The Mountains Are Calling And We Must Go�. - 17 Days in Leh & Spiti

[kingkong]

Finally the thread is up....., Bring it on!!...

[darkknight]

The log obviously will take more time but will try to complete as early as possible.

The magazine does have a few details but thread obviously would be more exhaustive & hopefully better written this time by me

[hitanshu]

Lovely teaser treat. Me likes.

Very nice route. can u share the GPS, or just the map of it?

bring it on!!

[Aryan]

Better late than never, my man! I am seriously hoping that this triplog is going to be one absolutely amazing one - both textually as well as the visually! Bring it on, MG!

[Zaphod]

... Eagerly waiting for the rest of the logs.. Awesome Pics..

[sherry_unicornlover]

Soooooo. Finally the thread is up.
Better late then never.

I suppose these are just teaser pics that you intended to post.
And i'm sure the log will be great to read with loads of pics.

Next year, we'll go together for sure.

[surojit]

nice pics are expected when MG is goin for a trip... eagerly waiting for the rest of the pics and log.... and i know DK/MG won't disappoint us....

[tourer_kashif]

teasers are good but expecting a lot from this log coz we have a photographer as well as a pojher in this trip.

[darkknight]

Better late than never, my man! I am seriously hoping that this triplog is going to be one absolutely amazing one - both textually as well as the visually! Bring it on, MG!

we were waiting for magazine to come out to start the thread---well there goes my excuse

teasers are good but expecting a lot from this log coz we have a photographer as well as a pojher in this trip.

Why you callong MG as pojher

[RoadZilla]

So this ones finally up! Comeon Raje...get the triplog up. I've been waiting for this one from a long long time.

[inder.cool]

Why you callong MG as pojher

No no, its the other way round!

[varun don]

really nice photos. Iwant to go to leh this but,
god had some other plans...

[MG]

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING AND I MUST GO….
Words: Darkknight
Photus:MG

This quote is one of John Muir’s most quoted phrases. It was contained in a letter he wrote to his sister Sarah Muir Galloway from the Yosemite valley on September 3rd, 1873. For those of you who may not be familiar with John Muir—he was one of world’s first naturalist, ecologist, and a nature author.

There’s an inexplicable draw for those who travel. Every day spent in the urban civilizations only push them towards their dream to travel to explore & feel the freedom

Such was the case with the two travellers of this journey .This drive coupled with the thought of doing it on their trusted steeds only added up to the excitement.

Motorcycle touring though nothing new in India is a thrill that needs to be experienced to be believed.

It all began with a casual discussion over a year back .I was frustrated of not able to do long tours on account of office & MG had already made a tentative plan of visiting Uttaranchal in September-October ‘09.

Boy Am I glad that his plans too kept on postponing & didn’t materialise as planned.

So than over telephone discussions & meetings it was loosely decided to complete Kinnaur & Spiti in himachal.

As the one with perennial leave issues I pushed forward the idea of Leh—Ladakh along with Spiti.

Both of us knew that in the given time frame of 21 days which included 4 days of travelling by train & only 17 days of riding, this would be a hectic adventure.

Still the plan stood as it is, dates got tossed around and 16th of june was decided to be the d-day.

What followed over the course of next 3 months was gathering of resources, buying of stuff, discussing various routes, consulting tour reports of other people etc.

The basic item list for any motorcycle tourer on a long journey consists of the following:

1) A properly serviced motorcycle
2) Saddle bags
3) Tail bag
4) Tank bag (optional)
5) Bike spares
6) Clothes (warm + regular)
7) Riding gears for safety (jackets+gloves+knee guards+shoes)
8) Medicines

DAY 1 - 16th June– MUMBAI TO DELHI

Finally the D-day arrives. With much anticipation & rechecking of all the things I started for Mumbai central to meet Gourab(From here on I will refer him as MG his nickname in biking circle).My bike had already been transported as parcel to Delhi two days back.

It was raining cats & dogs & it was no wonder that I found MG at the station soaking wet getting his bike packed & ready to be loaded. He already had a recce ride that morning of 270odd kms from his place to Mumbai.

Spending a few hours at station & last minute scrambling to load the bike we managed to find our seats & settle down.

Ready for another new journey


DAY 2 - 17th June – DELHI

Delhi was uncomfortably hot when we reached especially after coming from Mumbai which was cool on account of the rains.

Collecting the bikes from respective station we made our way to complete some pending jobs.

I went to my office at Delhi branch & MG to complete his side of things.

The plan was to leave the next day at around 10 & head towards shimla.

The day went as planned, spent time with friends, had a nice dinner & slept soundly.

The actual journey starts tomorrow....

[ttusharz]

nice writeup DK bhau, waiting for the rest & about photus??? kuch boolne ki jarurat hai??? afterall it was clicked by MG & no doubt, its wonderfull....

[dineshsamtani]

MG Sirjee...where did tomorrow go...please write the Log...and more pics please