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**amods** · 05-03-2017, 06:13 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Great ride, guys ! Just curious, have I missed day2 log, or you haven't uploaded it yet ?

**sushilayarottil** · 05-04-2017, 01:30 AM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Originally posted by amods View Post

Great ride, guys ! Just curious, have I missed day2 log, or you haven't uploaded it yet ?

Ahaa!!! My bad... I missed out on the Day two update. I have updated the log with Day 2 as well.

Thanks for notifying the same

**rahuldhameja** · 05-07-2017, 08:39 AM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Phenomenal

What a superb travelogue this is! I feel like I am riding with you guys. I am an avid reader of the "tourer" section but this is the first time I am posting on a travelogue. And the reason is, you guys make me feel so distant from India

I moved to the US sometime back and every-time I see a ride like this I feel so lost and lonely and miss my bike, Pune and the rides. Always wanted to do a Leh ride while I was there but it didn't materialize. I hope one day I'll surely do it. And I might get in touch with you to get tips and tricks :P

Meanwhile, bring it on and kudos gentlemen!

**experimentalhead** · 05-07-2017, 01:50 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

sushilayarottil

Nice pictures and good narration. Keep this thread live with constant updates till the end of the trip

**amods** · 05-09-2017, 11:19 AM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Amazing ! 2K kms in 2 days is indeed a feat. Riding through the night was a bad decision, though. But anyway, you'll cherish the memories throughout your lives. Bring the rest soon !

**krishna77** · 05-11-2017, 10:46 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Some brilliant captures! Journey of a lifetime - indeed!

**mike autherton** · 05-13-2017, 04:53 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Bring it on. I am still wary of riding during the nights. Although it is cooler.

**sushilayarottil** · 05-16-2017, 12:22 AM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

We started from Amritsar by around 8am. Stopped by at a roadside dhaba for another round of aaloo and paneer parathas. Myself being from Kerala who has stayed in Maharashtra, believe me, I was seriously missing Idli/Dosa/Poha/Upma/Missal for breakfast. Throughout our journey all we could manage up north was either Bread Omelette or some form of paratha.

Next stop was Pathankot where I had to find a welding shop since the weld on jerry can carrier had come off. Stopped at a local welding shop and got those sorted and carried on ahead.

Since our initial plan was to bypass Chamba and try to reach either Bairagarh or Chihi we decided to take Dunera-Basholi route. The detour to Basholi is just around 10kms before Dalhousie.

The roads were good enough to maintain a decent pace. We reached this huge cable-stayed bridge over river Ravi which connects Dunera and Basholi. We later came to know there are just 4 of such kind of bridges in India, one being our very own Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai. The beautiful surroundings made us stop for a quick photo-shoot.

Rohan was at the front and was checking with locals for directions.

Sushil : Are Rohan... Mere bike me display ke neeche se dhua aa raha hai and kuch jalne ka smell aa raha hai

Rohan : Bike band kar aur utar bike se.
(Get Off the bike)

Before even we could realize a crowd gathered. We decided to carry ahead and get it checked with at some local mechanic.

I started the bike and realized clutch was not getting engaged and I was unable to switch gears. Somehow reached a local mechanic where he refused to even check saying

I had fixed aux lamps on my bike and the switch was connected on the handle. Now due to the small fall I had just before Atal Setu Bridge the screw from the switch got exposed and touched the clutch cable. Since the aux lamps were on, I think the metallic covering for on the clutch served as earthing and the clutch cable got hot, screwing up the entire lubrication inside the clutch cable. This in turn burnt other cables which connected the aux lamps which resulted in smoke that we saw earlier.

Mr Puneeth Nargotra - Basholi

We came back to Dalhousie with a small hope of going ahead of Chamba if time permits. The route from Dalhousie to Chamba was beautiful. Some pics captured en-route.

It was already 9pm by the time we reached Chamba town. Tanked up our bikes and filled the extra jerry cans for journey ahead. Now finding a place to stay was a challenge at this point of time.

Tanked Up at Chamba

Safe parking at hotel in Chamba

Called it off for the day after having a nice heavy dinner of roti sabji dal and chaval.

The ordeal with a blown off radiator fan!!
Sach Pass Top at 8pm!!!
Sach Descend in pitch Dark!!
SACH KA SAAMNA!!

Cheers,
Sushil Ayarottil

**amods** · 05-22-2017, 04:25 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Day4 snaps - specially the mountains look like a dream ! This route is a must take I guess. Glad that you guys decided to take it up. Please upload more.

**sushilayarottil** · 05-22-2017, 04:57 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Originally posted by amods View Post

Day4 snaps - specially the mountains look like a dream ! This route is a must take I guess. Glad that you guys decided to take it up. Please upload more.

Yes indeed. We actually couldn't explore that area much because of time crunch and burnt clutch cable fiasco. However I did see some beautiful pictures from Basoli area on another travelouge.

And as far as Sach Pass is considered... It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.

**itsmevini123** · 05-22-2017, 06:14 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Superb pictures guys, keep them coming.

