Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

A truly beautiful ride and lovely pictures!! So glad that you could share it with your life partner Doubles the joy when shared, and our congrats to her for taking on the rough with the smooth!
Wish you both many more wonderful rides to come.

Take Care & Ride Safe

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

Sir... many many thanks. Couples like you inspires us to do such trip. We look forward of you two making a trip in North India.

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

Continuing anyway on 16th Aug...

Our last place of visit was HH Dalai Lama's temple. Last time I went I dearly missed having a tripod as my humble camera doesn't support low light photography. This time I was well prepared but what came as a shock was that Govt. has banned taking any electronic items inside the template complex after the recent bomb blast at Bodh Gaya temple!! I was highly dejected as I wanted to take some good pics of the temple & inside of it. The temple also offers a magnificent view of the mountains. Nevertheless, visited the temple & then visited the Tibetan Museum where photography was allowed. Some snapshot of it...

I hope people doesn't recognize Tibetans as Chinese after my pics of the museum who were not aware about the whole incident

































It was now time to bid farewell to the beautiful mountains & return back to our "exciting" life back in Delhi. It was drizzling very lightly. That day was surprisingly good as compared to the previous days we stayed. Took some other very steep road towards Dharamsala which goes around the Army Cant. I was dearly missing a cam like the go pro. We soon reached Dharamsala in no time. The climb towards McLeod was quite steep & thus took more time comparatively. I got full tank at the Dharamsala BP Petrol pump. Cleaned my bike's chain with diesel & lubed it with OKS chain spray too. We were ready to go. Clicked few pics enroute...







The day after 15th Aug holiday. What boring stuff


Last time I skipped the Martyr's Memorial park. This time I couldn't give it a miss & stopped to click few pics & rain gods started showering their choicest blessings thereupon...






That's no cannon on my bike. That's a BIG umbrella bought from McLeod




That's a BAD A$$ cannon though



Wish I could have one parked in front of my house


And a pvt. jet too








Were we used to be fearless earlier?? It seems so!




Rain Coats coming out of the bag & that was again a wise decision as we encountered good rains there onwards.



There was a point where we HAD to stop after the grueling ride just to freshen up our mind & soul.

Wife enjoying a good break..






My P&S cam doesn't do much justice but still you would agree that is some HELL OF A VIEW!!






















A panorama view from my mobile cam..





We took another short break after 40 minutes of riding. My camera's battery died and I had to rely on my phone's cam now.












We were almost around 180 kms from the Chandigarh as per GPS when we took our food break at a road side Dhaba. It was fantastic decision as food & the Chai was absolutely brilliant. Seldom I find these DHABAs to be serving good food but this one was truly good. It was raining quite heavily too. So it gave us a little bit of respite from rain too. Time was 4:00 PM. We left McLeod at 12:30PM



A panorama view of the Dhaba


Sadly I just couldn't take more pics due to time boundation & heavy rains. Our journey of the hills ended. I encountered worse roads ever while returning to Chandigarh. I had to negotiate heavy mud, slush, "grand canyon" potholes. Once we hit Punjab, the roads were good but it was quite dark with the NH crossing through some farms & deep vegetation. The oncoming vehicle's high beam light added to the "adventure" element. I was very concerned about my wife & bike. Both managed pretty well. There was the same 2 lane undivided highway where we were JOLTED out of our speed ride. We hit a major pothole which shattered my faith & I had to ride at 40 kph for the entire stretch so that I can avoid further misery to our body & bike. We finally managed to reach Chandigarh Railway stn. after a very tough ride at 11:30 PM & just crashed for the night.

Next day the plan was to roam around in Chandigarh till the evening as Shipra had to take her return train back to Delhi & I would ride back to Delhi. Stay tuned if you want to get a glimpse of the famous Chandigarh...

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

Brilliant trip log sir, i went nostalgic reading the blog, i had done McLeod the same time last year, but why didn't you venture into dharmkot? There is a motorable road and the view is exhilarating!

Loved the pics, planning to do McLeod on my bike now!

Sent from my A9+ using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

awesome fantastic couple ride.....

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

WOW!! Awesome dada, you made it and in a great way!! The way you have written the travelogue it's superb and Pics quality is very good, finally you have taken the advise of bhabhi in regards photographs,

Wish i would have ridden with you!!

Rahul if you are reading this, damn push daddu to make another awesome trip like Bikaner one,

Re: ROAD-LESS TRAVELED - McLEOD GANJ IN MONSOON

Thanks a lot Sandeep for your kind words and appreciation towards my noob photography skills

Continuing anyway on 16th Aug...

Our last place of visit was HH Dalai Lama's temple. Last time I went I dearly missed having a tripod as my humble camera doesn't support low light photography. This time I was well prepared but what came as a shock was that Govt. has banned taking any electronic items inside the template complex after the recent bomb blast at Bodh Gaya temple!! I was highly dejected as I wanted to take some good pics of the temple & inside of it. The temple also offers a magnificent view of the mountains. Nevertheless, visited the temple & then visited the Tibetan Museum where photography was allowed. Some snapshot of it...

