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Many times I tried to start the Spiti log but it is a precious ride I had till now that I always end up looking for better starts and hence such a delay. I have done many long rides and the best ones kept getting replaced as I discovered more and more destinations. But this one will surely remain on top spot along with my ‘Tarkarli’ adventure.
Now to the ride log: It all started with the most talked about destination of bikers, the Leh-Ladakh. We four collage mates wanted to go for the true blue skies and the highest motorable passes. Varun one of us is a regular trekker to the Himalayas so were dependent on him for first hand information. But as we were almost done with the planning, the cloud burst happened in Laddakh and we all were saddened by such a tragedy. The plan was obviously out of the window, coming days followed prayers for the fellow citizens.
After few weeks we again met at pick-a-Delhi and again discussed the destination, and soon Kaza-Spiti was suggested by Varun. I had read about it few times on Xbhp touring diaries and it sounded a decent plan. Other got convinced by Varun's assurance that its going to be similar experience to Leh. The day was decided to be Friday Morning (being a holiday).
Items for ride:
- High resolution coloured maps.
- Local region wise maps.
- Waterproofing sheets/plastic for bagpacks.
- Medical Kit and tyre inflation kit.
- Riding gears.
Start Day1: I Got up and rushed to my bike with all the stuff. The sleep was not that great because of last late night. I had to meet my friends at Punjabi Bagh. Riding gears and backpack ready, and I was on my Blue 200CC. It was still dark and I pressed ignition. Firing Notes were breaking the silence of night and comfort of my society guard, who always gives me a question mark look when I put on my riding gears. Anyways, it was raining and making my vision bit blurred to start was cautious. But soon I was cruising on the empty Delhi roads, unaware of the fact that the road that I have identified in map has changed due to metro work so I have to take an entirely different route and I reached the meeting point bit late. Soon Ambika and Lokesh too left their homes and met me at the common point. Then we did the pillion bag packing with the "waterproofing sheets" Ambika had got from the truck-spare market and boy it served us well throughout the journey.
We reached Delhi around 5:20AM, and with skies still dark decorated with clouds we started towards our first Stop 'Chandigarh'. Maps were exchanged while packing the bags. Till the sun break-in we were doing good 80's on speedo, careful with glares coming from Glares trucks. Soon it got beautiful monsoon bright and we gave our throttles a bit more twist and the smooth highway to Chandigarh was adding to the pleasure.
We stopped at one dhaba in Haryana for tea and breakfast as none of us got the chance to have anything from home. We had a short planning session and quick breakfast.
The DHABA:
RIDES: PULSAR 200, ZMR, YAMAHA FAZER
The weather was amazing, we clicked few starting pics and then zoomed to the highway, not to stop at anything…
The roads were slightly damp an highway was nice on most parts, what else a rider can ask for. Bikes were doing good, my Pulsar 200 was breathing fire as usual, she loves monsoons like me. Ambika was bit cautious with his new White ZMR, understandable on maiden ride for bike. Lokesh had already made his new Fazer's engine in-tune, so was running carefree.
After 40Mins stopped for stretching backs and then it was a start of the Chandigarh expressway. And to know how good it is, you have to ride on it once. We were delighted to see what was ahead and we opened our throttles to the max
.
CHD Expressway
Lots of on the way races (with others)and we were outside Chandigarh The clock was clicking 09:00AM, and we got our bike tanks filled. I was expecting since we are early into the city, maybe crossing it will be quick but..rains have made all the roads muddy and water logging was there in most of inside roads. A funny incident happened when we were crossing such roads in traffic, once uncle stopped Lokesh saying his bike throwing mud on riders behind, it took a while for caught unaware Lokesh to make him understand that its because of the bike's design. Anyways the uncle cursed the bike' company an him for choosing such a bike over the desi's
. We laughed and moved ahead. Soon the traffic got over we reached the other side of Punjab border. Roads again got open an smooth, and zipped ahead. Met one P220 with pillion doing some show-riding and well that was a invite, p220 was carrying a pillion and as it was visible that he carried no knowledge of how to use the monster he is riding. Result is obvious, anyways this fun part was over soon and I noticed no White and double headlights on my rear. I stopped on the road-side and waited. After some time Ambika and Lokesh Appeared, got to know that Lokesh's bike got slipped in the slow traffic, minor scratches to the leg-guard and nothing major thanks to the mud on road side. We Clicked few pics of the bikes an the mountains visible ahead.
And after the short break we started towards Shimla, our lunch break stop. We were doing good as per time table and we had no haste. The curve roads to Shimla are amusement to bikers and if you get less traffic you can really enjoy the curves. There was amazing breeze and overcast weather, and I got so lost in the surrounding beauty of monsoon clouds and the mountains that almost lost the control and avoided a certain crash off the mountain. Ambika and Lokesh who were just riding behind me, came up and shouted at me for the mistake and I apologised and started again with promise of extra caution.
Roads to Shimla
THE GROUP
City
Lost in Nature's Beauty
As soon as we reached the inside of Shimla, we met huge traffic jam, locals told its common site during this season
. We somehow crossed the half of it, located one hotel and had much needed lunch break.
