Short Break: Himalayas in 3 days! Nomad Diariez - Part 1 [Delhi

Prashar Lake (Heaven on earth)

Preface: Thank god for this beautiful life & his spellbound creations....
Please forgive for the grammar mistakes, I am not gr8 in that! And if it doesn't meet your expectation! For new readers: May encounter abusive words, it's not actually meant to throw it's literal, that's used to bring an intense feel for a statement!

Journey to heaven begins...

Throwing back my busy day in Chennai.. I started to airport by 1130 with my friend. He picked up the pace and dropped me by 1205 @ Trisulam, in front of the airport in the GST highway.. Waved a bye thankfully and started walking towards the airport.

..... Few hours back, Thursday 2200, Trip eve day! Sh*t!!! I haven't packed anything for 2mrw... And I have hardly 12 hrs left to start. Tried to quickly arrange all the required things. Luckily I have a checklist which I made 3 weeks back... I am damn excited about this trip since then! Started packing stuffz, beginning with Tent & Sleeping bag, the two things I am very eager to use since I bought!
Followed by dress, thermals & meds. Then to accessories, GoPro, mobiles, power banks, mini-tripod, GoPro accessories. At last riding gears, a few plastic covers(Since monsoon has begun there) & lock. All successfully stuffed in my big-trek bag. Dude, that bag itself weighs badly without any stuffz inside, now it weighs worse! :-P Checked my bag's weight and it was 10.5 kgs, good for me, since the allowed limit is 15 kgs. But what if my clothes and things got wet while returning back, It will just almost double. Oops!!! Will see ;) Once it was done, I arranged all the printouts required and dress to be worn the next day. Parked myself in a bean bag & tried to get some sleep. Since I won't be able to sleep for next 35 hrs! While lying down my interest to try Mana rose in my mind. Actually the road trip I am going to execute was planned to hit Mana in Uttarkhand. Since for last 1 week there is heavy rainfall(Cloudburst) & landslides, I had to change my plan to Prashar Lake, Himachal. It was my second option. My other options where Chitkul, Keylong and Kaza. Those were looking impossible due to short period of time, there was a very high chance that I will land in the bottle-neck. Slept after looping these things in my mind and calculating for some time.

Day 1: 8 AM, Got up so excited & worried. It was a kind of mixed feeling for the past 2-3 days. I get this when I go for solo long trips! Done with routine stuffz & bathing (it's not in my routine list ;) that's why mentioned explicitly) Tapped my lap & got in line with the office work. Had to do few things bit urgently, was dealing with those. Time was clocking 11 and the work's not done. Had no other choice, handed over the same to my buddy harrie.

My friend Sasank was ready to drop me at the airport, so we started by 1130 and there wasn't too much traffic, so we were able to go seamlessly to the airport. Reached Chennai International Airport by 1205, hurried my way to the entry and took out the printout & id proof, one happie thing about this trip, I have packed my things perfectly, arranged in a sorted order to deal progressively till the end of the trip. Entered airport, the trip officially begins.. Yeppieee....

Soon after the entry figured out there is no rush in the baggage scanner, so did that and stood in the queue to get my boarding pass. I was there almost at the last minute, still there were so many passengers like me for the same flight! Awesome! After mins, got my pass and dropped my luggage in baggage, cargo section and happily walked towards the security check with just my boarding pass, mobile, headphone & wallet. Done with that too. There wasn't much crowd like morning. My flight was at 1315 and I came in at 1210 and done with everything by 1225 and was waiting at the gate 13 for boarding. There were lots of mixed passengers, Indians, and foreigners. Indians itself few Tamilians, a large group of Punjabis and north Indians (Should be Delhi, UP etc...). I was just trying to randomly sort peoples :D Since it was fu**ing boring! By 1250 boarding call was made and people started to board. Few boarded, few were waiting for their fellow passengers. I thought of going last, since no one was boarding and all waiting for another made me to board!

I got a middle seat and a fellow traveler in the aisle seat. But no one in the window seat, I was just waiting for the boarding to get over and I was lucky enough to sit in the window seat, I don't have any special preference for a window seat, but when there is no one to occupy, why to waste! My fellow passenger was from Thanjavur, going to Dubai, this was a connecting flight & one stop to Chandigarh. He was busy filling up his immigration form. He asked few doubts & I was able to clear him. Have filled that form once, when boarded an international flight to Goa :D ;)

There was a slight delay & flight started by 1330, the flying time to Delhi was 2:30 hrs. Heard songs for some time, caught some sleep and had a free inflight meal, it wasn't bad! I actually liked it! Since I damn hungry! Time flew bit slowly and the pilot made a landing call & the first view of Delhi!!!

DELHI..... The starting point of splendid & arduous trip.

Landed in New Delhi International airport by 1615 and proceeded to the belt no 10 to collect my bag. By the same time made a call to my wheelstreet agent Afroz to inform him that I will be at Karol Bagh in another 1 - 1:30 hr to pick up the bike.

I booked my rental bike in wheelstreet after googling for a pretty amount of time, glancing through the other options and finalizing the same. I opted for a Pulsar 200 NS, and I got the same from Amit motors, Naiwala Karol Bagh. And I ordered for riding jacket, riding pant & rain suit. The monsoon has hit the north and for last one week, rain was visiting then & there. So had to order a rain suit too. I was continuously monitoring using google & Indian weather site for the weather report. (http://www.imd.gov.in/pages/mountainwxbulletin.php)

By the time I started from the airport it was 1700, boarded a cab to Karol Bagh, and it was Delhi Prepaid Taxi, the trademark black color taxi. It costed me 400 Rs. Cab driver hooked in another fellow passenger also whose place was enroute. The airport was damn big & nice. The biggest airport, I have seen so far. Before this the biggest for me was Mumbai airport. As we moved away from the airport to the highway, the traffic started to pile up. There I saw metro service, my mind was arguing with me 'dude, u could have gone in metro!' But I had no clue that there was a metro service to the airport. I should have googled more about the transit in New Delhi!!! I did research only on my trip route and completely stayed ignorant about this :-/

By the time we dropped the fellow passenger, the time was 1800 and there were shi* load of traffic everywhere. Then started talking to my taxi driver, He asked me where in Karol Bagh have to drop you etc... The sad thing is that he didn't know the exact place where I had to be dropped, so he asked me whether my phone supports GPS & I was like :-/ dude yes! And he asked are you not using iPhone :-/ :-o I said 'No, I am using Samsung'. Trust me if you see this guy, one won't believe he is a taxi driver, so damn gud dressing, great watch & iPhone in his pocket! I was using my phone to check my location and he started talking, so where are you from, what are you doing & why you are here? I said, 'I am from Chennai, here for a road trip to Himachal' he was like so you are not north Indian? I was pretty impressed! Only god knows how he thought like that? From my Hindi or appearance!

