Dhanno, r ektu just... (Come on Dhanno!)
R eituku paar korte parlei sofol, (A little more and
you achieve the goal)…
Well, some of you might relate to it quite easily but
most of them cannot. Here “Dhanno” is my Royal Enfield Classic 350cc. This was just a part of the little chat I had
with her on the last few metres before reaching our dream, our goal
–Gurudongmar Lake.
“Faced
with the pain of fail,
On
being unable to quench their adventurous quell,
Boldly
they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell,
Rode
not the six hundred, but only two.”
The lines might seem much known; it has been taken and
modified from Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade”.
Prologue
to the Ride:
I have rode from the
Foothills of Darjeeling to the Bay of Bengal in the sweltering heat of April
2011, I have done a midnight trip to Tiger Hill and watched the sun turn the
Kanchendzonga from gold to yellow, I had ridden to the Old Silk Route in the
winter seasons and felt the chill, but this trip was nothing like before.
It had been nearly six months since our last bike trip to
the Old Silk Route. The open roads, fun, adventure and most importantly freedom
had been calling out since March. The time was due and we were supposed to ride
to one of the highest mountain lake in the world, Gurudongmar Lake, situated at
17100 feet above sea level and a mere 9kms from the China border. But then Amit
Nandi, one of the biker from our Bengal trip backed out as his mother asked him
to not travel mountains citing some astrological mishaps were on the cards. We
were supposed to leave on the 1st of May.
The cancellation was a big heart-breaker as we had planned
it for nearly a year (originally we were supposed to visit the lake in October
but the earthquake had led us to cancel it that time). The 1st of May came and went;
the heart-break and sadness grew bigger and more painful. Then slowly the
thirst for adventure and riding started overtaking our emotions and within a couple
of days I and Kinjal were ready to complete the trip to Ladakh version 2.0 sans
our bike gang members.
The old excitement was back as we started planning and
preparing for the trip. We met members of SWAN, who had visited the lake a few
weeks earlier. They advised us to take full protection and warned that the
roads were in pathetic conditions and how difficult it was up there. One of my
dad’s office colleague too had expressed his desire to ride with us but then
his ailing heart condition forced him to back down.
It was now the two of us, me and Kinjal. The continued
obstacles had made us determined more than ever to complete the trip. It had
become a sort of challenge to both of us. Ramneek Singh, of Xkmph who had made
the trip a few weeks back helped us a lot sharing his experience with us. I was
sure about not being approved leave for four days and hence planned to just
bunk office and doing the explanation later. Dr.Kinjal Banerjee (yes he is an
eye surgeon), who has been my companion and pillion in every crazy trip of mine
was also ready as ever.
Preparing for the
ride :
As regards preparation, we borrowed one set of protective
gears from a member of SWAN who happened to be our friend. I had been planning
to learn how to repair punctures but had not been able to learn till then. So
we scraped the idea of taking any spare tubes or foot pump and risked a gamble
with fate. I had learned how to make the mixtures lean or rich and how to
adjust the clutch cable (though I seriously doubted being able to do that if
the need came).
There was also the possibility of the road being closed due
to landslides but we were ready for anything. We were ready to go anywhere but
not home in the next few days. We had also a Plan B in case we failed to make
Gurudongmar Lake – we would visit Pelling.
The Riders
:
.jpg) |
| Dr. Kinjal Banerjee, an eye surgeon and my pillion of all seasons. This is one doctor who finds time to live his dreams unlike so many more I have seen. |
 |
| Me, Saura Bhattacharjee, working in State Bank of India for whom office means 10a.m -5p.m. every weekdays and the merely a means to get funds for fulfilling his dreams. |
The Ride :
 |
| My Royal Enfield Classic 350cc, nicknamed “Dhanno”. |
Day 1 :
“What we had in common - our restlessness, our impassioned spirits, and
a love for the open road.” – Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
We reached Rangpo and rain greeted us into the “Hidden Land
of Sacred Treasures”. In our hurry to get out on the road we had forgotten to
buy plastic sheets to cover the bag. We had to quickly buy a plastic-sheet to
protect our bags from getting soaked up with rain. In the process we ended getting
ourselves thoroughly drenched. After having chole-batore
at a Marwari hotel in Rangpo we continued on our trip having dressed to
ward off the rain, but we were sweating as well. We reached Singtam, which is a
located 10kms from Rangpo, and from there took the road left after taking
directions from the policeman on duty in the traffic post. A signboard informed
us that our destination Mangan was 50 kms away. The roads were pretty good but
then it wasn’t quite the same all the way through. We reached Mangan at around
4.30 p.m. and after checking out both high end and low-end hotels we chose to
spend our night at Hotel Malling Residency, which was pretty cheap and well-maintained. |
| We celebrated the first day on the road with Dansberg Blue, Zinzi (a locally made wine) and lots of chicken and fags. |
Day 2 :
We woke up pretty
late, as the District Collectorate’s office would not open before 10 a.m. and
we were required to get our Restricted Line Permit from there. We freshened up,
packed our things and left for the Collectorate’s office which was a mere 4kms
from our hotel. One needs to provide photocopies of the driving license, bike
registration, blue book, insurance, tax and a photo identity proof as in Voter
card or PAN card. The employees were very helpful and guided us through the
process. We wrote an application to the District Magistrate stating our desire
to visit Gurudongmar Lake and that we were taking the risks personally. The DM
was a very kind person and he gave us his best wishes for the journey stating
that the rain-gods too had been pleased with us, as there had been no rain in
the past few days. The sense of relief was evident on our faces as we had been
worried the most regarding the weather other than anything else. The total time
needed to obtain the permit was approximately 20 minutes and we did not need to
spend a single penny.
