Cast : kranti (me), santa, tilli B, matta, mahak, sandy, mambo and pakhale.
Special Thanks to Driver Sher Singh , RJ-14 TB 3383 and Captain Varun Gupta without whom pakhale would never had got the opportunity to inhale oxygen from a cylinder at the world highest transit camp at 15640 feet above sea level.
Day 1 : 24/07/2010
A couple of separated friends met each other the last night with 5 bottles of beer saying "yaar daroo kam pad gayi, 2 bottle aur honi chahiye thi". Santa and my leh trip was started with this very thought, last night. Sandy aka chotu joined us early morning to start the proceedings. After all this journey was the only reason because of which sandy mentioned the reason of his visit to US being JIHAAD in front of US Embassy avoiding any chance to get a visa this time. We kicked off the journey at 5.30 in evening when Mr. SherSingh picked mahak and me from my place. We then picked matta, mambo and pax from delhi. This was the first and the last time when the 8 of us were able to avoid ASSical contact over the whole trip. Santa and sandy sir boarded the Delhi-Manali volvo almost at the same time when we started off from delhi. It was a cloudy day, and the delhi traffic was grateful to us. It was around 8 when we reached Moorthal, had dinner there and the puncture tragedy initiated (P1).
At around 9 pm, we picked Tilli B from panipat refinery where he was busy fixing some SPR's. This was the last of our intentional stop from delhi to manali. But people close to us know that nothing happens with us as per plan. At around 12 we paid Rs.50 to a punjab cop as fine for asking way to manali.We reached bilaspur at night around 2 and this was the place from which distance to manali stopped decreasing. I think tilli B and his gaining weight was responsible for it. Others say we entered a paralled universe for the next 2 hrs. Finally Sher Singh lost all the hope of leaving the other world at 4 AM and fell into his worst nightmare for next 9 days.
Day 2: 25/07/2010
At 6.30 in the morning, i felt some movement on the back seat. Tilli B was trying to move his leg which got stuck between his and my seat, place referred to "Leg Space" by car manufacturers.
By god's grace he was able to get out of the car, and there we got our first glimpse of nature.
I am not good at describing the nature's beauty with words so pictures will speak for themselves.
While me,T.B. and mahak was enjoying the beauty of nature, matta was busy searching for HShala. We had a talk with santa there on phone and came to know that their bus is running late too. They were at that near mandi, sandy's X home which made him got senti loosing the last night's beer from his eyes. Our plan was to reach manali by 7 AM and we at 7 AM, we were more than 200 kms away from manali. The very start of our plan was in our typical style. Pax's new fuji film camera was tied around his neck and T.B was busy capturing some shots for his next auction for discovery channel. We crossed kullu with mine and T.B.'s eyeing filled with greed looking at the large apple orchards. And there it is.....at 12.30 PM we reached manali, more than 5 hrs late from our plan, and there we were welcomed by sandy sir and santa. From that very place, RJ14-TB3383's bad luck began. Now for the rest of the trip, it has to carry 8+1 passengers while riding at the worst of the indian roads. Next stop was dungri hills, IOCL guest house which costed us Rs.5 for 6 ppl.
(Sorry, I can't use the latest symbol for our currency because of its unavailability on the keyboard at present. :( ). At this very place i realized that one of my shoe is missing, giving fellow passengers a reason to smile. Janta got freshed and then we started the bike hunt at manali. For the last 24 hrs, our driver was driving continuously and this time again we didn't spare him, he was again asked to take part in the mission impossible. After lot of research, we found that no bike in manali can cover more than 200 mtrs without any fault. Some of them were missing clutch while others were missing brakes.
Not hiring bike at manali was one of the few good decisions we took during the trip (GudDecision-1).
That night was according to me, the most funfilled night of the whole trip, since we spend the rest in deep sleeps.
We had a blast that night. High volume music system, spacious dining room, daaroo and pack of old friends meeting each other almost after 2 years...."DP to banti hai yaaron". For almost 3 hours we danced like peacocks....srry i mean to say we danced like Sunny D. Our driver was so tired that even the fragrance of mambo's socks was not working on him.
Sher Singh was a real warrior. We slept at around 11.30 with the long day's exertion visible in our eyes and the excitement of one of the most memorable journey of life in our hearts.
