He is a sell-out! I almost mistook you for him. Sorry about that. I prefer you to him... any day.

On high altitude? Not so sure. Aryan will be outrunning dcs by lightyears at those heights.

Sitting merely a few hundred kms instead of thousands and suffering in the burning heat, I can understand your pain Akhil. Come over sometime in September and we'll do the trip together.

I guess the ZMA would be missing a few heart beats as the roads get higher. I did face some unsavoury misfiring above the treeline. Let's hope he has a good time on the ride though.

Latest Update

The guys have to settle down in Tobo for tonight as it already late and Kaza is still some 60-70 kms away. A guest house called Trojen will be playing the role of their shelter. Its pretty close to monastery.

They plan to leave at 7:30 am in the morning for Kaza. And Aryan has described that place as Photographer's dream, he said in the morning you can click pics for a longer span of time as blue sky filled with beautiful white clouds provide for a wonderful backdrop.

Next updates from the riders are expected at sometime in morning, till then dream on.

Edit: DCS's ZMA is not suffering from any cardio problem as of now, the sad part is Aryan has reported some odd noise at the move. They will be doing a thorough checkup to diagnose the problem.

Just as I had thought. Yes, Photographer's dream. It is a visual treat!

So Tabo it is for tonight.

Thanks again Bandhav

Oh ho i have been so bloody lost that i was thinking what place they ended up at today eveing oh its TABO. chalo any ways Bandhav has already given in the detail.
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This trip is equilant to the LEH trip i think.... lucky ba@#ards

Thanx Bandhav for the update I am sure that they both are having fun and as already said RIDE OF THE LIFETIME

OF Sir -->> those pictures are really addictive.... if its okie and if all goes well even I would like to join you in September..

i am on phone with DCS they have reached Kaza. Kun zum pass is closed as of now

Latest Update

Riders have already reached KAZA. They started from TABO at 7:30 AM as per the plan but they take a detour to Pin Valley, which again is described and i promptly believed that is a picturesque place. One needs to ride 32 Kms to and fro to visit this beautiful place.

The higher altitude is taking its toll on the riders, Aryan is experiencing a loss of breath and DCS is suffering from slight headache.

They will be taking a short break here in KAZA and later they plan to visit a village called Losar.

Aryan's P200 has diagnosed with a loose bolt of leg guard which is causing that odd noise which was earlier reported by him.

The next update is expected sometime in the noon.

thanx for the update

Latest Update

The guys are not going any further than KAZA as road the road is closed, they will be staying in KAZA for tonight also. They spend their day by visiting a village called kibber which is the highest village in India being situated at the height of some 13500 feet.

Tomorrow morning they will start riding back to Delhi.

So guys start anticipating we are in for some real visual treat, Aryan must have clicked loads and loads of pics.

Losar being inaccessible is probably due either to frozen ice near the Kioto village or land-slips in that area. This village lies almost mid-way between Kaza and Losar and the road takes a sinous route deep into a 'u' shaped gorge to cross the Spiti river from a bridge built over the narrowest part of the valley. This region perpetually remains in shade and ice from the winters (temperatures here touch -30 degC) takes longer to melt and clear away. Moreover, the mountain slopes around this place are loose shale that usually slips down all over the road due to the snows in winter. Takes a while to clear it.

Anyways, Kibber is great though it has recently been upsurped of its 'highest village connected by road' by another village in its neighborhood which is some 8kms distant and higher by another 1000 odd feet. Unfortunately I don't remember its name as of now.

And @Bandhav, if you talk to them again on the phone, tell them that they should try to visit the village if Geyu (pronounced 'gee-you' ..gee as in game) (its between Tabo and Chango) and is about 7-8 kms up from the Spiti highway. There is a diversion going up and left from a bridge some 25 odd kms from Tabo towards Chango. This village has a mummified body of a monk that was discovered by accident by a road building crew of the BRO. The monk mummy got hit by a digging shovel and started bleeding from its head. Caused quite a flurry in the international anthropology circuit. The mummy is still preserved under a glass case. Check out these links for info on the mummy:

Monk mummy found in mountains - www.phayul.com

The Mystery of the Self-Made Mummy - Stranger than Fiction

I wanted to visit this place in 2007 but the road there had collapsed. (It is a kuccha road all the way and the place is above 14000ft). Will try this time if I go to spiti in September.

Wish all of them my very best of luck for the return ride...

@Bandhav: thanks for the updates. Remember having a lunch break at Kibber!

@OF: thanks for the mummy bleeding bit! That sounds eerie. But then part of the Spiti valley charm consists of that eerieness.

got update last night. DCS Bhai msged me at 1836hrs, they reached Jhakri, near Rampur... still waiting for mroe updates

OF Sir -->> if you could tell me what time os September the ride would happen I can plan my leaves..... the mummy bit sounds really interesting and hats off to your immense knowledge

1002hours, 25May, 2009: Last update, reached Rampur. On the way back to base at New Delhi. Hoping to be back by tonight. Everything is fine, machines are running fine. Aryan's words: "No words to describe the ride. First time doing a ride over 5 days and it has been mindblowing!"

The last update which i received, the guys were at some village which is somehwere around 20 kms from Rampur towards Delhi. Aryan's bike chain was making some noise so they were in process of lubing it.
As Kenda has already reported riders will be back in capital city by 10 PM or so.