The hors d'oeuvre.......

Day1: Noida - Delhi - Karnal - Ambala - Panchkula - Kalka - Dharampur - Shimla

The trip was planned in a jiffy with Asif moving to Mauritious and wanting to take to the road agian before leaving the beautiful landsacpes of India. As per our initial plans Rekong Peo (Himachal) was where we wanted to touch on our Bikes, BUT, the temperature started dipping and news started coming that the way to Rekong is closed due to heavy snowfall....... first shot in the arm???? Nah.... with a Master Planner like Asif and me with Determination of Steel, snowfall don't come in way.

A man has to do what a man has to do. Replanning was done and it was decided that lets hit the road and as far as we could go we would go. We decided to hit the roads on the very first day of February (1 feb, 08), the day when the mercury was forcasted to hit "0 degrees" in Delhi.

We planned to leave Noida at 6:30 am for which i was expected to reach Asif's house at 6:15 am. I got up and reached Asif's house a Little Late at 6:40 am. Asif was downstairs standing near his P180 with saddle and turtle bags well fitted on his P180. He helped me with my saddle bags on my P150 and we were raring to go. We reached ISBT at 7:15 am where we picked Kalyani who was also planned to be a part of the tour and tell you what her experience of the Mountains was of great help to our trip.

Kalyani was supposed to ride as Pillion with Asif and i had her bag on my P150 tied with a rope. I got my tank filled and now it was time to say goodbye to Delhi for some days. It was 7:30 am and we were on our way and in some time we had hit the highway, the road was good so we were moving on swiftly at speed of around 90 kmph. We reached Karnal (130 km) from delhi at around 9:10 am and moved on without stopping. It was cold and we were also getting a bit hungry so we decided to stop at a hotel around 26 km ahead of karnal at 9:30am.

We started to feel the chill once we stopped our bikes and then we knew that the gloves that we were wearing were not up to the mark. We ordered breakfast of Bread-Omlette and tea (though i do not take tea but it was need of the season). With food in our tummy we strated off at 10:30am and with sun up there in the sky it was nice riding at around 90 kmph when you could feel the cold breeze and warm sun both at the same time.We stopped after around 90 Kms between Ambala and Panchkula at around 11:58 am to check the route in our Map. We started off and reached Kalka at 1:15 pm and that stared our journey ahead on the curvy roads of mountains. This was the first time i was riding a bike on such road and was a bit conscious but Asif was going ahead at a speed which was good enough for me on those roads and at times i was left behind a bit, but after some time i started to feel comfortable and then i started enjoying the ride.

We stopped at Dharampur at 2:15 pm which lies enroute to Solan to have lunch. We ordered a preparation of Mushroom, Paneer, Naan and Rice. After having our tummies filled we started for our first day destination.... Shimla. Around 20 kms before Shimla we spotted ice on the side of roads and it was getting chilly. My hands were as cold as ice. We reached Shimla at around 4:30 pm. We got two rooms booked at Hotel Victory near the Bus stand.Hotel was not as good as we wanted it to be, but it was getting dark and chilly, so we didn't want to waste our time searching for a good hotel.We had a little talk and then got ready to have dinner. Dinner was ordered at 7:45 pm as we wanted to sleep early to have ample rest for the journey ahead.

Day 2: Shimla – Kufri – Devimordh – Narkanda – Rampur - Sarahan

I woke up at 7:30 am the next morning. Bright and Sunny and Chilling Morning welcomed us the next day but Asif had caught cold and had blocked nose. But he is not someone who is going to give up b’coz of these small things we decided to move on. We both checked our machines for engine oil and it didn’t need any replacement. We decided to take breakfast later and so were ready to leave. Asif was taking his bike downhill from the hotel and he applied rear breaks but………the bike didn’t stop. He applied front breaks and we got back, the rear breaks spring was very loose almost at the edge. We tightened it and moved on, it was 10:40 am.

