Longest most of the Tourers would have attempted would be around 600 kilometers or may be 800 kilometers. But Do 400 + kilometers in twisty hilly terrain and 500 + kilometers on plains in a single day. I guess not many would have even thought of it.

Wonderful Ladakh tour:
Once we crossed into Kashmir, the heat, not much to see terrain and packed traffic made it a perfect mix to return home. From Udhampur to Amritsar and then Delhi in a single day was due to the fact that I grew increasingly frustrated with the Traffic and terrain. More the roads smoothened heavier the traffic was. I really wanted to get the hell out of there, left Udhampur by 6am and rode on never turning back or even bothering to stop. Heat, Humidity and rain when blended into one hilly location no one would want to stay there. I reached Amritsar by 1pm but then the humidity factor simply clotted my feelings and didn’t bother even spending a few minutes there.

Once I hit the four lane highway, I did not even have enough time to watch my rear view mirror. Bad to worst, a crazy Australian on a KTM rode past me and then tries showing off some stupid stunts. Just before I entered Panipat this guy fully loaded over takes me from the left and then pulls right, blocking my bike. I was doing 80kmph and felt so irritated at that time, then started a race that lasted all the way to NH 8. In the middle of rush hour he was racing against me at breakneck speeds. He often touched over 160kmph and I always fell behind as Pulsars really cannot do much against a 900cc adventure machine. Once the traffic blocked the Australian Rider & I catch up and over take him. I never had any intention to Race him but he would basically drag me into it again and again. I wanted to show him that I was not racing so I stoped and again in the traffic I came across him in few kilometers.

After entering Delhi roads, I slowed down my pace and got to the city condition riding. The Australian Rider rode on at same pace just to collide with a cycle crossing the road just before NH 8 started near the airport turn. The guy riding cycle almost claimed to be UFO for a moment and Australian skidded off the tarmac on to gravel and finally crashing into a parked Taxi. I immediately stopped and helped the cycle guy stand on his feet. He was fine with some broses. When I ran towards the Australian to help him, he got up with anger and slapped the poor cycle guy without any remorse. This aggression outraged every one who witnessed this hideous act and it was time for the Australian to run. I some how managed to control the situation and just asked the Australian to go. I had nothing to say but to give him the Look.

Over 900 kilometers of ride which lasted over 16 hours and finally ends with a race and disaster.

- Faiyaz Sultan

 By Faiyaz:

I am back with loads of pics and hell loads of stories this time.

25 days of fun & pleasure enhanced by natural beauty of Ladakh terrain. Every time we do it, we cant stop our selfs from drulling at the wonders we come across. Explored: Zanskar Valley, Nubra Valley, Kashmir, Punjab, Spiti Valley, Kullu Valley etc etc…

I would be showing off some really kool pictures in upcoming days on this amazing ride. First let me introduce every member of Adrenaline Riders who participated in this ride.

1. Anshuman & wife Anu
From: London, UK
Ride on: Royal Enfield Machismo 350

2. David Salguero
From: USA
Ride on: Honda Karizma 227 

3. Vikash Kumar
From: Coimbatore, India
Ride on: Honda Unicorn 150 

4: Vikas Chaunkar
From: Delhi, India
Ride on: Royal Enfield 500 ES 

5. Madhav Rastogi
From: East Delhi, India
Ride on: Bajaj Avenger 180 

6. Shalvin Koshy
From: East Delhi, India
Ride on: Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi 

7. Faiyaz Sultan
From: Noida, India
Ride on: Bajaj Pulsar 180 Classic 

• 8 Riders, distance covered over 3500 kilometers
• No. of days – 26
• Explored Ladakh, Zanskar, Nubra
• Best day of the ride: Leh – PangongTso Lake
• Worst day of the ride: Amritsar to Delhi

By – Faiyaz Sultan

What happens if you are on a short tour of 25 days and you end up having food poison in the middle of it?

First let me explain you all as what AMS & Dehydration.

