Happiness is a Journey and not
the destination.
I have heard this quote umpteen
times and must have forwarded a few times as well. I loved it always but had
never experienced it in its entirety.
May 2016 was the time I had a
proposal for a bike voyage to Leh and surroundings during July 2016. It was an
exciting one, prima facie. However, some
things happened and I couldn’t make it. The dream had started building up,
though and gradually it was frozen on my heart.
In the Mumbai weather, the dream
had to melt. Come Feb 2017 when it was completely liquidated, I wanted to turn
into reality and hence I started asking friends about their interest in the Leh
Extravaganza during July 2017.
I was assuming that we would form
a team of around 4 of us and take a biking expedition for 2 weeks. Six folks
got ready and 2 of them chose to be in Car and rest of us on Bikes. I was ok as
the logistics would anyways work. In a couple of days, there was one more
friend who opted for car.
From 12th Feb to 19th
Feb i.e. in just one week, we graduated from Fantastic Four to Super Seven to
Enthusiastic Eight to a dirty dozen to a Fabulous Fourteen.
The trip dates planned were 12th
July to 25th July. The Fabulous Fourteen formed a group and started
discussing the trip.
As we got closer to the dates, we
were all set to travel. To my surprise, few more folks wanted to join and by
the time we were merely a week close to the travel the number increased to
Thirty-two. It looked like the 32 sparkling teeth were ready to chew the entire
trip with maximum fun. 15 of the gang were Bikers and 17 had planned to tour
the geography in Cars.
Here comes the day of Voyage – 12th
July, I’ll call it Day 1.
Day 1:
All were traveling at different
timings and the idea was to gather at Chandigarh on 12th July night at the same
place. 6 of us were in the morning flight to Chandigarh.
We
roamed around the beautiful city, had a lovely time at Sukhna lake followed
by good food to grab on. Gradually, in small
bunches all people gathered and met each other. It was a semi-formal
ice-breaker. To my surprise, everyone started talking to each other and got
pally in no time.
We travelled from Chandigarh to
Manali that very night.
Day 2:
We reached Manali by around 10am
and checked into the Hotel. The bikers were super excited to welcome their
bikes which were supposed to come around 4pm. Meanwhile, some chose to rest
while some were excited to roam around the streets of Manali, a high-altitude
(2050m) Himalayan resort town that is set on Beas River. It also includes
beautiful Solang Valley known for Skiing and Gondola as well also is a home to
3950m high Rohtang Pass.
We all had a great time at Manali
enjoying the food as well as the pleasant weather. We had our bikes by evening
and decided to go for a spin. Our tour guide took us all towards the mountains
leading to Rohtang. It was a mock for the Biking adventure that was to begin
next day.
After the spin, it was dinner
time. Some of us chose to have it at Hotel while some wanted to check out the
Old part of the town for dinner followed by a stroll and some shopping.
Followed by dinner, we had a
small round of chit-chat in small groups. Everyone was excited as we had to
embark our journeys towards the mystic and enchanting locales of the Ladakh
province.
We all gathered together for
breakfast. We were now 39 of us. 7 folks had joined through our tour operator.
Now, we were 19 on 11 bikes (3 were solo riders and rest 16 on 8 bikes) and 20
in 4 cars (3 SUVs and 1 4x4 5 seater back-up vehicles that carried the luggage
of the bikers as well as spares, equipment and fuel).
All 39 folks got introduced to
each other and we wished each other a very happy, safe and truly an adventurous
journey.
The sequence was – 3 cars go
first, followed by 11 bikes and the back-up Vehicle at the end. We decided to
meet at Rohtang pass which is around 50kms from Manali. I was amazed at the
fact that in only 50kms of travel once could reach from 2050m to 3950m.
Many of us met each other at the
check-post en route Rohtang. We had some tea, grabbed a bite and resumed our expedition.
Manali to Rohtang was a smooth
track. The cruising was at a decent speed but due to uphill climb, it took us
good 2 hours to reach the pass. It was quite scenic on the way and also at the
pass. We crossed Marhi and enjoyed the valley from the height of 3300m. We had
some water and clicked pics. We were told that the lunch break will be at Khoksar
and the road to Khoksar is not a great one.
