June 7th, 2022
The drive to Manali was SLOW!! We had bad visibility, busy roads still (though bit less crazy as the hours got later) and darkness. Add in the hills, curves (most blind) and more aggressive driving, especially by the big busses and things took on a surreal effect that was almost comical at times.
We could barely manage 20 mph much of the time, but we did manage to stay together as a group more in the mountains.
By now the 3 of us in the car had talked ourselves out and started to just make comments on the drivers and some other things we were seeing.
We saw mostly the same stuff all night. We did another coffee/tea stop going up one side of a pass (around 2:00 a.m.) and another coming back down (around 4:30 a.m.). The first was again at a tin shack, the second though was a larger permanent structure.
At this point the road became heavily under construction (they are building a new freeway like road surface - wider, new bridges, tunnels to bypass places and even elevating many sections higher up) which slowed us down even more.
We stopped for breakfast about 7:00 a.m. A few people had caught a few moments of sleep in the car, but most of us were unable to sleep in a moving car.
After breakfast we had about 12 miles left to drive into Manali and to the hotel. This took over an hour due to insane traffic crawling along at a near standstill at times and even seemed to be lost a few times. Finally reached the hotel which appears to be a really nice place.
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| Panoramic view from the hotel entry landing of Manali. |
We next sat around while we were all checked into our rooms which did take a bit of time as they had to validate documents and record all kinds of passport and other data and pair most up into rooms (which caused a bit of tension at first with a few).
I lucked out and got a room by myself as we had an odd number of riders and for some reason I was not paired with any of the others. Not sure if this will hold out for the rest of the trip or was just due to the fact that the 3 Austrian riders had chosen to buy plane tickets and fly up instead of driving and were supposed to arrive later in the day.
Once in the room I organized my bags again, made a quick video and then took a 1.5 hour nap, which really did not help much, and might have made me more tired!
Once I awoke I went over to have lunch at the hotel restaurant where we had a decent meal and then we all went down to the lower grounds to check out the bikes which were already onsite. We then all got geared up (or at least some gear) and did a test ride so we could check out the bikes we picked out and make sure they worked, get our first experience with riding in traffic, fuel the bikes up so they were ready for the morning and stop and do some shopping as a few needed things, including one guy who needed to buy a helmet as he did not bring one with him. (He had actually been hiking in Nepal for 2 weeks just prior to coming to India, so makes sense not wanting to pack a helmet along with him for his 1.5 month long trip to the subcontinent region.)
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| The Royal Enfield Himalayan bikes await. |
Many also loaded up some of their gear to test tie down strategies and such to see if they would work well for the next day. I was one of those.
We grouped up at the hotel lobby area on the bikes and then headed up the road and onto the city streets. It was quite nuts for a bit, but we all quickly got used to the traffic by the time we stopped for fuel just a few miles down the road.
We started off to go to a bike shop across town, but after about 30 minutes we pulled over to the side of the road. Seems that the group had gotten split and the guy who really needed the shop was not with us anymore. So we sat along the road while our lead rider rode back along the route to see if he could find the guy. After about 10 minutes he returned, unsuccessful, so we headed back to the hotel as a group again.
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| Waiting for our lost rider. |
Along the way back we did find the guy though as he was still riding along various roads trying to find us. So we stopped at another shop so he could get a helmet, even though it was not as nice of a place as the other one they had planned to take him.
We then rode over to stop at another market place so people could buy other supplies, but the guy overseeing the parking lot would not allow us to park there. So it was decided to just return to the hotel. (A few guys later went out on their own and found places to get what they wanted.)
Overall the bike rode well, my camera gear bag strapped down okay on the rear seat/luggage rack, but will need to keep an eye on it once roads get rougher. The bungy cords worked nicely for my tank bag. (I had forgot to bring the actual straps that belong to the bag, they are still on my bike back in the US!)
I did have the team mechanic fix both my mirrors though. One was loose and would not stay set and the other had a bent arm so could not get it set to see anything but the road surface alongside the bike.
I next went back to room and got changed out of the riding gear and into my street clothes, what I will call my camp clothes from now on. Then I met up with some of the guys down on the lower lawn area where we sat around and talked to burn time. I did finally get the wi-fi to work while sitting there so was able to update FB finally with what had happened up till then.
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| Mark, Simon and Robert and I (Clay not shown), having a chat while waiting. |
I then decided to go up and repack all my bags again to prepare for the bike trip, moving stuff I did not need on the bike into the "camp" bag which would go on the support truck and figuring out where I wanted things stored on the bike (had the camera bag, tank bag, small backpack strapped on top of camera bag, and pockets of my jacket).
Went down for dinner at 8:00 p.m. but was not that hungry having eaten too much in the last 48 hours. Then we all met down on the lawn at the tables for a rider meeting with the team leaders.
Here we got the details on when to be ready to leave, what time breakfast would be served and such. They also gave us all several bags of nuts/berries to use as emergency food in case we would get stranded somewhere due to weather or road blockages that would prevent us from reaching camp or a hotel. (I carried one bag on bike, rest went in camp bag).
We also discussed how the ride would be run, how the lead and tail riders would work, and that we all did not need to stay together but could stop as needed for our own reasons and they would have a rider at any turns to make sure we all headed in right direction. They also discussed how we would refuel and that the truck would have bottled water on it we should grab each morning to take on bike and could grab refills at some of our stops.
We then all headed back to our rooms to get some sleep, though I first exchanged some money with the tour leader so I had at least some local currency. ($35 which was 2,600 some Rupee). Once in the room I repacked to include the food bags and changed a few other things around and then laid out clothes for the morning.
I then spent about 2 hours catching up this journal while I kept trying to nod off. Finally finished it and am heading to bed now!!
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| Test Ride Route (19km/12 miles) roundtrip |
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