It takes a lot of planning, effort and courage to do anything for the first time in life. I really like doing new things. Sometimes I am able to succeed and sometimes I am not. So success and failure are a part of life. It took me a long time to carry out my first trip on a bike due to certain responsibilities. And I would like to thank to my dear friend and ex colleague without whom this trip was almost impossible.
There were only 2 people on this trip. Me and other one is a crazybiker who is also known as Virendra Singh. When I joined this organization Veeru used to drive a CT 100 and dreamt to buy Pulsar 220 as biking runs in his mind and blood. After a wait of almost 2 years finally he bought his dream bike and since then he started pushing me for a trip. BTW I drive a P180 since last 2.5 years.
Veeru and His bike
Me and my bike
So finally after much discussions with almost everybody in the company, something was finalized. It is something as it can not be called as a plan. Everybody in the company now started making fun of our plans. But this time Me and Veeru were adamant that we will be going. And we finalized Chitkul. It is a very beautiful place in Himachal.
When the planning started there were 4 people but later on only 2 were left i.e. Me and Veeru. And we were very much confident this time that we are gonna do it. So finally on 31st July we decided that tomorrow(1st Aug) we will be meeting at NH1 starting point at 4:30 A.M.
Next morning I got up at 3:00 but was finally to get out of the house at 5:30. I reached NH1 at 6:00 and waited for Veeru to come. I was able to see Veeru at around 6:20. Veeru came in and we exchanged greeting(gaalis) and then we started from NH1 at 6:30. My bike was half full so we decided that we will do the tankfull at Delhi itself as the petrol is cheaper here. We started at 6:30 and did the tankfull and then started moving ahead. I have never been to NH1 before. Just once when me and Veeru went to Murthal for paratha treat. So we did not know about NH1 and I said that we will have breakfast at Ambala( I did not know that I have done some mistake). So from there on we started and travelled almost non stop(Except one nature call) till Lardu(Just before Chandigarh ahead of Ambala) as we were not able to find any dhaba in Ambala. At Lardu we were hungry like anything and we found a dhaba where we stopped our bikes to get some food. It was around 9:15. Actually we decided that we will not do more than 90 KMPH. So we kept our speed under control between 80-90.
At Lardu me and Veeru decided that we can not go to Chitkul because finally we had only 3 days in hand. So we can go to Manali. None of us has ever been to Manali. Again we hit the road. We entered Chandigarh and followed indications mentioned on the boards along the roadsides. Here I would say that please do not follow those indications as that is confusing and you will end up travelling more around 8-10 kms. At one place it was mentioned that Manali is still 311 kms. At one time I thought that it will be a big task to reach Manali the same day as we were in CHD and the time was around 12 something. Actually we spent more time at Lardu in breakfast and making a decision. But we carried on and then we asked Punjab police the way to Manali. It is better to ask policemen as they will be able to tell the correct way. After Mohali the trip started turning into pain as we were riding hard and still not getting anywhere. We were still in plains. And as we were packed with jackets and everything so it was too hot to handle. Finally we stopped again before Ropar as it was almost impossible to continue due to thirst, hot weather and tiredness. We took a short drinks break before Ropar and once again started with loose heart as there was no thrill yet. We were just pushing our bikes like morons and not getting anywhere. Then We took a turn towards Kiratpur and wow we were in front of mountains. There is a small drain kind of thing and it has blue water in it.
I wanted to jump into it but Veeru said No. The heat was scorching. We had shikanji there and asked Shikanji waala that how far are the hills from here. Surprisingly he said that only 7-8 kms. So after that refreshing news we started again.
The environment started changing and it started becoming more greener. And a bit colder too. I mean colder than Ropar. Then voila we just saw hills in front of us. And yes finally we were able to catch hold of hills. This was the first time for both of us that we were driving in hills so we were a bit nervous. It took sometime initially to drive in the hills and then again we started touching the speeds of 60-70 in hills too.
We then stopped at Bilaspur as Veeru has some friend there. His friend is from Bilaspur itself and with him we had a very delicious lunch at 4 in the evening. He told us that It will take around 4 more hours to reach Manali and offered us to stay at Bilaspur the same day but me and Veeru were determined that we will reach Manali the same day. So from there again we started at around 5 in the evening. There itself we met 2 more bikers who were coming from Chandigarh and going to Sundarnagar. We had a small chat and then they said that they will guide us further till Sundar nagar. So we said yes and then all of us started ripping again. They were on Pulsar 150 but they were giving a good fight to me(180) and Veeru(220). They were students of some engg. College at Sundarnagar. So we exchanged greetings at Sundarnagar and we moved ahead. As the name of Sundarnagar, it is really beautiful.
