Himalayas and North India

Photo gallery and Travelogue – Part 2 of 4

Part 1: 21 April – 24 April: Start, Mumbai to Delhi, Chandigarh, Kullu, Manali

Part 2: 25 April – 03 May: Mountain Biking Expedition – Kullu to Jalori pass and back

Part 3: 04 May – 08 May: Dharamshala, McLeod Ganj, Chamunda, Amritsar, Delhi to Mumbai

Part 4: Your Comments

Part 2 of 4

Day 0 :: Kullu (Seo bagh) :: 25 April

From today began the bicycle expedition.
After reporting to the base camp, we went for a stroll in Kullu town and also to check out river rafting facilities. The river was flowing low and it was not adrenalin driving enough. So we went shopping around Kullu market with shopping expert Gaurav. While Manali is completely designed for the tourist, Kullu is a natural town. Manali is full of restaurants, tour organizers and shops, whereas Kullu is more traditionally laid out.

National Himalayan mountain biking expedition – Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI).

Travel route
YHAI traditionally organizes several treks during the summer. This year they had 2 new routes in Himachal Pradesh – Saurkundi Pass and Malana-Yankar Pass replacing Sar Pass and Chandrakhani Pass respectively. Apart from these two, they organize Har ki doon in Uttaranchal, where I participated last year. For the first time, YHAI was organizing bicycle expedition in the Himalayas.
Our batch consisted of 8 people: Priyank, Giri, Gaurav (from Mumbai), Ashutosh Soman (from Delhi), Mukesh Verma uncle (from Chandigarh), Prakash (from Chennai) and Dinesh bhai, Hiten bhai (from Ahmedabad). We met and got acquainted with each other.

Day 1 :: Kullu – Orientation and acclimatization :: 26 April

Today the group did some hiking to a waterfall in Seo baugh village, saw gigantic roses and other flowers and then biked to a nearby monastery in order to get tuned to the bicycles and also to the environment. The monastery is huge with dormitory for students. People sent their kids to this place from places as far as Arunachal Pradesh. Many kids were sitting in neat lines and reciting Buddhist scriptures. We were using standard bicycles, with liberal suspension, but without gears. This was a concern for us, as nobody was able to ascend even on small gradients. At night, we had campfire with members of “Family Adventure Camp”, another YHAI scheme.

Day 2 :: Kullu to Aut – 4000ft to 3500ft :: 27 April

In absence of mountain bikes with gears and accessories, we rode to our first stop, Aut, on the Hational Highway (NH21). Being a sloping gradient we could manage with the standard bicycles. It was a nice feeling to ride the bike with hands freely suspended in air… on steep gradients; it felt like we had wings to fly! Aut is a small village on the highway and there is no english newspaper or magazine available in any of the shops. River Beas flowed close by and we relaxed on its shores.

Day 3 :: Aut to Banjar – 3500ft to 4000ft :: 28 April

Early morning, our bicycles arrived from Delhi. These were chic mountain bikes, aluminum frame and light as a feather. It had 21 gears – 7 levels for the rear sprocket and 3 for the front. Aut to Banjar was a tiny hike and we completed it early, as most of us were busy experimenting with the gear system and attuning it to suitably. Little school children loved to wave enthusiastically at us and cheer us up. Some of them would blush when we waved back. It was real fun.
In the region where we were, for miles and miles not even a single speck of flat land is visible. The entire region is filled with gigantic mountains and deep valleys, which look very forbidding to human settlements. However, as the night grows, one can notice entire stretches of mountains glittering like stars in the sky. It is a remarkable job of Himachal Pradesh state electricity department to electrify villages as obscure as these.

Day 4 :: Banjar to Jibhi – 4000ft to 6000ft :: 29 April

This was a two thousand feet hike spread over a short distance of ten kilometers. Since we covered three-fourths of the distance by lunchtime, we decided to visit a famous local shrine. Three kilometers off the track to Jibhi is the temple of Shringi rishi. He was a sage who meditated at several places in obscure mountains. Higher up is another village where one can see structures that are 9 storied and 5 storied high. Only 4 of us were enthusiastic to climb all the way up, but it was rewarding. The priest informed us that the structure used to be 11 storeys high, until the earthquake of 1905 destroyed upper two levels. Such a tall construction is indeed amazing.

After these two unscheduled visits we joined the main track with rest of the team and reached our next destination Ghyagi. I’ve tried to capture the same waterfall at night and during day using slow shutter speeds.

Day 5 :: Jibhi to Jalori – 6000ft to 10500ft :: 30 April

This was the most arduous segment of the expedition. Height gain of 4000ft in just 10 km. It was virtually impossible to ride the bike all the time and all of us ended walking major portions of the gradient. Later in the afternoon, it started raining like crazy and the whole group was dispersed. Some of them reached the top by jeep. View from Jalori pass is magnificent as it is on a mountain top open from all sides. It was raining all day long and chilly winds blew from snow capped peaks. In the evening, a marriage procession arrived with the newly wed couple seeking blessings of the local deity. I’ve shot an entire video with the band playing and people dancing. It was good to see girls and boys celebrating together. People seem to be very liberal in this region of Himachal Pradesh.

Day 6 :: Jalori Pass :: 1 May

This day we went to the Sereolsar Lake, south-east of Jalori pass, at a distance of 10km. This lake has several myths associated with it. One of it says that nobody can cross the lake and remain alive. Other says that never does a leaf from the surrounding trees fall into the lake. Stories apart, the trek to this lake was refreshing as well as welcome break from continuous cycling. Strong winds started blowing late in the afternoon and continued right until late evening. Some of us went towards western side to discover a fort, but lost the way. Others (including me) stayed back and strolled around after having a bowl of steaming Maggi noodles.

Day 7 :: Jalori to Aut – 10500 ft to 3500 ft :: 2 May

As evident, this was more than a pleasurable journey with brakes being the only part of our bikes that was used. Fortunately there was pleasant weather and we reached Aut comfortably in the afternoon. The roads in this area are extremely narrow, yet there is occasional traffic. HRTC buses also ply on these roads, and the buses are so full that people even perch on the top. The drivers do remarkable job of maneuvering these giant machines.

Day 8 :: Aut to Kullu – 3500 ft to 4000 ft :: 3 May

This was a short route 42 km long, the last segment of our expedition and we covered it in few hours. Reaching the base camp, everyone broke into jubilant celebration. The organizers of this expedition showered some (too many actually) praises on the whole team. Being a first expedition of its kind, YHAI was skeptical of its success, and they sent a jeep, which drove back and forth with us all the time. It was successful trial after all! Later in the evening we went to Babeli, base camp of Saurkundi trek and were treated to a grand reception there. The three of us (Priyank, Giri, Gaurav) then signed off and booked a bus to Dharamshala same night.