This is like the epic teaser of all time. Two 'Upto Day 3' logs and we are yet to even reach manali. AAAAHHH! c'mon, out with rest of the logs. :\

Btw, expect some obvious bothering (I hope you 'll entertain it) from me early next year. @ rachit 'n co.

this is getting cooler n cooler as the Log is reaching higher north, still Leh is sooo far...
Awesome write Rachit n Razor, loved reading it, very simple yet exciting...

yesterday's pics






caught the metro's pic at last!


DAY4

sports tracker link, (some 50kms missing since the phone wont start for some reason )
Day4 Delhi--Chandigarh

woke up at around 7:00am.. called up desideep since he told us to.. went out for breakfast with all geared up thinking right after breakfast we will ride..
found a dosa shop at the end of the road.. felt like south indian.. yummy! we were waiting, waiting and more waiting.. no space to sit!
finally gave up on the idea and we walked ahead hoping to find another hotel! karol bagh was still sleeping i guess.. in all other hotels they were just chopping the veggies!
found an amazing juice shop on the main road.. ran to it and asked for some samples of mixed juice and mango milkshake! later we ended up drinking 7 milkshakes! it was darn good!

came back to the hotel thinkin of taking our bikes and found the dosa place to be empty.. ran to the rooms.. kept the helmets and stripped of the riding gear!
had few dosa's and utthappa's.. we were back in the room with full a/c on since it was like furnace outside! desideep came to our room and we got introduced! a cool guy!

he took us to his mechanic iqubal, the motorcross champion! i though my clucth plates are gone and asked him about replacing it to new ones.. he said don't panic and asked me where my bike was!
he adjusted the clutch cable and told me to take a ride.. darn my ride was back on its smoothness! i was struggling with the gear change for the past 300kms.. i was able to upshift but not able to downshift!
then he inspected the carburator tuning on all our three bikes except the bullet.. for some reason he never works on a bullet except for desideep's!
meanwhile desideep invited us to have a look into his garage.. whoa! some 650 single cylinder dirt monster was there!
a shogun with monoshocks, a different frame, dual disks and dirt setup!



a work in progress fiero
an rx100 with dual front disks!


a stock karizma

and a Sachs Roadster 125 V-Twin.. it never looked like a 125cc mill! it was gorgeous! he said the bike looks like a beast but has just 13bhp and 100kmph top end.. it was really hard to believe looking at the bike's beauty!




we sat on the 650cc mill and took some posergiri photos




we bid him good bye and deep took us to a bullet mechanic.. there was this sardar uncle who caught the bullet on the tail end and he took it inside his shop on a top elevation.. our jaws were down looking at that..
"dude its a bullet man!" I told to rachit.. i cant push my bike on a straight plane from its tail end!
the sardar uncle gave prasad a big bill! oil change (3ltrs), new silencer to climb the hill better (removed catalysts) `n` stuff
there were bullets which sounded more plesant than a 1000cc super bike.. there were some 1940's bullet and its exhaust sound was like van Dyk's bass!

we had some nimbu paani since Delhi's heat was melting us.. few hours passed and deep bid us good bye since he had to leave urgently! kudos to Delhi xBhpians again!
he told us which route to take to reach karol bagh and told us to keep on the right always and to follow the metro rails!

as usual we got counfused with the route and were riding slow when we met the guy who was there with us in the mechanic shop.. he guided us and vanished like ..doop.. doop.. doop..

after drawing a lot of mordern arts in the cars which we dashed, finally got to our hotel.. our checkout time was at 4:30.. we were discussing what to do since Delhi's heat was too much..
we settled on riding to chandigarh today.. even deep were suggesting us on the night ride since the highway is totally lit and smooth.. saddled up and started at 7:00..
too many branching roads.. half the way we were dependent on google maps and it gave out after sometime.. it said we were in Honduras at times.. darn GPS systems!
asked a cop about the correct way.. finally got out of Delhi after a two hour long struggle

we stopped for a water break and got Aryan's message telling us he will meet us today! darn! we are already out of Delhi and we could never think of going back again because of the traffic! sorry Aryan!

we zoomed accross the roads and reached the outskirts of chandigarh.. on the way from Delhi we saw a lot of bulleteers saddled up and riding together.. we got comfortable thinking we will have company from now on..

prasad was hell bent on riding to manali the same day.. we convinced him at last to stay at chandigarh! got a hotel named "Joyti" which had good parking space!


