Somethings are just not meant to be. Our mission to reach Rohtang (effectively till Marhi since road from there is closed in this season due to snow).

Anyways I was so dissapointed that we even could not reach till Marhi due to a series of unfortunate events.

Started from Delhi at 7.30AM on Sunday - me on the R1 and Anurag on the Intruder.

We covered 630kms and reached Manali at 10PM after numerous breaks for food and photography. It was an easy and relaxed ride until tommmorow...


^En route Manali


^Evening


^Dusk, twilight


^Night


^The night gets even darker and the lights on the mountainside shine like fireflies




The Next Day...

We had lodged into the Log Hunt, run by the HPTDC. It was a good experience, quiet, clean and the wooden work made it seem very snug in the cold.

The following morning we were greeted by dark skies and pouring rain.



We were thoroughly depressed and were hoping that the rains would subside soon. But the hotel guy and internet told us that the rains will not away for another two days.

We were so close yet so far.

At 12, the rains was reduced to a drizzle but the skies were still holding a tremendous amount of water. Everyone advised us not to go to Marhi, but we still decided to take a chance.

Just after Vashisht there were some serious bridge repairs going on and an off road diversion was created. The R1 might have made through the slush but the intruder was too heavy for it and it looked almost impossible for it to get through.

We turned back and decided to go till Mandi for the day and then Delhi tommorow...

It was a tough decisions, specially for me since coming so far on the R1 and not experiencing the real deal was real bad...

Anyways we turned back, in the next 10kms we thought 10 times whether we should stay back and try Marhi without the Intruder. But logic said no. The decision was sealed when we met a lady on a bullet. She used to lead professional tours to Ladakh. She also advised not to go to Marhi on these bikes.



So with a heavy heart we returned and rode till Mandi where we stayed in a nice place called Visco resorts.



Anurag on the Intruder. He was very comfortable with the big bike now and also he also rode the R1 like a pro in the hills.




To Mandi






We had a very nice lunch by the river side en route to Mandi. We met a foreigner on an Avenger. He was transfixed by our machines and spoke to us at length about how India was progressing fast and how he has seen it all since 25 years of his visits to India.



Day 3

We had a nice long philosophical chat. I got to know and understand a lot of things from Anurag's mentoring. He is indeed a brilliant and motivated individual and I was lucky to have got some time out with him. Guess the trip wasnt all in vain. But today was left. We had a ride from Mandi to Delhi, which according to our calculations shouldnt have taken long...

En route Chandigarh we discovered a big nail in the Intruder's 240 rear. As long as the nail didnt come off we were safe.

We reached Chandigarh by 3 comfortably. We had lunch in once of the sector markets where we soon became the most popular guys around, courtesy our steeds.

What was to follow will make us even more popular...

We left Chandigarh at 3.30 PM. 25 kms towards Ambala the Intruder got a total flat rear. And that was it...

Between 4PM and 12AM we covered 30 kms back to Chandigarh to lodge into the Taj.

What ensued between these 8 hours is worthy of making a comedy show - me running off to procure a foot pump, then riding the R1 to Chandigarh to get puncture repair kit, air compressor and tyre sealant.



^ Time to packup, the petrol pump which was our roadside workshop for 5 hours.

I fixed the puncture, it was 8 PM by then. We went 10 kms towards Chandigarh when the repair gave way and the tyre was flat again.

Incidentally we met Akshay from Ambala on his way to Chandigarh in a car. He obliged us by taking out luggage and dropping it off at Taj.

The remaining 20kms were covered by attaching the compressor to the batter and me refilling it every couple of kms. It seemed like a adventure game, maybe we can integrate a round like this in the next Passion Hunt

All in all it turned out to be a fantastic experience, to our surprise we were enjoying it very much.

And then a relaxing night in the comfy of the 5 star Taj was not bad either.

The next day a guy from Suzuki came and fixed the puncture in minutes. he then took it to the Suzuki service station and gave the bike a thorough checkup and washed it way to showroom condition. The return from Chandigarh was in 3 hours flat, without any problems at all.

All in all it was a trip which was enriching in many strange ways, it gave us time to ponder on life, or sometimes how luck and time would not let it have your way and still everything would turn fine.

This is one roadtrip to remember for a long time.

