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Nepal was a riding destination that was on our minds for a long time.

Me and Kunal are planning to ride internationally so we decided this would be a good warm up and what a warm up it was!

After a lot of people dropping out the final list stood at three bikes Kunals Bullet 500 , My Twinspark Tbird and Monish’s Bullet Machismo 350  ,four riders and one pillion. This was going to be one hardcore trip! I had done the ride to Ladakh the previous year and was ready to take on the unknown!

At the of age 50 after a long riding break of 25 years this was my first international ride and my toughest ride to date, one which would test my grit and determination in the weeks to come.

Kunal owns and runs a authorized RE workshop in Pune and is an ace mechanic. In the past 13 years of riding he has toured all over India and has done the Ladkah sector twice covering almost 50000kms in this period.

Monish Atwani of the famous Pune Karachi Sweets, was the youngest rider at age 20 but showed remarkable maturity on a trip which was to make a man out of him

With the bikes thoroughly serviced and checked we were ready to go! As an additional safeguard Ram Bahadur would accompany us as our Nepali language Guide and spare rider.

And Huda! Kunals better half and veteran Pillion having accompanied Kunal on every motorcycle tour he has done. Kunal claims to be most comfortable with her on the back of his motorcycle no matter what the terrain.

The journey started with us boarding the Pune- Gorakpur express on the 3^rd of February. We decided this would be the easiest and cheapest way to transport ourselves and our bikes the 1750km to the border.

After getting our bikes safely off the train with no damage we refueled and swung our saddle bags over the seat. After 33 long hours of waiting we were ready to ride!

Gorakpur to Sunauli border it took us 2 hours of riding, at the border it is easy for Indians to cross across, with a payment of 1600 IC. Photo copies of the registration and driving license. Things suddenly changed here. We could smoke anywhere and beer was available at every shop and even a small tea stall, unlike in India.  We were back on our steeds after an hour spend at the border and were riding towards Chitwan national park, via the Naravanghat, the journey was long and we reach Chitwan by 10pm.

It was a total blackout, no lights anywhere and the look was deserted, after quiet some time I located a resort  and parked my bike and opened the gates to it , I shouted twice “HELLO”  but I was taken back in an instance and actually my blood pressure went low when all of a sudden an elephant blew a trumpet , I could not see a thing due to darkness and did not know where this beast was, but I was relieved immediately when I saw the security walking towards me and when I asked him for availability of accommodation he was glad to put on the genset and to my surprise I could now see three big female elephants chained up in the adjoining compound as close as 15 feet from where I was.

We checked in and dinner was served within no time and we all were in deep slumber, the mornings were biting cold with the temperature as low as 1 degree, mist so thick that we could barely see anything beyond 15 feet. We spend two days at Chitwan exploring the streets and the country side with a wild life safari on elephant back, we did see a lot of fawn and flora except the tiger. Rooms were really cheap, 300 to 500 NC…  and the meals cost us anywhere from 150-200 NC….every 100 IC you get a 160 NC.

Two days Later we decided to ride to Pokhra and were there by 4pm and after looking around we reach Hidden Paradise a small resort on top of a hill overlooking the lake. But the climb was up hill with bikes parked at the foot hills, saddle bags on our shoulders we had to climb about 200 steps but we were in heaven once we were up. Good homemade meals were served with a warm set of boys around looking after us. We decided to stay here for 2 days, one evening I cooked lamb meat and rice for all of us with Huda helping me.

Then was Pokhra to Milan chowk and Rams village Kholakhet in the mountains, again parking our bikes at the end of the road and a climb for about 45 mins, it was like the climb never ended, but we reach rams  house exhausted , no hot water so we just had to be happy with the cold water flowing down the mountains, freshened up and here again meal was cooked by me and huda for us as well as Rams family… three big hind legs of a local sheep each waying about 1.5 kilo, home grown turmeric, onions, garlic and chillies and a pinch of salt, this was all that was available for the cooking of the lamb meat and I just put all this and the lamb intpo the pot our the fire … and it turned out mouth watering, but the quantity being good a little was left over for tomorrow , we all spend the evening with Rams family chatting away till 2am, with a few occational shots of local booze for me, though I was not liking the taste of it but the family was relishing it. We spend the night here.

The next morning egg burgi cooked by me for all us with the eggs from the hens living in the house, great taste of the natural laid eggs we start walking down and back on our steeds we start riding towards Kholakhet to Marpha via Beni, Ghasa and Tatopani, the hot springs of Tatopani were very welcome, chilled beer was being served and Monish and me had a bottle each, one hour in the hot water was really welcome since we had no shower since we left Pokhra. Lunch and we continued riding,  no roads from Beni onwards with the terrain strewn with mud, boulders slush, sand and steep inclines and similar declines, in the evening after it was dark we crossed the kali Gandaki river, as wise as a kilometer with bebbles of all sizes and dried in some places and water gushing in some places which were lower, it wasn’t easy crossing it, it was now getting colder and the 4 layers of clothes not helping us but we manage to ride upto Marpha at 9pm in the night it took us a whole day to do 60km.

