Roller-skates??

RiAt

I love my rollerskates and rely on them a LOT. Am I crazy to bring them to India? They're the vintage style (suede, steel-bottomed) which makes them a little heavy.... but-but I could handle that if I thought they'd be in any way benefitial. Are there flat roads at all in parts or would it be too bumpy? Does it depend on the region? Would they be hindering more than helping? I'd be heart-broken to leave them but if it would absolutely be worse I guess I could. Any comments? Any ever brought/used any while they were there?

crvlvr

There are no smooth sidewalks. Some roads may be smooth, but then you will have to share them with trucks, cars, autos, motorcycles, cycles, cows & dogs. leave the rollerskates at home is my suggestion.

lotus blossom

it'd kinda be a trip to see a white girl making her way around india on a pair of roller skates, but i second what crvlvr said. india would not be a feasible place to blade, imo.

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iyou

LOL. Good one.

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amyl

Carry!
Carry!
Carry!

is all what i can say now...want to say more on roller skating but later....but do bring them.

hey "ruler" but what is that kind of blades u have got.. i got a Nijdam made inline skates and they ain't that heavy to carry. i did it. i carried them to Leh and had a ball skating in and around Leh...so no worries.

no idea what kind u have but i am sure if u can buy a newer, lighther ones u will have loads of fun in india. i am having and will have a good time skating here in india. but yes i have to be choosy at the places i want to go rolling.

PS: skating in india does not necessarily have to be in the traffic. there are many places where u can have a very wonderful experience doing this kind of activity.

ok will write later

cheers,
Amyl

Vasko

how do you know she's white?

where in India will you be travelling? I haven't seen long stretches of unobstructed flat pavement in many places...

alabamagoa

I can just see this person roller skating down the national highway, wonder what the cops would do, helmet? what fine? licence?????????
Leave them at home safer for you and less baggage to carry around!!!

amyl

my skating experience ....

so besides it being an additional luggage it also did raise my already anxious mom's anxiety and apprehensions. i conveyed my idea of skating in Leh only at the time of departure and she could do nothing.yeeehooo!!!i escaped.
i was afraid she might stage something to keep me from taking my saktes. i remember on my home visit before leaving for Leh she staunchly demanded my goatee to be cleared off...even demanded to send in a clean shaven snap of mine before landing in "kashmir". she was concerned my goatee might make me look like a muslim and attract some bullets while in Kashmir. (yes she has travelled nowhere in particular but only had this vague idea muslims-kashmir-militants-bullets and was genuinely worried for her freaky kid) so had a clean shave before leaving mumbai.

sakting in Leh sity is relal fun for sure...after some days of that tirring walk from my GH in upper Changspa to the city i sarted using skates to come down to the market and the German Bakery in the square.it was rally convenient, faster. so do take ur skates if u r going to Leh. there are also some good places around Leh u can skate around. i was thinking of coming down from Khardungla but since i was alone and had to pay my mobile bill and the month rent back home in Mumbai thot better try it someother time with some more freinds. so just gone to Stok and sakted down to Choglamsar...it was a fun expereince indeed....the slope is in indeed great....but i did end up into formications at some rough parts of the road but thats fine...rest was a wonderful experience. lovely sunshine, beautiful ranges in the front and a nice but quite strong breeze blowing....aahaa!!

so had fun in Leh city.

and beyond my wildest imagination ever i got the most thrilling skating expereince when i was coming down to Manali from Leh. due to the possibility of monsoon rains in Manali i dropped my plan of skating down from Rohatang pass to manali and took a direct bus to Mabali.
but that ill-fated bus gave me a shit of an experience. but i think that was in my fate....