The Parking
Clock was showing 02:30PM, We freshened up and had much needed food. The thalis they served were good and we filled our tummies. Bums and shoulders got the rest and after asking the waiter for road conditions we started ahead.
Till the time we crossed the traffic jam the clock hands were about to show 4.
We met few truck drivers as we stopped at the end of the traffic jam for re-grouping. They were asking me for the price of the gloves and listenin to which on driver was so shocked he asked others to check it out. Since too much attention is not comfortable situation for me, we started off quickly.
Clicked few pics on the way.
we kept moving on NH-22 for Narkanda. After about 1 hour of gud roads we were shocked at the state of roads ahead. It was raining and almost all parts of road were under-construction, piles of mud were put for levelling and heavy pre-monsoon rains have converted them into a muddy sludge. Only trucks and big tyre vehicles were moving easily. We kept moving slowly on those slushy roads, sometime following the truck-tracks. But even the sludge was floating like a muddy river. And all this time the showers kept coming, but there was no choice for stopping, still we stopped for few seconds for my fellow rider's smoke break, I usually utilise this time for analysis and asking someone for the situation ahead. By Chance we met someone an he was cursing the government and the companies involved in construction, we talked to him about the way ahead and the road condition and sadly we came to know its like this only till Narkanda.:-|. Well after a cigarette length break we started again.
It was dark and water, mud and height was making us shiver. We were just hoping to reach the Himachal tourism guest house somehow. After around 8:00PM we reached the city and then located the HT resort named "HATU". We were so tired that we parked bikes and took 1 minute of breather and then I was forced to go inside and arrange for lodging. I bargained with the manager and got ourselves a reasonable but spacious room. Clicked few pics before parking the bikes.
HATU
Dirt Biking: Lokesh's bike after reaching Narkanda.
Happy Feet
The dinner hall was gud and lots of sipirts were on display. Food was decent and gave us the much needed warmth. Other then us few more people were there and noticeable was once big group of old fellas, it had both males and females and since they were talking mostly in Bengali we were not able to make out what they were talking, but seemed to me a lively group.
After having dinner we returned to our room, ordered tea and coffee, as the weather was very cold. Ambika an Lokesh were not feeling well so gave them ‘Crocin’ tablets and then we crashed to bed with jokes and next day plans...
NEXT DAY: Morning was beautiful, slight drizzle outside and lovely misty weather.
Packing Up
Beauty Outside: wish we would have stayed longer....
Early Morning Face:
We decided to have breakfast in room and then packed the stuff to move ahead. We made the payment and thanked the manager and the staff, the HATU was really a nice and the service was great.
Now we were back on road, .........continued....
Day1 Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/nikhils...eat=directlink
Now to the ride log: It all started with the most talked about destination of bikers, the Leh-Ladakh. We four collage mates wanted to go for the true blue skies and the highest motorable passes. Varun one of us is a regular trekker to the Himalayas so were dependent on him for first hand information. But as we were almost done with the planning, the cloud burst happened in Laddakh and we all were saddened by such a tragedy. The plan was obviously out of the window, coming days followed prayers for the fellow citizens.
After few weeks we again met at pick-a-Delhi and again discussed the destination, and soon Kaza-Spiti was suggested by Varun. I had read about it few times on Xbhp touring diaries and it sounded a decent plan. Other got convinced by Varun's assurance that its going to be similar experience to Leh. The day was decided to be Friday Morning (being a holiday).
Items for ride:
- High resolution coloured maps.
- Local region wise maps.
- Waterproofing sheets/plastic for bagpacks.
- Medical Kit and tyre inflation kit.
- Riding gears.
Start Day1: I Got up and rushed to my bike with all the stuff. The sleep was not that great because of last late night. I had to meet my friends at Punjabi Bagh. Riding gears and backpack ready, and I was on my Blue 200CC. It was still dark and I pressed ignition. Firing Notes were breaking the silence of night and comfort of my society guard, who always gives me a question mark look when I put on my riding gears. Anyways, it was raining and making my vision bit blurred to start was cautious. But soon I was cruising on the empty Delhi roads, unaware of the fact that the road that I have identified in map has changed due to metro work so I have to take an entirely different route and I reached the meeting point bit late. Soon Ambika and Lokesh too left their homes and met me at the common point. Then we did the pillion bag packing with the "waterproofing sheets" Ambika had got from the truck-spare market and boy it served us well throughout the journey.
We reached Delhi around 5:20AM, and with skies still dark decorated with clouds we started towards our first Stop 'Chandigarh'. Maps were exchanged while packing the bags. Till the sun break-in we were doing good 80's on speedo, careful with glares coming from Glares trucks. Soon it got beautiful monsoon bright and we gave our throttles a bit more twist and the smooth highway to Chandigarh was adding to the pleasure.
We stopped at one dhaba in Haryana for tea and breakfast as none of us got the chance to have anything from home. We had a short planning session and quick breakfast.