The ultimate target was to reach
Jispa, 140kms from Manali. We had 90 kms to cover post Rohtang. The 15km
journey from Rohtang to Khoksar was a difficult one but we all survived. The
roads were not in shape and also we had to descend to 3140m.
Since we were getting into the
remote places, we had limited options for food and were kinda prepared for the
same. A cute small restaurant at Khoksar (3140m) welcomed us and offered us
delicious Maggi noodles for lunch. We topped it with some snack that we carried
from Mumbai. It was a good blend of Sea Level and 3K m above Sea Level.
Post fuelling in our stomach, it
was time to fuel the bikes. The next major milestone was 41 Kms from Khoksar
named Tandi (2573m) which houses the fuel station that displays an interesting
sign by Indian Oil – “Next filling
station 365 KM ahead.” On the way to Tandi from Khoksar, we passed Sissu
(19 kms from Khoksar) which is a charming village having a backdrop of huge
mountains with a series of tall and slim waterfalls – a fantastic site to
capture pics.
At Tandi, all the bikes and cars
had filled in the tanks till the mouth and also a good amount of fuel was
carried along.
It was the first day of the ride,
the clock was showing 4.45pm and we had to cover 28 more kms while scaling up
to 3320m. One mind told me, I need to rush while the other was asking me to
take it easy. Initially I agreed to the first one and started pushing a bit but
as I approached Keylong, I couldn’t resist stopping the vehicle for some
pictures. It was a cool sight with mountains both above and below me and in the
middle of it, a green valley asking me to shout on it’s face.
As the clock showed 5.30, I
started the machine and vroomed. Hardly I must have crossed another 6 kms and
was going uphill and all I see is a road descending on my right. To fulfil my
curiosity, I parked the beast and started peeping in. I could witness a
mesmerizingly awesome village dwelling in the valley. It was so soothing that I
sat there for a while and when I got up, I decided to stop directly at Jispa
and so did I.
It must be approximately 7pm when
I reached Jispa. I was feeling so pepped up that I made a few kms of rounds on
bike to settle down. We checked in the tents and post dinner, did a camp fire
in a small group since some were tired and some were at a different hotel. By
the time, we went off to sleep it was nearly 11.30pm.
Day 4:
Woke up at 6am. After daily
regime of Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation, headed towards routine activities.
Had breakfast and got ready by 9am. Since we had 30 more minutes to move, took
a stroll on the opposite side where a small river was flowing around. It had a
sweet and chirpy sound that gave ears a desired melody for the morning.
By 9.30 am we started and it was
a long excursion to Pang and we were told that the road from Jispa to Sarchu is
not in a good shape. Hearing this we were feeling a bit dejected as it means we
have to be very slow on the roads but the next statement rejoiced us and it
said – There are a few river crossings en route. Yippee!! – was the exclamation.
The road as expected wasn’t great
but had some really lovely scenes at Deepak Tal (3810m), Zing Zing Bar (4270m),
Suraj Tal (4883m) and Baralacha La (4890m). The best part was river crossings.
I crossed the first river on the bike and I felt it super awesome. However, I
wanted more and then I crossed it back on my foot and stopped the 4x4 that was
approaching the river. Got on to the pilot seat and zoomed it along the river –
quite a thrill it was! Post that, crossed a couple of more rivers.
For me, it was not possible to
ride beyond a 10 to 12 Km stretch and the reason was none other than the beauty
of the province. Not only the places that I mention but also in between those
place, there were (and had to be) umpteen breaks taken.
Besides, not everything could be
captured in pictures or videos and hence wanted to make the most of it through
the naked eye.
It was 3 pm by the time we
reached the Sarchu (4290m) check-post. On the other side of Sarchu, there was
an old bridge with water flowing on the approach road of the bridge. What a
ride it was! We had almost quit the exquisite state of Himachal and were
entering into the royal province of Jammu & Kashmir. We broke for Lunch
after crossing the check-posts of both the states.
We encountered super cool small
restaurants that were built out of bricks and tents and also, had cosy beds
encapsulated. We discovered that if people get late at such places, they have
the provision of spending the night over there. I personally found it out to be
a brilliant idea to kill the fatigue. I did rest for around 20 minutes post
lunch.
