Manali - Rohtang Pass

Royal Enfield 350 and 500.

Morning 5, we all were ready. Bags were packed, expectation level high, and motivation at its peak. It was still dark, and the rain didn’t stopped. But it was not enough to stop us, or take our step back. We were all set to take on the road, the TOUGHEST ROAD OF THE WORLD. Frankly speaking, in this last one month, Sid and I, we discussed each and everything that we got on this Ladakh trip, and after reading the reviews, and blogs, we both were scared a bit. But somewhere back in my mind, I was quiet sure that how can this be so tough. What can be the worst case scenario? Max it would be that our byke broke down, so we have to toll it up in a truck. We have also read about AMS (acute mountain sickness), which usually occurs due to lack of oxygen up in the mountains. But we were told that if we are coming there in our bykes, we would be acclimatized on our way, and so, there is nothing much to worry about. One of my friend who was from Kashmir, had been to Ladakh. Even he said, it’s not a big deal. It could be dangerous if you are suffering from asthma, but otherwise, it would be fine. And so I believed. But all this was nothing as compared to what we faced. On the contrary, what I faced.

We didn’t wait for the Sun to rise, neither the rain to stop. We loaded our bykes with our bags, jerry cans, and sarpaal. Dhyani, as a sailor, knew very well how to tie a knot. Sid and Ujjwal were in Enfield 300. Me and Dhyani got Enfield 500. Goggles, jacket, raincoat, gumboots, and helmet. All set. And thus our journey began.

Moments before starting the ride

An hour later, we saw the sunbeams reaching us. It was a good day to start off with. We could see the snow capped mountains, dew covered grass, and could feel the freshness in the air. But this was just for a small amount of time. The higher we went, the foggy it became. No more sunbeams, just dense fog. The visibility was about 20 feet. We could feel the shortage of oxygen. It was so cold that even my eyelids were covered with water droplets, and were getting freeze. On the other byke, Sid was riding with Ujjwal. I asked him, “hows it goin”, he just showed a thumbs up, stating he is still ready to face more. This motivated me a lot, and we continued.

Mohit, Akhilesh and Ujjwal- In the Spiti Valley

 The view was amazing, all covered with clouds, with chilling breeze. After riding two hours, the fog started disappearing, but it was still cold. Woah!! We didn't even cross the first pass, the Rohtang Pass, and I was facing so many difficulties. I had no clue how I would face the rest of the journey. But still, the madness to go on this ride was far greater than the cold wind and the chilling fog.

 This was not just a simple trip. It was a lot more than that. It was us defining our limits. How far can we go, how much can we face. We didn't have to prove this to anyone, but deep inside, we all were competing against ourselves. How can I give up on such a short obstacle? Thus, I continued the journey. Soon we reached the top of the first pass. The view was DEADLY. We were riding on the edge of the mountain. The thickness was about 13- 15 feet, but the deadliest part was, it was all covered with mud.

 The previous night rainfall made the road so deadly, that it was covered with approximately 3 inches of mud. We all are riding bikes for more than 10 years, but looking at the sight, both of us stopped for a moment. There were other people who started the journey with us, some were ahead of us and some of them were behind. I saw people were facing a lot of difficulties while crossing that muddle, and one of them also skid on it, but as he was alone, and also his bike was Glamour, he managed to stabilize it.

 My hands were cold, I was even having difficulty in holding and releasing the clutch of my 500. But the main fear was, what if I skid, both Dhyani and I will be down the mountain in no time. Sid took the initiative, and said he will move first. It seemed he was also having problem in riding the bike, but he managed. In some point, he got stuck, but Ujjwal got out on the mud, and helped him crossed the bike. Now, it was my turn. Dhyani shouted, “Chal Negi, jo hoga dekha jayega”, and we were off. I was only focusing on my front wheel, and the road. On reaching the mid way, I don’t know what got into me and I looked down the mountain. FUCK, it was scary, and at that moment, I was out of balance, and we skid. Somehow I managed to hold the bike, but it was Enfield 500. It was very difficult to hold it in that muddy place, plus Dhyani was also there. Even he got out on the mud to balance the bike from rear.

On the way to Rohtang Pass

 I again started my bike, but my hands were too cold to release the clutch smoothly, plus the muddy road, which resulted in one more skid, deadlier than the previous one. If I would have not stopped the bike instantly, and Dhyani would not have supported me, I was, for sure, making it to the next day newspaper in the dead persons list. I was scared from deep inside. I thing this feeling was not enough, as compared to the one, when I saw a military truck coming from behind. Woah!! There was no space, time, or condition to move or think. Somehow I gathered my courage and managed to shift the bike from middle to the side of the road. Soon after the truck passed, I again started the bike, and was trying to pass that muddy area when suddenly, a biker came next to me. He looked professional, with bikers jacket, elbow and knee guard, a camera on his helmet, and above all, he was riding alone. He offered us help, but I don’t know, looking him, all my fear was gone. I thanked him for his offer, and told him we are fine. He showed the Thumbs Up, and went ahead. I don’t know how he gave me that courage, but after he left, even I was able to cross that area in no time. The road ahead was a good one.

