HIMALAYAN ODYSSEY 2009

 

I cannot forget the day when I had to almost give up on my dream to go to the Odyssey. I was sitting in a meeting room where my managers told me that my leave was rejected and there was no way I was going to be able to go on this trip. 3 months of expectation, anticipation and preparation and 50000 worth of shopping all crumbled to nothing in an instant. I was trying hard to contain my tears. But nonetheless one tear traced its way on my cheek to the ground. The magnitude of disappointment was equal to what I would have had felt had I failed to get the Engineering degree after 4 years of slogging.

And at the same time, I won’t be able to express my happiness when my managers Varun Pandey and Manjusha Bhakta told me to just go without saying a word to anyone and that we would see what to do later. I would have just got up and hugged him had this conversation not been in office. I was going!! I cannot forget the day when I finally went for the Odyssey.

 

What prompted me to do such a trip? I knew this wasn’t going to be easy; I am not the person who is comfortable with extreme cold. Why did I go for the Odyssey? I had been viewing the page about the odyssey for 3 years now on the royal Enfield site even before I bought my bike actually. I love riding and I know it. I love adventure too. That was just a part of the reason. I wanted to break free. Right from my graduation days I had been living in bondage. I did my graduation in the field I still have no knowledge about. I have pretty much never done what I really wanted to do. I needed to rediscover myself. I am bored of my daily routine, this is not what I really want to do, this is not me. I am frustrated with the fact that I have no way of changing anything. I am stuck, I will probably continue doing this all my life and I will never know when my life came to an end. I need to change that; I need to really start living.

It was just on a spur of a moment I decided that that’s it I am going. It was just on a spur of a moment when I decided to buy a thunderbird. I think I take my best decisions on the spur of a moment, on instinct. I got the gears moving, got the draft ready and all my papers ready in one day and couriered them on then we left for Goa in the morning. And a few days later I got the good news. I knew at that instant that things were not going to be smooth with my holidays. This is me; things have to go wrong with me. Nothing can go smoothly with me. And nothing went smoothly indeed. But in the end what was important was that I was going.

The morning came when I had to catch a plane to Delhi. My bike was already in Delhi. And so the trip of a lifetime began. On reaching Delhi me and Bhagirath checked into the hotel Yashwant and Tanmay were in. Santosh had already reached the previous night. We went and got our bikes all of them in good condition thankfully. Riding through the streets of Delhi on our way back after getting the bikes, we rode right across Rashtrapati bhavan and the parliament house. This was the capital of India I was riding in. My chest was swollen with pride and my face gleamed looking at the glory of India, wish I could say the same about the politicians. We reached the hotel and parked our bikes, all the 6 glowing in the street lights. Tomorrow was the start of the odyssey, not the riding but the start indeed. Our spirits were high. Adarsh had come to meet me and we had a blast that evening. It was a year since I had met him. Beer flowed freely in the night. The weather in Delhi was so hot that the beer was a nice cool welcome.

 

DAY 1  Delhi
We reached the International Yuvak Kendra, the place where all the 50 riders were being put up. Bikes and luggage and all we checked into the hotel. Some of the riders were already there with the bike. We could hear the occasional starting of the RE’s. The sound they make is music really.

The bike scrutiny was done by Amol. He was in charge of the service engineering. He ok’ed my bike and that was a relief. But there was a small thing which needed to be fixed. The oil seal on the left arm was broken during transit of my bike. I had to go to a service station in Delhi to get it fixed. After that was done I got my Himalayan Odyssey stickers to be put on the bike and the T shirt of the odyssey which we were supposed to wear the next day, the start of the ride.

The rest of the day was off, so we took time to wash and shine our bikes ready for tomorrow. Sachin Chavan, one of the organizing members and one of the riders too, casually mentioned “don’t try too hard to wash your bike; we are going to ensure that they get spoilt from tomorrow on”. Yet we struggled, little did we know how true that was.

In the evening we had a briefing session. Sachin and KD spoke giving us a little idea of what to expect. There was a round of introduction of the entire 50 riders. This was the first time all the 50 were together. There were going to be a few reporters amongst us. They would click snaps and interview us on the way. After the briefing we all had dinner and were off to our rooms to get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning was going to be early as the luggage would be loaded in the truck at 5.00 AM and we were to start from the youth center at 5.30 AM. Sleep was going to be impossible; I was so excited that I could barely sit still. We got to our rooms and got all the riding gear out and laid it on the bed. The luggage to be tied on the bike was ready. I had packed my raincoat, a napkin, a change of clothes just in case the luggage arrived late. I lay on the bed and tried to sleep. I think I drifted off sometime around 1; we had to get up at 3.30 AM tomorrow.