My Hindi is pretty bad as a north Indian, but appearance :-? And the best part is I am conversing with this guy in Hindi and I conversed in Hindi throughout my trip :-D :-P Used English very rarely when I don't get a Hindi word, I just mixed to vocalize as Hinglish :D

By 1815 I reached Amit Motors, Karol Bagh and met the owner of the Amit Motors, he asked me to see the bike and check it. There was a white & black blended Pulsar 200 NS, It was looking cleaned & ok, start bit of trouble starting the bike, the battery was low! Then he asked me to fill in all the required details in his form and the same time Afroz came & met him! I carried a printout of wheelstreet as a backup and that came handy. In some 20 mins, everything was setup and I had to hand over one original ID card to the motor owner and license was xeroxed and details were used to fill in the form and handed 5k security deposit for the bike! Bike rental + Accessories came to only 2.8k but the advances alone came to 6.5 k :-/ And by then then ride accessories agent Adithya also came and handed over the accessories, those were really nice! Till now I have used only normal jerkin & gloves! This time it's full on!!! Handed him over 1.5 k advance and signed a small piece of paper. I was almost ready to roll. Damn fu**ing excited!!!

Everything settled and I wore my gears & carried my bag on shoulder, I had the plans to tie the bag to bike and ride peacefully, but it was too late, so thought of doing that after hitting the highway. I waved a bye to Amit motors owner & Afroz and I started. The bike was comfy, but traffic was crazy! In excitement I started riding towards the petrol bunk to fuel up, and get Pollution control certificate, when the owner handed over all the papers, PUC wasn't there, so he asked me to get that enroute. Done fueling, this PUC is available in most of the petrol bunks and is open only from 8AM - 6PM. I called Afroz and informed the same & he asked me to get that next day morning on the way! Started..
Drove for 20-30 mins and covered 5-6 kms. In a muddy, potholes filled road, my bike abruptly stopped. Crazy traffic, dust rising from all sides, I cornered my bike near half constructed flyover pillar and started checking my bike, I tried lots of things, but the bike didn't get started! I had to call Afroz! I called and managed to convey what happened. After struggling for 15 mins, bike automatically started and Afroz asked me to return back to the shop to check the bike, since I cannot afford to take risks on this long ride! In another 20 mins I was able to reach the shop & time was1945.

As per my plan, I should have drove now for ~ 1:45 hours. The mechanic started checking the bike and sadly the battery had a serious problem and bcos of that headlight, sidelights and console backlight was not coming :( That's really shi**y!!!

The owner asked to take Pulsat 220F for the ride, I was ok with that, did a test ride on that and it was ok, had a slight clutch problem, but it was manageable! I forgot to inquire whether both are tubeless tires :-P Guess what??? .... Nothing happened now, but later? You will know! ;)

Again waved a bye and started with less excitement, bcos of the delay and bike problem, mechanic transferred the fuel from NS to F and one thing I can be happie about, the fuel capacity is really gud! And a disappointing thing, the bike had projected doom model and faring, done, hence it won't turn with the handlebar, I have never rode such bikes before! An extra challenge appended to the list :-P
I again fuelled my bike and started riding, then & there confusion, referred GPS and somehow I managed to get out of Delhi from 2115. Now I am running late by solid 2:45 hrs as per my plan. According to my plan allocated Delhi traffic eating time was 30 mins, but that was a wrong calculation and I very badly underestimated the Delhi traffic!!!

By now you will be imaging why AM I dragging the story this much, I have read this much fu**ing long and the real story hasn't begun yet! That's true! I have elongated this much because there is nothing to describe as I hit the highway to Himachal, I was 9t driving my way till Swarghat, Himachal Pradhesh! That's the true reason! And it can be said also like this to get the true feeling of travelling ;) :-P

Glance thru the road map: New Delhi -> Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Ambala, Zirkapur, Outer Chandigarh, Mohali, Kharar, Kiratpur Sahib, Swarghat, Bilaspur, Ner Chowk, Mandi, Kataula, Bagi, Prashar Lake. I started from a Union Territory, crossing 2 states (Haryana & Punjab), entering another Union territory (Chandigarh), and again running through Punjab, to enter the third & the final state of my destination Himachal Pradesh.

So let's get back to outer Delhi, I stared full on throttling and started pumping my adrenaline!
Traffic was receding as I move away from Delhi, in another 30 mins, full of malls, restaurants, shops! So colorful till border. Then I saw a signboard waving a bye to Delhi. Entered Haryana, it was NH 1, wowowww!!! It was a six way road, quiet big and easy to maintain a good speed. Most of the stretch was dark, as and when a small town comes, the roadways get lit up and it all turn so colorful. And again to black mode as the stretch is over. Crossed Sonipat and Panipat in 1:45 hrs. I was damn hungry by then, I had my last meal in-flight around 8 hrs back! Time was almost 2300. Along the road it was full of dhabas, I parked my bike in a pure veg dhaba and ordered 2 rotis, bindi ka pyaaz and a cold coffee. I badly wanted coffee to make me keep alive rather than sleeping like the dead. It's new road and my itinerary is very much time bound! Cannot afford to delay! Finished my dinner in a peaceful manner. Now time for real trip mode, I had to tie my bag to the bike and I started that and within some time I was able to complete that, not though very efficiently, I learned how to tie efficiently only my way back from Prashar. I was running low on money had to draw some. In another 2-5 kms I found a PNB ATM and luckily I was able to draw money. Again hit the highway by 2345 and my target for the day was Kiratpur Sahib. As per my plan I should have reached there by 0130 next day. Since I was running late by 2:30 hrs I had no way to reach there by then. By now I have covered only ~130 kms. Ambala was 210 kms, Kiratpur Sahib was 320 kms.