We got our tanks refueled and started moving towards Kufri and then we saw frost at the edges of the road. Kalyani told us to be careful and not ride on frosts as then bike will skid. Asif as usual was driving ahead of me and I was just behind him. The water from the rear tyre of his bike was coming on me and at one turn I tried to evade the water from his bikes and forgot all about the frost and the next thing I knew was that I and my p150 were both taking rest on the road. Kalyani saw me fall and Asif stopped we picked my p150 moved to the footpath. I was all wet but thankfully Kalyani had brought toilet paper roll which I was using to clean myself and my clothes and suddenly my helmet which was on my bike’s seat was rolling and was right there on the middle of road. Asif ran to pick it up just then a truck came out of one corner and a sumo from another we shouted and by the grace of God Asif reached the other side of the road.
We went ahead a bit more cautious. There was water in my Gloves and my left hand’s fingers were so cold that I couldn’t move them. The sun was bright and strong and the gloves started drying and I felt a bit comfortable. We reached Devimordh enroute Narkanda at 12:30 pm and stopped at a dhaba for filling our tummy and ordered Aaloo paratha and tea. We also had a small photo session.

We started from there and stopped at some places for taking pics.

We reached Nakanda at 2:30 pm. Ahead of Narkanda we could frost on the road and so it was going to be a slow ride form there onwards. We stopped and map was consulted to decide on as to where to we should proceed. Asif made some calls to know about the places where we could go to. After some discussion we decided to move towards Rampur (Not the one in UP).

As we had thought of the whole road was filled with frost and we had to move at a very slow speed of around 15 kmph and at times even at a speed at which a person on foot would have left us behind easily, but that was the best way to keep ourselves and our two transporting machines in one piece. This condition was there for around 6 kms but after that the terrain was quite good and the roads were also nice.

We skipped lunch to save time as we wanted to reach Rampur as early as possible. We reached Rampur at 4:30 pm. We stopped just at the point from where the city started and as we had enough time left before it got dark we planned to reach Sarahan which is 38 kms from Rampur. Without wasting any time we took off and started to move towards Sarahan. It was getting cold as sun had set and also we were getting tired due to the treacherous ride ahead of Narkanda in the day earlier. We reached Sarahan at 6:00 pm.
We took hotel of HP tourism. It was a very nice hotel with good rooms which were around Rs. 1200/- per day, but as at this time of the year they rarely get any visitors so they gave us a good discount. The things that I liked about the hotel were they had a very nice person attending us, service was good, food was good and the two of the best things were heater and Geyser with Carpeted floors.
The first thing that we could think of was food and at once we ordered Paneer Pakoda, veg. cutlet and tea. We watched Television for around two hours and then ordered dinner at 9:00 pm of boiled eggs n tomato soup. After finishing we watched some more television and then went to bed at 11:30 pm. I was feeling dehydrated due to the heater and drank a lot of water. Lying in the bed I thought of how the day went by and slowly the sleep engulfed me and I was lost.

Day 3: Sarahan – Sarahan

The most uneventful day of our trip………

I had a nice sleep and got up at 9:00 am. It was foggy outside and it was the first time that I was seeing snowfall.

The whole area was covered with snow .I decide on taking a bath and with geyser working I could not resist myself. I took a warm bath and got ready. I headed towards Asif’s room and found him down (but not out) with back pain maybe some muscle pull. We ordered breakfast of veg cutlet, paneer cutlet and tea.

We were watching TV and Asif was doing some stretching to make his back fighting fit for the ride. Now another decision to be made was regarding the return route because we have come to know that Narkanda was blocked due to heavy snowfall. The person who was attending to us provided us with a more detailed Map of Himachal in which other routes were well defined.

We had lunch at 3:20 pm of rice, mushroom and paneer pasanda. With the day passing by without any activity we decide to go out and have a look at the road and also enjoy the snowfall.

It was snow everywhere and all the nooks and corners were like covered with snow. We clicked some pics and then decided to go back to our hotel rooms but a new challenge had creped into our minds……….the frost filled roads on our way back which was a downhill way but it had to come tomorrow so for today relax and enjoy………

With nothing more to do we watched TV for the rest of the day. We ordered dinner at 9:00 pm of roti and shahi paneer and then we had some tea. We went to bed at 11:00 pm with the plans being chalked out in our brains for the journey way back……

Day 4: Sarahan – Jeori – Sainj – Luri – Basantpur – Dhami - Shimla

Got up at 7:30 am and was welcomed with bright, sunny and cold morning. The scene outside was breathtaking.......

Got ready and went to Asif’s room and had a breakfast of veg cutlet and tea.

Went outside and cleared our bike which were completely covered with snow. We thought it would be difficult to get them started but two kicks and they were ready to zip zap zoom. We started at 10:50 am, they way as expected turned out to be quite a treacherous one. We were moving at a very slow speed and sometime we had to move on foot to avoid skidding on frost filled road. But……… frost had it’s way and i skidded thrice and Asif once on the way to Jeori which was 6 kms from Sarahan where we reached at 12:22 pm. 6 kms in one and a half hour????? You have to be there to experience the wheel spinning fun.
We reached Rampur ar 1:15 pm and went to a HP tourism hotel and ordered for lunch of Egg Chowmein.

