Ride the Himalayas - Riding Day 2 Kullu to Eskape Adventure Camps

Ride the Himalayas      

7-11-2019       Day 2 of the ride

The mechanic checked all our bikes and lubed he chains first thing in the morning.  We all broke down our tents and helped put things together to load the truck after breakfast.  Of course, the first difficult task of the day would be to get back up to the main road.  That treacherous boulder field of large rocks didn’t disappear overnight!  Again, I think I was one the last to get to the bottom of the steep road up.  I could see the road had already taken numerous victims with bikes littering the road in various places.  Then I said to my self it’s time and I eased the clutch out and gave it gas.  I started bouncing and rocking all over the place but kept my speed.  Near the hairpin turn was Evan and his bike on the downhill side, I approached rapidly and somehow kept left and passed or bounced up to the semi flat turn area.  The turn around was my goal and I was going fast enough that the front tire went up the back bank a little before I could grab a handful of brake.  My front tire got stuck in some boulders but there were many guys there to help pull me back so I could start turning around for the next section which was just as punishing.  Again, I saw bikes strewn across the road but felt confident after the first section was successfully complete so off I went.  Up and up I managed until I got to the next hairpin curve where there was a large grassy area and the semi paved section of road began.  The others that had made it congratulated me and I felt like I had just summited Everest.   Ha, ha, ha.   Everyone that made it waited at this spot until all the bikes and support vehicles were up.   There was one major accident on this section and unfortunately it was Vanna.  Vanna is a very petite, lively, fit and fun woman and had a tumble yesterday (if you missed it go back and see photos) today the bike landed on her ankle again and it did not look good.  She had to go into the support vehicle while one of the other staff rode her bike. 

Finally back up to road 305 we keep riding until we get to road # 5 or highway 5 north & East.  This is the Deothi-Mashnoo road according to Google maps.  Another day like yesterday where we wound through small towns and villages, said Hi and High Five’d school children along the road.   Some of the road was really cool, carved into the sides of the mountain.

Finally, we came to a waterfall and since it was so hot and humid everyone started stripping down to jump in. I’ve never bothered to be like the rest and have just jumped in rivers, lakes, etc with full gear as when you start riding it will provide evaporative cooling effects and drop temps easily 20 degrees below ambient so I showed them how it was done. LOL

This shot of me cooling off in the waterfall was right after the falls knocked my expensive photochromatic color changing prescription glasses in it never to be seen again.    What a dumbash!  At least I brought a spare pair of glasses but they were clear.  J  

This actually turned into an impromptu lunch spot which served us all well.  I think around the next curve was another police checkpoint which I'm sure I would have blown right by if someone didn't say something.  I think most of us went over individually, took photos of our license plate to take into the small police building where they wrote it all down and our passport information.  I don't know if they ever used this information but they wrote it down on a paper notebook and told us we could go.

After lunch we took off and headed further north and east to the mighty Karchamm Dam.  It was very windy through there and the prayer flags were fluttering all around.  

Once we got all back together and had a small break we headed South East to our next days lodging the Eskape Adventure Eco-camp on the Sangla-Chitkul Road.  When we arrived at the location to detour down and across the river to the camp Rahul told us that if we wanted we could continue down the road to the end where we would be very close to China.  Also we would need our passports for the checkpoint.  So....  A few of us kept on.  It was another 35Km to the end of the road at the small village of Chitkul. 

 

Von and I arrived at the checkpoint to find 2 Army men ready to greet us.  These to guys were great and I think both were bored to death and were very happy to see a couple guys from the USA to practice their English.  We were more than happy to sit and chat with them but after quite a spell decided we better get going or we'll get back to camp quite late so we said goodbye and headed on down the dusty road.  

I was late getting out and Von was screaming up the road.  I took off and was flying  a little faster than I was comfortable with but doing ok and then blasted through a stream deeper than I thought it should be.  Water was splashing up over my head, all around the sides, I got a good wash job on it.  ha, ha, ha and then still going to fast around a corner the front tire started washing out.  I pulled a Valentino Rossi slide out of it without putting a foot down and decided I needed to chill out.  The rest of the ride to Chitkul was uneventful.  Only the military could go further to the border but it was fine with us.  I took some photos and a short video and then Amit, Vikas and I headed on back to the adventure camp.