The ride was gr8, nice highway, good speed, I was able to maintain 80-90 kms, crossed Karnal, Kurushetra, Ambala, cruising towards Chandigarh! I was literally having goosebumps as I was riding, road trip in the north was one my dream list task. And I am pursuing that now. Cool!!!

Everything in life will happen only if we take the initiative to venture it!

The above quote was written in a flow, spontaneously created. I am virtually travelling as I am writing. I love riding bikes at 9t, and the weather was also favorable. I didn't tell you the core of the trip, I was riding SOLO :-P That was damn awesomely unexplainable feeling & btw bit of fear too! No fear, no adventure! And I believe in that fear, fear is good.

So back on the road vrooming, crossing n number of toll gates, I stopped for a break almost after riding for another 100 kms, I am ~ 20 kms away from Zirkapur after a toll gate. I took my GPS and realized I got deviated from my real route, I was actually riding parallel to a road in which I was planning to vroom!

There was a bye pass which connects Kharar via Mohali. Kharar is a place just before my checkpoint in Kiratpur Sahib in Punjab.

As of now I have cruise 230 kms, using NH1, NH44, NH152. Remaining 290 kms to be cruise via NH205, NH154 and SH23.

The place was so calm, just the sound of the vehicles crossing, that too not much. Tried to take a power nap, but couldn't sadly bcos I was in adrenaline mode, and lots of mosquitos. Parked there for 15- 20 mins, time was almost 0130. I should have reached Kiratpur Sahib by now, but I am 100 kms away from my checkpoint. The happy thing is I can cover 100 at 1:15 hrs, so now may delay has been couped. Started riding towards Zirkapur, reached the bypass location, my identification mark was a KFC on the left before Zirkapur. I took the road which was shown in GPS, it was pitch black and no sign of road connecting to bypass. I can see the bypass in some distance, a few heavy vehicles was moving in that road. After observing for few mins, I found that there is another link connecting the bypass, so went back and took the left to join the bypass, it was damn pitch black, not so good route! After some stime I started riding in NH5, crossing Mohali and outer Chandigarh. In the map the stretch was not big to Kharar, but I was riding, riding & riding. Only god knows how zoomed out the map was(Scale). Rode for another 45 mins and I reached Kharar. Till now the road was really good. Now all of a sudden it just got changed to 2 way. Not perfect 2 way also, along both the sides of road work was going on and no lights on that stretch of road, just fu**ing headlights!!! I was half sleepy already! Managed to cross that stretch of road and vehicle stopped bcos of engine overheat, the real problem with the Pulsar began! After stopping for 10 mins, I was able to start and time was almost 0245, crossed Rupnagar and reached Kiratpur Shaib, as I was riding towards Kirtapur Sahib, there were lots iron bridges, assumed there should be strong, fast flowing rivers underneath. Saw the board redirecting to Mandi, Kullu & Manali. I was very much thrilled that I am gonna enter the road to the Himalayas and gonna fu**ing ride in the Himalayas.

I took the right and turned towards the road to the Himalayas, It was damn dark and couldn't figure from where the range begins. But from the place I turned, it was slightly elevated road and was dark! The weather was changing very badly from the place I turned, heavy thunderstorm and cloud ready to cast the spell of rain! After some time I reached a reliance petrol bunk and started covering my bag with plastic covers to protect bag from rain for my dress especially! The rest of the water prone things like Mobile & GoPro are securely packed in a dry bag. So it's all about dress & I have no clue, what's the temperature up there & how badly it will drop @ 9t at Prashar. As per my research the drop should be around 8-10 degree Celsius, computed on average. As I am packing, the rain just touched the ground in a fury! Man, rain in the Himalayas is one of the deadliest in the world! And only god knows how tough is the ride till Mandi. Now I have covered ~350 kms and the time is 0415. I had to wait there for like 20 mins for the rain to calm down a bit. And as it got reduced comparatively, I accelerated to the real foot hills of Himalayas. In another 5-10 kms I was able to see a board with writing welcome to the Himalayas ("Abode of Snow"), Dev Bhoomi.

The starting town in this road was Swarghat. Time was 0445, there was rain and the night to dusk transition commenced. As I started claiming heights, the temperature started changing, it was vague. "Dude, it may be because of rain also!" Crossed Swarghat and got the first glimpse of ranges and river flowing down the valley, Man it was so enthralling sight!!! After about another 10-15 mins I parked my bike near a cemented safety railing running along the road.

Day 2: Time was 0530, I planned to take a power nap, slightly cold and not too much of the noise! As per my plan, I should have slept in Kiratpur Sahib from 0130 till 0500 :-P. As I lay down in the lap of the Himalayas, I was very much happie and it's like I have achieved 50% of my dream ride. I took rest for more than half an hour. When I woke up, the weather has magically changed. When I lay down it was cloudy & slightly drizzling. But now, the entire place is wrapped up in the mist. The rain stopped temporarily! It was so nice!!! Geared up and started riding towards Bilaspur. As I was riding, slight drizzling back again with me. I was njoying it hard core, the zig zag road with beautiful curves, the deep valleys beyond the range of visibility, the high ranges rising progressively, and the smell of breeze with slight drizzle as I ride through gently! A feel that can be felt only if you are there! One may see the images & videos. But that feeling which rushes though your entire body can be felt only if you ride!!!

Njoying the road trip hardcore, I crossed Bilaspur, saw a huge tributary of Sutlej, crossed few iron bridges which literally connect two high Himalayan ranges, can see the mighty roaring river underneath! And before Burmana I stopped for a break. Had tea and was sitting the shop, now the raining became bit heavy! I bought 2 packets of biscuit as a backup for 9t. The shop owner was so courteous to me and asked to stay back till raining gets a bit less. The time was 0800, I stayed back there till 0830 and I had no choice than starting even though it was raining. I took a power nap in the meanwhile gap. Actually slept pretty well!!! Mandi was 50 kms from here. And to Prashar it was 105 kms.

Started riding towards the town of Mandi, the only densely populated town enroute to Prashar. Crossed SunderNagar & Ner Chowk. After riding for an hour, again the engine trouble, over heat and bike started to slow down! Thankfully, there are lots of mechanic shops enroute till Mandi. I stopped by a mechanic shop to inquire about this, he redirected to a bit far shop which was visible from there. I rode towards that and realized that was a Bajaj showroom with the service center! That's great. I felt a bit relaxed, handed over the bike and they inquired the problem and tried to check, I tried to convey the problem as much as I can. Still left them hanging for more clues :-P! Guess you can figure out why?

