Dalhousie-Sach Pass- Palampur-Mcleodganj-Barot- 9 days of solo biking in Himachal

I met a group of bikers at the last petrol pump from Chamba towards Sach Pass.

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‘Dude are you riding alone? You will get stuck at one of the streams to Sach Pass.’

‘I got stuck at the very first stream to Sach Pass,looked around, waited for help for 10 minutes, meanwhile kept

trying, but the bike wouldn’t budge. Got down,shoes in 3 feet water, found my grip and pulled with all my might and Lo!,

Teza(read as bike Name) was out.Somehow this helped me in my ride to the top, I managed to reach the top without any further misadventure.’

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When i had started from Gurgaon on a very hot afternoon, I had some vague idea of what I was planning to do,but I had

no idea I would be riding 2000 kms in 9 days. I remember entering the 70th Mile Dhaba in my riding jacket and sweat on my forehead.While people came out of AC cars and ordered Shikangi and ice creams I ordered Chai. Yes very much, I survived my ride on Chai,on random conversation with strangers, a hi five with kids on the mountains, and singing out songs loud in my hoarse voice.10,000 turns may be 20,000 turns, i don’t know, but it was mostly winding rodas, clouds, mountains, waterfalls, snow,forests,flowers, birds, tents, maggie, chai, homestays. That is how it happened, locals asked me where do iwork? I often told them,’i work for a

hotel(difficult to explain Oyo Rooms) and almost all of these gave me their numbers for ajob at hotel during winters. It has

been yet another amazing experience.

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Gurgaon-Zirakpur-Dalhousie-Bairagarh- Sach Pass-Palampur-Mcleodganj- Barot-Bilaspur-Gurgaon – Done and Dusted

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I started traveling extensively 13 years back and India has often surprised me with its diversity and possibilites.It makes

me so proud to be an Indian, hope I get to see more of it in times to come.

Dalhousie:

Dalhousie was unavoidable as it is on the way to Sach Pass, so i had planned a night’ s halt here. Any known destination in Himachal in May and June is full of tourists and I really wanted to avoid people and enjoy nature. I stayed at Nomadic Dalhousie in a tent and upto 8pm it was devoid of people and I got my me time. Perched on a mountain top, this place is far from the maddening crowd and has an amazing view. June month is the time of flowers and the whole campsite is full of flowers.Clicked few birds and enjoyed to listening to them as well.I just had the dinner at the place and rate it as very good.

I had planned to spend sometime at Khajjiar on my way to Bairagarh and so i started early to beat the crowd.It was great to be at Khajjiar which is about 20km from Dalhousie. The city was all getting ready for the day and I enjoyed the greenary and the quiet.

Bairagarh and Sach Pass:

The ride from Dalhousie to Bairagarh takes time and so I would advice you to stay at Bairagarh. Note that Bairagarh is the last village before Sach Pass and the pass is about 30km from here. If you plan to go to pass and come back, it is best to devote a whole day as the roads are bad and scenery so wonderful that you should give time. You can also process to Kibber and proceed towards Tandi or Spiti.

Bairagarh facts:

Where to stay: Mannat Homestay-98577 93744

Petrol Pump- about 30km before Bairagarh is the last petrol pump, make sure you fill in your tank.

Mobile networks: Airtel, Jio and BSNL

Ride to Sach Pass:

I have done a lot of biking in all parts of India, just to bring things to perspective have ridden in Arunachal, been to Leh thrice, Ridden to Kalpa, Ridden to Chitkul, Ridden in South India etc. but this one is the mother of all rides, especially if you are attempting it solo. I loved the ride, loved the waterfalls, loved the snow, loved the streams, loved the tall trees , loved the ice and loved the mud, overall it has all the ingredients of a good adventure.

Palampur:

I had heard about palampur before and wanted to stay there for an evening. I think this was not the best time to come here plus couldn’t view the snow peaks due to clouded weather. However in winters this would be such an amazing place to come and let’s see, I may be here again. I stayed at Hotel Bagora Heights, it has a good view, staff is cordial and food is good, it is right on Palampur Dhramshal Route.

Mcleodganj

I came to mcleodganj just to go Atop Triund for the third time. It was an auspicious day, last year on this day I was at the Everest Base Camp and I thought why not, this is a day to be trekking. I am saddened to see the commercialization of Triund and also of Mcleodganj, it used to be a quite and a peaceful place but now no more. Still I would recommend a property which was away from the hustle and bustle and was decently good with a view- Greenwoods inn

Barot Valley:

Barot was a great respite from the crowd and it stood tall to its remoteness with hardly people knowing about this location. It was a nice ride to this place and got a great homestay as well to stay. Known mainly for trout fishing, this village also has waterfalls and is in close proximity to the paragliding site at Bir.

Where to stay: Divyansh homestay – 981749486,898888987

Networks: Airtel,Jio and BSNL

The accidental waterfall : I just had a faint idea of a waterfall at Barot and was walking on the road to begin the trek to the fall. A local asked me where I was heading to and upon hearing about the waterfall , he assigned 2 kids to guide me to the fall.The ascent to Shesh Nag waterfall was tough and first we reached a village enroute the fall where another set of kids volunteered to guide me. The waterfall was enchanting and the ice cold water could not deter me from taking a dip.Had a Maggi and tea and offered the kids the same but they settled for a packet of chips.