Getting Leh'd - Day 2

Name of the Trip:

Leh Trip/ Yeah Yeah Yeah Trip/ PITB trip

Places Covered:  

Bangalore - Srinagar - Sonmarg - Drass - Kargil - Leh - Khardung la - Nubra Valley - Pangong Tso - Tso Moriri - Manali - Chandigarh - Bangalore (7500+ Km; 9 days)

Mode of commute:

Plane, SUV, Shikara Boat, Enfield Bullet, White Water Raft

We had to start from Srinagar early if we were to reach Kargil by evening. Dhava - our saarathi -  had made it clear that that meant waking up early and leaving the hotel by 7 in the morning. When i woke up at 6:45, the chairman was almost ready. Thankfully 2 of the girls were still sleeping. Getting ready in no time, we settled the dues at the hotel (we sadly did not receive any discount for the malfunctioning fan) and left before 7 after loading the luggage on the rack on top of the scorpio. This was basically on the premise that we shall top-up our stomachs en-route. That also meant that everyone was hungry. This is where (Abi introduced the term) "Rainy Day Provisions" - ready to eat provisions that the Chairman and Abi had brought along - came in handy, especially the cup-cakes. Rainy day snacks were loaded at the back of the scorpio, where the CBO was in permanent sleep mode. So while we filled up our tanks with snacks, Dhava drove into a refuelling station and filled up the scorpio's tanks.

The snacks only delayed the inevitable.. Hunger was back in no time and we were looking for dhaabas/ restaurants again. Soon we found a place which looked decent and stopped. While Dhava parked the vehicle we rushed to the restaurant to order the 1st round. Aloo parathas came fast while mixed veg parathas took some time to come (even though 80% of the mix veg was aloo) The food was ok but this time too there was no salt. It was around here that it dawned on us that perhaps the average Kashmiri / Ladakhi consumed lesser salt per capita than say someone from Bangalore. Thanks again to CFO/Chairman from bringing along the hand sanitizer. Hunger was the secret ingredient that made the food tastier i guess. After finishing the parathas, we got more rainy day food including chocolates and water bottles (Kinley/Aquafina costs a standard INR 30 anywhere between Srinagar and Manali). As we left, we found the dhaaba's stock of cool drinks stocked in the stream of cold water flowing nearby. Best way to serve the cool drinks chilled. Low electricity bills... Low carbon footprint... “Jugaad” at its best.

There was a river/rivulet (as against the many lake-ulets emerging from Dal Lake ;)  that flowed by the road we took towards Sonmarg. After a while, we decided to stop and stroll around the river. Clear, cold water flowed over the river bed while larger rocks jutted out of the river. The more adventurous members climbed on these and posed for photos and the smaller mountains (Kashmiri hills?) not far away provided a good back drop for the group photos as well. We did want to PITT (refer day 1- Srinagar airport) but found no rest rooms nearby. So we kept moving. Slowly the land scape was filled with mountains and the further we went, the higher the surrounding mountains became. Further up we came to a park on the other side of the river. The setting was beautiful with the park overlooking the river. Very tall coniferous - like trees arose from the rich green and trimmed lawns. To provide the perfect background, the tall mountain peaks far behind had white tips  - our first sighting of snow :) And to top it all, to cross the river there was a wooden bridge. But what interested us most was the "paid toilet" sign at the entrance! We gladly paid the 10 rupee (per head) entrance ticket for the park to PITT. We also topped up the mineral water bottles at INR 30 apiece, took some pics on a giant tree that had fallen down and set sail once more.