 

DAY 2  Delhi – Chandigarh
I had barely drifted off to sleep and the alarm tone rang in my cell phone. Never has the tone felt so good and dear. Woke up, had a bath, wore my riding kit and was ready by 4.15 AM. Pune guys were one of the first ones to be ready with their luggage and downstairs. All of us had been looking forward to this day, this moment for over 3 months now and in my case a couple of years.

Everybody loaded their luggage in the truck and tied the remainder of it onto the bike with bungee cords and was ready to rock ‘n roll. All 50 bikes were parked neatly in the lane on both sides of the road by 5.30 and we were just waiting for the green signal. 50 Royal Enfield’s thundered to life in a moment as if in sync, piercing the quiet of the morning by the deafening roar. All the riders got in a formation of 2 riders per row. We rode to the India gate, down the road from Rashtrapati bhavan at 6 AM never breaking the formation. The traffic had been stopped by the cops to let our riders through. A lot of onlookers had gathered and they cheered for us, they were used to the Royal Enfield odyssey members. A lot of people clicked photographs while we rode on to India Gate. We must have made quite a spectacle. For a change I wasn’t a mere spectator to such an event, I was one of the participant. A lot of media personnel had gathered there and the cameras immediately went wild as we parked our bikes around the circle in front of India Gate. A lot of photographs of all the 50 of us in front of India Gate made us feel like celebrities. Lama had come there to perform a small puja and to wish us well on our journey to attaining Nirvana in the Himalayas. A major general from the Indian Armed forces had come to flag us off from India gate. He gave a small speech, wished us luck and flagged us off.

We rode out of Delhi with flair, again in the same formation onto the NH1, to Chandigarh our first halt. Once out of the city and onto the highway, we fired our babies up and let them rip through the traffic. Ours was such a grand spectacle that traffic slowed to have a glimpse of us. The roads were good, but it was hot and the temperatures were soaring as the sun came up. Our first regroup was a stop called Rasoi just 40 kms from Delhi. We had a quick breakfast there and rode on.

The sun was really burning up now and the heat had weathered us down really and I was dying for a drink. The roads were straight and there was no real challenge apart from the heat. Our next regroup was Karnal. After some cold water, cold drinks and sandwiches we were ready to roll on. Bhagirath’s bike had some trouble, the head gasket had blown as soon as we had started from Rasoi and he had been delayed. But Jassa’ji, one of the service engineers had replaced the gasket in no time.

The 2nd half of the journey was even hotter and we had to take frequent breaks for water. The next regroup was Ropar, where again some cold drinks and sandwiches found their way to our stomachs and we were ready to ride to Chandigarh our destination for the evening. It was scorching in Chandigarh too when we reached at 5 PM. My riding gear was soaking in sweat, but there was no time to wash it and dry it all. I just put them in the hot sun hoping the sweat would just dry up.

From tomorrow it should be better when we move up the hills to Manali. Nice chilled beer and chicken biryani and we were off to sleep, had a long day tomorrow and a challenging ride too.

 

DAY 3  Chandigarh – Manali
We had to make getting up early and starting our ride early a habit for the next 14 days. Our Stomachs and Petrol tanks always had to be full as KD had told us on Day 1. Early in the morning and still it was hot in Chandigarh. Our pune group started riding together and a few kms down the road Santosh’s bike conked off. We waited in shade across a bridge we were crossing while Bhagirath and Santosh brainstormed about the trouble. But his bike roared to life in a few kicks and we started to ride, hardly a few meters ahead and Yashwant’s bike had a flat tyre. Tanmay and me waited on for Yashwant. A huge nail had found its way into the tyre, hit the rim and bent to tear the tyre open. The tyre had to be changed there wa no fixing the old one. We waited for the service truck to arrive. In the mean time I got my bike’s silencer hinge welded as it had come undone.

After 2 hours in the hot sun we were ready to rock ‘n roll again. We let our bullets rip to make up for lost time. Around 70 odd kms and we got the first glimpe of hills. Finally the ghats had arrived. The roads were no longer straight, but winding and the slopes steep. This was now fun to ride on. The temperature had eased a bit too making it slightly comfortable. Then came the Beas in sight, the water so blue. The traffic on this road was heavy and the roads narrow. We had to zoom past buses and trucks one after the other. We were cruizing at a comfortable 60 – 70 kph all the way.

Then there it was, just round a bend, the first glimpse of snow clad mountains. The snow basking in the sunlight. Breath-taking !!! I don’t remember being so close to snow. This is what was in store. We were to ride right through such mountains in the days to come. A cold shiver ran down my spine. I realized that was partly because it had started to rain. Damn !! I took out my raincoat from the bag on my bike glad I had put it in there in the first place. No point getting all the gear wet from now itself. The road had almost vanished and now the tarmac was replaced with rocks and rubble in parts. The road was wet so had to be careful now.