It feels so good to see pictures of the place you've been. Specially, Leh/Spiti

**SachinDesai** · 05-23-2017, 05:59 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Good One Sushil and other two, keep em coming!

**NightFurry** · 06-02-2017, 12:32 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Amazingly written. Great

**sushilayarottil** · 06-10-2017, 02:52 AM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Day 5 : Chamba - Sach Pass - Killar (Part 1)

SACH KA SAAMNAA!!!

The D Day!!

Day started off with all of us waking up at around 6 and getting ready for the Sach Climb ahead. Weather was supposed to be clear with no worries of rains as such. After breakfast we saddled up and left from the hotel at around 8:30. (Yes all our morning starts have been around this time. The earliest being somewhere around 7).

Safe Parking at hotel in Chamba

A beautiful backdrop outside District Sessions Court Chamba

All set for the adventure up next!

Simple Paratha Sabji for lunch

Some of the clicks captured en-route

Glaciers encountered en-route

Last Fuel Pump at Tissa

Spot The Biker!

Cooling off the super heated engine

Numerous Stops in between. Beautiful never the less!

Road conditions post Bairagarh (This was much better)

Another stop. Frustration level was at its peak.

Rohan trying to cool the engine by pouring some water from the waterfalls :P

Couple of kms before Satrundi Checkpost

With uncountable number of stops somehow managed to reach Satrundi Check post at around 5pm. There was a small dhaba alongside which served hot Maggi and bread omelettes. After entering the details at the check post we stopped by for a break and some refreshments. It had already started getting dark and fortunately we were allowed to go ahead by the Army guards at the check post.

Distance Measures:
Sach Pass - 12 kms
Killar - 68 kms

Challenges: Confirmation from the Army Jawans that roads are in the same condition all the way till Killar and a super-heated KTM engine with a conked off radiator fan.

Small dhaba at Satrundi Checkpost

The route that we came from.

We started from Satrundi st around 6 pm. The treacherous stretch of 12 kms took us almost 2 hours to complete. But believe me, this 12 kms stretch was one of the most beautiful that I had ever seen in my life. Let the pics do the talking.

When you see an ice wall for the first time in your life all you want to do is just feel them!

These two buggers were happily clicking pics while i was struggling with my bike!

When you run out of bottled mineral water nature comes to the rescue!

We made our way through water crossings and ice walls to finally reach the top of Sach Pass. Since I was ahead of the other two I first reached the top. You can easily identify that you are at the top by the famous red colour Devi Temple. Parked my bike and heaved a sigh of relief.

This was the first ever pass crossed till date in my life and boy-o-boy what an experience it was. I was happy and excited like a six year old kid but tired and beaten up by the stretch at the same time. Other two joined me in matter of time and it was time for a small celebration and photo-shoot at Sach Pass Top! Yes we did it. Against all odds!

1st high altitude pass crossed in our life :-D

5mins... 10mins... 15mins... 20mins...

Each passing minute seemed like eternity. Finally even I decided to go back and check. I was about to take a U turn suddenly a screeching noise came on SENA and it was Rohan and Neeteesh both in conference. Such a huge sigh of relief.

Now behind the scenes, what actually happened with our Hero! He wanted to take a pee break and the place where he decided to stop by was a right hand curve descent. While getting off the bike our hero lost his balance and the he fell down. He tried picking up the bike but due the weight along with the luggage it was next to impossible. Our hero gave up and just sat down next to the Bhoot Ground (not being aware that this place is called Bhoot Ground) and waited for someone to return. Only after Rohan went and helped, our hero was happy and back on saddle!

Crazy Us!

It was almost 12 midnight by the time we reached Killar Village. Now finding a hotel was another challenge at this point of time. We had heard of Hotel Chamunda but that seemed to be closed. We decided to check out the building which was well lit and that turned out to be Hotel Raj. We parked our bikes outside the hotel and started searching the reception area or at least someone who can help us with a room. We scanned through the entire area but could not find even a single soul. All the rooms were locked except a single one. No one answered even after knocking the door multiple times. Now all hopes of getting a place to stay were almost running down the drain and we were making our mind to probably find some place in the corridor to settle down for the night. We decided to try our luck for some hotels near bus stand. On reaching the bus stand we could see another building with some light. Reaching there it turned out to be the backside of the same previous hotel. With no hopes Rohan honked a few times so that at least someone can help us. Out of nowhere a lady comes out of the balcony and the owner of the hotel comes out. We talk to him and get ourselves a room for 1200 for the night. God knows what would have happened if we would not have managed to find a room that night.

Too much adventure for the day and our Leh leg has not even started. With an almost blown off radiator fan all sorts of uncertainties laid ahead of us. Nearest KTM service center was in Mandi which was about 350 kms from Killar. We called it off for the day and decided to take a decision in morning.

Good Night from Killar!!!

Cheers,
Sushil Ayarottil

**amods** · 06-13-2017, 03:51 PM

Re: NHT Himalayan Odyssey : Mum-Leh-Mum Journey of a Lifetime!!!

Just Wow ! Amazing this, Sushil.

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