Day 3: 26/07/2010
After the last night's heart robbing dance performances by us, it was not easy to wake up at 5 in the morning. I think sandy sir was the first one to wake up among all of us that morning too. 2 bathroom and 8 ppl....."bahut nainsaafi h". Still smhow, ppl managed to get ready for the ascent. At 6 in the morning, all of us were standing outside our cottage with our baggages in our hands ready to be loaded on the poor innova. It was drizzling since last night and was not a good sign to start the journey with. And there we go, one innova and 9 ppl in it.
First destination was Rohtang pass, just 52kms away from manali. As per plan, we would have reached rohtang at 8. But again as usual, nothing goes as per our plan. The roads were in deep trouble just like indian team when it looses first 5 wickets in first 10 overs. The route was full of waterfalls, both at the hills and the road.
Around 7.30 AM, we got stuck in a traffic jam. No traffic police, just a bunch of experienced truck drivers and local workers came to rescue. The road was in such a bad condition that a maruti 800 was asked to stay away and let other vehicles pass away. I don't know how that maruti got through. That jam was not at all boring for us, while me,matta and mahak were busy exploring the nearby hills,
rest of the gang was busy getting friendly with some ANGREZAS. It almost took us 1.5 hrs to cross that section of road. At around 9 or 9.15 we reached rohtang pass. 3 years ago when we came here in September, this place was like "WOW". But today, there was nothing at the name of ice. JOEY's broken fridge had more ice than rohtang pass in july. We had the famous rohtang maggi there. People claimed that my bowl has twice the amount they had, i just say grass is always greener on the other side. This was the last place during our journey where all of us were telecomically connected to the rest of the world. Now began the descent. We reached koksar, the coldest place in lahaul at around afternoon where some of us got clicked in the pics while others emptied their belly.
For very first time after years, T.B. was ready to drink normal water other than bisleri at koksar. 8 kms, short of keylong on the Manali-Leh road, situated on the confluence of Chandra & Bhaga rivers, we reached tandi. Last point to tank up if travelling towards leh as it has the last fuel station on this stretch. T.B and Pax for the first time felt proud to be an IOCLite as the fuel station belonged to them.
At this very place, someone among us noticed that innova's fuel tank is leaking diesel. Driver assured us that its just because we tanked it up to its fullest, but it wasn't the case. At aound 2-3 we reached darcha where the gang had evening snacks. Here onwards our ascent to the mighty baralacha pass began. Santa spotted some sheep congregation on the way which happens in millions of year as according to him. Then we stopped at a beautiful small lake, where a group of bikers passed us speeding their enfields. We were jealous.
Soon we encoutered the most risky and thrilling "nallah"(waterfall) of journey where another group of bikers guided ur through the way. We were jealous again ....but this time thanking them for their help. I hope no-one of us will forget this waterfall on the way. About half an hour later we reached baralacha la and all of us got mad.
Craving to touch ice for the first time on the trip was very much visible. And the place was really awesome. We spent some time there, took some snaps and started the descent. Got to see the PERFECT Sunset. At around 8 in the night, we reached sarchu. In the entire valley, few lanterns were the only source of light.
We were very tired. Dorma restaurant came to our rescue this time. It offered us the food and the tent to spend the third night of the journey.
Day 4: 27/07/2010
I don't remember who was the first one among us to wake up. Most of us had a peaceful night except a few who were head-ached by the Himalayas. It rained last night and as a result our bags on the circumference of the tent got wet. I went out to take first view of the valley which gave us refuge for the last night. Barren high mountains all around us boasting even higher. There were no toilets at Sarchu but the boys always knew the basics. It was the morning at 4290 mtrs above sea level and the water was really cold.....really very cold. We drycleaned ourselves, some of us had breakfast, packed our bags again on poor innova and were ready to cruze.
Mambo and Santa got a little emotional while getting away from the ANGREZ couple. Journey at day 4 started. The other side of the river looked inaccessible. The valley was deserted. The roads there were better than their counterparts in gurgaon. HAIL BRO !! We sailed through Gata loops. Our daring driver routed us through a shortcut where the poor innova refused to ascent and as a result pax, mambo, me and santa were forced to get out from the descending vehicle. Mambo and pax got involved in a short race. From this very place pax started loosing his share of O2. Next populated place was around 80 km away. We reached Pang at around 2-3. We had our lunch there. The place was even smaller than sarchu, just 8-9 tents providing travelers an opportunity to rest a bit before the ascent to second highest pass of the world begins. Pang has the highest transit camp in the world. Dont know wat is transit camp???.... Google it. As soon as pax came to know about the very fact, Oxygen content around him reduced further.
