Monday, November 5, 2012

MANA PASS

This travelogue is about my journey to the highest motorable road in the world... MANA PASS...

WE ARE THE FIRST CIVILIANS EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD TO REACH MANA PASS ON OUR MOTORCYCLES, THE LIMCA BOOK HAS ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED THIS ENDEAVOR... AND SOON WE WOULD APPLY FOR GUINNESS WORLD RECORD.



Mana Pass (el. 5,545 m (18,192 ft)), alternatively Māna La, Chirbitya, Chirbitya-la, or Dungri La, is a mountain pass in the Himalayas on the border between India andTibet. It appears to now be the highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world, containing a road constructed in the 2005-2010 period for the Indian military by the Border Roads Organisation and visible on 2011 imagery on visual globe systems such as Google Earth. The well-graded gravel-dirt road is higher on the Indian side than the new road on the Tibetan side, and rises to 5,610 metres (18,406 ft) on the Indian side of the border, 250m west of the low point of the 5,545 metres (18,192 ft) Mana Pass.

It was dream come true for the entire group of 11 members who rode and achieved and conquered what was supposed to be unconquerable on bikes...

This is my blog which will take you thru the entire trip from the start till the end... so stay tuned... 

BUILD UP OF THE PLAN



It all started when i got to know that few members of my group are secretly planning to go to the highest point of the world on there motorcycles and i started finding out who they were.

after all the spying and hardwork i got to know it was hitesh who was the mastermind behind the idea... i didnot know him that well to walk upto him and ask him " hey dude i am also coming along" but i gently said if possible i would like to accompany you for this trip, and his reply was sir i have limited permits so everybody cant come and the people are already decided so in case if there is any cancellations then i would probably call you, and i was like ok dude...

it was my birthday on 27th august and around 10pm in the night i got a ping on facebook... " sir i have a gift for you for your birthday" and i was like what is it hitesh... in came the reply " malik please be ready for the ride of a lifetime" and for once i couldnt believe and said hitesh stop joking and he said sir not joking you are coming along...

you can very well guess the feeling coz i would run out of words to describe that feeling...

Hitesh mohan Admin of FSR created a page on Facebook and by seeing that page Subrato da from kolkata approached him for place in mana ride.
initially he tried to ignore him as we had only 9 permits and top of that we didn't know him.But when Subrato da shared his record details then our perception changed.
He is part of "North Calcutta Disha Motorcycle Club" 

Well we cordially invited him to join us and guide us for this deadly ride.somehow managed to get 2 more permits as one person more joined the gang.
Will share details how we got permit and what all problem we faced.

We had permit of 4th and 5th Oct.

Itinerary was as below:
30th sep-Delhi-Rudraprayg
1st Oct- Rudraprayg-Badrinath
2nd & 3rd Oct- Acclimatization day off
4th or 5th Oct- as per weather-ride to mana pass and back
6th Oct-return journey

DAY 1:-


According to plan we started the journey on 30th from south extension under banner of FSR.
100 of FSR members were there at 5 AM for flag off.such a warm gesture by all FSR people and big thanks for that.

1st stop just before toll road end and 2nd big stop at haridwar.
All took holi dip into Ganga maiyaa at haridwar and had a awesome yummy lunch at Hitesh place.
When you ride in large group then its obvious some minor problems will happen which delays the shedule.
It happened with us too.From roorkee 2-3 bikers took wrong turn and 1 bikes accelerator wire broke.

anyways with all if and buts we managed to reach Srinagar by 7.30PM and decided to stay there only.
A very good decision as some of riders in our group had very 1st hill ride and no body wanted to take chance by riding after sunset.














DAY 2:- 


We started from Srinagar at 9AM and by 8PM we reached Badrinath (our base camp)
Ride was smooth only 15 KM before Badrinath bad road starts and we covered that in night.Otherwise all roads are just perfect and smooth like butter.thank to BRO for constructing such wonderful tarmac road.

As soon as we crossed joshimath there was a sudden drop in temperature and thats when all the riders took a halt at hanuman chatti to get the woolens out from the luggage... and the journey continued...



























Night was very cold.All were very happy to reach a milestone destination and started celebrating.Next 2 hrs we spend on road only. Had awesome tea-coffee and etc.
We already had our rooms booked so directly went there.
It was a very different experience for the locals and pilgrims to see so many bikers fully loaded bikes and flags.
New gen people were excited to see us and old gen were confused.

In next 3-4 days we became talk of the town.Had few funny incidents too.
As per the plan we had to sit and relax for 2 days and make preparation for the big day.Do hell with Acclimatization.