jumped on the bed later! all of us were very tired and I was darn hungry! no one wanted to get up! finally since i told them i am very hungry and i am going out to eat, then rachit said "if u r going out alone, wait i am also coming!"
later prasad and winzee joined! we took out the rtr and zma to hunt for hotels since it was around 12:00am!
went ahead for some 5-6hrs to find no dhaba's open. on our way back we came to know that there is a dhaba right opposite to our hotel open!
our hotel boy told us it is not open and they are cleaning up or something!

ordered for three kingfisher's for me and rachit few mazaa's for winzee and prasad :P, sat outside by the road! darn those mosquitoes! there were atleast 10000 of them!
got some amazing chicken curry and fast melting rotis! it was worth all the mosquito bites!

there were some college dudes sitting besides us.. they were looking like my elder brothers and finally came to know that they are just 20 year olds! "haah" i said to myself with a relief!
we were telling them about our trip and they were all whoa'ing on us.. felt good inside

prasad and winzey were darn sleepy and they were crying to leave.. me and rachit told them "only on one condition.. u have to take the bikes to the hotel since we are drunk!".. actually the u-turn was a looong way ahead..
me and rachit were drinking and chatting about how we live our lifes, bikes, roads, road trips and so much more!
finally we got out and were walking towards the hotel on the highway side with a cold breeze..! later crashed on our beds!

this is my best birthday ever.. i am doing what i wanted to do all my life now! 'Happy birthday me' said to myself and zzzzz!

next day on the mountains!
just a peek of them



laters.

nice write up Razor..... its good to see all contributing their part.. and yeah the kingisher would have come to your rescue in this heat isnt it...
guys apun se jyada wait nahi kiya ja raha so waiting for mroe

nice write up gopi.Btw the bike with a monoshock is a fiero i presume

Abe stand to hata dete..

@ Rachit and Razor I knew this thread is up from some days but could finally read it now. Log was indeed vey nice and pleasure to read...

But ye DIL MAANE MORE..Waiting for logs and pics,,

Someone here is seriously waiting for your logs

I am loving every part of the logs...someday I to plan to get Leh'ed!!!

sorry for the delay guyz..

Day 5 to Day 6 (10th June - 11th June 2009)

Day 5 : 10th June 2009 (Destination : Mandi, Distance Covered : 220kms)

Today we are suppose to leave for Manali. Our last destination before the himalayas will start. Its Gopis Birthday also, so we are obliged to celebrate & take a treat from Mr. Gopi. It was quiet late by the time we woke up. The sun had come exactly on its proper position to attack us. We left by 12pm from Chandigarh after a lazy morning. Too hot was it. After riding for a while we came across really bad roads & the much worst off-roading started. This was all due the road constructions going by. Roads where very bad.. We rode like this for around approximate 50 kms. Each of us where sweating like hell, we all of us had eaten nearly 2kgs of dust . Thanks to Balaclava, which helped us protecting from really hell lot of dust. Its a must on long drives. We took a small halt for a cold-drink break. There was a drink, which involved Soda & some masala, called as "Shikanji", this really helps you to cool down wonderfully. So thought of having that & halt means some posergari.. Here we go with that..!





And then resumed our riding and again the bad roads too resumed. Suddenly on the way we spotted a nice river "Sutlej". The guyz just went out of control & Prasad was desperate to get himself dipped into the water. So followed the other guyz. Finding this wonderful river suddenly after the worst roads, dust floating around, our body sweating like crazy.. was indeed a boon.






Gopi & Prasad where unstoppable & quickly got undressed, ofcourse with the last piece of cloth on the body to ensure the people passing by dont get faint. I was out for clicking their snaps. The water was amazingly chilled, I sat dipping my feet inside the water for some Kingfisher calendar shoot.

The first model..


Later even winzee got tempted & dived inside in his one piece. They all had a real blast, I was regretting being out, but else this pix wouldnt have been there.

Winzee...





The three musketeers..


Finally atleast my one pic..


After getting satisfied by the river, we again resumed our journey. Our plan was to reach Manali & we thought we can easily do it, as we lot of time till it starts getting darker.
In a short while nice mountains started. The journey started getting beautiful, with the lovely curves. It seemed the straight roads where over now. It where hours of riding in the mountains & then we took a small break.


The journey was unexpectedly turned beautiful & we still knew.. Its just the beginning or not even the start. The views started getting better & better. We could'nt resist taking halts for clicks. Saw a nice bridge connecting two mountains for walking & we returned back to our state of Posergiri..

