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| Your Trips September 2010 |
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BIKE India reader's travel 27 days and 6,497 km Honda Aviator and Yamaha FZ-16 and R-15
Who are we: Hormazd Vakharia, Rishab Kannambille, Dheeraj Landge, Sandy, Mayur and Robinson
Our Bikes: The Honda Aviator, Yamaha FZ-16 and Yamaha YZF R-15
You might say, what’s the big deal? Yet another Leh, Ladakh ride? Well, the difference was that we rode from Mumbai to Ladakh and back and not on the usual Delhi-Ladakh-Delhi circuit. The other difference was that I did this trip on my Honda Aviator.
We started from Mumbai on May 9 and rode continuously until 5.00 p.m., maintaining an average speed of 65 km/h. Our aim was to cover 550 km to reach Ahmedabad by sunset. However, the scorching afternoon sun took its toll and we stopped just 75 km short of Ahmedabad, since none of us was feeling well. An early dinner and we hit the hay.
We entered Punjab on day four. The next day we rode eastwards and entered Himachal Pradesh by evening. The next morning we bid good-bye to the straight roads after Una and rode through the zigzags to Manali.
Riding the next morning, we could feel the effect of the altitude on our bikes. Wading through shin-deep slush and muck, we somehow clambered up closer to the top. As the light continued to fade, we rode out of the cloud cover and stopped at Koksar for an overnight stay. The next morning we started for Jispa and soon found out that there was no petrol pump for 365 km. After a night’s halt we set out for Leh via Srinagar.
We backtracked till Tandi and headed for Udaypur (Himachal) that evening and spent the night at a PWD rest-house. At sunrise we started riding over gravel, boulders, slush and nullahs. As we crossed the Himachal border and entered Kashmir, we noticed the steep roads ahead.
