Solo Mumbai-Leh-Shrinagar ride on P200

[darth_lucifer]

My trip log of leh trip from august 18 2007-2nd september 2007.I was helped by yogesh,hitashu and jojo with my planning:

TIP:First day log does not contain any pics as my cameras were tucked deep within my luggage on Day 1

DAY 1(August 18 2007):
August 18 2007: Start from home.Its a saturday.A good nights sleep is absolutely essential for a ride and I slept early and woke up at around 4:30 am.Mom had made some cutlets previous night so that I dont waste any time in ordering food on day 1.Start from home at around 6:00 am.Tilak and send off from home...even the neighbourhood aunty is awake to wish me luck..Tie up saddle bags,sleeping bag and tripod using rope used for hanging clothes.have about two pieces of 15 meters each.One rope suffices.The descision to use this rope instead of bungee is foolish I realise later.I dont wear the carbon fiber gloves of cramster i have as I need a good control of accelator(again a foolish descision as I realise on 'minor' fall on day 2).I wear the k2k jacket and skating knee caps(which I later remove for want of circulation to my legs....again a foolish descion).
5 kms into the ride from andheri i reach malad flyover.I am carrying a small sack having about 4 liters of water and cutlets in silver foil and half a dozen bananas.The small sack is resting uneasily with sleeping bag behind my back.I dump a two liter water bottle on the flyover and tie a one liter bottle to my saddle bags( which falls off at the bumpy road near manor)and have a liter in sack....The load off my back makes me comfortable.
See a chick with boyfriend on a Bike who keeps staring at me for my strange gear.This is not the first time I am stared at.I get used to it by day 2 and I keep getting stares till chandigarh
I keep drinking water.....peeing after every hour or so(to avoid dehydration)....ride at 60-70 and progress is good.Stop at dhabas occasionally to buy new water bottles.road from baruch till vadodara is bad and progress slow.After vadodara the road is welcome.
I have kept my camcorder and still cam in a pouch in saddle insead of turtle...Turtle is having magnets and I dont want to risk my cameras.I want to click pictures on day one...but saddle bags are having tripod and sleeping bag on them and removing cameras means removing those stupid ropes.Reach ahmedabad at around five-six.
Had spoken to vimal(friend from gujrat) and enquired about towns after ahmedabad.Gandhinagar and himmatnagar are next towns.Take the ring road.spot a reliance petrol pump across the road.Attendants boys crowd near my bike.Maharastra number plate??where are you coming from???Biking all the way???Yes I am going to jaipur(dont mention ladakh for fear of freaking them out )After filling up take decide to stop at ahmedabad.Take a left turn and start searching for a hotel.
Find a hotel for 200 bucks(some sonabadi chawl or something is the locality).Damn cheap then expected and ring road is just couple of kms aways.good place parking.The young boys carrying luggage/hotel manager and all again hound me with questions about my trip.Again I am going to jaipur.The hotel boys ask me if they can wash my bike.get a wash done for 20 bucks.there is a decent restaurant for in front of hotel for a nice dinner.Buy bananas,water and electral on way back.read a prayer book and get a sound sleep.No pics for day 1 since the cams are in saddle and i have done this part of ride several times.I keep camera in my hippo pouch and camcorder in turtle(risking the magnets) next day onwards

DAY 1:On schedule

[darth_lucifer]

19 August 2007:day 2:Brush with the reaper:
I woke up early.Settled my hotel bills.Tied my bags.started at around 6:00.
I did not carry a watch throught the trip(fear of losing and scraching it) and my cell phone was sole source of my time and most imp it was a source of alarm.
Road between ahmedabad(amvad as it is called locally) and gandhinagar was amazing surrounded by trees and all.I stopped often and clicked pics




All was fine and well and I was feeling good and nice empty roads were invitation to speed.

Again my gloves were in turtle bag and so were knee guards.I covered the distance till rajastan border in no time.I was in rajastan(the most my office buddies predicted i would reach in 15 days).I expected rajastan to be a desert where I would see sand dunes and camels and stuff.but i was dissapointed.No sand dunes in sight.Soon I passed a small town or hill station.It was surprisingly green.Just the trees were different from one on western ghats.The town had a shivji statue which could be seen from highway.
I picked up speed...determined to reach udaipur soon.Just then about 70-80 kms from udaipur tragedy struck.I was speeding singing to my myself and enjoying the landscape.It was a four lane highway.pretty nicely paved.What could go wrong here????Just then a d0g zipped acrossed.




