Excited about the ride, I woke up around 5 AM and peeped out of the window, but to my dismay I was greeted with a frosted window and a heavy downpour. Alas just the thing that I was worried about. When I called up back home, my wife had warned me of the rains and flooding in Kashmir. Manali seemed to be isolated from the showers till yesterday night, but now things have changed. River Beas that was flowing right next to the restaurant was completely muddy in color and flowing intensively as though to warn me of the magnanimity of the ride ahead.
Though the departure was planned around 8 AM, we waited, waited and waited and finally left around 9 AM as we saw that the rains were not relenting and there was no point of waiting. We rode towards the right bank and crossed over to the left bank at the end of the Manali town and headed up the hills towards Palchan. Shops selling winter cloths for the folks going up till Rohtang started to appear. The route was going to be a steady uphill of around 40km till Marhi, our camping spot for the day.
The lower Himalayas densely populated with Cedar and Pine trees interlaced with waterfalls soon started to make way for the snow-capped Panjal range. At Palchan, the climb started becoming steeper and the rains were not relenting. We took a break in the middle for Mangoes & peaches. Satnam and Saurabh couldn't resits the Mangoes. As for me, I ate the dry fruits that Sandeep gave in the morning and the peaches.
We broke the journey a few kilometers before Gulaba check point for lunch, munched in a few veg rolls and chocolates. I squeezed my hand gloves (the typical Decathlon ones without finger covering) as they were soaked in the incessant downpour. After half a day, I had enough of the rains and was hoping for the rain clouds to disappear. The clouds made sure that the views towards the lower half of the mountains were blocked, so I pretty much was focusing on my pedaling and the numbness in my fingers due to exposure to rain and cold weather.
We wound up the last bend and a lake appeared in front of us. We crossed over the bridge where a few families were doing prayers and headed towards the first switchback. Our camping location appeared straight ahead. As part of the planning exercise I did map of the intensity of each day (altitude gain, kilometers etc.) . Manali to Marhi was going to be a good yardstick to measure success/failure for the trip. A climb of close to 5500 feet equivalent of climbing 5 Nandi Hills (Bangalore). As I rode towards the campsite, my mind became clear that the next few days, though it is going to be tough is doable if the bigger goal is broken into smaller chunks.
I have never done camping in my life. Moving in from a comfort of a hotel, the blankets, the hot water, the large bedroom to a 3 man tent, sleeping bag, bending down and crawling inside and outside tents wasn't going to be easy. I rushed inside the portico to get cover from the rain and change to something that is warm. The riding gears were also wet, so I left it to dry by the side of the tent wherever the chance of rain was less. I needed to have something hot. I and Bobby headed towards the Dhaba and grabbed a Magi.
Marhi evening was an absolute splendor. While the downhill view showed me the accomplishment of the day, the uphill view looked up at me at challenge ahead. Rohtang one of the highest passes of the Pir Panjal range. I stood at the portico in admiration for winding roads ahead and the work done by the BRO (Border Roads Organisation) -Project Deepak.
It became dark by around 730pm, the rains gave a short break, but then the drizzle started again. At the dining tent 3 course dinner was served. Surprise surprise there was chicken. In retrospect, the only day we had non-vegetarian in the whole journey. I had heard about the challenges of Rohtang climb a lot through blogs and videos. Saurab's first day debrief turned out to be the best medicine - "Marhi climb is the toughest induction. If you can do it Rohtang is half the challenge". Let us wear the BWCC jerseys on top of Rohtang - we all agreed.
We called it a day around 9pm. My tent mate Bobby and I spoke about the days ride and the challenge ahead. Mid way through my sleep I got up and realised that sleeping bag had got wet in the rain, possibly due to the exposure while transporting from Manali. I managed to catch some sleep in the midst of the god-knows-how traffic going up Rohtang pass. The rains continued in the night, my hope - the Pir Panjal range should have blocked the rain clouds. Perhaps on the other side of Rohtang it is a lot drier and sunny.
We'll if I thought I had the worst night sleep, I was wrong. Satnam was down with loose motion. He has been up since 2am with multiple visits to the loo.He decided to do a wait and watch. The rain gods were still not at our mercy.
630am Chai, breakfast at 730am, leave around 8am that was the plan. Today's ride was going to be uphill all the way till Rohtang (~14000 feet) and then downhill till Gramphu into the Lahaul-Spiti valley; ride alongside the Chenab (chandra river at this time coming from Chandra Taal in the mountains) and get to Tandi which was going to be an undulating uphill ride.
We started rolling around 830 AM after breakfast. Satnam decided to ride after a few pills but alongside Saurabh to make sure he completes the ride. It was a 17 km uphill to Rohtang top with a few switchback's. Being Tuesday, the traffic on the route was less. But the Raingods were not yet showering their mercy. My fingers started getting and I started feeling numb by the time I finished the third switch back. I put on the third layer soon and then covered myself with a raincoat.
