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**Sunny** · 12-01-2010, 10:52 AM

Travelogue Approved

**forty6** · 12-01-2010, 05:35 PM

please run it once through spell check before posting. would be great. thanks.

**BlueBlitz** · 12-02-2010, 05:12 PM

Thanks sunny bhai for approval..

@forty6: Thanks for pointing man, corrected the errors..

**PRANAV D** · 12-03-2010, 12:59 AM

Very nice trip log and great pics too

. From Delhi you've got access to the lovely hills in the north you must have missed that here in Maharashtra! i guess!!
"uncle ji ye pune mein the ab delhi aaye hain and cricket bhi khelte hain aapne dekha hoga lamba baalon wale(dhoni)" LOL

**BlueBlitz** · 12-21-2010, 10:20 PM

Hi all,
Sorry for posting the second part bit late but here it is::

The morning view was amazing; summers are here so sun was up in sky to a good distance. Still it was bit chilly, beautiful pink flowers were hanging just over my bike. We could see opposite mountains, lines were drawn on the huge arrogant mountains these were the roads for the NH and SH. I sat on the chair and table kept outside in the sheds, and in no time tea was here.

We got fresh and had a short planning (if we can call it) for targets ahead. First thing first, we were here for Snagam and that was our first stoppage. We packed our stuff asked the directions and moved on. After few meters we had to go off the Nh to local city roads,hmm ,, u can't call them city roads,, they were city lanes along the slopes of hill. We were actually riding between the closely built houses an think lanes. It was like chandani chawk roads on slope upto 30-35 Degree inclines. Felt like movie but we kept moving ahead with people looking at us with strange eyes as people don't get big bikes there often, in-fact never big bikes. We crossed a temple's corridor “with bike”

an here we were, parked the bike on the lane side. Took our stuff and went down to the bathing ghat. Strangely we reached a spot where it was crowd free an nice looking. We sat there and clicked few pics but, I was not feeling very positive about this place.

We observed around an lot of ash and wood was there, broken bangles. And as soon as we figured out where we were, we took our stuff and ran back up. By mistake we had taken wrong stairs to cremation place. Anyways after blaming Faizan we reached the correct place, the Dev-Prayag Sangam.

It was amazing place, two rivers gushing at high speeds and meeting at a Y- point. IT was a beautiful view to see two colours meeting to create a new colour. ‘Alakhnanda’ the green muddy colour was coming from left sides, and white violent ‘Bhagirathi’ coming from right side.
Merging

for bath they have made few stairs and that was the only place it was bit safe to take a dip. Few people were doing it but only by holding the rope tight. No one could dare it without the rope. We thought of staying at side only an take bath using a bucket, but after seeing a young saree clad foreigner holding the rope and making swings in both the rivers we were amazed and so gathered courage and took dip at the corner. It was dammn chilled water, crystal clean..We enjoyed the bath and then came out, one priest took hold of me and explained me the importance of prayers there. I decide to go ahead and performed a short prayer as per rituals for well being of my family. After enjoying the beauty of the rivers we decide to left that place. There is some energy in that place for sure, the energy and freshness we felt in the water, when it surrounded our body was really can be labelled divine.

We crossed the old bridge, that I had hard time crossing as mother cow was taking rest there an there was too little space for a bike an a relaxing cow to manage,, after lot of pleading she did turned her face that gave me enough space to drag the bike slowly out from there..

We at the bridge:

The roads or better say lanes to the main road were too steep.. these lanes were done with stones and sometimes marble like things and i was getting worried as bike tyres might loose grip.. Thank god nothing like that happened and we managed to come out fine, it was a small distance of 1KM hardly though. Had breakfast at roadside restaurant and discussed directions with locals. Everyone had different idea, but after mutual discussion they gave us a final direction,, the destination was GAJA village. Its in direction to CHAMBA village of Gadhwal. So the idea was
here -> GAJA 80KMS -> CHAMBA 47KMS approx -> Massourie (Find directions). It was stil approximate but we moved ahead as there was no other option. By now, if i didn't mention we have decided to leave the road to Srinagar ( of Gadhwal ) which goes towards Karn Prayag and then ‘Badrinath’ instead we chose the route to Massourie. It was obviously a bit of tremendous and stupid to chose that way but we were in noo mood to call it off for trip. Locals assured that if we can reach ‘Chamba’ on time, we can reach Massourie too before dusk following the Highway.