It was an amazing experience no roads no lights and no one travelling on these roads after 5pm, we were the only ones and sometime it was scary . at Marpha we checked into the fir st inn we saw, rooms 300 NC but meals and tea was expensive here, 50% more than Pokhra as the transportation was expensive and not too many people travel here except some foreigners trekking up to mustang.  Once checked in a hot shower was welcome and immediately into 3 layers of clothes we parked ourselves in the dining area, some local apple brandy and local nepali cuisine, we spend some time among us talking over todays experience and we were just coparing our ride to leh last year, though we still had to ride to muktinath the ride was already treacherous.  We were really tired today and decided to sleep immediately

.

The next morning was to ride to Muktinath via Jomsom, so we were out early by 7am and could not go out of the inn, as the temperature was -3 degrees, so back to 5 layers of clothes hot cup of tea a few smokes and we were back on our bikes, riding thru the worst patch or our ride, one fall and every thing over, we could go down a 1000 feet and nobody could have found us. Temperature decreasing as we rode higher and higher, no signs of AMS for any of us, but we could feel the density of oxygen getting lowere and lower as we ascended higher and higher, cold breeze flowing so fast that it was pushing us away from the road, at some bends it was difficult to manage the bike me and the breeze but I kept calm and with full focus I was riding up and up in the 1^st gear doing 10 kms per hour constantly, snow everywhere, with some black ice on the road, but I was not riding on this patch and selected to ride on the parts were black ice was not there,  25 kms from Marpha was Mukninath but it took us about 5 hours to reach there, and I was glad to reach Muktinath………

…………… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED………..

Muktinath known for the temple of lord “VISHNU”, and the “SHALIGRAM” and the “JWALA’S”…..live fire in the midst of a stream was the main attraction burning for centuries,

We meet a NAGA BABA here who has spend 26 years in Muktinath doing penance, and staying in the cremation grounds. I spend some quality time with him, he possessed some powers and I was curious to know a few things from him, he offered me to smoke his chillim… but I denied as I have never smoked up all my life, and preferred to smoke my cigarette , After we spend some time with this naga baba we started riding back towards Jomsum, it was lunch time and we stopped over at the foot hills of the temple and some hot Maggie was served at an awful price, 120 bucks for a small bowl of it, but anyway we could understand the people  had to make a living here which was not easy, we did meet only two Indians here for the first time since we left Chitwan, only foreigners everywhere.

Riding back the same treacherous road which was not as difficult as going up we reach Jomsun in about 4 hours and were happy to meet Mohan kumari at her inn, a very rare host you can find, she served us hot meals and tea, but no hot water for a shower.

The next day we ride back and halt at Tatopani and spend 2 hours in the hot springs again as we had to spend a day here this evening,  the guy where we stayed was one moron and was not interested in serving us onions with our meals says….. onions a very expensive here a plate would cost you 150  bucks, then we ordered butter chicken as per the menu and were waiting for it to be served, we ordered rotis with it, but we were amazed to see butter chicken being served as a sizzler and not like our Indian buter chicken, so the rotis had to be eaten with dal and not the chicken, and we all were giggling away all the time on the butter chicken were again this moron was not liking it, and he decided to serve us awful tea and hot chocolate in the evening, as lunch was late we avoided dinner and left Tatopani early morning not to have breakfast at his place and ride on to have breakfast in Rams aunts joint by the roadside, Huda cooked some good egg burji for us at this place and we ride on to Pokhra and we were there by 4 in the evening, we decided to stay here till the 18^th, so now 4 days of leisure, we checked in to a hotel close to the market and the lake,  rode back to Pokhra the next day, we spend a few days at Pokhra, the rains gods went crazy and the nights got colder and snow all around on the peaks. We loved being in Pokhra and spend some leisure time here. Huda doing a round of cooking some awesome lamb curry with rice one evening.  On 18^th we ride back to Gorakpur about 290 kms riding thru the mountains.

19^th we loaded our bikes on to the train again and back to Pune.

My over all experience in Nepal was exciting and riding on the broken roads, I am now prepared to ride any territory in the world as the worst is over. It was a check of both man and machine in this kind of territory.

My suggestion to all riders

The bike has to be in the best of condition

Carry your tool kit, spares like clutch and brake levers, chain lube, tire inflaters, spare tires, spare sparkplug, spare bulb and cables.

2 pairs of thermals, two denims, 6 t shirts, one woolen sweeter, one jacket, woolen caps, woolen socks 3 pairs, woolen gloves 2 pairs, under clothes, towel, 2 napkins and tissue rolls.

Full riding gear is compulsory, saddle bags, spare petrol in a can, torch, knife 6” blade, camera and spare batteries for the above.

Before doing Nepal please do the Leh Ladakh circuit as the terrain is very difficult, accommodation and meals easily available throughout Nepal.

IRON BUTT ASSOCIATION (saddle sore)

I rode 1700 kms in 22 hours on Saturday, which will certify me as the world’s toughest rider. I started at 4am on Saturday 16th October and was in Bangalore at1 noon.. 9 hours flat.. Then rode on to Mysore..Back to Bangalore.. And ended the ride at 2am 17th at Kolhapur..

