Adventure Madness : Doing 1492 kms in 2 days to the toughest road of India.

Now what we did was to cover 1492 kms within 50 hours 25 mintues to be exact.
This is something which people commonly Don't dare to do. Taking in account that we have to cross one the Highest passes of India "The mighty Rohtang La" standing at a climb of 13,058 feet and in a total off-season, when the climate is deadly chilling and dips to below zero in the broad day light and this all anymoment can get even more worse with snow showers that would have made us stuck in snow of atleast 3-4 feet. (Rohtang is full of snow with 30-40 feet high in winters).
Touching outskirts of Ladakh which is the coldest desert of the world.
 

This is how scary you look doing 1500 kms in 2 days
  

 
NOW HOW DID I PLANNED IT ?

Ok, so to be real honest the idea and the calculation of this madness stuck me in washroom. I always wanted to make a complete Leh-Ladakh bike trip, entering Ladakh from Manali and exiting from Kashmir like Every true road tripper has this "Once in a life time" Trip on the list.
Only Fortunate are able to execute it.
I was unfortunate this time as well.
Cutting it short my family never allowed me to travel Ladakh and once back in May 2016 all my preparation was put to waste. I was leaving for the Ladakh trip within 2 days but wasn't allowed with my bike being chained. Yes they CHAINED it.
Though I left for Andaman within the other day but that was of no good, at last my Ladakh trip was broke.
And, as I told that this Idea stuck me in my washroom, and with the calculation that we can actually touch Ladakh and come back within 2 days, within also on small buget of 6-7 k.
Now Faraz was also Ok with it.
We we fixed the travel dates to 27 and 28 of October."27 was his Birthday"
Our Plan was to kick in 800 to 820 km straight to Keylong or Jispa (they both lie at the border of  Himachal and Ladakh) from Moradabad onwards. ( Moradabad is straight 150 km from Delhi towards Jim Corbet). And we will be coming back the same way. Now since we had to have a good excuse for our families, we told them ,we were going to IIT Kanpur for some Seminar and Yes, we were granted permission. We were in BBA First semester.
Yes, 18 was our age.

26th October 2016 was when it all started.
Duke  200 was our bike
Which was serviced 5 months before and had a service due.

Ok so I had a Big luggage bag with me, as logically we were going to IIT Kanpur by Train/ Bus (unconfirmed) so has to pretend that way.

This was the Night of 26th October.

We left our home & went to one of our friend's home (Naman Bhai) as decided and it was 9 P.M. He don't want to disturb his family so he opened his Parlour joint to his Home. We actually offloaded everything other than the necessaries there and squeezed the essentials in to our backpacks.
I ate just an apple as a Dinner.
Now we were ready. HURRAY!
9:40 was the exact time we started, with Naman bhai wishing us "Best Luck".
It was me who would be riding first and Faraz was the pillon, sitting on the back seat is a real trouble on Duke, as like with R15.
120-130 was the speed to be maintained and we were doing the same.
On a Typical Indian roads it is quite tough to maintain that speed as you don't know who may jump any moment on the road out of the bushes or divider &
People are overtaking from all the sides and changing lanes without indicators.
Sometimes idots are riding at 30-40kmph in leisure on the overtaking lane forgetting that they are inviting their death , for them you have to smatch your brakes real hard from Triple Digits and has to not get your tires skitted as well.
Reached Meerut safely.
Got the bike refuled.
We had a chai there in a joint dhaba to the Gas Station. REFRESHED
NOW From there onwards Faraz took the riding seat and stopped straight to Chandigarh.
Chandigarh & Karnal were well organised.
The layout of these cities was trouble free.
To exchange the seats once again we stopped at the top of a Bridge in Chandigarh but by then I had sarted feeling cold, so i decided to jog on that bridge. Faraz was laughing looking me doing that, as it was around 3:30 A.M. and a fool would do that but that was needed.
I felt better then.
Here in the entire trip one big trouble with us was that I was the only one who had the Liscene. Faraz didn't.
So our plan was accordingly, Faraz would riding the front seat in U.P. and I will be riding majorly in Himachal and Haryana.

