Talking about "friends to be met and promises to be kept", that was what I was thinking when I stopped in front of Kamlesh Bhardwag's shop in Theog on my way back from Kalpa. The manner in which he went of the way to provide accomodation to a complete stranger a couple of nights ago speaks volumes about the hospitality of general Indians. Indians who still live in the country and do not halucinate about the Great American Dream with a desi blanket.
The ride to Kinnaur valley happened out of the blue, I didnot plan about it, heck not even gave it a thought even 24 hrs before the ride. Got a long weekend off from office, only came to know about it on Friday night, emailed a few friends, posted in a forum for some routes and finalised the destination as Kinnaur.

Day 1 Saturday Morning:-

Got out of office in the wee hours, reached home but had to wait till 8 am in the morning before I could change the engine oil in Ivy, though her chain was a bit loose I could not afford any more delays. Packed up a few clothes, a "stolen tool kit from Yogesh" in a bag, tied it all up in the pillion set and I was off..or so I thought. After negating serpentile traffic in the Ring Road for an hour, when I reahced NH1 it was already 10:45am. After speeding up to 100kmph for an hour, the rear tube in stock Zappers gave away, the first time anything happened with the tubes in about 19000kms. After pushing the bike to the nearest puncture shop, had to replace the tube, it was unrepairable! I was lucky I was carrying a spare tuff-up tube. Another 45 minutes gone due to Muprphy's grace, and the scorching sun made sure I was never covering more than 50kms without a break. After crossing Zirakpur, Kalka I took another break as the hills started, decided I will be ripping non stop now as sun was already heading for an overnight break. That was that, after some non stop corner attacking for an hour and a half, I crossed Shimla and was halted by the ever chilly winds, time to put on the jacket! The high speed antic on the hills resulted in a slightly bent right poogpeg, this goes straight to all those who hate Zappers, he he he..go learn how to corner a bike first!!!
I stopped for 30 minutes while changing attires after Shimla, it was already 8pm before I rode off again. Maintaining a steady 40kmph through the moonlit night passing through pine( I guess pine) forests, the experience was heavenly. I rode past Kufri and soon reached Theog, it was 9:30pm and the urge to sleep was overwhemling now! Thats when I met Mr.Kamlesh Bhardwaj, a 20 something guy, owner of a general store and a phone booth. He resolved my accomodation problem by lending me a room from his house for the night and even arranged for dinner! I was floored but was too tired to express my gratitude, after some hot rotis and daal, I was riding the a new red Ducati Desmo MotoGp RR ...in my dreams he he he..zzzzzzzzz........!!!

Day 2 Sunday :-

I woke up early the next morning, after the morning tea and newspaper with Kamlesh I started off with his good wishes. Kept the speedo needle below 60kmph while riding through good looking but bumpy roads crossed Narkanda and was on my way to Rampur. The heavily trafficed roads of lower Himachal which got me freaked out just a week back on the ride to Chail was now slowly disappearing and I was in my Uttaranchalish groove. Stopped for clicking a few pics when the mighty Sutlej river came forward to give company to this lone ranger. I spotted a shanty tea stall, named "Gulabo da dhaba" unfortunately didnot see Gulabo, but her father or husband greeted me with a nice hot tea and we even smoked a round of weed together. Stopped often for putting the digital camera to use, crossed Rampur, Jeori and entered the Kinnaur district by afternoon. Got my self and Ivy registered at the police checkpost, and stopped at a temple soon after, Kamlesh had told me about Tandawa Maa's temple and after offering a small prayer and a quick chat with two French Cyclists I was on the road again. The deeper I was going into Kinnaur the more seducive she was, the views were amazing and the feeling of being very close to heaven was on me...yet again! Roads were rough in patches, but after crossing the bridge over the furious Sutlej in Wangtu, they simply disappeared. The sky was getting mirkier by the moment and soon I was riding gladly in rains over gravel, dirt and rocks...simply awesome!!! The rains didnot last long and soon I was approaching Reckong Peo, a small town in the lap of the Kinner Kailash mountain. The backdrop was heavenly and after clicking a few photos I dumped my luggage in a room of Hotel Fairyland in Peo. The day was not over yet, it was not even 4pm, I rode to Kalpa, just 9 kms uphill from Peo. The presence of security men with AK47s amongst serene pine tress aroused my curiosity and found out His Highness Dalai Lama was on a visit to Kalpa. Kalpa is beautiful, her eternal guard Mt.Kinner Kailash is intimidating, the atmosphere is heavenly, I was standing there and got sucked into the seductiveness of Kinnaurr...aahh..orgasmic !!!

Day 3:-

Again woke up at 5 am in the morning and left Peo in a hurry only to stop after a few hundered metres to click the serene surroundings...this was repetitive for while till I crossed Wangtu. After the crossing the mandatory police check post autograph signing I left Kinnaur with a promise to Kinnaur, "I will be back". Kept riding with occassional breaks, bid goodbye to Kamlesh in Theog after sharing a tea together. As I approached Shimla the sky started to gloomy on my apparent departure from Himachal. For the first time avoided the city traffic by taking the Shimla bypass, it started raining on and off for a while. I took a 3 hour break 13 kms before Kalka to catch some sleep, used the broad seat of Ivy to good use...had a quick snack for a lunch come dinner in the adjoining Punjabi Dhaba. An incident free, non-speeding with occassional 110kmph burst ride led me to Delhi well past midnight, I was home at 02:45 am MWT. MWT is My Wristwatch Time for the uninitiated !

Preaches :-

If you are inclined to mountain riding use the oppurtinities which come your way, after some time you will begin to recognise the oppurtunities even they donot seem like apparent.
Be brave enough to ride alone if you really have the itch and urge to ride.

Some statictics according to me :-

I covered a total of around 1350 kms, Ivy drank an amount of petrol which again re establishes her claim to the best Indian econotourer motorcycle. I spent around Rs.700 for accomodation and food.
Overall a great solo ride, my third solo ride after Kausani in June 2005 and Chaukori in February 2006.

Note:- All statements are mine and I am not bound to answer any queries from anyone regarding them.

Thanks for reading,
Shamik

shamik720@gmail.com