The drudgeries of life
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Dream Trip: Day 2 - Knockin' on Heaven's Door!
Being on a vacation yet having to meet deadlines, sticking to time constraints yada yada is ironical!
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, the feeling that today was when the actual journey began manifested itself! Till Manali, we were somewhat acquainted with the routes and the places... today we'd be venturing out into unchartered territory!!
Miles to go before we sleep!
All 6 of us were up and ready by 7 AM. Having breakfast at our hotel though was a bad decision. We'd heard the breakfast here was awesome, so we went in for it... turned out the food was bad, and the bad service ensured a delay of 2 hours!
Sid, Rusti, Manish and I outside our hotel lobby
It wasn't before 9 AM that we left Manali. The scenery along the road kept getting more and more beautiful as we progressed. A few of the snaps taken on the way to justify the previous statement:
Hell yeah! Smoking Heavens!!
This waterfall almost gushed its way into our car!
The roadway to Heaven?!
We reached Rohtang Pass at around 12 noon, and man! What a sight! We were literally walking in the clouds!
Sid believed he could fly :)
Had piping hot tea at Rohtang and clicked lotsa pics before moving on...
A cuppa@Rohtang
After Rohtang, the roads became a nuisance! They were horribly kuccha and very dangerous! But for once, Guru, our driver did a great job on the road (if you could call it a "road", that is!)
We lunched at a tiny hamlet called Koksar at 1:30 PM... gotta admit that it was one of the best lunches I've ever had! Dal, Rice, Kadii, and Raita! Totally yummy!
Layul Dhabha at Koksar, a must visit place ;)
Simple and tasty!
Randy just couldn't let go of the yummy lunch!!
It was at Koksar that we got the first glimpse of Mountain Bikers too... hats off to them!
As if we weren't already late, had to stop for road repairs at a place called Sissu.
At 5 PM, we reached a scenic place called Darcha where we had the evening tea. It was the last halt before the climb to Baralacha La ( one of the many high mountain passes we were to witness in the coming days).
By now, we had a leaking tank to deal with... and as if to make it a thrilling experience, the following signboard showed up:
The climb to Baralacha La was precarious, to say the least. We stopped at a famous lake called Deepak Tal which offered a breathtaking view.
Deepak Tal
Soon after the last stop, we were down with a flat tyre! Luckily it wasn't yet dark, we had an extra tyre, and the surroundings were beautiful!
Yep! It was that mesmerizing! :)
While Guru fixed the tyre, we danced on the deserted street, took lots of pics... in our lingo, we indulged in total bhasad :P
Guru fixing the flat tyre
As Chandu rightly pointed out, how can we forget the following advice from Sid when Randy was trying to climb a hill during the Bhasad session :
Randy: "Kaise climb karu ....where should I keep my feet?!"
Sid:"KYA KAR RAHA HAI SAALE...Idhar rak....idhar rak sale....haan ..abhi udhar rak,,,,Rak be.........."
LoL... soon Randy realized that it was time to stop and come down :P
Sid teaching Randy some mountain-climbing :P
(Seemed more like a scared cat on a tree looking down at the pursuing dog, which is barking up the tree :D)
Next, the roads got worse and darkness had set in, making progress very slow. Sid, sitting up front with Guru, made his (rather everyone's) fears public... and we guys had a ball pulling his leg :P Well what better way to quell your fears than to make a mockery of someone else's?! :D
That said, Guru rocked in the driver's seat. Baralacha La at day might be a spectacle, but at night it was a big let down... the only way we knew we were there was this signboard:
Further down the road, near Zingzingbar, there was a wide and scary stream that intersected with the narrow road before jumping off the cliff!!
The Innova with us in it couldn't have crossed the stream... there was no option but for all 6 of us to get out, and cross it on foot! Guru flashed the headlights so that at least we'd know what we're crossing... and the sight wasn't a pleasant one!
We formed a human chain, all 6 of us, and as soon as we stepped into the stream, we realized its force was crazily strong... and it was iiiccccyyy colddd! So what ensued was mayhem: Those ahead in the human chain wanted to rush ahead and get out ASAP... those behind wanted to negotiated the stream, the base of which was full of rocks and pointed pebbles (not to mention the rocks the stream dragged along!)... those in the middle (I was there!) were being pulled from all sides - the front, the back, and by the stream too! On top of that, the cold water felt like thousands of pins pricking the feet!
Everything then happened in a flash... those behind broke the chain and crossed the stream, those forward pulled us, the middlemen (oh well!) out of the stream! Phew! What a relief!
The only casualty in this mayhem: a pair of Manish's slippers that got washed away in the stream :P
Soon after, Guru drove the car to the other side and after a "survivors' pic", we moved on towards Sarchu!
Us 6 with Guru (2nd from left) after crossing the stream!
We saw the lights of the first camp, Blue Poppy Camp at Sarchu at 9 PM.
Bargained and got the tents for 400 bucks each, 3 people per tent! What a deal :)
Coaxed the camp people into preparing some awesome Rajma-Rice for us, and we ate like gluttons!
After a bit of photography, we turned in for the day at 11 PM.
The Blue Poppy Camp at night!
Randy, Chandu and I in our tent
Tomorrow at 7, we have to leave for Leh! It's been one helluva trip so far... what next?!