It was not simple or easy.. Fatigue was building in after 1000 kms..But I was adamant to ride.. Re fuelled 6 times.. Stopped 4 times for 10minutes for a smoke… no sleep no meals only 2 egg sandwiches… Two bars of chocolate.. 3 cans of Red bull
There are only 3 to 4 riders who are IBA certified in India…

i have send all the required documents to the association, the fuel receipts, ATM receipts and witness forms to IBA united states and now wait for the certificate which may take about 3 to 4 months..

Focus was important … It is the rider and the machine synchronized.. ..Thanx to my Fazer600… She was totally tamed…. Performed exactly as I wanted her to.. Didn’t throw me down even once….

I thank my family and friends who supported me in going ahead Kunal Bhaskaran a good friend of mine was my main motivation in doing it…Cheers

Hampi….Identified with the historical Kishkindha, The Vanara (monkey) kingdom mentioned in the Ramayana.

Hampi formed one of the cores of the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565, when it was finally laid siege to by the Deccan Muslim confederacy. Hampi was chosen because of its strategic location, bounded by the torrential Tungabhadra River on one side and surrounded by defensible hills on the other three sides.

The site is significant historically and architecturally. The topography abounds with large stones which have been utilized to make larger than life statues of Hindu deities. A structure of historic importance appears every quarter of a mile. The Archaeological Survey of India continues to conduct excavations in the area, to discover additional artifacts and temples.

We were decisive to ride there… 650 kms from Pune, we stated to meet at Nagar road at 5am. Kunal, Huda Vijay and me, three riders and one pillion after a brief up and a smoke we started riding, it was drizzling and the roads damp and it was dark, speeding at an average speed of 90 kms we ride for 100 kms to stop over for a smoke and some pictures, we were off again riding for another 100 kms and parked at a road side motel for some hot cup of tea and a smoke, but the things cooking there were persuasive and we all had some vada pav’s.( mashed potatoes mixed with some spices rolled in balls dipped in a paste of lentils and fried with bread and served with fried chilies) this is a very famous snack of Maharashtra, India

Our friend Vijay noticed that he had a flat tyre but as there was no one around to repair it, Vijay rode on the bike with a flat tire for about 4 kms to a repair shop, Kunal helped him and got the puncture fixed. And we were back on our steeds riding through the twisties and climbs reached Kolhapur, stretching our arms and legs and a few smokes started to ride again, we had done app 350 kms and enjoyed every bend and turn the roads were awe-inspiring.

Once we crossed the borders of Maharashtra the roads opened up wider and it was very picturesque, we were just riding with a pace of about 20 meters between each rider, Kunal leading me behind and Vijay sweeping, the average speed we were doing was 90.

3pm we reached Hubli in Karnataka, it was hot here as the sky was open and not cloudy at all and the traffic mad, but we were out within 20mins and back on the highway towards Hampi, stopped for a cup of tea and a smoke and back to riding, roads were decent with not much of traffic here and we were zipping again at 90 average.

Around 7pm we were closing up towards Hampi, too many villages on the way and was getting dark. We reached Hampi around 7.30pm, checked in and wow the resort and the rooms were amazing and the neighboring awesome, we had a quick shower and settled down in the open over dinner and a few shots of vodka.

As all of us were tired we hit the bed early, I preferred sleeping in the open with Creepy frogs making weird noises”. It did bother me for a while but I dozed off in some time to be woken up in the middle of the night as I could hear someone around, I really don’t know what but it was some small animal, I tried to look around with my torch but could not find anybody around, it was dark and windy and I was back in deep slumber.

The morning was awesome I was up around 5.30am birds chirping and the river Tungabadra flowing in the distance, a cup of hot tea was required but the kitchen was closed and I had to wait, Kunal was up early too and we decided to go for a walk, so Huda Kunal and me went for a walk but everything was shut and calm. We decided to cross the river go to Hampi city for breakfast later at 9am. Once we were back from the walk a quick shower and we were out walking towards the river where there was a boat going up and down with tourist wanting to cross the river.

The resorts are all build on the banks of the river with Hampi city and the temples on the other side, going to Hampi by boat was only 10 min job by crossing across the river.

Wading through the water we had to jump in the boat which took us across, Hampi is very small town with a lot of monkeys around and some cafes serving south Indian delicacies, we enjoyed the dosas and hot coffee. We went walking around in the city and then towards the river to cross it and back to our resort.

We then with our bikes decided to go to the ruins and the caves in the surrounding, riding through the scenic roads we reach to a road on to the right going up to the hill, and we rode on to halt at the dead end, parked our steeds and started walking up.

The big and long steps lead us to the temple, here we meet an elderly guide who was interested in showing us around, walking for about half of a mile with him we come across Hugh boulders and finding our way through it we stumbled on to deep declines and inclines. Here we come across a boulder with a 65 degrees decline on two sides and Kunal just went down it, for the guide it was like walking to the bathroom every day……

But for me and Vijay it was a nightmare as if we slipped we would go down in the hollow beneath and bones broken. But Kunal just looked in to my eyes and said

“”” KISHOR YOU CAN DO IT…COME”””””

I removed my shoes and started going down with my hands on the boulder trying to hold it and I was down in a minute……I MADE IT..