The ride to Manali was long but a more comfortable one than the previous day. The temperature drop had made it easier and the winding roads had made it enjoyable. This was just the start of the fun, more challenges lay ahead. But we were oblivious to those challenges for now. We found a nice cozy bar and had a peg or two of Bacardi rum, sharing the days stories and gossip, laughing till tears rolled down our eyes.

From now on, more cold, lesser roads, some more rain and even snow maybe, the ride was becoming even more exciting.

 

DAY 4  Manali – Keylong
We had to cross Rhotang pass today and regroup at Khoksar. The day started good and we covered a lot of ground , before we got stuck in a traffic Jam. It had apparantly snowed in Rhotang pass the day before and a lot of people had turned up. The road was gone now. It was a mixture of mud and rocks and loose soil in some dry parts. There was water flowing down the slope as the sun was out and the snow had started melting. As the Oxygen levels dropped at hieghts, the vehicles were polluting a lot and there was a lot of smoke in the air. I was just at a bend following Bhagirath and I just let out my breath from my mouth. This caused my Vizor to fog and I couldn’t see anything. So with one had on the steering wheel I tried to pry open my helmets Vizor. Just then I saw a huge rock in my path, too late the edge of my front tyre was already on it and I twisted the handle hard the other way to counter for the imbalance. Too hard, in a n instant my bike had become too heavy to hold up, it slipped from my hand and as luck would have it directly on the rock. A scorpio hit me from behind and my tail lamp and indicators broke. The clutch casing had hit the rock and a huge piece had come off, leaking all the oil. Just then it started to rain, I barely managed to get my bike with the help of a fellow rider. The rear guard had bent and got stuck in the tyre, my bike just wouldn’t budge. Luckily because of all the riding gear I wasn’t hurt at all. Also I was in too low a speed to fall down. Yashwant and santosh arrived just behind me and stopped for me.

I had to wait for the service van to come and replace the clutch casing. The wait was absolutely agonizing. The winds were bitter cold, all the passing vehicles let out so much of smoke that it was nauseating. 3 hours we had to wait there before the service van appeared. They had no extra clutch casing. Darn my luck !! Rinku one of the service engineers, got out M-Seal, opened the clutch casing and cleaned it with some petrol. He joined the broken piece together using the M-Seal and Fevibond. I was pretty sure this wasn’t going to work. We waited another half hour for it to dry. Rinku put oil in the clutch casing and started the bike. Not a single drop !!! The clucth casing fixed we rode on.

Everyone else had already passed us a long time back. I was so glad that Yashwant and santosh were there with me. I was at a lilttle bit of ease just because they were around. If they hadnt been there I just cant imagine how my mental condition would have been. I cant thank them enough for waiting up for me. It was just the 3 of us now, all the other guys must have reached Keylong by now. There were omnious dark clouds gathering in the sky.

I felt quite shaky now, somehow I had lost the confidence after the fall. I was all jittery and I felt the bike skid at every turn now. The road at and after Rhotang pass was even worse. The pot holes were even deeper and filled with slush and cold water.  The rocks were looser, it was getting darker by the minute and the visibility was getting very poor. Yashwant and Santosh were riding faster than me and I was falling behind, but I couldn’t muster the courage to speed up. Their speeding was justified, just incase my bike broke down my bike would be put in the service truck and I would have to ride in the Innova, while they would still have to complete their ride in poor visibility to Keylong. Soon after I lost sight of them. I was riding all alone now in those scary looking mountains with the dark clouds looking to burst any moment. I was damn scared now. There was no way I was going to make it to Keylong. I didn’t even know if there was any resthouse in between where I could stop for the night If it began to rain heavily. I could continue to Keylong early in the morning at daybreak and catch up with my mates. But looking at the terrain I didn’t think there would be any one staying in this god forsaken place. The brakes on my bike had stopped working as water had entered the drums, I had to reduce my speed further still. My bikes handle bar had bent. There was no way I was going to reach. I had to keep riding on, that was my only hope. There was no turning back, and no point turning back too, there was nothing for miles in that direction either. I was so helpless. I had to go on, I had to will myself to move ahead. I couldn’t give up, I wasn’t born to give up.

I had virtually started praying and just then around a blind corner, came relief. It was like an oasis only not in a dessert in the cold mountains. I saw all of them, yes all 50 of them. The place was Khoksar, our regroup point. All of them had been waiting for me. The rule is – everyone arrives at the regroup point and only then can any person start riding from there. As I was stuck , everyone was waiting for me there. The relief I felt is what a small child lost in a huge bazar would feel at the first glimpse of his mother.