After 10 mins, they handed over the bike bag and said there are no issues, it's just over heat. And they didn't charge me a rupee :-o I really started to love these people in Himachal!!!

He checked for oil quality, whether water has been mixed in the petrol, since I am riding in rain for last 6 hours, and few basic connection checking. I started riding in a hope that there won't be any problem! But was that the condition??? You will know!!!

So the last stretch to Mandi, I was hardly 15 kms away from Mandi, I cruise towards Mandi and I can see huge & tall mountains in the back drop! Just awesome!!! Mandi was 465 kms. Prashar is 520 kms!!! I inquired the route to Prashar Lake, and I realized the people in there pronounce as 'Parashar' So started using like that and I was redirected towards a bridge, but sadly there were two, three bridges. I assumed my own and took the third one. Here I deviated from the original highway to Kullu, Manali, Spiti & Leh. I took the left and a left again and rode for some time. I found a nice spot to take a few snaps & to do a safety GPS check. Here I cannot afford to ride 50 kms and then realize that I have taken a wrong route! That will just kill my plan!

I checked my GPS & thank god, I am in the right route, from here the Prashar was 50 kms and the time was 10. I throttled down and start riding towards Prashar Lake. The route was a bit tricky and not too many markings, so had to ride a bit more focused! It was full of climb after taking left towards Kamand. It was mesmerizing! Truly Himachal is Dev Bhoomi!!! The view was really breathtaking!!! The simple view itself was majestic, along with that the mist made it more boom!

I crossed lots of small villages and all within 100, 200 villagers etc... It was really nice, I was able to feel the rise in altitude. The first village crossed was like kind of pass, because after the heavy climb, the other side was full on down! Crossed a bridge at Kamand and there was small deviation. Straight going to Kullu & Prashar and other to IIT Mandi, which was visible from the main road. Really a nice place to run an IIT. The route was so picturesque, I couldn't take my eyes from the valley and near by mountains. The road was equally beautiful and challenging. There were writings saying 'Rocks may fall, go slow!' :-o Crazy!!! Reached a small junction after crossing Kataula. Here I had to take right to Prashar Lake and straight to Kullu via Tihri and Bajaura. Took right and the road was more narrow through a small village towards Bagi Village. Which officially is the last inhabited area en route. The panoramic view was damn fu**ing awesome throughout the entire route!!!

Reached Bagi village in ~2 hrs, all of a sudden road ended and it was full of boulders. I was puzzled for a second, I inquired a guy nearby, he said I have to cross the stream. I saw an elevated road on the side, I was bit ok. But crossing the stream was really nice, I got my shoes wet :-P

Crossed the small stream and rode up the road leading to Prashar Lake, from here it was 19 kms.

The route was full on climb, I realized I have crossed the altitude of Ooty and it was really nice, at the same time it was risky too, since there were no safety railings, If you make a mistake, you will be down the valley which is more than 2kms deep! After riding for 10 kms, proper road ended and it was just mud, rocks & running water making the entire stretch slippery then & there. The entire stretch from was Bagi was just climbing, climb & climb and hairpin curves, I managed to ride in slippery mud for some time, after a while I was damn worried and started loosing control, there were steep climbs in this slippery surface, where my bike just didn't move and only back tires were screeching and started to skid very badly! In a hairpin bend, I literally lost balance I almost dropped my bike. Managed to make me stand properly & got cramps in the upper left thigh! That's a real bad thing! Trust me for a few seconds, you can't literally do anything. I had no choice, I dropped my bike and bag also slid down. Ignoring that I tried to loosen up the muscles. Luckily a car with 3 members came and a guy in that was polite enough to help me, he helped to lift the bike and held for a few seconds and later I managed to put side stand and tired tying my bag! But then I realized that is actually causing instability in the bike, due to heavy weight in a side, it will tend to slide towards one side, leading my bike to trouble in such scenarios. So I carried the bag in shoulder from there and managed to ride. In few places, I literally got down and pushed my bike. I saw few flags at some distance and misunderstood it as a destination, later as I approached near I realized it was just a small shop/ restaurant! My energy was so su**ed by now, and totally got de-motivated because the toughness of the route!

A couple crossed me and I inquired, how far is Prashar, and the reply was 5-6 kms, but it will take another half an hour for sure, I was so fu**ing sad! But I had no choice, I rode towards Prashar, pushing my limits!!! The route was so magical, literally heaven! But my mind was so fixed in reaching Prashar! After riding for another 30-40 mins, I managed to reach Prashar & parked my bike in the closest point! There was a small climb! It was like icing on the cake, like a small hanging bridge after a leap of faith!

As I climbed that I got the first view of snow capped mountain on the northern side, as I saw that, all that sadness & frustration caused by the route just vanished!!! The valley view & mountains in the surrounding just pleased me to my soul!!!

(Snow capped mountains in the last seen hills)

After glancing the place 360 degrees, I walked towards the restroom to freshen up & soon after that went down to the temple. There was a small temple of Parashar Rishi and a lake with a small island in the center, which keeps on moving. The place was so scenic!

The priest was so eager on seeing me, he inquires to everyone about where they are coming from and how they came? As I said I am from Chennai & came in bike from Delhi, he remained question mark for few secs and later I asked, how much is the charge for tenting(Restroom guy told me that, in order to tent we have pay 100 Rs to temple committee), he asked to give an amount which I wish to, I gave 100 Rs and he asked me to tent in the open grounds behind the temple complex. I said ok and I inquired about the story of Parashar Rishi, and he slowly started explaining me. After some time, I said, will meet in the evening and talk more, he was happie & I was also so excited in receiving such a positive response.

I walked towards the upper grounds and found a nice place to camp & started unpacking my bag, and in 10-15 mins I tented & settled all my things inside. It was just really gr8!!! Kind of Mission Accomplished feeling!!! Almost kind of settled down by 1430 hrs!

Temperature: 20 - 23 degree Celsius variable because of high altitude & mist wraps in between.

So once I sorted all the things out, I went to the small shop which I crossed as soon as I climbed this! There was a small tea shop & a small bakery! Went there and had a tea & a plate of maggi! He was literally my god! He said, he makes tea, maggi & rice with rajma. I inquired how long the shop will be open & he said it will be kept open till 2100 from 0700.

