Wake up call
Manali. The gate way to heaven ... other than being over crowded with tourists , the place was good . Just before entering to Manali , on a roads which will remind you of the Moons surface or Om Puri's face at a speed of 75 KMPH I heard a definite " clang " from Ricky . a voice g inside me ( the same one as in Chandigarh ) told me ... " something is wrong dude " . we reached Hotel Drilbu . from here on We will have a Mech and a Jeep for the baggage + petrol as back up . I took Ricky to the Mech , something major wrong with the clutch . He worked over night and fixed it . I went around town , having a few beers and some grub , contemplating should I get laid or not coz I felt I might not come back from this trip :) . By this time I was slightly uneasy as its officially the 6th day I have not had quality rest or sleep and I was breathless every time I walked more than 50 Meters . So I chose to sleep alone . Had a couple more of beers and hit the sack . I didn't know when my roomies came in nor when it became morning .
I felt fresh and alive n the morning . and the breathlessness went away too .. " Yeah .. I can pull it off .. I am tough " was echoing in my head . Ricky came back to me with a bill of Rs 1200 but in perfect shape . We had to adjust the filter to pull in more air for burning . Its not only us the lack of oxygen hits up there . Manali - Rohthang was good . I mean GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD . I t was like riding on a coiled serpent . to be more social to the gang , we took regular stops for pictures and stretching . Snow was in abundance in Rohtang . And the scenery from there on was jaw dropping .At one point I was feeling bored as well as tired so pulled up on the road side and had a quick nap . After lunch , we pulled ahead as low speed was getting on my nerve. We reached Thandi by afternoon . We filled our tanks ( bikes ) to the brim as for the next 365 KMs , there not single petrol pump . It was a cold after sunset ... Cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey . We needed booze . Brandy was my first choice but settled for rum . It was supposed to be a quick drink around the camp fire and off to sleep as AMS ... read ACCUTE MOUNTAIN SICKNESS is supposed to kick in by now . AMS my ass ... we drank like fish ... If I remember right I had about 6 pegs . Every one sang and I brayed along . some one commented I sing well ,well that gave me an idea how drunk were they . around 12 we retired to our tents and I slept the same second as I hit the bed. I slept well I guess
The moment of truth
The boys at the camp woke me up for the bed tea ... My mind was fresh and was ready to go .... I tried opening my eyes ... eyelids felt as if they were of lead . Body was aching . Breathing was shallow , head spinning . "the alchahol was mixed .... " the answer came from within . I should have drank less or not drank at all . any way it will wear off in some time ... Some how dragged my self to brush . went back to bed ... I can hear my fellow bikers waking up one by one . I was sure there will be a bunch like me who has been hit hard . 7 am and most of them are out of their bed and having breakfast . and I didn't hear any one complaining of a hang over . Okay . so the liquor was good , may be I was tired of not sleeping all these night and would need some more sleep . told the guys to carry on. I know how far will they go on these terrains . around 10 am I got out of my tent tried walking to the bike ... Every 10 steps I had to stop . I was breathless in a flash . it Hit me then .
Dude , you are done . The boys at the camp gave me some garlic to chew as that's the only way out it seems . okay have it your way . A mouth full of garlic and fumes out of my nose and ears I gun my bike .
The self proclaimed hero was now just living on Gods mercy . I am not sure how I rode the next few hours . I stopped for breakfast at some place and tried getting some rest . no improvement and now a slight panic set in . I didn't want to be a burden on any one . By MId day I was completely done. I stopped again on the road side to take a nap . The safety jeep pulled up and the mechanic offered to ride my bike . I gladly took it as I was sure I cannot pull it off .
