had 3 beds , and we immediately said yes.. got it for 660 bucks, a bit steep but i guess the guy knew we were dead tired and it was past mid-night and we had no other option! retired for the night..

day 3 : Rohru-Chirgaon-Larot-Chansal-Rohru-Fagu-Shimla
distance : app 185kms

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day 4 : got up a bit by around 8..decided to get sunny's bike checked. the surprise came wen we were informed that there was no hhml dealership in Shimla!! in the capital of Himachal Pradesh! god.. strange.. neways at a nice small workshop , the bike was repaired. the fault was with the carb only. had breakfast at a nearby dhada..yummy aloo paranthas. left Shimla by 11am. the roads r the best hill roads in India. very wide and smooth. took a break somewhere near Kandaghat. reached Solan where there was debris on the road coz of landslides. also saw the train that goes to Shimla at a crossing. it was so cute..going slowly slowly up the mountains.. at Punchkula turn, nik took a right for Chandigarh while we 3 kept going on for Delhi. it was around 2:30 n i wanted to reach Delhi asap so i told sunny i wud be going non stop to Delhi now (app 240kms).. he gave me the green signal and then there was no stopping. i filled in some petrol ( the 1st after Mussoorie) , and started ripping. till Ambala , its a single lane highway (no divider in b/w).. but the road soon joins just b4 Ambala. from here my zma did wat it does best -- fast cruise.till the Delhi border , i did the 177kms in 133 mins (79.84km/hr) which included a bit of rains and 4-5 redlights and 3-4 towns.i kept the bike at 100-105kmph mark and kept a good pace. the highway is so good , if one goes more fast on a bike , at 115-120 , one can avg around 90kmph for the 177stretch!!!
reached home at 5:50pm.. dead tired.. i was still wearin my leather jacked which i had put on near Ambala coz of rains..ppl were lookin at me in amazment!!!
took a well-deserved bath and a nice warm meal and straight away went to bed..

day 4: Shimla-Delhi
distance app : 350kms
roads : nice wide hill roads till Kalka.easy to avg 40kmph..
Ambala-Delhi - fantastic highway.
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this trip had its share of excitement,surprises,shocks,close calls.. goin to unknown places was fun and challenging. the bikes lived up to wat ever came in our way. hadnt it been for the poor quality of fuel , sunny's bike wudnt hv given probs.
i wud really recommend this trip to everyone but not alone coz of the :
1) chansal pass road and trekking
2) gir-ganga road..

sometimes wen the bike bogs down, a helping hand is a welcome. plus knowing that u hv frens along,one feels nice and one gets lots of encouragement.

refer to pics for more when they r uploaded. really nice pics. thx to sunny and nik for the camera.
and kunal buddy , hats off to u for being such a nice pillion.. how cud u sustain such a trip with the heavy bag on ur back?? wow.. gr8 man.. :-)

my bike has now covered 17050kms.. still is going nicely with the stock disc-pad , chain set, clutch..

i hope someone from mtv sees this. this is wat "rodies" means. exploring new things on the road,taking up challenges and not wat mtv seems to be doing.. the rodies guys cant even dream abt doin wat we did or for that matter wat others on this site have done. wat they do is a walk in the park for atleast 100 xbhpians out here. Riding in fog,visibility down to 5 mtrs,gettin stuck in an isolated forest,havin dinner with drunk truckers,pushin our machines to the limits.. kyon rodies , HAI DUM??


total distance of the trip : app 1135kms.
my zma's avg : overall for the trip was 33.8kmpl.. wat more can one ask for.. includes mountain driving,1st gear inclines,105kmph cruising..

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nikhilsc

finally!

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\"Faster, Faster, Until The Thrill Of Speed Overcomes The Fear Of Death\"-Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

\"The Laws Of Physics Want Their Virginity Back\"-Kawasaki Ninja

SCUDDY

Awesome pics!!! Thanks for sharing!

SpeedMaster

gr8 pics man, keep it up!!!!

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Ken

Great pics Bunny/Sunny/Nikhil

mathranikapil

awesome pics..and...real Witty Captions!! U guyz had a ball..real fun-time!

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Rocky_Balboa

woww guys, simply superb.

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tchau,
RockY

ascent11in

nice pics dude
amazing......

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Sunny

we had 450+ pics in very high res, but i guess putting them all would take a heavy toll on the server space. all these pics are downsized too. but i am glad you like them. i will be starting a new wallpapers section in which i will be providing the best pics as high res wallpapers.

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Technocrat

Amazing stuff sunny, u sure know how to place things.. gud rite up backed up by gr8 pics

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