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**Sikhbiker** · 07-07-2011, 12:19 AM

nice...

good one Mr. B2L.. waiting for more...

**sunnyrags** · 07-07-2011, 08:09 PM

RESPECT !! Is the only one word that come's on my mind. Hat off To three of You for crossing such tough route through slush for mile's.

Beautiful picture's. I love every bit of ur LOG report. Awaiting to know about the Ride Back Report to DElhi..

Regards

SunnyRags(Rahul Gawri)

**princesirohi** · 07-07-2011, 09:29 PM

wow, super trip.......very good......

**born2lead** · 07-08-2011, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by sherry_unicornlover View Post

Amazing is the one word which comes up in my mind right now.
Loved reading the log and LOVED the pics....
Keep em coming.

Thanks a lot Sherry

Originally posted by rachitkdogra View Post

Wow!! After a long time something from Your side B2L sir..
The Teasers look exciting. Waiting for the rest..
CHEERS!!

Yes Rachit, I agree its been a while. Hope you liked the Day1 log too.

Originally posted by Shivanshu View Post

Beautiful Imran bhai

the valley seems beautiful with so much greenery

Yes Shivanshu, I was so pleasently surprised to see it all Green, it was lovely

Originally posted by Sikhbiker View Post

good one Mr. B2L.. waiting for more...

Thank you so much, will start Day2 soon.

Originally posted by sunnyrags View Post

RESPECT !! Is the only one word that come's on my mind. Hat off To three of You for crossing such tough route through slush for mile's.
Beautiful picture's. I love every bit of ur LOG report. Awaiting to know about the Ride Back Report to DElhi..

Regards

SunnyRags(Rahul Gawri)

Hey Sunny, thanks a lot for appreciating it. Just one thing, it doesn't seem tough till the time you are enjoying

Originally posted by princesirohi View Post

wow, super trip.......very good......

Thanks a lot Prince

**Garry_Menace** · 07-08-2011, 02:25 AM

Very beautiful pics and nice write-up there.

Allotting a separate tab of my browser to this thread for the time being

**born2lead** · 07-12-2011, 10:52 PM

Day2 (Part1): Gramphoo - Batal

<< Back to Day1: Delhi - Gramphoo

Day2 (Part1): Gramphoo - Batal
(50kms in 3 hrs)

We had covered a good distance the previous day and thus were in a relaxed frame of mind for today. There was no need to set the alarm and leave the bed at an uncomfortable, cold wee hour of the morning. I woke up to a voice enquiring if anyone wanted tea. It was the dhabe wali Didi, who seemed to be yelling at a deaf truck driver or it could just be the lazy and quiet morning me finding the pitch a little too high. Arjun was still in his bed, while Abhishek was already up. I dragged myself out of the cozy bunker to be greeted by a chilly breeze and a warming sun. It’s funny how nature balances itself out. A few sunrays escaping through the otherwise cloudy sky were making quite a magnificent view over the green hill tops with some patches of snow still left to melt. Life in hills starts very early. It wasn’t even 7:30AM and life was already in full swing. The small entrance to the dhaba was clogged with people queuing to come out or go in. Truck drivers were done with their breakfast and were almost ready to leave.

We continued to enjoy the lazy morning with some tea and maggi, while soaking up the warmth of the sun. Not even once did the thought of the scorching heat back in Delhi cross my mind. We finally started to prepare for the ride, while both my friends were busy packing their stuff, I washed my bike’s drive chain and oiled it. This is a good practice especially in this terrain because we had ridden the bike through some rough patches of roads filled with mud, slush, water crossings etc. Not to forget that eventually it’s the drive chain that turns the wheel and moves the bike. While I was busy oiling the chain, a gentleman (middle Aged American) came next to the bike and said “that’s a sharp looking bike” he read the 200cc written near the grab-rail and continued “200cc sounds quite apt for this terrain”. This followed with a short but interesting chat. There were three very important things that got registered in my cold stricken head, that he rides a KTM, his name is Bill (William) and that he rides a KTM. We wished best of luck to each other and continued with our preparations. By 8:30AM we all were geared up with bags packed and bikes oiled, to hit the road again.

Right in-front of the dhaba at Gramphoo, there is a three way. Coming down from Rohtang Pass one can either continue to Koksar - Keylong - Leh or take a hairpin bend into the beautiful and majestic valley heading towards Spiti. Though I have ridden from Kaza to Gramphoo before, I was excited about this stretch because for the first time I was riding in the opposite direction (Gramphoo - Kaza). The terrain from here on changes drastically. There aren’t many trees, just the green surfaced mountains with some patches of snow which gradually turn into barren life-less heaps of sand, gravel, rocks and boulders. Have you ever seen a small kid walking by a wall with a stick or a piece of coal or brick in his hand, and how he carelessly sticks that stick or coal into the wall leaving a single, ugly, uneven trail behind. That is exactly how I felt about this road I was riding on. Nature in its true form here makes you feel so miniscule, that everything around seems God-sized and larger than one can imagine.

There are a few water-crossings before Chatru that we crossed quite comfortably. Abhishek was very excited about these water crossings, especially after hearing about the dreadful experiences other riders had while crossing ChotaDhara (this young lad and his whims with water crossings, I tell you ;P ). Though we were expecting to cross at least foot deep water, ChotaDhara fortunately had very less water, just ankle deep and easy to cross. Apparently Abhishek was very disappointed. I am guessing he came prepared to swim through it and just didn’t like it when his swim gear was left unused.