on our way back we got stuck in rains till Taklangla Pass and then snow fall....and it was the worst snow fall i have ever expereinced (this was my first encounter with snow actaully ). man o man....passing the Baralacha pass in a bus with snow all around and IN HEADLIGHTS....it was getting dark...was a hellish experience. the bus managers were keen at taking a halt at Keylong so they had continued with broken shock absorber plates of one of the front wheels of the bus. but then multiple land slides on the way held us back. stuck in the bus with just enuf-for-a-day food stuff and heavy snowfall in the the vallies. no dhaba no hotels and no guesthouses. spent one night in the bus. got up somehow got into conversation wih the conductor and got ot know that it will take another 3/4 days here ...very bad land slide all over.
but then also got to know that some guys were thinking of heading to Darcha. joined them and started walking in the morning towards a possibily safe and warmer place- darcha. somehow reached darcha hitch-hiking. and then to Keylong. and their i took a respite. carrying a drenched sack and the skates bag with no food and snow fall is not all funny. somehow survived till keylong and goto a guesthouse. the bus was still there itself with kids, ladies and others stranded without food and all. i made a wise decision here i thot.

then spent two nights at keylong...ppl were saying it will take another 2 days for the clearance so had no option but to stay there. i started worrying and at times losing temper on myself for missing the flight back from delhi, missing a couple of days of work and all those shitty things coming to my mind. had suffered a bit but had no option but to stay back..

but then the clouds were wiped out and the weather was clear...but not the roads. so started getting more inclined to get on my skates till wherever possible. but was had some apprehensions about the road conditions and all. started worring a lot and again losing temper.."damn it amol.....bloody asshole ...how can u make such a bad plan of setting off so late from Leh. why did u not anticipate such thing and had a comfortable 3/4 days time window to reach Manali...shits ...u r a bloody bloke!!!"

but then cooled myself , rather warmed up myself with "thukpa". and started thinking of this possbility of skating down from Keylong. but something was holding me back...may be negative thoughts....and then i said "fuck off" and one fine morning had one more dish of Thukpa loads of chocolates, water bottles. and yes to make my sack lighter i dropped in a couple of T-Shirts, barmudas, a pant and a warm garmet at the GH. they were alreayd drenched and i thot it wud be fair enuf to drop scrap them. they have had enuf privilege of serving Amol so said thanks to those garments and set off....

and there it was....the start of a two day skating journey in the beautiful Himachals....but yes i had to relaly practice sometime before i cud really be comfortable. the sack on my shoulders lighter now but was heavy enuf to sway this light weight poor soul into the valley at some sharp turn on the downslope.

but then got used to the weight balance adjustment i had to do and started enjoying the rolling. it was such a beautiful feeling. i must say these were some of the most happiest moments of my life till date. i enjoyed it with a vengeance.

skate-walking at some points where it was impossible to skate and taking a lift in a tractor on a landslide-zone i completed the journey till Koksar. took a night halt at Sissu....u know what while on my way to Leh when i passed sissu in bus i wished "how beautiful it wud be to stay here for a while!" but at that time had not even imagined that i will be getting this very chance of getting down at Sissu. so skating down to sissu in the awesome Lahaul region was blissful expereince. the streams, the nice skatable road, the butterflies, grennery all around and the always-in-sight Himalayas....it cud not have been any better. at number of occasions at the streams i wud literally bend down resting on some rocks and drink water directly from the flow like a horse.....hee hee hee.....thank god no one noticed me then ...because me on skates, floating over the water with the help of both hands rested on rocks and sucking water from the stream wud have made me a really hilarious scene for them. i ejoyed it!!!


so the night halt at sissu was also nice...the guest house is just too good. pulled down the owner from 450Rs to 400Rs a night......nothing....was just trying my bargaining skills and possibly honing them.....i am poor at it....so 50Rs ain't bad a bargain for me i guess.

had a nice dinner and the deepest sleep i have ever had till date. got up walked up the stream, made a futile attempt to cross it to go to the helipad on the other side and then again packed up.

