hellrider

HI,
It all began when I was just into my 2nd Month in my New Job as a Software Engineer in HCL that I decided to go out far into the Mother nature a.k.a. The Himalayas to get myself a break from the daily workaholic routine.
This Diwali in 2008 I had planned nothing much so I thought to visit Dharchula ,detailed route can be found below.


This place is known as an entry for people from Nepal, Tibet and china into India and vice versa. The place has remained very sensitive due to human trafficking but things are fine now after the Army has taken control of the whole situation.The route is situated as a stopover for pilgrims going towards Kailash Mansarovar yatra , visit OM Parvat and all. I dunno about all the things since i am Christian.

It was Friday evening when I reached back from office and started packing my luggage for the great trip lined ahead of me. Had to give a thousand reasons just to get me and my girlfriend eagerly waiting downstairs for me to get going. Finally things worked out and I left my home . It was 2000hrs in the evening and I went straight to the mechanic to get the engine oil changed of my ZMA. Got brakes checked, chain tight and the bike was sounding good ready to face the new day in the bliss I give her every 6-8 months taking her to the hills, stretching her to the limit and soaking into the serenity.
After getting the bike checked I went straight into Nazir’s to have dinner.
p.s. This places serves Awesome Muglai cuisine in Delhi as far as my experience is concerned over the last 12 yrs. Finally I was full at stomach and raring to go.

I was finally up and running my steed at close to 2230hrs on NH24 towards Ghaziabad.
I have never been afraid of night driving since it saves time for me and after having toured quite a lot, covering the plains mostly at night proves beneficial. This time I had to drive in at night because I had planned to cover the whole stretch without taking any sleep in between and Hills demanded a lot of time in terms of reaching my destination
I have always been an economical rider and never demanded more from my bike on highways . Driving at constant 64-65kph , cruising and enjoying the music playing in my ears… The cars were going way past ahead of me and I felt I was going quite slow. But after some time I would see them getting stuck in small places ahead where road were under construction and feel happy of being consistent as always.
To the worst of my imagination when I had barely done some odd 70 kms I had to face a huge traffic jam at Hapur(15-20 kms approx.) since there was a small crossing on the river bridge .One driver had went off to sleep in his truck thinking that it will take long hours for the jam to open up which caused more woes for the cars and hundreds of trucks lined up behind. But I was one crazy ass who crossed the whole jammed route on the sidelined muddy spaces feeling overjoyed that I had an advantage of being on two wheels … further when I met some people who had got past through the same route told me they wasted nearly 4hrs due to the jam at hapur. Obviously they were on FOUR – WHEELS .
So after I crossed hapur I reached moradabad at 0300hrs.felt a bit weary so stopped to have a Chai and Sutta. Since I was using my phone for music as well so I kept it on charging at the tea stall. To my disbelief when I just went out to wash my hands and come back the phone had disappeared. I was totally startled and started shouting at the tea stall owner but he said that he didn’t do it and was possibly the work of another guy who too was having a cigarette in the same shop. So I ran with the tea stallwalla to one direction and sent his subordinates in another to find that guy. Luckily we saw the guy running away. So we caught hold of him and took the phone back. Then we dragged him back to the same tea stall and gave him one kickass beating that’s gonna be remembered by him till the day he dies. I called up the cops as well and handed him over to them and left as I was getting late as per my time schedule. The cops thanked me for my bravery and told me that they will take good care of him at the Thana.

As I left moradabad it was 0400hrs and I had to reach haldwani via Rampur by early morning, so I started revving up my bike at constant 70kph. Till now the road had been good and it was quite cold so I had to jacket up myself. The traffic was at it’s minimal so I was enjoying the view in pitch darkness at 0430 in the morning. It didn’t take much time for before I had reached Rampur, I thought it was wise enough not to stop at Rampur since it would save time and I had traveled barely 30-40kms. So I bypassed Rampur and was on my way to Haldwani on (NH87).
There was a patch of road in really bad condition nearly 15kms in stretch(Rampur-Haldwani) that gave me another reminder when I had previously gone on this route to Nainital on my bike, that road haven’t and probably would never be made ever. I was having cold when I had left for the trip , so the running nose was creating a * bit * unrest in me , but these are small things in front of me. The morning time Is really good to cross a forest , I saw hordes of monkey’s crossing the highway , as far as I remember I even saw a FOX staring at me as I passed her.

