Day 9 & 10, 7-8th July 2013

Manali - Ropar- Delhi
Distance Covered: Does it matter

Today, did a normal check of bikes. I knew this was going to be a boring journey to the plains. Reached Mandi where the group parted as they had to go to Dharamshala. It was quite an emotional farewell and I am really surprised how we had bonded in the past 1 week from complete strangers to very good friends. The ride from Mandi to Bilaspur was quite monotonous but it was a pain for the next 50kms racing with the countless number of trucks which ply on this road. I reached Ropar at 8 PM where I halted for the night. Again, the next day took the road to Ambala and joined NH1 from where I reached Delhi by 6 PM.

I have learned quite a few things from this ride, testing my patience level and riding abilities, my determination, how important is my family (times when I was alone) and how much I would have enjoyed this had my wifey joined this trip :). The Leh enigma would never burn down it just goes to the next level.. Now who's in for the next ride :)

The Journey has just begun............

Day 8, 6th July 2013

Sarchu to Manali
Distance Covered: 222 Kms

       The night was cold but I hardly remember hitting the bed. Had a good sound sleep and woke up at 6 AM. We had planned to start by 7 so that we reach Manali by evening. The hurdles today were going to be Baralachla and Rohtang. When I got out of the tent this is what I had missed seeing at night. :).

View from just outside the tents

View from just outside the tents

Trip Meter

      After freshening up we started our ride towards Baralachla. Unfortunately I lost my watch here in the hustle to get ready. The road till Bharatpur was totally broken had a tough time riding on it. Thankfully there is a bridge now at Killing Sarai. It would have been a hell of a ride if we had to cross this. Reached Bharatpur by 9 AM and had our b'fast there. The climb for Baralachla starts just after it and little streams were already flowing all over the road. It is always advisable to cross Baralachla during the early hours of the day. We reached Baralachla Top in 30 mins but it was completely devoid of snow. I missed the board as well(or was there any). This is the pass which is the major bottleneck for the Manali-Leh highway to be an all weather road. Also, Suraj tal was sans any snow which is quite different from what I have seen in photos.

Killing Sarai

Cruising 

At Bharatpur for B'fast

The road where we came from

Baralachla ahead

Nearing Baralachla Top. This whole area was covered upto 11 ft in snow just a month back.

At the Top. No signboard though :(

Suraj Taal sans snow

Suraj Taal

After descending from Baralachla came a section of road where water was completely flowing over it. Though I was able to cross this in one go the other guys had to wet their feet. The 500 mts stretch tested our driving abilities to the fullest. We took the well deserved butt rest after crossing this section. But, little did we know the next water crossing was even wild.

Glaciers

The road below with water flowing over it.

The road below with water flowing over it.

Much needed rest

Near Zing Zing Bar

After descending further the landscape changes, now you can see more greener mountains. There were 2 water crossing on the way to Darcha which looked very dangerous. The water flow was rapid and on the other side was a deep valley. Those who were riding pillion had to cross this on foot and they had a hard time as the water was too cold.

We just crossed this

One more to go :)

Riding with Pillion was not possible.

Pillions getting ready to cross it by foot

Water flowing all over the road.

 We finally managed to cross them without any incidents and reached Darcha by 12 PM. We registered at the checkpost here and took a small Tea Break. The ride from Darcha to Keylong is very beautiful with a wide valley and roaring rivers. After crossing Darcha, Jispa just blows you away. One should skip staying at Manali and come down here to be in the lap of nature.

Valley Opening up below

River Bhaga 

Jispa. Solace

 The valley widens here and the rivers Chandra and Bhaga merge here to be later known as ChandraBhaga. We reached Tandi by 2 PM were we filled our tanks again. It was getting overcast here which would mean it might be raining at Rohtang. We started our ride from Tandi, crossed Sissu and reached Khoksar where we had to register again at the checkpost. Sissu has some breathtaking views with numerous waterfalls, stream and a complete green cover. The Rohtang tunnel north portal opens up here and it will be an all weather road to Keylong once it opens up. One can avoid the Rohtang Mess and reached Keylong within 1 hour which currently would take 5-6 hours if everything goes your way.

Melting Glaciers

Tandi Petrol Pump

                After this started the climb to Rohtang. It had rained the previous day so the road had a few patchy sections, but once you reach the top it has a well laid butter smooth road. Riding a bike has its own advantages, we managed to cross sections where cars were in a dilemma how to cross them and move ahead where traffic was stuck. Finally we reached the infamous Rohtang Top(pile of corpses) at about 3 PM. Visibility at the top was almost about 5-10 mts and we could harldy see any vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Being an off season, the top was devoid of any tourists. The patchy section of Rani Nallah was crossed without any problem. This section has been the major reason for burnt clutch plates and dozens of riders dreams have been shattered here who had to go back to Manali not able to cross the section. But, as we were descending, the slush was not much of a problem. Just imagine you riding in 1-2 feets of chocolate poured on the road. :)

As the visibility was low, we decided to stick to a single formation and ride one behind another with each one taking the lead after a few kms. So finally after this tedious ride managed to reach Manali by 4.30 PM. :).. The rider in me had scaled to a whole new level and I screamed at the top of my voice when we reached the hotel. (off course to the amazement of others, who were surprised what I was doing. But, only I know the emotions at that point of time). I got Leh'd and back :).