Within no time, we were in Sonmarg which was more like the park we had seen.. Entire valleys covered in lush green lawns which were surrounded by mountain ranges covered with coniferous - like trees and some of the distant peaks covered in white. We did see a lot of camps at Sonmarg. There were some mountaineering sites and some places had horse riding as well. But since we were more interested in lunch, we quickly made our way to the JKTDC restaurant which also happened to have veg/jain food. The Chairman and I went in first followed by the girls. It was dark inside and so it took a while for our pupils to dilate and see the innards of the room - there were at least 20 to 25 pretty young kashmiri girls staring back at us. One of the lenses from chairman’s specs popped off. (yes.. that actually happened) After awkward stares were exchanged, we also realised that there was no food/plates on the tables nor were there waiters in the room. As it dawned on us that food was not being served in the room, we moved out in search of another veg restaurant which we found across the road. The food was awesome (of course.. except for the salt.. which we added in liberal doses before gorging) - the butter rotis as well as biryani was mouth-watering and special mention has to be made of the delicious thick curd. But even this was not enough to cheer the chairman as he was consumed in thoughts about his damaged specs. In spite of my stomach making loud noises in protest, i still had large portions of rice and dall (this move proved problematic to the others later on.) After lunch, Abi set off to find the toilet for PITT. She might as well have taken a magnifying glass. The hotel had the smallest toilet we had ever seen. It was a 3 feet * 3 feet room in which it was difficult to even turn around, let alone move around.

We set course for Kargil / Drass once again and by now, the roads started gaining serious altitude. and the valleys and gorges became steeper. At one point, the road split ahead of us, with one road heading up and the other heading down. We headed up. Quite some time later, we could see literally thousands of tents by the road that stemmed down. These - as we found out later on - were the tents for pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra. Sometime later we stopped at a small village for tea. Here, we had an option for tea or Kawah. The tea was served in a small cup, but what we got in the name of Kawah was normal black tea..  (Chairman made puking face...) :( The real surprise turned out to be a packet of NANDHI Milk (all the way from B'lore) we saw at the provision store in that village. Hmmm... Probably the fact that nandhi milk is the cheapest tetra-pack available in the market could also have played a role in it being in this far flung area. Next we saw a weird looking vegetable in one of the shops... that turned out to be the weirdest Aloo Abi and I have ever seen. The shop after the tea shop had a lot of cooling glasses kept on the display window. So we tried our luck to see if they could repair Madans'. No luck.. But instead we did get some monkey caps.. Uma and CBO went for 'nakkli' Nike caps while i went in for original "addibas"... :) CBO got into the mood - she started bargaining with the guy but she (1) did not have enough time to reduce the price as we were in a hurry and (2) the pahadi guy looked intimidated by the CBOs bargaining. So we took the caps and headed out... moreover my stomach was not in the best of conditions either.

Next stop was Drass. We stopped at the war memorial built for the brave soldiers who had sacrificed their lives so that we people can lead safe lives. It was an emotional experience and one that gave fresh insight into the heroism and spirit of our soldiers. During the kargil war there were many instances where our soldiers - knowing very well that they would not make it out alive - went down all guns blazing - Maybe to protect a comrade or to conquer an enemy bunker inflicting heavy damage to the Indian army or simply to kill as many militants as possible before they succumbed to their wounds. These war heroes, with their amazing display of courage and selflessness took back many mountain peaks from enemy hands including tiger hills, tololing, 3 pimples etc. All of us came out of the memorial with moist eyes and great pride for the Indian Army. We bought a few souvenirs and boarded for Kargil.

By this time, the skyline was getting dark and my stomach was getting upset :) In technological terms, I wanted to download badly. But there were no hotel en route. We reached Kargil pretty late. Immediately on entering Kargil, we looked for specs repair for Chairman, which we didn’t find. Then we started looking for hotels. We found one on a hilltop with a breath-taking view of the sunset, but we thought that the (fast diminishing) view of the sunset was not worth the amount they were charging. So we decided to look for other hotels. We found another place. But it didn’t look decent nor safe (it did actually look like "hotel decent" of Jab We Met). By this time, pressure was building in my stomach and i couldn’t stand (or sit or lie) waiting any longer to find a hotel room. We stopped at a place which looked good. But the rates were high.. Madan and I talked to the manager who was a nice guy except when it came to reducing the hotel rates. That’s when CBO walked in. What followed was a high voltage bargaining match between them. Both the "Guys" of the group could just stand and watch the uppercuts and the jabs from both sides. It dawned on us that the hotel manager was an experienced campaigner. But the CBO did not let go before getting a rs. 100 discount off the bill. We took the rooms, dumped the luggage and i rushed to toilet. Later, We went to the girls room, watched the movie "kahani" which everyone liked - Uma became a fan of Vidya Balan . After this, we went down to the restaurant, had food, came back and slept.