Acute Mountain Sickness or Mountain sickness is an illness that ranges from a mild headache and weariness to a life-threatening build-up of fluid in the lungs or brain at high altitudes.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is common for all those who travel to Ladakh as its higher altitude is ideal for AMS. A more serious form of mountain sickness is high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). But not many could end up in that form as it is usually due to heavy lose of oxygen from the blood either cycling or mountain climbing could cause it. This illness occurs when fluid builds up within the lungs, a condition that can make breathing extremely difficult. Usually, this happens after the second night spent at a high altitude, but it can happen earlier or later. HAPE often comes on quickly. If left untreated, it can progress to respiratory collapse and ultimately to death. HAPE is the number one cause of death from mountain sickness.

Dehydration is a condition that occurs when the loss of body fluids, mostly water, exceeds the amount that is taken in. With dehydration, more water is moving out of our body than the amount of water we take in through drinking. We lose water every day in the form of water vapor in the breath we exhale and as water in our sweat, urine, and stool. Along with the water, small amounts of salts are also lost, but when on long tours you must keep drinking any form of fluids as regularly as possible. When we lose too much water, our bodies may become out of balance or dehydrated. Severe dehydration can lead to death.

When a rider goes through dehydration he is prone to acute mountain sickness and guess what? I suffered all of them at the same time.

It all started off on Day 3 of the Ladakh tour when I, Shalvin, Croc stoped at a Dhaba for a hot cup of tea. Shalvin & Croc had normal tea but stupid me, I tried lemon and mint mix tea. How crappy does it sound? Well not that bad as it tastes I would say, since the Dhaba guys did not have the normal tea they suggested either Lemon tea or Mint tea but I asked for a mix between both. One sip and I knew that I cannot have the entire glass of it but it was really cold out there around 3 degrees and I had to have something hot. I had the whole glass of this mixed flavor and really did not enjoy it. After we finished it, we headed up to Manali and it was late night. The ride was not the issue but just 15 mins down the road and i felt like puking out everything. But I did not, reached Manali and got into a hotel. Once in, I was too tiered and really wanted to crash into bed but the damn tea made me go crazy, I puked all night and next day morning it was to my horror that I felt strange pain in my abdominal area. I thought it was normal pain and ignored it, my poor stomach was indicating to the trouble I was about to go through. Mid noon and we reached RohtangLa Pass, by the time we reached I had sickening feeling inside and I was about blast out but then hold myself and controlled it. By the time we reached Koksar, it was sun down time and I had to relieve myself. Stopped at Koksar and ran inside the police check post, lucky me I found my good old friend Neeraj posted there. I finally relieved myself and got out with a grin on my face; this was the first time that I had to go through such an experience and what timing it had. I do have loads of junk food but never did I have food poison. It’s advisable for anyone to check with doctor but I didn’t. We were running out of time and we had to reach Keylong by night. Spending two days in Keylong with the same problem but I did have loads of water.

Day 6, we left Keylong and my stomach ache had just worsened during the course of time. Medication I had would have no effect. We reached Sarchu and by that time I was out cold. David who was suffering from similar problems was admitted in the Medical facility of Indian Army, I just came out of the facility and I dropped dead on the desert. My body would not take it any more and thanks to Anshuman who helped me get back to the facility and next thing I know, I woke up next to David after few hours of sleep.

The entire group was surrounding us and waited for our recovery, I was in no condition to continue nor was David. We rested at Sarchu and the night passed like a lightning. Next morning I still felt the pain, the army doctor advised me to take as much liquid as I can as I was suffering from Dehydration which also resulted in AMS. Little did the doctor know that I was actually suffering from food poison not AMS. I had no symptoms of AMS but did have problems.

Day 7, we left Sarchu and I was determined to reach Leh by noon. David also wanted to be hold on with me and we both decided to leave the rest and move on to Leh. All sceneries, beautiful landscape & amazing sky but no time for a single photo shot from my side. I was eager to reach Leh and so we did by 4pm. 3 more days of even more suffering and I ended up at a hospital in Leh, my pain was unbearable and doctor immediately reorganized the problem and advised for few days of rest with proper medication.