We tightened our bags an moved ahead.

Few KMs crossed an we were on silent roads. Bright sunny day, mountains ahead, steam of water flowing several feet below but still making noise.

After few pics we started again.. as the day was progressing, temp was going up. Our aim was to cross Gaja and gain height as soon as possible to avoid mid-day heat. Empty roads were good for us to reach that goal, But as we crossed only quarter of KMS, we experienced cool breeze and as we moved ahead and gained height, the temp started to fall

this is exactly what we needed and wanted. The mountains felt like have taken the overcoat of green colour from being naked. Sun was clear and bright but the shadows were cool. We opened our jackets zippers to let the cool breeze wash our body more closely. The place made e lower my speed and instead of ripping we were gliding... smooth and sloww.. After some time we crossed lots of students walking to their school, it was some small village on the way. We stopped few meters ahead on a roadside water source. It was water coming as stream inside the mountain and was collected and added with a steel pipe by locals. I was hesitant in start to drink it so just washed my face and hands with it. Faizan drank it, after bit of thinking I took a sip too and it was as cold as packaged drinks. Crystal clear, sparkling and tasted like mineral water. We had tummy full and after refreshing we left the wondering school kids and moved towards Gaja.

on the way

you can see the road in between the steps..

Tihri dam

Soon we resumed beautiful twisties, the turns were like perfectly laid snake race track. I stopped and adjusted my mobile cam in my bike to record the amazing curves an ride through them. I failed miserably but still the feel of curves is still there.. if you wana catch a glimpse it’s here.

VID: http://www.youtube.com/v/0M1jJyj-o9M&hl=en_US&fs=1

We Moved till we reached Gaja and there I kept riding on the highway, when I realised I should go back and check the village once more and I saw Faizan an Veeru waiting there. The place was totally remote, few shops, small houses. Amazingly petrol was available there, But in CANs. I purchased around 5 litres and same is for Faizan. We filled it using funnels

that was a one new experience. Then uncle at the shop told us that once in a week or so the supply truck comes and then they store the petrol for sale. After fitting bags back soon, we asked the directions and the villagers told us a shortcut to Chamba. They said the road is bit broken in the start but is fine later.. I won't say anything,, just the Vedio...

[vid] http://www.youtube.com/v/28WIsQuFlWI&hl=en_US&fs=1

It was rough biking all time till we reached good height. All the roads of highway were visible down. We took a stoppage and tried to figure out where we are and which road we will take. We were at a shortcut connecting two mountains, and entry to a possible jungle.

Here a short clip : capturing our relaxing movements.

http://www.youtube.com/v/dXtTv_sMgTQ&hl=en_US&fs=1

We kept moving and I stopped for few clicks... soon I realised that there was no human presence to many kilometres of radius an I am in thick jungle. Just remembering the stories of leopard and panther's jumping on people's back, I quickly started the bike and moved with bit of fear :P .. suddenly noticed something on road, crossed it , but again stopped thinking I knew the color of the object. I turned back and checked an it was Faizan's jacket.God!! how can they drop it ... I picked it up an smiled imagining their faces once I give this back to them. To add to it, the purse was in the jacket only.

In D Jungle

I kept crossing the jungle with cautious eyes.. clicked few pics with cell.. and kept moving. Soon saw some humans and it was a good feeling that we have taken the right way. But!!! :S !! barbed wires? gates? and notice board "This is a protective forest reserve, entry without permission prohibited" and all eyes towards the bike.. The policemen were looking confused an they were making confused move towards the entry.. I think the already gone bike made them curious, before they could gather more senses and understand what a person with strange clothes doing on bike,, I crossed the section and crossed the swings,, didn't turned back,, ya noticed strange look of tourists moving towards the jungle. I think they were surprised too :P .. anyways.. kept taking the turns and after sometime saw few houses an bike parked nearby. Faizan an Veeru had stopped at a shop, it was good for me coz my dry throat needed water. As I later came to know they were about to pay the money, just that time I made entry. I presented them with the jacket an their faces got covered with funny expressions. An after blames an laughs we entered the shop again an asked for water. The shopkeeper was polite an asked where we are from an on hearing we are coming from Delhi and work as software engineers, he welcomed us talked to us about how good cities are and how good life is there.

