superb muddy offroading

Waiting for more photos

@calibre :-

Just awesome ..
Good narration there.
Waiting for more


Regards,
Nagesh

Impressed

Calibre -

I am impressed by your travelogue. A great narration of a difficult ride via Rothang. It is not as easy as few claim and your experience will go a long way in helping fellow riders prepare.

Keep writing.

Thank you for sharing your experience - Respect.

I relived my experience looking at those pictures as I had a horrendous time crossing Rohtag, last year. The only saving grace was that it was downhill for me as I was going towards Manali. I took a lot of care to not to overexert the clutch and whenever I used to get stuck and it happened on numerous ocassions, I used to push the bike out of the spot. And guess which bike I abused . Baby Ninja 250R.

Continue you story bro!

Zima struggling !
BTW i am hooked ... bring on the rest man

thanks

thanks... more on the way

thank you... ya even we thought it would be easy but 2 days to cross tat stretch n it was dreadful... great learning experience thou

ya tat was the mistake, overusing the clutch... we tried pushing the bikes but believe me they moved in inches in that mud... and downhill was a fun ride actually... on the return downhill journey it was like driving in a dirt bike race... it was awesome and fun...
hope ur baby came our good??

Zima was preety old as it was rented... after the small repair it was great from the next day... rest coming up...

Day 3: Rohtang uphill

After last days disaster we somehow had to cross Rohtang today. It had again drizzled last night and we knew the road would be much worse today. We had a plan, for atleast we thought we had a plan.
Summer season is Peas and Potato season for the people of the other side of Rohtang. Its a farming belt till Kehlong. During this season vehicles leave early morning from Manali to get peas from the other side and come back before evening.
So if you have got it, our plan was to ride early the good part of the road towards Rohtang and wait. Wait for an empty Tata 407 to come and then hire them to load the bikes to cross the bad stretch. Hiring an exclusive vehicle from Manali would cost us somewhere around 5k while in this way we could finish in few hundreds as it would just be an extra income for the driver.
As planned we started our day early at around 7 and rode towards Rohtang. The plan was again to cover till Sarchu.

Start of the day:

We had covered only few kilometers when we found that the rear tyres of Pulsar had punchered. We returned back to fix the tyre, after which we started again.

Fixing the tyre:

The ascent again looked splendid and we stopped for few snaps. We covered the good part of the way to Rohtang and decided to wait for a truck or 407 to come by. No luck for the first half hour after which came few vehicles but they either refused to take us or we refused as they asked for too much.
I clicked few pics while waiting for a ride.


After a long wait we decided it would be better to move on slowly and find help later if needed. The road today was really really bad due to last nights rain. As usual few dared to enter and few returned. We moved ahead as we were really determined to cross this treacherous stretch at any cost today. The road was really challenging. We rode slowly without revving the bikes too much and without testing the bikes limits. The last thing we wanted was to have another bike repaired and another day wasted.
Few kilometers in the slush and the rented Pulsar was not doing that great. Abhinav decided to wait for a pick-up to cross the bad part rather than damaging the bike. After sometime we found an empty Tata 407 who was ready to take the bike. So the bike was loaded and tied while Abhinav hoped on along with the bike. We continued on our bikes and decided to meet him at the top.

The road got worse as we rode higher. At this speed we thought we could at-least make it till Kehlong by sunset. There was a small stretch at a turn where only one vehicle could cross at a time. It was a traffic jam and a complete chaos as even large vehicles were finding it difficult to cross. Everyone was trying to overtake each other and move as fast as possible. Most of the vehicles could not climb that bend on their own. The rear tyres of almost every four wheeler was getting sucked in the slush so a PWD JCB was giving the vehicles a push from the rear. The PWD guys were regulating the vehicle flow and if not for them everyone would have stuck there for longer. We crossed that path but Abhinva was still in the truck, stuck in the traffic jam. It was past noon when we reached that place.

That whole place was like a market with few people selling spicy channa masala and also a small shack were we hung out while waiting for Abhinav. We had hot maggi for lunch at that place. It a long wait in the rain but we had a good time talking to other people at the restaurant.
The first group we met were from Ahmedabad riding on their REs and were taking a break. Two of their friends had broken clutch plates at this same treacherous road and had to return to Manali while these people continued on their journey. Im unable to recall their names but one of them was the owner of RE showroom at Ahmedabad. A friendly bunch of guys. They invited us to ride along but we had to ask them to continue as our partner had not arrived yet. We decided to catch up with them in sometime. There was another guy Steve from Chennai Trekkers Club who was riding along with his girl friend. Just like us he also had loaded his bike in a pick-up truck few kilometers before and was waiting for it to cross the traffic. After his ride arrived we helped him unload his bike. He later told us that the truck guy dint take any money from him. A nice guy in middle of other truck drivers who were waiting to loot the bikers for a few kilometers ride.
Another interesting guy we met was Ray. He was English who worked in Japan and explored the Indian roads for nearly 4-5 months every year. He owned that bike and kept it in storage while we was at work in Japan and returned to India when he had earned enough to take a few months break. He had been doing this for the past 5 years and had not been to his home in England during this period. He returned every year and set off to a new place. He was coming down from Rohtang when his bike got stuck in a pool. The silencer was filled with mud after which it failed to start. In a few minutes he just opened half the parts of the bike on his own to find the problem. That guy was simply unbelievable. Another good thing to see was how people jumped even in rain to help the guy to pull it out of the mud and helped him in fixing it.