It was then Vijay’s turn and the guide hold his hand and they were down too, walking in the caves which were cool and the silence humming.

Guru was riding from Mumbai this morning to join us at Hampi and we were looking forward to meet him. At 3 in the afternoon, we were happy to see him. He had ridden 800 km in 10 hours with all the breaks he must have had, he had covered the distance pretty well, and he rides a MT01, and was doing an average of 120km per hour.

Lunch at the resort with some chilled beer was welcome, a power nap and a hot cup of tea at 6.30 and a ride to the nearby temple … The temple was on a hill and we had to climb around 800 to a 1000 steps to reach up there.. and the view was awesome.

We reach the resort at around 9pm and after a quick shower we settled in for dinner, as every one of us was tired we hit the bed early as we decided to ride to Hampi city early next morning.

Tea and toast at 6am and we were off with our bikes…… and to our surprise the river just 100metres away from the resort was flowing over the road and the water was about 18” high, Kunal was first to cross it then Guru then me and Vijay.. I had fear in me but I made it through as I didn’t let my throttle go.. Going ahead we come across broken roads which lead to Hampi, Dosas and some coffee for breakfast in Hampi and we decided to go and visit the ruins close by. The ruins were ancient and 1000s of years old, after a long ride till 5 in the evening we decided to go back to the resort and chill.

And we were back to the river the level higher, the water in the river had risen much higher about 3feet and riding the bikes through it was impossible, the locals had coracles and were taking the people in it across to the other side, they also mentioned of taking our bikes across in the coracles.

We thought he was joking but he meant it and the deal was done, cross 4 bikes with all of us to the other side. Kunal was first then Gurus MT01 but Kunal had to take it across as the bike and guru together were about 400 kilos and the boat small, then it was me on my bike and Vijay followed, all crossed in one piece and we were back to the resort….

YAMAHA MUST HAVE NEVER DREAMT THAT THEIR MT01 WILL ONE DAY CROSS A RIVER IN A CORACLE…

Huda ordered for some roasted chicken for all of us for dinner, it was overwhelming and we spend some good time across the dinner table discussing the possibilities of the bikes going over in the river from the coracles, we made some friends here and they decided to come over at the resort room for a drink after dinner.

Not realizing the time we went on with our past experiences and chatting till 2am we decided to sleep as we had to ride back early to Pune. 5am was the time set and we were ready by 7am to leave, bills settled we start riding towards Pune, the ride back was longer than we expected and all riders tired due to the late night we decided to have one power nap for 30 minutes which pumped us up with energy to ride on…..Hampi an experience

We meet at 8am on Nagar road to ride towards Kamshet near Lonavla, a farm house in the wilderness.

Kunal and me(Kishor) then on track towards Kamshet to catch up with Guru Tinu, Ajinkya and Amey. At Kanhe Phata, we then started riding towards the farm house which is near Tata dam 20 kms from Kanhe Phata.

It was 11am when we reached the farm, after chilling in for some time at he farmhouse we decided to do some off roading on our bikes in the farm, all 5 of us on our bikes we were riding in the farm, Guru was pillion to Amey as he has a sports tourer motorbike and was not an off roader, we were roughing it out through a meadow with high grass blades going up to 2 feet, we couldn’t see the ground. After riding through stones ditches and water crossing, we then reached the lake which is adjacent to the farm, a lake which spreads to 7 kms in length. We were then riding on the banks of the lake over ditches and slush, the experience was breathtaking, tall trees with the ground covered with heaps of fallen leaves was next, finding our way thru the wilderness we reached the farm house.

It was now only 4 of us, Me, Kunal, Guru and Amey. We decided to ride ahead to Tata dam and further on, not a vehicle on the roads except us riding and riding for 2 hours we reached a spot where we stopped near a mountain which was just vertical, is place was against a stream and we parked ourselves on some rocks.

The discussion was wild, after we saw a hare cross us in to the stream and afar, Amey instantaneously started his stories of his farm in Bhor, then Kunal, all of us were discussing our past encounters in the wild, being attached by elephants in Nagarhole, wild boar attacks, snakes and many more stories, then was the riding stories, we were relating our individual rides in the past and our future rides.

Guru was very fascinated with the caves in the mountains which were just above us; he wanted to go rippling down towards them.

Of all our future rides were discussed, the one I am looking forward is to ride from Cairo to Cape Town a 17000 km, we also discussed of riding to Hampi and ooty in the next few weeks.

Kunal had an amazing story of his trek which he had done a year ago, we were all just enjoying the storey, fanatical time we had here on the rocks for about 2 hours. We then continued to ride back to the farm as we were hungry, Amey rode to a nearby village and hot pav wadas and bajias which really welcome after riding since morning, Amey being in the foodie trade was fast, there was no milk in the kitchen and he served us with some hot lemon tea.

