2-Up to Jalori Pass,Tirthan Valley and Manali( Himachal,India)

[Blizzard Beast]

400 posts and no ride report!!!

I think its time to write my first RR here on advrider.


This is a 4 day ride( April 3rd-6th) that took us up to a mountain pass,down into a valley and then onto Manali.
The route:

The route highlighted in blue is the one we took to get to Manali via Jalori pass.The one in red is the route for the return.




Since most of you won't be aware of the places,let me add links to some prominent places to help you out.
We started from- Shimla
passed through- Narkanda , The Jalori Pass , Shoja , Kais Monastery , Naggar Castle , Nicholas Roerich Gallery
and ended up at Manali.

and of course all of this happened in my home state of Himachal Pradesh.

[Blizzard Beast]

The Riders:

Me:



My Buddy Vishal:



We were batchmates at medical school and have now got into residency too at the same College.

The ride:

A Royal Enfield Classic 500


And here it is ready for the trip:

[zain]

Can't wait to read the tory and of coz, to see a lot of pics.

[Blizzard Beast]

I started from my home alone, tanked up the bike and picked up Vishal from his hostel.Put his stuff into the bags and we were off.

We took National Highway 22,a road that featured in History Channel's "Deadliest Roads".However the stretch that we rode on wasn't all too "deadly'.But it was painful alright,my butt started to hurt just 30 min into the ride.There were potholes all over and we were bouncing up and down all the time.Vishal was in misery,all his efforts were directed towards not bouncing off the bike.Not many pics were clicked but here's one that was taken during a butt break:

Yess...its a National Highway:



Ohhh.I can feel the blood circulating into my Glutes:



It took us over 3 hrs( most of which were spent cussing the govt for the pathetic roads) to reach our stop for breakfast.....Narkanda.

We headed straight to the Hotel Hatu where we had been before too.

At the Hatu:




Parked the Bike:




And we had delicious breakfast.
It was time to move on, it was cold outside........we added a few layers.

Layering up:



Good to Go:



Enough Clicking lets go now:

[Blizzard Beast]

The road from Narkanda onwards was a steady decline that led us down close to river Satluj. We now took a diversion from NH 22 , this road would lead us to the Jalori Pass.

Time to click a few pictures:



What I was clicking above:






It was considerably warmer down there,the layers we put on earlier had to be taken off:


It was an enjoyable ride alongside the river...on a narrow,winding road.
Having gone a few more km,the river water started becoming clearer.It was a tributary of the river Satluj,we decided to spend some time at this place

Parked the Bike:


Onto the bridge that led to the other side:



The place looked like some kind of a settlement built by nomads( shepherds actually).



And I spotted one of the shepherds:



Now you spot the Machine:

[cakmakli]

Thanks for sharing some great pictures of India. Looking forward to more

[aiMhi]

Great first ride report. Not too long, not too short.
Thanks,

LarkBRP

[Blizzard Beast]

Having spent close to an hour by the river,it was time to restart.We were now ascending towards Jalori pass and reached a place called Khanag,which had a PWD(Public Works Department) rest house.Our plan was to halt there for the night and restart in the morning,unfortunately,couldn't get a room there.But...

The place was beautiful:



A memorial in front of the building:



We decided to continue to Jalori pass,we were gaining elevation rapidly,the road was now bit of a dirt track..

and I felt like posing:



and then it started to snow...

You can probably see fine flakes if you stress your eyes:






Finally we were there:



Temple at the pass:



Mountain ranges as seen from atop:



There were a few shops over there.The pass had opened just a couple of weeks back....and they were happy to have us.

Had our lunch here:



A photo with the sign board:

[Blizzard Beast]

It was getting dark,we decided to head down to Shoja and stay there for the night.Shoja was just 5 Km away...however I was apprehensive of the road conditions.The signboard had warned us to be careful and stay in first gear.I followed the advice...It was a fun decent,nothing too dangerous though.To be honest,I was a little disappointed.I had heard stories of the road being really challenging but the only challenge was the slush and ruts at places:

Road was slippery,and I was running street tires:



The side that we came up from had no snow but this one had lots:














Little Birdie:



Maybe the steep decent is apparent here:



Translation: Possibility of Brake failure,Please ride in first gear:






A temple just off the road:



The pass as seen from down below:

[Deseret Rider]

Ah Yes! The Royal Enfield, I always wanted one but had to settle for Triumph's and BSA's. I am enjoying your travel report and am impressed by the photos's of your beautiful country.

[Blizzard Beast]

Originally Posted by zain

Can't wait to read the tory and of coz, to see a lot of pics.

Originally Posted by cakmakli

Thanks for sharing some great pictures of India. Looking forward to more

Originally Posted by LarkBRP

Great first ride report. Not too long, not too short.
Thanks,

LarkBRP

Thanks for stopping by guys.

[Blizzard Beast]

Originally Posted by Deseret Rider

Ah Yes! The Royal Enfield, I always wanted one but had to settle for Triumph's and BSA's. I am enjoying your travel report and am impressed by the photos's of your beautiful country.

And I lust for those triumphs..

Thanks for appreciating.India is so vast...and I still haven't gone out of my own state.

[Paambu]

Oh, Keep it coming Can't wait
Its been two years since I visited Himachal, miss those mountains.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=676302

[Blizzard Beast]

Finally,we were at Shoja, the place had a couple of shops and a few rest houses.A resident guided us to a nearby rest house....




The rest house:



Took this room for the night at Rs 700( around 16$):



It was getting dark,and we were hungry...we headed to a place called 'Banjara Retreat" for dinner..Had read somewhere that it was a nice place..

The sky that evening:






Another one of those sign boards:



A board( centre) directing to the Banjara Retreat:



The Banjara Retreat:



They set up a bonfire and served some delicious food.We had a nice chat with a few Americans who were staying over there.

Their Restaurant:



After a long day,it was time to head over to our rest house and get some well deserved rest.

........END OF DAY 1

[mrphotoman]

great pics, love seeing the scenery in India!