The lunch shack in middle of nowhere:

There was one guy who was wearing just a shirt in that cold and was shivering. So I offered him my fav jacket which was in my bag. He gave it back while leaving but the bad thing was I left it at the shop while leaving and remembered only after crossing Rohtang.
Also there was a monk who was wearing just a robe and said it was a hot day while we all were freezing to death.

My jacket:

The road was so bad that even the heavy vehicles were skidding in the slush. It was fun to watch but cant say if the people in those vehicle felt the same way.


It was a long 4 hour wait when finally our vehicle arrived with Abhinav. At around 4.30 we left from the stop towards Rohtang. There was only one bad monster on our way Rani Nala. Abhinva told us that the driver was telling him crazy stories about Rani Nala and how even trucks go sliding downhill every hill. We were about to reach Rani Nala when again we found a little traffic. Vehicles were moving in a single line. It was drizzling and we heard there had been fresh land slides just a day before. We saw a Tata 407 below Rani Nala which had fallen just a day before. Nothing much remained of the vehicle except for the TMT rods that it was carrying. Terrifying sight it was, believe me. It was a small stretch of road and everyone wanted to cross it as fast as possible. I couldnt take pics as it was raining and also we dint want to stop there for long as it was getting dark. We crossed Rani Nala and reached Rohtang by around 6 PM. We felt a sense of accomplishment having crossed the worst road of our life's so far and even now its the worst road I have ever driven.
A beautiful Rainbow welcomed us on top of Rohtang. We clicked few pics and were on our way down.



The sun was just going down at the same time as we were going down Rohtang. It was getting dark and we knew that it wouldnt be possible for us to even cross Koksar. In few minutes during the descent it got dark. And we were riding with our headlights on. But to my dismay the FZs headlights wouldnt glow. It was working fine just the day before. There was some problem with the wiring and so had to hold the pass switch to switch on the headlight. It was difficult to hold the switch and the clutch at the same time. It was decided that I would ride in between others so that I could follow with their lights. My left hand started aching in few minutes as I was holding the switch with one finger and the clutch with the other 3. Abhinav was riding ahead of us and at one of the turns he almost had a fall but lucky him, he balanced himself. After an hour or so we reached Koksar and decided to rest for the day.
There were few makeshift dhabas with beds. We took 4 beds in one of them. It was a small place run by a Nepali couple, with the dhaba in the front and 5 beds in the rear. For Rs.75/bed you couldnt ask for much. We asked them to prepare dinner while we took some rest.

The Nepali couple:

We had some rotis with dal, sabji and also some rice. As we were talking with them we came to know that they came to Koksar every year from a small village near Kathmandu, Nepal to run this place. They came in as soon as the roads opened and returned at the end of the season. It was really a tough life for such people, travelling thousands of miles away from home to this remote non-friendly terrain to earn a living.
After dinner we decided to take rest as we had another long day ahead of us. We were already 2 days behind schedule and had a lot to cover-up.
The fifth bed in the room remained unoccupied. We were provided with decent bedding and after a hot tea, it was lights-off.

Nice trip log machi Didn't knew that you had gone through so much pain when Ravi told me that you got Leh'd last year. But I am sure at the end of the journey you would have learnt a lot

Nice trip log.
We crossed Rohtang on 14th August last year. Similar situation with slush and all. Officially the pass was closed and everyone dissuaded us from going through. I thought, itna slush jhel liya hai ke waapas nahi jaana
Even we took the whole day to cross Kullu- Rohtang and descent to Koksar by 7 in the evening But when we crossed - it was snowing like crazy and everything was white.
Waiting for your exploits crossing pagal nallah and the uphill climb to tanglang-la.

Thanks machi... good to knw u r reading... ya it was a good learning experience and we enjoyed it a lot... as they say no pain no gain, the view from Rohtang itself was worth all this pain.
hope u r making it to Leh this year??

Thanks Mik....
We heard from ppl that it had last snowed on Aug 15th... hamne bhi yehi socha tha ki wapas nahi jaana magar as fate would have it, we had to cross thru the same route...
Tanglang-la has another story... will explain on that in the next post...

Superb pix.. And yeah.. Thanks for reminding the horrifying Rohtang from last Year..
I was there last year in July.. What about you guys.? It was exactly the same plus heavy traffic due to landslides.. I wonder how you managed to click pix.. I wanted to click, but I was submerged in mud & rain that I couldnt imagine.