Soon after finishing my literal brunch, I just took my mobile and GoPro in a dry bag and planned to summit the small hill in the same premise, in 10 mins, I was above that! Oh God, what a view!!! Just unexplainable!!!

Stayed there for some time, this wasn't a full summit, I badly wanted to see the snow capped mountains, so tilted my direction a bit for that! Just unparalleled, no beauty can be compared with this!!! A true heaven on earth!!! After 20-30 mins, I went down to camp and decided to chill! Time was 1600, I decided to sleep for an hour! Exactly 24 hrs from Landing in New Delhi,

Official day 1 of the trip over!

Woke up by 1700 and I was literally shivering, actually woke up bcos of shivering :-P, I had a handy thermometer, checked the temperature, it was 15 degree Celsius! That was a quick serious drop, it was ~20 an hour back and now 15, gr8!!! I quickly took out my thermals and wrapped myself in that, wore base layer, T-shirt & woolen outer thermal. In a few mins, I was feeling comfy! I unrolled the sleeping bag & zipped myself in that, till now I was sleeping just like that in the plan canvas. Slept for another 30 mins and woke up 1730, opened my camp & it was mind blowing!!! Literally for a second felt like I am all alone @ nowhere, just heavenly!!!

Spent time walking around the place, in an hour the viz came back to normal and I went for parikrama or circumambulation around the lake, and it was nice. Got a few nice snaps. Saw lots of beautiful flowers which I haven't seen anywhere bfor!

It was done and went to the tea shop and had a cup of tea, and spent time chit chatting with the bro in the shop! There approached a gang of 4 boys. Highly energetic, youthful & eager, filled! One guy in that gang started talking with me & I intro'd myself and others also joined and we spent some time talking and they went down to temple & I walked to my tent. Those guyz were from a village nearby, they came here trekking! They were Sitanshu, Himanshu, Karthick & Nishanth. Got company!!! Hooooraaaayyyy!!!

Sat outside the tent & I was shooting video of the cloud moving in the inner zone near the lake, very calm & clean air, really chilled down my nerves! Sat and did nothing, was simply staring here & there and njoying the beauty of the place. No thoughts, just void occupying my mind! I got the same feel of shrooms!

The sunset was pretty late in there, happened only around 1945, bcos of high altitude, the sky was just filled with stars, hell a lot stars! Damn beautiful!!!

By 2000 I decided to go for dinner and was walking towards the shop with my torch in hand, I met Sitanshu and we spend some 10-15 mins talking, he was talking about his friend in Chennai, his schooling, and he asked lots of things to me also! Became buddiez just like that over a tea! Gr8!

Two thing are true about travel, it will gift you lots of memories & friends

Then his gang arrived and they asked to accompany them to the aarthi which was gonna happen in the temple in some time, time was around 2030. Entered temple and in a few mins, 2 priests came and started spelling chants & doing some rituals, just we 5, 2 priests & another 2 persons were there. It was over in 10 mins and a priest handed over a few petals of a flower as blessings! Then we walked towards the tea shop for the dinner and I planned to have dinner, they were not hungry, so they skipped. I have already told the tea shop bro to keep a plate of rice for me & he was very kind enough to keep that. I had rice, dal, mixed sabji & raajma, the food was damn good! I enjoyed every spoon of the meal & walked towards the place where they were hanging around. Then we decided to go on for a small trek in the same premise, that is something very cool & crazy! Because there wasn't literally moonlight, it was very partial! We walked around the lake in a semi circle path and started climbing, climbed till there were fences, and started walking parallel to the fence and decided to go to the summit! We walked for 30 mins and reached there. There was a big rock and all shared and sat and started chit chatting! It was really a gr8 time! Just magically beautiful and awesome climate, the temperature was around 16 degree Celsius. Spent some serious time there! One unforgettable experience! All of them were really nice & friendly! After around 1:30 hrs by 2300 we decided to return back to our camp. Started walking back, it was challenging while walking down, it was damn slippery! In 20 mins we reached the tent and waved a bye and gd 9t, and told will meet them by mrng 0630-0700.

There were lots of big snails outside, trying to navigate, thank god no leeches!!! I got inside the tent, switched on my tent light and settled my things. The temperature was 14 degree Celsius. Played a nice song, instrumental of Anoushka Shankar 'Traces of You' and lay down in my sleeping bag & zipped me! Kept alarm for 0600 and switched off the light....

Day 3: 0500, Even bfor the alarm rang, I was kind of awake, you know why? It was already damn bright then!!! :-o late night & early mrng!!! How much ever the light comes, I always manage to sleep happily! Slept off again & by 0600 alarm rang and I was up like a rocket, I have never woke up in such a pace in recent times :-D. Unzipped my tent & came out, not so dense mist, blanket of mist over the lake and the surrounding areas, guess it rained at nice, the tent was wet outside bcos of fog! And the temperature should have dropped around 10!

There was a slight breeze, as mild as it can be, the view was awesome, gr8 way to start a day!

I walked towards the temple, there was a tap where my new gang members were taking a bath, by the time I reached everyone finished & we walked into the temple, the temple was opened a few mins back and pooja was going on, soon after that, he gave the petals as a blessing and they said they are starting, I also said the priest that I will be starting in another 3 hours.

We walked towards the tea shop and all of us had tea, and took a selfie, they all officially signed off.

I walked along with them for some distance, hardly few meters and I came back to my tent and sat.

Life is so fast, within a blink, they are gone and time has flown damn fast and it's almost time to leave Prashar, I was very sad! My plan was to reach Prashar and next day morning going to Kullu, Manali & Solang valley and if possible to hit Rohtang La. But sadly none of this happened bcos of monsoon & bike condition! I had no choice, I have to return back to Mandi and decide. Bcos, the road is so unpredictable & can't afford to ride early morning & for sure I won't reach Delhi by the same day evening, hence I have to start back in few hours max!

I went for a small walk and climbed that small hill again and sat there for an hour. The temperature was around 18 degree Celsius. It was so damn cool and silent! I njoyed the silence and tried to catch up with the reality that I have to return back! The same feeling which I got in Andamans, I wished if I can stay there forever!!! Bcos I felt I belong here and been here bfor... Deja Vu!!!