Leaving  Chandigarh after some good kms we started climbing on the Mountains.
I still remember the stars that were bright and  endless enough ,creating a majestic view for which I would look up at the sky every now and then while riding.
Sometimes bike would disbalance.

This was the first time we witnessed the Sunrise while climbing.

The best motivation come when no one believes in you. Likewise,
Everyone we told about this planned trip, Said : You can't do it, You will quit, That is not possible,You are just 18 how can you, I have been there and i know you won't be able to do it and on &on.
We after some days said : We did and they were all shocked.

Now for all those who don't travel often.
Let me tell that when you are traveling any new  place in night time, specially in a less habitat area.
You actually can't figure out what kind of a place is it ?
How dangerous things can be ?
What specific precautions you need to take there ?
We knew nothing about that place !
We were just going where the road was taking us.
Now with the relief of Sunrise we were boosted.
The sense of  safety and believe that yes we actually are here.
In the mountains that will lead us to our Destination.
Bird's started chirping, the wind came into action flowing smoothly.
We again packed and started riding.

Stopped at a dhaba for breakfast,
Ordered Omlate with bread.
Meanwhile got into Deep conversation with that dhaba person.
He told us everything he could about the local area.

After that going conversation me and my friend  putted our leg staright on the chair in front of us,
And went to a deep sleep within seconds,
As we were riding for the whole night without sleep and were sleepy and tired.
Now
The Dhaba person might have Waked Up Faraz to serve breakfast and i was still in sleep.
(Faraz to Me - wake up ! Wake up! (Shaking me)
We need to hurry.
Me- We can manage, just give me 5 min,
Faraz- Bhai SDM office closes at 12 for Permit and we won't be able to make it on time like this.
Me - Believe me we will make it ( saying this all in sleep mode) )
He then pulled me up forcefully.
It was just a mere 5 min sleep or less
We had breakfast then.

Started again with full throttle.

We were riding real fast but still was unable to reach Manali by 12 noon and managed to reach it by around12:30 P.M.

You know when traveling in a totally new place for the very first time and that also being too beautiful you can't resist yourself to not stop at everyplace you find scenic.
This is why we were late, we stopped at endless places.

Big tension after reaching manali was, will we get the permit to travel to Rohtang or have to quit here.
Since we were late we thought to go to Rohtang and come back stay in Manali and leave the next morning.
But permit to Rohtang was not granted for a day for Privtae Vehicle.
You have to had a local Taxi either (that was a joke to us / There rules promotes local taxies)
We were told we actually have to get a permit to travel to Keylong or Jispa or even far and has to stay there for a night.
There was no optiom for going to Rohtang or coming.
If caught at checkpost a heavy Chalan will be imposed.
We got our permit to Jispa and the whole process took around an hour from entering Mall road to leaving it.
We didn't clicked anything at mall road because of hurry
As they told that the the first check post closes at around 3:30 so has to hurry up.

Now we had started climbing towards Rohtang.
The more we climb the more cold was getting.
It was the last of October (27)  and so was real chilling.
We passed through a check post, where you need show the permit and get some stamp done on it.

I didn't clicked any photo of the check post, but got it in a panorama photo from above.

We again started,
I was riding from Manali Onwards because I knew the road will be dangerous and risky.

We would stop at bridges built by BRO that gives you a taste of Ladakh in Himachal.

We started again .
Now we were stopped at a Paragliding stop where some people were doing it
We also want to do it,
We were lured,
Charges were a nominal 1200 ruppee.
But with a strict time we started again.

All the snow melts by October at Rohtang top but can snow anyday between Spetember to October and block the complete road for another 5-6 months till mid may.
Like in September 2018 the road road was completely chocked with heavy snow and Military rescued the people and got them safe at Khoksar.
The village where we stayed.

ITS ALL ABOUT COMING FACE TO FACE !

The feeling of Conquering Rohtang stared to end within some 15 minutes where it was taken over by the felling that were unsecure as it was around 3:45 and it would be dark soon and Keylong was a good 70-80 kms more.
Believe me we were scared within ourselves.

We left Rohtang.

And then we again stopped at a Perfect view
We we witnessed a small Frozen water fall.
That would explain better how cold it was there.
That looked small but gets upto 20 times more bigger than this size now and turns into heavy water crossings.