All I could click was this & some more


Rohtang messing up everyones schedule was a mutual thing spotted that time..
I spent couple of hours hand removing the mud from the tyres & chain
And then spending night at ZingZing bar due to the heavy current of the nalla was a nightmare..

You please carry on with the beautiful flow....

Thanks... We were there during the last week of August.
We were stranded there for nearly 4 hours... so we were chilling around having maggi and clicking pics
Rohtang messed up everything. Due to the wasted 2 days we had to come back from Leh without seeing anything. Will explain about that later.
And i dint remove the mud from the tyres at all... Most of it fell off after drying druing bumpy rides and rest during servicing

Awesum experience n super duper pics. let the pics n log flow buddy. Glued here...

Day 4: Sarchu

After a good nights sleep we were ready for an exciting day ahead. Plan was just to drive till it gets dark, hopefully till Pang. We had a wonderful hot breakfast at the dhaba, tied our bags and bid goodbye to the couple. Koksar was the last place were we got proper cell phone network and the last place were we spoke at our homes properly.


The next stop from Koksar was Tandi. The road till there was really good with river running on one side and farms on the other. In an hour or so we reached Tandi, the fuel stop for every biker to Leh as it is the last fueling station before Leh. We filled in our tanks and the cans. After taking few pics there we headed off.


In 30 mins from Tandi we were at Keylong. The road was not worth mentioning as it was broken in parts. We dint want to enter the Keylong town but were looking for a mechanic to fix the FZs headlight and just small checkups on the other bikes. After enquiring we found that there was a mechanic right on the highway. We met Peter(guy we met before Rohtang) again at the mechanics where he was getting his RE checked. The mechanic was from Mandi and he came over to this side just for the season. Most of the bike parts had to be ordered from Delhi and they arrived in the govt bus coming from Delhi.
There were few more people at the shop but we requested him to check our bikes first as we were in a hurry. The FZs headlight was checked and fixed in a few minutes and also he tightened the chain. After small adjustments and chain lubrication in all the bikes we were ready. We had some snacks at the shop nearby and hit off.


The ride from Keylong was really awesome, well raid four lane highway and no traffic. Just outside Keylong we had rendezvous with our first nalla. We tried not to wet our shoes but it was hard to cross the road with water more than two feet deep. The sun was out so it dint take long for the shoes to dry. The road was mostly downhill and so the ride was really enjoyable. In a couple of hours we were crossing Jispa. The place looked good for a nights stay with the tents besides the river and few hotels. After that we reached Darcha in few hours and if I remember correctly we made a entry at the police checkpost there. The next place on the route was ZingZing Bar. We had heard a lot of things about this place about the bad road and nalla but we dint face any issues there. The road till there was really great and we were having fun riding.


After few hours of non-stop riding crossing Barchanga-La, the second pass on our route we were hungry and decided to stop at Bharatpur. We were little tired as it was past lunch time. Bharatpur was a small place with a couple of dhabas on either side of the road. We got into one of the dhabas but they dint have any thing hot ready for lunch. So we placed our order and had to wait for sometime for our lunch to be served. Till that time we had some rest and refreshed ourselves. After the tasty lunch it was time again to ride.


We rode for sometime but then we had a problem. My bro was not feeling well as he had a little temperature and headache. It was around 4.00 PM and we were nearing Sarchu. We decided to call it a day at Sarchu but he asked us to continue till Pang which was more than 70 kms and said he will stay at Sarchu and catch up with us tomorrow by starting early. But we dint want to leave him behind for any reason and given that he was coming down with a fever we couldnt even think of leaving him. So it was decided to rest at Sarchu. We reached Sarchu at around 4.30 PM. We had not covered much distance today but then we were there to enjoy not just to cover the distance in a hurry. The journey is as important the destination, rather the journey was more important than the destination.
Sarchu is in a plain with beautiful mountains surrounding it. A river flows through the plains making a small gorge. Except for few tented accommodations and a police checkpost there was nothing in Sarchu. If im not wrong its the border between HP and J&K. The checkpost was the last HP Police checkpost.
After enquiring at the first set of tents we zeroed on the one near the police checkpost. This guy had 3 types of tents, small tents with beds, big ones with cots and a dormitory. Baring a single large tent all others were empty. We took the small tents, at Rs.100/bed they were a steal. There were 2 beds in each tent and I must tell that they were pretty good. At night there was heavy wind which we could hear but inside it was nice and cozy.
I was amazed at one particular thing. Even in such a place where there were no permanent building, there was a Wine shop. It was a small place covered with tin sheets. Why on earth would someone get a license to open a wine shop in such a remote place for few months a year? One thing is clear, whether or not you get to eat in this country(we dint get breakfast the next day), for sure you will get to drink.



Though there was not much of riding that day but we had enjoyed the beautiful mountains and valleys. It was fun and relaxed day and also for the first time in my life I stayed in a tent.