I hit it head on instead of avoiding him on which I would have crashed anyways.Everything then just stopped for a moment.I felt myself sliding on the road.my palms and hands brushing.After I came to a stop I picked up myself.realised my leg was still under the motorcycle.she had come tumbling down too.Some village folks rushed to me and picked me and my bike.Looked at me.yes my hands were still there.I removed my shoes and checked all my toes.they were still there and seemd no broken bones.Looked back at the place where I had fallen.Saw some glass shards there.Realised my right rear view mirror had been shattered.Bike seemed to have no external damage.The cone at the handlebar must have surely conked off I realised.hand were bleeding and right plam seemed to have two blisters.the leg gaurd and saddle bags saved my right leg.


The village folks praised me that I had walked out from falling at high speed.They asked where am i going with all stuff and where am i coming from.I gave usual answer....mumbai to jaipur...many of them wowed
Some one got me iodex for applying to my wound.I said no thanks I had my first aid kit.Someone said I am going on such a long trip so i am well prepared.He said helmet and my gear saved my life.I looked at my helmet.It had a deep scratch on the chin.Looked at my jacket saw a hole in the chest.It saved my upper body.there was a hole in pvc pyjamas on my trousers.Both had nice holes on left knee.My knee was bleeding too.
some how i wanted to go away from accident site.I thanked all the villagers and stepped on my bike.It had a twisted handle for sure....maybe a conked cone too.Udaipur was around 100 kms away.I trodded till udaipur.
Stopped at dhaba and cleaned my wounds and applied bandages.Entered udaipur.there was a garage open.Replaced shattered rear view with a new one...he said cones and handles cant be replaced on sunday,.Sunday is a bad day to have accidents.Not many mechanics and not many doctors.Saw a bajaj service center in udaipur...It is open but has no mechanics...manager says Bike will be fixed only tomm.Its still noon and I might be able to reach jaipur by tomm.
udaipur and jaipur has two lanes.four lane road is longer someone told me i rightly decide to take 2 lane roadsince i wont be crossing 40-50 kmph.stop in decent hotel and again clean wounds and dress them.


I enjoy nature and take snaps where ever possible.Decide to post for help and have the Bike fixed in delhi....ill post for help today night where ill stop at ajmer.
Enter a small town.......natwara...I see bajaj service center on the right beside the road.The guy says i cant fix it today.He takes a small ride of my Bike and changes his mind.He ushers it in the workshop and changes the handle with a standard pulsar handlebar.Cone seems to be okay.




the process takes time but I am thankful to these guys.I let them take small rides of my P200 which have never seen let alone repair it.The new Bike is talk of the town.The manager summons some potential customers and explains abt the bike.These guys are happy to repair my bike.The head foreman is talking to a boy who is replacing my handle in local language...."what you are doing only big mistries(mechanics) are allowed to do".I concurred with him.



I start again at around 5:30 pm.The service center guys attach the sticker of their center to my bike.These guys took pride in the work they did so I preserve the sticker through out the trip.I checked my Bike and it was good to go.Not much damage even after such a nasty fall.
I plan to reach ajmer today night.Its getting dark fast.I decide to use the knowledge of night driving I had read on bikenomads.decide tail a truck strategy.The poem of the reaper on my rear seat in the same article spooks my mind.I have a lousy 35 watt stock lamp.trucks stop at toll nakas wherein i switch my hosts.I see a decent settlement with dhabas and hotels.Give up ajmer and decide to stop for the night and not try for ajmer.find a hotel room for 300 bucks.as usual it has excited luggage boys and all usual questions.I reply my destination as jaipur.I am getting used to it by now.
thankfully the town has a medical shop.I go and buy a syringe and needle and surgical blade.I perform a minor surgery and drain all the blisters on my plam(not recommended at all).If i did not deal with them now tommorow blisters will grow and would be more sore.I bandage and dress the wounds again.
A look at my k2k jacket revealed the intensity of the shearing force of the slide.codura fiber had been brushed off at several places on my both elbow.Had it not been the jacket it would have been my flesh.
helmet saved my a$$ and jacket some of my blood.Promised myself to write cramster a testimonial for it.
Maybe if I had worn gloves i would have even forgotten about the fall.
I had a meal at local dhaba.I survived today.The feeling of "It cant happen to me!!!!" vanished.I read my prayer book and fell off to sleep .
DAY 2: Some 250 kms away from jaipur(Target for the day)

[darth_lucifer]

Day 3:
Started early from my dhaba-hotel.It was early morning and a local bus had stopped at dhaba for tea snack.Got a zillion stares from its passengers for 15-20 minutes while I prepared my Bike and tied my luggage.I somehow ignored the stares.road was good and started ripping .Reached beaver(byawar)...soon crossed ajmer...was planning to stop for breakfast...I saw a reliace A1 plaza 14 kms ahead board.Yesterdays crappy dinner was still in mind...i decided to hold on my hunger pangs till i reached A1 plaza.