The mission was to reach Pang by
evening and it was not easy as it seemed. It was clearly 100 kms from Sarchu
and we were not told anything about the roads so I assumed that it might be a
mixed bag of the quality. Passing the Gata Loops (21 looping turns), we had to
soar 900m up to Lachunglang La (5079m). It was a mammoth task and hence by the
time we reached a tent restaurant and were 29 kms from Pang, the time was
approximately 6.30pm. While grabbing some food and hot water, I asked the owner
how long it will take to cover the last leg of 29Kms to Pang.
I laughed at the reply when she
told – 1.5 hours approximately, may be a little more. With a chuckle on my
face, I bid her adieu and left the place. Not to her surprise but surely to
mine, I reached Pang at 8.15 pm. It was a very tough road, Oops wait, there was
no road at all. It was a path full of stones of varied sizes. However, it was
Super Duper extreme beautiful and so much so that I really have no words to
describe. There were Rocky Mountains on my left, a musically melodious river on
my right and adjacent to river were a set of mountains. The river had clear
water and the mountains had a great shape – very unique. There were some
formations like statue and monuments in between. The best part was that – it
was a visible day until 7.45 pm.
I rode last few km in dark and
for those 30 minutes, all I had in my head is I want to reach Pang (4600m) and
hit the bed. The mind was refreshed but the body needed relaxation.
When I reached at Pang, there
were people who had reached before I did and yes, at most of the places I was
the last one to reach and I feel that was the best part. The reason is already
mentioned and might come again as well. So, as I reached there I saw that
except for our back-up vehicle (that had our tour guide) almost everyone was
around. The stay and food was quite average there and hence there was a little
bit of chaos. However, it got sorted in 30 minutes and there was a feeling that
this is not what I am here for. I am here for the best of adventure and stay /
food etc. is mainly the formal necessity that the body demands.
It was not a smooth night with
most of us having body ache, vomiting and one or the other stuff discomforting
the senses. Most of us took some or the other medicine and dozed off with an
excitement that we had to hit Leh the next day.
Day 5:
185 km was the distance from Pang
to Leh. Although we should have started early, when we were told that it’s a
smooth road throughout (barring few km) we got into bit of a lazy mode.
By 10am, we were all geared up
and looking forward to vroom. The first major milestone was Tanglang La (5328m)
that was 60 km from Pang. We had to pass through Moore plains which was a
fabulous road to ride. After a while, we had encountered flat road with no
barriers and hence made the most of it. It was an awesome feeling to sit on the
middle of the road and click pics and capture videos. The best part was lying
down on the road and gazing at the sky.
I kept taking regular breaks
until we reached around 30 km before Tanglang La. Due to quite a bit of
heaviness in head, I shifted to the pilot seat of 4x4 and handed over the bike
to the staff. Around 3 km before the pass, the head started spinning more and I
shifted to the passenger seat. The pass was extremely stunning with the side
walls covered with snow and the weather to cherish.
As we sloped the pass, I was
remembering the bike but had less spirit to move away from the 4x4. In next 40
minutes we reached Rumste and I was feeling sleepy. I saw a buddy (who was
ahead of us) coming out of a peaceful restaurant. I asked him what’s going on?
He replied with a smile – have a lemon ginger tea here and you will feel the
difference. Few sips of tea actually did the trick. I felt transcended.
In next 10 min, I encountered the
staff whom I had given the bike. He was fixing some one’s bike there. Without a
moment of hesitation, I plunged out of 4x4 and jumped on to the bike and
exclaimed –
Hey lovely nature, here I
come.
Rumste (4260m) to Upshi (3480m)
was certainly the most spellbinding terrain I had cruised anytime in my life. I
felt elevated riding along the colourful mountains (red, brown, orange, maroon,
green and what not). So many turns got a feeling as if the mountains are
exactly above my head blessing me for the journey. On my right, there was a
wide river and above that the open sky that made me feel so dwarf that I don’t
even exist. I was not myself – I was the nature. I was not just involved or
submerged but I was very much something that I had always portrayed as a thing
but today it had an identity, a soul.
