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How I Get Leh'd.........Again - Manali to Leh Cycling June 2018

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Manali-Leh Highway Synopsis Long ago it was the ancient trade route and an important connect between India and China for many centuries. Then sometime around the mid 1980’s the bikers started exploring the route and bringing back stories of a ‘far away land’ whose beauty was in its emptiness and whose charm was the challenge it throws at the travelers  in the form of rough terrain, rugged roads and high altitude passes. In the next two decades, the world was flooded with pictures of the barren-landscapes initially in form of post cards & then via social media and the Manali-Leh highway started finding a place almost in every adventure seekers bucket list. Manali-Leh Highway is one of those Highways which offers almost everything to an adventure lover that is available with nature. More than 300 kilometers out of 480 kilometers long Manali-Leh Highway, does not have any civilization. You would be the only soul wandering on most part of your journey. Even one cannot find ...

Cycling in Shivalik Hills - Nangal to Shri Naina Devi Temple via Bhakhra Dam

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Manali to Leh on a bicycle has always been a dream (it still is). In fact it sounds like a crazy dream..!! And to test ourselves, if it is a practical dream for us, we decided to test our endurance taking up the smallest possible elevated route. After a lot of research it was decided that Nangal to Shri Naina Devi Temple via Bhakhra Dam would be the best option. Covering ~800 meters of elevation in about 30 kilometers is a challenging task when your regular cycle rides do only ~50 meters of elevation in about 30 kilometers in Delhi NCR. It is like you have to cover the same distance but uphill task is 7 times of your regular elevation. We decided to ride from Nangal to Naina Devi temple on a weekday, it being a busy route with too many vehicles over the weekends. Monday it was..!! We reached Nangal by 7.30am in car and were ready for the ride by 8am. One has to register with Bhakhra Dam Visitors office in Nangal and get an entry pass to ride on the trail. After completing formali...

123 Hours - Valley of Flowers to Mana Village via Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath Dham

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Life finds its own ways to take your wisdom and maturity to a higher elevation. My trek to the Valley of flowers and Hemkund Sahib Ji was one of the most eventful and soul warming experiences of my life. During any travel, the travelers shape for themselves a unique experience, which is a confluence of what they know, what they see and what they take away. The state of Uttarakhand is popular as ‘Dev Bhoomi’ – the abode of the Gods. Visit the valley of flowers, Hemkund Sahib, Badrinath temple once and tell me if you feel it not be 'Dev Bhoomi' even for a split of a second. The desire to visit 'valley of flowers' had been growing strong with each passing month. But I had no idea as for how to plan the trip and whom to go with? I had been spending time on internet for learning about the trek almost every weekend, especially after i did Triund in April 2017. It was the summer of 2017, May to be precise, I decided to plan for Trek in August/September and set out towards...