This was the first time I was having food in A1 plaza.Even though it was in middle of nowhere the food would be better than the fare served in dhabas...most importantly it could be hygenic...the people serving the food would atleast be wearing clean clothes and have had a bath(Standards expected from reliance)...reached A1 plaza....Had two plates idli and a aloo paratha...food seemed to be decent..kitchen seemed to be clean...and guys wearing clean clothes...not having travelled much before the reliance A1 plazas(i wish there are more of them) are a boon for a person like me who are fussy abt where they eat...i ordered to parcel a couple of aloo parathas for lunch(they were tasting good)...had bananas and fruits /glucon d and electral for emergency snack and energy..




I was al set to go ahead....reched jaipur by noon...good going I thought..
road between road between ajmer-jaipur was amazing is eight lane amazing expressway and i reached outskirts of delhi by evening....






I was somehow dissapointed by rajasthan...i did not see any sand dune...no camel convoys and people travelling on back of camels on sand dunes....there was nothing pink about jaipur from what i saw from jaipur bypass........saw some camel carts though.In manesar the traffic started and continued into gurgoan..i had to change the highways from NH-8 to NH-1...this meant going to heart of delhi and changing highways.I didnt see any point in wasting time in evening traffic and thought i should stop in gurgoan.Found a hotel rajmahal or something in gurgoan for 1100 bucks(only hotel in the locality)!!!!!checked in that hotel...
later visited a cyber cafe to inform my friends of my progress and there was a clinic(Aryan hospital) nearby.....visited it to dress my hand....doctor over there seemed to me like a phony(I asked for a bill and he made the stupidest bill I have seen in my life) and prescribed some medicines(tablets)...he later prescribed me erythromycin which is more powerful and expensive than amoxycillin which is used to aviod infections.......I did not take any unknown medicines he had packed in a pouch for lack of faith in his judgement...asked him to give me a tetnus injection which he gave on my butt(why not shoulder???)
Had a decent meal in hotel..called up hitanshu and yogesh sarkar to inform them I reached delhi(More for polictical reasons coz i would need their help later during manali-leh highway...i didnt want to surprise them saying "hey I am stuck on manali-leh and i dont know where to go next...help me!!!!").Hitanshu tells me to start at 2 am if I want to reach manali.....he tells me ambala -chandigarh is a one lane road(I realise what he meant later).Yogesh tells me to try to reach mandi and not manali and tells me to not go into mountains tired.

I have to change highways and i dont know where is NH1...infact i have never been to delhi before......I decide to start at 6.00 am next morning coz i need locals around to guide me to karol bagh and take NH1....call up jojo khurana(a orkut biking buddy from chandi) and inform him that I would be passing chandigarh tommorow by noon....i thought I would easily make it to manali next evening not knowing what awaits me the next day.Read prayer book and fell off to sleep.

day 3: target chandigarh...reached gurgoan...abt 300 kms behind schedule

[darkside_of_d_sun]

This is good Amit, waiting for the log containing the next few days. And no matter how wide and smooth they make the highways, its India after all, dogs, cattle, men everyone seems to find your bike's front to zip across at the last moment.

Cheers,
Shamik

[darth_lucifer]

DAY 4: DAY OF SWEAT AND TOIL:
start at around 5:45 am.Tank up in gurgaun and reach karol bagh..spend some time loitering with my Bike trying to find NH1.Locals are as stupid as the ones you find in mumbai.No one had a idea of NH1.Fished out my map and asked them road to places enroute on NH1....many knew road to karnal...its called GT karnal road as i later learnt...