The restaurant at the corner of
the T-Junction at Upshi got me the hunger sensation and I applied brakes.
Despite taking regular breaks amid the passage, I seldom felt like seeing the
time. Hence, at Upshi when I saw the milestone that Leh is 49 km away all I
assumed is it must be around 2.30 pm going by my experience on the previous
days. To my surprise, it was only 12.45pm. Had a good 30 min lunch break
gulping in simple curd rice and some snack. Further, resumed the ride to Leh.
As I had already got so much
accustomed to recesses, I couldn’t stop myself from doing it even when the
terrain was smooth and straight. Literally every few km the scenario altered.
In a humorous way, I would tell my self – Nature has changed the get up. With
the Alteration in the get up, I had no choice but to stop and witness it. Not
only witness but experience it, breathe it and click pic (optional) and move
on.
In some time, I approached Karu
and the most awaited fuel station was there to welcome us. The bikes were
rather happier since they were hungry for fuel.
Post tanking them up, Leh
milestones started showing up. It was a totally different sight as I passed
Karu. I was approaching a small village called Shey and the road passing
through was absolutely striking. It was appearing like a countryside path of a
western country with a lot of peace and serenity dwelled within.
After a while, we crossed a
couple of monasteries and started getting the city feeling as Leh was nearing.
An approximate of 485 km of biking resulted in hitting the place which was
always in imagination. There was a trade-off to be addressed – coming out of
enchanting nature and getting into a place which felt noisy on its face. The
military vehicles, cantonments, shops, residence and not-so-symmetrical
infrastructure started getting some ideas on the mind.
The next task was to find a hotel
as we had no idea about the address and also as always, we were amongst the
last lot to reach. My tour operator must have been thinking all the ways –
Either this guy is too slow in riding or he takes too many breaks. I didn’t
reveal the secret till the end. Anyhow, after asking a few people, we finally
reached the Hotel at 4pm.
Before anyone thinks about GPS,
let me clarify that I had no network anywhere on my phone during the entire
journey except Chandigarh, Manali and a very little at Jispa. Also, J&K
government has banned data completely in the entire state.
We had quite a bit of time to
loiter around in Leh and we did that after a short relaxation and a soothing
shower.
Also, we had dinner a bit early
as technically we had skipped lunch on that day. Post dinner, had nothing great
to do so just talked with friends for a while and slipped onto the bed.
Day 6:
Next morning after the daily
routine acts, grabbed access to Wi-Fi at hotel and invested some time in
checking the irrelevant stuff – relatively, it was irrelevant in my opinion.
Ideally, we had to do Leh
sightseeing on day 6 but there was a change in plan. The next phase of journey
had to cover Pangong Lake and Nubra Valley. So, Leh, Pangong and Nubra can be
considered as a triangle. However, the road from Pangong to Nubra was closed
and hence we had to alter the plan. We were compelled to do Leh-Pangong-Leh
(with overnight in Pangong) and Leh-Nubra-Leh (with overnight in Nubra). Besides,
the L-P-L road was not in a good shape hence we were recommended to take a
break from bike for 2 days and do L-P-L on cars.
So, on day 6 we planned to go to
Pangong in a rented car. Since we were in a car, the only option I had to sit
back relax and enjoy the drive while listening to some music. Frankly, there is
nothing much exciting about the road as we took less breaks and the road was
also not in a good shape.
We encountered some beautiful
birds, horses, sheep and a cute animal which was called Marmot by some. On the
way, there were sand dunes, small lakes and green vegetation.
The approach road to Pangong Tso
was amazing. Blue water under the sky was tempting. We had a couple of stops by
the lake while we were wondering where are we going to stay as the lake has
already started and there are no signs of any tents or hotels. The lake was
tranquil and that resulted in settling the mind after a hectic road trip.
At this point, the driver told us
that the lake is 200 km long of which 40 km is in Indian Territory and the rest
is in China. I was amazed at this statement was imagining the magnitude of the
water body.
We were housed in cosy tents
having all the sanitation facilities in it. The series of tents looked
wonderful, all of them facing the lake. We had a delicious dinner and planned
to doze off while some of us did camp fire and chats. We were told to wake up
at 5 am if we wanted to experience the catchiest sunrise in the region. It was
optional but who wanted to leave this eye-soothing sight in option.