Next was to laze around on the floor, with a lot more stories and just chilling. At 5 we decided to walk to the lake and go for a dip, I have grown up swimming in canals and rivers as a child so for me to enter in any water is welcome….Kunal is a good swimmer and has been swimming in rivers for a long time, we were the first ones to enter, Amey following in immediately. Guru was a little reluctant first to come in and was sitting outside watching us: but the water was so tempting that he had no choice but to come in, Guru had never swam besides a pool, and was save swimming if he could see the floor.. But here the situation was different and the lake very deep. Hot topics were crocodiles and sharks…HaHa.

A few days back the villagers had cremated a dead body on the banks of the lake and we were making up stories to be told to the other riders joining us at night.

We then decided to camp here on the bank of the lake tonight, Nishant Huda and Atom came at around 5pm, and it was now Atom’s turn to go swimming, So Kunal and Atom were off for a dip in the lake, after the swim Kunal pitched his tent in front of the house. We then put all our stuff in the jeep and drove to the camping site, Anita, Neha and Dakha arrived at 7pm. It was already dark when Anita arrived so Nishant drove back to the farmhouse to drive them to the camping site.

Chicken and cottage cheese was on the menu, Anita had marinated the cottage cheese and Huda the chicken, Amey our man took over the barbeque, chicken and cheese was flowing, Guru, me and Nishant tossed glasses and we all sat around the bonfire with some music and were enjoying the wilderness, Neha decided to wade in the lake and Huda and Daksha sat with their legs in the lake, the sky was pitch dark with not a light to be seen till the eye could reach. It was dark and we had our lanterns to show us around.

We all had an humbling time and when the clock struck 12 we didn’t know, waiting for our rider friends to come. Sagar, Kamal(chota) and Adil. Nishant, Neha, Kunal and Atom left in the jeep to go and look for them, meanwhile Anita wanted to go back to the house so I decided to walk her home with just a lantern in my hand holding her hand, we started to walk towards the house, believe me it was pitch dark not a soul around and thick grass all around, sounds of Insects and frogs and owls whistling  was the only thing I could hear, here just not realizing I told Anita to beware of snakes, at this she busted at me as she got scared, had I not said anything she would have quietly walked the distance to the house, I then had to walk her back to the camping site as she refused to go ahead, the camping site was about ½ a km back, and even in the distant I could not see the bonfire as it was misty, but I kept walking the same way. Once I was there she was happy to see all of them there.

Guru then suggested we all walk back together to the house as Kunal and Nishant had still not come and were waiting for our friends on the road. So we started the walk all over again drizzling slightly. But this time Anita was fine as Guru had a torch with him and me and Daksha caring a lantern each, and Anita walking in the middle.

It was 1 in the night when our friends entered the farm, they were lost and riding in the wilderness for about 2 hours looking for the farmhouse, we all then parked ourselves in the House and hot chicken cooked on wood and rice was served.

Some slept at 2 and the others at 4am, to get up at 6am. Hot poha(beaten rice) with tea was for breakfast. Guru and Amey left without the breakfast, the rest of us started to ride back around 9pm.

The ride back was a little tiring as we had not slept last night and the day hectic, but we rode on and were home by 12noon. …….

………………Camping, swimming and ridding

I DID IT TOO…

Until June 2010, Leh was just a dream… It seemed like a far faraway land…  Untouched, picturesque and aspiring… The serene beauty of ‘Ladakh’ always enthralled me. I always envisaged that I rode there someday……

To me, Riding to ‘Leh’, was like the only remaining dream. And each time I slept over it, I thought to myself, that it ‘was one of my most bizarre fascinations.

I always watched ‘Ladakh’ on channels featuring nature and natural resources.

Pangong Lake, the torrential snowfalls, the mammoth mountains, and the roads as if they led to heaven, I knew I had to be there. I remember, listing and planning, browsing the internet to every detail for information on ’Leh’. The more I read the more adamant I became on riding to this destination this very year.

Reading through all the travelogues, just added fuel, to my desire.

Each day I spent time browsing the net, collecting information on this territory. How to get there, what all to do, what all to carry, what is the right time to go and ride on which motorbike etc.

I found some friends with similar passions. We were now five crazy riders. All of us seemed to be on the same excitement level (I was on a slightly higher level though). It was April 2010 then. We still had good 2 months left. Being so the discussions were still too casual.

But sooner than we knew the definitive planning to ride to Leh set in motion, and 05/06/2010 was confirmed where the longest discussion we had about the trip was on the 20^th of May. We were unremittingly exchanging mails. Each one, researched their bit, dug up information and pooled it in through mails.

We short listed on, the route chalked out, motorbikes serviced, helmets and the riding gear organized, air-tickets to Chandigarh booked, bikes wrapped-up and shipped to Chandigarh and backpacks packed. This was all sorted… Now all we had to do was to wait till the hour our flight took-off.

Ah!! The longest wait of my life!!! 05/06/2010

All I did was keep myself updating the road to leh via Manali which was closed….Open the BCM touring site, each and every hour for any fresh status on the forum.