NH1 starts at a lousy and unclean chowk ...following that there was some work going for delhi metro.....there were NHAI boards later...(okay i was on a highway)..pass some places shown on map...okay i was heading in right direction..later there are some road signs(ambala,chandigarh etc which confirm i am heading right way) thankfully i was heading in right direction...

stop at a dhaba and order some parathas...they are tasty...i ask the hotel boy how much i have to pay...he says wait ill ask the owner...from what it seemed the prices varied from customers to customers...i was charged 50 bucks for two parathas(Seeming unseasoned and rich kid on a new looking motorcycle)!!!!I argue but I cant do anything...i am in a new place where i dont know anyone and I am alone....knowing very well I was fleeced I sheepishly pay up....... I decide to ask for price before ordering anything...i stick to my protocol for the trip....Dont fight or lose your temper...avoid confrontation with anyone

...pass one town after other......and reach karnal...this place looked beautiful and nice ...keep drinking water...peeing and eating bananas and dry fruits and energy biscuits....





I reach ambala cantonment...see a fighter plane low in sky...u sont see these often if you are from mumbai....i know i have to take NH22.Reached a bridge where NH22 starts.there is a board showing shimla/chandigarh...I aks a truckie...he tells me to go over the bridge...i ask a reliance petrol pump guy nearby...he tells me to go over the bridge
There is a small tunnel under some bridge..on top of it is written NH22. the approach to bridge is blocked by rocks...confused where to go ...i decided to go under the bridge...all these roads lead to the same road i realised later.....
The moment i see the other side...its a diffent word...the road is undergoing construction...now i know what is a one lane road.......crappy road...add to it its noon...i am sweating heavily under my jacket...i keep drinking water...stop and buy half a dozen bananas and eat it...i did not have lunch thinking i would do it in chandigarh....
i toil from ambala to chandi...dusty road...traffic at places....no respite from sun and heat...i reach chandi at 2:30 in noon...its bloody hot and i am tired and dehydrated...i reach the board...welcome to chandigarh....i have run out of water and my body is hot in the heat...maybe i should stop for today...there is no point fainting and trying to be brave...i fish out my cellphone call up jojo khurana...i tell him of my physical condition...he tells me next town is ropar and its worse in terms of heat and advices me to stop and rest at chandi...he says he will be there to meet me soon...i stop park my Bike and rest under few trees few meters from chandigarh entry...remove my jacket/gloves...eat glucon D and dry fruits to avoid fainting...i still have no water...
Jojo calls me up in fifteen minutes and we talk abt my hotel budget.He says..."come straight...after a few roundabouts you will be near goverment medical college" I will catch up with you there.
get up and head in direction...after reaching the medical college I hear a thumping of thunderbird following me....I am easy to spot with luggage....a sikh youth waves at me and gestures me to follow him...we introduce each other at next traffic signal...its jojo
I follow him to park view hotel..two cheap rooms...one without ac at 650 bucks and another with ac at 960 bucks.i pick one with ac.nice hotel...nice rooms...jojo and i chat with each other till 5:00 pm...i am shivering with cold under the ac by now.Jojo leaves at around 5:00 and i have a bath and curl up hungrily under the blankets...
when i wake up its 8:00 pm already by the time i wake up...call up jojo and invite him for dinner at restaurant under my hotel..he arrives in half an hour with two more buddies on bullets...these guys dont have dinner but some light juice(they wanted to booze later in the night) while i enjoy a decent chicken biryani...we talk abt biking ...manali,hills,jobs etc while I was enjoying my dinner..later they go away wishing me good luck

I go back to my room and fall off to sleep
Thanks to Jojo Khurana for the help and guidance offered in chandigarh
DAY 4:Target was manali...1 day behind schedule

[darth_lucifer]

Originally Posted by darkside_of_d_sun

This is good Amit, waiting for the log containing the next few days.

Bhai aap log ka trip log kab aa raha hai.I have popcorn ready for trip logs from 12 people.
Anyways you guys and your first trip couple of years back was my actual inspiration.And when u get desperate to do a leh ride u dont mind doing riding solo.

[darth_lucifer]

DAY 5: Heading for the hills
Start from my hotel...chandigarh is the most amazing well planned city in our country...straight away head to NH 21(called himalaya marg in chandi).Going is good.Pass mohali and ropar and other town...
After some time hills are visible on the horizon.
after a while I enter a ghat called swar ghat...is this himalayas??I think...HP number plates are evident on vehicles..a change from CH,HR,DL and PB number plates I have been seeing...the mountains keep growing big and are beautiful and amazing.The only hills I have seen before are western ghats(Highest point is 1.6-1.7 kms high).I sms my friend "Himalayas are fcking huge and we are wasting our time trekking western ghats"....Now its time to mention I had severe acrophobia(fear of heights) some years back.. it was so severe I was scared to look down from fourth or fifth floor balcony... i have a friend who introduced me to trekking on sahyadris and we climbed some forts in some rather unconventional ways...yet the fear was still in back of my mind till this trip....the beauty of mountains just kept me wanting to go deep into them...and yes there was no fear of heights somehow...there is a fcking road...no trecherous climbing...and reason says passes(ghats) are built over lowest points on mountains not over the summits...