I was too excited to see the 1st glimpse of Badrinath temple from my room window.Always heard about this temple from my grand father and father and now I am here.Some kind of satisfaction i felt at that moment.

All bikes parked and luggage in the rooms.After bath we went to the temple but it was closed.Anyways stood in the campus for a while and enjoyed the cold breeze flowing with a very rare inner peace.What a moment.


JAI BADRI VISHAL...





had tummy full dinner and we came back to our shelter.
Hitesh told us about the amazing view of Neelkanth peak in the early morning.The way he explained the moment of 1st sun ray at the peak gave me goosebumps.That moment only I decided to witness it at any cost.
the hotel guy told us it will happen around 5AM.No one was in the mood to get up in the morning but I was desperate.

I woke up by listening to melodious voice of Anuradha paudwal.It was 4.15 in the morning.generally if you are riding from last 2 days and its 4 deg C you will get irritated but for my own surprise I was fresh.
Went out to have a view of Badri Vishal.what a beautiful view.Mazaa aa gaya.

Inquired from locals about the location to get best view of Neelkanth peak.Time flied and its show time.But the local was wrong.Sunrise happend at 6.10AM.
Hitesh, swati and akshay too joined me.

We were at a location and was waiting for 1st ray of sun.
A very funny incident happened.
I was curious about is it possible to reach Nelkanth peak and suddenly swati saw a bright orange line adjacent to the peak.
he told me "Dekh bhai kisi ne waha hanumaan ji ka jhanda lagaya hua hai.Agar wo ja sakta hai to tu bhi ja sakta hai"

Suddenly Hitesh shouted "are nalayko wo jhanda nhi 1st ray of sun hai "

OMG OMG OMG
I was stunned.Never seen such a beautiful view.Out of the world view.No pic no word can describe this.
Tried capturing this in my camera but no pic can do justice to what we saw from naked eyes.Its a life time experience for me.I can never forget this.






























After this great show we took our bikes and went till mana village.Our intention was to know the post details at mana village.
We were assuming the post to be under ITBP but 15 days back 1-Garhwal took over the charge.
had chat with a jawan posted there and took information what we wanted.









Our 2nd day in Badrinath.

As planned Naved sir and Hitesh left for Joshimath after having breakfast and rest of people decided to enjoy the Tapta-kund bath and badri vishal darshan.Subrato da also joined Naved and hitesh and that was a gr8t move(will explain)





1 more incident happened last day that i forgot to mention:

We didn't know that there is no Petrol pump in badrinath.It was not the 1st trip of badrinath for every1.2-3 guys visited just 2 months back but they were confused about existence of petrol pump at badrinath.

In result no 1 filled tank at joshimath.Big ride ahead and no bike is full of fuel.We had fuel container too but that`s also empty.
its not possible for all bikes to go to joshimath and full the tank.
only solution we had to buy it in black.But supplier was not having 50-60 Ltr of petrol and by seeing our desperation he said he will bring it from Joshimath but will charge 150/Ltr. WTF.Why always people try to earn over other .

A Maxx driver was watching us negotiating with the fuel supplier.He came to me and said
"Bhai mere pass 50Ltr can hai mujhe 800Rs dedo main le aaunga Joshimath se."
some brilliant Mathematical mind calculated this and deal done (the mind was mine). just 20 Rs extra/Ltr which is much better than paying double.
We decided to send 1 guy with the driver so that he can`t cheat us in quality of fuel.


Anyways back to current day:

After temple we got free by 12PM and decided to do Vasudhara trek. 6Km a side trek from mana village.But not all of us were comfortable in trekking(like ME... )
So we moved in 2 groups 4 each.1 group went for Vasudhara trek and other group enjoyed the rest day at hotel.


everybody came back by 7PM to hotel and we were resting there.Still no information about the people who went joshimath.


9pm I got call from Hitesh that due to some document issue permit cannot be issued and its due to 4 individuals ID-proofs.he said during verification of ID proof they found 3 DLs are jaali and 1 DL missing.
By hearing this all of us got a shock of 440-Volt.man man man how is it possible.who are the culprits.why the hell people carrying fake DL etc etc

Akshay accepted that he lost his DL few days back and he is running without DL.All of us went on top of him and he faced worst abusing languages he can ever think of.
2 more people accepted that they are carrying xerox copy of DL.they got same treatment as akshay.

1 more is missing.suspense lasts till naved and group came back from joshimath.
By entering the room Hitesh started abusing and shouting on all of us.Reason was obvious so no body replied but all were sad.

this drama lasts for 15min and suddenly he shouted
"Guys prepare your bikes we are going tomorrow morning to make history"







OMG OMG OMG.Everybody laughed and we were on our feet celebrating the moment.Hip hip hurray 

It was the idea of subrato da to play this joke with us about fake ID.
he said problems were there with 3 DL but some how they managed.
With joy and excitement in eyes all went to have dinner and after that we prepared our bikes.Oil topup, chain tighten, etc etc.
I am sure no body slept that night.The excitement of doing something of this magnitude kept all of us awake.

What happened in Joshimath:

they reached SDM office exactly at 10AM. SDM was not there by that time.they talked to 2nd command of SDM and explained him all the details.
After listening to this he suggested to go to LIO(local intelligence office) 1st.
Naved sir said we already have MOD-delhi approval about each ID.But the problem is same, we don`t have any document. Naved sir called Sunilji but for our bad luck he was on leave so couldn't help.Otherwise he would have fax the document to SDM office.

well they had no other option but to go to LOI office.officers there were very supportive and the approved the document without any trouble but whole process took 3Hrs.this desk to that desk.

They came back to SDM office after having lunch at 2.30PM. SDM was in his chamber. Naved sir and Subrato da went inside to see him.
When Naved sir explained him the purpose of visit he refused to give permission in a flash.
He said:" In last 27yrs we never gave permission to any group for ride. Who are you and why would i give you the permission.I will never give permission and its better not to kill my time.Please go."

What you can do when the person in front of you is not interested in listening to you.How will you explain the things.

Here NAved sir`s cool and calm nature and knowledge of astrology came into picture.

Some how and other he diverted the topic and started the conversation. he took 1 Hr to settle the things and earning his trust.
"Jab loha garam ho to hathauda maar do"
Naved sir slowly slowly started the mana pass permit issue.This time SMD listen to him calmly and understood the gravity of situation.
But again he asked:
"what about security of riders and what is the qualifications and skills of riders"
In a flash Subrato da showed him his Guinness book record.
"Jabaan pe taala lag gaya"

Without any more question he asked his computer operator to prepare the document.
To our bad computer was not working. What is happening yaar. All bad signs. Well jaali hai to kya engineer to hai Hitesh tried his hand and its all set. Got the documents approved by SDM and they came back thanking him and all officers.


04/10/2012 D-day for us.

We woke up(who slept yaar) at around 4AM. All went to Tapta-kund had bath and badri-vishal darshan. The blessing and support of Badri vishal what we need now.By 7AM we were at the check-post. After entry we were about to cross the post but stopped by the 1-gharwal jawan.

"Sir aap pahle jakar major saheb se mil aao. wo kuch bolna chate hai"

Now what yaar. We have all the papers required approvals still. Anyways all stayed at the post and Naved,Hitesh and Subrato da went to see the Major(yadav).They came back after 1Hr.
New problem:
Yadavji said as you guys having permission from ITBP and 1st 15Km is under 1-Gharwal so either you bring permission from 1-Gharwal to cross this 15Km or take ITBP guy with you who will accompany you for this 15Km.
Otherwise we will not allow you to cross the post.
No problem...naved sir and Subrato da went to ITBP office which is on the other side of the river.Going there and coming back took 2-3 Hrs.
By the time we people enjoyed clicking pics and playing cards in restricted area.It was a fun of different kind. Even the post jawan left post for 30min on us.















Naved sir and Subrato da came back by 11AM. We had permit for 4th and 5th of Oct. So time was not at all issue for us.
we thought today we will reach Ghastoli(16Km) and tomorrow morning will start from there.
But again 1 bad news.
ITBP is ready to sent a guy with us but for that they need written permission from ITBP base-Joshimath.Naved sir and subrato da tried their skin out but rule is rule. Without written letter they cannot move.
All were stunned. Just eye contact with each other no talk at all.
So near and still so far.
Without wasting time Naved bhai took Vikram (fastest biker in the group) with him and went to joshimath. With Anger disrespect agony and so much questions we went back to our rooms.
This all happened because of ego of that major(yadav). SDM already told us there won`t be any problem but Yadavji (young arrogant major) made this difficult for us.Some of us wanted to kill him that time only.

We did Vishnu shastranaam in the evening and prayed to baba badri vishal to help us.
"Ab hamen papers se jyada duao ki jaroorta hai"
They came back by 8PM with a letter for ITBP to support us and provide a jawan to cross the post.

Things looks better now but still we were in fear of loosing everything.We have only 1 day of permit left and if anything goes wrong we are gone.The hard work of 4 months will go in vain.


Jai Badri vishal ...help us....


