The Essentials
- My Trusty Unicorn
- Cramsters loaded with essential spares / clothes / snacks / watter
- Tank bag - docs / ipod / sony w120 / ipod / leatherman
Days of Travel
4th September 2008 - 10th September 2008
Day 1
Started from home at 4am, I was lucky to have no traffic hangups on my way out of delhi. Spent some time at Chail and then carried on towards Narkanda. Initially i had planned to go to Sarahan, but since it started raining i thought otherwise.
Day 2
Started early and went to Hatu Peak. It was bliss. Really enjoyed the peace and calm there. Drive from Narkanda to Rampur was a downhill rush... Enjoyed it. The landscape changes and i was hooked. Reached sangla and checked into the Rest House. Nightfall brought with it rain and snow.
Day 3
Somehow managed to be up before sunrise and left for chitkul. The ride to Chitkul was simply captivating. The fresh snow, the shimmer of the sun et.al.
After spending some time tryin to be a photoguru left for Kalpa. As soon as i came closer to Poari...it started drizzling and kalpa was covered in fog. Continued towards tabo after fueling up at Recong Peo. Enjoyed the ride from Khab to Nako. The road is smooth and nice and the view breathtaking. I was tempted to stop and click every 100mtrs..... the landscape hypnotised me.
Day 4
The monastery opens at 8am...gave me a reason to sleep a lil longer. The art within the monastery is breathtaking. Seeing the different facial expression drawn by the artist was a eye opener. Tabo is definately the most educating of all the monastery's. The ride from Tabo to Dhantar was easy and comfortable. After having seen the dhantar monastery i left the bike with the monks at the new temple and started my trek to the Dhantar Lake. The trek was quite challenging and tiring (I Need to Lose Weight). I was dissapointed at the first sight of the lake coz it seemed to be dried up but on looking a lil further i found the lake. I was exhausted by the time i came back from the lake....spent some time catching my breath and left for Pin Valley. What can i say....Pin Valley has the most amazing landscape i have ever seen all my life. I am hooked. In My next trip i plan to go and stay at the Rest House at Sagnam.
Day 5
After having visited Tabo and Dhantar....Ki Monastery didnt impress me much, it cud be b'coz of the modern structures and that it is not as old as the ones i had already seen. A night in the open at Kibber is a must. The road to tashigang is under way...the ride to gete and tashiganj is ecstatic. I reached Losar around 3pm and enquired about the camps at chandratal and the status of the pass. The camps at chandratal had been moved 2 days ago. I opted out of staying at chandratal and stayed back at Lossar.
Day 6
I left Lossar at 8:30am and after spending some time at Kunzum went on towards Chandratal. Somehow i felt that the water was quite low during this time and quite dried up too. Would have loved to camp at chandratal. The ride upto gramphoo becomes quite frustrating, so many times i just wanted to blast thru. I was hoping to reach Manali sooner than i acatually did...the road uptill Marhi is quite bad. I reached manali at 4:30pm. Kept wondering for over an hour what i shoud do...manali has never excited me. After taking a much deserved break i left manali at 5:30 towards delhi. I usually avoid riding in the night.....but somehow the thought of entering delhi during the day pushed me on. Just taking 2 chai breaks i had somehow managed past Chandigarh. The road after chandigarh somehow tempts you to dose off. When i just cudnt take it anymore....i parked the bike and took a 30min power nap.....it did wonders by the time i got up. After every ride it becomes difficult adjusting to the traffic....i felt as if i was coming from mars. Managed to reach home by 7:30am.
I still cant figure out why i rode all night long....guess i was just being dumb.
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