They waited some more while I had a quick tea and some biscuits. Then we started riding again. Still a long way to go to reach Keylong. On the route to Keylong, the roads were dusty, there was no tarmac for most parts just dust roads. A lot of trucks, tempos ply on this road raising a lot of dust. Already the visibility was low because of the fading light.

I rode to Tandi where we had our refuelling to be done, praying all the way. This was the last pump till Leh, so we had to give our fuel requirements there. The fuel would be carried in the truck. There was no mobile network in those hills too, so communication wasn’t easy.

After the refuelling, we rode on to Keylong. I was shaken and stirred by the incidents of the day. We finally reached Keylong by 9 PM. In the History of the Odyssey, none of the previous groups had reached Keylong this late. We had reached almost 4 hours late. It had been a long day of riding and waiting. And tomorrow was not a cakewalk either.

 

DAY 5  Keylong - Sarchu
Early in the morning service camp had been set up at Keylong where I got my bike Inspected. A few minor repairs were made. I was ready to ride again putting the events of the night behind me. Today was the day when we started steep ascend. BARALACH LA Pass – the third hightest pass in the world standing at 16500 ft above the sea level was enroute today. I had snowed up there in the mountains the night before. Chances were that we would encounter rain/snow today too. So we moved out early.

Cold winds were blowing and I was almost shivering. My riding gear was slightly wet. The roads were not good either. This wasn’t going to be easy, but who had said it would be. Water falls flowed over the roads making us all the more wet when we crossed them. Thankfully it wasn’t snowing or raining yet. We crossed an army checkpost at ZingZingbar and road converterd to rubble, then tarmac, then rubble again. As we were twisting and winding along the rubble road it started raining and strong cold winds started to blow and they swayed our bikes too. But our Royal Enfields held their ground. As we went further up the slopes, the rain stopped and it started to snow heavily. My helmet’s vizor was covered with snow, visibility reduced a great deal. I tried opening my vizor but then the snow blew straight in my face.

I did not understand then, what I was doing here giving up all the comforts of my home. I was cold and wet, my feet and hands were numb, there was no sensation in almost my entire body. All that was working was my brain, questioning me what I was doing here. I was here because I wanted to do this trip for over 3 years now, I was here for some adventure, to add a spark to my dull life and quite an adventure this was, this was what I had been looking for. I was out here, unprotected, unsafe I liked this better than all the securities I have back home. I belonged here. This thought numbed my mind too, I could bear the pain and the cold suddenly. What I was doing now was no way easy, many would have given up am sure. It was madness, but then madness is like gravity you know, all it takes is a little push. I had got that push back home.

And I was here experiencing something no one in my entire family had ever experienced, nor would anyone probably for a long time to come. Even I wouldn’t probably experience this in my lifetime again. But this was an unforgettable experience.

We stopped at a tent we found on the way to Baralach la. I just held a hot tea glass in my hands to get some heat. While we waited there for the snow to stop, we got some news. There had been an avalanche up there at baralach la last night. A truck had been over turned. We were still 35 kms from baralach la. For one moment I just wanted to go back. But wait a minute I hadnt come so far just to go back. There was no going back, just forward. 

The weather up in the mountains is funny. In a moment the weather changed and the sun came out bright and shining with all the glory. The sun is very harsh in the mountains because of the lack of atmosphere. The rays hardly provide any warmth. We put out our gloves in the sun, hoping that they would soak in some warmth. That did help a little bit. There were a few riders who had come riding all the way from Malaysia on BMW’s – magnificient bikes. They were going to ride all across the Himalayas into Pakistan through the Wagah border.

We started from the tent taking advantage of the fact that the sun was out and maybe only for a brief time. We didn’t know what to expect at Baralach la. It maybe snowing even harder, maybe the roads were closed. The sun had staretd melting the snow and water now flowed down the slopes. The roads were surprisingly in excellent condition. I havent riddin on better tarmac even in pune. It had started snowing again and only more harder than before. We stopped for a couple of photos, but moved on quickly. The oxygen levels had dropped drastically and I could sense I was having trouble breathing. Somehow my group got left behind, I was riding all alone in the front. I could sense a shift in weather. Cold winds were blowing and the snow came harder. My visibility was reduced to almost zero with a thick layer of snow on my helmets vizor. On both sides of the road there were tall ice walls. They were looming dangerously on the roads. My Vizor was getting fogged and I couldn’t open the vizor or else the snow would blow right into my face.

Riding through the snow somehow I reached the regroup point at Bharatpur. I ran into one of the tents there. And again held a hot tea cup in my hands. My hands were so numb that they had turned blue and had started to ache. The news we got there was that the snow would only get worse. In the History of the Odyssey for the first time there was so much snow at Baralach La. It was quite clear that this years Odyssey was going to create History. KD also reached the regroup point and told us to move on immidiately as the snow was not going to stop but only get worse.I put on the same wet gloves and moved on. It was surprising that even in such bitter cold our bikes held their own against nature. My bike started in the first electric start. I was in no position to kick start my bike as I was stiff in my legs by now because of the cold. Royal Enfield’s are really amazing bikes. I have more love and respect for my bike than I ever did before.