I, in person wanted to go via Manali up to ‘Leh’, as it appeared more adventurous and picturesque. But looking at the situation then, it didn’t seem like the road would open by the 06th June, which was our date of riding from Chandigarh to Leh via Manali!

So now I was thinking of varying my plan for going via Srinagar.

Then before our departure to Chandigarh the news popped in that the roads were opened via Manali!!! Ahh!!! When I saw that written in bold GREEN on the official LEH site, I was so happy!!.. and we flew down to Chandigarh with our faces glued with exhilaration.

We reached Chandigarh by 2 in the afternoon and after checking in our inn we immediately rushed to pick up our bikes from the carrying company, tanked up and rode back to our inn with some last minute equipment and cash from ATMs. Tonight was celebration time and sleep well.

6^th June was the day of my life…….

………………Ride to the highest motor able road in the world.

6^th morning we started to ride to our first halt Mandi after crossing Solan and Shimla we were in Mandi by 10pm checked in a decent inn, dinner and deep slumber. The next day’s ride was to reach Manali so we were up early, a cleanup, a heavy breakfast and we were on our bikes by 8am, with a glow on every rider’s face as the ride to the top of the world had began.

The ride from Mandi to Kullu was fast and the roads were good, but Kullu to Manali was swarming and we were in Manali by 4pm, we checked in our inn and went for a stroll to the market. We were back to the inn and over supper we were discussing our plan for tomorrow….some repairing work on the bikes and a few supplies to be picked up for our ride from Manali to Leh.

We really slept well and nobody wanted to get up early as it was cold in Manali (3 degrees C). Today was a break from riding as the next leg of riding was very difficult. So we got our bikes repaired at Manali in the afternoon and planning to leave for Leh the next morning.

But towards evening the rain gods started to be nasty and it started to rain and trust me it was hammering, after servicing of the bikes we all rode back to the inn and over supper just praying for the rains to stop as this was not the season to rain and was summer up there. But the rain Gods got nastier and would not stop. We were up the next day early as to ride early towards Leh……. But it was still hammering and we stalled riding as it was 5 in the morning and Manali was sleeping. So we all went to sleep too. Later at 10am the news spread saying Rohtang-La has heavy snowfall right through the night and the roads masked with snow. Immediately I called some friends back home for some news and to my surprise the news received was …….

MANALI LEH ROADS CLOSED.

So we were left with no other option but to spend another day in Manali, and the third day too, as there was no news on the roads opening, the only news flashing was roads to open in a day or two.

But on the third day there was some news that roads opening today and we were ecstatic, instantaneously we packed our saddle bags and on to our bikes we started to ride towards Rohtang-La. Upon riding in the hills for about 40 kms we reached Marhi.

Marhi is app 20 kms from Rohtang-La pass and on reaching Marhi the roads were blocked, WHY!!!… roads still not open was the answer, we have already lost three days but we were determined to ride on so we checked in a room which had only beds, the toilet was outside and grimy but no substitute but to stay there. We were told by the BRO that the roads will open by tomorrow so we decided to spend a day in Marhi and ride the next day.

Nevertheless the roads didn’t open the next day and the second day too, so we decided to ride back and go to Leh via Srinagar,

…… 5 days lost.

Our ride from Marhi to Pathankhot was boring and tiring, but later on it was beautiful and we reached Srinagar after 3 days of continues riding crossing Mandi-Palampur-Pathankhot-Patnitop and Anantnag. We checked into a house boat at the Dal Lake in Srinagar, beautiful and nonviolent. We had an exquisite time here with good Kashmiri home cooked food and cheering of wine glasses, then a peaceful night with the boat rocking us to deep slumber.

The morning at Srinagar was fine-looking and sunny and our bikes waiting to ride…. We started to ride at 12 noon with a mind set to reach Kargil by night. But one rider had a flat wheel, and luckly the repair shop was about a km behind, the rider pushed the bike all the way back and we got it fixed, and the ride began towards Drass.

We were delayed by 3 hours here and we reached Sonmarg where the other riders were waiting, immediately without any fuss we started riding on as the target was Kargil as we were running late. While we were riding towards Drass…This was my first occurrence on such roads… Broken roads, streams flowing across the road, roads carved in between snow, walls of snow 10 feet high on both sides of the road and raining.

We reached Drass at 8pm, riding through Slush, broken roads, crossing streams and the cold biting through 5 layers of garments. Our feet and hands frozen and numb, the craziest place I have known, -20 degrees……

The 2^nd coldest place on earth. Lowest recorded temperature.  -60 degrees.

We stepped in a small wayside restaurant in Drass hungry for the past 8 hours as we had no lunch, Meat rice was the only thing available and we enjoyed it. Debating whether we should ride further or no, but as no rooms were available in Drass and we already had lost 5 days we moved on and started riding at 9pm towards Kargil, this ride was the most scary ride as we could not see any other vehicle on the road, just us. Nobody travels on this road after 6pm, as the Pakistan border is close by. We reached Kargil late at 12pm, checked in a inn tired, we all went to sleep as the next stretch of ride was also treacherous,

The next morning was awe-inspiring and Kargil beautiful, the houses were built on the slopes of the mountains and all the mountains were snow capped.

