Day 23: Zing Zing Bar to Manali (16th Sept 2014)

I was woken up by the two brothers from Delhi as they were looking for a headache medicine at 3:30 am. This disturbing noise along with the cold temperature forced me to wake up at 5:30 am. The moment I got out of the blanket I was pounced upon by chills of Zing Zing Bar. The frozen water in the pipe and a thin layer of ice on Chitti (that's what Linda calls my Royal Enfield. Inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ) were strong indicators of how cold the night had been.

View form the camp @ 5:30 am

Sonam offered me hot water to brush my teeth and wash my face. He told me that he has some plan to strengthen his business and open some bamboo cottages by next year. He was courteous enough to invite me there. He was a little doubtful about his business plans. Any small doubt is a reason good enough to hold any dream at the planning stage so I advised him to push himself to just start it and not wait for the ideal situation.

While Sonam was making my breakfast, I started Chitti and left his engine running to warm up Chitti before the ride.
In the other camp, I saw another bike which looked familiar. It was the same bike I had seen parked in front of the same tent on 3rd Sept when I had halted at Zing Zing Bar. I was curious to know more so I walked up to the tent and asked for the owner of the bike. The bike was ridden by a travelling duo Shashank and Rohit. Both of them were working in an IT firm and were riding from Pune. I learned that Shashank was a veteran in the game I had just learned to play. He had quit his job in 2009 for a trip to Gangotri. As we chatted, I realized that we had a lot in common. For the Leh trip too his leave had not been approved. He told me that he just left his job and came for the ride. His corporate faith would be decided once he reached Pune.
“Life is much more than fucking, making babies and money”, said he. The statement was like the equator which divides the world into two. One could either agree or disagree with his statement. One is forced to choose sides when confronted with such statements.
There was something in his eyes which hinted that he was heading for a few more job quitting.

Rohit on the left and Shashank on the right

After breakfast, I bid farewell to Sonam and promised to come to his new stay if I come next time. The sight of the sun in that cold morning spontaneously put a smile on my face. It was a good feeling to know that the natural elements were controlling my mood and not the day’s job list.

The ride towards Manali started at 8:15 am. I knew starting late meant that I had to cross through the tricky waterways as the ice would start melting in the pass, but I didn’t know that it would be so frequent.  Some waterways were designed only for the four-wheelers as they were too deep for a two-wheeler to cross. If the bike would lose the balance and fall, it would be impossible for a single guy to lift the bike again in that strong flow of water. So, I had to make my own way for Chitti to cross.

Make your own road

I am not a bird watcher (the kind that flies), so I know very little about birds. I saw these birds across the entire stretch of the Manali highway. They would line up at the side of the road and wait for vehicles to come close. Once the vehicle came close to them, they would start flying parallel to the vehicle, sometimes suddenly crossing the way to change the side. On a few of the occasions, I had to slam on my brakes as they came dangerously close to being hit. It was their mountains, so they had the right to the way. I don’t know why they do this, but I surely enjoyed the company of these tiny flyers. Riding alongside these free-spirited birds made me feel special, welcomed and wanted in the land where I knew none.  I started humming the classical Nepali song- Chalay sa batash sustari, maanai sarara, bharasha chaina jeevan ko beetau hasay ra. (The gentle wind is blowing, soothing my mind. Life is uncertain, so let’s spend it laughing along the way)

The friendly company

Once I reached the valley, the abundance of oxygen was a pleasant change for Chitti. Now we could easily hit 80 km/hr without Chitti struggling much.

The ascent to Rothang Pass was a very good workout for the entire body. The afternoon sun had made the climb very slippery because of the melting snow from the pass. Balancing Chitti in that slush for one hour made me sweat profusely in that cold high altitude. Every part of my body, including my appendix which many learned says, has no function in the human body, worked towards balancing Chitti where even four-wheelers were having a tough time having a grip on the road. I finally reached the sun kissed Rothang pass by 1:30 pm. If the previous days 321 km ride was a marathon, today's ride was an obstacle race of high standard. As I had to play continuously with the clutch for about an hour to free Chitti from being trapped in the slush, my forearms looked like that of Popeye's.

The ascend towards Rothang Pass starts

The warm Rothang pass

I reached Manali at 4 pm and checked in hotel Manali View. It was a hotel referred to me by the two cousin riders from Delhi whom I had met in Zing Zing Bar. The hotel was located centrally and had a double bedroom, warm and cosy, with geyser and TV. It was much better than the hotel that I had stayed in while heading towards Leh on 2nd Sept.  I got the room at an unbelievable price. In fact, the room tariff was so low that had I bargained hard, the owner would have had to pay me instead. Something was seriously wrong with the pricing of the hotel.

Manali

Manali , high on tourism

Manali valley

The cellular network was back and the first one I called was Linda. She was delighted to know that I was now just a call away. The crowd and the glittering lights of the Manali market were very festive so I took a hot refreshing shower and headed to explore the market. I sat in the middle of the Manali market, getting used to the crowd and observing the Manali way of life. I was pretty surprised to see a “tel malish” (Oil massage) profession still flourishing in Manali, a profession I thought had long perished. One man who instantly caught my attention was a musician who reminded me of one of my favourite musician Bob Dalyn – both in terms of looks and talent.

Manali Market

Tel Malish ???

He knows how to play it all, but somehow lost the life balance

The merriment of Manali was too tempting so I walked into one bar, very creatively named Zing Zing Bar and enjoyed my drink overlooking the market.

After the drinks I was hungry, so I had a decent burger for my dinner at Mount View restaurant. The burger had triggered a craving for something sweet, so I went to a sweet shop and got myself two gulab jamuns and then retired for the day.

At the end of the 23rd Day, I had travelled 190 Kms.

On 5th of March at 12:13 am I got a WhatsApp message from Shanky. It read, 'Breaking news for you, again I'm kicking the corporate wold .... Notice period started form today. Might not join this corporate world again"

(Do read the other days chronicle listed on the same page)

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