Traversing the Manali-Leh Highway (2)

Day 2: Khoksar to Keylong

The morning ride though gets off to great start, it's absolutely gorgeous out and the road is well maintained and follows along the Indus river.

Peaks and valleys-


We even reach our first "nallah" crossing. Snow melt is supposed to be one of the more difficult things about riding the Manali-Leh highway. Ordinarily it wouldn't be such an issue this late in the year, but thanks to global warming, it's still snowing on some of the passes. We're pretty excited to test out our gaitors and the waterproofing of our boots though, woo-hoo!

First nallah crossing-


Although her clutch plates have been replaced, my Psycho Ex-Girlfriend (PEG) isn't too happy about it and decides to throw a fit (guess she doesn't like strangers fooling with her innards) and plays this game where she shifts into neutral randomly. Of course this just so happens to coincide exactly at the time when I need power (like crossing a nallah or going over a small bump), and I end up getting wet, bruised, and scratched up when I get thrown off. For those of you keeping score-Manali-Leh Highway: 3, Me: 0.

After the ride to Keylong, nothing's better than Tibetan comfort food.
Steaming thukpa-


And of course PEG goes right back to the local mechanic for a little pep talk and tune up.
Yogi's repairshop-

Spare bike parts-


At times, I could swear the scooters and bikes outside the repairshop take on a human personality.

Almost human-


Scrapyard outside the repairshop-


Keylong is a gorgeous and surprisingly large mountain town. We end up staying for 2 days for repairs and ended up exploring a nearby monastery.

Monastery arches-

Traversing the Manali-Leh Highway

As if riding around in rural Jaipur for a weekend wasn't challenging enough, we decided to tackle the epic Manali-Leh highway. "Highway" is waaaaay too optimistic of a descriptive term. It's 479 kms of bone-jarring rough Himalayan road with the occasional stretch of asphalt here and there- all at some of the highest elevations in the world (at least for a "motorable" road). That's all part of the fun of India, nothing comes easy. But hey, after our Jaipur trial run, we're (mostly) totally well-prepared.



Introducing the Royal Enfield
Touring the classic Manali-Leh highway deserves a classic bike. Every year, the Royal Enfield group actually sponsors an official tour of the Manali-Leh highway. Somehow though, it's just not too appealing to ride there in a group of 60+ guys, most of them on some sort of midlife crisis, which umm... is not what I am on.

Royal Enfield bikes have been in existence since the 19th century and have been in India since the 1940's. India is the only place that still manufactures them, and to this day, there is still high demand for them. It's easy to see why, they just look, sound, and feel how a motorcycle should be like. Their distinctive thump-thump-thump sound is almost primal, and Royal Enfields should get dirty and be taken off-road.




Although their official name is "Royal Enfield", they probably should be called the Royal-Pain-in-the-Ass instead because they often breakdown (see below). They basically have WWII-era technology in a 400 pound bike. In fact, we decided to name them after our ex-girlfriends 'cause although they might look really good, they're high maintenance, always need attention, and a bit crazy, hah! Over the weeks we rode them we thought up of a lot of other analogies, but umm... since probably some of my exes might be reading this I better not go into detail (but don't worry, it's not you, it's all the other ex-girlfriends, really... hah!).

Day 1: Manali to Keylong (err... make that Khoksar).
Well, Day 1 didn't get off to the greatest of starts. We went 12km in the wrong direction, and of course my "psycho ex-girlfriend" (PEG) immediately is tired of touring and decides to get a flat tire.


On the way up to Rohtang Pass, plenty of vendors renting out brightly colored jumpsuits and fur coats for the snow.


First taste of the mountains!



Fur wearing tourists riding the tiny ponies-


After the first pass of our trip, PEG decides she's done for the day and decides to blow her clutch plates in the town of Khoksar. Meeraj has to play "Lassie" again and rides 3 hours round trip to buy some new ones from the mechanic the next town over to repair PEG with.

Repairs by lightbulb-


Like all the other stops along the Manali-Leh highway, Khoksar is a really photogenic place.


Enjoying her coke-