The snow eased a bit as we descended towards Sarchu. At Sarchu, there was no warm water bath or nice warm blankets and beds with room heating. We were put up in a camp there. Infact there are no hotels in Sarchu, tell Leh now actually. The camps are also set up only during summer time. My joints were sore and shoulders and legs stiff. I was so cold and numb I could barely walk or hold my helmet. There are no trees in and around that area, wood is a very valuable resource and so there wasn’t going to be a nice warm campfire too.

The road after Baralachla had been wet and skid friendly. Simple things like braking and changing gears was tough with numb hands and feet. One mistake and either it was a crash into the rocks or down a 1000 ft cliff. But we had made it to sarchu and virtually event free. Pune group was the first one to reach the Sarchu camp. The camp was a good one, but the tents were no barricade against the cold strong winds..

I removed the wet gloves and shoes and put on woolen ones. The thought of putting the same wet gloves on the next day was not a comforting one. There was just no respite from the cold. My hands were still blue and had no sensation in them. I rubbed some brandy on my hand and feet and had some too and put on woolon gloves and socks again. Then the colour returned somewhat after a while. After dinner I could barely keep my eyes open. But the tent was cold, sleep wasn’t going to be easy. Through out the night it snowed. It was one of the coldest nights of my life. The temperature in the night went as low as -4 C. Hardest night of the ride I have to say.

 

DAY 6  Sarchu - Rumtse
I had snowed in the night, so the night was chilled. The bike too was under a layer of snow. The sun came out in some time though. The snow had started melting off our bikes. I was surprised that the bike started in just one kick. My clothes were still damp, riding gear wet. Shoes and gloves were also wet. The thought of slipping into the wet riding gear wasn’t a comforting one. I could feel my joints creaking. I got into the wet gear nonetheless, I had no other option.
 
Today was the day we were to cross the second hightest pass in the world – TAGLANG LA at 17500 ft above the sea level. Thankfully the weather was clear. Our first regroup point was Pang about 80 kms from Sarchu. The ghats to Pang were known as gata loops. There were 21 loops in all and the climb was long and slow towards Pang. The road was considerably good though. We reached Pang and had some tea and biscuits.

After Pang though the road conditions worsened.  We were in More plains. This is a stretch of cold dessert. No vegetation, no animals in sight. It was just mountains and plains of sand. Riding here was a challenge. The bike skidded left and right. We just had to go on. There was no point going slow, the bike skidded even more. I just held the handle loose and bike just balance itself. The bike handled perfectly. This was an awesome ride so far. I had ridden through so much of different terrain already. A lot of trucks ply on this route and they raise a lot of dust making it difficult to see and breathe. Strong winds blow the dust in all directions too, either way we were just breathing in dust.

It started snowing a little bit as we started our ascend towards TAGLANG LA. I couldn’t stop there for a lot of photographs but I did stop for a couple of them. I could feel some strain while breathing. I moved on quickly.  The descent from TAGlANG LA was tough on many people. Some riders had some falls on the way. Some felt some dizziness, lightheadedness. The weather was very very cold with cold winds blowing. My hands and feet hadnt recovered much in the night, they were numb again. I could barely feel anything, my fingers were aching. Again there was no hot water bath at Rumtse, neither a cozy hotel room. The tents at Rumtse were even more cramped and small. They didn’t have any beds too. I had reached the campsite pretty early, I had a long wait. We came to know here, that ours was the only odyssey group from which not a single rider had quit by now. That means in every other odyssey there was atleast one person who was broken down by the terrain. But we had managed to hold on.

Rumtse was just as cold as Sarcu and even more windy. I spent a very uncomfortable night here. I could feel I had stopped breathing at some point of time in the night. I woke up suffocated, breathing heavily. I had to make concious efforts to breathe through out the night. I barely managed to sleep at all.

DAY 7  Rumtse - Leh
Rumtse was beautiful in the morning. Todays was going to be a short ride. The roads were really good in most parts. We rode together today into Leh in formation of 2 per row. Todays ride was no challenge, it was just straight tarmac road for a change. We reached Leh pretty early and had the rest of the day to us. There was only one thing I really wanted to do. I had a long hot water bath. Wore fresh clothes and gave the dirty ones in a laundry.  I had been in these same clothes for over 3 days now.

We had lunch in a restaurant in the market place. Leh is just like any other town, without the big shopping malls. It’s a nice small cozy place with a few places to see in and around. It was much warmer in Leh comparatively. We had a relaxed afternoon and a relaxed evening too. We had the next day to ourselves too and on the day after we were going to KHARDUNG LA.