headed towards koksar....some part was really bad....the Paagal Nala was in the worst condition due to the rains.....usne sabko paagal kar diya tha...vehicles were stranded for days there. had to wade thru the nala with my skates on. but Nijdam is great.they have made wodnerful skates.the pair has survived al the reckless and rough handling i had been doing to it.
towards koksar the road rally bad...so took off the skates, put on the sandals and walked up for a couple of KMs. and then for thelast couple of KMs got into a jeep to Koksar.

had the healtiest breakfast...Aaloo Paratham Dahi and that really tasty Chatni.

and from there got into a truck that played some weird hindi songs literally at a cacophonous level al the way till manali. but i did not bother...i have had the most wonderful expereince in all my outings so enjoyed the slow ride up the Rohatang pass and then down to Manali.

but yes even with so much skating i dearly missed the opportunity of going down from Rohatang pass. even when sitting in truck i was seeing myself rolling down the beautiful road down to Manali. but yeah!!! there is always Next Time!!


and not a second did i ever regret to have carried my skates to Leh. so now skates will be in my packing list no matter where i go...Andaman Rajastan..i will take it.


so RiAT do bring in ur skates....u just donot have to go on the national highways to enjoy skating. tho i am thinking of a skating tour in the Konkan area after the monsoon for which i will have to take the Mumbai- Gao highway for a stretch i think some caution and MOST IMPORTANTLY APT SKATING skills would keep us safe enuf to enjoy the Indian roads.


and alabamagao this is India!!!...only the individual can limit him/herself from doing things? no Rules in India!!!
but yes i do agree that the roads in India rather the ppl on these roads in India fail to show some level of sanity. so we just have to be a bit careful.


check out my skating snaps at
"R-Skating in the Himalayas"

http://community.webshots.com/user/amyl28


btw RiAt i have a deal for u...see if u like it

u buy a lighter new pair of skates from ur place.
bring them to india
use them wherever u want to
and while going back home drop them in Mumbai.
i am ready to pay the full amount for the skates from u.

so u go home with less luggage and also get a skating experince here. what say?

if interested let me know the options we have i will ask u to bring the ones that fit ur likes and my budget. not more than 3500 INR

now that will be a nice deal if worked out


cheers,
Amyl

amyl

oops that hell lot of typing....i did not realize i have done so much untill i finally posted it

cyberhippie

IM welcomes the X generation!!
I'm an old fogey these days but I really never envisaged a thread on skating in Leh, ha more fool me. Cheers guys people like you and our biker friends (bunny) bring a new feel to the forum, at this rate of change (both here and in India) I/We might become superflious.
No matter, great guys a "mountain Dew" insight of modern India!!

mira4bai4

amyl, that sounded so good, glad that you did it and shared it. Gads if I was 30 years younger.

xealot

wow amyl you have inspried me to become a better skater so that one day when i finally make a second tirp to india (i haven't even bee on my first which will be in the south) i can skate the Himalayas. You're photos are fantasic it must have been an amazing experience! Congratuiations ;D

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alabamagoa

yES AMYL!!!!!!
I know its India that's why i choose to live here all the time,come rain or shine, just making a point about the roads, safety, and the police, who are'nt always very nice to tourists!!!!!! skates or no skates.

RiAt

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amyl

o yes i understand ur point, alabamagoa with due respect. yes i do consider the wretched traffic conditions on Indian roads before attempting. i remember on one of the highways at my native place i was chased by a bloody dog and i was frightened to shit because that road is quite infamous for accidents and i had gone amok at that.(scared of dogs then) it was sheer luck that there was no vehicle at that very moment.

and thanks for all those words dear IMers.

and xealot before saying anything else....i am impressed by your signature.....i guess now i have a nice statement to make to my mom. yeah!! thanks!!
glad that u liked the photos!!!! u can bring in the skates to india...and yes they got to be a foreign-make, india-make will not do!!! u will have a nice time....

Enjoy ur first trip to India. U will love it for sure!

cheers,
Amyl