Lovely logs and the pics.
The stop u guys had beside the river is so facinating.
And taking a dip into the river while on a bike ride is really unique and adventurous.

^^^THE THREE DRUNKEN MONKEYS suits best.Nice pics ratchit.Bring on the rest.

@ Rachit: Log was very nice..loved reading it.. hope to see the logs for the coming days soon..!!

Rachit ...bhai even you should have jumped in river for bath ..... beautiful logs man.... I am waiting for more brother so bring it on.... and yeah I can see that as you guys started climbing up the hills you guys were so excited and thrilled ...good bro bring more soon

i specifically searched for this thread just to read it completely man.
all i can do right now is congratulate u guys and envy u at the same time.
it has been a fantastic read so far and am pretty sure the later part is well in the pipeline. A little late still a hearty congratulations to you guys for getting lehd.
awaiting the further logs and pictures. cheerss

are bhai logo......baaki ka log aur pics kahan hain?
its been so long..
pls post it soon
and by the congrats for this wonderful trip.....continue to have more such trips
gr8

bhai log kaha hooo fir nikal gaye kya ride par..... its been 4 days since an update on this thread cmon....move you lazy a#$ and post your log and pics brother

shivanshu bhaiya.. some more time please.. m almost done with the first day in the himalayas.. bloody this office.. no time to breath..!!

First day in Himalayas..

Day 7 : 12th June 2009 (Destination : Darcha, Distance Covered : 150kms)

We woke up quiet early today around 5am. All of us knew that the real endurance journey will start from here for next few days. Now we will have to test our actual potential of our body & our machines in coming days. We left the hotel for our journey by 6am so we can pass through before the traffic starts increasing till Rothang Pass. Bye Bye Manali.!! Before everything, First went to the fuel station for a tank full & filling up the empty cans of 20Ltrs. The only bike we could tie this was the macho bullet of Prasad as it was fitted with a Ladakh carrier. And we started, even the traffic was not much, but there where fairly good amount of vehicles passing by & oncoming. The altitude started rising, climate started chilling, temperature reducing & now for the first time we started feeling power reduction in our bikes which we where been expecting. The roads where truly very bad, all ice-water passing, roads started turning into dirt tracks & sometime dry having rocks around & sometimes even like desert with sand. That was fun taking turns like in dirt biking with the help of your feet. Here we saw a couple from Switzerland on their respective bikes Kawasaki 650cc Motocross. Dont know the exact name of the bike, but yes both, guy & girl where on their own bikes. It had the typical motocross tyre. Roads full of mud where making our time really hard & to add onto this situation the bike started loosing power. We could not even get on the 3rd Gear till we reach Rohtang. The thing which kept us getting excited was the terrific view. Snow getting nearer, mountains all around, valleys next to you. At some points the roads are extremely dangerous. Need to be very careful on these. My tyre was performing very well as it had hard compound with big blocks & was the best suited for this kind of terrain (MRF Meteor). Finally as we where riding, suddenly snow started passing by next to us. We wanted to stop desperately & touch it but we knew a huge Snow Land waiting for us ahead. Atlast we made to our first stage "Rohtang Pass" after a descent top speed of 30-35kmph . All surrounded with total snow around. Hardly any no-snow land can be seen. Mountains full of snow. I finally touched the snow & took in my hand. As promised I hit Gopi & others with the snow ball, VOW it was fun man.! The climate was damn chilling but our feeling was so immense that we started enjoying.
Pix time..!!

Sign board of Rohtang


Gopi getting crazy..


Our bikes too enjoying the chillness... That means no more engine heating.. yupee.


finally Me & Prasad going nuts.. its obvious..


prasad trying his feets on


da Winzeeeee


Shoe Snow..


gopiiiiiiiiiiiiii


Gopi.. where are the safety gears...




Back to the business of Posing




'X' Man..


skiinnggg


Winzeee.. always smiles..even inside his helmet


U want me to hit u..!!






We could also feel the lack of oxygen a bit & hence breathing problems. Rohtang Pass is on 13,050 Feets, 50kms away from Manali & a popular tourist place, hence lot of crowd could be seen there. People come here for skiing & other snow games. We didnt had much time in hand as had to reach much further & most importantly didnt wanted to loose stamina by playing around. There was small stall which had some eatables like soups, omlet, maggie. We decided to hog something quickly & leave. The stall was pretty crowded & the orders given where coming quiet late. Prasad decided to help the lady by preparing omlets for us by himself. After finishing this stuff & getting little satisfied with snow we decided to resume the ride.



