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.