The ride to Leh began and nobody knew how the weather is going to be on the next turn and that’s what exactly happened with us, now it was time for a hot cup of tea….. but the hot cup of tea served was good as a cold drink and in a few seconds…..no warmth could be gained from it…..and this was followed by maggi with oodles of chilli in it, to keep ourselves warm.

Again on the road and in the next 25 km one of the riders had a flat wheel, we three riders were together and two riders were ahead and we lost them, We were caring tools to fix the tube, we tried changing the tube and pump up the wheel but all in vain as while changing the tube it got cut somewhere and could not hold the pressure… I then decided to ride with Dhruv and the wheel and get it repaired. And Sagar stayed back with Dhruv’s bike.

We rode for 30 km ahead looking for a garage and once the wheel was repaired we rode back where Sagar was waiting 30 km back, put the wheel on and started riding on. 5 hours lost in repairing the wheel, we then started riding on and came to a ‘Y’ and both roads were going to Leh, we decided to take the one on the right and on riding for about 20 km we were riding on a road which was recently cut in the mountains and was fearful, broken chips of rock all over the road and no tarmac, riding thru Lamayuru, was awesome, mountains on both sides and a scary stretch of app 35 km. The colors of the mountains changed, hard to believe but purple, yellow ochre, green, dusty and a lot more colors, Mother Nature at its best…. By evening we reached Khalsi and thought we would meet Ashutosh and Nipun who were leading and there was no track of them even the girls were with them. At Khalsi we met two riders who said that some riders were looking for you and they have pushed ahead to Leh….So Sagar, Dhruv and me looked for a room in Khalsi as it was quiet late to ride on, we parked ourselves at the restaurant  enjoying over some al******l and relating our experience of the day, and to our surprise at around 9pm Asutosh and Nipun and the girls joined us, they had been looking for us and instead of going ahead to Leh they went all the way back but due to the ‘Y’ they missed us as they took the road which we didn’t…We all were happy to meet each other.. .

The next morning after a heavy brunch we started from Khalsi to wards Leh, again the ride was awesome, cold desert, the only thing we could see is mountains, and the road, we crossed the “Patther sahib”  a Gurudwara build centuries back, and the magnetic hill to reach Leh by 3pm…and checked in a inn.

Knockout….10 days to reach Leh, we rode 2000 km from Chandigarh to Marhi and Marhi to Leh, of which 5 days lost waiting at Manali and Marhi for the roads to open.

We had our priorities now:
1)    Pangong lake

2)    Khardung-la

One and all said Nubra would not be possible in one day. Only pangong Lake was something we could try doing in a day. But that too would be way too wild… All our scheduling seemed to come down the drain. We went blank.. As the distances around here were small, but owing to the condition of roads it always took longer. We didn’t want to scuttle up on anything.

So our plan of action was.

1. Permits

2. Leave for Khardung-La pass and come back.

3. Leave for Pangong lake and comeback..

4. Leh, keep as buffer

5. Packing of bikes and send to the shipping company.

We were certain we would make the best in LEH… enjoy what we have… and not rush.

The mornings were so beautiful.. Right across my window I could see snow covered peaks. And my room overlooked the garden, of the guest house.

By the time everyone got ready, I and Sagar,… decided to explore the lanes of Leh every morning and in the evening too.

Till now I was just perfect, and full of enthusiasm. No signs of AMS as yet for me! But some other riders did consume Dymox  pills and use oxygen cylinders.

We all did shop for some sports shoes and jackets at Leh. We planned to ride to Khardung-La, at 11am which was about 50 km from Leh, it started to snow as we started riding the mountains and bowled over to see Khardung-La closed for traffic, the roads were covered with snow so we spend some time there and no option but to ride back. Another day lost.

We were certain to go to Pangong Lake the next morning and come back the same day…

No signs of AMS for me.

The next morning we decided to go to Pangong Lake crossing Changla, the second highest motorable road in the world.. Now it was Ashutosh’s turn to have a flat tire and again we tried to repair it, but all in vain so we had to go ahead about 40 kms get it repaired and come back.. It was done fixed and 5 hours, lost again. We reached Pangong Lake late at around 7pm, no other option but to stay back and come back to Leh the next morning.

Pangong lake was beautiful and the lake crisp clean and blue in color. I wanted to have a dip in it, but I was warned by Kunal a friend who has been to Leh twice, not to do it, as he had tried it and was lucky to survive the cold. So we just spend some time around the lake, hot chicken with rice for dinner and sleep in the tents which were the only accommodation available there.

The next morning ride was to Khardung-La, and we prayed that it would be open… and we were lucky enough to see it open and everything around covered in snow….

The highest motor able road in the world

We celebrated, bought some curious. The ride back to Leh was again awesome and we were there by lunch. The whole day we spend at the inn, women cooking chicken for lunch and Lamb for dinner, and the whole evening playing with cards. The next day was planning to fly back from Leh to Pune, and ship our bikes to Pune.