The journey was getting beautiful inspite of roads not so good. But the place we where in, was indeed a heaven. Atleast I was experiencing & seeing this kind of thing in real for the first time in my life. It was unbelievable. I was feeling more on the top of world after looking at my bike & realising I have come on my bike riding all the way from my home & the feeling was just incredible. Love my bike, "Yes, she has bought me here. Thanks to her..!!" I must have praised & spoke with my bike numerous time on the journey while riding hundreds of kms. Even though being in a group ride, while riding, a rider is alone with his bike. We couldnt continue our journey without taking 'n' number of breaks. The view was turning so marvelous & you can be damn sure now, this is the place where definately GOD must have lived/still lives. Trust me guys we where lucky enough to find lots & lots of snow throughout our journey, therefore we concluded that June is the perfect month to be here.. Not so warm, not so chilled, perfect snow, perfect freezing.. Complete Worth It..!! The mobile networks had dissapeared. No connection from the outer world. We where worried as how will we be able to inform our parents daily. Till we reach LEH, the network wont be there.

After couple of kms, while taking a curve downhill there where some bunch of people standing & they all started shouting at prasad for his headlight on. Prasad was distracted & while taking the turn he has a small skid. Didnt fall though, just his bike got leaned. Footrace broke. We spotted a small temple where we also decided to stop & fix the footrace. Dont have tell you again, there was a delighting view all over & a waterfall to top it up. Hence the pix follows ..

da lovely Waterfall..


staring at the mountains


the temple where took a break & prayed the god.




the Golden Stone..!


gopi trying to fly..


isnt it beautiful


giving u an opportunity to pray the god now..


winzee waiting & gopi is coming.. spot it..!


winzee got covered


do we really have to go there?


desi version of Fantastic 4, no chick..


Prasad


winzee was only taught this pose..


see winzee doing the same again.. phew..!


the looooong waterfall around


refreshing rtr


Meeeeeeee


We continued finally, somehow we tied up the footrace of the bullet. The roads where not so good, but OK. Now we where started getting adjusted with the terrain condition & roads where ice-water crossing & slush is not there, all other roads are good for us . There where couple of times where we had to put our feet in that ice-water & it was a current passing through the body. At a small break. Wherever we halted for couple of minutes, each of us where mesmerised by the heavenly beauty around us. River flowing by, mountains surrounded.





vowww..




hehe








da Snow mountain, Gopi & the terrain..


Suddenly after a while of riding, we saw a petrol pump & urgently stopped to full up our tanks. Then we discovered, this is TANDI & the last petrol pump for next 365 kms. So had to fill up our tanks to whatever space was left. Here we also found that same foreign couple on their Kawasaki motocross bikes.

Fill it up guys here.. This petrol pump is uncertain, hence we had done a tank full from Manali


Re-fuelling, the swiss couple on their Kawasaki 650cc Motocross


On some distance we found small stalls, where we had food nicely & headed ahead..
Riding for a while the nature forced us stop as after a while we located again a wonderful river bed passing by. FYI : This river was with us throughout our journey in the himalayas from manali perhaps. I think it is Zanskar. We cannot afford to miss this kind of unseen places & hence a stop is compulsory. Dont know when we will be back, so just trying to utilize the moment at its best. None of us where bothered about leaves, Gopi was telling "I will be fired as I join my office back..!". So some pix on the way.. We took our bikes down on the river bed & had a lovely time.

This is where we came down


prasad


Winzeee's sincere Pulsar


Winzee sitting alone without his bike.. got too emotional


Going strong bulleettttt


i dont wanna go back..






now, what makes my hair stand up..??


now, loooking cute,.


missed a beer here..


A real example of existence of GOD


Where else would you see this..


dont know where gopi clicked this pic, but somewhere around


above the sky..


sexyyy...