By 0830 I decided to go down to the tent and started packing, it almost took an hour to pack all stuffz and stuff in the bag. By 0930 I am all set to leave Prashar. I wore all my gear and walked down to the temple and waved a bye and gave a small donation for cleanliness, the place really great, but few people, without realizing the importance & beauty of the place where dumping plastic covers here and there. I suggested them to keep a warning / sign board!

With hell a lot of memories, I walked back to my bike, waving a bye to the tea shop bro! Reached near the bike and I carried the bag on my shoulder, I decided not to tie till I cross the off-road section. I chest strapped my GoPro & revd my bike. Started accelerating at a slow pace to get a nice video and the road was also not so rider friendly and there are no safety railings for till I get down this hill and I am now at an altitude of 2700 meters. I was njoying each step of the ride, since I couldn't very much njoy when I came :-P After some 5-6 kms, I started facing problems bcos of slippery surfaces. Even if I down the gear & hold the brake, the bike was getting beautiful skid down the hill. At one hairpin I got really screwed, I couldn't balance because the back tire & front tire got skid at the same time & feeling was feeling damn fu**ed! The bike almost fell, somehow I managed to have a grip on the bike, after riding down that curve, I corrected my bag and continued...

In an hour I was able to cross 10 kms and successfully completed the off-road. The time was 1045, The view was breathtaking! After riding for some more time, I found a shop and decided to have breakfast. Ordered Aloo Paratha & coffee. He took 15 mins to cook, till then I was enjoying the panoramic view! The valley was so damn deep! I was able to see the road going below like loops.

Got my paratha & finished that, tied my bag professionally, got few really cool ideas to tie, few simple knots and it was as strong as Komodo Dragon :-P Time to vroom... I was very excited to ride fast in the curves, bcos till now I was riding in 10 kms :-P I rode few kms pretty fast, bending my bike as much as I can, then slowed down to njoy the beauty of the hills. After riding for some time, I met two people, they stopped me & ?

They wanted fuel, they were running on literally zero fuel! So gave them a bottle of fuel and accompanied them till the foothills of this hill, they were very happie. Reached the foothills, where we have to cross the stream and continue towards the Kamand. I waved a bye to them and I stopped to clean myself and the bike in the stream! The water was so cool and clean. Literally can drink!

Cleaned my bike, jacket & pants. And sat there for some time on the bike. Time was 1130. I decided to ride back to Mandi bfor 1300. There is a huge possibility of rain in hilly regions towards evening.

Crossed the boulder path to reach the normal road and started riding towards Mandi via Kamand, crossing IIT Mandi. The ride was really superb! Zero pollution, road! As I was riding, a small stream was running parallel to me. Oh god! Magnificent sight! Near towards Mandi I faced problems with the back tire. The response was not good, had a feeling of sliding away from the path. Managed to reach outer Mandi and stopped to check wats the problem, and guess wat? PUNCTURE!!! Sh*t! Where on this hill am I going to find a workshop. Remember, I told you there were pretty decent amount of shops from Kiratpur to Mandi. So I had to ride till there.

On the way before crossing the bridge, I saw a puncture shop, and inquired him and he was like cannot do it here, he guided me to near by shop. Shop after shop I tried inquiring like a chain hooked. But none of them were able to repair the puncture. At some time, repeating the same process, I realized I have actually crossed Mandi :-D. In the outskirts a mechanic redirected to me a shop which was 6 kms from there. Finally managed to ride to my final destination as of now to repair! Thank god, here I was to get it done! Even though it took some serious time, I was ok. The time was almost around 1400.

Bike got ready, I wanted to water wash, since it was looking still bad, found a shop in a few mins and left for wash, had to wait for 15+ mins. But got it done finally! And started riding towards Sundernagar. There was a bit of traffic, and lots of riders vrooming towards Leh & Spiti valley! Wish I was there in their gang too ;) After crossing Sundernagar, my bike started to slow down, same engine trouble! Parked my bike for 10 mins and the bike was in ok condition.

Started riding towards Bilaspur, thankfully no rain. The ride was uber cool, enjoyed my ride at best, after hitting the highway in Punjab, there won't be any chill breeze, beautiful hills & valleys! Even in this stretch of road there was really bad 10 kms stretch, where the highway work is going on. Crossing those hurdles, by around 1600 I reached 20 kms away from Bilaspur! Crossed a bridge and reached a T junction, where the left goes to Shimla & right to Bilaspur. Sadly, taking right, in some time I was a nice restaurant. I decided to have my lunch, I haven't ate anything since my dinner except a cup of tea in the morning!

Official day 2 of the trip over

Ordered north Indian thaali and was glancing through the GoPro snaps & videos recorded during the ride, It was nice, but not gr8! I should have raised the camera a bit more. The handlebar was a slight disturbance! The server bought the food and the fight between mouth & hand started! The food was good! But not as gr8 as Prashar food! Man, that's one thing which I will never forget in my life!

After finishing my meal I was thinking whether I can hit Shimla and stay there overnight, but the tire was a mystery for me! Since I realized that it is not tubeless!!! Fu**!!! Spoiler!!! I checked in Pulsar 200 NS, and forgot to do the same with the Pulsar 220 F, since I was in a hurry to catch up!

So pals, whatever the delay may be, make sure you check the bike fully!!!

The distance wasn't a big deal, bcos from there Shimla was only 3 hrs max! But sadly due to inevitability I had to ride down the Himachal. Started riding towards Bilaspur, crossed Acc cements, crossed Bilaspur, and was riding towards Swarghat. It was ~60 kms, after riding for some time, I faced trouble with my front tire, I was not able to properly steer!!! Awesome, right??? What if I rode to Kullu & above! Damn surely I would have been in a big fu**ing trouble!

I stopped my bike near a air filling shop, thinking it would be bcos of low air, because tire wasn't in punctured! But sadly there was no in that shop to fill the air, so started riding again, in some time was not able ride at all, too many curves and bike is going away to the opposite lane! :( I stopped and checked the bike, sadly the front nut in the nozzle was not there, bcos of which there was a disturbance in the tube inside and it became instable!!! Marvelous!!!

No other go, I have to ride down! I started riding down. Reached a mechanic shop, where he helped to find a nut from a pile of nuts. And he was damn good, he inquired about the trip and details. I talked with him for some time and he waved a bye.. Seriously the people in here were damn awesome!!!