This two guyz behind us, are from military who later shouted at us for taking photographs in a restricted area













The sun was bidding us bye & the day was turning darker. Riding in mountains for throughout the day for about 150kms, it was not possible for us to reach Manali before it gets darker. We had already decided, wont try and ride in the nights & ensure a safe & stressfree journey.
Hence waited at a place to see the signboard & decided on waiting in Mandi, which is also a real beautiful place. Oh Yeah.. We entered Himachal Pradesh.





Mandi was the closest place where we could take a break & more importantly we also had a liability of celebrating Gopi's birthday party. We where doing some inquiry at the Fuel Station, suddenly a guy with pillion came to us & asked us if we where searching for a place to stay. We said YES & told him about the tight budget we have. He took us to a wonderful hill side guest house. It was one of the best place we stayed in the entire journey. I dont remember, but we got this place to stay at mere Rs. 700. Now let me tell you the view around. It was all surrounded with mountains, had a nice open garden terrace where we can have our dinner. This terrace was the part of hotel which was out of the mountain in a floating position. Below was the valley & the river flowing by. All we could hear was the wonderful sound of the stream. VOW.. The place was fantastic. The bike parking was also very nice on the terrace facing the mountains. We all loved it. So now it was a party time. Having a wonderful dinner, with chicken, Rum, cool climate on a terrace over the valley.. What else we could expect.. I thanked God.. Am a Biker..



We wrapped up the things, as we had to reach Manali next morning & get our preparations done for the Leh Journey ahead. So Good Night..!!

Day 6 : 11th June 2009 (Destination : Manali, Distance Covered : 140kms)

In this hotel, luckily this same hotel owner had his hotel also in Manali, so we booked it from here itself & where relieved. All of us where damn excited, as where about to reach another beautiful destination, Manali.
This journey was even better than yesterday. The entire roads & mountains, valleys, river stream passing by was so so wonderful. We knew, the beautiful heaven has just commenced. Not much to say, let the pix do their own talking..

How we could just start without the day pix from our hotel.








our hotel in daylight


After a while We saw some wonderful stream passing by so close & thought of waiting there for a while. The climate was so cool & beautiful. We could hardly believe, that we are actually here on our bikes from Mumbai. We thought of sitting by the river bed & cherrishing the moment.

It was also a place for Riverrafting. The current of the river was really strong & excellent scenic.


Treasuring the moment


This flow was with us for almost our entire journey from mandi, manali for 100's of kms


What a nature..


posing is good for health


ahaa..


RTR .. getting high..


Sparkling Zma


Rock hard machine


Prasad online on the move..


Master Winzee


Our own Mr. Gopi..




The river stream was taking us to manali.. it was our escort..
Pix aint over yet...










Finally the lovely river takes us to one of our ultimate destinies.. Manali.. Its a beautiful city.






Filled up with loads & loads of tourists.. specially foreigners. Its truly a fantastic place having all christmas trees around.


Now here we could see a glimpse of the first snow mountain in the life. The feeling was Incredible


We where unable to locate the hotel. Called up the hotel guy & he immediately came to help us out with the direction. Got in the hotel, threw our luggage. We wanted to venture around the place. There where no signs of stress or getting tired on either of our faces.
So we went out, to check out the place, do some shopping in case & most importantly we had to buy the Petrol Cans for carrying the extra fuel after Tandi.

There where some foreigners doing some show on the street for money.. Dont know y.?


This small kid is chopping onion so fast, couldnt see his knife


A nice scale hand made scale model of a bike


We did some shopping of shawls here. Purchased extra cans for petrol. We ended our day with a lovely chicken tandoori as usual. Next day was our first day of the entire endurance journey. Steps to heaven will start tomorrow. We couldnt wait to step on that snow now. We thought of waking up early as to skip the traffic at Rohtang. Next destination was Darcha.
Actual Journey starts tomorrow.

Lovely read. Thanks for updating the log. Waiting for the next 'part'.

past 30mins i am reading the log from start 2 end.....damn amazin yaar....u guyzz enjoyed a lot han!!!.....nice log gopi nd rachit......speechless!!!.....waitin for more!!!
@gopi:belated happy birthday!!!!

Beautiful pics!

hey thnx Aryan... next is round in the corner of making..

thanku Shiva bhai..!! fun is guaranteed in this part of india..!

thnks moeed buddy

Thanks for sharing Rachit, now I am eagerly waiting for the pics and logs of the journey ahead as the real excitment starts