We resumed the ride, as Darcha was little away now where we had to take the halt for the day & even the sun will go down in a short time. Here, the day light stays till 8pm.. Unbelievable.. Believe it..!!
Finally, we reached a small village where could see some tents. It was a place called "DARCHA". This was our tonights destination & place to halt. DARCHA is around 150kms away from Manali & on an altitude of 12000fts. The landscapes here are awesome. There are few tents here we beds are available on a sharing basis & food one can get is Parotha, Maggi, Egg & RUM .

River around


isnt that awesome


Darcha Village


We checked out few places & finalized on one tent which was looking good enough. Managed to get the bed for Rs.50 per bed which was extremely cheap. They provide you with a wonderful blanket which is good enough to keep you



Dont expect any toilets around, the best place is the open nature for a nature call. We unloaded our luggage from the bikes. All of us where damn chilling, i was freezing with cold. I was not feeling good, my health was not in a condition. Was feeling dizzy, head was spinning & badly shivering. I took the blanket over & went to sleep for a while. All due to altitude. I knew if i took rest for little while, will feel good & this is a good place to stay & get the body acclimatised. While took some sleep, our own Mr. Prasad & Gopi decided to have the stocked Rum in a special way. In this freezing cold & heavy winds passing by they literally went on the riverside. Didnt carried any water, they decided to have the rum with the Himalayan water.. Yes, they took the water from river, coke & had the rum. It was indeed a pleasure for them. These two are real strong fellas.



da Monk




They came back to the tent to wake me up & yes, I was filling little better now. I had some maggie & egg. Chatted for a while & dozed off.

So the sun is going down.. Let us sleep..!! :P


Our next days destination was PANG. On the way the mighty freezing cold mountain "Baralacha La" was waiting for us with its Icicles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

sorry guys for keep the delay in the logs, its a heck of a task to sort down 2000+ images & recollecting things & penning it down. To add onto this is my office.. Will complete the next part ASAP.

Awesome guys.... aaahhh i can imagine the 'n' number of breaks you guys would have taken



I would actually stopped here and just feel the silence of the surrounding amazing man


finally the musketeers together

0
Finally Razor aka Gopi would be happy isnt it



Monk on the way to Leh.... good man great you guys have had complete fun... it would have been completely out of this world for you all isnt it....

Rachit bhai thank you for the quick implementation of your words...Cheez guys the pics are good and so is the log....

I was expecting this.. U are the quickest one to respond on the log..!! m so happy for that.. feels good when someone is curious to know about what we did..! thats what biking is.. thank god am a biker..
thnks shivanshu for taking time to read about it.!!

Gopi was indeed happy for that..! we managed to take the OM at Manali. I could not have it up there as was not in a good state.. but later had it everynight at LEH.. :P

Its indeed out of the world.. the surrounding is beyond any words & the pix displayed.. Need to actualy feel it in real.. & u will be so proud of being an Indian.. this beautiful part of the earth lies on our motherland..!! vow.!! nothing could be as naturally beautiful as this in the world, am not curious now to visit any other foreign countries when my India is so beautiful, that too Naturally & not man made..!

yeah coz though I met you guys for a very short time when you passed Delhi but it seems that we knew each other since long time back.... thanks to the biking brotherhood.. and the bhp dna which we all share out here....




and the words you wrote about being an Indian... I salute you for it....yes we are proud to be an Indian..and nothing in this world can come even near our natural beauty and the variety our country provides......

right said bro..!! Biking & xBHP makes us feel an old friend meeting after a while.. & comfortable from the first meet itself..!!

yupp.!! this journey has changed our view & way to see life in a different way. Seeing this beautiful heaven, unbelievable god made nature, soldiers, wagha border, jalianwala bagh.!! it was a great journey.. for which the words & pix wont do justice..!

Day 8 : 13th June 2009 (Destination : Pang, Distance Covered : 110kms)

Today was the second day for us to again stay somewhere in between Himalayas inside some tent, expecting to take a halt at Pang. We woke up quiet early & it was all chilling around as expected. We took diamox. I was not feeling well, my head was still spinning. Frankly speaking I was getting nervous for the unknown suprises waiting for us ahead. This kind of climate, chillness, altitude so far was getting too much for me. The view was just too gorgeous around. It was something like this outside our tents.