Day 7:
I naturally woke up at 5am and
started heading towards the water. It was as serene as it could be. It looked
different than what it felt last evening. While we were awaiting sun to peek
out of the mountains, the light had already appeared. Suddenly I felt like looking on the backside. That is the first time I realised that we had mountains on the
backside as well. This was the absolute beauty of the entire geography. At
almost all the places we had been during the entire trip, we were surrounded by
mountains on all 4 sides. Coming back to Pangong Tso, when I saw the mountains
on my back, I could see sunlight spreading all over those mighty structures. In
the front, the sun was yet to appear though.
I was not able to believe that I
was stationary at one place for over an hour and a half just witnessing the
wonders and experiencing the bliss.
Since we had plans to move out of
the place by 9 am, we had to move for the daily stuff and breakfast. Quite a
peaceful morning snack it was. We started and headed towards the next milestone
which was merely a few km away. This was a place where the climax of a popular
movie was shot. Everyone wanted to click pictures and frame the memories.
On our way back, we passed
through the same route and this time rather than focussing on the route, the
concentration was on the music that we were playing in the car. We had a good
time listening to it.
By early evening, we had pretty
much arrived close to Leh. Before we check in to the hotel, we paid a visit to
Thiksey monastery. We were tired but sitting for a few minutes in front of the
huge Buddha idol, got into a recreation mode for a while. Post that, we left
and after around 20 odd kms of travel, we checked in to our hotel.
It was a relaxed feeling while I
was reminiscing the vibrant Pangong Tso. Soon, it was the dinner call and post
dinner, I didn’t want to relax so I got connected to the concrete world of web.
Next day, we had to start by
9.30am.
Day 8:
The track today was Leh to Nubra
on bikes. After 2 days of rest with regards to bike, I was naturally excited to
vroom. Besides, we were told that in next 50 km we will be passing Khardung La
(5359m), the highest motorable road on this planet. The road to Khardung La was
a rough one but it justified the saying that – to reach the peak, one needs to pass through a difficult terrain.
We had a little bit of hiccup with the permits while starting from Leh and it
look around an hour to sort out. We still made it to Khardung La in next couple
of hours. Initially I was excited to stop by and click pics at the top of the
world but when I saw a plethora of people, I changed my mind. While each of the
bikes and cars were stopping by, I set a record by cruising at 30 kmph to pass
the Khardung La top. LOL.
We were feeling a little hungry
but there wasn’t any place to stop by and grab a munch. Hence, we decided to
move further and reach a village nearby. It took us a good one hour to reach
the Khardung Village where we stopped for Lunch.
The road post that was quite
heavenly. It was close to another 60 km before we could make it to Nubra
valley. It was unbelievably delightful so much so that I must have taken 10
breaks during those 60 km. It scores one extra mark over the earlier described road
from Rumste to Upshi.
All I could experience is the
oneness between nature, me and God.
It’s practically very difficult
to describe all the places in words. However, I would like to attempt for one
such place. We stopped by at one place where I asked a friend of mine –
Tell me, what is it that is missing in what
we are seeing in front of us? He was quiet and I believe he didn’t want to
reply. I added – All I see is mountain, dessert, valley, lake, green trees,
snow-capped hills, shining sun, white clouds, blue sky and everything in the
magnitude of a humungous structure created by nature. It looks much more than a
gorgeous wall paper. I mean where are we, dude? This place is definitely not
earth.
Cruising through dessert,
monasteries, valleys, hills and rivers, we reached our camp at Nubra valley and
I couldn’t trust my eyes to see such a fanciful resort that had 20 lovely tents
sitting in the lap of mountains amid green jungle. We had an hour before the
sun would hide behind the mountains. This was a great opportunity to take a
stroll in the woods while acting as an ace lensman.
A mouth-watering dinner spread
was waiting for us. I gulped in 2 bowls of soup followed by a stomach filling
dinner.
We had a round of camp-fire and
chatted over the day as well as planned for the next. Slipping on to the bed in
the cosy tent resulted in a peaceful dreamless sleep.