We enjoyed the beauty for sometime and then moved ahead and reached Mandi. After Mandi there is and HPTDC café Pandoh. It is a bit costly but the location is good and coffee is also good. We had a coffee and some photoshoot at Café. Then we moved ahead.
It was almost getting dark and we were still 2-2:30 hours away from Manali. We left that place 7 and then we crossed some dam on Beas and started driving besides Beas river. That is the best road that anybody can drive. Then there is a 3 kms long tunnel which we passed through and we drove at 100-110. After the tunnel it started drizzling. For once I asked Veeru that should we stay somewhere nearby. Veeru said that NO we will only stay at Manali. We WILL NOT STAY ANYWHERE. So then we moved ahead in the dark and light drizzle. The drizzle was there for some 30 mins more and then it was okay. Finally we reached Kullu in the night. There was a long traffic jam in Kullu. I passed through but Veeru got stuck. So I waited for Veeru for half an hour outside the Jam. Finally Veeru appeared. Then again we started our rally and finally we reached Manali at 10 in the night. Then we started looking for a place to stay and we finalized Hotel Beas. We got a room for 1000 bucks on the banks of river Beas of course in the Hotel Beas. We had a comfortable sleep.
Next morning got up at 7:30 but finally hit road at 10:00. Just 10 kms from Manali on the way to Rohtang, my bike went into reserve.
Can u see the Satluj and the Temple.
I was very much scared as how will I be able to go to Rohtang and back. I was even planning to go to Keylang. So anyways, we followed click and ride all the way till Rohtang. Once we reached Rohtang, I asked someone is it Rohtang? Then he confirmed that yes it is Rohtang. I was surprised and disappointed that have we come all the way from Delhi to see this place? There was no snow and there were lot of Tourists. A lot of bikers too. So we inquired again from someone that can we find snow somewhere. He said that yes you need to go ahead 2-3 kms, you will find snow. Now very less petrol in the bike and I said okay we will go and see snow. So we moved ahead and yes after 2-3 kms there was some snow for which we need to trek. Some pics in the snow and we were back at the base station where our bikes were parked. We had Maggie and coffee there. That was one of the nicest coffee and Maggie that we had. From there on we started moving back to Manali and Delhi as we already conqured Rohtang. So now I am scared very much as if will I be able to make it back to Manali or I will be found dragging my bike somewhere on the way back to Manali. It started raining at Rohtang. As the name of Rohtang says, weather changes here very frequently. We wore our rain coats and started moving. After sometime downhill started and I was doing on and off the bike as I wanted to save petrol so that I can reach Manali without dragging my bike. The speed was slow as the bike was off. Finally we reached Manali at around 6 in the evening. We filled the bike and again we started back to Bilaspur. As we decided that we will be staying at Bilaspur. We again started doing 80-90 to reach Bilaspur and then finally we reached Bilaspur at around 9 in the night. We had dinner and retired to bed at around 10:30 something.
Next morning Veeru got up early and went to see some places nearby as he studied there. He felt nostalgic there. I kept sleeping and then we finally hit the road again at 9:30. We had breakfast nearby and then we started again. On the way rain started. So we waited for an hour and finally wore raincoats and then restarted again. It was raining heavily and from there non stop we went till Ropar and had our lunch. After lunch we started at around 4 and the next break was at Panipat without any break in between. At panipat we had snacks and it started raining heavily again and it became dark too. So we again started at 7:30 and non stop from there to Delhi at 8:30. Yes we drove too much hard. We did around 80-90 in dark and rain. Nothing was visible and we were driving like mad. On the way Veeru hit a dog with his bike unintentionally but saved a fall.
At 10 I reached back home safe and sound and Veeru too reached home safe and sound. But one lesson we learnt in the life that we will never drive in night. And we will take minimum risk.
This was a very nice trip and we cherish moment of it. Thank you for coming to my blog and reading it.