The most beautiful part of the journey was all missed out by me due to one glass of tea. Some times you learn a lesson from such incidences, no matter how prepared you are or how many times you have been there. You would still have a twist in the story and this time it was this problem that gave me one more memorable experience out of the blue.

!! June 01, 2008: Ron Mathewson’s Birthday!!!

On the morning of June 01, 2008, I went to Harley Eastside, Bellevue to pick up Suzie Q. Ambarish take care of the paper work with Alex Astern.
Alex handed over Suzie Q to me. Since I had last ridden with her, Suzie Q had NOT been rented out. I was in touch with Ron on fone. He and Jenn were in Seattle taking delivery of their bikes, sorry Harleys, from Eagle Riders at Seattle.
Around 1100 Ronn and Jenn rolled down to 226th Street, PL NE. I was ready with by camera as the 2 Harley Beasts of Fortune roared alongside making a deafening noise in the neighbor hood as never before. Here on 226th street, you cant hear a thing except the wind blowing ……

Yes the answer my friend, was blowing in the wind, the answer was blowing in the Wind….

RON AND JENN WERE FINALLY HERE..

We the Chitnis family and Mathewsons exchanged pleasantries.  She presented me with a New York Yankee Tee.
Ron immediately wore the tee and that fitted him very well. A few quick pics and we were

Ambarish the Route plan on a Map to Ron. Redmond>Duval>Manroe>Stevens Pass>Leavenworth., some 120 odd miles.
I made an observation to Medini “Jenn is so beautiful….”
Ron smirked and looked the other way. I said “Hey hey Ron, Man you look good too!”

Exactly at 11:00 hrs, we roared off, 3 Harley Monsters.
I was leading, Jenn center and Ron sweeping. The roads were nice and clear, the weather was holding out, but a bit chilly.
Off Monroe, Ron took the lead, Jenn center and me sweeping. Ron stopped the bikes at a Gas Station for a butt break.

The twisties started and Ron started ripping his Monster 1400 cc bike. He was taking the bends in style at high speeds. He is a Honda CBR man. Surprisngly, Jenn also started to rip and take the turns at high speeds, keeping up with Ron. I kept Suzie Q to my riding limits.

As we gained altitude at the Stevens Pass rapidly, the weather started to deterirate. It started to freeze and later fog reduced visibility to around 5 car lengths, some places even less.

The traffic from the opposite side was heavy, as tourists returning home from Leavenworth. Our side traffic was thin. It started to get colder the fog got thicker.
And then, the most unexpected happened. …suffice to say we got away with Nil losses, plenty of Profits, thanks to experiencetial learning from this incident.

I remembered Dr Arn Gupta’s Golden Words……

“Riding on unfamiliar roads on unfamiliar bikes…is asking for serious trouble..”
Dr Arnob Gupta, MDS
Bun Burner, Saddle Sore Rider
Iron Butt Assoc of USA

I will leave out the details for the time being. Jenn’s hands and fingers had started to freeze, no circulation no feel. We pulled over at a curb at the apex of Stevens
Pass. Her hands were white and yellowed. Took some 30 minutes for her to get fit again.

I relaxed Jenn. “Look Jenn, this is NOT going to happen again…so Ride as if you stole the bike…!! She smiled.

This time, Jenn lead the wolf pack, me center Ron sweeping. We had 30 miles to go.
Jen was riding at high speeds…I had a tough time keeping behind her …Ron had slowed down to a leisurely speed enjoying the breath taking views of the Stevens pass.

Once we started to ascend the weather cleared up beautifully. We arrived at Leavenworth.

I found a nice German restaurant for lunch. Ron ordered German home made beers all round, as legally permitted by Law

We were famished.