It was almost noon when we returned to our hotel. After
spending another 20 minutes tying knots around the bag to keep it falling from
my bike’s carrier we started on our way to Lachen, a small village located 60
kilometres from Mangan, where we were to stay up for the night. The roads were
okay till Toong, the first checkpost, where the very helpful and polite
policemen stamped our original permit, kept a Xerox of the same and saw us off with best regards.
The 10 km road from Toong to Chungthang was the worst-hit in
the earthquake of September 2011 and everyone had warned us of shooting
boulders (loose rocks kept falling from the top) and lots of muck. But we were
very lucky as it had not rained in the past 3-4 days and hence everything was
dry as powder. We reached Chungthang, which was 30kms from Mangan, by 2’o clock
and after having 3-4 chocolates (according to Dr. Kinjal it was the best way to
keep fit) we started out for Lachen. One important thing to note is that mobile
signals are not available after Chungthang except BSNL. But still it is
advisable to call everyone and inform them to avert family members from
panicking.
 |
| The small lines are the roads. |
The road to Lachen was very picturesque and we had a nice
photo session in one place along with “Ðhanno”.
 |
| We rode through serpentine roads playing hide and seek with the fading sunlights, stopping occasionally for some fags or to rest our aching butts. |
We crossed a place called Chaten (whose
meaning as deciphered by Kinjal cannot be stated here) and reached the
picturesque village of Lachen at 4.30 p.m. We stopped at the checkpost just
before entering Lachen where another round of stamping permits and registering
was completed. Thereafter, we arrived at Hotel Dhongkha La as recommended by
Ramneek who had guaranteed that it was the best in Lachen. The owner provided
us with a 2-bedded room at a cheap Rs.700.
 |
| The room where we stayed up at Lachen. |
 |
Lachen is surrounded by such snow clad peaks.
|
Day 3 :
The vibration of my cellphone along with the heavy metal
tune of the alarm needs to ring atleast five times before I wake up on normal
weekdays. But on this particular day I was awake 15 minutes before the alarm
was to ring. The first thing I looked after opening my eyes was the sky to see
how the weather was and I was not heart-broken. The rays of the morning sun was
lighting up the dark but clear sky as well as the snow-clad peaks visible from
the room’s window. We quickly freshened up and after enjoying a fag and my dose
of Diamox (taken as a precaution for AMS) we started thumping towards our
destination. Kinjal’s watch displayed 5.30 a.m. which meant we were 30 minutes
behind our planned departure.
The ride till Thangu, watching the snow-clad mountains
changing colours or the sun rays peeking through two mountains, was just
mesmerizing. I too was endowed with some speed demons and rode like hell through
good, not so good and terrible roads leaving a trail of awe-inspired tourists
in their 4*4 SUV’s behind us. As we climbed from 9000 feet to 10000, 11000 feet
– the tall trees got replaced by shrubs and barren lands. We reached Thangu,
located at 14000 feet and 32 kms from Lachen, at 7.00 a.m. and were happy to
have been able to overcome our 30 minutes lag. After having our staple diet
(what else other than Perk and popcorns) and chatting up with some tourists who
were startled seeing two guys riding upto Gurudongmar Lake we continued on our
journey to the holy Lake, amazingly sweating from the warm conditions. It was
another 30 kms ride to our final goal.
The landscape changed completely a few kilometres after
Thangu, as a desert-like terrain greeted us. We had seen pictures of such
places but to see that beauty with one’s own eyes were just incredible. We rode
through the cold desert, the snow clad mountains that we see from our roofs in
Siliguri now just beside us and reachable. I could not stop myself again from quoting
a favourite line from the 2004 movie Motorcycle Diaries:
“We look like outlaws inspiring admiration everywhere we go. We’ve left
civilization behind and we are much closer to the land.”
There was just endless desert like terrain as far as our
eyes could see and the trail left by army trucks and tourist vehicles were the
only means to know that we were on the right track and not going towards China.
 |
| Kinjal in an ecstatic mood. |
 |
| The Rider and his Ride. |
 |
| Journey to the End of the World |
Our next and final stop was at Giaogong, the last army check
post, located 12 kilometres before Gurudongmar Lake. The army man checking the
permits was amazed by our craziness and appreciated our adventurous zeal. He
gave us a token number 10, and kept the original permits with him. We were
supposed to retrieve them on our way back (a nice way to ensure no one gets
left out).
