Topic Approved.

Darth is back and how! Bloody amazing there. I just can't wait for the log and ALL the photographs to be up. BRING IT ON, darth!

Great great great. Hooked to this thread.

P.S: Where is that helipad located?

I am sure you would be, MG. Especially at this time of the year when the roads to Leh/ Spiti are wide open!

Great !!! I too was on the same route (slightly) but went only upto Kalpa after visiting Sangla Valley, but was in a car this time hence dint post any info about the trip. I was on the route from 3rd June to 5th June, could I have possibly seen you there???

all cheers

dcs

wow
amazing stuff.bring on the rest.I am glued to this thread.

Great going! Spiti time again eh!
Kunzum opens and looks spectacular. Looking forward to more here.

MG: This is the one at Nako. There are some 7-8 helipads located in the area. Starting from Rampur, Sarahan, Sangla, Peo, Puh, Nako, Tabo and Kaza. Helicopters are a darn sight commoner than buses in peak winter.

Aryan: Pester Darth for updates on the road to Chandratal. Call him, mail him, go and meet him, whatever .

Are all this helipads approachable this time of the year like the way darth visited?

Thanks folks.

Bingo.Just when you enter Nako you will spot this one




We didnt visit Chandrataal coz we were short of time/weather was getting bad,so it is kept for next time

But from what I have read and heard the state of affairs is pretty bad.

Kunzum just abt opened when we were in Rampur/Jhakri and from what I have read it closed again.Even 'other side of rothang' was closed couple of days ago.

The weather was getting bad when we were there ,just were lucky to sneak out of it before hell broke loose.


That one was clicked at abt 5:30-6:00 in the morning when we were leaving Nako.Yeah it was so bright at that time and no one stopped us

OF sir, khulwa do Chandrataal...

Day 1:Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar :approx 600 kms

We had planned to leave on saturday morning.Couldnt sleep on thursday night before the ride.Anxiety was eating me up.We had planned to leave on saturday early morning.If I couldnt sleep on friday nite too it was trouble during the ride.Friday evening checked with DJ if he was okay to start at midnight so that we could cover some ground.He was okay to start early.

Left home at 11:30 pm on friday night.

Informed karthik,vaibhav,gaurav and gopi who were online at that time.

They came to see us off at short time @ hub mall in goregaon.

Stopped at a dhaba for some tea.A qualis pulled up at the same time.We had agreed to tell people that we were riding till Delhi incase anyone asked us.Qualis wala asked where we were head and we told him Delhi.

He said "Kisko bewakoof bana rahe ho"

We told him you asked ,we told,we never said anything ourselves,believe it else dont believe it is not our problem

Passed the bylane and divider where I had the little incident on jaisalmer ride

Covered some 150-200 kms and rode till 4:00 am and tiredness started catching up.Decided to sleep at dhaba.It had room with some cots where I decided to sleep.Still coulnt sleep

Got up and it was 4:45 and was getting little brighter.While I prepared DJ suggested I try out Red Bull from dhaba fridge.It did a good job in making me feel good.

Reached ahmedabad and Himmatnagar at around 1-2 pm and the sun was in going in full glory..

Checked into Landmark hotel at himmatnagar which is VFM where I had stayed earlier during my 2009 leh ride.:

Ordered food.Watched TV.Now that the ride had started instinct took over nerves were eased and I could finally sleep at around 9:00 pm.

Done this route zillion of times so hardly any photos were clicked

Day 2:Himmatnagar-udaipur-chittaur-Jaipur-Shahapura: Approx 650 kms


Woke up at 3:00 am to some hissing sound and DJ was already getting ready.I am a light sleeper and cant sleep with someone else moving around in the room.Had no choice but wake up and start myself.

Was feeling better however today.Took a shave and all.

Started at around 4:30 am and had to ride for an hour with HID before daylight broke completely.

Stopped at a restaurant at start of kishengarh jaipur expressway at around 1:00 pm and decided to wait there till 3:00 pm when sun was out in full glory


Reached "Hotel Highway king INN" on delhi-jaipur highway again by evening where I had stayed earlier.Somehow I liked my stay to be predictable this time.

DJ and struck a good bargain and came back.

Went window shopping into Adidas and Reebok showrooms downstairs.

Drank some beer.

Slept peacefully that night and things were perfectly going on according to plan.

Day 3:Shahpura-some turning after Behroad-Rewari-Jhaajar-Rothak-Panipat-Karnal-Kurukshetra(Approx 400 kms)

We started a bit late.And after some riding were on pretty nasty roads till Rothak.

Was dying to hit the GT karnal road and after long tiring ride reached panipat.By now the sun was completely up and two days of riding in heat started taking a toll and I started having a wee bit of headache.

Crossed Karnal and soon I realised that DJ was not seen in my RVM.I parked in shade and in couple of minutes he came up with another rider on P220.

Target for the day was chandigarh but with fatigue/heat and slight headache I had flashes of TV programs I had seen on heat stroke and sun stroke and started having doubts if I was gonna suffer one myself.Decided didnt want to take any chances and asked DJ if we stop for the day with chandigarh less than 75-100 kms away.

He said he was okay.....DJ was always open to change of plans...always....almost

Well the person DJ was riding with was a local lad and biking entu(Dharamveer was his name)

He had a probiking showroom somewhere near GT road and said there were good hotels in Kurushetra.We rode till Kurushetra and the lad helped us get into a decent hotel.

Ate some good hotel in the hotel which the lad recommended.

Later had a shower.Poured shampoo from my bottle.It was lying in top compartment of my haversack and it was frigging hot from all the heat.....Never had applied such hot shampoo on head....we both discussed that and came up with a theory that the cerebral fluid must have been superheated and hence we both had headaches

Started both the AC and fan and spent remaining of day watching TV and sleeping

Day 4:Kurukshetra-Shimla-Theog-Narkanda-Rampur-Jhakri


This ride was utter pleasure.

Ate pizzas for breakfast at dominos in solan

Couple of tourists stopped us and clicked our photos at Shimla.
It was pretty cool in Narkanda and we had our lunch there and finally we were experiencing joy of riding in himalayas after torturous three days..


Some vistas..











Couldnt find a place to stay in Rampur.Wanted a non-ac room and it was hot again there so decided to ride till Jeori.

Fortunately could find a nice room in Jhakri for pretty good price and decided to put up there.

Wonderful! Congratulations, Darth!

I am yet to read the logs.