I think I slept in the jeep , the driver had a tough time waking me up whenever I turn blue. Thanks to AMS , my body stops breathing at times and you need kind of a slap to wake up and breath . Stopped at an army camp in-between as the driver knew they were loosing me . My fingers and have turned dark blue . A sign of less oxygen being pumped through blood . Felt a bit better after 40 minutes of oxygen supply from the army clinic . My brain started functioning , till then I was like a retard . By the time we reached Sarchu , my condition worsened. 2 guys helped me to reach my tent. Thank God they had an oxygen tank . I had to use it twice to get through the night alive. Rajesh was volunteered to look after my staying alive and he almost stated awake the whole night .
Next day I was transferred to Leh , firs to the resort and then to the Govt Hospital . The moment I went in , I asked my driver to take me to a private clinic as this was rat infested and the infrastructure was scary . He wanted to laugh out loud . but some how he said " aap ko kya lagta hai .... yehan pe kithne haspatal hai ?? " . so got admitted there . with 2 oxygen tanks running between 6 patients , of which one was a baby. There was a lady from a tourist family who wanted to bribe the nurse to keep one for herself . They made a nurse to sit next to me for the time I don't have an oxygen supply , if I fell into deep sleep , I will not breath ( Something we take for granted ... that we will breath in and out even if we are unconscious ) . She will poke me every now and then when my face turns blue . 2:30 Am I got oxygen for 30 minutes. I woke up for some reason and saw the poor lady sleeping . I learned in the morning that she was on a double shift and has a full fledged family to look after at home . but from 3 Am to sunrise was fun ... well I should be at my best of my arrogance , stupidity to call it fun and its bloody blind luck that I am sitting here and typing this out . I have a term KOD ( KISS OF DEATH ) .. when I have a event which brings me very close to instant death. In this case death was like a seductress lying next me waiting for me to give in to her . I had to stay awake .... I was trying to remember everything good or bad I have been through or done . from holding Kamals baby to buying my first bike to falling in love with Sophie to smashing some ones skull in Kodai to Dads death to ......................... it was like a high lights show on my life. The bike ride lost all its value as now staying alive was priority number one. yes at times I wanted to give up .. was tired of everything and closing my eyes knowing that it may never open again felt soothing as if the destination of my ride has arrived ........... NO NOT TODAY ..... NOT TODAY . I shook my thought and got back to trip on the memory high way zipping past the events and people .
My tickets were booked for the first flight out from Leh to Delhi . one of my friend was supposed to take to a clinic as soon as I landed . I was feeling much better even before landing so I called and cancelled that . After almost a week , I had a look at my self in a mirror . A tandoori Mexican would be the right word for me . Charred black skin peeling in chunks . Jaw line visible after 2 years. Dark circles like Gandhi's glasses around the eyes . but Physically I was stable , just physically .
took an afternoon flight to Bangalore . The same people who dropped me to the airport was there to Pick me up too .
Before starting the trip , where I wasted time dreaming about it . I made the entire route Map of the trip on Google earth . Point to point , day wise . and as the peak point I had a marker saying " 24th June , Birthday on top of the world " . I don't think I can take a day as hard as my 27th birthday . Yes every one was there to cheer me , to listen to my heroics ( idiocracy ) . But I was not okay . The hot air balloon I have made of myself has not deflated but blasted in mid air ... And I was falling deeper and deeper was not hitting ground . I never did
The ever present justifying mentality of mine kicked in . " Oh you did good . You did your best ... you were sick that's why ... you have BP , asthma . If it was any body else in your shoes they would not have gone even up to Manali " I didn't even stand take the defeat well . As always , excuses and stupid ways of soothing my "back to form " ego . And I resumed life as If nothing happened , I even made myself believe , I came back a victor from KTop . I bragged on about the trip , Even now I do . So shamelessly , I should not be even thinking about the trip . I who came back beaten down to dust . I who could not finish half the trip . Now acts as if KTop was reached with my eyes closed . It takes more than me to sit here and admit that I was a total failure , not to this trip but to most of my life.
With the capabilities I have , I achieved far less than my full potential and made it look like it was a Herculean effort to reach where I am right now .
