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Finally , I've started writing about my trip to leh . Its going to be a long long one .....but still I know it would be just an abridged version of a trip , that was "Different" .
Members
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Jayan S R ( JSR )
Bullet Machismo
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Gopakumar ( GK)
Bullet STD 350
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Sojish K
Hero Honda Karizma
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Here goes my first part of it .
Aug 4th 2006
Delhi ...........
Its HOTT , its polluted and its crowded . It was not Delhi , but a Hell-hi. All I wanted to was to get out of the hell before it gets into my nerves. Alas, we've to collect our bikes from Okla industrial area. Bikes were in the best of the conditions , so just filled gas and ripped to the hotel for a much needed rest before we start our journey.
Next day ....... we wanted to start early . First GK slipped on the stairs and twisted his knee . He needed 2 hours to recuperate. 20 minutes after we started , GK's bull ran out of gas. Another precious 1 hour wasted. 200 Kms away from Delhi , one bull's engine seized. Replacing was done by the Royal enfield service center at Ambala.... and in 20 minutes . But by then , we had lost another 2 hours . Finally at 11:30 at night , JSR's bullet got a puncture. 1 o clock in the night , we were searching for a room in Ludhiana, 200 KM away from our first days planned pit stop. What a start for a long journey.
But I learned a lot of new things .... thanks to the Encyclopedia called JSR. He taught me how to eat Roti and Dal fry like a north indian. For those ignorant ones , you should
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First take the roti and make sure you clean all charcoal or over fried areas.
- Tear it into small pieces using both hands . ( It'll take time for southies to do that , but just do it )
- Make a cone shape out of a piece ,and just fill it with dal fry or paneer butter masala. ( Doing this without ur hand touching the curry is an art , I still have not mastered. )
- Once in a while chew some tender onion ( God knows why , but onion tastes good over there ) .
JSR also talked about how conservative the people of Punjab and Haryana are . ( 20 year old gals , still wear the Ts that they got as a 10 year old . If you ask them why , they'll say ... "Yeh, mere papa neh diya , mere 10th birthday ke liye". Man, that's the height of conservativeness.) I liked talking to a lot of punjabis . They are so polite and nice . Even a sweeper is addressed as "ji" ( sir ) . JSR told that even the ladies are so nice and polite . After seeing few of them , I realised that its not just that those aunties are nice , their dresses are also soooo nice that you give a second look to make sure they are not Superwomen . ( Don't ask me for an explanation on that ) .
On third day, we started early from Ludiana , reached Jalandhar , lost way and travelled 50 Kms in the wrong route. Losing way and then returning to where you started, became a hobby for us since then. We passed pathankot , saw a Red river ( blood red river ) and started climbing the himalayan range of mountains . JSR who had been there and seen it all, asked ....... how do u feel now ? . I did not have an explanation . I was just dumbstruck at the sharp and pointed peaks , which I've never seen in my life. Boy, this is gonna be interesting.
JSR warned us that he'll not ride after 6:30 pm... as after sunset its difficult to negotiate these mountains. We moved on , stopping just to take few pics and to see how deep the gorges are . Finally when we stopped for a butt break , I asked JSR what do you think the time is ...... After looking at the sun , which was shining bright on the face , he said , " 10 mins past 5:30 " . All three of us , went aghast after checking the time. It was almost 8 pm and yes , the sun was still shining on the face.
Finally after 2 days of ride , we reached at the place called "Udhampur" 250 km from Srinagar (Srinagar was our planned stop ) . We went out for dinner, and that's when JSR taught me what is a "Vaishno Dhaba". We ordered food , and JSR was seen talking to the cook who made Rotis for us. Thought I didn't understand anything more than "han ji"s , I could make out that cook was all excited about our trip details, our doubts regarding the places etc . And JSR, he was all excited about the extra butter cook was adding to our Rotis.
After collecting the parcel , JSR gave tip to the waiter and gave Rs 10/- to the cook . Oh boy, you should have seen the happiness and smile on his face . He was sooo thrilled that he wanted to show the 10 rs/- to all the waiters in that Dhaba. For the first time on this entire trip, tears rolled into my eyes seeing his excitement. Later JSR told me , how unlike us , these people value money. I know , I've only started to learn.
Finally we hit the bed, in a room which costs us Rs 500/-. All three of us were happy and excited and charged up. Bikes are all in good condition, so we were looking forward to hit srinagar by noon the next day.
To be continued.............
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