Day 9:
More than reaching back to Leh, I
was lured to cruise back on the terrain from Nubra to Khardung La but before
that I wanted to catch up on the Nubra dessert and pamper the double humped
Mongolian camels that are seen at only one place in the country. It was a
beautiful dessert with off white clear sand and a small stream passing through
the beginning of it. We were 4 of us there and took loads of angles from the
camera as well as God gifted eyes. It had a unique charm of its own. The sight
of 50 odd camels walking towards us was unforgettable.
We had to rush to the tents,
finish off breakfast and reach the huge and placid Diskit Monastery. On the top
of the monastery with a feeling of equilibrium, I could experience utmost bliss
and peace.
I resumed the voyage on the
pleasing terrain and this time I was all alone. It was the same path that I had
to travel back so one mind told me, why do you want to take the same number of
breaks on the same path while other simply told me – Why not?
I made a clear choice. Although
the path was same, there was something unknown that still made it feel unique
and new. I kept taking those sinking pauses and was in complete sync till the
lunch break happened at the Khardung Village.
Now, it was time to pass the
Khardung La but this time I surely wanted to stop by. I somehow felt nostalgic
and remembered the Sela Pass (4170m) in Arunachal. With that, I also remembered
that I had taken a shirtless pic there and I wanted to repeat at Khardung La.
The other thing I wanted to do is to thrown off my broken wrist watch (it was a
Chinese smart watch) from the Khardung La top. Needless to say, I did both and
was unknowingly shot too. HAHA.
The journey back to Leh was suave
though was on a tough topography.
Some of us visited a couple of
places in Leh before checking in to the hotel. We planned to check in directly.
It was difficult to find sleep
that night as my heart, mind, body and soul was full of an enriching experience
that I had over past 9 days and especially last 2 days were quite absorbing.
The next day was supposed to be
fairly an easy one with Leh sight-seeing on the agenda.
Day 10:
Of the itinerary, the only thing I
was keen about is the Hall of Fame (the museum of the warriors).
We spent around 90 minutes at the
Hall of Fame and it was unquestionably touching. We paid respect and salute to
those who unconditionally sacrificed their lives for the nation. Such a selfless
feeling it is, I still wonder. What is the point in shedding the blood for a
piece of land? – I left the place with this question on my mind. There might
not be a solution to this question in reality but my mind was constantly asking
me – If there is a fight over a piece of land, can there not be a panel of jury
who can decide and sort out this matter. Hope it was that easy L
The next on cards was – the Sangam (meeting point) of Indus and
Zanskar rivers, rafting on the Zanskar River, Patthar Saahab Gurudwara and
Magnetic Hill. Also, we had Shanti Stupa which I had skipped.
By the time, we were on our way
back I was feeling very hungry and with the feeling of the War Museum still
etched in my heart, I stopped by near that place for a late lunch. It was 3.30pm
already.
Besides, today was our last night
at Leh and I hadn’t got a chance to visit the Leh Markets. Although I had no
particular agenda on my mind, I wanted to check out the place and get the city
feeling. Most of the things I could see there were quite similar to what I find
where I reside. Barring some souvenirs, there was nothing unique.
We returned to the hotel a bit
late after loitering for 3 hours in the market. It was the maximum walk of the
entire trip and that made us a bit exhausted naturally. After dinner and some
chat with friends, we boarded the flight to the dream world aka bed.
Day 11:
This was the longest day with
regards to the bike expedition. We had to ideally start by 6.30 am but by the
time we start it was 7.45 am. While arriving from Manali to Leh, we had taken 3
days but while going back, the plan was to reach Manali in 2 days. Besides, we
had faced some health issues at Pang while coming so we thought of skipping
Pang and directly reaching Jispa, 358 km from Leh.
With a positive note, we started
at 7.45 pm, luckily we got some time for breakfast. The first milestone was
fuel station and we had to tank up full as the next one was at Tandi, which was
post Jispa. In short, we had to cover 358 km on a full tank which was quite a
task. We had back-up vehicle with extra fuel but we weren’t quite sure if we
all will be able to meet the back-up vehicle en route. We had to spend around
25 minutes at the fuel station as other gang of bikers were already waiting to
fuel up.
