Perfect riding conditions is what we started off in - partly cloudy, a cool breeze, and dry roads. It was too good to last though, with a slight drizzle starting barely 15 kms into the ride. We were at Palchan at that time and thought it prudent to stop for a while just to let the rain pass over. We had a nice tea and the friendly chai-wala assured us that the roads were okay upto Leh. An important thing when travelling in India is to not trust friendly locals entirely, especially when it comes to road conditions and distances. Always get a second opinion where possible. The second opinion in this case was an army road sign indicating that the roads were open all the way upto Leh. Just the day before, local news was that the road was closed due to incessant rain in Ladakh causing flash floods!
The rain though, showed no sign of letting up, so we decided to carry on with the rainwear on. That's when we discovered that Abby and Kavi had got us cheap woollen gloves - not very useful when it's raining!!! We still needed one additional pair which we bought from the chai-wala, again a cheap woollen pair because it was the best she had.
Shortly after, we ran into a minor accident scene. A lone enfield rider coming in the opposite direction had ridden his bike into a ditch. We helped him pull the bike out and gave him a little medical attention (Relispray). I don't know if the scene scared anyone else, but it did put a small apprehension in my head about the dangers of riding bikes on roads such as these! But what the hell ... that's what this whole trip was about ... :-)
Seeing he was doing alright, and a couple of his fellow europeans arrived to keep him company, we continued on our way. The locations were serene, and we were just beginning to enjoy the ride when we hit our first and only puncture. My rear tyre was flat and we had to stop. It might seem very simple on the outside, but when a bunch of novices get around to fixing a puncture, it's often quite a task (especially when you discover that the tools you are carrying are inadequate for the job!). An hour and a half later, we had it fixed, but not without getting ourselves seriously drenched and dirty. There was a certain satisfaction though, out of employing our collective engineering brains and solving the problem with whatever available tools.
Back on the road, it got colder as the rain just refused to stop! Next stop was at Marhi, 35 kms from Manali (Not much progress ... I know ... But in the rain and fog, the road really was a horror!). We got ourselves hot tea, maggi, and pakoras to defrost. Full, and slightly warmer, we left the place the moment the rain cut a bit. Marhi is covered in 10-15 ft of snow at the peak of winter ... that should give you and idea of how cold it was!With the light dimming, there was a thought of staying there for the night, but we decided to carry on atleast upto Koksar - atleast we'd be out of the rain.
Another hour later, we had reached Rohtang, which is nothing but a collection of tea and snack stalls. The guys there make their living from day tourists in season. We were running against time and decided to go straight through without even stopping for a picture, but well, someone must have wanted us there really bad! Metres after crossing the Rohtang pass, I realised that my bike did not have brakes anymore! The brake yoke was in 2 pieces (we found out later that there was a crack in it all along and it was just waiting to break).
Since Marhi, I was just gritting my teeth and riding, hoping for the weather to clear (We were told it should clear soon after the pass). But with the brakes gone and the realisation that we were in a spot, my endurance was over (I've always had a problem standing cold!). Zappy, Kavi, and me took a couple of swigs of Old Monk to beat the cold while we waited for the others to turn around and come back. And they came back with more bad news! Chavan's accelerator was stuck on the higher end of the revs, and he was just riding on the clutch! Now we had 2 bad bikes, bad light, and noone in a shape to do anything about it. Couple of passing trucks refused to stop for us, leaving us with only the choice of going back to Rohtang to spend the night.
Friendly locals gave us one of their tents to spend the night. They also had rugs and blankets (which was good because we did have a couple of wet sleeping bags). They also gave us tea, biscuits, cigarettes, and a stove. It was helpful, but it was beyond doubt the coldest night I have seen. Going out to piss was a task even after being covered in 4 layers of clothes!!! We took our time to thaw, and retired for the night after some Old Monk shots and biscuits.
We were always aware of the danger of AMS (although the philistines in us were laughing at the idea :-D), but a night in Rohtang was first hand experience ...
The rain though, showed no sign of letting up, so we decided to carry on with the rainwear on. That's when we discovered that Abby and Kavi had got us cheap woollen gloves - not very useful when it's raining!!! We still needed one additional pair which we bought from the chai-wala, again a cheap woollen pair because it was the best she had.
Shortly after, we ran into a minor accident scene. A lone enfield rider coming in the opposite direction had ridden his bike into a ditch. We helped him pull the bike out and gave him a little medical attention (Relispray). I don't know if the scene scared anyone else, but it did put a small apprehension in my head about the dangers of riding bikes on roads such as these! But what the hell ... that's what this whole trip was about ... :-)
Seeing he was doing alright, and a couple of his fellow europeans arrived to keep him company, we continued on our way. The locations were serene, and we were just beginning to enjoy the ride when we hit our first and only puncture. My rear tyre was flat and we had to stop. It might seem very simple on the outside, but when a bunch of novices get around to fixing a puncture, it's often quite a task (especially when you discover that the tools you are carrying are inadequate for the job!). An hour and a half later, we had it fixed, but not without getting ourselves seriously drenched and dirty. There was a certain satisfaction though, out of employing our collective engineering brains and solving the problem with whatever available tools.
Back on the road, it got colder as the rain just refused to stop! Next stop was at Marhi, 35 kms from Manali (Not much progress ... I know ... But in the rain and fog, the road really was a horror!). We got ourselves hot tea, maggi, and pakoras to defrost. Full, and slightly warmer, we left the place the moment the rain cut a bit. Marhi is covered in 10-15 ft of snow at the peak of winter ... that should give you and idea of how cold it was!With the light dimming, there was a thought of staying there for the night, but we decided to carry on atleast upto Koksar - atleast we'd be out of the rain.
Another hour later, we had reached Rohtang, which is nothing but a collection of tea and snack stalls. The guys there make their living from day tourists in season. We were running against time and decided to go straight through without even stopping for a picture, but well, someone must have wanted us there really bad! Metres after crossing the Rohtang pass, I realised that my bike did not have brakes anymore! The brake yoke was in 2 pieces (we found out later that there was a crack in it all along and it was just waiting to break).
Since Marhi, I was just gritting my teeth and riding, hoping for the weather to clear (We were told it should clear soon after the pass). But with the brakes gone and the realisation that we were in a spot, my endurance was over (I've always had a problem standing cold!). Zappy, Kavi, and me took a couple of swigs of Old Monk to beat the cold while we waited for the others to turn around and come back. And they came back with more bad news! Chavan's accelerator was stuck on the higher end of the revs, and he was just riding on the clutch! Now we had 2 bad bikes, bad light, and noone in a shape to do anything about it. Couple of passing trucks refused to stop for us, leaving us with only the choice of going back to Rohtang to spend the night.
Friendly locals gave us one of their tents to spend the night. They also had rugs and blankets (which was good because we did have a couple of wet sleeping bags). They also gave us tea, biscuits, cigarettes, and a stove. It was helpful, but it was beyond doubt the coldest night I have seen. Going out to piss was a task even after being covered in 4 layers of clothes!!! We took our time to thaw, and retired for the night after some Old Monk shots and biscuits.
We were always aware of the danger of AMS (although the philistines in us were laughing at the idea :-D), but a night in Rohtang was first hand experience ...
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