DAY 8  Leh
We got up early, getting up early was a habit now. The oxygen levels were low and we could feel it. Carrying up our luggage one floor had been a major task and I was huffing and puffing by the time I reached my room.

We were going to Thicksey monastery. It was a long climb up but it was beautiful. Then we went to shey palace. After lunch we went ot Moti market where we got cheap army clothing stuff. Most of it didn’t fit me so I ended up buying nothing. We roamed the market place till about sunset.

We went to Shanti Stupa to see the sunset. It was just beautiful up there. So calm and quiet. We clicked some photographs. We were having fun so far. So far so good.

Tomorrow was Khardungla – the highest motorable road in the world. I wanted to catch up on some sleep. But in the night there was going to be a party with all the 50 guys. Most of us had turned up for the party. Everyone was excited and in high spirits.

DAY 9  Leh – Khardung La – Leh
KHARDUNG LA – The highest motorable road in the world, where 50 Royal Enfield riders had made it last 5 years was going to see another group of 50 raiding it today. The pass is at 18500 ft or roughly 5.5 kms above the sea level. I was on top of the world today and literally too. The ride was just 45 kms one way from Leh. The road up the hill was bad, muddy, and wet. Large pot holes filled with snow and water were to be crossed. At the top it was cold and oxygen levels even lower.

We had reached the top almost after 3 hours of riding, but then 45 kms on rubble and snow = 90 kms on plain roads. A lot of guys had tears in their eyes on reaching Khardungla. We had made it to the top without any incidents. We were finally at the most enviable destination of the world on the most enviable rides of the world. The cameras went wild. Khardung la was buzzing with Paparazzi.

We returned by lunch time. The ride so far had taken its toll on some people, a few were rattled so bad that they just gave up after Khardung la. 4-5 guys dropped out of the return trip. They just packedd their bags, packed off their bikes and took flights out of Leh the next morning back to Delhi.

Khardung la was amazing. The feeling of achievement was so good and after such a long time. Himalayas are really an enchanting place. The ride had been amazing so far; tough, dangerous in some parts but thrilling in all respects. My bike had held up, It was miraculous to me that I had reached so far without any problem with my clutch casing patched up with M-seal. Only a Royal Enfield could have made it like this. I was here because of my bike, I would have never seen these places in my life otherwise.

From tomorrow was the return journey and it was supposed to be a even more thrilling ride back. Even after riding so much through the himalayas, we still didn’t know what to expect on the return ride. I was sure we were in for a lot of surprises. Each route had been charming in its own way, each route had been different from the other. I was looking forward to the rest of the ride.

DAY 10  Leh – Tso Kar
Tso Kar is a salt water lake in the more plains. We were going to camp by the river side for the night.Its really amazing to have a complete salt water body up in the himalayas 17000 ft above the sea level. The camp was supposed to be the toughest one of the lot as it was exposed to wind from all sides and it could get really chilly in the night. But then it was just routine for us by now the cold I mean. We were asked to pack our own lunches from Leh as there was no Dhaba, Tapri on the way to after Upashi. I had packed loads of chocolates. We had to cross Rumtse and then Tanglang la to reach more plains so it was a long ride.

Atleast the morning wasn’t verly cold, it was quite warm and sunny on the contarary. But up in the mountains this can change very soon. The ride was smooth initially till we started our ascend to Tanglang La. Fortunately for us it wasn’t raining or snowing, so we could take quite a few photographs at Tanglang la. Last time we were here it was snowing and wind was blowing very hard. Then came the descend into More plains. More plains is a very enchanting place to say the least. Huge mountains on both sides and plains in between them.

We all stopped in an open spot in the plains and all bikes lined up for a photograph. After the photograph session we headed towards our campsite. By now we all were used to our bikes skidding left and right and I wasn’t uncomfortable at all with this unlike the last time I had crossed it.

The campsite at Tso Kar was excellent. The lake was hardly a few kms away. The tents were big and more luxurious than the ones at Rumtse. We dumped our luggage and rushed to Tso Kar. The winds were cold but the sun provided some respite.

The lake was really beautiful and serene. The water and the sky were of the same colour. The scene at the lake was so amazing that it somehow has fit into my brain and I will never be able to get that picture out of my head. After a few pictures we went off to the camp and had some hot dinner. I just hit the deck after that.

 

DAY 11  Tso Kar - Keylong
Tso Kar is between Rumtse and Sarchu. While coming we had come from Keylong just till Sarchu, This was going to be a long ride and also a tough one because we had to cross Baralach La today. While coming, baralach la had been hell weather wise with all the snow. We didn’t know what to expect today. But mentally I had prepared for the worst.

