Day 24: Manali to Amritsar (17th Sept 2014)

Woke up at 7:30 am. Linda, my navigator called me and informed me about the route to Amritsar. She told me that I should head towards Pathankot and she warned me that it was going to be a long ride.

I had to pass by a market where Himachali apples were being auctioned. With so much of apples lying around in Himachal Pradesh, I wondered if doctors had a good business there.

At 11 am I briefly stopped for a lunch at Mandi. I ordered two rotis, dal fry, plain rice and butter. The butter came in a solid cube.

 Since the ride was long, I quickly had my lunch and continued with my trip. The ride from Manali to Pathankot involves an amateur level hill terrain riding skill. Reaching Pathankot seemed like finding Neverland.  Adding to that, the Pathankot – Amritsar highway was under construction, so I had to take many detours. After some time, I was so fed up taking detours that I decided to go past the barricades and started riding on the highway being constructed.

The highway under construction

Since no vehicles were plying on the under-construction highway, the locals were making the best use of it. Some were using it for an evening stroll with their family, while others were using it as a jogging track. By the sheer number of joggers that I crossed on the highway, it was a no-brainer to guess that the Punjabis are very health conscious. That also explains how Punjab has produced so many national-level sportspersons.

The paranoia of the black clouds came striking back when I saw potential rain clouds in the sky. It had been 10 hours of riding hard and I could feel the fatigue setting in. I thanked Chitti ( thats what Linda calls my Royal Enfield .Inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ) for not disappointing me. I knew he too needed some rest, but we couldn't afford to waste time resting.  With the sunset, I was the only one in that dark highway under construction. But there is something about Punjab which made me feel safe. I recalled how scared I was when I was riding from Mumbai to Ahemadabad (read 4th Day) but this time I had no fear at all. I knew help was not very far in the land of Sardars.

I finally reached Amritsar @ 8 Pm.

After 13 hours of nonstop riding, this is what I was reduced to

Golden temple was my reason to come to Amritsar, so I headed straight towards the holy place. I checked out a few hotels and finally decided to stay at Lucky guest house.

The reason why I chose the place was that about 50 meters from the hotel was .....

.... The Golden Temple

I didn't walk into the Golden temple that night because I had some special plans for the following day. I wanted the first moment to be very a special one.

After I took a shower, I called my parents back home & Linda to let them know that I had reached the holy land.

I was very hungry by 9 pm. Everyone that I asked for a good restaurant directed me towards the Brothers Dhaba. So, I found the place and ordered an unlimited thali and a lassi. I soon realized that the lassi alone was a whole meal in itself.

Nevertheless, I emptied my thali (only one help). I was so full I could hardly move. I slowly walked towards the hotel and collapsed.

At the end of the 24th day, I had covered a distance of 461 Kms.

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

#Royalenfield  #trip #leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel