1000+ km on Himalaya...Day --> 3

AMS...............

Yesterday ended on a very high note with delicious food and pleasent company. We were up late, well after midnight, and even though we were very tired, the environment and the ambiance took all the pain away. We woke up relatively late and spent good part of morning lazying around the river bank enjoying fresh breakfast. Today we had to reach Sarchu, and everyone on our way untill now has warned us about the difficult road and riding conditions on this stretch.

Sarchu was just 80 kms from Jispa, and even though we had travelled well over 175 km yesterday in pretty challenging conditions, we decided to heed way to the local guidance. This was also the reason that we could enjoy the river in the morning and started up in a much relaxed manner. Apart from the road condition, people also warned us about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), hence we were strongly advised to drink lots of water which was esp difficult because of cold weather.

Anyways, we took shower in the very small temporary bathrooms, and started on our routine to pack our luggage and fuel cans on the bikes. Meanwhile, since we had ridden enough kms, we decided to fill our tanks again and hence minimise the risk of spilling fuel from the fuel cans. This reminds me of an important fact, harsh as it may be, until now, every time one of us fell, or the bike toppled, the other guy would first save save the fuel cans and then only looked at the fallen rider. This, however cruel, was important as there was absolutely no access to petrol pump until Tandi, and none after Tandi. Thus fuel was sacrosanct.
 

Leaving beautiful Tents @ Jisma, Packing the luggage was my job..:)

 

All set to the difficult road to Sarchu !

 

We were 'lucky' enough to be at an altitude to see what the road looks like, the picture was certainly not that rosy !

everyone around us warned that what looks is at least 10 times better than the reality !

We had started at around 11 in the morning, and surely we were more than fresh, we were cheerful, and somehow looking forward to the difficult road ahead . It won't be entirely incorrect if I say that we were somewhat confident , we have seen manali to Rohtang and then some really ugly 30 kms or so from Rohtang...So surely we are well prepared (at least mentally) to face this challenge.

 

But we were up for a pleasant surprise, again it can be attributed to relativity, but we did not found the road difficult at all. Sure it was not be called good and yes it was at times tricky, but nothing compared to the stories we had heard. I guess the rationale behind this can be traced back to the innate contrarian psyche which exists (to come extent) in each one of us. Anyways, yes again we stopped many a times for T breaks, or for taking some pics...we also found a wonderful place which we decided would be our night shelter on our way back from Leh to Manali.

I could not have imagined a better picture !

Yes, the road was tricky, for first 20 km or so but it was surely not worth the name!!

 

Naveen I crossing the road with waterfall testing our expertise

This is where we decided to stay overnight on our way back...the wind was VERY strong here...and we could barely stand...but opportunity to sleep next to a big waterbody in cosy tents sure sealed the deal!

For a change we gave the auto-shoot mode a try !

yes, there were solos too...the view in the back was too magnificent to not stop ...what we were missing was tea!

This was Naveen's idea! and below is my attempt to imitate

yes, I agree I failed badly !

Bara-lacha la (4890 mts)  if only we knew it was Baralacha !...we missed the sign board which I am sure must be there somewhere...after driving on the relatively good road, we reached a majestic place which had a big lake and lawns that can beat the mughal gardens by a distance..Some pics to elaborate my point...

It was not that we decided to stop, its more like we could not resist not stopping..

I relaxed a bit, even though the road was good, but we had covered enough distance and we were a bit tired

 

another attempt for auto shoot mode !

Naveen decided to take a power nap !!!

 

By the time we decided to got back on the road, it was well over 40 minutes that we relaxed in this mystical place. I for the first time was not well, I somehow had an headache and felt I would throw up. Naveen as always was perfectly fine..I drank a litre of water and after 5-10 minutes got back on the road...untill now we had no idea what we had DONE !