SWARGHAT pics:







There were plenty of trucks with broken axles on swarghat and plenty of traffic at places...somehow i didnt suffer thanks to beauty of the place..
Passed mandi and malhotra bajaj service center...kept it in mind for future trips....saw plenty of pretty girls in mandi.

RIVER BEAS SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD


Reach manali in evening....Find a hotel room for 650 bucks....The boy tells me this is off season so its cheap...i ask him does off season mean only crazy people...he laughs and nods..funnily no rooms here onwards have airconditioners...there is river beas right under room...I hear her rumbling all night..it rains lightly after i am in hotel.I ask the hotel boy to wash my bike.I am later charged 50 bucks for it in the bill...thats the last time i order anyone to wash my Bike on the trip.
Have a good chicken biryani and half tandoori at the best looking restaurant in town(besides taxi stand)...maybe it would be the last time i have a good meal for a long long time...i buy apples ,bananas,water and box of electral and glucose,two strips of diamox for trip ahead.I got muffler for neck..buy two of them...ask price for wollen socks(40 bucks....i was charged 200 for wollen socks in mumbai(Paton...vile Parle)).....i buy two pair of socks(that makes three pairs with me)....i loose both new pairs till i reach leh.i buy woolen gloves(I had cramster touring gloves)...for 150 bucks...i later realise on the both gloves handed to me are of the same right hand....happy with my progress i pop a diamox and i go off to sleep after calling up my parents.
Tommorow the real test begins...manali was beautiful but crappy and crowded...In fact its a place i stopped getting stares....bikers are common thing here....In fact the hotel boy asked me if i was going to leh or coming from leh
My wounds on hands havent still healed thanks to gloves which rub against my wounds evertime i remove or wear them
DAY 5: One day behind schedule

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Right now its our turn to eat popcorn and read your ride story, which is quite interesting

[darth_lucifer]

Day 6:First Day on manali-leh:
Woke up at 4:15 am.Started at around 5:45 am.Saw a petrol pump which said last pertol pump in valley of gods.I tanked up my steed instantly and headed for rothang. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery enroute.There was a mountain right in front of me like a green wall and beauty of it in morning light just swept me off my feet.


I was stopping and drinking water and peeing after every 20-25 minutes.Drinking water is best way to acclaimatise is what I have read everywhere.If you dont pee every hour you dont drink enuf water is a yardstick they say.I was following the rulebook strictly.




A group of young men zipped accross me on bikes(most of them 100 ccs).None of them didnt have any helmets and wernt carrying any bags and had some saffron flags on their bikes.I was 'stared at' by pillions and occassionally when i rode with them couple of them videotaped me on their handicams...perhaps they had never seen a fully geared rider..From their luggage i knew they werent going beyond Rothang
I stopped and clicked a few pics.






Just then a tumping sound of enfield was heard.A white man on a enfield was heard behind me and he was having a lady companion with what looked like luggage for a long ride...good i have some company ,i thought.I clicked some more pics and rode away in direction of rothang.




Manali side of rothang was completely bad with the rains and there was a army bus struck somewhere and all the motorcyclists who did ride ahead of me were waiting at a place..
There was decent traffic jam at approx 7:00 in morning.I cant imagine what would happen at this place at 12:00 in noon.I did make way for my Bike , to my traffic jam negotiating skills i have developed in mumbai.Rest of the bikers followed.I soon reached marhi.The white couple on enfield was riding close to me and everyone stopped at sarchu/sagu cafe and I ordered tea and parathas.
The white couple also made it into the same cafe and I managed to break the ice and ask where they were headed.
"Leh???that great...I am going in that direction too".I asked them where did they plan to stop for the night...the white man said "Pang"...I asked him have you done this route before???he said "NO"..i secretly somehow knew he wouldnt make it till pang on day 1 but didnt talk abt it."Okay" that man said..."we will keep meeting each other enroute"...how right he was!!!!!!!
Road on manali side of rothang was horribly damaged in rain
On rothang top I clicked some pics.The air was lighter.And it was freezing cold.I could see some frost on rothang top board.Must be below freezing i thought...first time i am experiencing sub-zero temperatures...there were some snow capped mountains seen from the top and this was the first time i saw snow covered mountains in real life.