The turn off to the camp was a concreted cow path with big sewer pipe square concrete raised spots in it and some of it also had fencing both wire and brick wall.  Oh yeah and there were stairs to go down so they were really testing my abilities as a street rider.  Ha, ha, ha

This was our camp with nice Swiss tents.  It was very cold that night, the beds seemed hard but we were so exhausted we slept like rocks.  Here is a shot of the camp.

This is the inside of our tent which was very nice.  The front had a porch that was covered and through the door was the main room.  In the back through another door was the bathroom.  Typically there was a toilet, sink to wash up and a small area to wash up if you cared to use cold water to take a sponge/washcloth type shower with the faucet and bucket.  This one looked like it had hot water but I didn't bother to check.  The camp had a generator they used for a while in the evening and also used Solar water heaters which was cool.

  

 

Ride the Himalayas - Riding Day 1 Manali to Ani / Kullu

Ride the Himalayas      

7-10-2019   Day 1 of the "Ride the Himalayas"

Day 1 of ride and we wake up to RAIN! Ugh! Nobody likes to start out on a trip in the rain, that’s just Bad Juju.  We all met up at about 7:30 for breakfast then packed and loaded up the truck to head out by 8:30. Around 9 AM there were some group photos of all of us on the bikes. What a crew we had, 4 Aussies and 5 Americans on the trip. Seems like there were more but that worked and it had stopped raining but was a steam bath and we were roasting in our riding gear. Finally, we took off like a herd of cats. The truck with all our gear was last and I think it had spare parts and food and other stuff. Rahul was in a nice SUV with a few others, we had a lead rider, tail rider and mechanic riding along with us.

The Wild bunch from left to right - Paul, Yadav, Amit, Ken, Stephen, Mischa, Evan, Vanna (in front), Rahul, Dave, Gala (in front), Brian (The Professor) and Von

I decided I would bring up the rear and just enjoy the ride and views. We rode through some really knarly combat traffic in some of the towns along the river. Some of the roads were super dusty and passing cars/trucks and whatever else was in the road was quite a new experience for most of us.

We got stuck in numerous traffic jams and at one such section we were on the downhill side on the outside of the road. I unfortunately came up late on the incident but Dave told me what happened to Vanna. "We stopped in that traffic jam and as Vanna put her foot down there was nothing there (that little cliff). It was slow motion watching her slowly fall over. I was trying to grab her bars and put my stand down. I looked away to jump off my bike and turned to see her bike on its side and her trapped by the foot dangling over the embankment! A local tried to pick up the bike but I stopped him because it’s what was holding her. I sat down and reached her hand and pulled her up as they lifted the bike."  Not a good start but we were all pretty ok except Vanna's foot/ankle in pain, the bike was fine.

 Photo by Ken Freund

One of the most fun things were seeing all the school children walking to or from school.  The boys and girls all wanted to slap hands or do a high five.  I was happy to extend good will and put my hand out to lightly pat hands.  Some kids really wound up and slapped hard and my hand was stinging through my leather gloves so I can’t imagine what their bare hand felt like.  Only one punk tossed a rock but 99% of the kids were great!  Love to see them smile.

Our fearless tail rider Yadav and one of the most respected riders, the cameraman Vikas on the back enjoying the curves going up to our lunch spot.

At some point in the travel we wound up through very thick forested mountains and stopped for a short photo shoot near the top and of course it started pouring.  By the time we hit the top of the pass the rain turned into a frog strangler.  Being part of the last of the bunch we dismounted and found a small shack the rest of the folks were in. All soaked we sat around while the owner made some Egg/noodle or other soup in a HUGE pot for us.  That hot soup really hit the spot since it was chilly and raining like mad.  I think the floor was dirt but he had some genuine PURE plastic chairs for us to sit on. ha, ha, ha  Yes I do have the photo but will spare you all from it.

