Narkanda - Hatu, July 2007

It all started on the wrong foot. With only 2 people (out of 12 confirmed till the day before) finally making it to the morning of 14 July at AIIMS. Kamlesh rode from Gurgaon and he was already 30 odd down on the trip meter when i met him at 3.45 AM on a thundering night. The 30 minute shower was good enough to drench us completely. The slippery surface left me kissing the back of an Indica 10 kms into the ride, No harm done, we carried on. It kept drizzling while we crawled to the Delhi Bye-pass in an hour. Quick Chai and Sutta break, and we headed on NH1.

Nicely covering places, the first butt break came near Sonepat in an hours time. Heavy winds and constant drizzle kept us company. Soon after, at 7.30, took a leak-break which turned into a freak break. A short circuit wiring (apparently in the indicator cables) spread all over the wiring leaving white smoke coming out of the battery compartment first, the head assemble after that, and finally near the ignition switch. The ignition was gone, no spark in the spark plug, meant trouble, all electricals were down. Without realising the spark was gone, tried to disconnect all not-so-important component and restore the ignitions, no luck but. We were 15 kms ahead of Karnal now. Desperate calls back to Delhi to find an Bajaj Dealer in Karnal/ Kurukshetra. Deciding to move on, Shri Krishna Bajaj at Kurukshetra was the destination. Managed to load the bike up a 3 wheeler goods carrier, which took us to the showroom/ service centre 18 kms away in 30 minutes. With no pro-biking support here, the skilled mechanic, had to open up the seat and the tank to trace the burnt wiring from terminal to terminal. Finally the guy gave direct lines thru to the spark plug, the head lamp and the tail light and we were good to go. Kick start, key not required, headlamp and tail light on auto-on mode. Finally headed out of the service station at 12.30 and stopped at the first Dhaba near Kurukshetra for Dal Makhani, Shahi Paneer and Tandoori Rotis.

Then on there werent too many issues. But having lost 5 hours in restoring the electricals, we were way off the target to reach hatu by evening. Hatu seemed distant and dark to us. Riding hard thru Kalka to Shimla, finally managed to reach Shimla ~ 6 PM. Enroute, we got company with Navnit riding solo on his 25 day old P200 from Mumbai to Spiti to Leh. Picked up supplies at Kufri, still hopeful of making it to Hatu, the 3 of us headed up to Narkanda. With the weather getting colder by the minute, touched down at Narkanda at 9.15 PM. Finally deciding to call it a day here, my back was really really sore. The hard riding thru Shimla-Narkanda with frequent rough patches took their toll on the back. We would retire in Narkanda at the HHPWD Guest house. Dinner followed by OM and bakar, we finally slept at midnight.

The morning was hazy and dull. With a chill in the air, we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed up 9 kms to Hatu Peak. The Never-ending-road is a myth. The road stops right here only a metre away from the valley. Spent a blissful hour at the peak clicking pics amidst the clouds and mules.

Hatu, the highest altitude i've ever attained lived up to its name completely. Worth the pain, worth the climb, worth everything.

The return was marked with Navnit carrying on to Spiti, while Kamlesh and I descended down to Shimla. With no further issues and Lunch at Kufri, Delhi was a mere formality. With the back still tingling from the previous day's grueling ride up, came down at an easy pace till Kalka. Kalka to Ambala took an hour, Ambala to Delhi (home) another 3.

Still nursing the sore back. Looking at options.

Pics are here.