 

 

After driving for couple more hours we reached Sarchu, we already knew where we would be spending the night as the guy in Jispa gave us a reference of his cousin brother who operates a good accommodation here.. (Dorje Camps). Although we had reached our destination for the day, still we were not tired. more so it was just 6 in the evening, and it was quite bright..so we thought why not cover some more distance. So we continued in the direction after a small photo shoot, and after odd 15 minutes we met a group of bikers we had previously met on the way. The group of 4 bikers (a German, Austrian, Belgian,  and a Bulgarian) was driving at our speed only and was in a very similar state. They were atleast an hour head of us, because they had not stayed at the lake (and I thought what poor guys)...We enquired why they were coming back from the opposite side, so we got to know that next place where one can find accommodation is atleast 80 kms from here....Sure we had some juice left...but another 80...hell NO !!

 

We drove back to the Dorje camps (second time when we decided to come back, first was Jispa), we again clicked some pics and called it a day.. (enough adventure for the day I'd guessed)...

 

Naveen and I posing on the bikes...

 

View from our camp...Not bad !!

 

It was around 7 or so in the evening, and it was getting dark by the time we checked in our camp. Suddenly we realised that we were somewhat wet, may be during our stay at the lake, or while crossing the waterfall...either ways, suddenly we were shivering. We both got into our beds with all the blanket we could manage and still we were shaking..we both had headache, Naveen was undoubtedly in worse condition. We rested for a hour and the woke up when the Camp manager invited us for dinner. Naveen was in NO condition to walk, I was feeling much better and decided to go to the canteen, We agreed that I would get some light food for Naveen.

 

As I was walking up to the canteen, I met a group of people and we started sharing the important details about the journey until now, and right then it hit me. BARA-LACHA LA. The place we stayed for around an hour was baralacha la, one place one should NOT stay, very high altitude with very little oxygen. The sign post I missed was a warning post suggesting riders not to stop! Soon everything started making sense to me, why I felt dizzy earlier, and given Naveen slept there for some time is in such a state. AMS....ah, we took all the precaution, but still tricked by nature...!

 

What followed was not at all pretty. By the time I came back, Naveen was already up, had puked couple of time and looked in a very bad state. I was worried!. I forced him to take some glucose and standard AMS medicine, and after 10 minutes he puked again, this time he threw up blood as well....(may be Mahendra was not naive..). It was my turn now, I went through all the motions, ending with coughing blood.

 

I have to be honest here; we both were quite worried. I was sure that we might have to either take a day rest in this ugly place (yes all the natural beauty just disappeared from the memory) or worst might have to arrange for a alternate mode of transport. I guess I have not mentioned, but all across the road trp there was no cell phone signal, so emergency services were atleast a day away. We couldn't sleep untill after 2 in the night, and then after few more rounds of throwing up everwhere in the bathroom, we somehow caught some sleep. The last discussion we had before sleeping was that we are taking ATLEAST a day's rest and would try and contact some doctor tomorrow morning !!.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1000+ km on Himalaya...Day --> 2

Day 2, after a pleasant night in the hotel, we got up early as per the plan and waisted little time in doing the daily chores, we had completed the formalities of check out yesterday itself, thus we were on the road somewhere between 5:30-6 am.

We were naive enough to get the fuel tanks filled last night itself, which at that moment looked liked the sane thing, but by the time we came back to our hotel, we realised that the hotel has no arrangement for parking, thus we had to park the vehicles in a public parking. (translation, there was a reasonable chance that someone might steal our petrol, and then we would have to drag one of  the machine to petrol pump which was atleast a km away). So, today, the first thing on the agenda was to check the bikes, I on my part was praying that atleast one bike would have enough petrol that I wouldn't have to drag the it to the petrol pump.  And yes, I am not saying that Naveen would not have helped me, but if you seen Naveen, or look at his pic at the end of the last blog, you would understand the irony of the matter. Anyways, so the trip started on a pleasant note, the bikes were in the same state the way we left them, and we took another test ride to the petrol pump, got the extra fuel (10 litre for each bike) and reached our hotel reception where we had kept our luggage.