Finally saddled up everything & machines where ready to roar in the 'true' mountains. Just went some couple of kms ahead, saw a damaged bridge. We where just praying no obstacle should come in our way which may delay our schedule. Thankfully on inquiring, the metal planks had come off from one side, hence no four vehicles can go. On requesting they took a risk of allowing us as we had just two wheels smallest vehicle & finally we did make through.



Started our journey in full form again. It was extremely cold, & not to mention again about the astonishing views we where coming across. Better I have a control on my words & let the image express you what it looked like on the way.
After riding for some real good kms, we encountered for the first time a "Snow Fall".. Vow.. we where shouting & dancing on our bikes looking at each other with a wide smile having a feeling of some great achievement in ourselves. I always dreamed about facing a Snow Fall & here it was. We forgot all our stress & shiver, expressed our feelings by hugging & congratulating each other.
Located a small tent dhabha & thought of taking a tea break in there. We where letting the snow fall on our hands & showing it to each other. Trying all possibilities to treasure this moment. Am sorry guyz, we where just too excited that my dear friends forgot to take out their cams & capture the snow. Most importantly the temperature had started reducing drastically now onwards.

a tea-break





Here at this stall, some officials had come. They where some CID from Delhi, if you see here up, their vehicle with red-light. Spoke to us for a while, appreciated with the task & journey we have been doing. They told us about the heavy snow at the next point "Baralacha La". We where little nervous after facing the temerature & weather so far & hearing the amount of snow & kind of climate awaiting us further. We had to do anyhow, no turning back.
Its really difficult to take a break in this kind of chilling weather & then resuming your journey. It was definitely in minus temperature. Our bike seats where wet with melted snow & hence it was difficult to sit on it for first few seconds. But there was no point in delaying our journey & with courage we started again. As we where moving ahead, we could feel the rise of altitude & increasing snow. The mountains where getting more & more snowy as we moved ahead. Now the major concern was the temperature rather than the altitude. Our fingers had started getting numb & it was getting difficult to breathe atleast for me. Each of us where shiverring like crazy while riding. The pictures on the way to Baralacha La no doubt look beautiful & stunning, out of the world but it takes a lot to reach here & pass by. As we expect the altitude concern, now it gets double as the freaking minus temperature starts adding up.

can u see that lovely road


gopi getting freezed




winzeeess..


the black lines are actualy the ROADS


its me & winzeee







Its certainly looks so tempting, that by looking now we think to stop here play around with snow, but its really difficult to wait here for a long time. Atleast, I wasnt much able to stop for long time on this place. Baralacha La was nearing, the snow was telling us. We finally start entering the "Freezer" which is inside each of ours refridgerator. Its exactly the same with heavy snow surrounded & icicles hanging out pointing down.. The temperature was somewhere around -10 degrees & sometimes more lesser.
Baralacha La has an altitude of 16,500 feets.

Finally at Baralacha La


razors cutting the snow..


at last, in the most chillest region around Ladakh


winzee & prasad




It was getting more & more difficult for me to breathe here. Unfortunately I couldnt even stop here for a minute, just clicked some random snaps & I told them that I cannot wait here as am not able to breathe at all. It was the height of chillness. Hence I decided to leave ahead & waiting on a bit lower altitude & on next tent stall. But strangely all others where playing around fighting with icicles & posing around. Specially Prasad & Gopi are daredevil & I was seriously stunned when I saw this snaps & started wondering how they can wait for so long & bring this creative ideas of clicking snaps. If you see winzee, u will hardly find him without helmet. He was darn scared to remove his helmet as even hes bones where freezing like crazy.
Alright now, better I dont make you curious much about the visuals


taste the thunder


gopi getting his first saber to fight with the devil


finally a gun tooo


now hes darn angry & wanna shoot at someone


light-saber finally made in use, wish we could get it home to show my mom


helmets off , winzeee


they are pointed & dangerous.. be careful


isnt it awesome


me in the snow-land, that good atleast my windscreen showed up in this pic for an evidence




Winzee with frozed 'X'


a land-slide


we all know, you have managed to touch it..


So guyz.. Drooling..?? Indeed its a place to be.. I can proudly see yeah its in India.
I went ahead & after certain kms, coming little low on the altitude I located a small tent stall & waited there awaiting for others. To my realization, yes it was the most heard of "Sarchu" My health was not responding well, head was getting heavier. I was feeling restless. In some while others joined in, no wonder they took so much time.. Courtesy: Above pix.