No more kidding myself , no more shrugging shoulder and walking away . I will take this one on my chin , will keep the scars fresh and bleeding . coz if I let this beat me down , I will never walk again as myself . It will be some one else in my life . not me
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." : Edmund Hillary
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The good part of the trip
Hi ,
Just 111 days from the so called " trip of a life time " I sit down to pen this , I haven't forgotten any moment of it . I never thought I will continue writing on this blog ...
seriously . Me being Jerry Martin with an ego which can fill up a reservoir cant look in the mirror now a days. will get in to that later
Built up
Hubert was the rock on which this trip was built , his planning and execution of this trip will put any travel agent ( including me ) to shame . A passionate biker .
A few of OSBs met up 3-4 months prior to the trip . The reason was YOGA !!! . Ya right , I thought " What does yoga has to do with biking , its for oldies and ladies who has nothing else to do at home " . I went for it any way as it will give me an intro to the core team .
I met Aaron there, He looks like a firang , with my hair(less)style . Other than being a biker he is yoga teacher as well . he came up with 2 pranayamas to increase the lung capacity as the lack of oxygen will trouble most bikers up in K TOP .
Me needing Yoga ... never , I always went to places and adjusted myself to it ... If I put my will to it I can do anything ... God how wrong was I .
I helped Hubert In getting the air tickets at a cost almost equal to the train fare so we chucked the plan of going by rail and flew .
We sent our bikes through rail a few days before . I couldn't sleep from 3 days prior to the trip
June 16th Saturday , Accompanied by Sophie and Ajay , I reach the airport . We had a photo session for the sponsor and stuff we boarded the plain . Thanks to my unfriendly features , didn't make many friends but the guys whom I could break Ice with was
Denzil - wonderfully sweet guy , me and he looks like brothers with our hairstyle and tattoos . he is pillion to Hubert .
Shankara - biker with many miles under his belt ( like about 2.5 lakhs KM ) , rides solo on a pulsar ,
Sharath - my pillion , non fuzzy , sweet , caring and cool dude to go for a trip . he takes amazing pics even sitting behind a bike in a bad terrain ( most of my pics are taken by him )
Landed - went to Lahore gate to pick up bikes , was irritating to walk through the small galli's in Delhi with maddening traffic , but the anticipation of the trip kept us moving forward . Stayed at a hotel in carol Bagh , I fitted a luggage rack to my bike so Sharath does not have to put the rucksack on
Eve of the trip I went to meet Mona and baby ( Kamal's wife , read the earlier blogs to know him ) her sister Mala .Trisha , kamals baby, was so wonderful ... for once I thought it will be amazing to be a father . we spend like an hour together and I rushed back to get some rest
I shared the room with
Anil - Anil K Govind - has a 1975 bullet working as good or better than Ricky , has a no nonsense approach to everything , takes superb pictures and the first guy to offer me a bed in their room
Novex - has a road king , sweet guy
both has many miles under their belts too , and has hell lot of practical solutions a biker could use any day
by this time I kind of figured " dude , you call yourself a biker ... in front of these guys you are like a kid in every aspect " anyway I thanked God that this wasn't a competition , I would have come 30th in a 25 bike race :)
anyway 3:30 am 17th of June , I carry my saddle bags and follow Sharath carrying a rucksack , reach to Ricky . saddled up , tried on my new helmet ( 2 K , carbon fiber , heavy , full faced , made for speed and comfort ) . Leave not being able to sleep at night ..... now my heart was like a Congo drums concert , had a my palms sweating and was on a high , kind of one you will have before skydiving for or making love for the first time .
for effectiveness , the grp was split into 5 , My lead was Ravi Kittu , very jovial guy . His wife , 2 brothers , Sharath and me made up the team . Being avid travelers , the rest of the team decided on leaving late towards Chandigarh . for me , I wanted to move out on 16th afternoon itself :) .
