himalayan odyssey 2008

I am late, I know. But I am not that late, since the people who have left home to listen their heart will start the most courageous and dangerous ascend of their life tomorrow.

From Tomorrow morning 'the trip is over'. As Sachin Chavan would say, it is very true too. I, with Abhi , had promised a lot of goodies for the aspiring Himalayan Odyssey venturers. But nothing materialised. The year after HO 2007 had been a tough one on me. Professionally I was busy with work and new learnings, while personal losses have kept me thinking -what kind of person I am. I rode only once to home and backthe whole last year and with Abhi too busy I never had any chance. Plus RED has undegone slight modifications with new K & N air fliter, wider tyres, better pickup and well tuned engine and headlamps. She is rocking now.

But I didn't want to miss my best wishes here to all those who are going to ride Himalyan Odyssey this time. All the best guys, keep your eyes and ears open and enjoy every second of your stay over there. Ride past Barlacha La with verve and be gentle on Gata Loops. With high adrenaline conquer the Khardung La but respect the nature. And riding after Whiskey is Risky to your Life.

May the force be with you.

the odyssey round up

Jhulley!!
The eccentricity is over. I am back after the 15 day Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey 2007. It was fun, excitement, fear, and some times the adrenalin rush. Luck, God's grace, family's prayers and wishes from friends including you might have made me and Abhi come back without any problem apart from the mountain sickness that hit us at Sarchu.
And none of our Bikes too gave any 'show-stopper' problem apart from a fuel over flow for Abhi's Bird and and my bike switching off while climbing Barlacha-la due to lack of oxygen. But she was back to action in one kick. Good Bird :)
I have taken a lot of photos and some of them (460 to be exact) are put here. There are really a lot and you may take a look at it at your free time. Some of my better shots are given in this post. I don't intend to write down a travelogue post since it's been two long weeks and it will be pretty long and boring if I point out the details of every day. But I promise you to come up with some interesting stuff from the trip, including a Dummies guide to Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey with Abhi. This we think is quite essential for the biker community as we didn't have any idea about how the trip will be conducted and more over this will cover the pros and cons of the trip.
High points of this trip would be visiting Khardung-la, the world's highest motorable pass and Wagah Border. We were able to see the retreat by both Indian and Pakisthani Army. And above all riding Manali - Leh highway (one will really think should it be called as highway after you ride through it) is a dream for every true biker, and that dream has now been successful.
The numerous water crossings, the sand dunes at more plains, the passes - Barlacha-la, Lanchung-la, Naki-la and Tanglang-la, and the Gata Loops has all tried and tested us. Some had fallen, some cruised ahead without any problems. There was no race to be won, but there was a trip to be finished and we all won since we finished it at Amritsar without much of hassles.
At this point of time it is very important to thank people like Alex, Lovely, Jagdish, Vinyl, Solomon and all other mechanics who worked hard on the bikes to make them fit and Ashokji for the flawless logistics and the food he organized, and last but not the least Sachin to lead the 55 of us to the unknown with his experience and management. I should also thank Abhi for going ahead with this plan in the middle of his hectic work, and giving me 'good' company with his Chalus. And one should also not forget Aravind, Balettan, Gopettan and Anup to thank for providing a great company. We might have discussed almost all the things under the sun during that 15 days from Ads, Cinema, Photography to Maya, Myths and Automobiles. They were just the ideal company to have especially in the long trip like this. Finally the trip was blessed with a visit to Golden Temple and Jalianwallah Bagh in Amritsar.

And now back in office,I am too lazy to work and have been already going through the photos many times just to relinquish those memories.

It's tough to be both a biker-traveler and a working man. Phew!!!