Now the days proceeding:

Last day was tough for us and today is our last chance.If we fail today its all over.Our hard work and all prayers will go in vain.We reached at check post at 6.30 exact.Naved sir and Subrato da went to take ITBP guy who will help us to cross check post.
This took 2 hrs.Again some hurdle created by Mr.Yadav of 1-Gharwal.But by the grace of god this time we managed to convince him.

We crossed the check post at 8.45AM. What a relax. That moment was a great mental relieve. We crossed the 1st hurdle and now its all up to us to make it or break it. Now we can`t blame anyone for our success or failure. ITBP guy was with us and he helped us to cross the post but he was not in mood to go further. He did what he was asked to.He gave us some tips and guidelines and went back using trekking road(so that he can misguide 1-gharwal jawans). Road ahead was all off road except a 300mtr patch just before Ghastoli. It took us 2 Hr to cover 16km to reach Ghastoli. ITBP people were there waiting for us.They got the information that we are coming so they came to see us and guide. Had a 10-15min chat with them and they suggested us not to waste time and move forward as there is no guarantee of weather. Till now weather was so bright and beautiful sun was supporting us. Ok without wasting time we left Ghastoli. Road after Ghastoli was in worst condition and we had to push bikes at many places. Big size boulders on the road and steep incline.

Just after Check post:


































By which measure BRO is claiming this as road.This is pure cheating.Either they don`t know what is basic definition of road or they are trying to fool people like us. 

Anyway with so many bike push and pit stops small break downs we reached rattakona at 1.30PM. They were waiting for us. A major from ITBP was there to receive us and they treated us with hot-hot coffee, pakaude and biscuits.Followed by lunch. Mazza aa gaya.

Mana pass is still 19km from here.

Major saaheb suggested us not to go there as its already 1.30PM and after 12PM they don`t allow any one to go to mana pass.Actually its a pact between indo-china that any day India will petrol mana pass before 12PM and China will do it after 12PM. In a month 2 times Indian force patrol mana pass till 12PM and 2 times china after 12PM. He said if china will see any movement there after 12PM from India side then this will create a problem. But Anyhow no vehicle can go till mana pass.There is no motarable road there.Road is there till 2Km before mana pass after Devtaal. After that 1 needs to trek.We can go till that point.Well our ride was for highest motarable road and going to that point is fulfilling our requirement so let it be.So we agreed on going till road end will not try to trek to pass.
Ok here we submitted all our cameras and only 1 mobile camera we kept with us.They instructed us not to click pics like a mad tourist.Be sensible as you are in a restricted area and do click only 1-2 pics.China is keeping watch on us and any suspicious movement will leads to disaster. So be responsible and alert.

We left Rattakona at 2.30PM and moved towards our ultimate destination.....
















at around 4.30 pm we reached the last base camp to be inhabited by actual army soldiers but as we were running short on time having reached an altitude of around 17000 ft we dint want to loose momentum so kept on going ahead and to our surprise there was a sudden drop in temperature and that too below freezing point, the water bottles on the bike, the sweat on the face all froze instantly, we could even see the river saraswati freezing rite in front of our eyes, the oxygen level went so low that it was getting difficult and diffcult to keep our selves conscious, but the determination to be the first person there kept our spirits high and made us move on and there right in front of our eyes we could see the originating point of river saraswati and this gave us a boost like nothing else. 











we knew we were now almost 500 feet away from entering record books and creating a milestone for us and FINALLY THE SIGHT EVERYONE WAS EAGERLY WAITING TO SEE, SIX MONTHS HARD WORK FINALLY COMING TO A CONCLUSION, YES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THERE WE WERE STANDING AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE WORLDS HIGHEST MOTORABLE ROAD, THERE WAS TEARS IN EVERYONES EYES, EVERYBODY HUGGED EACH OTHER GOT A PHOTOGRAPH AND HEADED DOWN AS THE CONDITIONS UP THERE WERE NOT IN FAVOUR OF HUMAN EXISTENCE... but yes we created history...yes you heard me correct... our names would go down in history of mana pass...

















and finally we returned back safe and sound...


ALL THE OFFICERS WERE SURPRISED AND SAID KI SIR AAP ITNE HEAVY (MOTA) HOKAR BHI ITNI UPAR CHALE GAE, SALAM HAI AAPKO.. I FELT VERY HAPPY LISTENING TO THAT AND THEN IT WAS PARTY TIME....




THE KING OF GOOD TIMES (thats me) WITH MY HERMES (MY BULLET)





and finally we came back to delhi at around 12 midnite on 8th october at india gate to recieve a huge welcome from the group member, there was media all around and we felt like celebrities... this trip would be etched on my heart and soul forever...

and extreme winter trip to gangotri to follow soon.... here are the teasers... stay tuned for the next update...