 After 3, 4 km, there was a small Maggie joint, where we planned to have our breakfast. We stopped there, to add some pics to our collection. There, on the breakfast table, we were discussing about our experience till now, and there Sid told me that even he was scared a lot, while crossing the muddle. Even he was exhausted, and even his eyelids were frozen, but with just one thumbs up, and his initiative to move forward, also encouraged me, and there we were, eating out first meal of the day, discussing about our future strategies, laughing, giggling, and enjoying the sunbeams again. Finally, we crossed our first pass, the Rohtang Pass.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Manali

View of Manali from the cottage.

Finally, we were standing on the taxi stand of Manali, exhausted and clueless, but above all, excited that finally our dream ride was about to start. Dhyani had made arrangements for 2 Royal Enfields. There were 2 Lamba Brothers, who had a cottage in Manali and they were providing us with bykes and other small accessories, like gumboots, jerry cans, byke carrier, etc. They came to pick us, and within half an hour, we were in their cottage, which was on top side of Manali. The view from the balcony was amazing. Frankly speaking, I didn’t want to go anywhere after coming to that place. But this was just a start. We were damn sure that the rest of the journey would be mind blowing.

Early morning coffee with bike's paperwork.

We were following a very tight schedule. Well, as per Col. Vijay Aswal (my cousin who was posted in Leh), we didn’t had cushion. Exact 9 days we had to go and come back to Manali. My flight tickets were booked. This was our first trip, and as we were proceeding, we were realizing that we didn’t plan our trip. We just packed our bags and started our journey. There was still a lot of shopping to be done. Everyone was exhausted. Seeing this, one of the Lamba Brothers offered us to stay back one day in their cottage, and start our journey early in the morning. Ujjwal was still high, so he agreed. Dhyani and I were in doubt. We wanted to leave Manali, as planned, on the same day. But logically speaking, we needed that rest time. This was proved on the next day. Anyways, we had our breakfast, and went to bed.

 After an hour or so, Dhyani woke me up. There was a problem. Just one byke was arranged. The second one was facing some problems. Now what!! It was a peak season, so byke demands were already high. The moment we decided to go on this trip, we were facing some problem or the other. The Lamba Brothers were trying their best to arrange another byke. Without that, there was no point coming to Manali. We were a bit disappointed, but didn’t lose hope. In the evening, we went for shopping, and trust me, Manali is AMAZING. The crowd was amazing, the weather was amazing and the food was amazing. Dhyani and I was together, enjoying the view, and Ujjwal and Sid was busy buying the rest of the trip product. Then suddenly Sid came to me and took me to the other side of the road.

Sid: “abbe jaldi chal, ek mast chinki dikhi”

Me: “haan bhai, but tu saale saman lene gaya tha ya item dekhne”

Sid: “abbe yaar negi,ab dikh gai to dikh gai. Vo dekh, side me baithi hai. Cute lagri na”

Me: “abbe chinki zada tarr cute hi hoti hai, mann to karta hai unko chhoti si doll bana ke ghar pe showcase pe sajao”

Sid: “hehe!! Haan, jab mann kare bada karr do, aur khelo unke saatha, ooo kuchi kuchi kuchi!! Olle olle. Kya mast lagegi na, hasti rahegi”

And we burst into laughter. The shopping was almost finished and then came a call to Dhyani, saying that an Enfield is been arranged, but it will cost more, as it was Royal Enfield 500. Listening this, I got excited, and started dreaming of Ladakh road, and a thundering Royal Enfield 500. Dhyani negotiated about the rate and a final deal was done. After exploring the Mall Road, we went for dinner.

Everything was going smooth, as planned, but as soon as I got this thought, walla!! It started raining. Yes, raining. By the time we reached our cottage, we were completely drenched, and were shivering. Our main fear was if it started raining in the middle of our journey, it would be like nature raping all of us, in different positions. Anyways, we went to bed with a little hope that it would be bright sunny day. Everyone was lying on their beds, but no one was sleeping. The excitement was too high to get any sleep. Then suddenly, don’t know what got into Sid, he stood up, wore goggles, gloves and started to look into mirror. Then Ujjwal joined him, following me and Dhyani. We were all over excited, and started acting as 4 years old kids. Sid even wore a helmet, muffler, gloves and goggles while riding his imaginary bykes, and the best part was when Ujjwal joined him, on his imaginary back seat. Dhyani recorded this epic moment on his cell phone. But it all ended soon, and again we were back in our bed, trying to sleep.