I read the sign behind Stephan and Vanna and it said this Home stay and found it on the map so we had lunch about here.

It wasn’t the cleanest spot but it had a LOT of character and was a fun experience. After we were all done, it was time to go out and get going. The rain had finally subsided and the humidity shot up like a rocket. The clouds were floating around us at this altitude and more photos were taken before we kept on rolling down the road.

Stephen and Vanna up at the top. Check out the large slate pieces of stone as the shingles on the building behind. Wow! I bet that was heavy.

At the end of the first days ride we had to negotiate this hairpin turn down towards the river and the road turned to boulders about the size of oranges and cantaloupes. This would be interesting as I haven’t ridden off road before and since I was about the last in the group, I could see the carnage of bikes littering the dirt road down to the valley floor.

I somehow made it unscathed and worked my way over to our first night’s campsite.  We were in regular tents; it was hot and a little humid (remember this is mid July).  I know it is hard to see but there is a Yellow tent in the middle of the photo at the back side of the curve in the river.

The river was close by and there were pools of water which was like a bath.  I think Stephen, Mischa and I jumped in and really enjoyed the refreshing water before dinner.  There were some small children (boys and girls) that were walking around and stopped by to see these crazy folks on the motorcycles.   Here is a shot of Evan showing the young children the photo he just took of them.

This camp spot was near the town of Ani on road 305.  The closest GPS points I can find are:   31°24'01.0"N 77°23'01.9"E    or   31.400281, 77.383859

Ride the Himalayas - Leaving Delhi and Heading off to Manali

Ride the Himalayas      

7-8-19

 I found the trip on Facebook - "Ride the Himalayas"  and there is also the main website "Ride the Himalayas" where you can find more detailed information the trip and ask more about it. 

 

Before I get started I thought I should put a map or two here to show where the heck this place is in the world and then where we are going.

Another sunny day in Delhi, which was much warmer than I’d like, but you gotta roll with it.  Today was the day I get to meet the rest of the riders, I pay the balance and then head off to start this incredible adventure of Riding Royal Enfield motorcycles through some of the most breath-taking areas of the world.

To start off the day I thought I’d try to zip over to the closest Royal Enfield dealer and get a shirt or something cool. 

Looking at google maps it appeared to be about a 35 min walk.  I went downstairs to talk with the guy at the front desk and he said just take a TukTuk for about 100 rupees.  I figured, what the heck, it’ll save me time and I won’t be a total sweaty mess so I walk up the street to where I see a bunch of TukTuks and ask a guy, he says 100 INR, I said "Let’s go!"  He wants to take me to “his friends – Mall” which ended up on the same street and the one we needed but when he pulled over I said NO, let’s keep going.  He then turned down some other street and started going south like out of town.  I kept saying NO, WRONG WAY!  He kept saying it was the right way.  I showed him the map on the phone and 15 min later he pulls into a “tourist” place and I show the guys inside where I needed to go and they explained one more time to him.  By this time, this character who I found out was my age but looked about 10 years older had blown about 45 min of time and I was further from the store than when I initially started so I was not a happy camper.  He finally got on the right road and I kept watching, we were almost right on top of the store but could not see it.  I said this was close enough and got out, paid and started backtracking.  I found a big motorcycle dealer and walked up, asked one of the guys about it and he told me roughly where it was.  I had to cross a few Major streets to get there but managed and still had to ask around.  This place was NOT easy to find but I finally managed and it was nice, clean and air conditioned inside.  There was not very much inside for clothes but a gentleman helped me look at some shirts and hats, unfortunately they didn’t have any “fatboy American” size shirts so I was out of luck.  I spent 30-45 min in there as it was air conditioned then I walked down to the corner and after talking to a couple of different TukTuk drivers found one that would take me back to my hotel.  This guy did a great job and viewed my phone (with Google maps on it showing the way) and we worked together to get me back.  At one stoplight some poor little kids started doing gymnastics, banging on drums and other things for money, another small boy started grabbing my arm for money and then pointed to a sore on his leg.  The driver gave him some water and we took off.