We came across few guys accompanying herds of sheep and mountain goats heading in the same direction, I was surprised to see them there because I didn’t know of any villages or habited place nearby, I stopped and asked one of them where were they heading to, to which he replied Chandertal, so it was not just us

. Then I asked him, how long will it take them to get to the lake, he said 3-4 days. I instantly recalled the cold from the night before, though I was inside a bunker in a comfortable bed, God knows how these guys survive out in the cold and wild. We continued riding, enjoying the off-road, admiring the vistas and made it to Batal at around noon. Our very own friendly Batal wale uncle recognized me and he greeted us with much needed hot tea. It’s so strange that a man some 1000kms away, whom I had met, couple of times for very short durations, felt so connected and concerned about us. We continued chatting for a while and then decided to leave for Chandertal Lake. Uncle informed us that few groups had retuned midway from Chandertal and that so far only 3 guys had made it on their bikes while most trekked their way. One of these successful riders is our very own Vivek Sharma Sir, who was on his umpteenth ride to Spiti a week before. We decided that we will ride till the point we can and then if walk the rest of the way. Well that’s the least that one can expect from a bunch of guys with an Itch.

Day2 (Part2) Continues...

**L.P.** · 07-12-2011, 11:10 PM

There is something or the other that Abhi always have in his mind while riding to a place, it was fun to read about the swimsuit section in the above mentioned write up.

Arjun seems to enjoying a lot by getting pictures, and Arjun's Tyre slipped we got to hear that in person from him directly

, which in itself an amazing experience!!!

**Abhishek B** · 07-12-2011, 11:22 PM

Well now I await the most exciting part of journey. It would be interesting to read your take on it.

Chhotadara - naam mat lo uska. abhi agli baar dekhunga kya milta hai??

I just hope the next part is updated soon

**kurtrules** · 07-13-2011, 10:25 AM

Superbly narrated! Now waiting for the ascend to 'the' lake

**cschoudhary** · 07-13-2011, 10:31 AM

Its true that you can't get rid of an Itch until you scratch it a few times

Its called curing Itch the natural way .. super amazing experience - A lot more to go !
No where so far I see you guys encounter any clouds getting unloaded in this season !

**prateek2210** · 07-13-2011, 11:22 AM

@Imran Bhai : When you guys were there? Even I was doing spiti last week. I just had a glimpse of the Moon Lake from the top as the road was closed.

**born2lead** · 07-13-2011, 12:33 PM

Originally posted by Garry_Menace View Post

Very beautiful pics and nice write-up there.

Allotting a separate tab of my browser to this thread for the time being

I am honored Garry

Originally posted by L.P. View Post

There is something or the other that Abhi always have in his mind while riding to a place, it was fun to read about the swimsuit section in the above mentioned write up.

Arjun seems to enjoying a lot by getting pictures, and Arjun's Tyre slipped we got to hear that in person from him directly

, which in itself an amazing experience!!!

Yes LP,
Abhishek proved his metal both in his riding abilities and temperament.
Arjun as always was full of energy and very active.
It was like a perfect mix of all ingredients for a perfect reciepe.

Originally posted by Abhishek2433 View Post

Well now I await the most exciting part of journey. It would be interesting to read your take on it.
Chhotadara - naam mat lo uska. abhi agli baar dekhunga kya milta hai??
I just hope the next part is updated soon

I too had a lot of fun riding that stretch. I hope you get ur due swim the next time

I will work on the next part soon.

Originally posted by kurtrules View Post

Superbly narrated! Now waiting for the ascend to 'the' lake

Thank you so much Kurt. I will start on the ascend soon

Originally posted by cschoudhary View Post

Its true that you can't get rid of an Itch until you scratch it a few times

Its called curing Itch the natural way .. super amazing experience - A lot more to go !
No where so far I see you guys encounter any clouds getting unloaded in this season !

yeah we were really lucky with rains. It was cloudy throughtout but no rains, so lot of cool breeze and no heat. Thanks a lot for your kind words

Originally posted by prateek2210 View Post

@Imran Bhai : When you guys were there? Even I was doing spiti last week. I just had a glimpse of the Moon Lake from the top as the road was closed.

Prateek, We were in Manali on 30th June and at the Lake on 1st July. From where did you see the Lake?

**prateek2210** · 07-13-2011, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by born2lead View Post

Prateek, We were in Manali on 30th June and at the Lake on 1st July. From where did you see the Lake?

Oh ok!! We started from here on 2nd July, we did a trek from Kunzum to the peak and from there we had a glimpse of the "blue" lake as the road that leads to the lake was closed due to land slides and we had no time to trek to the next peak as it was getting darker. We were there on 6th July

**Shivanshu** · 07-13-2011, 05:15 PM

Beautiful Imran Bhai, amazing pics and good narration, I am enjoying it to the core, and waiting eagerly for the Lake

**rachitkdogra** · 07-13-2011, 06:01 PM

Sir Ji whatever you write turns into Gold..

A very nice writeup and beautiful pictures. My ride with you to hills is still pending. Someday would really love to ride with you.

Reading your logs actually make me feel like quitting my job and do only one thing that is riding.

Eagerly waiting to see the Chandertal..

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An Itch called Chandertal (June 2011)

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