Have you ever tried to shoot a video while you are driving? It was my first time I was trying it and it came out pretty good. Not before I was enjoying the road and the forests I spotted the skies had outlined the initial target that I had to achieve . yes! I was nearing to the foothills, to haldwani, to the eternal bliss of himalayas.


I wanted to get my bike washed as it had gone all dirty but no mechanic had opened up so I kept driving, the road was changing it’s colours getting all twisted and turned up and I was loving it. I was going uphill now at 0700hrs after having crossed haldwani some moments earlier and the route was basically going towards Nainital. In between I stopped at a dhaba since I was feeling weary after driving in the night, had a maggi noodles which was quite well prepared and having my stomach full I thought to wash the bike myself as there was plenty of water over there and the owner had no problems. So I got busy washing the karizma, with some soap and lots of water since I have no clue of saving water when it comes to washing a bike. I was also carrying a polish bottle so after washing and drying it I applied the polish evenly and gently over the surface and it was shining like a star. It felt like the sun had no absorption power when it’s rays touched the bike and skidded off in n directions. Feeling really glad of some sort of an accomplishment that I had achieved I left the dhaba after 45mins.







The next stop for me was Almora which I was supposed to reach after noon. The route changed as I left the last point that I had earlier crossed when I was going to nainital and now I was on an a new road that I had never traveled. The road was quite good initially but had started to show signs of becoming worse as I was going further into the mountains. I was trying to get adapted to the hilly driving style focusing more on the road rather than the tempting surroundings. The vegetation had started to differ as I had started gaining height and the hills were becoming more and more challenging. Just when I would easy myself some truck or private vehicle would come from the opposite direction taking away all my road space and remind me that “You better stick to your side or pay a heavy price “ But me being a total Dilliwala fast driver would pay full homage to them and give them the space they want and in a blurr of a second disappear at the next curve. After some time I saw the kali river flowing down below which I noticed when I stopped to capture a few moments in my N72 that I realized that the other side of the hill was really steep going down 3000ft into nowhere.





IT was early noon that I had reached Almora and the magnificent ice capped peaks had started to become visible. More to my delight the food was also good since I am a Non-Veg lover and hills have lots of varieties to offer me so I munched up as much as I can and moved on without wasting much time. My plan was to reach Dharchula before sunset since it was the first time I was traveling there and that too I was alone with minimal traffic and help available.

The sheer amazement was when you have to go uphill then crossover a mountain see much higher mountains teasing you, challenging you to raid them as quickly as possible which I whole heartedly accepted, then go downhill the previous mountain then start riding uphill again till you conquer it and find something bigger waiting , challenging ..
This was the sheer pleasure I was waiting for since the start of my journey. Now I had crossed nearly half of the low lying Himalayas and was nearing close to my next Destination at Pithoragarh.
I had become quite dizzy riding and met with a small accident before reaching pithoragarh. Actually when I was bending around a curve... There was no traffic then that I mistakenly bent down the bike more than it was supposed to and accidentally my finger which was already numb due to the cold failed to signal my brain that I was pressing a bit on the front disc. Luckily there was not much damage done though I had suffered some bruises and the bike too, so I got the bike repaired and checked thoroughly at pithoragarh as I had another 100kms approx to cover and it was 1530 by then. I myself had to put some ointment and self dress the wound on my knee which I managed to successfully and without much pain.

So after taking a long stop at pithoragarh I was up and running again by 1600hrs. The locals told me that it would take somewhere around 3hrs to reach Dharchula and I knew that it was quite possible that I would reach after dark which would add to my misery as it was an unknown place near the BORDER and a thousand reasons I felt that I should stopover here and leave early tomorrow. But after much consulting with the locals and getting precise route of the destination along with the local help of a cab driver there who requested me to follow him as he too was leaving for dharchula the same moment to come along, I was relieved and now the real cool route I was about too encounter came along. The chilly winds from the north were making me shiver at times as I would ride on the shady sides of the mountains, but it was fun.The cab driver too was enjoying his ride as well as the locals when they came to know that this “Dilli wale bhaisahab” non stop aa rahe hain. One thing I must mention that far in the hills there are mostly mahindra cabs used for local commuting as it is cheap and saves time and buses are least available there. The cab driver’s are really good and perfect in their driving, and they are real fast too, which makes some locals puke out of their windows if they are not accustomed to it.



