thanks.. My eyes are bulging out now

Wow!!! Congrats spiderweb..
7000+ kms | 28 Days - I guess you gave have covered the most distance among Leh trips this year..It surely is epic..and it gonna be one big log..bring it on..

P.S @Mods, Looking at the Leh threads pouring in, we should have a seperate "I Got Leh'd Section" inside the Tourer section

Is the dish with "spices"


P.S : Har thread me spice hona chahiye

OMG.. now motor is gonna buy me new saddle bags i guess

cant view any pics though darn office..

Aha!!! The masaledaar thread's up...waiting for the cooked up log

Prologue

When the days were dark
and the nights were cold
Life had no meaning
and nothing was there to behold...

PROLOGUE:

It was the month of May & I had left my job long back & wasnt taking any, as I was planning.
Planning something big & Exciting. Something worth, meaningful & magnetic.
Something that appealed me beyond the dailies of life, beyond the bonds & Earthly ties...
A journey people can only dream of.
A journey to the Top of the World.
A journey to the heavens or atleast to its Doorways.
A journey that was gonna change me & my life forever.

THE COUNTDOWN, THE EXCITEMENT, had just begun...

3 WEEKS to go : It was one fine Sunday morning & we, the suburban xBhp'ians had decided to catch a movie & then a Pre-Leh g2g with the Pre-Leh'ed people.
So Spider, Motor, Alankar, Satyen had decided to meet Winzee & Razor to get some tips & tricks & to-do stuff on LEH RIDE.
It sumed up well with brief discussions & a yummy Lunch at Finger's Cross - the Pub. From here we went on to AH helmets, our magical geardata of the moment. From here Satyen & Alankar got their (Satyen's custom designed) tail bags, which were actually the evolved version of Ketan's original design. Also Alankar had bought army shoes for himself & motor from Pune specially for the ride. As I dint had money I wasnt buying anything & was waiting for my finances to clear.

2 WEEKS to go : My finances still hadnt clear. Meanwhile Biru & Satyen had to back out due to leave & job issues, Even my presence looked doubtful now. Alankar though previously claiming to do bloodshed if anyone gave tang, kept silent. By this time, Cosgeo had booked a new P220 & was trying to get is asap & complete the run in & join us for the EPIC.
Inder from the Pune gang who were supposed to join us in Delhi, kept changing his plan from Bike-Train-Bike-Train-Flight-train-Bike-Train & till the end it hadnt stopped.

1 WEEK to go : Excitement was surging, claiming new heights of mental insanity. Alankar had panicked & started writing weired stuff about getting breathlessness, AMS, cosmic fits & also something about leaking in his pants from everywhere (Leh teerth thread : post no #823) in his BLOGs & POSTS (lol jk). He had made sure to take a daily round to AH Helmets, as if some ultra high tech gadgets to prevent AMS & cold were to arrive any moment.
Motor on the other hand had started a new survey, he was going to every xbhp'ian & asking, "Yaar ye mera rear tyre dekh na, Leh tak jayega kya?"
while Winzee kept on insisting him to get a Michelin M45, as if it can get Motor beyond Leh, to the Moons of Pendora.
On this side of the world, my joining looked 99% suspicious. My house owner had given me an emergency Notice to leave the house before 30th may & our ride was starting on 29th & it was already 22nd, gulp! Now the finances I had somehow arranged were going in gutter due to house-shifting issues. I was left with not a single penny in my account. I re-confirmed my Absence from the ride, saddest thing that happened in my LIFE in the whole last decade, sadder even than my stupid breakup 2 years back.

6 DAYS to go : FHUK IT, Am gonna ride, I'v waited for this all my life, noww I cant step back! beg-borrow-steal, by whatever means Am just gonna make it. Begging dint suit my style & I was too afraid to steal, so I was left with only one option, borrowing. Motor had Rs.-7 in his account & so was worried about finances. Meanwhile Alankar had met some Angels who had arrived at his place to ask for some Butter cookies & in return had lended him some 30-40K for the Ride, lukky fhuker!

5 DAYS to go : Vishwas was having heart attacks whenever he looked at the LEH TEERTH Thread & not a single post regarding the Planning development was visible. Same time our own Mumbai ka Darkknight used to give special appearances on forums posting e-bay ka links asking "should I buy this?" & pics of what he bought, like new army shoes, rainwear, etc. dunno for what.
On the other side Vishwas had not given up & was continuously posting great developments & people (other than me) kept telling him, "whats the fun if everything is planned!"
Aman, though mostly invisible, had done all the required stuff, bole toh 'Yuddh ke liye ekdum tayar...'