This is the view

The worst Part came after this, when the road turned to show its real face,
It was all broken after a couple of Kms from Rohtang.
This was the time we loose complete hope, that will we be able to make it to Keylong or Jispa safe ?
A big question in our mind stuck permanent.
Mean while I forget to tell you that Faraz was creating Vlogs in his phone of the complete trip.

FARAZ'S FACE STARTED TO TURN BLUE AND HIS LIPS TURNED BLUE AS WELL.

WE WERE STUCK IN MISERY.

I have heard stories that people die because of the unbearable night Cold of Ladakh when stuck mid way with no shelter and that in May - August.
It was Freezing October.

We were hungry and was hunting for anything in the name of a building or anything where we can stay for the Night.
If were to see any home of anyone,
We would have requested them to give for shelter for a night at any price they demand.
(That was our True Condition)

But then after an hour of riding Down on that real trouble road, where we almost lost hope,we were blessed to see civilization and we hurried into the very first dhaba we saw.

We entered the Dhaba, we were really happy to be there.
Faraz was on medicine so he took the medicines out and that was the exact moment he asked me for his phone.
We searched everything, but no where it was.

He lost his phone on his Birthday.
In all that I don't even remember wishing him.

Conclusion was we actually had it fallen somewhere and around within 10 kms where we remember making vlogs on it.

He hurried to go and search it.
I wanted to but because of the cold i didn't went with him.
Time was passing by and he didn't arrived.
There was no one traveling on the route as well.
I was seriously Afraid for him as the road was all broken with deep shallow valley at one side of the road.
And then he arrived and I was relieved,
But he didn't found his phone.

We now asked the Dhaba guy for a hotel,
And he said i do have rooms as well,
Because of our tiredness we asked him to show us,
Is was a really small room without even a plaster and I said yes.
I didn't want to looking at the poor condition but i said yes may be because he was the first hope which we saw and was really nice to us.
He said people from Moradabad do also come here in Season time,and said with the First snowfall he will be leaving to someplace down and this place will remain under 10-15 feet snow for 4-5 months winter months.

We then decided to go the river at the back of the dhaba.
Clicked some photos there.

After coming back I set an alarm of 7:30 p.m. For Namaz ( as I will be praying all my Qaza namaz of the day)
We went to sleep.
I was woke up by alarm Alhamdulillah.
Though i was seriously tired.
I did that traditional soil wuzu with the unplastered wall.
As that was the only thing available in the name of soil.
I offered Namaz and went to sleep again.

I already had a thin blanket which we used first and then get all of the other unhygienic blankets on us.
We slept wearing everything other than the shoes.

Day for a U TURN.

The next day I woke up to know that It was raining heavy and turned to be Very very cold ouside.
I was frightened that we won't be able to make it to home in today only.
And then I realised that it was a scary dream in he middle of the Night.

Scared I went to sleep again.

We woke up next day just to find that both of ours left shoe had rice grains in them. Just the left shoes. ( This time it was no dream )
Frightened of spirits we came to a conclusion that may be squirrel or any other animla might have Carried them to our shoes as a safe place to hide.
By why only left, 🤔
That stuck us.

So we had a breakfast there with literally no  mouth wash & no face wash.
It was again cold.
We met a drive at the Dhaba who told that without weed we locals can't survive this cold.
We have to take it and we remain warm and fit.
He washed his face and he was a superman to us.

Now I stared my bike and left it to warm up and till then we had our breakfast.

After breakfast while we were getting our gloves and raincoats ready, the Driver came and told us that we should hire some local small truck which is going towards manali and get our bike loaded in it as because, we can't drive on Black Ice which forms specially in the Morning.
We passed his advice as a joke.
We thought we now know this place.

We also had a layer of Fog freezed on our bike seats so the Dhaba person gave me the boling water of tea and believe me the moment i put my finger in it just to feel its warmth I realised its of no pain to me, because of the cold.

Now the battle for us has started again.
We started real fast but climbing the all steep broken road was a real trouble.
1st gear was our needed choise to reman in, though we fear loosing our clutch plates as well.