It was a good view with Sutlej flowing next to the hotel.

We planned our way ahead from there and Asif called Nikaram our company’s (ISHIR Inotech) driver who is from Himachal to inquire about the way. He warned us against taking the Narkanda route as it would have lots of frost due to heavy snowfall.

We started ahead for Basantpur via Sainj. We reached Luri and took the “Other Road” which was quite a ride. We could find only small stretches of road rest was all broken path of what would have been once a road. We reached Basantpur at 5:00 pm and stopped to plan what next to do as Nikkaram has asked us to stay there at his inlaws place if need be. In an around hour it was going to get dark and none of us had the experience of driving in mountains at night. But we unanimously thought of proceeding to Dhami where the have a PWD guest house and at this time of year we ahd a good chance of getting accommodation there. We reached Dhami at 6:00 pm and it was already getting a bit dark. We reached PWD guesthouse but our dismay it was closed as it was under repair, we did not have any choice but to move ahead for Shimla.

It was quite dark by now and we had the headlights switched on. We were heading towards Shimla though dark but no frost so we were quite comfortable but around 8 kms ahead of Shimla we saw FROST and with traffic and darkness also being there it was quite nerve wrecking for us. At one place there was no frost and the road was almost dry but I couldn’t make out and thought that it was frost and was moving very slow then I put my foot on the road and felt g a good grip and I smiled on myself and increased my speed though still cautious. We reached Shimla at 7:00 pm and all was dark and chilly.

At around 7:30 we got a room reserved in a 4 star hotel of HP tourism “Peter Hoff” and paid a good amount of money to stay there but the room was worth the money.

We were starving and so we ordered dinner of Butter Nan, Paneer tandoori, egg curry, matar paneer and chicken tikka, which was served at 8:15 pm. After that we had Gualb Jamun and tea and then after a little chit chat session and watching TV for sometime we went to sleep.

Day 4: Shimla – Kalka – Ambala – Karnal - Delhi

We woke up at 9:00 am and were relaxed as most of the jpurney today was on plains, so, driving in the night was also easily acceptable to all. We had our breakfast and were ready to leave. After paying the hotels bill we bid adieu to Shimla and were moving swiftly with new energy after a nice last night rest. We were near Dharampur when the most experinced mountaineer of us all, Kalyani, forcasted rain and even before we could think, drops from far above started to come down and left us with no other option but to park our bikes at a motel. It got chilly but thanks to the boy at the Motel he brought Angithi for us and the three of us got the much needed warmth. We had tea and started discussing whether to go ahead or take a halt for the day and move again tomorrow.

Nature was with us and in some time teh rain stopped and we decided to move ahead. We moved ahead cautiously as the road was drenched with water due to rain and we didn't want to take any undue risk, also the later part of the journey was going to be in plains so there was no issue in travelling even if it got a bit late. Rains didn't come back thankfully and we cruised ahead easily.

We took break twice and finally stopped just before Panchkula as Asif's wanted the breaks to be checked and also we had to get the engine oil checked. So, we stopped in Ambala at a repair shop but the mechanic was nowhere to be seen. On arrival he declared that he can't change the engine oil so we moved ahead and got the oil replaced (which had almost dried out).

We stopped at a restaurant just after Ambala for eating as we hadn't eaten anything. During the whole trip every place where we stopped for eating we had taken our luggage off our bike but this time we decided against it as we could watch the bikes frrm inside. We filled our tummy and Kalyani bought some chocolates (Yummy!!) and we were again ready to move on.

We were moving at quite a good speed as the roads were good. Our next stop was around 50 kms before Delhi. We reached delhi at around 7:30 pm and after Seeing off Kalyani at ISBT, I and Asif moved towards Noida. Near sector 29 Asif and I bid adieu to each other and Asif Zipped past me with a roll on Wheelie and i reached home and was welcomed by Rafique..........

Conclusion:

Looking back on the whole i feel it has made me stronger believer on the saying "In Life What You Resist, Persists". This was an ice breaker and so i feel there won't be any hitch now in taking to the roads again. The appetiser has worked well and the fire to move ahead and farther is burning at full strength.............. So, Watch out for more updates..........