I was still reminiscing about Thailand, when it was time to begin preparing for the mother of all trips - the repeat to Ladakh, with the hope that this one would end better. The last one, although highly eventful and remembered fondly, ended with us unable to reach even halfway to our destination! 3 years down, this was our chance to make up for the failure.
The first guy to pack his bags and be ready for the trip was Zappy of course, but turned out he was the one who did not finally make it. The last person we thought would come was Chavan, but he managed to make it here just in time! In between was a mile long mail trail of planning, persuading, begging, and general bull$#!t. When at last we met at Delhi airport, there were 5 of us.
The usual suspects ...
1. The Terminator a.k.a Abby
2. High Command a.k.a Kavi
3. Dhakka Start a.k.a Chavan
4. Macho Man a.k.a Aj (that's me)
... And introducing ...
5. Bullet Baba a.k.a Manoj (I just made that up ... we did not have anything for Manoj on the trip!)
The drive from Delhi to Chandigadh is a super drab affair. Till we got to dinner, the after-a-long-time talk kept us awake. But after a paratha heavy dinner, there wasn't anything anyone could do to keep from falling asleep, especially with Abby going on about how he had not slept in 2 days! Except for Chavan, who was on keep-the-driver-awake detail, the rest of us just dozed off after dinner. Abby and me even managed to redesign the last seat and convert it into a makeshift bedroom for ourselves. I can't say it was the most comfortable bed I've slept in, but it sure was better than sitting up the whole night!
Morning saw us entering Himachal and seeing some rains. The landscape is a lot more interesting here in the mountains, but the lack of rains this year was apparent in the dry lake bed in Bilaspur. I remembered looking down out of the airplane the previous day and seeing the brown all over, very uncharacteristic for this late in the monsoon season!
We soon stopped for breakfast, again Bunty's decision, as were most stops on the whole drive! There were times when he almost made us feel like we were a bunch of hitchhikers he had picked up somewhere along the way! After a crappy breakfast, we started on the final leg of our trip. By the time we got to Manali, we had already finalized our shopping list and bike spares checklist, and had assigned duties to everyone. We had just one half day in Manali to get all the arrangements done, and we were going to have to be quick!
It did seem a tough ask, but somehow we managed to get everything done (in spite of some difficulties with missing driving licenses, total ignorance of Enfield bullets, and extreme negativity from some of the team). The guys at Anu Motors were extremely helpful helping us get all the rides and riders ready for the trip the next day. Abby and Chavan practically learnt to ride in that one afternoon!
By the time we had finished our dinner at Manali (with old monk for good luck), we were actually raring to set out. Wake up time 0430 hours and ETD 0500 hrs.
The first guy to pack his bags and be ready for the trip was Zappy of course, but turned out he was the one who did not finally make it. The last person we thought would come was Chavan, but he managed to make it here just in time! In between was a mile long mail trail of planning, persuading, begging, and general bull$#!t. When at last we met at Delhi airport, there were 5 of us.
The usual suspects ...
1. The Terminator a.k.a Abby
2. High Command a.k.a Kavi
3. Dhakka Start a.k.a Chavan
4. Macho Man a.k.a Aj (that's me)
... And introducing ...
5. Bullet Baba a.k.a Manoj (I just made that up ... we did not have anything for Manoj on the trip!)
The drive from Delhi to Chandigadh is a super drab affair. Till we got to dinner, the after-a-long-time talk kept us awake. But after a paratha heavy dinner, there wasn't anything anyone could do to keep from falling asleep, especially with Abby going on about how he had not slept in 2 days! Except for Chavan, who was on keep-the-driver-awake detail, the rest of us just dozed off after dinner. Abby and me even managed to redesign the last seat and convert it into a makeshift bedroom for ourselves. I can't say it was the most comfortable bed I've slept in, but it sure was better than sitting up the whole night!
Morning saw us entering Himachal and seeing some rains. The landscape is a lot more interesting here in the mountains, but the lack of rains this year was apparent in the dry lake bed in Bilaspur. I remembered looking down out of the airplane the previous day and seeing the brown all over, very uncharacteristic for this late in the monsoon season!
We soon stopped for breakfast, again Bunty's decision, as were most stops on the whole drive! There were times when he almost made us feel like we were a bunch of hitchhikers he had picked up somewhere along the way! After a crappy breakfast, we started on the final leg of our trip. By the time we got to Manali, we had already finalized our shopping list and bike spares checklist, and had assigned duties to everyone. We had just one half day in Manali to get all the arrangements done, and we were going to have to be quick!
It did seem a tough ask, but somehow we managed to get everything done (in spite of some difficulties with missing driving licenses, total ignorance of Enfield bullets, and extreme negativity from some of the team). The guys at Anu Motors were extremely helpful helping us get all the rides and riders ready for the trip the next day. Abby and Chavan practically learnt to ride in that one afternoon!
By the time we had finished our dinner at Manali (with old monk for good luck), we were actually raring to set out. Wake up time 0430 hours and ETD 0500 hrs.
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