Look at me.. may be AMS


others came in




da stall with stunning himalaya in the background


We had good food here like parothas, omlet & tea. Rested for a while & resumed the journey.
After riding for descent kms, suddenly we came across another state of the art beauty which we never dreamed about & totally unexpected for us. It was a frozen lake. We where comming across lot of jaw dropping beauties on the way which we could not think or dream about.
Presenting you "The Frozen Lake"

Prasad & Me..


Gopi.. he knows the perfect pose for the perfect frame




We where getting pulled forcely by the natures amazing beauties comming across. After a ride for 45 min, we saw a wonderful open desserted place with dry land spreaded till your sight can take you. Surrounded wonderfully with mountains which where barely covered with snow. The climate & location was just perfect for us to take another halt.


winzeee...


zma.. standing like a rock.. & ofcourse me too


a perfect place to cherish the journey we had so far


small tents for a halt.. not for us though


zmaaaaaa...


landscape


whose shoes are they.. no.. not of any soldier.. they r of razorss..


Took enough rest & ignited our machines to continue the remaining journey. After an hour we had to stop at a Military Post of Sarchu to make our entry. Here they noted our names & bike no.

the check post at Sarchu




some distances we covered proudly


Soon after riding for another 1.5 hrs, came across another breathe taking beautiful valley "Tsarap Chu valley". It was so amazingly beauteous. Am going out of words to describe this natures ultimate creations.









Then in half an hour we again started climbing the mountain, there we read a board "Gata Loops" start from here. Total 21 loops. This means there where 21 sharp hair pin curves. This loop will let you climb over an altitude above 15,000 feets. We took almost an hour to complete this. This kind of curves where not unusual for us as learnt from the journey so far, but this many curves in a single mountain is something unseen & un-thought.

look at those hair-pin curves


finally all the loops are over.. Phew..!


Riding for over an hour we come across another Pass "Lachulungla Pass" (Altitude : 16,616 feets)




We didnt found it worth putting in much time here, as we had to reach Pang before it starts turning dark and it was almost 4.45pm now. While continuing the further journey towards Pang, we encountered more astonishing views such as Frozen waterfall, Amazing shapes of mountains given by the speeding winds.




winzee too is frozen


thats truly stunning.. natures creation








We where closing to Pang now. All of us where darn tired & extremely chilled as all the time we rode in minus degrees which was considerably less. The surprises where not over for us, a worst river crossing was right in front of us welcomming, called as "Kangla Jal". We where like "Shit.. Not again..!!" It was just 10kms away from Pang. All of us waited to see each other passing & ensuring help in any trouble. First Prasad went in with his bullet in a swing, all of a sudden maybe a big stone may have slided & he stayed inclined in the water with his front tyre raised up. He tried a lot but in vein & finally looked at me for help as I was next. Helplessly forgetting my shiver I had to step down in that cruel ice-cold water making my shoes/socks all wet & push his bike by whipping out of so called left out energy. He went through, now it was my turn. I went slowly but all of a sudden even a stone beneath my tyre slipped which is very obvious. But after some tries of revving hard & on 1st Gear I could make it out. Gopi & Winzee passed it without much problems. I was badly chilling, with my body parts fallen numb.
Finally, we saw a small village which was out next destiny "Pang".
Pang is at n altitude of approximately 15,600 feets & has the Worlds highest Transit Camp according to Indian Army. There where couple of tents which provided bed on sharing basis to sleep. We chose a tent & thought of taking a night break over there, got it for mere 100 Rs per bed. This place was little better as there was no much snow around but the chillness wouldnt reduce at all. My health had worsten due to stepping in the ice-water to push prasads bike, I badly wanted to change my cloths & rest. The tent owner aunty looking at our condition, she gave us hot water to drink. Believe me as the water was just taken off the stove, we gulped it without waiting for a single second. I felt a bit OK getting my body internally warm. Had little food & went down to sleep as all of us where crazy tired.

This was our tent. The pic was clicked the next morning



We all where darn excited for the next day & couldnt wait to hit the road the other day as our Next Destination was LEH, the dream destination & a tag of success.

amazing Rachit.... keep goin...