Ladakh DAY 2 – August 05, 2007 Sun
Ladakh 3. DAY 2 – August 05, 2007 SunSwarghat – Bilaspur - Sundernagar – Mandi – Aut – Bhuntar – Kullu - Manali
The second day opens with a warm sunshine and clear skies. It is quite pleasant at Swarghat, and we are all refreshed by a good night’s sleep. We start off for Manali by around 9:30am – a small mistake that I would like to avoid the next time. One should always start early, and this is the learning we have over the next few days too.
I am on a thundercloud, fully rejuvenated with the sleep. Saki too gets into good action, and we make excellent progress to Bilaspur. We stop and Bilaspur to get Alok’s bike repaired. Baldev mechanic in the town – a good and helpful fellow. Recommended.
After a suitable breakfast of parathas, we move from Bilaspur towards Sundernagar and then to Mandi. The road goes through a green valley – part of Kullu valley – and is exceedingly beautiful. The road has juice bars on sides, river, valley and hills. The weather is quite nice and sunny. We meet a motorbike gang on the way. They are about 5-6 motorbikes, with some middle and old aged couples from Italy on them. We do not know then, but these are going to be our constant companies on the way to Leh.
Alok’s troubles are not over yet. Just 10km before Mandi, his bike’s chain breaks. Now we have a chain lock, but all mechanics are closed since today is Sunday. We finally find a scooter mechanic who is willing to put the chain back for us.
Once this is done, we move on towards Kullu. It is now about evening and it is getting dark. The entire road is spotted with shops selling Pashmina Shawls – It is like a ‘Valley of Shawls’ ( to quote Tim). Kullu is ugly, being a typical town. The roads are narrow and crowded. Only because it’s a Sunday, we are able to come out of it in good time. Some parts of the town are nice, but overall I will avoid the place if given a choice.
There are a few good places for the evening tea after Kullu, on the banks of Bias. A large OH bridge is being made after Kullu to go to the other side of river. We regroup and move on. Within half an hour, the clouds cover the sky and it looks like it is going to rain. We stop at a dhaba, with a view of getting some chai and also shelter. Wise decision, since it starts pouring almost immediately.
The climb from here to Manali is in the dark, and the road is bumpy. Not the most pleasant part of the day. We cover the 40km distance in the drizzle and dark, to reach the destination of the day – Manali.
Shrenik has already gone ahead and has found an excellent place to stay on the Hadimba temple road – ‘Jimmy Johnson’s Lodge’. The Lodge has a cottage, complete with a kitchen and a garden. And the food their restaurant serve is almost out of the world – Oh, the trout fish in local Manali curry! … We are probably the reason for shortage of trout fish in Manali region these days.
Note for backpack travelers: Jimmy Johnson is not at all pocket-friendly. It is goddamn expensive. One room costs Rs. 1200 – and that, when you are on a bike ride, is a lot. A trout curry thali costs some 300 bucks. That’s luxury multiplied three times over. Jimmy and his Johnson added a good 2-3 thousand in my overall trip budget.
Nevertheless, we decide to indulge, after the hectic day’s ride, and since this is going to be perhaps the last day / night of civilization. The rooms are very nice and clean, and the trout curry brought to us a beautiful dreamless night (almost all nights in this ride are dreamless, cause once you hit the sack you are as good as dead).
- Shreekant
The second day opens with a warm sunshine and clear skies. It is quite pleasant at Swarghat, and we are all refreshed by a good night’s sleep. We start off for Manali by around 9:30am – a small mistake that I would like to avoid the next time. One should always start early, and this is the learning we have over the next few days too.
I am on a thundercloud, fully rejuvenated with the sleep. Saki too gets into good action, and we make excellent progress to Bilaspur. We stop and Bilaspur to get Alok’s bike repaired. Baldev mechanic in the town – a good and helpful fellow. Recommended.
After a suitable breakfast of parathas, we move from Bilaspur towards Sundernagar and then to Mandi. The road goes through a green valley – part of Kullu valley – and is exceedingly beautiful. The road has juice bars on sides, river, valley and hills. The weather is quite nice and sunny. We meet a motorbike gang on the way. They are about 5-6 motorbikes, with some middle and old aged couples from Italy on them. We do not know then, but these are going to be our constant companies on the way to Leh.
Alok’s troubles are not over yet. Just 10km before Mandi, his bike’s chain breaks. Now we have a chain lock, but all mechanics are closed since today is Sunday. We finally find a scooter mechanic who is willing to put the chain back for us.
Once this is done, we move on towards Kullu. It is now about evening and it is getting dark. The entire road is spotted with shops selling Pashmina Shawls – It is like a ‘Valley of Shawls’ ( to quote Tim). Kullu is ugly, being a typical town. The roads are narrow and crowded. Only because it’s a Sunday, we are able to come out of it in good time. Some parts of the town are nice, but overall I will avoid the place if given a choice.
There are a few good places for the evening tea after Kullu, on the banks of Bias. A large OH bridge is being made after Kullu to go to the other side of river. We regroup and move on. Within half an hour, the clouds cover the sky and it looks like it is going to rain. We stop at a dhaba, with a view of getting some chai and also shelter. Wise decision, since it starts pouring almost immediately.
The climb from here to Manali is in the dark, and the road is bumpy. Not the most pleasant part of the day. We cover the 40km distance in the drizzle and dark, to reach the destination of the day – Manali.
Shrenik has already gone ahead and has found an excellent place to stay on the Hadimba temple road – ‘Jimmy Johnson’s Lodge’. The Lodge has a cottage, complete with a kitchen and a garden. And the food their restaurant serve is almost out of the world – Oh, the trout fish in local Manali curry! … We are probably the reason for shortage of trout fish in Manali region these days.
Note for backpack travelers: Jimmy Johnson is not at all pocket-friendly. It is goddamn expensive. One room costs Rs. 1200 – and that, when you are on a bike ride, is a lot. A trout curry thali costs some 300 bucks. That’s luxury multiplied three times over. Jimmy and his Johnson added a good 2-3 thousand in my overall trip budget.
Nevertheless, we decide to indulge, after the hectic day’s ride, and since this is going to be perhaps the last day / night of civilization. The rooms are very nice and clean, and the trout curry brought to us a beautiful dreamless night (almost all nights in this ride are dreamless, cause once you hit the sack you are as good as dead).
- Shreekant
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