Rest pics you can see at following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vinayak.singh/Manali#
There were only 2 people on this trip. Me and other one is a crazybiker who is also known as Virendra Singh. When I joined this organization Veeru used to drive a CT 100 and dreamt to buy Pulsar 220 as biking runs in his mind and blood. After a wait of almost 2 years finally he bought his dream bike and since then he started pushing me for a trip. BTW I drive a P180 since last 2.5 years.
 |
| From Manali |
Veeru and His bike
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| From Manali |
Me and my bike
So finally after much discussions with almost everybody in the company, something was finalized. It is something as it can not be called as a plan. Everybody in the company now started making fun of our plans. But this time Me and Veeru were adamant that we will be going. And we finalized Chitkul. It is a very beautiful place in Himachal.
When the planning started there were 4 people but later on only 2 were left i.e. Me and Veeru. And we were very much confident this time that we are gonna do it. So finally on 31st July we decided that tomorrow(1st Aug) we will be meeting at NH1 starting point at 4:30 A.M.
Next morning I got up at 3:00 but was finally to get out of the house at 5:30. I reached NH1 at 6:00 and waited for Veeru to come. I was able to see Veeru at around 6:20. Veeru came in and we exchanged greeting(gaalis) and then we started from NH1 at 6:30. My bike was half full so we decided that we will do the tankfull at Delhi itself as the petrol is cheaper here. We started at 6:30 and did the tankfull and then started moving ahead. I have never been to NH1 before. Just once when me and Veeru went to Murthal for paratha treat. So we did not know about NH1 and I said that we will have breakfast at Ambala( I did not know that I have done some mistake). So from there on we started and travelled almost non stop(Except one nature call) till Lardu(Just before Chandigarh ahead of Ambala) as we were not able to find any dhaba in Ambala. At Lardu we were hungry like anything and we found a dhaba where we stopped our bikes to get some food. It was around 9:15. Actually we decided that we will not do more than 90 KMPH. So we kept our speed under control between 80-90.
At Lardu me and Veeru decided that we can not go to Chitkul because finally we had only 3 days in hand. So we can go to Manali. None of us has ever been to Manali. Again we hit the road. We entered Chandigarh and followed indications mentioned on the boards along the roadsides. Here I would say that please do not follow those indications as that is confusing and you will end up travelling more around 8-10 kms. At one place it was mentioned that Manali is still 311 kms. At one time I thought that it will be a big task to reach Manali the same day as we were in CHD and the time was around 12 something. Actually we spent more time at Lardu in breakfast and making a decision. But we carried on and then we asked Punjab police the way to Manali. It is better to ask policemen as they will be able to tell the correct way. After Mohali the trip started turning into pain as we were riding hard and still not getting anywhere. We were still in plains. And as we were packed with jackets and everything so it was too hot to handle. Finally we stopped again before Ropar as it was almost impossible to continue due to thirst, hot weather and tiredness. We took a short drinks break before Ropar and once again started with loose heart as there was no thrill yet. We were just pushing our bikes like morons and not getting anywhere. Then We took a turn towards Kiratpur and wow we were in front of mountains. There is a small drain kind of thing and it has blue water in it.
 |
| From Manali |
 |
| From Manali |
 |
| From Manali |
I wanted to jump into it but Veeru said No. The heat was scorching. We had shikanji there and asked Shikanji waala that how far are the hills from here. Surprisingly he said that only 7-8 kms. So after that refreshing news we started again.
The environment started changing and it started becoming more greener. And a bit colder too. I mean colder than Ropar. Then voila we just saw hills in front of us. And yes finally we were able to catch hold of hills. This was the first time for both of us that we were driving in hills so we were a bit nervous. It took sometime initially to drive in the hills and then again we started touching the speeds of 60-70 in hills too.
 |
| From Manali |
We then stopped at Bilaspur as Veeru has some friend there. His friend is from Bilaspur itself and with him we had a very delicious lunch at 4 in the evening. He told us that It will take around 4 more hours to reach Manali and offered us to stay at Bilaspur the same day but me and Veeru were determined that we will reach Manali the same day. So from there again we started at around 5 in the evening. There itself we met 2 more bikers who were coming from Chandigarh and going to Sundarnagar. We had a small chat and then they said that they will guide us further till Sundar nagar. So we said yes and then all of us started ripping again. They were on Pulsar 150 but they were giving a good fight to me(180) and Veeru(220). They were students of some engg. College at Sundarnagar. So we exchanged greetings at Sundarnagar and we moved ahead. As the name of Sundarnagar, it is really beautiful.