Now between one long bad patch was the moment I asked  faraz for an advice on the visible water splash.
Me - Is it all Ok.
Faraz - Yes.
And Seemingly it was all Ok.
But the second the First tire get onto that visible water, it slipped like nothing.
The other moment, bike was somewhere,
I was somewhere,
And faraz somewhere.

Yes the saying of that Driver came true here.

We were clear that we know nothing about what is black Ice and how dangerous it is.

Believe me if we would have been in a good speed as I slowed while asking faraz and in doubt, then we would have been thousand of feet down in the valley, as the other side of the road had a deep valley.

I was slipping while trying to get up.
Now atlast to get get the bike out I laid down on the road to pull the front tire while faraz was accelerating and we succeded to get it to motion or else the rear tire was skitting like nothing.

This is BLACK ICE, Which we underestimated.

We feared of it coming again and thankfully it was the first and the last time.

Now the challenge was to reach back home within that same day.

We accelerated again but that bad road and tbe climb to Rohtang wan't ending.
So we saw some short cuts by locals and took our bike on it.
At times those shortcuts would become very steep to climb with pillion,so what we did was, that one would ride up and one would climb on foot and we were changing the task continuously.
Believe me within a small walk we were getting tired and were  running out of oxygen because of the low oxygen present there.

Now over the time we started creating our own shortcuts.
It saved us a lot time.

Now the only thing we had was hurry .
So these are the only Photos I remember taking at a good spot.

We now knew that we had nothing to worry about other than reaching on time.
As we were clear with the road and would be exiting the hills within day light.

Here we were entering Manali after riding Down from Rohtang.

We stopped at a Food Bus while entering Manali and had some Parathas again.
It was around 11 A.M.
Took some photos there

Back on the road again,
We had nothing but to reach home.
But we didn't knew that A complete mess is going on at that exaxt moment in our college and home.
We stopped somewhere midway for sugarcane juice and there I saw endless calls from Friends, home and college.
I was frightened and knew just that now it is clear at my home that i am in NO IIT KANPUR.

Funny part is that I have my cousin there in Kanpur who were waiting and expecting me to come, as i told i will be coming to meet them as well.
Over there,
I talked for an hour on the Phone,
With many people over what is happening.
And i still Regret talking to one whom i told everything (where and what I am doing )believing him and he then sparked the matter to the faculty like nothing.

Oh well, nothing much happened as someone managed it alhumdulilah.

Now from there on we both were in anger and had no photo clicked for the next 500 kms.

We were stuck in some serious Dewali Jam in Chandigarh and Karnal and specially at evening hours.

I still remember i had fever somewhere in Punjab and what i did was not to hand over the bike to Faraz, rather I drove it though I have to take up the helmet glass almost every 15 seconds to breath, as i was running breath less.

And within hours the fever vanished.
We had some eggs at a stall in Punjab.

The pain that was going no where was in the left hand because of the continuous use of Clutch and that too of a Duke ( which is damn hard ) people do complain me of its hardness  within a city ride and we there were to pass three states.

Hopefully on time we reached Gajraula
We were hungry, everything was close there as it was around 11:30 P.M
Dominos was also closed but with one side shutter up as there was still a family sitting and eating slow,
Faraz talked with the manager from the back door and convinced him, We had our pizaas ready.
Well the family at first got really scared of us and reacted as if we were aliens 👽.

LOOK WHY THEY THOUGHT SO.

Trip doesn't ends here
Now Moradabad was 50 km more,
We covered it within 35 min on my broken left hand because of clutch.
I wad unable to even press the clutch compelete.
Would change gear with half clutch pressed resulting in a heavy jerk, at slow speeds.
Naman Bhai was sleeping so we had no choice but to go home with our incomplete luggage but then also we can't take our helmets and ride gloves to home because we don't know what mess will we be facing there.
So called one of my friend and reached his home.
Handed him over our Helmets and Gloves, and everything linked to bike.
Had an hour of conversation standing on the street.
Telling him what we have done.
Though we weren't able to touch it to Ladakh but wha we did was nothing less of any adventure.
All tiredness was vanished, because we have conquered what people said you can't.
I left faraz at his home & went to mine,
Offered Namaz Alhumdulilah and went for that Perfect sleep.
Happy Sleep End.

Thanks for reading this long.

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