Next up (On Friday, Jan 8):
The Dream Trip: Day 3 - Getting Leh'd is not easy ;)
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Labels: Baralacha la, Blue Poppy Camp, Darcha, Deepak tal, Dream Trip, Koksar, Leh, Rohtang, Sarchu, Vacation, Zingzingbar
13 Comments:
Wonderful description of events ..way to go .. man i was scared with the blinding turns and night driving..calculations about travelling from manali to sarchu going haywire ..also many bikers along the road rushing past us ..i mean mountain cyclists as well as motorcyclists..must mention about the cold in sarchu ...also in the morning we had to wash our asses with zero degree water ..man kya thand thi .also the exp at rohtang was amazing considering last time we faced a broken bridge(manali trip) ..clouds floating..one of the best exp..also sutta at that heights ..also our fotos in morning manali with our best ever fair complexion..hehe...all those sceneries and travails seem like a dream.. we were tired and scared each day yet mother nature presented herself in the best outfit each day ..and it took our breath away..
Crossing that stream was an amazing experience......Just a trailer to what was awaiting us in future(Paagal Naala....)
@ sid yeah I distinctly remember you sitting on the front seat with your shades whenever we travelled @ night...:)..and shouting at every turn..
and yes that "Washing your ass with ice water" experience was something....:)
I feel C-5 just got transformed into a blue polly camp for me.
Fantabulous stuff.Can't wait for it to be 7am in tomorrow's 2am post.
@sid
wow man! Your comment is a post in itself! Good one :)
Yep, I know it was crazy driving there... everyone was shit-scared! But can imagine you sitting up front in those circumstances :p
Seriously, last time round not being able to visit Rohtang was disappointing! But this time, it was a wonderful surprise!
Btw the pic outside the hotel lobby is titled "Not Yet TANtalized!"
Yep, it all feels like a distant dream now... Mother Nature is so damn beautiful!
Btw the morning cold at Sarchu et al comes tomorrow... have patience already ;)
@manish
Haha imagine having to cross Paagal Naala at night?! :P Tab toh Rusti pukka beh jaata :O
LoL! Sid with his shades on at Night, and Guru pestering him about it :P
Oye Guru also kept pulling Sid's leg on this night's travel, remember?! :D
@alekho
LoL! Oh wait till Day 3 (7 AM) when you get the shock of washing ur ass in icccy coldd water, virtually of course :P
Thanks for the appreciation, man!
Any take on the pics?! ;)
Well Rohtang seriously gave us glimpses of heaven ....amazing sites and yes clouds floating below us or flowing at our level...1st exp of this kind in my life. Hot Maggi and Tea was really satisfying here as Steve mentions the lack of Breakfast :).
I remember the owner of the place whr we had lunch at Koksar was proud to announce tht RAHUL Gandhi had come to have lunch at tht very same place 2 days ago ...wow.
Deepak Tal according to be gave the 1st experience of "in the middle of nowhere"...really calm and serene.
@Steve: We shot a video at the place whr the tyre had to be changed..try and upload tht if possible.
And crossing the stream wow tht was some experince. I remember i was sleeping jus before this happened..as i came out i saw the night sky ...so damn clear and the density in which stars were thr was amazing. The ice cold water was shock treatment :). I watched Manish's slipper getting washed with the stream ...and cudnt do anything abt it as maintaining balance out here seemed to be the larger challenge :) :)
Well was the last person in the Human Chain.....man the moment i had my foot in the ice cold stream...the immediate reaction was to run and get to the other end....was behind Rusty n couldnt wait as he was watching Manish's slippers
Deepak Tal...well we already had seen it in the video i had made b4 leaving for the trip....was so still and clear....good we noticed it.
Sarchu was a amazing experience...especially the dinner at the tents was awesome(Rajma Chawal)....next morning i realized we are in the middle of Nowhere...more of it in next blog:)
@Rusti
Yo man! Rohtang was Heaven indeed! Never been in the clouds before, and this felt so cool! And for bhukkads like us, maggi and tea there was some relief :D
Hehe now that you mention it, we seem to keep missing celebrities by a small margin wherever we go... remember just arriving at Kargil War Memorial after Omar Abdullah took leave?!
If we had some time, we could've boated at Deepak Tal... there was this small yellow paddle boat there ;)
@Chandu
LoL! Manish's slippers created such a lot of distraction in that stream! Hahaha
Yep! You know we reached Deepak Tal just in time... a little later it wouldve been dark and we wouldve surely missed it :o
Best part about reaching Sarchu in total darkness was the wonderful surprise we got in the morning: realizing that we're in the middle of nowhere :D
More in the next blog, yes ;)
how can forget the following advice from Sid when Randy was trying to climb the mountain
Randy: "Kaise climb karu ....where shud i keep my feet"
Sid:"KYA KAR RAHA HAI SALE...Idhar rak....idhar rak sale....haan ..abhi udhar rak,,,,Rak be.........."
haha...Randy realized tht its time to stop n come down
Was going thru the blog again....just look at the photo where RustiBaba is pointing at the Gas Station board:)
@Rusti
The Bhasad done in the video was great....donno whether it can be uploaded ...it was a long one
@Chandu
Didn't forget man... can add that too! It was too damn funny :D
I will copy paste your comment verbatim ;)
LoL! Now that you mention it, Rusti's style is zara hatke, as usual :))
Can upload videos here, but given the b/w here, even pics taking long time to upload... vids ka toh pata nahin kya hoga :(
@Steve
D Pics ve been too good bro.
But only one complain 4m my side-I think u hav been kinda unfair 2 Guru in ur posts.
D guy is dedicated :P
@Alekhya
Wait for the pics of day 5 post... you'll be stunned by the beauty of Pangong Lake!
I agree till now Guru has been a good driver, but his villany shall surface in future posts!
Plus he had been bothering us even before the trip started... could write 4-5 posts dedicated to him, but forgetting all of it! Don't want to spoil the fun :)
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