Phew! Good to read through that. Some adventure you guys had. Finally you made it back. I was beginning to get worried stiff. Anyway, alls well that ends well.

Nice photos and trip log Sunny bhai. That is called adventure touring.

That sure wasn't a disappointing ride though initial destination couldn't be done.
In fact, those pics of scenics & steeds already bump me off to 'Cloud No Nine'. Wow !! Puncture episode must have been frustrating....... no need to mention that pics are awesome as always.

Where going next Sirjee??


@Sunny - Just wanted to bring in notice that it seems the initial post is fully copied onto 4th page as well. If its for a purpose then accept my apologies

Nice pics and log sunny!!

nice stuff...

WHAT Shutterspeed?



OMG! This pic will spark so big jealousy in me that I may YELL on you untill you tell me the exact location of this "SPOT"

Amazing pics Sunny Bhai.... and good log...I am sure puncture episode must be quite a scene .....

Anurag Sir --> want to hear from you too.....

Good ride both of you amazing....


whats NEXT Sunny bhau

Horribly Good!!!!

For the umpteenth time....

Personally, this trip was mind blowing...
- Riding in the hills
- Power cruising on the highways
- Learning photography from Sunny
- Enjoying 2 to 3 degrees of temperature when Delhi was burning hot
- Riding the R1 downhills!!

Overall, the trip was a mixed bag. We reached Manali as if on a dreamrun. approx 12 hours of riding with many stops and tea breaks and some photography breaks.. Enroute, whenever we stopped, someone or the other would pull up and say, that they have been trying to catch up to see the bikes but simply couldnt and can they take a picture! A Colonel and his son in a car, two young guys on a R15, A SUV load of drunk sardars... the list goes on, these are the ones who caught up since we stopped, but there would be others who couldnt since we didnt. We reached Log Huts at 10 PM and had a hearty dinner and slept, nedless to say, like logs!

The next morning, the weather packed up and so we could not achieve our main goal of going to Marhi (Rohtang was blocked and this was the closest we could go to the snow)... My gut simply wouldnt allow me to handle the bike on the slippery roads and we managed to hit a bad patch just 3 KM's on way.. Today I regret having not tried... Sorry Sunny! (It did snow at Marhi and in retrospect, maybe we were right, maybe wrong, who knows, but yes, we are back in one piece and that I guess is what counts?)

My baptism on a real SBK (R1) that too downhill from Manali to Mandi and another 100 Kms the next day was awesome. At first I was tentative, not sure if I could adjust to the riding posture and agressive position on this bike, but soon the bike established a connection with my brain and responded to every command, as simple as batting an eyelid!

Tragedy (Puncture) struck on way from Chandigarh to Delhi and we were stranded on the highway (30KMS) from Chandigarh trying all kind of things.. Finally nothing worked and so it was pit stop every two Kilometers and Sunny would rush with the compressor to re-inflate the tyre so I could race another 2 odd Kliometers till we covered almost 20 Kliometers! This was an experience of a lifetime and the irony was that Jone from Suzuki Chandigarh came with a puncture guy who fixed the leak in precisely 2 minutes !! Nedless to say, I felt like a fool!

Next day, after Sunny gave autographs to the staff of Taj Chandigarh, it was time to start and boy what a ride. We covered Chandigarh to Azadpur in about 2.5 hours and left a lot of dropped jaws and shattered ego's on the way! From Azadpur to Savitri took another 35 minutes! No cops on the way to interrupt this section as probably they were all busy with the election duty for the next day!

@Sunny - Thanks for taking me along and apologies for not having the courage to cross that FU bad patch! I regret this.

Here are some pictures from my camera:

fantastic sunny... !!!

bikes looks like apple in the heaven's floor or what ever it may look like ..
Simply bikes are looking gorgeous

This place comes when going from Manali (downhill) for about 10 - 15 Kms and about 50 Kms before Mandi to your left. Easy to spot. This is also where the brit who Sunny mentioned in his post (on the Avenger) stopped and hung around with us for close to 30 minutes.

Tables and chairs are placed in water and you can have a hearty meal.

I wonder how they have placed the plastic table and chairs in that flowing water.

Lovely pictures there Sunny and Anurag sir, and thanks for sharing the log too.