I ordered a nice big dish of Sausages and Greens.
To my horror, Ron said “Jenn we have home made Indian food waiting for us at the Chitnis’ residence, so lets not stuff up..” He ordered just one small sandwich, ripped it to half and that is ALL they ate! She did not protest one bit….and I, a small Desi, was eating like a Big American Harley Man and the Americans (Ron is lean, tall, a 6 footiya) were nibbling at half sandwiches! Complete role reversals!
Lunch eaten, we walked back to our Harleys ..here Jenn just lay down on the foot apth for a quick power nap!

The Ride home was going fine. We stopped for some pics at the beginning of the Stevens Pass.

Once up the Stevens Pass, was cold again. This time Jenn was lead, Ron center and I was sweeping iin a formation that DIN not allow any cars to pass us. And no cars honked or protested coz tis was 3 Harleys leading all the way. No one messes with Harley Riders in America.

Was a cold rainy windy ride. Jenn pulled up at a 100 years old Post Office cum Coffee restaurant. Gratefully, we went inside, warm and nice. The Coffee was great …only Riders know the value of each sip of hot coffee, what it means to be warm. Ron got his for free as I told the counter lady that it was his Birthday.

We headed out to Monroe…here I was in the lead with GPS in pocket with earfones. But the noise of Suzie’s engines drowned the voice of the GPS. I lost my way and we stopped to cross check the GPS. Done with that and Jenns bike would not start!

We decided to park her bike at a Vet hospital, locked and Jenn held my GPS in her hand riding pillion on Ron’s bike. Ron was feeling bad that we were now late to reach home. I assured him that this was an Emergency and the family will understand. ETA home was 20:30 hrs we made it at 23:00 hrs.
Oh sure the Chitnis Mafia was glad to have us all home. Ron enthralled them with the ride story….

I told Jenn and Ron…”Look a nice ride to Leavenworth and back makes for a boring trip log…..tis when you have incidents and rains, fog and cold winds, unexpected twists and turns, that makes for a great trip log…..We will remember this ride for a long time to come some years down the line.”

Few days later Ron sent me an email

“Captain -

Thanks for the kind words.

It was a crazy birthday for me. Your calmness made it and adventure. Without you it would have been classified a disaster!!”

GPS Magellan RoadMATE 2000 T

24th May, to June 01 was a long wait. I was constantly in touch with Ron via fone and emails.
After returning Suzie Q to HD, there was a strange void in my life. Was this really happening? Me, the Harley, Ron and Jenn. Or was it just a dream?

I told Ambarish I needed a GPS a week before Suzie Q was hired. He was smart and ordered a reconditioned Magellan Roadmate 2000T, great price of $ 100/- only, with amazing features of a $ 300/- GPS.

It arrived without a power cord via Buy.com. Ambo ordered a new cord. That too arrived in good time.

This GPS was later to be our savior during my ride out with Ron and Jenn.

BRANGELINA

To get a bit more familiar with the GPS I hired a car, an Aveo Chevvy, much the same like on the streets of India, only automatic and plenty of power under the hood.

For want of a better name I called her Brangelina arbitrarily, and christened her near a Church at Duval.

VIRAL AND RAKESH : LOVE JOSHI CONNECTIONS

That very night, Medini and I had a dinner invitation with Love Joshi’s sister, Viral and her husband Rakesh at Bothell, some considerable distance away from Redmond. Was a evening night drive there and the GPS was spot on. Viral and Rakesh were perfect hosts and we chatted the night away, as if we knew each other for long. Hey Love, thanks for the introduction Man.

Next two days, I drove Brangelina around everywhere on the hills and mountain roads, to the Snowqualmie water falls to the Rly Museum for route checks and GPS checks.
Water falls at Snowqualmie

Railway Museum, Snoqualmie

I had a wild idea of taking my grand daughter Anika with me. But Ambarish and Archana would not allow me to do that, coz Anika is just 11 months old and they don’t trust me to take care of Anika, though I was reasonably confident of handling the baby and the bath tub…what ever that means…

Ambarish talked to Ron a day before they arrived at Seattle. It was decided that we should ride some 140 miles from Redmond to a nice German town Leavenworth through the awesome Stevens Pass. I drove Brangelina for a route check….all ok.