so around 4 am I wake up Ricky , he is in his best form . With Hubert and Denz with us we started moving , Even though we were sweating like pigs ( at 4 am !!!! ) we could feel a cool breeze ahead . we packed our cameras and stuff inside plastic covers coz we expected RAINS . The tricky thing of staying in the heart of the city is that you need to know the point where the high way starts . No use waking up a taxi driver and asking him the way to Manali or Chandigarh , We knew this and we have learned that Azadpur is the point where the freeway starts. ( oh yes it makes hell of a difference , you will know why ) . Just a few miles in the free way , flood gates in heaven opened up . We pulled up to the side of the road as it was impossible in the dark to ride in this kind of rain . We waited for about an hour , for the rain to ease up , it did but with a promise of more downpour in a short while , good thing was it was day break by then . We got back to riding , it rained again and again and again , we were soaked , but after all the worries and butterflies in the tummy .... my BIG STUPID GRIN arrived. Delhi - Chandigarh highway in early morning is like a blessing , screw the trucks and other vehicles , the road is made for speed . Ricky was in good form , Me , sharath our luggage for next 15days on him and bro was easily doing 100 + .... we were in Chandigarh by 12 . few guys reached at 6 PM as it took them like 2 hours to just get out of Delhi .
tried sleeping , not happening . Learned how to dry wet shoes ... fill it up with news paper. Had a few pegs in the evening . thought it will help me in sleeping . NOPE ... Now my body was kind of aching here and there as I haven't slept well for almost 5 days . I think it was Anil who found the culprit , he said Adrenaline , kind of chemical locha in my body , caused by my excitement is keeping me awake 24/7 ..
got to bed at 12 and was up by 3 AM . coz this will be one more day we start before sunrise , We were good to go at dot 4 . My team was starting late again , so me and sharath started alone , one team started at 4 and we weren't so keen on joining with them , we like our freedom so waited around 30 minutes and took off . Leaving Chandigarh was was tough ... Even if you know the name of the exit point out of the city , no one to ask the direction at 4:30 AM . We reached a junction and something inside told me to wait ... I usually listen to that voice inside me . no matter what it says to me ... I usually do that .
2 minutes and few questions from Sharath later , I see a Himachal Pradesh road transport Bus , with my humble knowledge on reading Hindi , I got " Ma ... Manal .... MANALI "
yeah . We caught up with the driver in the next junction and reconfirmed , he said follow me till day break as the roads might not be that great and there will be definite amount of fog . How nice .. He kept his bus at an average speed of 80 KMPH , we weren't loosing anytime in following him as we had to find our way out of the city and then ride in the dark , with a fog which has lifted just 4 feet from the road , we would be doing only like 40 KMPH .
With less stress on concentrating on the road , we enjoyed this stint . both sides of the roads were full of fields , the sun rise was awesome , the rays filtering through the fog and shining on the dew drops was magical . As the day got brighter , we thanked the bus driver and pulled on . Now this is where the high range starts , man Ricky was like a roller costar , fast , furious , fun but ran like on rail , we didn't go one inch wrong . We have been riding for 3 hrs by then and riding flat out .
Coz , what ever it is I'm an over grown child , somewhere I felt I can catch up with the team which left 1/2 an hour before , I would have rode for one more hour , due to my butt feeling like a rock + sharath wanting to stretch , we stopped for coffee in a small town . we decided we will have breakfast at around 9 . We stopped for like 1/2 an hour there and I completely resigned from the idea that I can catch up with the team ahead .
Me in a more relaxed riding style and Sharath at his best creative mood , led to few way side photo shoots .. we were in one of those stops when I see one of our bikers zip past us . We flagged them down . They pull over a bit ahead of us and we walked up . all five of them had a quizzical look and asked " when did you start " we said 4:30 .... the next question came in a millisecond but every one in unison " so when did you over take us " oh man this over grown child was on top of the world that time .... This is the team which left 30 Minutes before me . and they haven't stopped yet . Thanks to the Bus driver , I made up about 1 hour + on them in a 4 hr ride , They took a long time in getting out of the city .