Back at my hotel I arrived a sweaty mess and the front desk guys got me a nice cold ice water which I really appreciated.   I got my bags down to the lobby and tried to hail an Uber car.  I was a bit miffed that I spent way too long trying to find the RE dealer with the first driver and now it was after noon when I was supposed to be down at the Holiday Inn Aerocity, down by the airport meeting/greeting the other riders and staff for the trip.

I punched in the Uber trip (I’ve never even done this before so a totally new experience for me) and it said about 160 INR.  I’m like awesome!  I select and try to pay and get rejected or something, then I do it again and the same thing.  Finally I just grab my bags and start to hike down the alley to the street but they have a young boy help me with one of my bags.  I mention the Uber and he looks at the phone and has no better luck.  I then decided to try to “pay in cash” option which is what I would have preferred to begin with and this time everything works but now it costs 220 INR – go figure.  At this point I didn’t care and the car showed up in a minute, we loaded the bags in the back and took off. 

If you’ve ever been to Delhi, or anywhere in India you know that traffic is organized chaos, it’s like schools of fish swimming through the current or flocks of birds dancing through the sky.  You don’t know how it works but it just does.  I enjoyed watching the skills and nerves of steel these drivers had and really respect them.  I saw many close calls but never a fender bender or anyone getting even touched by a moving vehicle.  And basically anything goes on the roads as you can see here a horse drawn carriage, motorcycles, trucks, cars, cows, and other animals, it's all part of the fun.

My driver swiftly got me down to the Aerocity area which was very nice and a closed gated section of the city.  Before we could pull into the Holiday Inn we had to get the front and back of the car searched for bombs and some other security scan then I think when my bags came out of the car they needed to be scanned as well.  I paid the driver and thanked him for a wonderful job and he took off.  I walked into the lobby and I felt like I was in a 5 star hotel, very nice.  My standards for sleep are very low so anything with a bed is at least a 2 star - ha, ha, ha.  I checked my bags with the staff there and then Rahul came to check on me and show me back to the meeting location which was a separate glass room off the restaurant.   He introduced me to the folks that were already there and said I could go up and to the buffet where they had about every type of food displayed and you just filled yourself silly.  They also had an incredible desert bar and every little desert looked like it came from a designer bakery, beautiful and yummy. 

In a little while after the last guys showed up (Stephan and Dave from Kentucky, USA) Rahul brought in the big guys with muscle and started working us all over individually for about $2400 or $2900 US and we didn’t do any paperwork.  If we complied the big guys didn’t break our knees – ha, ha, ha.  After that portion was taken care of and all our bellies were full, we headed out to 4 mini-vans.  We had a ton of luggage and the guys did a great job loading it all in the back of the vans.  I hopped in one with Vanna and Evan both from Australia.  It was wonderful to meet and learn about them.  Vanna was a motorcycle instructor with quite a bit of teaching under her belt and Evan was a free spirit who has been all over the place and enjoying life.  He had no real motorcycle experience so I was a bit worried for him on such a dangerous ride.  We all became very good friends on our ~17-19-hour drive to Manali.

We had driven for hours when one of the vans pulled off to the side of the road so the rest of us pulled over as well.  It seems one of the guys had to relieve some tension very badly so they let him out and said go over there to the edge of the road.  Hmm…  

This isn’t how we do things in America but it appears its common practice in India so we rolled with it.  The temp was quite humid so we enjoyed the AC in the van.  We kept on driving and as it was getting twilight, we stopped at a roadside area to have a bathroom break and then Evan and I got some ice cream which was great since it was so cold and we were so HOT.  I got black currant and 2 scoops was about 70 rupees. 