I was ready for Ron and Jenn.

Finally, finally June 1, 2008 dawned, one of the most exciting day of my life….

Suzie Q welcomes Ron and Jennifer Mathewson at 226th Street, Redmond Ridge, our residence.

Ron n Jenn Roll in

Acclimatization

The major cause of altitude illnesses is riding too high too fast. Human body is not use to decreasing oxygen areas and its basically an adaptation process for the body to get the best results. It increases your respiration capability to get more oxygen.

For more detailed information please see this [Study of AMS]

TEMP:  10 DEGREES MORNING & -20 DEGREES AT NIGHT
ROUTE TAKEN: Sarchu – Gata Loops – Pang

TECHNICAL ISSUES: None

ROAD CONDITION (Sarchu – Gata Loops): Good condition, one lane. No road breaks, could manage 50 kmph with ease.

ROAD CONDITION (Gata Loops – Pang): Fairly good condition except the passes. The condition drains out all power from your bike. Can manage 30 – 40 kmph

CLIMATIC CONDITION: Bright and Sunny over all.

5:30am : Since I and David had issues with dehydration and acute mountain sickness we slept a lot more than others, we must have had over 15 hours of sleep. Woke up as fresh as ever, got the rhythm going. Sarchu was the last stop in Himachal and now we were entering Jammu & Kashmir territory and the first sign welcoming the tourist said, “Welcome to the Paradise”. Paradise would be an under statement if you asked me. The sheer beauty of the Landscape was unimaginable. River following every inch you step with huge mountains surrounding you. No one around and peace all the way. Some times you might hear loud roars of Fighter Jets as they fly by to airstrips. Last evening, while I and David were far asleep Anshuman and others join Indian Army for a game of Cricket. The high altitude meant only bowling and batting but fielding was something they were least interested. Even Jonty Rhodes would have felt lazy catching a ball. We said Bye to Himachal and Hello to Kashmir.

Our start was ever so perfect but, in a Hurry I started first, following me was VikashK and David. We were riding a lot faster than any one else, David was simply dragging along since he wanted to get to a lower altitude as fast as possible. We started off on Gata Loops and attempted a few short cuts, we managed to reach the top but my bikes drive chain was a little too loose now and was falling off the alignment. I stopped a lot and simply fixing it, it required an extra half and hour as we had to tighten the chain but all the tools were carried by Croc and he was the last rider to have started from Sarchu. Madhav caught up with Vikash for a brief moment but lost him on the way, I didn’t even know that others were right behind us. We crossed the passes and reached Pang by noon. We managed to grab something to eat at that time. We had a few boiled eggs and a few packets of Noodles. By the time we were done eating David had a bad nose bleed. Blood all over his suite and we manage to rectify the problem at that time, we waited for the rest of the group but they were far behind us. We checked in at the J&K check post and decided to ride on to Upshi as we were too close to our final destination.

Rest of the group too so slow, that’s because we were ahead of them and did see Madhav on the loops, he fell off on one of the loops and could not do much as he really required help. Same time even Croc had fallen off and broke his bike’s foot rest. The entire group following behind stopped and fixed Croc’s bike first then managed to catch Madhav on the loops and fixed his bike too. They were almost an hour behind us but we had no clue, all the Trucks we overtook had already passed us by then and looking at David’s condition I decided to get down to a lower altitude as soon as possible.

We rode on and the Great Plains started, no roads just gravel and soft dessert sand. We met a couple of 60kph members and discussed about the route, they were returning from Leh and we were on the opposite route. They described their experience of the roads ahead and we explained ours, we headed towards the final pass Tanglang La which the toughest for our bikes. Some how the bikes were struggling for more power, we were riding at second gear almost all the time. We reached the top and the roads condition started to look like roads now.  This was the sign of some fast ride and we managed to get the best out of the roads. Reaching Upshi by 4pm, we took our second break. David was now a little relaxed and could make out with his face full of life, we rode on to Leh and managed to reach our Hotel room by 6pm without any issues at all.