This was his only chance to get treated in the world's highest transit camp.
And why the hell, Santa can't make his friends here. Pax' was brought to life again by our hero Dr. Varun Gupta from alwar. As soon as he came to know that the poor innova is from Jaipur, his love towards his homestate got reflected in the amount of oxygen pax inhaled. Indian Army's hospitality was up to the mark. We all were given a couple of anti AMS drugs and told that the weather ahead is not good. Then started one of the most thrilling stretch of our journey. I cant recollect when did we entered the Moori plains. Watching the long long deserted plains at the height of 15k ft. was truly amazing. There we clicked the best pic of the journey. The weather added to the beauty. No roads....ride anywhere you want, but just dont try to move to the parallel path visible far away in the right as it may take you to @#$$%^&....that means u r LOST.
I am still curious what would have happened to us if we had opted to choose that "Shortcut" as per our initial plans (Gud Decision-2). I suppose all the travelers would agree to me that it was the best possible weather for the journey. A very few people had traveled through Moori plains with such a weather. I can go on writing about the beauty of the place till infinity. Next stop was the second highest pass of the world....Tanglangla Pass. Now was the time for Mahak to come to the limelight. He was unable to breath properly which doesnt allowed the gang to stay longer at the place. Now started the descent to leh....no more high passes till leh. Next destination - Upshi, where we stopped to pay the tax. Mambo, me and Santa got out of innova and walked a few steps not just to stretch legs....but to avoid any kind of fine because of over crowding the innova.
Just around 40 kms away was our much awaited destination....LEH.
The place was just as it looked like in tv or the ads we see on tv. Very natural. Very barren. Very beautiful. Around 5 we reached leh and then started our search for a nice hotel.
Mambo and Me traveled through the narrowest of the roads but the search was worth it. What a place we got....truly amazing. The day was coming to an end...and yes, the dinner was sponsored by Mambo that night....Great Mambo's Highest Birthday party ever.
Day 5: 28/07/2010
Almost throughout the whole trip, Sandy sir was the first one to wake up. This day too. This was our day to go for the highest of our life...."Khardungla Pass". Around 18500 ft. above sea level. Only 6 of us were available for the trip as the remaining two were not sure if they can inhale oxygen at that much height taking into account the previous high altitude pass experiences. Leh to Khardungla was covered in the most comfortable vehicle of the journey....Mahindra Xylo. Rocking song collection with the driver...amazing views of Ladakh..... and Chilly winds added to the fun. It took us around 2 hours to reach to the top.
Snow....fresh snow....Highest motorable road of the world. Beauty at its best...no breathing problem with anyone. Only and only fun. While Santa was busy with his stick finding his way to the top....Tillu was busy with checking the altitude of the place with his 5800's altimeter so that he could furnish it to Discovery India to clear the doubts about it being the highest motorable pass. Although Sandy sir stuck while sloping through the snow.....we managed somehow to descent back to the road. Weather was getting rough. Our time with Khardungla was over. As soon as we placed our snowy AS* over the xylo's seat, it started snowing outside. Snowfall in an afternoon of July. You can assume, it was really very high.
A couple of hours later....we were back to the base "LEH".
Time was always the constraint during the whole trip. With Pax and Matta undergoing their romantic trip through the valleys of ladakh, rest 6 of us had our lunch and soon hired 3 enticers from a local bike rental shop. Finally our dream of biking through Leh was on its way to reality. Santa with his heroistic abilities posted some great stunts with Sandy sir as the pillion and led to a minor bike skidding incident.
Every pillion except Sandy sir was eager to ride the bike and was poking and pointing to the drivers mistakes every other second. Finally at around 8.30 PM, we all returned the bikes and went back to the "BEST GUEST HOUSE EVER STAYED". While Santa was busy with his photo sessions even in night, that was time for us to say Good Night to each other and get ready for one of the most amazing trip next day.
.....To be Continued
