Should I go ahead or stay here till daybreak? Darkness, temperature below zero, huge & deep water crossings, Spine chilling wind, luggage with a rider and a pillion and awful trails might stop me from reaching a safer place. I am 19kms away from Kunzum Pass (4551mtrs above sea level), an infamous pass famous for its unpredictable weather. Finally, decided to stop at Loaser, the last and only inhabitant locale nearby.
I am a Bullet (1996 standard 350,) named Rover and I found irresistible traveling to Himalayas . Himachal Pradesh is in the lap of Himalayas and has tons to see and feel. Highways from Delhi
9 days of mayhem went like this, 19th to 27th June 2010: 1700kms, Delhi – Shimla – Narkanda – Rampur – Sarahan – Wangtu – Kalpa – Puh - Nako - Nako Lake – Sumdo – Tabo - Dhankar – Kaza – Ki – Kibber – Loasar - Kunzum La - Chandra Tal Lake – Chhtru - Rohtang La – Manali – Chandigarh - Delhi.
Places visited shown us something different and unique every time we look at it. This may be in the case of a 1300 year old mud monastery at Kaza (Dankar Gompa) or celestial monasteries at Ki and Kibber or Mighty Kunzum pass or numerous Tantric monastery prayer wheels and walls we have seen on the way.
Beautiful memories of scenery and wonderful people’s expressions rejuvenate me till now and are having goosebumps thinking about the ride. 14 year old motorcycle with less number of clutch plates was the one of the main risk anticipated. Spare parts and air pump were comforting equipments in addition to tents, sleeping bags and some energy bars incase of a snowstorm. Mobile phone and communication devices were used as timepieces as there is no network.
Life there seems to have full of meaning, abundance of energy and human values. Smiling faces everywhere, exactly opposite to Delhi
Life will never be the same after this journey. Travel always adds pleasure to the ever wandering souls of human beings from thousands of years. Civilizations broadened, mixed, conquered, invented, and shared from beginning to end only by the fervor to travel, to face the unseen. It demonstrate us how little we are, how the cultures we thought to be different (superior or inferior) runs on the same principle of ours with different mechanism. Above Sex, Religion, Race, Cast we are just human beings trying to survive this godspeed world. “Wonder is not to fly in the air or to dash on water, but to walk on earth”. Anonymous
Climbing a steep trail without tarmac, a stream flowing downward, negotiating boulder filled stretches, Snow, Low oxygen level in the air or an overheated engine by running it on 1st and 2nd Gear through out the day were some of the actions that will cherish the remaining days of my life. I used to think Rohtang or Zozila passes will be the most difficult passes in the world. But now I have one more pass in the list after this ride, which is Kunzum pass.
Now we are on our way back to urban jungle, rejuvenated and with a tranquil sadness. Trip inspired me in wanting for another ride, wanting for more spirituality, wanting for more serenity, which I am going to miss for some more time.
“Maybe we risk-takers are a dying breed. But you can be sure that if we do all die out, we’ll be going out in style: para-gliding, free-falling, motor-biking and bungeeing our way into extinction”- Reannon Muth, a former psychology major and adventure-junkie