Near Swarghat I stopped my bike to pee & take a few snaps, the scenic beauty was splendid!

Started riding down the hill, crossing Swarghat. It was sunset time almost, sun fading behind the hill was just awesome as it can be! Time clocking near 1900. Rode down the hill and almost near the foothills of the Himalayas, while going back on I realized I have done a lot of sleep riding :-P, I don't remember crossing these stretches at all. All I remember was taking right from Kiratpur Sahib and reaching Reliance petrol bunk in some time. :-D :-P gr8!!!

Stopped after crossing the border, and took a few snaps of the Himalayas, from my assumption of 0 MSL! Rode down to Kiratpur Sahib and halted on the banks of Beas. Time was 1900!

Will I reach Delhi by 9t? Stay tuned...

Got down from the bike and stood some time was the mighty Beas, there were steps leading to the river, used those and got freshened up, very pleasant. There was a Panipuri stall nearby, had a plate and costed me just 10 Rs and it was damn tasty. :) Sat on the bike, watching the river for some time...

My plan was to reach Ambala and halt there for a few hours and ride back to Delhi. Started my bike a hit the highway, throttled down and started cruising at 80-90 kms. Time was almost 1930. There wasn't much of traffic, both the sides of the roads were so green, full on agri along the route. Kiratpur Sahib to Ambala was 110 kms. Crossed Rupnagar, Kharar, now I had to take a right rather than going straight! Bcos that will again take me back to outer Chandigarh, and Zirkapur. So was pretty conscious enough :-P :D Took right and cruised towards Amabala, it was literally a straight road, no rights and it was a two way :( oh ho... Trouble, in some time it was really dark and I couldn't use my vizor. Hell a lot of flies and dust! That stretch was really a sh**ty one! In between bike got over heat and had to stop!

Time was 2100, started at some time and reached outer Ambala, had to take a left and crossed a toll gate and entered Haryana from Punjab, the road turned to 4 way and good lighting, since it's near Ambala Cantt. Crossed the intersection road from Chandigarh and started riding towards Kurukshetra. In another 5-10 mins, saw a nice restaurant and decided to have my dinner, I was slightly hungry. Parked my bike in front and walked inside the restaurant. Boom!!! Everyone was staring at me, why? Bcos I was in such an attire, everyone else in the restaurant is so neatly dressed. Who cares? :-/ All I want is to have dinner & leave. The waiter came and I ordered a Uthappam & Cold coffee. I was starving for South Indian food. Got my food and started eating, it wasn't really gr8, Sambar was so watery, only Chutney was ok, somehow managed to finish with Chutney. There was a family sitting in the adjacent table to me. They too ordered South Indian, and that man was Literally njoying the Sambar, like floating the clouds! Aare ********, come to TamilNadu, I will get you what is known as Sambar! This is just water!!! I got angry for a sec! Chumma scene ;)

Paid my bill and was waiting outside, thinking what to do. I have reached my destination and I have to spend a few hours here. I was stinking very badly, I wished if I can take a bath! Trust me, that realization comes to only once in a year and that too is like seeing a shooting star in the morning sky! :-D I checked for Oyo rooms near by and found one Panipat, I wanted the hotel to be on the side of Highway itself. So that I can start back without any haste. I booked hotel Le Gem in Panipat! It costed me 1000 Rs. Guess what the hotel was another 120 kms ;) Time was 2200. Started riding towards Panipat, crossing Kurukshetra and Karnal, no I was in the mood to reach the hotel, take a bath and sleep happily. In another 1:45 hrs I was able to reach the hotel, had to do few GPS checks enroute bcos there were no U turns on this fu**ing highway, gr8 right! So had to take service road, go through under the flyover and hit the opposite service to reach the hotel, since the hotel was on the side of way to Ambala. Finally reached the hotel and did check-in and got a room on 2nd floor. I was the only person walking the hotel at that time. It was damn silent. The room was pretty good and pleasing. Kept my bag, removed my riding gears and sat on the bed. The time was 2350.

I quickly kept my phone for charge, and took all the things out to sort, dry clothes, wet clothes etc... I went to bath and after a happie hot shower, I was all set to roll into the blanket, I took my mobile and started swiping through the pics. Switched on the tv and started playing Hindi songs, 'Baaki Baatein Peene Baad', In some time, switched off the TV and I slowly dozed off...

Day 4: Woke up, and went near the window, :-o holy shi*t it was raining... I was least bothered about that :-/ I started packing and got ready in an hour. Last day of the trip. I locked my room & gave the key to the receptionist. Tied my things on the bike and all ready to roll... Though, I carry back a lot of memories, was a bit sad!

Was driving slow, since I had a hell a lot of time, was sight seeing all the way back to Delhi. Panipat to New Delhi was 105 kms. Stopped then & there, chilled sitting idle on the bike, watching the fool busy bees running... ;) Hope you understood! Reached outer Delhi by 1300. Crazy traffic is back!!! Man, it was a hell a lot of fu**ing traffic! Rode like a tortoise literally, went mad, but no choice! The suffering was inevitable! :( Made a call to Afroz, and informed him, I will be at Karol Bagh by 1430, and somehow reached by 1445. Saw Afroz at some distance, waved my hand and he came, shook hands and inquired about the trip. He was also happie to see back, bcos his bike is safe :-D :-P

The shop from which I took bike was closed, so he figured to call another guy from a nearby shop to check the bike status. It was all good, and he returned back my advance amount, I removed my riding gears and gave that too, he refunded that amount too. Invited me to the near by shop and asked me to take some rest there. But he was unable to return back my ID because it was with the motor owner. Hence he told me, he will courier me that, but till now, 'till now' means literal now!!!, the moment I am typing this word, I haven't received my ID :(

Took rest for some time and informed him I leaving, because he left for lunch as soon as he settled me there, carrying my bag, I started to walk, the first thing, is to eat... It's nomad walk time :-P

GPS my tour guide, started navigating me, found an A2B and had Rava Dosa, and hot coffee, now time to identify my way of transit. Guess what I decided??? Yeppiee METRO!!! Underground metro was in my list, thought it would be a wow thingy! So to the nearest metro station, Jhandewalan was the nearest metro station, walked to the station and bought a ticket to Pragathi Maidan, that was my destination for now. My next destination to go was India Gate, so that was the nearest metro station. Boarded train and it was crowded, like a town bus, I was a bit ?d, Man, in metros I have went it wasn't this rush, felt like the metro was truly used in Delhi! Great! Obvio, traffic was a killer here...

