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 :).