I hope people doesn't recognize Tibetans as Chinese after my pics of the museum who were not aware about the whole incident
























It was now time to bid farewell to the beautiful mountains & return back to our "exciting" life back in Delhi. It was drizzling very lightly. That day was surprisingly good as compared to the previous days we stayed. Took some other very steep road towards Dharamsala which goes around the Army Cant. I was dearly missing a cam like the go pro. We soon reached Dharamsala in no time. The climb towards McLeod was quite steep & thus took more time comparatively. I got full tank at the Dharamsala BP Petrol pump. Cleaned my bike's chain with diesel & lubed it with OKS chain spray too. We were ready to go. Clicked few pics enroute...











The day after 15th Aug holiday. What boring stuff



Last time I skipped the Martyr's Memorial park. This time I couldn't give it a miss & stopped to click few pics & rain gods started showering their choicest blessings thereupon...





That's no cannon on my bike. That's a BIG umbrella bought from McLeod



That's a BAD A$$ cannon though








Rain Coats coming out of the bag & that was again a wise decision as we encountered good rains there onwards.







There was a point where we HAD to stop after the grueling ride just to freshen up our mind & soul.

Wife enjoying a good break..



My P&S cam doesn't do much justice but still you would agree that is some HELL OF A VIEW!!









A panorama view from my mobile cam..





We took another short break after 40 minutes of riding. My camera's battery died and I had to rely on my phone's cam now.






We were almost around 180 kms from the Chandigarh as per GPS when we took our food break at a road side Dhaba. It was fantastic decision as food & the Chai was absolutely brilliant. Seldom I find these DHABAs to be serving good food but this one was truly good. It was raining quite heavily too. So it gave us a little bit of respite from rain too. Time was 4:00 PM. We left McLeod at 12:30PM





A panorama view of the Dhaba




Sadly I just couldn't take more pics due to time boundation & heavy rains. Our journey of the hills ended. I encountered worse roads ever while returning to Chandigarh. I had to negotiate heavy mud, slush, "grand canyon" potholes. Once we hit Punjab, the roads were good but it was quite dark with the NH crossing through some farms & deep vegetation. The oncoming vehicle's high beam light added to the "adventure" element. I was very concerned about my wife & bike. Both managed pretty well. There was the same 2 lane undivided highway where we were JOLTED out of our speed ride. We hit a major pothole which shattered my faith & I had to ride at 40 kph for the entire stretch so that I can avoid further misery to our body & bike. We finally managed to reach Chandigarh Railway stn. after a very tough ride at 11:30 PM & just crashed for the night.

Next day the plan was to roam around in Chandigarh till the evening as Shipra had to take her return train back to Delhi & I would ride back to Delhi. Stay tuned if you want to get a glimpse of the famous Chandigarh...



17th Aug - In and around Chandigarh


Well, since we are Delhites, even Chandigarh is pretty "new" to us We got ready to roam around by 9:30 AM. I wanted to get some minor issues fixed for my bike. I went to the Chandigarh PBK service station and got those fixed.

Poser biwi with poser bike & the BIG umbrella









At the Chandigarh PBK











We needed to have BRUNCh since it was around 12:30 PM. I searched for good South Indian restaurant & got Sankalp's name being suggested. Didn't disappoint us as it had good collection of DOSAs & other vegetarian stuff. My wife was super happy Even tried "TELENGANA ALOO"...





Then after having a full-"pait" brunch we went to check out the Sukhna Lake. It's a man made lake with a good coverage & since it has been raining good this year the lake was full to it's brim. Cool breeze with a full stomach made both of us super sleepy. Add the previous day's tiredness & you know what I am talking about. State Govt. should have provided some KHATs around the lake

Anyway, enjoy some pics from around the lake..













































OOOFFF!!











After spending good time at Sukhna, we went back to the Railway Guest House & rested for an hour. Time was 4:30PM which meant it was time for me to get ready & bid temporary farewell to my wife & see her in Delhi soon.





My other beloved raring to do the 250 kms in a jiffy



Some images from inside the premise of Railway Guest house






Definitely Angry Bird























And the trip ends here. It's being a wonderful adventurous trip for us. We came across almost everything the nature & weather god could offer. I love riding in rains but this trip made me realize that heavy shower can definitely play a spoil sport.

My wife - a tremendous female who adjusted with me for my passion of bike & bike trips. The very first trip had been not-so-good for her which made me think about the options I could opt for so that my wife can have a better trip. Buying saddle bag, getting the pillion seat modified truly helped a lot.

I love the mountains more than anything else. I would try to explore more till my body & finances permits me to do so with my life partner & ofcourse, my bike. The destinations which others have explored (Spiti, Leh, Ladhakh, Zanskar, the North East) are beautifully etched in my mind & god willing, someday I will mark those territory. Thanks to each one of you who have gone through a comparatively boring travelogue. Sincere thanks to all.
Regards
Dipankar