“Out of the city and over the hill,
Into the spaces where Time stands still,
Under the tall trees, touching old wood,
Taking the way where warriors once stood;
Crossing the little bridge, losing my way,
But finding a friendly place where I can stay.
Those were the days, friend..”
- Ruskin Bond Into the spaces where Time stands still,
Under the tall trees, touching old wood,
Taking the way where warriors once stood;
Crossing the little bridge, losing my way,
But finding a friendly place where I can stay.
Those were the days, friend..”
Leh-Manali
route is a 479km long highway connecting Himachal Pradesh and the Jammu &
Kashmir. Border Roads Organization (BRO), Indian army has skillfully designed it
and laid tarmac over this treacherous terrain. The route is very popular among
the bulleters community. Only a handful of people choose to cycle down the ‘baap’ of all road trips in India. The journey takes you through 5 high altitude
passes, barren lands, beautiful plateaus, and twisted roads in the cold
Himalayan desert.
There’s so much information about this journey out there in the web – the harsh terrains, uncertainties and the challenges, high altitude and thin air, the AMS fear, bad roads and crazy ups and downs. You don’t need to be an athlete to complete this journey ;) But with some preparations, one can do it with fun! We started little weekend rides out of the city, started frequent jogging. There was excitement, a little fear, a few unanswered questions... But we had the courage to face it all, the mind was all set for a lifetime ride!
There’s so much information about this journey out there in the web – the harsh terrains, uncertainties and the challenges, high altitude and thin air, the AMS fear, bad roads and crazy ups and downs. You don’t need to be an athlete to complete this journey ;) But with some preparations, one can do it with fun! We started little weekend rides out of the city, started frequent jogging. There was excitement, a little fear, a few unanswered questions... But we had the courage to face it all, the mind was all set for a lifetime ride!
 |
| It’s courage, not luck, that takes us through to the end of the road |
The
basecamp was located between Kullu and Manali, 20 kms after Kullu. 3 batches of
cyclists, each batch containing ~50 people were part of this journey. People
from different states, different ages and from all walks of life were there. A
young man in his late 50’s was here to take a ride for the second time. The spirits were high and the mountain madness
was buzzing! The plan was to have a day gap between each batch. Each batch
contains 2 YHAI camp leaders who will cycle along, support staff carrying water
and the repair stuff, backup vehicle which carries the backpacks, a doctor and
an ambulance with oxygen cylinders and other basic stuff to handle emergency. Once the last batch left a campsite, the
support staff packs up the tent, moves ahead and sets up everything again. YHAI
had setup everything very beautifully, all we had to do was just peddle ;)
And we
were immediately put to test as we started our journey. It was an all 48-km-uphill-ride. There were
rains in the night. During the day sun was hiding behind and it was cold. As
the day progressed, rain clouds had engulfed us and the visibility had dropped
to ~10-20 meters. And it started raining. The slow drizzle was steadily
increasing. Stopping and taking a break
was not an option as the wet clothes and the cold was killing. Riding ahead was also tough as the uphill
were never ending and we had been riding for more than 6 hours already. Reaching the campsite was the only thing on
mind. Slowly, steadily we ended our first day ride at Marhi, 14kms before
Rohtang. Next day was no different. It
was foggy and drizzling from the beginning.
Only hope was that there was downhill after the pass. Though the
distance was small, altitude was slowing us down. Downhill ride was not easy either. After rohtang, two things vanished: Tourist
crowd and the road! Controlling the
speed at the downhill and avoiding the potholes and boulders kept us awake!
 |
| Road to Rohtang |
As we
continued the journey onto the rain-shadow areas, sun started coming out. The valleys were brimming with the greenery. Snow
melt water was feeding into the smaller tributaries. Less people, small and neat villages, empty
roads that opened up into the vast stretches of isolation amused us. Ups and
downs, roads and bone shattering off roads, sunburns, wind, roar of the river
and the strange mountain silences brought the calmness. We slowed down and pedaled to the melodious
rhythm of the mountains.
