Triplog Approved

Do share photos if you can

Thanks for the speedy approval

Guys I am penning down the Triplog for Chintan Gambhir, he has a lot of pictures will be collecting the pics as well from him in a day or 2.

5 stars!


Superb log.. Keep it coming..and quick!

Day 5 - 5th June 2012 - 6:00hr - Shimla - Manali

I woke up 6:00 AM. Loaded my luggage on the bike and headed for Manali, there are 2 roads from Shimla to Manali and I was advised to take the Diversion from Narkanda if I really wanted to enjoy the journey and that is exactly what I planned to do.

At 9:00 AM i reach Narkhanda, Now where to go there are 2 roads,as planned I took the Kotgar route, roads were very bad and at times did not exist at all but it was beautiful.

Reached Kotgar and asked a local man how to get to Manali, they told me that I was going in the wrong direction, but also told me that if I kept going straight for another 20Km or so I would touch the NH leading me to Manali, so I carried on. After some 10Km or so again I encountered 2 roads but this time around there was no one to ask directions from so I sorts of decided to take the road which seemed to have a steeper incline with a hope to get to the valley quicker, after 2 Km or so the road started to get narrower and narrower and then all that was left was a Trek Trail, I on my bike could only keep my foot on one side of the road the other side was a steep valley, I was stuck with no way to go but forward as there was no scope to turn the biker on that trail, fortunately I found an abandoned home and managed to turn my bike around there and headed back up and took the other road and luckily found some road construction workers there who affirmed that I was on the right track now, I started to rip the bike as I was getting late, it was already 1:00 PM and I was no where near Manali, infact I still had over 200 Km to go. The road was good and I enjoyed the high speed corners, carving them at over 60-70 Km/h. Finally touched the NH, I took the Kullu road and what a road that was, Sutlej flowing by the road, the beauty of the river and valley was just mind blowing, tht gave more energy, the ride along side the Sutlej was an awesome experience, though the road were not that good.

Finally reached Ani take some rest had tea 'n' biscuits, then moved on. After a few km the road vanished, I was ride doing off roading, all boulders, sand and mud is all that was but the road's surroundings were just so beautiful that neither my bike nor myself were complaining, we were infact loving it and the best part of it all was that the weather help up perfectly for me to enjoy the route. I reached Aut around 5:00 pm, after Aut I came across a Dam, I don't know the name of the but it was amazing, the water was all green in color, after the dam there were 3 Tunnels going to Chandigarh, Ambala and Kullu so I chose the Kullu tunnel which was 2.7km long, very well lit with red light beaming all over, I revved the bike to check the sound and it was rocking. I kept ripping the bike and reached Kullu at around 7:30 and still some 60 K m to go before Manali, kept pushing forward and reached Manali, found a guest house near Manu Mandir (Old Manali) had dinner and slept.


Day 6 - 6th June 2012 - 10:00hr - stay in Manali

Woke up around 9 , guess what, I saw snow on the mountains, my first ever encounter with snow, though from a distance, bad luck as I wanted to travel further today but it was raining and I had change my plan, it stopped raining at around 2 and I decided to go out to IL FERNO, one of the best Italian restaurants around, suggested to me by someone the food was awesome. Now it was time to roam around in manali and do some sight seeing. Manali is a small town, nothing much to see. 1 thing I noticed is that the temperatures in Manali are prity low and I started to feel the chill and it also started to rain again. I guess it was a good idea to stay back in Manali as it helped me aclimatize to the weather.

very nice, and pictures please.

Havn't read any line except the ones quoted above. (will read later once I am free...) But the thing that has made me to 'subscribe' the thread is marked in BOLD. Hope you won't disappoint us...

I am sure it would really turn out to be an awesome travelogue but what is missing is the Pics.

Nice writeup!
Interesting to read!
Pics??

sandstorm and snow in the same trip? wow.

Exactly my thoughts....

Don't know how to react !! on This Trip log !!!

First why didn't you think from your mother side ?? What trauma she would have gone through.
When people with two kidneys don't attempt this then why you ??

When you were confident that you can get leh'd than why to prove the world ??

My friend i am not against this brave attempt but very sensitive towards your Mom and you. Your Mom sliced herself so that you can live!!

So why to attempt such idiotic trip on bike?? Why not a plane or a 4 Wheeler ??


I salute your braveness.....But strongly oppose this attempt my Brother!!

People's some small mistake pay them forever!!

So initially we would like to now how was health in entire trip, physical fitness your height, weight ?? difficulties you faced

And what type of food you ate ??

Being a God Gifted Personality how did you dealt with your loneliness ??

Happy to know you have more courage then 2 kidney people !!

7 round salute my brother...Pics please with you in it!!!