Getting Leh'd - Day 1

Name of the Trip:

Leh Trip/ Ya Ya Ya Trip/ PITB trip

Places Covered:  

Bangalore - Srinagar - Sonmarg - Drass - Kargil - Leh - Khardung la - Nubra Valley - Pangong Tso - Tso Moriri - Manali - Chandigarh - Bangalore (7500+ Km; 9 days)

Mode of commute:

Plane, SUV, Shikara Boat, Enfield Bullet, White Water Raft 

The Wanderers urf Protagonists:

The wife (Uma) who had meticulously planned the trip and without whom this trip wouldnt have been possible,

The (self declared) Chairman of the group urf CFO urf Madan,

Abi (of PITB fame) urf Abinaya,

The CBO (Chief Bargaining Officer) urf Sleep Mode urf Mallika and

last but not least, me.

INTRO:

Many times in the past, i had promised my ex-girlfriend that we would finish - one by one, the contents of our bucket list - the few things we needed to do before we kicked the bucket. And any talk of the bucket list would invariably include a few references to Leh/Ladakh. Over the years, the bucket list grew longer and my ex girlfriend became my wife. And about a year after the marraige, we decided to strike out leh/ladakh from the list.

Day 0

Getting 5 days leave was the easy part. All that needed to be done now, was to finish the work from home and email it to the boss before leaving Bangalore on saturday morning. Little did i know that it required me to sit all through friday night to finish the work. Half asleep, i clicked the send button at 3:00 AM and rushed to pack the bags. The fact that, the wife hadnt finished packing and that there was all of half an hr before the taxi arrived to pick us up were the small miracles of life. We finished packing and got ready by 3:40 by which time the taxi guy had honked. 

Day 1 - Srinagar

We reached the Bangalore international airport to see 3 other groggy characters, pushing their luggage to the departure wing. We joined them and the 5 groggy characters headed for the security checks. The queue was long at the Indigo counter,  as it was a connecting flight via Mumbai. Before boarding the plane at around 5:00 in the morning, we ran into Soniya Chadha at the terminal cafeteria, who had another flight to catch. The Chairman and I remember only little as to what happened after the sweet airhostess invited us into the plane. We were later informed, that even before the plane taxied onto the runway both of us were snoring away to glory. As i opened my eyes, the plane had already stopped over at Mumbai. We got down at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai for our rendezvous with Jovitha urf jamundi urf shendi urf jucita (God! how many names can one have!). Legend has it that Jucita is a hard to please and powerful demigod. But when appeased, she becomes an angel and showers her devotees with orange / pineapple juice. On this particular day, when we awakened her with our persistant calling (at 5.00 in the morning and that too on a Saturday) she was - surprise!!! - delighted and showered us with not only 8 glasses of orange / pineapple juice but she also got us the finest of Mumbai’s garma garam vada paav'. (7 days after the meeting, the wife still remembers the lingering taste.) After a photo-shoot session with her, it was time to say adieu. 

After clearing the additional round of security checks for Srinagar passengers, we were finally in the plane. The Mumbai - Srinagar flight was comparatively sleepless. The seat to my right was still vacant as the plane sped down the runway. And on my left, (at the window seat - as always) my wife was curiously looking through the gaps in between the 2 front seats. What she was watching and what was to become our (including the chairman -  who sat on the empty seat by my side and later Abi - who joined her hubby) entertainment system of the remaining flight, was the raunchy chat conversation that the girl sitting in front of us had stored in her cell which she was re-reading throughout the flight.