Overall my experience about the ride and Leh was awesome. But for some riders Leh was a destination and they were interested in riding only. But for me it was a journey and I wanted to enjoy every bit of the ride and the places we passed.

While riding from Sonmarg to wards Drass I went turtle while crossing the first stream, the stream was quite wide and about 12” deep with going up to 18” in some places and I was petrified and went down, but the fellow riders helped me up without any bruises, but the chilled water did enter through my rain wear. But with a few sips of brandy I was back on my bike and we rode ahead.

We carried Dimox pills and oxygen cylinders for AMS as this has been a practice of all the riders, you don’t know when you will need it, but on the total ride I didn’t really require the pills or the oxygen cylinders. I was glad I am fit at this age.

As for the maintenance of the bikes, we really didn’t face any issues with any of the bikes, (Thanks to our friend in Pune you maintains them). But out of 5 bikes, 3 bikes had one flat tire each and I would personally suggest to all my rider friends that trying to repair the tire in Leh is not practical but to get it fixed at a garage. It saves time, we lost app 5 hours each time.

It was my first time to Leh…. One of the most beautiful places I have seen…..I cherished every moment of the ride….. I will be going again and again year on year…I thank all my friends and fellow riders to make this possible..Firelords, Ashutosh (Tinu), Sagar Rajput, Dhruv, Nipun, Sanchita and my daughter Neha….Cheers

One awesome ride…..

Our ride to Karjat on 7^th night started with Adil coming first and then all of us in the next 15 min. Dr Vistasp Sethna ( Doc ), Adil Merchant, Kunal Baskaran, Amey Thorat, Vijay Waswani and Kishor Chhabria ( me ) decided to ride together.

We started riding at 11 towards Karjat ( the AKC trail at Kunal’s farm house )about 100 km from Pune, the first halt was at Dehu road for a hot cup of tea, (parle Ji) biscuits and a smoke, we also picked  up some colas and chips here. Adil and Doc were leading, Kunal me and Amey next and Vijay sweeping. Amey and Vijay were enjoying opening up there throttle some times to ride with Doc and Adil. But Vijay was sweeping major of the ride; we were all doing an average speed of 70 km per hour, with top speed being 110 some times.

We then started riding on and decided not to halt again till Karjat … But the Ghats was covered with thick fog and were so inviting that we stopped for a smoke. From here on Kunal was leading, Amey and Vijay sweeping.  Adil and Doc riding in a pair most of the time behind Kunal and I was trailing behind Adil and Doc.

After riding for some time on the national highway 4 we turned right after Kopoli towards Karjat, and in no time after turning right it started pouring, the ride towards Kargat was awesome, thick jungle, curves and bends with some inclines…..Kunal stopped and said let’s stick together from here on, Vijay’s tail lamp had given up and he had to pull it out and dump it in hid haversack.

Suddenly the tarmac ended and we started DIRT TRODDING….

It was my first experience in this kind of terrain, and a surprise planned by Kunal…. Slush and slush and slush 6 to 9” deep rocks and big blades of grass, it was mind blowing slippery and I went turtle; Vijay and Amey helped me pull my bike up. Then doc went 360 degree, then once again I went turtle and again Amey and Vijay helped me with my bike.. This track was meant for a 4×4 and we had done a part of this track at the ALKA KILO CHALLENGE a month back in my Jeep with Nishant organized by Kunal a month back. Then Adil went over an 8” boulder but managed to continue riding and the boulder started to roll over towards me but I did tackle it and rode on.

We then reached to Kunals farm and parked our steeds, I thanked Kunal for such an awesome trail…………  We then made ourselves comfortable in the veranda of Kunal’s farm house, at this time it was 2.30 in the morning, Rum and coke was on the menu for the alcoholics and Kunal carrying tea for the teetotallers’

There were hot topics on the round table.. We started with the dirt trotting experience we just had, all thrilled and wanted to do it again while going back. Then as usual on every ride we started the ghost stories and I knew Doc gets a little paranoid and I started pulling his leg ( sorry Doc ).

Then we moved over to our experiences we had in the past….  Adventure trips we all had or wanted to do in the sanctuaries, hot topic being the Amazon basin, Kanha Kisli, Periyar and rides to south India. Then we started to plan our future rides.

At 5.30 in the morning we decided to ride back… and pulling on our rain suits we started to ride back to Pune on the same track. One more turtle for me again, we then had a photo session, and after riding for some time we reached the highway at 7am and stopped for a hot cup of tea.. Adil and doc leading again Kunal, Amey and me next and Vijay sweeping again.. The sweeper’s job is well known to all riders.

In the Khandala Ghats we saw a rider on the road with his wife trying to help, he had slipped off just seconds ago and his thigh bone broken into two so we decided to help him, we put him in one passing car and drove him to Lonavla to a hospital, admitted him in and moved on with our ride back to pune.

Adil and I stopped for a smoke on Nagar road before going home….

……ONE AWESOME RIDE