He kept asking us " aap log thakte nai ho ( you people don't get tired )" , Faizan didn't get his intention or better put the theme of the question and replied " Hum raat ko so jaate hain ( we sleep at night )". The guy again asked with more emphasis this time " nai nai , matlab aap log chalte chalate thakte nai hain ( no, no i meant you don't get tired riding ", but Faizan repeated his same answer. I've heard these types of questions so many times so I was enjoying the whole scene with smile, drinking water, after sometime when I cannot hold my laughter, I intervened, and explained Fazian that he’s saying, while day riding only, won't we get tired.. And then I told that uncle we take rest and stoppages an keep stretching: D. After the smiles an good short chats, we exchanged bye byes , uncle congratulated us and wished us safe journey. His name was Ramdas as far as I can remember and the name he told for the village was " RaaniChouri ", We had a silent laugh on that name and you can have a good laugh at it

. I had already noted down the directions in my pocket diary, We were still 9KMs from Chamba and then we have to move towards 'KahnaTaal'. We started moving and kept our speeds in control due to bad roads, repair work was going on, but few patches were great. We crossed a place 'Thander' or something similar, the place was not that big but there were so many groups of summer camps.
The Road on the way

We thought of stopping but the clock was ticking and we didn't know the exact KMS before Massourie, so we continued. Soon we crossed 'KanhaTaal' ( before reaching here I was looking for name 'KANATAAL'

, was thinking on lines of 'Raanichauri'

). We have to go for new upcoming hill station spot 'Dhanaulti' from here. We rode at brisk speeds and kept zipping the great roads.. The roads were well banked and clean except few patches. We enjoyed the curves and clicked few pics before reaching Dhanaulti. Sun was dipping fast and we wanted to see the sun set at Massourie, so we kept moving, but we had to be very slow, because the environment was so peaceful and lovely, that the whole body was resisting the move,, and I switched off the ignition, shot a small video and kept rolling slowly. We took a small stoppage and then dashed hard to reach Dhanaulti, coz we wanted water badly.

On way to Dhanulti

http://www.youtube.com/v/vPRjwErRB5g...&fs=1&border=1

Stopped at few places to witness the beauty and solace and then moved ahead.

Reached Dhanaulti and it was a beautiful small town. Green and big trees covering it all around. Parked our bikes in a empty but beautiful parking, under invasion by monkeys. Took Lichi juice for refreshment from a local shop,, after doing bit of time-pass thought of entering 'ECO PARK' it seemed quite famous.

On the way

ECO PARK

We took the tickets with bit of joke exchanges with the ticket window gal,

, the gals in mountains, the Gadhwali gals are not shy types an they do respond to your witty humour

. Anyways we entered the park and it turned out to be real beautiful park. There were nice easy ropeways connecting two trees for kids and bouncing stand. We didn't get much time to explore but it was a must watch. We could only explore a small area as we wanted to rest also. There was a proper way made to trek the other side of the hill and explore the nursery and ayurvedic herbs.

The woods inside

The other side of the hill also promises a beautiful sight for sunrise and sunset as its quite high spot. We were not able to do that as we were really tired and wanted to reach Massourrie. So we started to pick up own stuff, just then we realised that one helmet is missing, the one Veeru was carrying. We kept searching in the whole park.. when we didn't find it went to bikes and on the way located the helmet on the store we had juice from. Thanked heavens and then reached our bikes, the monkey forces has already had their part of fun on bikes. We took the control back and moved ahead.. The sun was about to set an we were riding quickly to reach a great point road side from where we can witness the nice view. After a quick dash we were able to locate a spot with small tea shop and the spot was
perfect to park the bikes and have a lovely view...

Phewwww.. What a day that was,,, We are almost on time.. Reached the spot before nature's lights go off..and it was a good time to take tea and enjoy the evening..
Soon we were having wafers, wafer sticks and having tea, not to forget the conversation tea stall owner two brothers were enjoying. We chatted about the weather at that place, their daily routines and difficulties they face..and it was fun time. We had clear view of the sun,, so may small mountains were there like minor gods accompanying the major god on who's shoulder we were standing, to see off the performer of the day.

