Munsyari

Kumaon has always fascinated me since the time I visited Nainital for the first time in 2000 with family. It was one of the most significant reasons why I decided to work in Delhi after I finished my studies. So yet another bike trip to Kumaon before the year-end was always on the cards, and this time we rode to the far end of Kumaon, right at the base of the imposing Panchachuli peaks, Munsyari. We were a bunch of 5 touring enthusiasts, not riding for the first time together ofcourse. The bikes were 3 Pulsar 180s, 1 Pulsar 150 and me on my Unicorn. Guys were namely, Eric, Salil, DJ, Manik and me. Day 1: We started off early from Delhi, by 3 am amidst chilling winds we were far from the confines of the city and heading steadily on NH27. A nice lil 28 km traffic jam kind of slowed down the progress and by the time we got roads open again we were a good 1 hour behind schedule. We reached Almora by afternoon after crossing Kathgodam, Bhowali, Bhimtal on the way and stopped when we saw the snow capped peaks for the first time in this ride.


I was the only person in the gang who had been riding to Kumaon consistently, so the junta took my advice and we swerved right from Almora towards Berinag via Dharanoula. We had just about crossed 4 kms before Salil snapped his 180's clutch cable, we had to ride back to Almora to get the damn thing replaced from BAL service centre before we could resume again. P.S. : In Almora you can get your Bajaj, Hero Honda and Honda mobikes serviced as all the three makers have thier authorised service centres there. We rode through the secluded roads crossing Barachina, Dholchina, Sheraghat and reached Rayagarh bend by sunset. We decided call it a day and stopped over for the night in a small but clean hotel.
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Day 2: While some of the lazy bums(read Manik and Eric) dreamt on , Salil, DJ and I rode to Chaukori(9kms) early in the morning to capture the sunrise. The views were simply amazing and we had a nice and fast ride.
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After being back at the hotel, after enjoying some views from the balcony, breakfast gulped and we hit the road again.
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Towards Thal..

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After Thal..

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Almost there...
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In Munsyari...yayyyyyy
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Pictures shown here are clicked by Salil, DJ and me. Cameras used are Canon EOS 350D, Sony (some American imported model) and Canon PS A520 respectively. I will post some more pictures later. The entire ride was conceived, planned and coordinated by the members of BCMTouring.

Cheers, Shamik