The Motorcycle Diaries - Official Film Trailer

Dehradun-Chandigarh-Manali

The day finally arrived on the 9th of september when Akhilesh and I were to leave for Chandigarh from Dehradun. Ujjwal lived in Chandigarh and therefore we decided that all of us would meet there, also because it was en-route to Manali, so even Mohit (who was coming from Bangalore) took a bus to chandigarh after landing at delhi. It took us nearly 6 hours to reach Ujjwal's flat. Mohit was running a little late and he was supposed to reach a couple of hours later so I thought we could relax ourselves with a few beers by then and everybody agreed willingly, even though it was pretty obvious that it was the next thing we're going to do. So we went to a pub nearby which served their own brewed beer and we, after trying 4 samples, ordered 3 pitchers of our choices. It must have not been more than an hour or so when ujjwal got a call from mohit that he had arrived so ujjwal went to pick him up while akki and me were still in the bar sipping our chilled beer. After getting over with it, we left the bar, bought a few medicines and first aid kit for our trip and reached his place. Within a few minutes or so they both arrived as well and for the next few moments, it was a jubilant re-union of 4 school friends, who had hardly seen each other for a year, with hugs and high-fives all around and  swearing at each other out of sheer joy and excitement. Trust me ,a moment like that calls for some more beers and thats exactly what happened next. Gulping beer after beer and trolling with each other, we were at the zenith of our excitement, not only cuz we met after a year but also because we were about to leave for manali in a little while. Ujjwal  had already booked a cab so after some confusion with the cabbie, it finally arrived to pick us up around midnight. Hence we sat in the cab and left for manali. Now imagine 4 friends, a car, one long road ahead and countless stories to be told..but somethings missing right? Beer, thats right. So we bought some more again on the way for the journey. As soon as we hit the highway , we had beer in our hands and endless stories about the school life and our other adventures were tossed at each other, reliving all those moments once again. After driving for the next couple of hours, we were quite drunk especially ujjwal so we stopped at one of the dhabas to have our dinner. After we had our dinner we continued the journey.

Inception

They say a Journey of a thousand miles must begin with a simple step. And so it began. As i recall, the first ever discussion about going on a ''road trip to ladakh on royal enfield bullets'' was the next day to diwali last year (November 2012), when me and some of my old time school buddies were gathered at my place in the evening for some drinks and dinner. And it was where, after a few rounds of whiskey , my inner ''biker demon'' came out. The idea of going on an expedition to ladakh had smitten me for years and so i proposed the idea of going for 'The Dream Ride'. I think it wasn't taken seriously at all in the beginning but i was persistent and with each passing round of peg, the discussion became more and more intense, when finally came a point where a couple of my friends (Mohit & Akhilesh) finally agreed to come along for the trip. They must have finally realized how beautifully adventurous it would be to travel on a bike set forth on a 500 km long journey to the trans-himalayas riding on one the highest roads in the world OR they must have been so bugged by then that they finally decided to give up and just say 'yes'.

But The Day didn't arrive anytime soon but almost 8 months later in july when i got a call from Mohit , stating that he is going to apply for a leave and Akhilesh is already on a leave and as they promised they are ready to hit the road this month, along with Ujjwal who was also ready to come along. I was over-joyed with excitement. The day was about to come when finally we'll be on the road approaching ladakh. So the preparations began. Although Ujjwal was least concerned about planning anything or gathering information about ladakh, Akhilesh still managed to find time to shop some of the necessary things needed for the journey. It was Mohit and I, who did most of the planning and research work about the routes , weather , clothing and present conditions in ladakh and en-route. I even kept two sheets of paper detailing routes,popular attractions and things to-do along with some common medicines and list of spare parts that might be needed along the journey. While we were busy planning and preparing for the trip, a lot of news kept pouring from all the directions about some cloud-bursts and earthquakes that had hit ladakh region recently. Now to be honest , we did get a little skeptical about the trip hearing the bad weather conditions. Even some of our friends advised us to think twice before leaving as it might get a way too dangerous as we had thought. The next day we even got the news that the Chinese army intruded into the ladakh border, as if the weather alone wasn't enough a reason for us not to go. I felt as if the Himalayas (along with the Chinese Army) were challenging us to come.


 We had quite a few discussions over this topic as whether or not should we go for it. But Akhilesh and I, were way too excited about going for the bike trip that dropping the plan was just out-of-the-question, and i personally believe that the tougher the conditions, the more adventurous the ride and the journey is. It was the conditions that kept my spark alive and made me even more determined to accept the challenge. I was ON for it, to face anything and almost everything that comes my way. So after a few days of heavy discussion  Mohit, , Akhilesh and me (yes, ujjwal was even missing in the discussions) we finally decided that whatever happens, we're going for it.