while I was spending a few moments at the top the english couple had zipped ahead of me.
After a while I moved ahead of them while they were taking some photographs somewhere on descent.
While descending from rothang the roads were pretty good.I stopped to take a leak and parked my Bike on side stand after descending a bit.Maybe the incline wasnt right for side stand and my Bike fell off.GREAT!!!!!!!!!I made some effort to pick her up but picking a pulsar 200 with all luggage at 10 k feet plus is a different game.She wouldnt budge.I waited for help...
Luckily the white man passed me again..he stopped and helped me pick up the bike...while picking her up...he said "****" and pointed to my broken left foot peg.Great!!!I had to shuffle gears of Pulsar without footpeg!!!!and where do i keep my leg???On the leg gaurd...I thought.....I did complete the rest of my journey without left footpeg!!
I said i was okay and thanked the man on enfield.It seemed he was waiting for me to ride with him...i urged he should ride ahead I would make it to leh at my own pace...well he said "there is a mechanic at keylong.Get her fixed".I nodded and he rode ahead.
After riding a few kilometers i fell down again cornering a V- turn on descent.This time I was helped by a taxi driver driving behind me...

Reached koksar..Road from koksar to keylong is pretty bad...it has a first water crossing i ever made.........its abt 10-15 feet long and only one vehicle can move at a time...I removed my shoes and turtle tank bag ...walked across and keep it on the other side of river..I start my motorcycle and am half way across when a truck enters from other side.....i am struck and helpless and there is no place to turn back and the rocks are decently big enuf to put her in neutral and drag her in reverse..soon another bus walla is waiting behind the truck...the truckwalla obliges...he is the one who has reverse gear not me...he makes way for me smilingly...i have started liking truckwallas...had it been a stupid autorickshawalla from mumbai we would both be sitting at that point till today with long pile of vehicles behind us...A truck was put into reverse to make way for a biker...happend first time for me
The landscape has changed dramatically now..greenery of manali is nowhere seen..wind beaten barren mountains are everywhere.



Filled up my Bike till brim at tandi..had to fill 4.9 liters...my Bike is giving me a decent average i realise

Reach keylong...its only 12:00 in the noon...there is a jispa IBEX hotel advertisement board which gives their number...my cell phone is working in KEYLONG.This is an oasis indeed!!!!call up the hotel in jispa ...he says 1200 bucks for a room...the cost is higher than the hotel I stayed in gurgoan...i decide to stop at keylong where possibly i can charge my camera batteries,my cell phone works,there is a mechanic,i might get a choice for food a cheaper place to stay and i acclaimatise better than jispa or darcha due to higher altitute of keylong .

I find a hotel snowview..bargain a room for 300 bucks...this room even has tv..even though tv remote doesnt work.
The room window has a nice view of a glacier ...i have seen snow for the first time today(outside my fridge)...


i rest for a while...at around 5:00 pm i summon the hotel boy to take me to mechanic..he takes me to a mechanic above the keylong bus stand...the mechanic is doing something to a bullet.Just than a lady says "hi" to me...i realise its the white couple i met at rothang are besides me..somehow they recognised me minus my jacket and helmet...
we introduce ourselves to each other...their names are tasha and david...they had some issues with the clutch and have decided to stop for the day at keylong...
I suggest we do ride together next day as i was unsure about baralacha la ...david nods postively..he asks me whether i was alone riding all the way from mumbai???I nod..I think to myself this fella can recognise indian numberplates.......
I ask my hotel boy who was still with me if he knows where their hotel is located and if he would help me find it in the morning..he nods...The mechanic says the footpeg cant be welded together and there wouldnt be spares of P200 even in shrinagar let alone leh....damn..i tell him to lube my chain and bade farewell to david and tasha agreeing to meet them neXt day at 6:00 outside their hotel.
had a dinner of dal chawal at nite...watched idiot box(some stupid channel which cycled trailors of hindi movie one after the other) and poped diamox and fell off to sleep...I cleared my first big pass without any much issues.......tommorow was gonna be a big riding day..and even a bigger night at pang or sarchu

IMP:I found some work going on with the board "rothang tunnel" near koksar.I think rothang pass might be no more after it would be completed.Just confirm abt the tunnel people

[anupmathur]

Amit, you have a REAL talent for story-telling!
I'm unable to wait for more! Abs wonderful!!!!!