06.00 hrs and we were jerked off our sleep by the sony ericssons and nokias screaming their pre set alarms. With little time left for lazing around, we got off to getting fresh, packing off again, preparing glucose-spiked water for our water-bottles and a having quick breakfast.
07.15 hrs and we kick-started (self-started for me!!) for Manali. A few kilometers from Kiratpur Sahib and we caught the road towards Manali. Hardly had we got onto the morning mist enshrouded Chandigarh-Manali NH, Himanshu ripped off and was nowhere to be seen. That left Kenny and me wondering where the hell Himanshu disappear into. Half an hour later, we found a "cool" Himanshu standing by the roadside, bike on stand and patiently waiting for us! It was then we realised that Himanshu was truly at home on the mountain roads, and the trend continued for the rest of the trip!
We were warned about the busy road ahead, traffic being constituted mainly of trucks and dumpsters heading to and from the ACC cement factory at Bilaspur. And boy, did we encounter trucks! Sometimes we had to crawl behind trucks for half and hour for need of passing space on the roads. Nevertheless,we managed to reach Bilaspur at around a respectable 09.30 hrs and we had our breakfast at one Hotel Neelam Bar and Restaurant! Breakfast was paranthas and eggs and coffee for liquids!
Post Bilaspur, the road was
ripping free, save for the numerous blind turns. We paced on our bikes on the butter-smooth roads, through the towns of Sundernagar, through hydel projects and through one 3km long tunnel, which had more than 2 turns! That was one heck of a ride- one moment we were riding in the glaring sun, the other moment we were inside a cool, damp, dark tunnel. We were immediately blined by our shades and it took us quite some time to adjust to the darkness. The rode through that headlights on , blinkers flashing and the occasional beeps of the horn. After almost 10 minutes of riding in the dark,light at the end of the tunnel was a sight to see. It is worth mentioning that this stretch was particularly scenic and a bit dangerous too- the roads are really runway class and very very high. The steep drop on the side of the road ended in the raging Beas below!
ripping free, save for the numerous blind turns. We paced on our bikes on the butter-smooth roads, through the towns of Sundernagar, through hydel projects and through one 3km long tunnel, which had more than 2 turns! That was one heck of a ride- one moment we were riding in the glaring sun, the other moment we were inside a cool, damp, dark tunnel. We were immediately blined by our shades and it took us quite some time to adjust to the darkness. The rode through that headlights on , blinkers flashing and the occasional beeps of the horn. After almost 10 minutes of riding in the dark,light at the end of the tunnel was a sight to see. It is worth mentioning that this stretch was particularly scenic and a bit dangerous too- the roads are really runway class and very very high. The steep drop on the side of the road ended in the raging Beas below!The ride next was just as
paced and we made it to Kullu just in time for lunch. A few quick searches in the town yielded no restaurants and we moved somewhat outside the town. A few kilometers towards Manali, we came across a nice restaurant by the river Beas. A lazy lunch, the pleasantly warm sun and the cool riverside was all we needed for a break.
paced and we made it to Kullu just in time for lunch. A few quick searches in the town yielded no restaurants and we moved somewhat outside the town. A few kilometers towards Manali, we came across a nice restaurant by the river Beas. A lazy lunch, the pleasantly warm sun and the cool riverside was all we needed for a break.We started off for Manali at around 16.00 hrs and made it to the popular hill station at precisely 17.00 hrs. We found the off-season rates of the hotels quite inviting and checked into decent hotel near Mall Road. But we found out that it had rained in the morning and there was fresh snow to be seen on the mountain tops. We hoped that it wouldnt snow heavily the next day.
The tripmeter on my bike read 606.3 km. That was what we had clocked in 2 days. We were too lazy to go out and try the restaurants outside and we had our dinner delivered in our room.
By the time we prepared to sleep off, it was 23.00 hrs and alarms were set for 06.00 hrs again!
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