Travel 1.6 Billion Inches

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...

It was a trip we all, perhaps, were looking forward for many weeks since we joined Girnar Family.  Finally after much hoo-hoopla (Ladakh, Singapore, Thailand, Goa, Shimla etc.) we all zeroed on Corbett National Park. (Let’s not forget the changing dates and struggle for tempo traveler). Aahana Resort (Thanks to Umesh for finding such a wonderful property) was given the privilege to serve our team of 11 saboteurs. Finally, the journey started at 6.30am in the  Luxury  mini bus and the first song we played from my pen drive was “Hello – Hello”, which eventually became the anthem of our trip ;-). The breakfast happened at 10.30am at Shiva Dhaba, Thanks to SB for keeping us away from food and tea till that time to enjoy the wonderful tea (one of the best, I had in my life on highway). We missed Muradabadi daal on the way to Jim Corbett (also on way back to NCR) and missed Sunny’s Mama Ji’s Bakery.  J And Finally the mini bus took the turn from the highway to jungle...