Just 111 days from the so called " trip of a life time " I sit down to pen this , I haven't forgotten any moment of it . I never thought I will continue writing on this blog ...
seriously . Me being Jerry Martin with an ego which can fill up a reservoir cant look in the mirror now a days. will get in to that later
Built up
Hubert was the rock on which this trip was built , his planning and execution of this trip will put any travel agent ( including me ) to shame . A passionate biker .
A few of OSBs met up 3-4 months prior to the trip . The reason was YOGA !!! . Ya right , I thought " What does yoga has to do with biking , its for oldies and ladies who has nothing else to do at home " . I went for it any way as it will give me an intro to the core team .
I met Aaron there, He looks like a firang , with my hair(less)style . Other than being a biker he is yoga teacher as well . he came up with 2 pranayamas to increase the lung capacity as the lack of oxygen will trouble most bikers up in K TOP .
Me needing Yoga ... never , I always went to places and adjusted myself to it ... If I put my will to it I can do anything ... God how wrong was I .
I helped Hubert In getting the air tickets at a cost almost equal to the train fare so we chucked the plan of going by rail and flew .
We sent our bikes through rail a few days before . I couldn't sleep from 3 days prior to the trip
June 16th Saturday , Accompanied by Sophie and Ajay , I reach the airport . We had a photo session for the sponsor and stuff we boarded the plain . Thanks to my unfriendly features , didn't make many friends but the guys whom I could break Ice with was
Denzil - wonderfully sweet guy , me and he looks like brothers with our hairstyle and tattoos . he is pillion to Hubert .
Shankara - biker with many miles under his belt ( like about 2.5 lakhs KM ) , rides solo on a pulsar ,
Sharath - my pillion , non fuzzy , sweet , caring and cool dude to go for a trip . he takes amazing pics even sitting behind a bike in a bad terrain ( most of my pics are taken by him )
Landed - went to Lahore gate to pick up bikes , was irritating to walk through the small galli's in Delhi with maddening traffic , but the anticipation of the trip kept us moving forward . Stayed at a hotel in carol Bagh , I fitted a luggage rack to my bike so Sharath does not have to put the rucksack on
Eve of the trip I went to meet Mona and baby ( Kamal's wife , read the earlier blogs to know him ) her sister Mala .Trisha , kamals baby, was so wonderful ... for once I thought it will be amazing to be a father . we spend like an hour together and I rushed back to get some rest
I shared the room with
Anil - Anil K Govind - has a 1975 bullet working as good or better than Ricky , has a no nonsense approach to everything , takes superb pictures and the first guy to offer me a bed in their room
Novex - has a road king , sweet guy
both has many miles under their belts too , and has hell lot of practical solutions a biker could use any day
by this time I kind of figured " dude , you call yourself a biker ... in front of these guys you are like a kid in every aspect " anyway I thanked God that this wasn't a competition , I would have come 30th in a 25 bike race :)
anyway 3:30 am 17th of June , I carry my saddle bags and follow Sharath carrying a rucksack , reach to Ricky . saddled up , tried on my new helmet ( 2 K , carbon fiber , heavy , full faced , made for speed and comfort ) . Leave not being able to sleep at night ..... now my heart was like a Congo drums concert , had a my palms sweating and was on a high , kind of one you will have before skydiving for or making love for the first time .
for effectiveness , the grp was split into 5 , My lead was Ravi Kittu , very jovial guy . His wife , 2 brothers , Sharath and me made up the team . Being avid travelers , the rest of the team decided on leaving late towards Chandigarh . for me , I wanted to move out on 16th afternoon itself :) .