Rohtang means pile of corpses in Ladhaki language, possibly to indicate the amount of people who lost their lives trying to cross the narrow and treacherous pass. The pass also represents the divide between two cultures/religion. Kullu valley which is predominantly Hindu and the Lahaul-Spiti valley which is predominantly Buddhist. By around 11 we reached the top, but it got awfully Chilly. I pulled out another layer from the bag and started wearing it. We waited for Satnam to arrive, but the wind and the rains made it very difficult to wait on. Finally I saw a semi conscious Satnam riding up the hill with a grim determination on this face. We quickly captured few photos in BWCC jersey and were on our way down. In retrospect, I am wondering how the hell did I say there with just one layer!!!
The absolute splendor of the valley, the river and the snow capped mountains kept me pedalling thegiuh the uphill. One wonders how beautiful it will be during winter. Saurabh promised that all rides will end with a downhill. Tandi is the confluence of Chandra and Bhaga river. Our camp was situated at the banks of the river. This is also the last petrol filling station on the Manali-Leh highway. The next filling station is 365 km away at Leh.
2 days into the ride, the tempo was already set, the routines were also falling in place. The drizzle continied. While the earlier hope was for a clear sky after we cross Rohtang, the new target was Baralachala. The riding gears were completely drenched and no hope of getting it dried anytime soon. I hoped and prayed that the sky clears soon.
The issues with cold weather is that one needs to get up in the middle of the night for bio breaks. I took my torch out of the bag and stepped out of the tent.bat first I suspected it to be flood lights at the campsite. I looked up and to my astonishment, it was bright moonlight. The skies had cleared up. It is going to be a great ride tomorrow.
We started rolling around 830 AM after breakfast. Satnam decided to ride after a few pills but alongside Saurabh to make sure he completes the ride. It was a 17 km uphill to Rohtang top with a few switchback's. Being Tuesday, the traffic on the route was less. But the Raingods were not yet showering their mercy. My fingers started getting and I started feeling numb by the time I finished the third switch back. I put on the third layer soon and then covered myself with a raincoat.
Rohtang means pile of corpses in Ladhaki language, possibly to indicate the amount of people who lost their lives trying to cross the narrow and treacherous pass. The pass also represents the divide between two cultures/religion. Kullu valley which is predominantly Hindu and the Lahaul-Spiti valley which is predominantly Buddhist. By around 11 we reached the top, but it got awfully Chilly. I pulled out another layer from the bag and started wearing it. We waited for Satnam to arrive, but the wind and the rains made it very difficult to wait on. Finally I saw a semi conscious Satnam riding up the hill with a grim determination on this face. We quickly captured few photos in BWCC jersey and were on our way down. In retrospect, I am wondering how the hell did I say there with just one layer!!!
With the confidence boost of conquering the first pass, we started the ride down. Rarely do we feel that the uphill is better than a down hill. This one was bound to be one. First it was the chilling cold and rain on downhill which left my hands numb that I had to break at each switchback and rub my hands. If that wasn't good enough, the roads just go worse. Saurabh mentioned about Dust bath, but this was mud bath. There was so much mud on the road that if you do not pedal downhill, it will get stuck on the road and you will fall down. I saw a Himachal bus caught in the rubble trying to pull itself out of it, but finding itself so much trapped that I felt it was just skating on ice. Multiple occasions I saw bikes going up getting stuck, coming back and then trying to accelerate up again. Oh what a mess, truly a Mud bath.
We had lunch break at Gramphu dabha. I needed something hot - Ginger Lemon Honey and Noodles - Magi that is. I saw two cyclists attempting to climb Rohtang from the opposite side at the Dhaba. It would have been a push up all the way as I can imagine.
We then started to the ride along the Chenab river (or Chandra river) as it is called in here. The rains kept pounding and the river was muddy. A few kilometres ahead, a tunnel appeared on the opposite bank. This one will connect Solang with Gramphu, making the valley accessible during winters.
We then started to the ride along the Chenab river (or Chandra river) as it is called in here. The rains kept pounding and the river was muddy. A few kilometres ahead, a tunnel appeared on the opposite bank. This one will connect Solang with Gramphu, making the valley accessible during winters.
The absolute splendor of the valley, the river and the snow capped mountains kept me pedalling thegiuh the uphill. One wonders how beautiful it will be during winter. Saurabh promised that all rides will end with a downhill. Tandi is the confluence of Chandra and Bhaga river. Our camp was situated at the banks of the river. This is also the last petrol filling station on the Manali-Leh highway. The next filling station is 365 km away at Leh.
2 days into the ride, the tempo was already set, the routines were also falling in place. The drizzle continied. While the earlier hope was for a clear sky after we cross Rohtang, the new target was Baralachala. The riding gears were completely drenched and no hope of getting it dried anytime soon. I hoped and prayed that the sky clears soon.
The issues with cold weather is that one needs to get up in the middle of the night for bio breaks. I took my torch out of the bag and stepped out of the tent.bat first I suspected it to be flood lights at the campsite. I looked up and to my astonishment, it was bright moonlight. The skies had cleared up. It is going to be a great ride tomorrow.
Next : the never ending Baralachala Climb
2 comments:
Super!
Read bits here and there but the photos speaks.
I could feel the rain and mud bath as i read it. Excellent write up of an once in a life time expedition.
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