When I was finally midway from pithoragarh to dharchula I reached a place called Jauljibi , it was really beautiful in terms of the way you approach to it. As you reach close to jauljibi and have your first sight it looked like I was approaching a funnel if you know what I mean. At the bottom was a huge reservoir of water(the bottom of the funnel)..and I was moving close to it from the top of the edge of the funnel, the sides of this funnel were precisely carved mountains… I swear it was totally a funnel if you don’t believe lookup Google Earth.
As I had reached jauljibi the cabbie told asked me if I could wait for some time as he wanted to pick up some more people as it was his last rotation and wanted to earn some more as it was Diwali time. However he told me it was not much difficult from here as it was just 20-25kms to dharchula now. The sun had set by then and it was around 1800hrs by then so I decided to go on my own as it was not much far.
In a hour or so i reached close to Dharchula before which I saw the army camps alongside and a NHPC office because of which quite a handful of people come to this place as they are posted there. Briefly about the location of dharchula :-

Dharchula is a town and a nagar panchayat in Pithoragarh district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Dharchula is a remote town surrounded by mountains. An ancient trading town for the trans-Himalayan trade routes, it is covered by high mountains and is situated on the banks of the river Kali. Dharchula is about 90 km[1] from Pithoragarh and it lies on the route to the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage tour. The town is called Dharchula perhaps for the reason that this small valley resembles a stove (Chula in hindi) with various peaks (Dhar in Hindi) which complete the word Dharchula.
The town also has a Nepalese counterpart to it, named Darchula. The split between the two towns is just virtual as the traditions, culture, lifestyle etc of the people living across both the regions are quite similar.

Finally at 1930hrs I touched my destination , a million emotions engulfed me as I felt the extra-ordinary. Trying to keep things to brief..i quickly checked into the first hotel I saw on the main market and booked it for just 200bucks a day. The room was quite good with a double bedroom a TV and no one to bother me as the helper suggested me to have food outside preferable as the food they gave was totally pathetic (really he said that) except the morning chai !! As he left me I unpacked my clothing and changed and went outside to explore the market as I had not completely exhausted from the ride and the helper … remember what he said. I had parked my zma safely inside the hotel so it was safe. Had food got some alcohol drank till I could no more and with so much to explore the next day ahead in mind dozed off in the remotest of places in out country. In some 19hrs I had traveled more than 700 kms(my tripmeter is not workin so I feel this is the approx as I had calculated it from the road maps I looked up while checking out the destination).
The next day as I woke up the cold was totally over me from the previous days driving I felt I was totally choked and there was no room for me to breathe. Somehow managed to get over it and went down to experience the cold and surroundings of Dharchula.




Wont get much into the details of 2nd day as it was spent mostly exploring Nepal and shopping stuff that I needed.however I would like to share the pics indeed.




By evening I was back in my room and thinking about the day ahead that would need the extra in me to make it back to my home. Obviously the return is really painful and painstaking but “ jab yahan taka a gaye toh wapas bhi paunch jayenge “ so I had some more alcohol and while watching tv I dozed off to sleep…
The next day I woke up half an hour late as I had planned to start back at 5 am as I wanted to save as much time as possible. But it was quite dark then so I left y the first sign of light which happened to be at 6am. The bike was quite cold so it took some 5 min to get it warmed up for the ride ahead. As I had no gloves the within a few kms my fingers had become dead meat and I had no option but to stop some 10kms after starting my journey. Luckily there was a chaiwalla so I got the opportunity to warm up my hands, get some blood running into them. Suddenly an idea my friend told me once struck into my mind… as you all would have seen that dirt bikes have that frame in front of the clutch and grip which saves their hands from cold as well as in any accidents… I made same sort of an adjustment in the front of my grip and tied it around with a piece of cloth giving the newspaper some space to help me hold the grip and disc brake properly. You know what newspapers is the best way to save yourself from cold as they wave off the air on the outside and protect you when you need some kind of protection from cold. Try it yourself in case you come in a situation like mine.