I actually talked to the guys mom 2 days before he was going to leave to LEH and discussed the whole thing with her, he really got spurred on coz each and every person he talked to gave him a negetive response, people told him things like "You only have 1 Kidney, how will you make it" other told him things like if you make it up there you will stay up there, you can't make it. We can't take you along, what if you die, how do we bring your dead body back.

All sorts of idiotic responsed, he made up his mind and he was confident enough that he can make this trip happen, I would never had supported him if his parents were not aware of his trip. He took up the challenge and proved it to the world that he can do it. He infact slapped a few arrogant guys in the face by completing the trip.

Day 7 - 7th June 2012 - 8:00hr - Manali - jispa

Woke up at 8:00am, loaded luggage on bike and went to the fuel bunk to get some fuel and also got 4Lt of extra fuel in a can just in case I could not find fuel on the way, I did not want to get stranded.
Time to conquer Rohtang Pass, with yesterday’s rains had me a bit worried as that could have left a lot of slush on the roads.
Rohtang here I come, the actual ride begins now ……..
36km travelled and the road till now was awesome, but it was getting colder and colder by the minute. All of a sudden things start to change everywhere you turn your head all you see are cars, cars and even more cars, the snow was all dirty, I had different scenes in my mind, the traffic was horrible, people parking their vehicles all over the place without the thinking or considering the convenience of others. Thanks to the P220 I faced no issues what so ever negotiating the traffic jams, I had more than enough in my rear wheels to zip past all the issues.

As Expected the road was full if slush, but it was not as much as I had thought, the Ceat really helped me control the bike and it gave me awesome grip even in these conditions. I was really excited while crossing the Pass but extremely upset seeing the state in which the tourist had left the place, total neglect for the place I must say. It has become more than just a tourist attraction it’s just too much commercialized.

I stopped a decent enough tea stall and had my tea and breakfast, there to my shock and excitement I saw a few guys talking in Gujarati, this was something. I approached them and asked where they were from. They were also from Ahmedabad and had taken bullets on rent to reach LEH but they did not make it past Rohtang, they were on their way back, this did give me a little bit of mental concern but then my determination took over and my mind told me “Come On – You have to move on and get to Leh”. As soon as I crossed the pass the whole scene changed, the snow was now white, there was no garbage, there were no tourist, no cars, no traffic, it was just as I had thought, PRISITNE.
This was the first time in my life I got a chance to touch snow, the child inside of me took over and started to play with snow all alone, I took some pictures and started to make a move on towards Keylong. Roads were very good but there was a lot of snow on both the sides, at times felt like I was passing through walls of snow. Reached Keylong around 3:00pm, now was the time to make a decision, Stay in Keylong or move on, there was still a lot of sunlight left for the day and I was not really that much tired so thought of moving on upto Jispa. Reached jispa around 4:30 and booked a room, had dinner and slept early.

Day 8 - 8th June 2012 - 9:00hr Jispa - Pang

Woke up @ 9 in the morning, checked the bike to see if everything was ok, it has already been over 2000 Km since I left home but everything seemed absolutely fine with the bike. An aged man approached me and started to enquire about my journey, where I was from and where I was headed, later on came to know that he was the owner of the hotel, he gave me some advice about the roads to Leh which proved very helpful to me during my journey. The weather was really very bad but I had no choice but to keep moving forward, the hotel owner stopped me told me not to move ahead as I would encounter snow fall on Baralacha Pass, he told me to find a group and join in, that would help me in case I got into any trouble with my bike or with the weather, he kept telling me don’t go alone it dangerous for you, if you drop your bike you will not be able to pick it up due to lack of oxygen. That really was kind of him.

I was really confused whether to move forwards tor to wait, I finally took the old man’s advice and stayed back and waited for the weather to clear up or some group to pass by. I suddenly saw a Black P220, I stopped him and saw that they were a couple and had come all the way from London, I asked them if I could tug along side them, he readily agreed and told me that he would wait for me at Darchu, so I hurried up and loaded my bike, met the hotel owner and thanked him and also told him that I had found company to ride along. I reached Darchu and registered myself and bike at the Check post. I found the British couple and they introduced me to 3 more bikes that were travelling along with them, we all moved on towards Baralacha Pass and true to the Old Man’s words it was snowing up there, another first for me, snow fall wow, what an experience.

We moved on as the weather was not too good and reached Bharatpur, stopped at a tea stall took a much needed break, all the other riders started to ask me all sorts of Questions, What’s your name, where you from etc. I told them that I was from Gujarat and I was travelling alone. When I told them that I had just one kidney and that I was out here to prove myself, everyone was shocked and surprised. They all told me that I was a very brave boy, you have guts and cheered me on. Among the group there were 2 from Mumbai and they had been travelling since the past 5 months, they were travelling across India on a bullet making a documentary on themselves, they had passed from Gujarat on their way, so I decided to join in with these guys.