Rest of the group stayed back at Pang that night with no one being affected by AMS thanks to the perfect planning we had to acclimatize.

Keylong – Sarchu

TEMP: 10 DEGREES MORNING & 0 DEGREES AT NIGHT
ROUTE TAKEN: Keylong – Darcha – ZingZing Bar – Barlacha – Sarchu
TECHNICAL ISSUES: None
CLIMATIC CONDITION: Bright Sunny
ROAD CONDITION (Keylong – Darcha): Roads are really good conditions when compared to the previous days. One lane, full of sceneries and very few pot holes with just one water crossing

ROAD CONDITION (Darcha – ZingZing Bar): Roads are poor condition, poor roads starts 20 kilometers from ZingZing bar. Basically these roads are base layer of road foundation, would not complete before 2009 end.

ROAD CONDITION (ZingZing Bar – Baralacha Pass): One hell of an amazing stretch of road, one lane and smooth tarmac with perfect banking curves. No rail protection though.

ROAD CONDITION (Baralacha Pass – Sarchu): Average and poor as there are plenty of cracked road surface with loads of small streams affecting the base layout itself. Last year and the year before these roads really were in an amazing condition.

Rapid ascend to higher altitude would cause AMS and sudden headaches, would advise to ride slowly stopping at every possible altitude for a photograph. This would help your body.

Topic during the same time frame: A.M.S+ Dehydration + Food Poison = Ladakh?
Trip Log:

Our day began with a bang, we had fixed rendezvous point as Hotel Chandra Bagha, we all were supposed to meet up at 6am. Some delays from the group which stayed in other hotel but we finally meet up at 7:30am. Packing all the luggage and ready to ride by 8am and we left the place as soon as possible. I however stayed back for an hour as I was not in a good shape; I really required some medical attention when it came to my health. I left at 8:45am and caught up with rest of the group just before Zing Zing bar. The bad roads had caused some issues with the saddle bags on my bike. I had to stop and remove the bags. Removing all the bolts and nuts and then re – fixing them had fixed the issue temporarily. By the time we reached at the top of Barlacha, my condition really was worsening minute by minute, David however was feeling worst than ever before. Since David was allergic to Diamox, his medications were limited. I rode on and on, not stopping for a picture or anything. Our plan was to reach Pang by evening but that was not the case. After the plans had started, I managed to cross the only big water crossing with no issues and reached the last check post of Himachal. I met up with Police guys who were posted there and they easily reorganized me almost immediately. I did all the paper work but there was no sign of the rest of the group. I waited and waited for almost an hour and then there was a Taxi guy who stopped at the check post and informed me that the group is stuck due to Army convoys stuck at water crossing. There were almost 100 of these. I rode back to the same point but found them at the military check post. Madhav had all his cloths layout and when asked he replied by saying that he fell off the bike on the water crossing. Then I saw that David’s & Anshuman’s bikes were parked at the medical facility. I walked into the medical facility and found David laying down in the bed knocked out cold. Found out that AMS had the worst affect of David, he was taken care off by the Army doctors well. After spending some time there, I walked out of the medical facility with Anshuman, then little did any one know what’s going to happen next.

I fainted on the way to my bike, was carried by Anshuman to the same Medical facility. Next I knew was that I open my eyes right besides David and every one laughing at me. I was affected not by AMS but dehydration. Thanks to the food poison, my trip was almost ruined. It took a lot of glucose and couple of injections for me to recover. Rest of the group rode to Sarchu check post and rented a tent for 8 people. I slept for a few hours under supervision of the Army doctors. David was now feeling better but not me, I was carried out to the tent by Croc and I almost had no memory of what all happened. The group took care of my bike and luggage even took the time to refuel it.  

