After riding across to Ladakh, Spiti and Sachpass, finally thought to ride to the other side of the mighty mountains. This time I zeroed down to ride to the Land of Gods- Uttarakhand. It was an adhoc plan, just made few calls to friends and rider brothers if any one interested could join, however no one turned up and I decided to go ahead Solo. (Best Decision of my life :P) So its, Day 1 - Reached Rishikesh and stayed at Friend's hotel. Well, I think Ranjeet Chabbra , Brother - all thanks to you for the warm hospitality at your hotel and for providing the RE- Himalayan for my Ride.
Day 2- Its time to sit behind the bars of the mean machine built to tame the twists, slush, rocks and water-crossing any thing you throw at it. So, the engine of Himalayan roared and off I headed towards Uttarkashi via Chamba road after seeking blessings from Guru Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara around 10:00 AM. The road to Uttarkashi through Tehri and Chamba is going under construction and since it was monsoon season, had to face lot of road blocks due to land slides. So finally it was around 5:00 PM after having lunch at Chamba town and while heading towards Uttarkashi- showers of rains welcomed me to the beautiful town of Garhwal- Uttarkashi.
Day 3: Its beautiful day when you wake up and all you see and hear is the beautiful gushing Holy Bhagirathi River which meets with Holy river Alaknanda at Rudraprayag and finally forms serene Holy river Ganga. I was planning to head towards Nelong valley from Uttarkashi, about which I have heard a lot as on of the treacherous valley with beautiful flora and Fauna. However, to reach Nelong Valley it was mandatory to get inner line permit from DM at Uttarkashi and yes most important - No two wheelers or small cars with lower ground clearance are allowed to enter Nelong Valley. Only SUV's or Big cars with good ground clearance are permitted. So after getting necessary Permits, off I rode to Harshil as I was in a hope to get some Taxi service that can take me to Nelong valley.
Day 4: Its a beautiful day when you wake up at one of the divine place on earth- Gangotri. The sound and sight of the turbulent river Bhagirathi gushing through the rocks is simply mesmerizing. Bhagirathi river is one of the turbulent himalayan river and also one of the two major head streams of holy river Ganga. So after seeking blessings from Divine Gangotri, I headed towards Nelong valley on my Himalayan itself with a hope that I might get allowed to ride to Nelong Valley on Two wheeler itself. However, rule is rule !! So I was stopped by officials at Bhairav-Ghati Check Post-( a junction from where we can head to Nelong Valley). Finally, I parked my bike at the check-post and hitched a pick-up utility vehicle which was heading to Nelong valley. It was one hell of experience- riding in a pick-up truck on one of the most treacherous route which is also well known for endangered wild life species like himalayan blue sheep, musk dear and snow leopard.
Day 5: After exploring the mesmerizing Nelong Valley and returning back to Uttarkashi on the same day. Its day 5 and its time to ride towards Joshimath. Its a long day for ride.. covering almost 300 kms in mountains through beautiful towns like Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Karnaprayag. It was tough one - had to face land slides twice on the way. It was almost dark around 8:00 PM when I reached Joshimath crossing land slides prone routes and riding through heavy showers.
Day 6: Its time to trek to Auli Top and then head towards Mana village- India's last Village on Indo-Tibet Border. So I started early morning and headed towards Auli Top some 16 kms from Joshimath and boy of boy- the view of Nanda Devi Peak, the mystic clouds engulfing the valley and the artificial lake was just spectacular. After reaching Auli top on Bike, took a rope-way to reach at the top.
Day 6: Its almost evening 4:00 PM and I had rode back to Joshimath from the Auli top, Its time to head towards Mana village which is almost 52 kms from Joshimath. But nature had some other plans for me. Almost after riding some 22 kms I was stopped by the police officials after covering some 2 kms from Govindghat as there was heavy land slide and it was constantly drizzling. It was almost 5 PM and there was no chance for road to get clearance. So I had to make an unplanned stay at highway hotel at Govind Ghat. But having said so.. it was indeed worth a stay. As its rightly said "Unplanned experiences are one of most memorable experiences"
Day 7: Its almost around 10:00 AM and route is clear to ride ahead. Its time to ride ahead to India's last village- Mana, a small village located on the banks of holy river Alaknanda flowing from Swargarohini and holy river Saraswati. After reaching around 11 AM at Mana- Village, Did a small trek towards Bheem-pul (Natural Bridge formed due to giant rock) and ahead of that towards Vasudhara Water falls. The same route head towards Swargarohini, however inner line permit is required to head towards Swargarohini from SDM Joshimath. After exploring and soaking the beauty of Mana, I headed to seek blessings of Badrinath and then returned towards Joshimath.
Day 8: Its time to explore Nanda Devi National Park, one more last Indian village on Indo- Tibet Border- Niti Village. Started almost around 7 AM and headed towards Niti Road from Joshimath. Indeed the route itself is mesmerizing with some beautiful vistas of valley and wild life. On the way to Niti, once again I was stopped by ITBP official and was not allowed to ride ahead from village Malari in absence of permit from SDM Joshimath. However, after meeting the senior official and having healthy conversation, I was allowed to explore the beautiful valley of fragrance in Nanda Devi National Park, Niti Village and was lucky enough to ride till Niti Pass at Indo-Tibet Border at an altitude of almost 16000 ft above sea level. The sight of Dronagiri Parwat (Mountain) - a place well-known in Mythology- wherein Lord Hanuman lifted Sanjeevani Parwat (Mountain) nearby to Dronagiri Parwat (Mountain) was simply breathtaking.
Day 9: Its time to ride back to Rishikesh from Joshimath.. One long ride in the mountains before reaching to the base. Started around 09:00 AM and headed towards Rishikesh via Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Srinagar and Devprayag.. riding almost 255 kms and reached around 6:00 PM at Rishikesh.
Day 10: After returning back the beast to Ranjeet ji and thanking him for his warm hospitality, it was time to return back to base.. to Ahmedabad by taking flight from Delhi. Although its almost 7 months to this beautiful ride. The memories of the same are still fresh and I look forward to ride again to this divine place having beautiful and warm people, lush green meadows, beautiful Auli, Enchanting Tributaries of Holy river Ganga like Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Saraswati, Jhaad-Ganga, Girti-Ganga, Dhauli-Ganga and an epic journey towards notified locations near Indo-Tibet Border like Nelong Valley, Mana and Niti Pass. Uttarakhand- Indeed land of Gods with mighty Nanda Devi, Mana Peak, Dronagiri Parwat and Neelkanth Parwat near Badrinath. Last but not the least, I just fell in love with RE- Himalayan BS4, fill it- shut it- forget it- ride it.. Earlier I was skeptical to take this bike due to various articles and blogs mentioning about the quality and reliability issues of BS3 Himalayan. But boy, this machine is killer. Just loved it and I'll be riding the same for my next ride.!! This is Naren signing out.. Ride Hard.. Ride Safe.. !! Cheers!!
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