While Naveen was getting the luggage down from the hotel,  I grabbed the opportunity to help myself with a hot tea and a local egg preparation which was not far from omelet, by the time Naveen got the luggage, I was done with my breakfast and got involved in tying the luggage to bikes, and it was Naveen's turn to enjoy egg and Tea.

After around 10 minutes, we were done with both tying the luggage and breakfast, and we decided that its a good time to get our first pic for the day....

Bikes ready to rock the road !!!

In the background you can see the make shift restaurant that served us our breakfast.





Our first planned stoppage point was Rohtang pass, with an altitude of 3979 meters and around 50 km from the starting point. Well, the trip won't be quite an adventurous if we could move as per the plan !!!

We stopped at a point which defines the concept of beautiful Himalayas (atleast whatever I have seen), two waterfall from the top of a mountain with lush green background in different shades of brown and black soil.....well I present to you our first pic of magnificent Himalayas ...

Our Next stop a little more exciting, left with a very different feeling...my bike slid and fell on my right leg damaging the leg guard and yes a small bruise on my knee which needed first aid. I was more embarrassed and ashamed than hurt, it was not a place one would expect a self proclaimed expert rider to fall.  I was shocked...This injury reminded us of the tricky nature of the road, but moreover it left an ugly dent and damaged the leg guard. As a result of this, now the 'leg guard' was hitting my bruised knee on every small pot hole.

To be honest, the road was really terrible, it was raining, the road was filled with atleast 6 inches of mud and there was hardly any grip on the road. Naveen also met a similar fate around 5 km from the place of first accident, but it was no fault of his, or the road, a stupid road worker 'accidently' swung the arm of a excavator and almost knocked off Naveen...the bike fell as he also fell, but without any noteworthy damage.

This is where I fell

And here the road worker had his 'fun' with Naveen...

We both had one accident, and we decided that we should stop for tea and may be relax and get into a better state of mind, we were lucky enough to find a place to do just that and with a refreshed mood we drove to Rohtang pass peacefully. (Our first planned stoppage point) 

We had by now driven for over 3 hours, and we were a bit tired, bit hungry but more over wanted to enjoy the view from Rohtang. We ate gooooood maggi with omlet and nice tea (yes we both are fan of tea and eggs)..Since Rohtang is at a high altitude, it is recommended to not spent lot of time here, still after like half an hour we got back on the road. Our plan was to camp overnight in Jispa which was around 125 km from Rohtang.

The road from Rohtang to Jispa changed the definition of bad road in my books atleast. Manali to Rohtang road started looking good to me in my memory and after 2 hours of non stop drive we stopped over for tea, the distance that we covered was .....30km...yes it was that bad a road (i.e. if you call such thing a road)..I for sure had a splitting headache, and I decided to sleep for half an hour (atleast!) on the table of the make shift restaurant.

Naveen was worried, I mean, not that he should not be, but I could see he was worried seeing my condition, I only knew that the slightly bruised knee has turned into a rather significant injury (as the leg guard hit my knee at every 5 metres of last 40 KM). To be honest, I was not in the best of my moods also, I was quite disappointed with the 'road' and 'highway', it would be an understatement to say that I was expecting something else. (But then it was our conscious decision to not read about the quality of road)...Naveen was not sure if I am in a condition to go forward, or go back either...30 minutes passed by and I woke up as a big Army truck left that restaurant making a loud noise.

Well, I was much relaxed now, I had sprayed a pain killer on the knee and also have taken a tablet, So I woke up in a much better state.  I wish I had the photograph of this stretch of 'road' but honestly clicking a pic was the last thing on our mind !

The next 80 km or so of the road took us to Jispa. Since I have been cribbing about the bad quality of road, its more of an obligation that I share some insight about this stretch. Although it took us over 3 hours to drive 80 km, but it was not because of quality of road, it was more because of difficult bends and turns around climbing up or down a mountain. Also we stopped more than fair no of time for our Tea breaks and clicking some pics..