so around 4 am I wake up Ricky , he is in his best form . With Hubert and Denz with us we started moving , Even though we were sweating like pigs ( at 4 am !!!! ) we could feel a cool breeze ahead . we packed our cameras and stuff inside plastic covers coz we expected RAINS . The tricky thing of staying in the heart of the city is that you need to know the point where the high way starts . No use waking up a taxi driver and asking him the way to Manali or Chandigarh , We knew this and we have learned that Azadpur is the point where the freeway starts. ( oh yes it makes hell of a difference , you will know why ) . Just a few miles in the free way , flood gates in heaven opened up . We pulled up to the side of the road as it was impossible in the dark to ride in this kind of rain . We waited for about an hour , for the rain to ease up , it did but with a promise of more downpour in a short while , good thing was it was day break by then . We got back to riding , it rained again and again and again , we were soaked , but after all the worries and butterflies in the tummy .... my BIG STUPID GRIN arrived. Delhi - Chandigarh highway in early morning is like a blessing , screw the trucks and other vehicles , the road is made for speed . Ricky was in good form , Me , sharath our luggage for next 15days on him and bro was easily doing 100 + .... we were in Chandigarh by 12 . few guys reached at 6 PM as it took them like 2 hours to just get out of Delhi .
tried sleeping , not happening . Learned how to dry wet shoes ... fill it up with news paper. Had a few pegs in the evening . thought it will help me in sleeping . NOPE ... Now my body was kind of aching here and there as I haven't slept well for almost 5 days . I think it was Anil who found the culprit , he said Adrenaline , kind of chemical locha in my body , caused by my excitement is keeping me awake 24/7 ..
got to bed at 12 and was up by 3 AM . coz this will be one more day we start before sunrise , We were good to go at dot 4 . My team was starting late again , so me and sharath started alone , one team started at 4 and we weren't so keen on joining with them , we like our freedom so waited around 30 minutes and took off . Leaving Chandigarh was was tough ... Even if you know the name of the exit point out of the city , no one to ask the direction at 4:30 AM . We reached a junction and something inside told me to wait ... I usually listen to that voice inside me . no matter what it says to me ... I usually do that .
2 minutes and few questions from Sharath later , I see a Himachal Pradesh road transport Bus , with my humble knowledge on reading Hindi , I got " Ma ... Manal .... MANALI "
yeah . We caught up with the driver in the next junction and reconfirmed , he said follow me till day break as the roads might not be that great and there will be definite amount of fog . How nice .. He kept his bus at an average speed of 80 KMPH , we weren't loosing anytime in following him as we had to find our way out of the city and then ride in the dark , with a fog which has lifted just 4 feet from the road , we would be doing only like 40 KMPH .
With less stress on concentrating on the road , we enjoyed this stint . both sides of the roads were full of fields , the sun rise was awesome , the rays filtering through the fog and shining on the dew drops was magical . As the day got brighter , we thanked the bus driver and pulled on . Now this is where the high range starts , man Ricky was like a roller costar , fast , furious , fun but ran like on rail , we didn't go one inch wrong . We have been riding for 3 hrs by then and riding flat out .
Coz , what ever it is I'm an over grown child , somewhere I felt I can catch up with the team which left 1/2 an hour before , I would have rode for one more hour , due to my butt feeling like a rock + sharath wanting to stretch , we stopped for coffee in a small town . we decided we will have breakfast at around 9 . We stopped for like 1/2 an hour there and I completely resigned from the idea that I can catch up with the team ahead .
Me in a more relaxed riding style and Sharath at his best creative mood , led to few way side photo shoots .. we were in one of those stops when I see one of our bikers zip past us . We flagged them down . They pull over a bit ahead of us and we walked up . all five of them had a quizzical look and asked " when did you start " we said 4:30 .... the next question came in a millisecond but every one in unison " so when did you over take us " oh man this over grown child was on top of the world that time .... This is the team which left 30 Minutes before me . and they haven't stopped yet . Thanks to the Bus driver , I made up about 1 hour + on them in a 4 hr ride , They took a long time in getting out of the city .
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