Live to Ride, Ride to Live...

March 16th, 2011

Last night I met some new neighbours at the guest house, Pascal and Charlotte, who sound like they are from France but they actually hail from Germany. Pascal’s been on a work term with Siemens in Bangalore (he’s studying engineering) but now has a two week vacation before heading back to wrap things up and head back home. He met Charlotte in Bangalore at a German expat function and she’s about to start her masters in intercultural education and communication.

Pascal mentioned that they were planning on renting a motorbike and asked whether I’d be interested in joining them. I snapped up at the chance as I had been contemplating renting a bike but I’ve only spent one day riding and that was four years ago...however it was in Nepal so my one day’s experience was quite relevant as the road and traffic conditions should be similar. But it’s much more reassuring to go with some other people.

We left Purnima around 9:30am with the goal of finding me a bike as Pascal and Charlotte had already put a deposit on one at a shop just outside Manali. Thankfully we found one for 600 rupees ($13) for the day at the first place just across the bridge from Old Manali. The shop owner or worker, Tinkay, was a big Bob Marley fan and in fact the bike I rented had a Bob Marley silhouette sticker on its headlight, another one on the side of the gas tank and also a Ying & Yang and Chelsea football sticker on the back...how could I not like this bike, “Bob”.

Being a little tentative with a bike, I let Pascal check it out first and then I took it for a little spin. As I filled out the paperwork, Pascal gave Charlotte a lift most of the way to the store at which they rented a bike, thwarted only by a big traffic jam heading to the bridge. He returned and picked me up and I was impressed with his “Indian driving skills”, passing cars on both sides of vehicles and surely doing manoeuvres he wouldn’t perform back in Germany.

We hit the road, gassed up, and cruised along the same road that Manu and I had travelled when we went to the Solang Valley. Four kilometres before reaching the ski resort was the fork in the road and we began our zig zaggy climb up the mountain. Apart from stalling a handful of times when starting out (probably from being in the wrong gear on a few of them), Bob and I were getting along famously. He seemed to know when I wanted to bank around a hairpin corner or gently sweep around a slight curve in the road. Ah, the open road...

Starting our climb...the windy road can be seen near the middle of the picture:

Nice road to cruise:

My riding partners:

I'm looking good on a bike...no?

A shot while riding:

We stopped a few times on our ascent and one particular break was a bit stinky...but very interesting, well to me at least. As I rounded a corner I spotted three large vultures crowded around a carcass by the side of the road. At first we thought it was a horse but in fact it was a cow. We had arrived just in time to witness one of these massive flying garbage cans pecking away and removing the juicy eyeball. Pascal remarked how it seemed the birds were first going for the easy pickings, anything that can be removed via an orifice, the logical German. Unfortunately between the three of us encroaching and a number of passing cars, the vultures had retreated twenty metres up the hill, tentative about their access to their meal. Charlotte was a bit put off by this whole scene and I don’t think I helped when I approached the dead cow to take a closer inspection. “Peee-uuuu!!!” It was pretty nasty smelling with hundreds of flies buzzing around. I don’t know how the vultures can stand sticking their whole head in their...they must have some strange sense of smell!

Lunch time!

Great mountain views:

Climbing higher and higher:

We reached the snowline on the switchbacks and then we could see in the distance the road continue on a treeless slope with massive rock boulders littering it to the north. I noticed these little white blocks lining the side of the back and forth road and at first thought it was some kind of cement blocks set there to prevent drivers from running off the cliff side of the road. I later found out that Charlotte thought the same. They were quite a bit smaller than the boulders on the mountain face. As we turned a corner we were abruptly stopped by a traffic jam of white tourist vehicles. “Oh, those are cars!”...hundreds of cars lining the switchback road all the way up to where the pass is currently open to (it might be open all the way in a week or two). Yikes, the three of us dismounted our bikes that weren’t even able to navigate the congestion and just shook our heads.

The parking lot on the mountain:

Pascal and I are not impressed:

Pascal and Charlotte:

For many Indians, this would be the first time that they saw snow with their own eyes and were able to touch it. We giggled at the fact that many of them were unnecessarily clad in either gaudy knee length dark blue or purple fake fur coats or in bright neon single piece snowsuits. If you even wondered where all the neon ski gear from the 1980s went...it’s here!

The funny snow gear:

We decided that it wasn’t worth the headache trying to go any further so we turned around and began our descent. Back in the valley we headed back towards Manali but instead of crossing the bridge to go into town, we continued on towards a town of Naggar. We had only stopped for a snack on the way down the mountain so we were all getting a bit peckish (or downright hungry in Pascal’s case). Naggar turned out to be 22 kilometres from Manali and we ended up stopping for a bit to eat before making it there.

Starting our descent:

The view of the valley:

"Bob"...my trusty steed:

Some prayer flags:

Pascal and I must have been discussing important riding stuff:

Amazingly they are actually riding by at 15-20 km/hr...I was surprised the pic turned out!

Bob and I...and a lovely vista:

One of many snowsuit shops in the valley:

We passed by this flipped SUV and couldn't figure out how he had done it...straight, simple road...go figure:

One of many hazards while riding in India...sheep!

And an even bigger hazard!

Sitting in some restaurant gardens high up on a hillside, there was a nice view of the valley and the mountains on the other side although it was a bit hazy (a new word for Charlotte that she was happy to learn). Next door was a funny little place. We could peer down on this big pool, almost an infinity pool we joked (but not quite), that had two or three paddle boats in it. It looked like you’d hardly get moving in one direction before having to turn around. Another feature of “Excite Wonderland” was a set of chairs facing each other that were suspended by a cable that spanned the length of the “paddle boat lake”. The place was empty apart from one couple. Much to our amusement the guy went across in the chair but I gather his young bride was too afraid to try it.

Excite Wonderland!

The infinity paddle pool:

Ah...happier with some food and drink, and the butt getting a break from sitting on the bike:

Rejuvenated, we hopped back on the bikes and made it to Naggar, which was only another 2-3 kilometres down the road. Our plan was to check out the castle in the village which was originally built by the Sikh rajas of Kullu in 1460 and has played the role as fortress, palace, courthouse and now guesthouse, restaurant and museum (sort of...it was one of the strangest and saddest museums I’ve seen...see the pic below).

Looking up at the castle:

The first courtyard:

The main courtyard:

Looking out from the main courtyard:

Some small temple in the castle:

Knuffle Bunny's been enjoying the day of riding:

One of the strangest "museums" I've been to...this is it! Just a room with a weird variety of props and items (can't really call them artifacts):

A strange temple behind the castle:

We returned back to Manali and having only ridden maybe 100-110 kilometres, I was amazingly exhausted. Fantastic day though...live to ride, ride to live!