 Naveen posing around a nice 'bend of the road'.....(stay tuned for update on the quote in quotes)

waterfalls, rivers, beautiful valley...all came back !

Not sure to call it relativity or what, but it looked like the best road I have seen in my life. The mountains around us were breath taking, there was rivers crossing the road like a usual affair, waterfalls were back on either side of us, at times we had to cross them getting quite wet in this process, overall it was magnificent. We both were in a good mood, though tired as we have driven for over 9 hours, and it was around 6 in the evening already. Some pics to elaborate my point...

Sure there were few pickles....but then its a road trip....!

View from top...!

We had reached Jispa, our planned stopover for the night, and it was quite beautiful, with tents around the river chandra, and valley as beautiful as it can get. Still, Naveen wanted to stay in Darcha as he had read that the accommodation is better there. I must confess I was not happy with this decision, but in retrospect it was because of my tiredness than a well considered thought. Naveen and I exchanged looks of which I am not specially proud of, and I have no excuse for it.

As it turned out, Darcha was not at all worth its name, and we decided to drive back to Jispa to stay in one of those beautiful tents. and I am not gonna describe how the tents were, instead I offer some pics of the same...  

Our Cottage for first night !

River Chandra flowing quietly beside our cottage, made it very pleasant stay !

The landscape view, with river, cottage, and valley....its not that bad !

This day doesn't seem to end...yes it was a long day, and it was only around 1 in night that we called it a day, thanks to a wonderful dinner and gracious hosts...We met many people, most of them were quite shocked to hear about our story and the future plans...There are many stories in this story itself, and If I start sharing those, it would be impossible to complete this entry...Still I just can not ignore the dinner we were offered along with local wine. A talented group of 'kids' with excellent strumming skills and voice that would leave any one spellbound entertained us and made it one memorable instance in already a adventurous day !...I just wish they cut down on their drinking as it can not be healthy...but all in all, they made all the stress go away ...looking forward to tomorrow already...!

1000+ km on Himalaya...Day --> 1

14 hours in bus was much more pleasant and comfortable than I had expected it to be. Though we felt that we are being cheated when we stopped for dinner and was forced to shell out 160 rs per person for a buffe' in a cheap looking place. But then overall, the food was not bad, and bus surely was good. As always, there were quite a few interesting characters , not to an extent of annoying, but yeah interesting they were !. The happy drink helped me tolerate all that, and after watching two really interesting movies, I decided to call it a night at 1:30 am.

Woke up at 5ish for a warm really sweet tea, naveen was still sleeping after two sips of happy drink and I decided it's best not to disturb him. The view this time was quietly good though (unlike the place where we stopped for dinner) and tea albeit very sweet made it a pleasant stop beside the simple beas river. I took longer than the time allotted for the break, and only realise when the driver vent out all his tiredness on the innocent horn. I rushed as fast as I could and quite sat into my seat amid murmurs of people complaining about the delay caused because of me :)

Reached manali early in the morning around 9 amid herds of guides and taxi wallas trying to get hold of whoever they can get. It is end of july, and all the signs of end of season are quite apparent. Only a month back, getting an auto or a hotel room was a nightmare and quite expensive too. Though I must admit I found the autowallas quite honest and sincere. A far far cry from what we get back at home.

Well, I needed a room to crash my stuff, get fresh before we get onto the job of deciding an optimal mode of transport, asses the weather, get some expert tips from localite and then finding a vehicle (jeep, bike, car, innova.....). Though if you ask Naveen, the agenda was much simple, 'Get a bike and leave for Leh'. :)

So the search for bike started, and against my judgement and countless advise by my dearones, we shortlisted few vendors. For further reference, sami, adit, satya, raju bhayia, mahendra, dj, nitin, jijaji, are all against doing this trip on bike, and rooting for naveen's case is vineet and well noone. So it's not that I valued vineets word over others, but it was that naveen really wanted to do a bike trip; to quote him "it was his dream", and it's not often that we have an opportunity to help someone realise his/her dream. Hence it was really not that difficult. :) (wise or not, only time will tell )