Day 7, 5th July 2013

Leh to Sarchu
Distance Covered: 270 Kms

       I had a sound sleep and got up at 7 AM thinking that I was the late but to find out that everyone else were still in deep slumber. Anyway, I had planned to visit Shanti Stupa and Hall of Fame before we hit the highway. I got ready by 8 AM and a few other folks were ready as well. We asked the other guys to get ready so that we can leave as early as possible. We moved to Shanti Stupa first and then Hall of Fame.

Trip Meter

Shanti Stupa

Recommended: Hall of Fame

With our Care Taker

 By the time we came back the guys were still not ready and it was already 10 AM. We had to cover a good 270kms to our stay for the night, Sarchu. Finally the guys packed the things and got ready by 10:30 and we hit the Manali highway.
Our first stop was at the Karu Petrol pump which is the last on the highway. Here we also filled the 10ltr jerry can as there are no petrol pumps for the next 356 kms.
Had our brunch at Karu and it was 12:30 by the time we hit road again. I was seriously doubting if we can make it to Sarchu today considering the terrain we had to drive in.

Monastery 

Enroute Karu

Indus accompanies us

Last filling station. Next station 356 kms away

Our first stop was at Upshi where we had to register at the checkpost. After that it was quite a non-stop ride till Rumste to make up for the lost time. I was cursing myself for not doing this stretch leisurely which happens to be a totally different landscape. I finally handed over my cam to a Amit who was riding pillion to capture all the landscapes enroute.  We stopped over at Rumtse near a stream for the much needed butt rest.

Colorful mountains

Colorful mountains

Beautiful roads

Strange Formations

The youngest mountains in the world. These were formed when India collided with Asia

Shortens

Water was really cold.

                 The next hurdle in our path was Tanglang La which happens to be the second highest motorable road. But to our luck the road was newly laid and butter smooth. Though the climb to the top is a long ride. The smooth roads make our tasks easy and we reached the top by 3 PM. Only last 1-2 kms stretch was broken else it was smooth sailing to the top.

Climbing Up

Still a long way to the top

Cruising at high altitude 

He was the culprit :)

 I was waiting for a few mins for the other guys to reach the top when I came across a few BRO men who were stationed at the top and had a nice talk with them. With others still not coming up me and Amit decided to descend down and wait for them. The road on the other side was the opposite, it was broken up in all places and construction activity is going on. I lost my bed-sheet here which was saving me from the saddle sore :(.. Finally we reached the More plains and laid down waiting for the others to come. It was taking ages for them to come down, finally they managed to reach after 30 mins. It seems one of the guys had left his jacked somewhere on the Tanglang La ascent and made a failed attempt to try and get it back. I had a quick nap in these 30 mins and was quite refreshed when I got up.

Second Highest Pass

Customary Photo :)

The start of Moorey Plains

We started our ride on More Plains, a vast flat land for about 35-40 kms at an altitude of 4000mts with mountains towering towards the edges. The initial 20 kms, a backbreaking ride was one of the worst I had done in this trip. There are quite a few diversions which have been made wherever construction activity is going on. One has to be careful not to fall for this and get stuck in the sand pits. Once we crossed this, we reached the road where every rider would dream of. I clocked 110 kmph for the first time and that too not on an expressway but at an altitude of 4000mts.

The start of bad roads :(.. I can never forget this back-breaking ride

Occasional Diversions

Good Roads starts

Is this heaven

The bull needs the Respect

Endless Plains

Expressway at 4000mts

The Moorey plains ends to a sudden drop off near Pang. This is one of the unique works of nature that I have seen. Finally we reached Pang at 6 PM and we were in double minds to go ahead or not as Sarchu was still 80kms far. Though the sun was still shining this 80km stretch is the most inhospitable area in the whole region. It is said that if a truck breaks down, the drivers leave their trucks and only work on it in the morning. But the other catch was that, if we stayed at Pang the next day ride from here to Manali would be next to impossible. So we unanimously decided to move on till Sarchu. To tell you this was one of the most adventurous rides I have done in my entire life.

The drop-off near Pang

BRO at its best :)

Road towards Pang

           The first hurdle was Kangla Jal, but thanks to the cement base and less flow of water we crossed it in a jiffy. However, the sun was so glaring that I could hardly see the road ahead. We decide not to take any pitstops and take our break only after Gata Loops. The first pass after pang is Lachung La where I stopped just for a customary photo. Same was the case with Nakeela. It was almost 7:45 PM when we were at Nakeela Top. After this came the descent of Gata Loops which drops from 4667 mts to 4000 mts and has 21 hair pin bends. On the 3-4th bend from the top I saw a place where people had kept water bottles near a stone. It is said that one truck driver died here due to dehydration as he had no water with him. So people as a mark of respect place water bottles near that stone. With the light fading I had no intentions to stop and take a picture of that place. We finally reached the bottom by 8:30 and it was quite dark now and getting cold.

Now who did this :P

Kangla Jal. Now worries here

Customary Stop. 

No plans to halt. Though it was already 7:45 PM there was still some light.

The group after crossing Gata Loops

At Sarchu Checkpost. It was damn cold at 9 PM.

The ride to Sarchu was in the dark for the next 30kms and we managed to reach by 9 PM. Made entries at the checkpost and booked 2 tents. Gulped down rice and dal just enough to suffice the hunger and slept off at 10 PM. The ride today had drained out my last bit of energy as we rode long stretches without any breaks. So for tomorrow it was decided we move out early.