Many a
times we had nothing but a river besides us and miles and miles of open roads
ahead of us. We crossed multiple streams and rivers throughout this journey,
including Beas, Chandra, Bhaga/Chenab and the mighty Indus and numerous tiny
tributaries. We had the luxury of
camping in some beautiful locations. At Sissu, a huge waterfall was plunging
into the Chandra River. Next to the river was this beautiful woods, a lake and
we camped right next to the river listening to the thunder of the
waterfall. At Rumtse, the campsite was right in the middle of the super green fields, stark contrast to the dry, barren mountains. This was not the case in many places. We had to stay at places of altitude of
around 4000m in the middle of nowhere.
Water was scarce while the wind, cold was in abundance.
There are
a number of small army settlements in this highway. Convoy movements, supply
trucks are a common sight. Whenever we
saw a convoy, we used to stop, gave them a salute! Army men would smile and
wave back at us. Most of the bullet
riders gave thumbs up whenever they passed us! Once a bullet rider stopped near
us, he was tired after the long ride and it was hard for him to believe that we
were cycling the same route! He exclaimed “Arey yaar, I am struggling with my
bullet, How you guys are managing in cycle?! “ One other time, 2 families from
UP were travelling in jeep, stopped at us. They gave us the energy drinks,
chocolates and some celebrity status ;) In return, they took selfies on cycle
;) Some of these incidents gave us the goosebumps and the others made us laugh
and keep going! We were our own heroes! :)
At times,
you will be riding alone for miles without seeing a single vehicle! It’s like
riding through some alien planet. Occasional burst of bullets, or a fellow
cyclist pedaling somewhere in the next bend brings back you to earth! There are 5 mountain passes in the
journey. Passing the passes is a tricky
thing. As the altitude increases, the
oxygen level comes down and the body is prone to the AMS attack. Smallest of
activities like walking a few steps seems awkward and demands a lot of breath
cycles. Even if the destination is in
sight, it needs a lot of pedaling to reach. The
ride in the ghost haunted Gata loops and the Nakee la needs special mentioning
here.
Gata loops,
a series of 21 hairpin bends, which takes us 1500 feet higher in about 10
kms. There’s not a single sign of
civilization in the entire ride. There’s hardly any vegetation, no sources of
water. It takes a huge effort to reach the gata loops top and seeing the end
makes you jump in joy. But the real task is to continue and cross the Nakee
la. Most of the energy was gone during
the Gata loops climb. Water bottles were almost empty. The packed food in the backpack was cold. But
there was no option, we ate a little of it, started climbing again. Pass was
nowhere in the scene and the water reserves were over. We stopped couple of bullet riders and asked
water, but they didn’t have it. Tired
and helpless, we were pushing ourselves. Fortunately, we got help from a Temp
traveler. Refilling that water bottles gave some confidence. Almost
immediately, YHAI backup vehicle reached us and told us that the campsite is
very close! With some more push, we ended our ride at Whiskey Nalah, where the
next pass Lachung la was scaring at us!
And of
course the highest of all, the Tanglang la pass, world’s second highest
motorable road at the altitude of 17800 ft, gives us the final test. Keeping the rhythm was a crucial thing that
kept us going. That and a lot of endurance! ‘Keep pedaling and we will
definitely reach’ - this was the mantra taught to us in the base camp and we
followed it religiously. The sight of the Tanglang la is something that we will
not forget for many many days. It was an unbelievable achievement for most of
us :) Out of the 53 people who started, around 40
people made it to Leh.
Every trip to the mountains makes us richer with more stories, more friends and new experiences, new perspectives that changes the way we live! This trip is no exception. Be it the conversations over the Ginger lemon chai and the hot maggy, or the numb legs while crossing the cold mountain streams- when popped up in the mind , will surely bring a smile in the faces! Insane blue skies, scattered clouds that wanders aimlessly, ever changing landscapes and the cloudscapes, bright sun that burns the skin, cold wind that breaks the bone, vast stretches of isolation, deep river gorges and in the midst of all – the tall mighty Himalayan peaks that keeps calling! Can you ever satisfy the wanderlust and overcome the mountain madness? I have satisfied them, at least for now ;)