 |
| From Manali |
 |
| From Manali |
We enjoyed the beauty for sometime and then moved ahead and reached Mandi. After Mandi there is and HPTDC café Pandoh. It is a bit costly but the location is good and coffee is also good. We had a coffee and some photoshoot at Café. Then we moved ahead.
 |
| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
It was almost getting dark and we were still 2-2:30 hours away from Manali. We left that place 7 and then we crossed some dam on Beas and started driving besides Beas river. That is the best road that anybody can drive. Then there is a 3 kms long tunnel which we passed through and we drove at 100-110. After the tunnel it started drizzling. For once I asked Veeru that should we stay somewhere nearby. Veeru said that NO we will only stay at Manali. We WILL NOT STAY ANYWHERE. So then we moved ahead in the dark and light drizzle. The drizzle was there for some 30 mins more and then it was okay. Finally we reached Kullu in the night. There was a long traffic jam in Kullu. I passed through but Veeru got stuck. So I waited for Veeru for half an hour outside the Jam. Finally Veeru appeared. Then again we started our rally and finally we reached Manali at 10 in the night. Then we started looking for a place to stay and we finalized Hotel Beas. We got a room for 1000 bucks on the banks of river Beas of course in the Hotel Beas. We had a comfortable sleep.
Next morning got up at 7:30 but finally hit road at 10:00. Just 10 kms from Manali on the way to Rohtang, my bike went into reserve.
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
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| From Manali |
Can u see the Satluj and the Temple.
 |
| From Manali |
 |
| From Manali |
I was very much scared as how will I be able to go to Rohtang and back. I was even planning to go to Keylang. So anyways, we followed click and ride all the way till Rohtang. Once we reached Rohtang, I asked someone is it Rohtang? Then he confirmed that yes it is Rohtang. I was surprised and disappointed that have we come all the way from Delhi to see this place? There was no snow and there were lot of Tourists. A lot of bikers too. So we inquired again from someone that can we find snow somewhere. He said that yes you need to go ahead 2-3 kms, you will find snow. Now very less petrol in the bike and I said okay we will go and see snow. So we moved ahead and yes after 2-3 kms there was some snow for which we need to trek. Some pics in the snow and we were back at the base station where our bikes were parked. We had Maggie and coffee there. That was one of the nicest coffee and Maggie that we had. From there on we started moving back to Manali and Delhi as we already conqured Rohtang. So now I am scared very much as if will I be able to make it back to Manali or I will be found dragging my bike somewhere on the way back to Manali. It started raining at Rohtang. As the name of Rohtang says, weather changes here very frequently. We wore our rain coats and started moving. After sometime downhill started and I was doing on and off the bike as I wanted to save petrol so that I can reach Manali without dragging my bike. The speed was slow as the bike was off. Finally we reached Manali at around 6 in the evening. We filled the bike and again we started back to Bilaspur. As we decided that we will be staying at Bilaspur. We again started doing 80-90 to reach Bilaspur and then finally we reached Bilaspur at around 9 in the night. We had dinner and retired to bed at around 10:30 something.
Next morning Veeru got up early and went to see some places nearby as he studied there. He felt nostalgic there. I kept sleeping and then we finally hit the road again at 9:30. We had breakfast nearby and then we started again. On the way rain started. So we waited for an hour and finally wore raincoats and then restarted again. It was raining heavily and from there non stop we went till Ropar and had our lunch. After lunch we started at around 4 and the next break was at Panipat without any break in between. At panipat we had snacks and it started raining heavily again and it became dark too. So we again started at 7:30 and non stop from there to Delhi at 8:30. Yes we drove too much hard. We did around 80-90 in dark and rain. Nothing was visible and we were driving like mad. On the way Veeru hit a dog with his bike unintentionally but saved a fall.
At 10 I reached back home safe and sound and Veeru too reached home safe and sound. But one lesson we learnt in the life that we will never drive in night. And we will take minimum risk.
This was a very nice trip and we cherish moment of it. Thank you for coming to my blog and reading it.
Rest pics you can see at following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vinayak.singh/Manali#