We didn’t notice the splendour of Srinagar airport much as we all went to PITT ("Piss in the toilet" - for the uninitiated) Much relieved and baggage in hand, we got a taxi from airport to TRC where our 2nd home was parked. Our second home was a Mahindra Scorpio - in which we spend a considerable part of our trip - driven by a ladakhi, Dhava (our pilot for the trip), now parked at TRC - outskirts of Srinagar city. Due to local union issues, the Leh registered vehicles are not permitted to wander around in Srinagar and vice versa. At the onset itself, we had clearly decided that we would book the plane tickets and the 4 wheeler in advance but NOT the stay, as we could bargain a hell of a lot at the hotels. So we searched for a decent place to stay (not "Hotel Decent" from Jab We Met - mind you) We spotted such a hotel - Hotel Prime. Chairman and I thought we had a good deal when we brought down the tariff rate from 1500 to 1000 per room. (Madan... looking back, we should have let CBO do the talking) We got out, had food at Krishna Dhabba near Dal Lake (the food was ok... but it had no salt) and set out to dal lake. Dal lake was a "5 min walk" according to any one we asked directions to, and after 20 mins, we saw a lot of house boats and ghat no. 1 (gate no. 1) of Dal lake. Shikara Boat drivers at the Ghat slurped in delight at the prospect of milking 5 plump tourists... and so the bargaining began from Rs. 1200 for 2 hrs. per shikara - which we reduced to Rs. 800 for all of us in 1 boat. Again we thought we had a good bargain.

DAL LAKE: Anyhow, even though, the Dal lake was more crowded than we assumed (with house boats, other tourists in shikaras and entire shops - in - boats) it was still picturesque with vibrant colours of the shikaras and house boats disrupting the calm blue of the lake. The many contrasting colours, shades and hues of the Dal lake especially viewed in the rays of the setting sun provides a lot of photo opportunities and we were guilty of making use of this to the max. We did miss a DSLR though. While the tourists in the shikaras are necessitated to sit in the boats for 2 hrs, various sellers bring/showcase their products in their shikaras which they "park" next to the tourists' shikaras. Products include jewellery, eatables, soft drinks and even freshly made steaming tea but all this at high/exorbitant rates. As the tourists cannot move from their shikaras' they become captive customers. (Please read Mr. Philip Kotlers upcoming book - Captive Customers ;) The ladies, with their resolve of steel, decided not to purchase anything on shikaras much to their husbands delight. Abi was constantly giving warnings and ultimatums to the Chairman not to dip his hand in the "fresh water" lake. But the Chairman was interested in the hydrella growing underneath the water. Finally the chairman's biology study was completed when he not only touched the water but also the hydrella, much to the dismay of Abi. In the meanwhile, it started drizzling. We also purchased grilled corn (from a vendor in a shikara) which tasted awesome in the cold weather that the rain brought along. Next, we parked our shikara next to a floating bakery and I introduced the gang to Kawah i.e.- "tea" in Kashmir (which is a blend of light green tea mixed with dry fruits) - one of my favourite drinks. Chairman refused to drink. All others were ready to experiment. On drinking, the wife thought it was OK. CBO believed it was sugar dissolved in water and on taking a sip, Abi wanted some real tea. So we got some pepsi for Chairman and normal tea for everyone else. As lights faded (it was 6 in the evening and it still looked like the 4 o'clock of Bangalore) we wound up the boat ride.

Back on the road, we tried getting photos clicked with traditional Kashmiri dresses which turned out to be a flop show as the photographers there were only interested in swindling tourist’s money. CBO had a tough time asking her photographer to delete the extra pictures he had taken. Some, where downright rude as well. Anyway looking back at the pictures taken, the wife actually looks like a Kashmiri girl!! After this, we had food from a nearby dhaaba the food was average (again.. there was no salt) and headed back to the hotel. I hit the bed and in no time was asleep. The next day, I got to know that the Chairman and the girls played UNO (Chairman’s favourite card game) until the fan’s regulator stopped working… not that it mattered.. it was cold anyway. At this everyone called it a day (or night) and hit the bed, thinking of all the wonderful places and sights and the not so wonderful people.

Kitna Deti Hai?

One fine day, as i waited for a friend on the CBR, in front of a building someone pokes me from behind.