Boarded from an elevated corridor and got down at an elevated corridor, but the track went underground for some stretch, but it wasn't as much as my eager expectation! So metro done, just like that. Boarded an auto to India gate and it was just 40 Rs! Around ~3 kms, but in Chennai for 3 Kms, they would have easily charged you 100 + for sure dude!!!

Reached India gate, nice view from the far end, there wasn't a big crowd, so happily walking and roamed in and around the place, in??? Where is this 'in'? Actually washroom!! ;) I was in hurry to pee! Dude, it's a required break haven't peed since morning! Wasn't required, all went in sweat ;) Ok cool!!!

So was seeing the details around the gate, lots of Jawan names written on the wall, and more details like that and a soldier guarding the ever glowing flame! The place was protected by a perimeter.

Official day 3 of the trip over

Looking into the details for some time, walked to a nearby lawn and decided to sit down and take some rest. The time was around 1630. I literally sat idle for 3 hours! Taking snaps, looking around, seeing the ground and sky! Time passed 1630, 1700, 1730, 1800, 1830, 1900. I was a damn disturbed, and couldn't sit anymore, took few snaps of near sunset environment, it was really nice, stood for some time. By 1930, I decided to start back, now where to go? No where. In between, I even searched whether I can go for movie :-P but couldn't bcos there was no theaters nearby. And this traffic made me to decide not to go!

So walked back to the main road, took an auto to New Delhi metro station, because it wasn't very far and from there only I have to board another metro to the Airport. I can either go in an auto, or metro and to change another metro to New Delhi station, wasn't very interested in that. The road wasn't very crowded inside New Delhi, it was better here, but outer was damn... Reached station in 20 -30 mins and found the Metro station with ease and bought a ticket to the Airport, this was another lane of metro known as Airport Express. There were 6-7 lanes of metro in New Delhi.

The boarding was underground and the train was so different, really classy! It was a nice ride to the Airport, I had to get down at Delhi Aero City, because there were two main terminals, T3 and T1D, for T1D, this was the nearest metro station. And I had to board feeder bus to T1D.

Reached at some time, actually met a guy at Delhi Aero City, who inquired me where is the way to Airport Metro, because over there, there were two metro stations in the same building at different levels. I told him I have no idea. Met the same guy in the bus and he was like, wow you reached before me. And he was like 'You know this place!' I told him no, I am coming to this side of Delhi first time. I have visited Delhi and that was 16 years back!!! He kept talking for some time, and he had to catch the flight by 8:30. He was literally in the neck! We got and waved a bye to him and he walked towards the lift to the boarding area. Only god knows whether he boarded!!!

Reached the entrance and took my ticket and ID card, and showed him, and any clue what happened?? Or wats the problem???

He said I can go in only after 0000 since my flight to Chennai was at 0335, that was one fu**ing awesome news for you Subro!!! And the time was now 2015, he asked me to wait in ticketing center.
There were few seats left, already there were hell a lot of passengers waiting already. Took a seat and started reading the newspaper. After some time I started watching a Malayalam movie 'Charlie', it's so nice, the actor is also kind of wanderlust in that. By the time it was over, the time was nearly 2345, went to the washroom and freshened up, and had a samosa and a mini bottle of slice.

Day 5: Walked to the entrance and entered the Airport, there were ads that this was awarded the best Airport award. Saw 360 of the Airport and walked to the desk, to get my boarding pass. There was no separate baggage scanner here. So kept directly in the cargo section, took my pass and walked towards a cafe to have something. I was damn hungry! Ordered a toastizza and ice tea. And chose a nice place to sit facing the runway.

My items came and I started to eat, finished in a jiffy. Ice was not so awesome. I ordered for Watermelon Ice Tea! It really made me think why did I order tht :( After finishing tht sat idle for some time watching the airport and flights docked. Everyone was busy working, Whereas I was sitting very bored!

After some time I went down near the boarding gate and sat there, I got damn sleepy and managed not to sleep, bcos boarding may start in another 45 mins. If I start sleeping, I won't wake up. Because I was damn tired. Just bcos I carried and walked all the Delhi, where I roamed with tht heavy bag. Even though I managed not to sleep, my eyes slipped. Started broken sleeping... I was more worried bcos there were no announcements for any flights. God only know why those crazy guyz ain't announce. Just bcos people may be sleeping at 9t??? Seriously? Tht much humanity ?? Then the world will change, yo the change is coming!!! You may be thinking now, what the f**k is your problem? Man, the world you are living is not a real world. the problems you face are not really problems, the hours you run for money are the real hours which you spend in a more better way. Everything you need or do is a basic requirement of life and tht is not life! Grow up guyz... wake up... Ok, there is no relation between what I told now and announcement not made in the airport. This is completely off the record!

So yea, since there were no announcements made I had to keep track of time. And it's the time to go back to normal sh*t life. Why do you think like tht? Everyday is a challenging and beautiful day. Learn something daily, wait for the weekend and hit the throttle hard and rave mad!

Boarded my flight by 0250 and flight took off by 0335. I ran to sleep, as soon as it took off. There was a first time flight traveler, he was boy less than my age, travelling to Trivandrum for Job. He inquired doubts abt luggage and I cleared his doubts. And I ran to dead sleep... Literally dead; I woke up only just before landing. 2:30 hours hardcore sleep. Landed Chennai by 0600. Helped him to reach the belt from where luggage had to be collected and waved a bye... I collected my luggage and walked out to the Chennai... Namma ooru Chennai da! Booked a Ola and happily sat in the back seat and njoyed the ride. Cab was bit late and he wasn't riding so fast. So took some serious time to reach the office. Yea, I went back to office bcos thts kind of my literal home :-P Reached office by 0730.

The dream ride has ended, everything just finished like I saw a dream in my sleep... I was in a gr8 hangover of the scenic beauty of that place. I am still...

Prashar a true heaven on earth. The Himachal, truly Dev Bhoomi.

Thank you my dear friends for riding with me... Your attitude and time to read make me write.. Do motivate more...

Leave only footprints, take only memories. And keep no regrets... Prochnost!

The End

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