Finally, we were approaching our destination and the
excitement was getting over my driving senses. We had to ride over loose soil
and boulders and more than once the bike skidded dangerously but nothing
serious. We were just awestruck by the beauty of the place – the crystal clear
sky, the snow clad peaks looking so close, the white clouds seemingly within
our reach and the vast endless land till the horizon. The beauty can be
captured in high powered camera lens but the feeling – well you need to be
there.
We raced through but increasing height meant power loss for
the bike and slower pace but we kept on riding stopping occasionally for taking
snaps and around 8.40 a.m. we arrived at Gurudongmar Lake. The last 100 metres
is a high elevation and my bike gave up. Kinjal quickly disembarked to reduce
the weight on the bike and I half-clutched and talked Dhanno all the way up in any means possible as there was no way I
was going to let her miss the view of the lake.
The first view of the lake filled my heart with joy, pride
and a sense of achievement. I parked Dhanno
and went back to help my pillion up the elevation. Kinjal was struggling
with the bag and the 5 litres petrol jerry can that we had brought for
emergency. The thin air and low oxygen density at 17100 feet made climbing any sort
of elevation a tough job and I eased the bag off him to help him get back his
breath.
We both just stood there watching the beauty of lake and
savouring every sense of joy in achieving our dream for quite some time. Kinjal
went down the stairs (I seriously doubted myself due to my smoking habits) to
the banks of the lake to collect some holy water. I was amazed to see army
jawans bathing in the cold freezing waters of the lake while we were shivering
with cold. Kinjal came up after collecting the water and taking some snaps. We
then visited the sarv-dharmasthal and
offered our prayers thanking every God for their blessings to help us live our
dream.
After spending some more time taking pictures and chatting
up with awed tourists we bade goodbye to Gurudongmar and started on our way back
at around 9.30 a.m. The excitement had subsided a bit as our mission was almost
complete and now we started feeling trouble breathing. I was not able to view
properly with my right eye and Kinjal stated that exposure to so much dust had
dried up my eyes. It brought a relief as I was thinking that it was the first
step to going blind. We sped down the loose soils and boulders in order to reach
lower altitudes which meant more oxygen.
On the way back we got a bit scared too as we thought that
we must have come on the wrong route as we could not see any vehicles although
the tracks left by their wheels were visible. Finally, an army truck provided
relief informing that every way leads to the same place. We reached Giaogong,
got back our original permits, thanked the jawans and continued on our way
back.
 |
| On the way back.. |
We arrived at our
hotel at 1 p.m. riding through hot temperatures and dust much to the amazement
of the owner who had expected us a little late. We were dying of hunger and
after a heavy lunch we let our body get some much needed sleep. The sleep
helped us shake-off the tiredness and we then celebrated our achievement with
some rum and chips. The hotel owner too joined us and was a very nice person.
We had a nice adda session before a
great dinner comprising roti, sabji and pork (which was awesome). The next day
we were to return home and hence got to bed early (as in 11’o clock) and slept
off dreaming about the heaven to where we had been.
Day 4 :
Woke up at 5.30 a.m. and slowly freshened up. The thought
that today was the last day of our trip made us go into a slow mode. Finally we
got ready, paid our bills, thanked the hotel owner for their hospitality
promising to return very soon, bade farewell to Jyoti (who served us as if we
were her own brothers) and started on
our 200kms ride back to Siliguri and more pathetically to our everyday lives.
The Bill was lot cheaper than we had expected.
The roads did not seem as tough as it had while coming up
and we sped down to Toong, where the policemen kept our original permit. We
reached Mangan at around 11’o clock and after a quick breakfast started back
towards Singtam. The cool weather of Lachen slowly made way for sweltering heat
and by the time we reached Rangpo I was ready to ride naked, if that guaranteed
some respite from the heat. We stopped at a shop just after entering West
Bengal, drank full bottles of cold drinks and continued upon our return
reaching Siliguri at around 4 p.m. Our mothers were the most happy to see their
sons back home safely without a scratch.
The things learnt from this trip:
1) Where there is a will, there shall always be a way or a way will be created.
2) If you are an adventure lover, listen to your heart and not your head.
3) Luck favours not only the brave but also the crazy ones.
4) Take some Diamox with you; it makes the trip to Gurudongmar all the more enjoyable.
5) What is hypoxia and dyplopia.
Firstly, lots of love to our parents who understand our love
of adventure and supports us in our every crazy idea. Special thanks to Ramneek
Singh, Suman Gurung of Xkmph who helped us with their advice. The members of
SWAN whose warning had kept us extra cautious. Jhos for lending his biking
gears. My friends for their support and best wishes. Sorry Amit, Deepam for
completing the trip without you guys, we missed you a lot. Kaustav for helping
me in writing the triplog. Lastly, thanks to R for being understanding and not
quarrelling over my bike trips.
Well, the next ride is already planned. A bike trip from
Pondicherry to Goa via Ooty, Mysore and Udipi in early November.
Special mention : It was Tanmoy Ganguly and Avik Mahato’s
trip to Gurudongmar that had provided the first spark of our dream.
Always a Biker !!!