Anyhow, we resumed our journey
post fuelling up. The road from Leh to Pang was a smooth one as described
earlier during the Pang to Leh part. However, I didn’t change the way of riding
and kept taking breaks. There was a slight hiccup related to chain on my bike.
We had crossed Upshi by then. I didn’t pay much attention but a friend on
another bike told me to get it fixed as it might create issues.
So, we returned back a couple of
kms to Upshi and while we were getting it sorted with a local mechanic who
actually didn’t have the right spanner, we were also wondering where the
back-up vehicle would be. Soon, it arrived and the stuff got fixed quickly.
Post that, we had a smooth flow
of journey with the regular respites on. Also, I didn’t want to miss out on the
delicious Ginger Lemon Tea at Rumste. Hence, I took a leisure time and sipped
in with utmost satisfactory feeling.
It was 1.15pm by the time we
reached Pang. Of course, the stomach was demanding fuel but mind wasn’t ready
to have the monotonous food again. Hence, I zeroed down on Tea and Biscuits.
Numerically, we had reached half way but the remainder of the way was nearly
double than the first half considering the condition of the road. So, we
decided to leave in next 20 minutes.
At this point, we came to know
that the back-up vehicle which was behind us was stuck due to some issues. They
had resources to get it sorted but it would anyway eat up some time. We were in
a fix, what to do? If we wait for longer, we would have to stay at Pang or
Sarchu. We were asked to leave and were told that back-up vehicle will chase
once it’s sorted and also it will cover up.
With a mixed feeling, we left. It
was nearly 3.15 on the watch. We knew that it’s another 7 hours of road to be
crossed and if it’s gets dark (and surely it would), the wheels will get slower
due to the lack of visibility.
We reached Sarchu by 6.55pm. We
had to cross the borders on both the sides. Post formalities, it was
approximately 7.10 pm when we started from Sarchu. The other bikers were way
ahead of us. We were the only 2 bikers with our beast in the vicinity.
In 30 odd minutes, it was
supposed to get pitch dark. Besides, the road was supposed to be rough, tough
and with anticipated and unanticipated rivers on the way until we reach around
30 km before Jispa.
The next 3 hours from Sarchu was
nothing less than the best of the adventures. Firstly, we had the reserve
indicator flashing. There was no sign of back-up vehicle anywhere. No
communication in any mode. Approximately, 87 km to be covered. We had no choice
but to keep moving.
Around 45 km prior to Jispa, we
saw some light perpendicular to us. That light was nothing but the headlight of
the bike that might be a km ahead of us. I did accelerate and tried to catch it
up. All I could see is a couple on the bike and the next thing I see is a white
coloured gallon attached to the back of the bike. My pillion and I concluded to
stay behind him so that if we run out of fuel, we can borrow.
He was riding relatively slow but
I didn’t want to pass him as it was a matter of few minutes here or there and
on top of that, reserve fuel. I strived to ride maximum in the neutral gear to
be on the safe side. There came a river, which he crossed and it splashed a
good amount of water. I was clueless thinking which side I should cross from.
After he crossed, he turned over and flashed his headlight showing me the path.
I crossed as he said and then after thinking, asked him – where are you headed to? He vroomed
soon after replying – Jispa. We too – I don’t know if he heard that.
There were 3 other rivers that
were to be crossed which were fairly easier. The last one though had a lot of
water in it, I did pass but managed to wet our shoes.
After a long ride, we were
nearing Darcha and there was a T-Junction at which the rider ahead of me
stopped. I did remember that we had to take a left and I conveyed him the same.
He asked me – Sure?
I vroomed with confidence telling
him – Very much.
There was a check post ahead at
the entry of Jispa wherein we stopped by and I thanked him for being around.
Also, I confessed about the gallon to which he laughed and told that the gallon
is empty and they were also riding on the reserve fuel. HAHA.
We had to move towards our hotel
so we exchanged Good-byes. It was so dark that at one instance when I turned
off the headlight for a couple of seconds, all I could see is nothing – not
even the bike or myself.
On our way we could hardly see
anyone but soon as we hit the hotel at around 10pm the entire world was waiting
for us with open arms.