The ride back from the hills was quite comfortable and was enjoying the ride, I managed to traverse my way back by the same route dharhula - jauljibi – pithoragarh – almora – kathgodam – haldwani. By evening I was on the plains and had covered half of the route way back. Now again the daunting task of riding back home was taking over me. My hands had become numb with continous clutch changes. So I rested at the dhaba after crossing haldwani and had a heavy meal with some more of alcohol to keep my mind occupied whenever I felt like dozing off. Honestly I would say that there are some things I do which are a total no-no in a normal human perspective, but this is what keeps me going and makes me different.
The night driving was not much of a problem as I was alone and with some music to keep me occupied I managed to touch delhi my midnight.
After which I headed straight to my friend’s as going home directly was not an option in my dictionary and I had gone quite dirty with hundreds of trucks that kept on adding layer’s of dirt as I inched closer to delhi. The average speed was again maintained and believe me I got back to delhi in 18hrs non stop.
I really don't know but i have observed that a kind of person that resembles my nature would like to ride all alone..not wanting anyone to follow him. Just Riding and Riding. In the past as well most of the timw i have given a visit to the hills have been solo driving. You may say communication is important. but when you have your inner self to talk to. The story becomes different altogether.
Some stats for your information :
Total distance : 1400kms(Delhi-Dharchula-Delhi)
Total time spent (trip) : 72 hrs
Total driving time : 37 hrs
Total fuel cost : 1210 rupees
Engine oil change : twice
No of tank full : twice / breakup (610 delhi-400dharchula-200haldwani)
Avg speed : 65kms
Fuel efficiency : 58kmpl(this was the best part.)
Total trip cost : 6000 bucks approx

Trip dates:
Going : 24th 10:30 p.m. I left Delhi reached Dharchula on 25th 7:30 p.m.
Returning : 27th 6 a.m. left Dharchula – reached Delhi 27th midnight
28th was diwali.. so I was back in time.!!BANG BANG
ALL’S WELL THAT END’S WELL- Shakespeare

Aryan

Trip Log Approved.

Nice, real nice. Loved reading through the whole experience and watching the pictures.

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aarunn

Great dude.... nice pics...hope u had wonderful ride,, enjoying the music on ur ears.....

Ur lucky to get back ur mobile as soon as it was stolen.... hope u guys Handled the robber nicely
....

the fact amazed me is that u got 58 kmpl on ur zma !!!!!

kirosh_03

Wonderful write-up! That was an amazing trip!

Btw, welcome to the ZMA club.


And before your next trip...

• Do get your helmet's visor fixed. You should have had a tough time riding sans a visor. I can see your sunglass but still.
• Put back those RVMs. They are helpful to great extent, especially while touring. You should have had a tough time riding on the highways not knowing of who is coming behind you.

hitanshu

58 kmpl.

CD100 ka engine toh nahin daal rakha tha?

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born2lead

Great, really nice.

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hellrider

@aarunn / @hitanshu : thats what amazes me that i can enjoy such good mileage despite the fact that i am running a 225cc .but this range is divided in this category..
\40-44\ kmpl : city driving
\48-55\ kmpl : highways(65kmph. const)
\58\ kmpl : this time...really dont know how..first time

darth_lucifer

Fabulous.Really loved your triplog bhai

Just some tips.Take it or leave it

1]get that visor fixed.Heck prolly your helmet is old,get a new one.There is nothing as precious as life.Good helmets cost less than 2500 bucks much less than life


2]You consumed alcohol on way back and mostly carried on riding at night.Never do that.
Prolly we all do mistakes while learning new things,the wiser ones never repeat it.

Looking forward to more triplogs from you and wish you more successful rides.
Congrats again.Solo rides are always memorable.

torque_ankur

Nice trip log Hellrider...

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rohitmundra

hell of a ride mann.....!!
seems like you are capable enough to hold your sleep....riding continuous for a long ride is insane for me..but every one has its own way...BTW a really nice trip log...
But drinking and driving..and you say its keeps me awake....wow

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