I turn around to find an old chap on his scooter behind me (probably waiting for his friend..) 

He stared hard at the bike, then looked at me and asked in kannada... "eshtu ayitu?" (how much did it cost?)

Well.. I was happy.. He didnt ask "kitna deti hai?".

I could only string together a few broken numbers in kannada, but happily I told him, "1.7"

But, the look on his face suggested shock (8 on ritcher scale)...

"lacs?" he asked.

i nodded yes.

he shook his head and looked away...

he just couldnt take the fact that someone could spend so much on a motor bike. 

I was trying to piece together words (in my broken kannada) that would explain to him how much of a bargain it was considering the engineering gone into it, competetor analysis and the huge improvement in stability, ride and handling over commuter bikes, when he turns around and asks,

"kitna deti hai?"

i mumble, "er.. 35 in city" getting defensive.. (that was a lie... its around 30 in city and around 35 on open roads)

Again.. he shook his head..

I clearly remember the last time such a conversation took place... it was a few weeks after i bought the CBR. I was about to park her at office parking lot, when a guy standing at the parking lot asked, "kitna deti hai?" i said around 30. At this, he says, "hey my moped is better... it gives 60". On that day, i not only agreed with him completly but also decided not to discuss milage with strangers...

I am ever gratefull to my friend for arriving at the nick of time. I quickly put the lid on, helped her climb on board and sped off from there thinking, " never discuss milage with strangers."

Road To Redemption

Odo: 4550 km, 1 service, 7 months.

Route: Gulbarga - Shahbad - Sindgi - Bijapur (Highway 218); Bijapur - Ilkal - Hospet - Chitradurga (NH 13)

Chitradurga - Hiriyur - Sira - Tumkur - Bangalore - Home :) (NH48)

Milage: Pretty much the same as last report (21 liters, 700+ kms, and1 bar still left on the digi-mileage indicator)

Intro

Last 7 months was drastic.. Got a CBR, Got married, went from Kerala to Jammu with the spousy - or is that spicey? - (and toured many places in between as well).. left a (secure?) government job to go back to college [:)], and getting settled (finally!!!) in Blore in a house that both of us can call home. How do you celebrate? -  road trip to redemption - a 700 km home coming journey on the CBR - no less!!!

The last supper

Bureaucracy means signing on a sheet of paper takes 3 days and that too after making repeated calls. I lost all hopes of getting the relieving letter from SBI on the agreed day, until Mr. Sudhakar Kulai (AGM, SBI Gulbarga) intervened. He made a few calls and the signed relieving letter was on his table at the last moment, 7.00 PM - (Sincere thanks) Had a small farewell at the office, said (an emotional?) bye to Manikeshwar Prasad Singh and left for the parcel office.

The bags had been packed a week before. But they still had to be rushed to The VRL parcel office before it closed. The nice guy at the office accepted the bags - the last parcel for the day - gave a helpline number, his number and other contact details at Blore. Didn't strike at that point that this was the 1st time i was both the sender and the receiver of a parcel. :)

The CBR gulped down 9.5 liters of gas and she got her tires topped up at Mr. Rahul Shah's pump. Then it was off to Praney's place. His house was witness to my last supper at Gulbarga. Mr. Praney Sarkar is good at making Maggie noodles, i say.!!! I  Had planned out the route in my head before, yet at 12 in the night, a groggy Sarkar was watching me check out the route to blr on google maps for one last time, before sleeping. Sleep? Whats that. Couldn't sleep before the trip. As usual :)

Journey Begins

Woke up 1/2 an hr before alarm went off, got ready, bid a brief farewell to Sarkar, and left his house at 6 am. Before I left, I had taken out the cold weather inner lining of the riding jacket, so that it wouldn't get to hot in the afternoon. Mistake.. Big Mistake.. It was bloody cold in the morning. So much so that 5 minutes into the journey, the bike was shaking due to my shivering bones,  brrrr!!