Next thing I remember is Ashuman and Vikash waking me up for Dinner, had some food and again got back to sleep. It was worth stopping for the night as next morning I was as fresh as a horse.

Anshuman, Anu & Vikash had issues as there was almost no space for all to get in, they layed out their own tents for the night. The local police guys were very helpful to our group and my appreciation for them was at its highest.

Group 1> Mari – Keylong
Group 2> Keylong [Acclimatization]

TEMP: 10 DEGREES MORNING & -5 DEGREES AT NIGHT
ROUTE TAKEN: Mari – Chandra Tal Lake – Koksar – Keylong
TECHNICAL ISSUES: Horn failed, Fuse & Carburetor settings

ROAD CONDITION (Mari – Keylong): Condition from Mari to KunzumLa Pass is very poor; it’s been the same for last few years and no one seem to notice the need to rebuild it. Landslides: Cliff edge riding etc

CLIMATIC CONDITION: Overcast.

Topic during the same time frame: Acclimatization

Started off from monastery in Mari by 6:30am, it was bright and chilling winds. Anu & Anshuman were eager to catch few glimpses of other monasteries; they visited several on the way like Key Monastery, Tabo Monastery etc… Previous day we had left a message for David, Vikash, Anu & Anshuman at Koksar check post. Their ride was hard and it had taken a toll on David especially as David / Anshuman suffered from mild AMS. They rushed in and managed to reach Koksar by late noon. They were welcomed by the police there and they guided the group as what’s next and how the terrains are. Loaded with all the information, the group contacted me. They were expecting the rooms to be booked and really wanted to catch up with the group. Rest of the group [Faiyaz, Shalvin, Madhav and Croc] had already spend a day Acclimatizing and were all ready to go. They waited for the rest to reach and then would leave. I had already booked a couple of rooms at Hotel ChandraBagha but all seemed impossible when the manager turn back, informing me that there are some VIP guest coming in from Manali [DC & Commissioner Himachal] who would not allow bikers to stay in a group. How pathetic it was to even hear such a comment, I logged a complain but the manager reverted saying that it’s of no use as these VIP’s would not care for people like us. This was over the limit for me and we booked another hotel in Keylong which was much better equipped and had all the facilities.

Rest of the group reached latter in the evening. They were disappointed with the hotel staff as booking seemed more of a hassle than any other hotel we had ever visited. We all took them to the other hotel and got them the rooms. It cost’s 1/3 the rate of this HP tourism hotel and also included all the facilities like hot water, TV and also cheaper food. HP Tourism gave us none of the above mentioned facilities even though we paid for it.

• Group 1> Manali – Keylong

• Group 2> Puh – Mari

TEMP – 10 DEGREES MORNING & -5 DEGREES AT NIGHT
ROUTE TAKEN: Manali – RohtangLa – Koksar – Keylong
TECHNICAL ISSUES: None

ROAD CONDITION (Manali – Keylong): Condition from Manali to RohtangLa Pass is poor; it’s been the same for last few years and no one seem to notice the need to rebuild it. BRO has done a good job clearing all snow / landslides etc. Roads are not that bad but can manage speeds of 30 kmph.  Condition from RohtangLa to Koksar is worst that before, it seriously requires attention from BRO to at least work on clearing dirt off the road. We really don’t want smooth 2 lane highway, all we would recommend is clear roads even with pot holes and cracks we could manage. It’s a death trap for heavy two wheelers, at some parts the sludge is so deep, you may consider calling it a quick sand.

ROAD CONDITION (Puh – Mari): If you think Manali to RohtangLa was bad, this is big daddy of all, we have rated this stretch along with Mari – Puh as the worst roads across the route we had taken. Serious issues with landslides and unpleasant water streams have simply destroyed the roads.

CLIMATIC CONDITION: Overcast, rain & Hail storm.

Topic during the same time frame: A.M.S+ Dehydration + Food Poison = Ladakh?