Crossing More plains we started our ascend towards the baralach la pass. The weather at baralach la was glorious. The sun was out, that meant the snow had been melting and the roads were wet and slippery. And all the mountains were LUSH white. Absolutely stark white like cotton  It was so beautiful up there like I have never seen before. White was everywhere. It was just the mountains and the snow and us riders, our bikes thumping their way across the pass. This time I could click some magnificient photos at the pass. I liked baralach la the best of all the passes in terms of beauty.

 

I continued my journey downwards knowing that it would be a long time  before I witnessed something so majestic and magnificient again in my life. On reaching Pang we had some grub and moved on immidiately, because we still had a long way to go and the plan was to reach there before sunset. On the way to Keylong, there was another mishap just before our hotel really. One of the guys from a trailer jumped onto the road out of nowhere directly in Sachin’s path. There was no way Sachin could have swerved and saved him. The guy was absolutely drunk and got hurt by the impact. Luckily nothing was broken and one of our innova’s reached him to the hospital. The food at Keylong had been the best the last time we were there. It was just equally good this time.

Tomorrow night was Kaza in Spiti Valley.

DAY 12  Keylong - Kaza
The road to Kaza was – there was no road infact. We had to cross a dry river bed today. That meant huge rocks and some water. The stretch is 80 kms long without any tarmac, just stones and water. No one in their right minds would attempt this normally. Dangerously sized rocks, if one of them hit that’s it for the remaining Odyssey.

The rocks could crack any of the bike parts and if you fall could crack any of your bones. Untill now the roads we had traversed had seen tarmac atleast once in their life time, On this road there was no scope of tarmac, it was a dry river bed, dry for now, in the summer.  I started the journey quite skeptical half expecting to fall at every rock I crossed. There was a lot of water too flowing down the slopes, sometimes knee deep.

The slopes were quite slippery, because of all the water, the rocks were smooth providing no grip at all. A couple of times the bottom of my bike scraped on the rocks ,but luckily nothing happened.
 
We stopped for some lunch and then started on our journey again. The challenge wasn’t over yet and we entered ghats, no roads again for another 40 kms. The mountains we were crossing were crumbling and a few rocks rolled down the sides every now and then. What if a huge rock hit you? Luckily all escaped any incidences.
 
Todays journey had been the hardest on my muscles and joints. Everything was sore from all the bumping, felt like essel world after a while. The hotel we were put up in was very good too. And a nice long hot water bath was just the thing I needed. With my tummy full I was ready to crash like a rock.

DAY 13  Kaza - Kalpa
The crumbling mountains continued. The ride was comparatively easier than yesterdays one. But we didn’t know what was in store for us on the way. The roads were mostly good, bad only in patches.

This was even more dangerous, because we just didn’t know if the road was bad round any bend. We just couldn’t predict and chances of skidding were very high. It was right after one blind turn that I hit a bad patch. I thought to my self that someone could fall here, I was lucky enough but any unassuming rider could. It was just loose soild and scattered rocks. Little did I know how true that would turn out to be.

I had been slightly seperated from my group as I had stopped to help Nekzad out with his clutch cable that had snapped. I rode with KD the entire way then onwards. We stopped at this glorious waterfall and clicked a few pictures. I reached Kalpa around 7.

Kalpa is a hill station – funny isnt it considering we were supposed to be up in the mountains. It is a long long climb to Kalpa. The road keeps winding along the slopes of a mountain at the base of which is the village Pengong su and atop the mountain is Kalpa. The road was lined with tall trees on both sides and the ride was absolutely fantastic. The road just wouldn’t finish though and I thought our hotel would be the only thing in Kalpa right at the peak and the road would end only after I enter the gate of the hotel. I think Kalpa is the best place out of all the places that we had gone too. It was so much more better than Manali or Shimla. So less crowded and pollution free. The place is absolutely untouched and virgin.

The view from our rooms itself was mind blowing. There were snow capped mountains at a distance and the evening sun was a bright orange. The rays of the sun made the snow glow a brilliant golden. I could have just settled there and wouldn’t have to care about the world for the rest of my life.

It was then that I came to know Santosh had had a fall at that same bad patch and his bikes front assembly was completely broken. Luckily Santosh wasn’t hurt apart from a scratch on his arm. His bike had made a full sommersault. He had been lucky because of his armour gear.

We had a nice campfire at Kalpa while a few pegs warmed us. This had been a good ride and a beautiful place as a reward at the end of it. Tomorrow was Narkanda.

DAY 14  Kalpa – Narkanda
The roads were getting better and the ride easier. We would be loosing altitude from now on mostly and the weather would get warmer. I had already packed off my body warmers . I felt I should have done the same with my jacket lining too.