After around 30 km, I stop at a tea shop attended by a kid to fit the cold weather inner lining - (have to say it works bloody well - due to the warm insulation, the shivering stopped right after the pit stop).. and the warm tea was very welcome.. The tea stall kid did look bewildered.. with riding jacket, helmet, gloves and riding boots, i must have looked like a distant cousin of Darth Wader. Hmm.. cant blame him :) But I hope he and others like him gets used to seeing more people with protective gear on Indian roads. We set off again (er.. that's me and CBR) on the Glb - Sindgi - Bijapur route. Its a nice highway with good surface where decent speeds (110+) can be maintained. On the Sindgi - Bijapur road, i stopped at the same village tea shop, i had stopped during my last (Gulbara - Hubli) trip - had Tiger biscuit and awesome chai. (The guy remembered me because of the bike :)

Orgasm

From Bijapur, turn left for NH 13. The 6 lane expressway is orgasmic... speeds can be raised to 145+ k mph. lovely :) But this euphoria lasted only for a brief stretch as I realize that the mileage is dropping at an even faster pace. !!! After a few more kilometers, one also realizes that as the Highway is being newly constructed over virgin / barren landscape, because of which there are no petrol pumps on this stretch :( So speeds drop down to a consistent 100 - 110. Then  you realize that the construction work of the highway is still a work in progress.. and hence there are bad stretches in between.  So now speeds drop to 40 - 60's in some of the stretches. So much for the orgasmic 6 lane highway :)

By now, 4 things would have started bothering a weary traveler. Hunger, Sleepiness, Refueling (for the CBR) and Heat. Punjabi Dhabba to the rescue. The Dhabba comes up from nowhere in this barren stretch. The 2 teas (how is it that all dhabba's make wonderful chai?) and the mandatory parathas quenched the hunger and drowsiness. Petrol refilling by another 9.5 liters was carried out from the pump right next to the dhabba. Also this was an opportunity to remove the inner lining (yup - now it was getting awfully hot in the jacket) and we are ready to go. Just that the dhabba owner mentioned that the the remaining 100 km to Hospet was a lot of work in progress :(

Thankfully, the hospet to chitradurga (NH13) roads are mix of smooth surfaced winding roads and broken roads. On entering Hospet, the scenery changes, the roads begin to wind around hills / iron mining quarries and the traffic thins as well. If you notice, these are all the necessary ingredients for a spurt in the pace. The right hand responds accordingly until the cops spot me.

Police Story

Cops stop me.. Ask for documents.. I told em, i work at SBI.. "Oh.. is that so?".. They don't want to see the papers any more.. They get friendly.. Conversation veers to the bike and.. inevitably its mileage.. they are happy it gives more kmpl than a bullet.. I ask for directions.. They tell me.. journey continues.. :)

Its surprising to see 3 level crosses close to each other on an NH. Anyway, winding roads plus sparse slow moving 

mining lorries with greenery and hills on one side and glimpses of TB river on the other amounts to a wonderful ride.

One can maintain a 70 - 110 k mph+  depending on surface and / or traffic.

Land of Wind Mills

A wall of windmills high upon on a cluster of distant hills announce your entry to Chitradurga.. and as you travel further, you find yourself in the midst of gigantic windmills.. spinning away at an excruciating slow pace. The warm feeling you get at Chitradurga has not only got to do with the scenery, but also the fact that its the last leg of your journey. On hitting NH 48, turn left for Bangalore.

Even though tired, the last stretch of 200 kms passes by in a blur, partly due to the wide and smooth asphalt and partly due to the familiarity of the road and landmarks. Speed rises to 120+ with occasional 135s encouraged by sparse traffic. Zigzag routes spring up between slow moving trucks scattered on the highway.

Bengalooru

By now, the roads are familiar and so are some of the buildings and hoardings. So far it was just a trip that you enjoyed as the scenery flashed by.. But now, you anticipate the familiar neighborhoods, the road ahead, the turns.. the only thing you don't anticipate is the traffic.. :(  700 km to Bangalore took nine and a half hrs.. last 25 km to home sweet home takes one and half..  Bengalooru..good old Bangalore.. :)