We started off from our hotel in Manali by 10:30am, it was a slight drizzle and wanted to get some warmer clothing. I went for shopping and got myself rain gear but no warm cloths. Madhav and Croc also went on to buy themselves rain gear and some warmer cloths. Shalvin stayed back and started packing. We checked out of the hotel at 1pm & all got ready to roll on. Shalvin & Croc had fueled up the previous day but I and Madhav did not. Madhav running dangerously low on fuel, I had enough fuel to reach Keylong but preferred refilling. Croc & Shalvin left Manali and were on the way to RohtangLa Pass. I & Madhav reached the fuel station just to find that they had no fuel left. They took a U turn and headed back to Manali city just to find three other fuel stations had shut down. They were perplexed as this was the first time either of them have seen such shortage of fuel. Madhav stopped a local Auto rickshaw and found out that the price of fuel was going up the next day and the petrol pumps have deliberately shut down the supply to increase the demand.  This was an outrage and I could not take it any more, they had wasted over 2 hours on search for fuel alone and then they rode on to one of the fuel pumps. I & Madhav get down from their loaded bikes, catch the collar of petrol pump workers and forced them to give fuel. They charged Rs. 55 for litre which was almost Rs5 more than the usual but then I & Madhav agreed on the deal and filled up the fuel. Finally they could get the hell out of Manali and reach the bliss. On the way weather changed, it was thick dense cloud moving towards Manali. In a distance we could see heavy rains. We met up with Shalvin & Croc on the way [Marhi] and stopped for Lunch. Had loads of fun cracking jokes and taking notes on things that we had gone through. It was 4pm now and we left the Dhaba for RohtangLa. Dense traffic on the opposite lane as tourist were getting back to Manali from RohtangLa caused serious dams on Hair pin bends. Since we all were on bikes, we could manage to squeeze through and move on to RohtangLa. Once we reached there, we found almost no one on the site as it was evening and it was getting really cold up there. Twelve thousand feet above sea level and temperatures dropping at a staggering pace, little did we know that the temperature was around -5 degrees. When we checked the temperature gauge we were shocked. We rode through terrible road condition down to Koksar and finally rested our Butts down at the check post as we found my good old buddy Neeraj as he is in HP. Police in charge for Lahaul & Spiti valley. We tried calling the other group but no signals from our side. We rested there for over an hour and taking about the past history we all had with Koksar. Madhav was freaked out with the ride so far that we had and he really was desperate to finish the day. His suggestion was, we stay at Koksar guest house but that was not even in the plan nor was it that bad. We convinced him ride on with us and reach Keylong by mid night. 80 odd kilometers of rough riding was something not many would have courage to do given the time and condition.

After spending some quality time, we left Koksar. It was dark and four of us were enjoying the cool breeze. Cruising at 30kmph and having fun with our bikes, we finally reached our first water crossing of the tour. This water crossing was named as Pagal Nala [Mad Stream] due to its unpredictable nature. This water crossing has claimed more life’s than all combined on the way to Ladakh. We crossed Pagal Nala one by one, Madhav fell and somehow he got up. Since it was dark, he could not judge the current of the stream. He was safe and thanked his riding gear to have protected him in such a condition.

We reached Keylong by 10pm & the day’s ride was perfect for me as we experienced one of the most difficult stretches of road we would come across and were safe at the end of the day. Amazing Lahaul was about to end and we had the best of it on rides. I had done this stretch of road during the day light several time but never attempted it in darkness. We booked our room and checked out our Mobile phones and what a surprise it was when we saw our Airtel Network working in Keylong. Never before on my ride to Ladakh on previous occasions have I seen any mobile network other than BSNL working. We tried contacting the rest of the group but they did not answer their phones. The very sound of bell ringing meant that they would know we had called. In a few minutes Anu called up and asked about us, we explained the route as how it was and what they would find on the way to Keylong. They were two days behind us as they experienced even worst roads. We stopped at Chandra Bagha [Himachal Tourism]. We also booked rooms for the rest of the group.