In the darkness, maybe 9 PM we were zipping down the freeway.  It’s hard to tell how many lanes the freeway was because people drive all over the place in no particular fashion.  Well I think our driver was ahead of the others and all of a sudden, he pulled over to what I would call the shoulder and started talking on the cell phone.  We waited and waited and then unexpectedly to the three of us passengers the driver did a quick U turn and started driving south on the freeway head on into traffic.  We totally freaked out as he was playing chicken and swerving in and out and all around.  Luckily this only lasted a few mins as we got to an exit where he went down the entrance ramp and we met up with the other vans.  Apparently, there was some sort of “checkpoint” where we needed to check in and have our passports looked at and fill out some paperwork or something but Rahul and the guys quickly took care of everything and we were back on the road.  How exciting!

About midnight we stopped for dinner.  We went into a large hotel with restaurant and of course I had no clue about any food but sitting next to Mischa (fantastic rider from Australia and great guy) suggested a variety plate.  What the heck, let’s go for it so I did.  It had all sorts of different foods; some I could eat and others were hotter (spicy) than blazes.  I can’t handle spicy so it was challenging.  Ha, ha, ha

We got back in the vans and kept going.  I tell you the drivers were excellent and how they stayed away all day and all-night driving must have been from that spicy Indian food.  In the early morning, maybe 3 AM the mountains started and with it the curvy roads.  Our driver was like Mario Andretti and negotiated the curves like a pro.  Around 4 AM was another stop for a stretch and potty break. I tell you everyone drives with their High Beams on (and more lights if they have them) and these dudes never dim their lights!  I couldn’t sleep for anything in the van as the road was bumpy and Mario was a mad man at the wheel.  Ha, ha, ha.

I don’t remember what time we stopped for breakfast but it was another nice break.  This stop was at the Hotel Raxit Inn – Best Homestay.  Hotel & Restaurant in Kullu, they got breakfast ready for us in short order.  The weather was much cooler which all of us really enjoyed.  After breakfast we piled back into the vans for the final push to Manali.

Finally, around 10 AM we arrived in at hour hotel up high on the hills on the outskirts of Manali.  (Fog Hills Manali Cottages).   We were greeted by a very nice host who gave us all beautiful hats and scarves.  I just loved the one he gave me and thought it was super cool.  I will cherish them the rest of my days.

One thing about India and towns in the Himalayas is that they make use of the hillsides and our hotel was doing this as well.  My room was at the very bottom of the hotel and down many flights of stairs. I didn't mind the stairs as we'd been sitting for so many hours it was nice to get the blood pumping.

Rahul had paired us up with another in the group and we were roommates for the rest of the trip.   My Roommate was Von a young 28 YO fire fighter/EMT/Paramedic from Virginia.  The room was incredibly beautiful with a view to die for.  We could see the entire valley and town of Manali.  We took our stuff down and got cleaned up then headed back up to the group.  Lunch was served and then we went back to our rooms for a rest.  About 4:30 we were to meet up on the main level to take the bikes out for a spin.  We zipped into town to get gas and then back out to the countryside.  The bike fit me like a glove and was very comfortable.  We were all on Royal Enfield Himalayan model motorcycles.  After a while I turned around from the group and headed back to the hotel.  Well I didn’t remember exactly which small road to turn off on and the next thing I know was I was lost and riding around the hillside by myself.  I went up different driveways and had to turn around and up and down and all around  I knew the general vicinity of the hotel but unfortunately didn’t know the name so I couldn’t even ask for help.  LOL   Eventually I made it back and was a happy camper.

At one point Von mentioned he’d seen a monkey playing with the dog at the hotel up in a grassy area off to the side so I grabbed my camera and ran up but did not find either.  I do love to shoot so I found a cool bird and followed it around until I could get a nice shot of it.  The bird turns out to be a White-Eared Bulbul.  If you look close on the underside it has a yellow patch down near the tail, quite colorful.

After dinner we all gathered in a little level area next to the rooms to celebrate Evans 31^st Birthday and there was a cake along with a lot of beer.  Evan gave a colorful speech which was hilarious and we all hung out for quite a while before retiring to our rooms for the night as tomorrow, we’d start our incredible adventure.