We have selected two GOOOOD bike, 500 cc Enfield classic, in condition which is as good as new. The machines are looking promising, but I am getting a bit restless over tomorrow. . .coldfeets maybe!. . .well we will know tomorrow won't we :)

This was our hotel for 1st Night, not a grt place..but fitted our requirement and budget quite well :)

Naveen on his bike...well the bikes as I said are GORGEOUS

1000+ km on Himalaya...Day --> 0

This is Day 0 of what clearly is looking like the riskiest and most daring trip of my life, and I can't express my excitement in words, if only the was a way or algorithm to translate the feelings into words (like insering some electrodes in my mind without much pain and translating the observations)...until such a things comes up, I guess I have to do with words only.

To give a overview, we are planing to reach manali in a bus and then rent bikes to ride on Himalayas in one of the most treacherous roads. We would cross the top two highest motorable roads in the world, and all my friends and family have done their best to convince me otherwise. But I have the company of Naveen, who share the same mindlessness and given his experience with riding heavy bikes, I would say, he beats me in insanity metrics. Well, the plan is to get good bikes and ride until we can not ride any more.........

We have not spent much time in preparing for it, nor have we read a lot about the road; the logic though stupid is simple; if we get to know all the risks and issues one potentially face on the road; there is a good chance that one of us will get into his senses and might convince the other one against it. So we are playing it 'safe' and not getting into the details, atleast not until we have no way to turn back. For those who know me, it is 100% opposite of me...I mean I PLAN....well, I am not sure why I am doing so...all I know its a wonderful opportunity to spend time in Himalayas with a good friend...something I am sure is a once in a life time opportunity....so here I am buying warm cloths to prepare for the harsh weather we are sure to face....

I have consulted many of my good friends and here is their take on it...I can't claim that the list below is exhaustive, but it does have the most of the important names in my life....

Nitin: Well, he is my brother and if someone in the world can claim a right on me, it is he..he can change my view, my opinion, and my goals. I have not consulted with him about this trip in details, cause I know he would never support this. Nevertheless, we have had few two minutes side discussions on it, and his advise is one..."Don't do it on Bike, rent a Jeep, car, SUV, MUV..anything but bike !"

Vineet:Vineet, is the only person in the world (outside my family) who has had the luck to be in touch with me for all the years I can remember. Well, clearly he doesn't have the best of the fortunes, but he does have a very sound and pragmatic view on life. He is the person who has always inspired me, stood by me and have helped me no matter what. His view: "Do it on a HEAVY bike and don't look back. "

Samiksha:Sami is well, Sami. Her influence in my life in past 5 years have been quite significant to say the least. She is the female version of Vineet for me, though I don't really like to compare people, She does have a special place. her view: "Please don't do it, its too risky...do it on car/SUV and always stay in touch through out the trip".
Adit: ADIT is the master of road trips, and its an utter shame that he is unable to join us. (Adit had an accident and is nursing a bruised ankle). He has done uncountable road trips in his gorgeous car and have been our guide/mentor/boss in all the adventurous trips I had in Mumbai. His view is slightly different from above: "Do it, take risk, don't take too much caution, relax and jump into the adventure". Well, he knows me and my habit of planing, hence his advise comes from his observations.

Mahendra: He is again a close friend, simple and linear guy...his view reflect his nature: " Don't do it, You will die"

Ayush, Pratiroop, Satya, Raju Bhayia, DJ, Jijaji, Daniela, All have advised me against it, have cautioned in their capacity. I know I have the best wishes of all these and the people above with me all the time.

To summarise, I am quite confused, honestly I am a bit afraid too, Part of me hopes to convince Naveen to do the trip in a Jeep and not on a bike...part of me wants to JUMP in...I don't know what would happen tomorrow...so in a way the adventure has already started,...shall I change the title from day 0 to day 1 :)

btw, I plan to post one entry for each day, (at end of day) if I could garner the strength...with pics ofcourse....