We all had Maggi and lemon tea and moved on towards Pang, on the way we took some photos and videos as well. The whole road was so scenic, I felt like I was in heaven. The road was very straight and smooth, on the way we met a cyclist he was from Mandi, he had been cycling since the past 4 days. We waved our good byes, registered out bikes at Sachu and moved on towards Lachulung Pass, there apparently is a short cut that the bullet guys took, the bull easily pulled up to halfway so I was like why wouldn’t the P220 make it, half way point I realized that I was loosing power even in 2nd gear so I broke and shifted to 1st, but I had a problem, I was unable to engage 1st and I could feel my bike slipping, there was absolutely nothing I could do and I fell and my bike kept slipping luckily it stopped just before a cliff. Then I tried to call out for help and what do I see, the bull had also fallen down, my fuel was spilling, I had no energy to pick up the bike, the lack of oxygen was having its effects. Took a moment to recover and tried again and I managed to pickup the bike and went back to the main road, I had no energy left and I parked my bike on the side and literally slept on the road, the worst thing was no one had water, luckily we saw a car coming and the 2 bull riders waved and stopped it and asked for water, one of the girls in the car had seen me sleeping on the road and was worried, so asked if I was ok, I woke up drank some water, took the bike and started moving on towards Pang.

It was almost 6:30 by this time and it was very late and it was getting really really cold, We reached the pass at 7:30 and Pang at 9:00 PM. The British couple had reached there a long time ago, we discussed our incident with them, had a laugh, took 2 Rum Shots, had dinner and slept in a tant, not too comfortable but I was too tired from the day’s hard ride and I slept well.



Day 9 - 9th June 2012 - 7:00hr Pang - LEH

This was a tough day, infact a very tough day, woke up 7, had breakfast and checked the bike, after riding for 5-6 km found a road passing though the plains and the road was going right through its center. The Road was awesome and the weather was crystal clear, I felt like I would just stay there for the rest of my life but then sanity takes over and you remember that we have to reach LEH. Found a foreigner on a cycle travelling from Manali to Leh, brave guy I must admit. After a few more kilometer we came across a the desert, no roads, it was free for all, drive where ever you want, an amazing experience.

Time to now climb Tanglang Pass, there was absolutely no roads here, just slush, more slush and slush and slush and may be some mud as well. It was from this moment onwards that I started to face all sorts of problems with my bike. I thought my bike was suffering from AMS AKA low oxygen syndrome but that was not the case, the bike would run fine and in no time would heat up and stall, had to let it cool off and then again would be able to ride for a few kilometer and then again the same issue over heat and Stall. This happened so many times that I really got fedup. On the way upto the pass the bike fell 4 times, thanks to the guys I was travelling with I was able to get up and moving again, without them I would have had a hard time. Somehow managed to reach the top and took some pictures and moved on towards Upasi, this time around the bike did not give me any issues. We were some 50 Km from Upasi and again the drama started, the bike was behaving like a very upset Girl friend I thought, it had a mind of its own. Everyone carried on towards Upasi, I was stranded in the middle of nowhere. I checked the spark plugs they were OK, the air filter also was fine, 1 hr has passed and the bike would not start up, this was getting really frustrating I did not know what to do, the whole thing was getting on to my mind and I was getting upset, the loneliness was killing me from inside, fear started to creep in, wild animals could be around here who knows. Another half hour passed and viola the bike starts, as I said it had a mind if it’s own.

I reached Upasi and was surprised to see the 2 bullet guys waiting for me, from Upasi to LEH is just 56 Km, there is a small Military town in the way called Karu, it’s a good little township and the Soldiers were really very helpful.

We reached Leh at 7 PM, again the bike stalls but luckily there was a garage right infront of where it stopped, but its very very difficult to find parts in LEH. The MEch there managed to start my bike and I took it to the Hotel, unloaded the luggage and slept.

Day 10 - 10th june 2012 - 11:00hr stay in LEH

Woke up at 11, today’s plan was to get the permissions done but even before that I had to get my bike repaired and in working codition. Before that we have to get permissions to go to Pangong Tso and Khardung La, we went to the market to find the DC Office.
We found the office and we found a lot of bikes outside the office, all waiting to get permissions, we filled in the forms and the fees are Rs. 200 per person, it took us a lot of time to get the permissions, it was almost 4 PM by the time we got free.

It was now time to find a good mechanic, I asked 5 different localites who owned P220s and they all told me just one name – “Shashi”, he seemed to be the only good mechanic for P220 in LEH, I got there, he checked my bike and told me that because of low oxygen my bike was stopping, he changed the carburetor settings and my bike was ready to go, it was now 7:00PM and we went to roam around in LEH Market, I must say that everything in LEH is damn expensive. We took our dinner and slept, tomorrow I going to be a big day for me. Kahrdung La and Pangong Tso on the cards.




Guys sorry I am still waiting for his photos, am going to meet him tonight and collect them, hopefully uploading them from tomorrow onwards

upload the photos :-)