4 DAYS to go : Lapata Rudra ki koi khabar? Bhai vo dikhta kaisa hai? Bike se aa raha hai ya Hawai-jahaj se? can he even ride? gay toh nahi hai? Questions kept popping on the thread, but the God of Invisibility in association with Inder.cool, had other plans. He was, till Leh, kept in a Burkha (India ka naya secret nuclear mission, whatever that means!)
And Inder kept on telling, " Dont worry, he had been to SB road with a pillion, all the way from Viman nagar." Achievement, I say.

3 DAYS to go : I met Rachit at 11pm as I was taking his saddle bags for the ride. He shared some very secret tips on what-to-do & how-to-do stuff on the Leh ride & I realized for the first time, I wasnt going on any damn Tour, I was getting Leh'ed. The feeling had started sinking IN, for the very first time.

2 DAYS to go : Vishwas posted the FINAL LIST of what he had bought & what needs to be bought. I fumbled but my finances still had issues.
Packed my stuff in the saddle bag & a big ruck-sack & then I bundled all my belonging so that I can shift them to a friend's place & so at 1 PM I bought a taxi & shifted to Bhandup from Andheri & got back by 5 AM, had a bad row with my roomie (now ex-roomie) on some crappy matter. I slept at 7 AM.

1 DAY to go : My finances had just stabled, thanks to my parents, who lended me some good 30K. First thing on my priority list was a good jacket & so I bought an RJays Shift (6K). Bought leather boots (Rs.500), Cramster back protector (1.3K) & other imp stuff. Man I was ready to get going, only thing remaining was bike servicing & spare parts.

0 DAY to go : I had a very imp meeting today, so I wokeup at 10 AM after 3 hrs of sleep. Took my Bike straight to the Mech & kept it there for final servicing (last minute servicing, not a good idea). Went to meeting & came running back at 5 PM, took a bath got my stuff & stuffed them in an auto & went to the mech. He had my extra spares ready, I stuffed them in, GEAR'ed UP, checked my Bike & Zoomed to Fountain Hotel (sweating in Mumbai heat all the way) where I was an hour late & around 30 people were waiting (apart from Motor & Alankar) to wish us luck & see us off, it blew my mind, completely. Also Mastermind had bought an export quality CIGAR pack for me (specially) as a gift on starting my DREAM RIDE...

It was 11 PM, Motor, Alankar & Spider (me) were all SUIT'ed UP, our Bike's roaring to go...

to be continued...
Everything written above is to be taken in a lighter mood & means no offence to anyone, ENJOY!!!

Awesome stuff Spidy..!! tears rolled out
wonderfully expressed dude..!!!
So nice of MasterMind about the cigar..
Keep it rolling man..

So now where u staying bhandup or elsewhere.?

@Spidy: Very nicely expressed. Loved reading through the 'Prologue'. Waiting for the next 'part'.

thanks Rachit, the only person who was most excited in the Mumbai lot about our ride was you, thanks for that.
And yes mastermind as always was very kind with that Cigar.
Me in Bhandup, searching for a place back in suburbs. I'll probably will shift with a new xbhp'ian i(n Mumbai), i mean he is old but from elsewhere.

thanks Aryan. As it was a long long journey & am still tired, so will bring it in chunks. Wait will be fruitful

Ofcourse mate, I was equally excited.. As I still remember your feeling, curious comments & urge you guyz had when we where on our trip & LIVE updates where flowing..! I was just re-living those days with you guyz on your journey..!!
Spidy & Moto to Leh.. Bingo.. What a combination.. hehe
Glad, you had a beautiful memorable journey.. Worth single penny..!!

Woah..........nice log....nice pics....waiting for more......

Good start spidey. You have hooked readers. Now keep the flow coming.

See there you have it. So stop b*itching about other's job, and their set timeline. Be proud of your own achivement. Don't be proud of what others couldn't achieve. Peace.

Great start spidy, nice log.

WOW im sayin nice log to SPIDY, everything changes after Ladakh.

Good Going spidey, Nice start.
Your phone cam is not that bad .Nice pics man.