We had our first regroup at Rampur and had some food there while we waited for everyone to arrive. The ride was very relaxing but there was an increase in vehicular traffic. We were used to ride on open roads, had to be slightly careful now.

Narkanda is a hill station and after lunch we started the ascend towards it. During this entire ride, I noticed, I had learnt quite a lot about riding techniques. I had improved on my riding, which line to take while cornering a bend, I would never lean my bike around a turn, but now I could lean it till the sliencer of my bike scraped the road !!! I was doing a good 70-80 Kph but being careful not to take the racing line on the bends. Round one bent, an unbelieveable thing happened to me. I heard my mothers voice, very very distinctly. I had heard her call out to me.  I was shaken a bit by the clarity of the voice in my ears. Was it just my imagination, had to be, my mother was in the US. Taking a cue, I just decided to go a little bit slower.

The route was absolutely gorgeous. Like what you see in most western movies. Picture perfect!!  There are a lot of places in India still untouched and unexplored. We don’t actually have to look outside of our country for a perfect holiday or even a perfect honeymoon. Most of the places outside are just hyped and we as Indians have an infatuation of foreign land. This I am saying by first hand experience now. This was my first trip of exploring India and bit of an eye opener really. The winding roads of Narkanda with trees lined on both sides of the road are stuck in my memory permenantly.

We were used to riding on open roads till now with no one coming from the opposite direction. There had been virtually no traffic, but now on the traffic would keep increasing we had to be more and more careful. Me and Santosh had got an honeymoon suite for the night what an irony. Tomorrow we would be reaching Parwanoo. The mountains and the ghats and the cold weather would be replaced by heat, traffic and pollution.
 
DAY 15  Narkanda - Parwanoo
The weather was hot and the ride wouldn’t be so smooth from now on. We were able to ride longer distances when it was cooler, not extreme cold. But now it would be tougher to do long stretches. There would be no challenge in the roads and the roads would become too boring. We required frequent drink breaks to re energize.

Me and Santosh rode together till Parwanoo.. The journey was mostly insignificant. We reached the hotel early and were amongst the first ones to reach. I headed straight for a nice cool wash. We got the news about Raghvendra there, that his operation had been successful. That was great news indeed. Everyone headed to the bar as the mood had lightened up by the news for a few beers.

Tomorrow was the last leg of our journey. The days had passed so quickly and we were at the end of our journey. Delhi would be burning now. We were all dreading that.

DAY 16  Parwanoo - Delhi
The roads were straight and extremely bland for my taste now. We started at 8.30 from Parwanoo and reached Delhi at 2.30 The heat was killing me inside the helmet and the jacket. Once we hit the Delhi-Chandigarh highway we just opened up the throttle to the max and the bike absolutely roared like a tiger. My bike was making such noises that would have given any mechanic a run for his money.

I had ridden on bad roads, no roads, rocks, knee deep ditches, snow, wind, rain, extreme cold, dust and pollution. I had battled with the himalayas and made it through them. But after all these, the last 15 kms of Delhi heat was the toughest ride of my life. I was riding like in a trance, I didn’t know where I was going, I was just following Santosh and Bhagirath that’s all I know. I was suffocating in the helmet and the balaclava. I wanted to tear off everything and jump into a pool of ice. My throat was parched, and the water in my camelbak was boiling. We stopped thankfully at a roadside shop for some water. After the first sip of water, I just threw up a couple of times before I returned back to my senses.I had a couple of lime sodas and threw them up too. We waited for half an hour and then moved on to do the last 5 kms of the journey. When we reached the youth center we parked our bikes and ran into the shade of the hotel.

The journey was done. We had rached Khardung La and back in one piece. What an achievement this was. I was proud of myself. What a journey this had been, one to remember for the rest of our lives and told to our children which would hopefully coax them into doing this madness. But the who knows what the road and other conditions would be then. But If I get a chance, I want to do this with my son too.

I had got so much experience on this trip, learnt so much about my bike, about riding and about myself. This was truly a path to salvation and journey of self discovery. I have done things I knew I would never be able to do. But I had done them, conquered himalays. I remember one thing very distinctly that Gordon said to me. He had said “ This is one of the most challenging tracks in the world to do. You can ride on tarmac anywhere in the world, but where else would you get such roads to ride on and such scenery to accompany the ride”

I felt so proud of my country too. No other country in the world has what we have. We just don’t treasure it. I have been to UK and have been half across Europe and have seen snowing in scotland. Though it was beautiful, Nothing compares to the snow in Baralach La pass. No road compares to the one we rode on from Keylong to Kaza. Even Lake district in UK cannot compare to the landscape of Kalpa and Sarchu.

I will be back to do this track again and soon, hopefully next year.

 

Written by: Mr. Akshay Sudhir Ketkar

Photographs by: Mr. Harsh Man Rai