Manali Rohtang Naggar revisited (16-18 Nov 2006)

Our animation academy had organised a trip to Manali which is not something I was going to turn down unless I were to be bribed with a Royal Enfield to stay back home.

We reached Manali on Thursday afternoon. After 2 days of the regular, well-timed, predictable, downright boring, tourist package of visiting Hidimba, Vashisht and Rohtang, it rained and snowed in the Manali region. We had no idea what a godsend this was till our day 3 schedule got cancelled so we went for a random stroll through Mall Road. We got into the Monastry lane behind the Mall Road petrol pump and walked past a bike workshop which was hiring out bikes. The same thing crossed our minds.

The 3 bikes to choose from were a Yamaha RX100 and two Royal Enfields- A heavily modified 500 and a bright green 350. We had to choose between the two REs. We went blindly for the 500 but when our man was checking the bike for us, the blasted air filter kept coming apart everytime the bike was gunned. So we settled for the green 350. Our initial plan was to roam around Manali itself. But since we had already seen quite a bit in the previous 2 days, we decided to ride up to Naggar, 20 km from Manali. We filled in another 5 litres since these guzzling hearties give around 18-20 km on the litre. The only thing that worked in this bike was the engine and the brakes, which did not fail us. Nothing else worked- speedo, odo, the shockers were gone, no indicators and the tail light was busted. The ride was a crazy mix of terrible roads under construction and a breathtaking zip through a green wooded area closer to Naggar. On reaching Naggar we went straight upto Roerich's gallery, my 2nd visit there. After picking up a few soveniers, we headed back to our hotel in Manali.

A Bright green Royal Enfield for the day- Rs 400, 5 litres of petrol - Rs 250, Ride experience through Manali's drizzle and fog- unfrikingbelievablypriceless!

Now the pics...

Vashisht Resident-



Vikas's panorama at Rohtang-

At Naggar-

Vikas at Naggar-

Reorich's 27 horse power mean machine-

Our Ride-

Heading forNaggar-

Our Ride again-

Waiting for our turn on the upslide-

Let's hit the road on this roarer-

Manali Resident-

Vashisht (Manali) streets-

tank her up-

Horns offered at Hidamba temple-

Objects in the rear view are closer than they appear.. yeah.. I wish!

Hold onto these babies and get a pic clicked for 10 bucks!