The Post-Virgin Leh Diaries - Part 4



What They Don’t Tell You
About Riding
On The Roof Of The World. IV





 Remember… Every cloud has a silver lining.
Our team-mate 40-Fit dropped out and our guide gave us a last minute notice that he would not be able to make it too. It was a disappointment, though one with a silver lining. This is how our back-up vehicle came into existence!
We were 10 kms from Rhotang Pass when the bike’s front tire got punctured.  We were lucky to get some locals to put the bike onto the trailer until we got to Manali to fix said puncture. Now if we did not have a back-up vehicle in tow, we would have to shell out at least 25k to get the bike transported to Manali. There may be quite a few cars, bikes and vans, but they will not be able to help you. Most of the snow at Rhotang had melted away leaving mucky pathways with clouds blocking the way - being stranded at Rhotang will not be a fun experience.




Stock up on those momos!
We (well me) decided that Captain gets shotgun in the pick-up van, while I and Mr. Hipster stood while holding the bikes on the van. Yes, it was freezing, the view was to die for, but there was a magical change from Mr. Hipster to Mr. Grumpy. That was the end of his tales of how he’d seen all of this and done all of that, before, at NCC camp. Whew. Though a new trend took its place… the “When are stopping, I’m HUNGRY damn it!” trend. The “ooh look at the big-ass vulture!”, or “ooh pretty mountains!” did not work. So don’t forget to stock up on those yummy momos in Leh, pack in some sustenance before you leave Sarchu…. ‘Cause grumpy team-mates will kill the scenic vibe.



Yes, you’re free to be a joker, a smoker or a midnight toker.
We were welcomed into the realm of grade-A weed into a hotel that overlooked a multitude of, you guessed it, grade-A greenies. Mr. Grumpy, now back to Mr. Hipster, packed up and curiously said his goodbyes quite happily. Maybe it was the hard riding, or the eventual “shut-up we’ll get you to a restaurant soon”, sigh, we’ll never know. So, this left me – a non-toker – with all the green in the world and a very envious sibling back home who actually partakes of the peace pipe.
At 4000ft, cigarettes were a pleasure to imbibe and we stocked up on those wines. Ah, thank you Manali you do know how to treat a smoker well.



 Take a breather before you ride to Chandigarh.
Our merry little troop was now down to two - Captain and I. With all the wine buying and plant admiring, we set off pretty late from Manali. Besides me mooning 3 cute Punjabi chaps (there are no toilets on the mountains), we rode through never-ending twists and turns, all filled with gravel, oil spills and rude trucks. With the trucks giving us no lee-way to maneuver through and there being 300 odd kms left to complete, we decided to ride until it grew too dark to see the road and stop at the first bed n’ breakfast. Non-stop riding can challenge some of the most seasoned riders, so go easy on yourself and take that rest.


 .....................to be continued!

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