From Pune to Delhi to Himalayas : The pics

himalayas_beckon

Hi IMers
will be short. Rode from Pune to Delhi (1690kms including detours) and then Delhi to Himalayas (3n/4d)

These are the pics. Hope u like them

had been waitin for a long time for this dream trip.
i am currently working in Pune for 'bike india' magazine. Pune is in south India. My home-town is the capital of India, New Delhi


I started at 3:30am on the morning of 30th Oct for my Home, 1600odd kms north of Pune on my 223cc 17bhp Karizma.


The tripmeter read zero and the tank was full. the actual milage of the bike was 31736kms+ app 1600kms (the odo wasnt working for around 45days)



I was using saddle as well as a tank bag as well as a light shoulder bag for carrying my stuff



a friend joined in to ride with me at Mumbai (around 165kms into the trip) till Ahmedabad, around 500kms from Mumbai. he too has the same bike



his name is Arnob Gupta and holds the iron butt saddlestore 1000mile title for covering 1751kms(around 1090miles) in 24hrs



took a detour to meet another friend,keyur bhagat,who is officially the craziest suzuki fan in the world. he has also been featured in BIKE Uk this month, in the supplement magazine




taking the detour and having some snacks at his place meant wasting around 2 hours. finally continued my ride for Ahmebadad



after ahmedabad, i was all alone for the rest of the 900odd kms. As winters are approachinh, it was gettin very chilly on the open highways and i stopped many times for tea



i was also fighting against sleep badly. started passing out many times for a few secs, so decided to increase the number of stops i took



I finally made it to New Delhi, 1690kms in 31 hours, including 2hours detour to meet keyur bhagat and another one hour while meeting friends in Ahmedabad. I kept a constant 100-105km/h on the clock, and my bike returned around 29kms to a litre at this speed. not bad at all! I also encountered day dreaming. i mean i knew i was riding, but i dont remember how i covered some stretches on the way. I was really really very sleepy and wud have to really shake myself to remain awake! but i do know that i slept mentally quite a few times!


took two days off in Delhi to spend time with family after which the ride to Himalayas began with 18 other riders!!


11 Delhi riders are ready to discover something special




They are going to discover biking in Himalayas at its best (!!)




The Delhi riders are joined by the Punjab ones at Zirakpur crossing




Abhishek is a good boy and prepares a 'xbhp' flag for the ride




Two riders are smiling. well, some hours later, they were freezing!




Some of us managed to catch the Himalayan toy train!




Bunny's first photography assignment. He tries to do his best




Tarun at his best




Me experimenting with the Panasonic Lumix cam




This is after 'Kufri'. The weather was turning bad. So we started planning




Indian Spiderman!!




Our location for first night. HPTDC's rest house




As I told you, Bunny trying his luck at photography!




2nd day brought in many rough patches. But the riders took it with ease




Bunny's photography skills improvin!!




Our first snow sighting. For many, its was the first in their lives




Things only became better (and colder) once we took the 6km road to Giri-Ganga




For many, this was the first experience on snow. So some of the riders stayed back and walked ahead




But some of us didnt stop. My rear dunlops were already bald. But I kept pushing




The snow meet!




So as I wrote, I kept going along with three others




The view from up of a small stream surrounded by snow




Finally made it to Giri-Ganga shrine, an underground source for the river Giri-Ganga




The riders and the priest




The bird!




The Ghost!




The 'X'




The former Xbhp-Castrol Karizma




The official X-tee




Me and She




It wasnt easy standing in the middle of hundreds of sheep and their body-guards (dogs!) Finally my friend got a nice pic




2nd day's night was to be at the river-side. Which didnt happen!




Day3: On way to 'Narkanda'




Riders on way to their destination,unware of the blockage ahead




The cramsters bags really proved their worth




One himalayan addict!




A Mahindra Uility Vehicle had rolled down a day before killing its driver!




A recoveray truck was called. We had no option but to wait for over an hour




Snow was back some distance before hitting Narkanda thru Baggi




The beauties lined up outside the lunch stop




sweet doggie




Only 11 riders decided to hit Jalori Pass, others went onto Shimla for the night. This is enroute to Jalori




Same location, different angel




Sunny stlye. Lie down on the road, and then take the pics




The last 5-6kms to Jalori were so steep and bad, even the Karizmas refused to carry on in 3rd gear, even when red-lined in 2nd and then shifted. All the bikes managed this stretch in 1st and 2nd gear only




Finally made it to the pass as the sun was setting




Although the pass' height is low, it is one of the most difficult passes in Himachal Pradesh state




The ride to 'Gushani' for the night for done in darkness. The tents awaited us




We had 4 tents, 2 big and 2 smalls one. 3 each in the big ones and 2 each in the small ones. Simple




Bon-fire and Bacardi did their job well




Wood is burnt inside this cylindrical thing. Freezing water enters from the top-left funnel and hot water comes out from the top-right tap after circulating thru the whole thing




The place is called, 'the himalayan trout house' , but we didnt get any trout fish to eat




We missed this scenery at night




We then drove towards Aut on the Chandigarh-Manali highway. Cute roads along the small river




My bike stood by me thru out the 2900kms. Not even a chain-adjustment required! Only Engine oil top-ups




She is now in Delhi alone. Will get her back in December, riding back to Pune




The river at Aut intersection




Small waterfall enroute to the plains




The last time I saw them. Then Rode non-stop till Chandigarh,where I had to fill up



Hope u liked the pics! And in case you are wondering what 'xbhp' is, it is India's biggest biking club, me being a co-founder. And my name is 'bunny'

sunilg

great pics bunny, just marvellous.............i am really speechless seeing these

some of the pics (bike standing in the middle of a snow road) remind of my first ever encounter with snow; these pics will remain in my heart and mind for a long, really long time..........wish i was there with you.......may be i'll be lucky next time...

graet going...............waiting for more of these beauties from you......keep it up.......

a different point of view: you can also look up for this IronButt tittle man.........just remove those 2 hour detour to meet Keyur and a some of breaks, which u can manage to cut; u came pretty close to it........think abt it.....may be this is waiting for you.

__________________
...Bismillah

himalayas_beckon

thanks sunil
yeah i will be trying for the iron-butt 1000mile run too very soon.. i think i will manage it provided i have no flats and my bike stands by me !

and yes those snow pics... it was just a great feeling being there all alone in snow. jus me n my bike.. can not forget those moments

Jona750y

Great Pictures looks like a fantastic adventure.You have lived my dream..biking in the Himalaya, WOW.I will have to be content with seeing it on foot later this year but maybe one day.

Say Hi to the Team Suzuki fan I am him here in the UK. Blue/white bike,Tshirt,cap ect.Pity they never win races

avinashzalake

brave & great efforts
I hope I also will part of that pictures one day