The DHABA:
RIDES: PULSAR 200, ZMR, YAMAHA FAZER
The weather was amazing, we clicked few starting pics and then zoomed to the highway, not to stop at anything…
The roads were slightly damp an highway was nice on most parts, what else a rider can ask for. Bikes were doing good, my Pulsar 200 was breathing fire as usual, she loves monsoons like me. Ambika was bit cautious with his new White ZMR, understandable on maiden ride for bike. Lokesh had already made his new Fazer's engine in-tune, so was running carefree.
After 40Mins stopped for stretching backs and then it was a start of the Chandigarh expressway. And to know how good it is, you have to ride on it once. We were delighted to see what was ahead and we opened our throttles to the max
.CHD Expressway
Lots of on the way races (with others)and we were outside Chandigarh The clock was clicking 09:00AM, and we got our bike tanks filled. I was expecting since we are early into the city, maybe crossing it will be quick but..rains have made all the roads muddy and water logging was there in most of inside roads. A funny incident happened when we were crossing such roads in traffic, once uncle stopped Lokesh saying his bike throwing mud on riders behind, it took a while for caught unaware Lokesh to make him understand that its because of the bike's design. Anyways the uncle cursed the bike' company an him for choosing such a bike over the desi's
. We laughed and moved ahead. Soon the traffic got over we reached the other side of Punjab border. Roads again got open an smooth, and zipped ahead. Met one P220 with pillion doing some show-riding and well that was a invite, p220 was carrying a pillion and as it was visible that he carried no knowledge of how to use the monster he is riding. Result is obvious, anyways this fun part was over soon and I noticed no White and double headlights on my rear. I stopped on the road-side and waited. After some time Ambika and Lokesh Appeared, got to know that Lokesh's bike got slipped in the slow traffic, minor scratches to the leg-guard and nothing major thanks to the mud on road side. We Clicked few pics of the bikes an the mountains visible ahead. And after the short break we started towards Shimla, our lunch break stop. We were doing good as per time table and we had no haste. The curve roads to Shimla are amusement to bikers and if you get less traffic you can really enjoy the curves. There was amazing breeze and overcast weather, and I got so lost in the surrounding beauty of monsoon clouds and the mountains that almost lost the control and avoided a certain crash off the mountain. Ambika and Lokesh who were just riding behind me, came up and shouted at me for the mistake and I apologised and started again with promise of extra caution.
Roads to Shimla
THE GROUP
City
Lost in Nature's Beauty
As soon as we reached the inside of Shimla, we met huge traffic jam, locals told its common site during this season
. We somehow crossed the half of it, located one hotel and had much needed lunch break.The Parking
Clock was showing 02:30PM, We freshened up and had much needed food. The thalis they served were good and we filled our tummies. Bums and shoulders got the rest and after asking the waiter for road conditions we started ahead.
Till the time we crossed the traffic jam the clock hands were about to show 4.
We met few truck drivers as we stopped at the end of the traffic jam for re-grouping. They were asking me for the price of the gloves and listenin to which on driver was so shocked he asked others to check it out. Since too much attention is not comfortable situation for me, we started off quickly.
Clicked few pics on the way.
we kept moving on NH-22 for Narkanda. After about 1 hour of gud roads we were shocked at the state of roads ahead. It was raining and almost all parts of road were under-construction, piles of mud were put for levelling and heavy pre-monsoon rains have converted them into a muddy sludge. Only trucks and big tyre vehicles were moving easily. We kept moving slowly on those slushy roads, sometime following the truck-tracks. But even the sludge was floating like a muddy river. And all this time the showers kept coming, but there was no choice for stopping, still we stopped for few seconds for my fellow rider's smoke break, I usually utilise this time for analysis and asking someone for the situation ahead. By Chance we met someone an he was cursing the government and the companies involved in construction, we talked to him about the way ahead and the road condition and sadly we came to know its like this only till Narkanda.:-|. Well after a cigarette length break we started again.
It was dark and water, mud and height was making us shiver. We were just hoping to reach the Himachal tourism guest house somehow. After around 8:00PM we reached the city and then located the HT resort named "HATU". We were so tired that we parked bikes and took 1 minute of breather and then I was forced to go inside and arrange for lodging. I bargained with the manager and got ourselves a reasonable but spacious room. Clicked few pics before parking the bikes.
HATU
Dirt Biking: Lokesh's bike after reaching Narkanda.
Happy Feet
The dinner hall was gud and lots of sipirts were on display. Food was decent and gave us the much needed warmth. Other then us few more people were there and noticeable was once big group of old fellas, it had both males and females and since they were talking mostly in Bengali we were not able to make out what they were talking, but seemed to me a lively group.
After having dinner we returned to our room, ordered tea and coffee, as the weather was very cold. Ambika an Lokesh were not feeling well so gave them ‘Crocin’ tablets and then we crashed to bed with jokes and next day plans...
NEXT DAY: Morning was beautiful, slight drizzle outside and lovely misty weather.
Packing Up
Beauty Outside: wish we would have stayed longer....
Early Morning Face:
We decided to have breakfast in room and then packed the stuff to move ahead. We made the payment and thanked the manager and the staff, the HATU was really a nice and the service was great.
Now we were back on road, .........continued....
Day1 Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/nikhils...eat=directlink
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