Shot a video and enjoyed the moment with lots of jokes.

http://www.youtube.com/v/34-KkwvTyEM...&fs=1&border=1

Sun Set...

http://www.youtube.com/v/PENIzPTsESo...&fs=1&border=1

But good times have to end and after the sun has gone down we had to move. We exchanged good byes and jumped back to our bikes, it was a good experience to ride in twilight with slowly fainting lights as if the sunlight is following her master and her gown is slowly moving away from skies of mortals, and still the glow of her remaining gown-frills making the skies lit. Switched on pilot lights and soon the main lights and started swinging the bike on the curves; roads were great and it was a feeling of inter country race or a evening at a racetrack. I had to ride behind Faizan to lit up his way and soon we reached Massourie crossing. We stopped for quick break, when noticed that Veeru was frozen with chill. his hands have dried coz of cold. We laughed at the whole scene as he was the one not agreeing on getting full sleeves or woollens here

Anyways we started searching the destination, our friends uncle's guesthouse. We have to ask lot of people before we came to know it was still 10 kms ahead towards Dehradoon. We dashed again on beautiful roads to reach the place.

Poshe' on the way

The servants were there to take our bikes o safe place, and we climbed the inside of bushes to find the way to the house. Soon we were in the room, with all our stuff kept one side and we lying on the floor beddings to comfort our asses.
had tea, and later 'Mamaji' joined us, and we had nice dinner and drinks. The stomach was totally empty so, food was like a blessing. Faizan an Veeru were out an we had a funny discussions with Faizan having tons of interesting things to say .. ...

soon we retired to our beds an I almost fell asleep instantly.

Morning was good, freshened up an had small breakfast as tea. While packing our bags when i asked keys from the helper there, but he said he already gave me.. and then started hunt for keys, we were not able to find them. Obviously the dumb guy has lost them, so I decided to use the duplicate keys and move ahead(the keys were later discovered in the dustbin, and yet to reach me). We reached ‘Sahastra Dhara’, on our way, took bath in the baby waterfall an Veeru and Faizan enjoyed swimming as well. No pics clicked as none of us was dry.

After packing up we started back.. The return journey was not that amazing as the sun was up our heads and as we moved closed to our destination, the temperature kept raising.

From Dehradoon

We took short stoppages and crossed the bad traffic of Mahakumbh at Haridwar. I had to stop for juice to regain energy, saw a group of Bulleteers crossing by, tried to move with one of them through traffic, but later we parted way.

After entering the outskirts of Meerut traffic reduced and we stopped for a break at a "dhaba" had food, and it was typical dhaba food, lot of butter and chillies. But it was nice and after filling tummies we relaxed for few minutes and then moved towards the main shortcut, that we used while coming. Anyone can tell the way to that water stream that goes till Muradnagar. We took that way and reached Muradnagar at around 4:30. The way was filled with, 2 monkey battalions with big sized to baby monkeys blocking the roads, small stop shops created by locals for passing karvans coming from Haridwar, rash driving between rash car drivers on really bad patches, and then the dust storm just while touching Muradnagar.

The dust storm was blinding and it made the vehicles to be slow and switched on their lights, the only good thing about that storm was that it shaded the sun for a while an we felt bit better. But as we reached the junction with SH, we were blocked by Bad traffic jam. I lost the track of Faizan and he lost me. It was total chaos, the like you see in sci-fi movies with nothing moving. Police was trying to solve the deadlocks, and as we were one bikes we managed to slowly move out of it. The jam was till Ghaziabad and after reaching the Ghaziabad border only there was bit of relaxation. Faizan's cell was off, so I hurried my way back to our start-up point, it took time due to traffic but still I reached by 7:30PM. I waited for 10 mins there but no response, so I thought of returning to my home and wait for Faizan's call. I reached back home, kept the stuff back and rushed streight to washroom..after shower and freshening up I felt nice. Fiazan called up at around 8:30 to tell he's reached his place and they too managed to get-out of that bad jam.

Souvenir

And thus my first ride to the northern hills came to end

and I had a tired body and a satisfied soul.....

**BlueBlitz** · 12-21-2010, 10:55 PM

@Pranav : thanks man

ya it was a pretty funny situation. an i was short of words

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