This was the longest bike ride of
my life and I somehow didn’t feel too worked up. I had a peaceful dinner and a
sound sleep.
Day 12:
First thing I had to do is ensure
that the back-up vehicle was back. We came to know that it was safe and arrived
post mid-night. I was glad to know that all the fellow bikers, the car
passengers and the back-up vehicle – everything was in smooth state of affairs.
We put some fuel on the bike and
started towards Manali. We had to be welcomed by the Fuel pump at Tandi and
before and after that the scenic locales of Keylong, Sissu, Khoksar, Rohtang
and everything that was ready to embrace us on our way back to the source.
We paid a visit to suicide point
after the Rohtang pass. It was mind-blowingly scenic and we treated ourselves
with lovely pictures.
Further, we checked out the
Solang valley before we stepped into the hustle bustle of Manali.
After reaching Manali by around 5
pm, we wanted to refresh ourselves with a lazy shower. We did roam around the
place post that and had a quick dinner. Post dinner, we planned to visit the
old part of Manali and experience rejuvenation till late night and hence we did
club hopping.
By the time I closed my eyes, it
was 2.30 am.
Day 13:
This was the day wherein there
was no agenda at all. We had to be on our own until 6.30pm when we would start
our journey from Manali to Chandigarh.
After a light breakfast, I asked
my tour operator to show us a place where we can have a long and a grand lunch.
He took us to a lovely place over-looking the lush green hills of Manali, a
pleasurable ambience and above all, no one in the restaurant except the 6 of
us. It was a visual treat with a lip-smacking delicacy on the table that hardly
took anytime to reach the belly.
Post lunch, we came and picked
our bags from the hotel and all we come to know that our 11.30am flight from
Chandigarh to Mumbai (on the next day) is cancelled. We spent an hour to
contact the airlines and luckily, we were accommodated in the 7.05pm flight on
the same day (Day 14).
The vehicle from Manali to
Chandigarh started at 6.55pm and we reached Chandigarh at 5.40am on Day 14.
Day 14:
Soon as we alighted from the bus,
we checked in to a place where we were put up for few hours on Day 1. The
circle was about to be completed. We rested for a while, had a light breakfast
and did our final packing. Since we are born foodies, we didn’t want to miss on
a heavy and leisurely lunch at Chandigarh now that we had extra time.
We took a vehicle to the popular
eatery and had a splendid lunch for 2 hours.
After coming back from Lunch, we
had an hour more to catch up on the remainder of the sleep. Around 5 pm we left
for the airport and boarded the flight post all the formalities.
Happy landing at 10.30 pm and
home by 11.15 pm.
The circle was complete. The
description of Day 1 to Day 14 ends here. The bike trip meter showed up 1379 km of travel.
There is much more to add but I
would like to keep it short.
Such voyages are really once in a
lifetime (even if it happens once again).
I would like to personally
express my gratitude towards all the 38 fellow travellers and our tour
operator. Love you all – had a wonderful 2 week expedition which was beyond
expectation.
My Takeaway from the voyage:
1. In
true sense, it was experienced that nothing is impossible. This is related to
what I experienced myself as well as when I saw literally 100s of people on bicycle and few on foot traveling from Leh to Khardung La and Pangong Tso as
well as on the way from Jispa to Leh. Hats off to those bicyclists and the
people on foot.
2. Once
I am determined to reach, I certainly can. The 358 km bike ride from Leh to
Jispa taught me this
3. The
changing nature showering unique beauty at each milestone made me realise that
each and every person and situation I encounter is definitely beautiful – just
that I need to discover
4. There
is an abundance of peace and bliss within, the exteriors helped me discover
that.
Above all it made me soulfully
feel, realize and experience - Happiness is indeed a Journey and not the
destination.
Some Tips for Healthy Trip:
1. Drink
a lot of water
2. Urinate
a lot (post drinking, the urge will appear but don’t hold on to it)
3. Keep
breathing consciously and constantly with awareness
4. Eat
at regular intervals, a bite is also ok
Legends:
1. Julley
– Hi, Hello, Namaste
2. Tso
– Lake
3. La
– Pass
4. Tal
– Lake
