Getting out of Minali round 2.
Trip Start
Jul 15, 2010
1
19
47
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Gypsy
Sunrise Hotel
Kasol and Mandi, Himāchal Pradesh, India
Thursday, August 26, 2010
We've finally made it out of Minali. To be honest I was a little sad to be leaving, as with anywhere I’ve found, if you sat somewhere long enough it starts to represent your makeshift home, you get used to the comforts the town provides and once you know the blokes working at the local store and restaurant there’s not much else to be desired. Although the real comforts of home weren’t around like, McDonalds or Fried Dim Sims and even though we only got enough hot water for a two minute shower (that’s just about long enough for me to wash my big toe) it had become my home. All good things have to come to end though as they say and we once more clambered atop our steel stallions bound for the Parvatti Valley.
We passed a couple of quaint roadside towns and were met with glee filled faces and waves from the towns children on there way to school. A few more road blocks due to the incessant landslides and we’d stumbled upon a piece of the most unkempt unrideable road we’ve seen so far. Rear wheels sliding three feet to the side while we attempted to take corners in two feet of mud. Attempting to escape the route of the oncoming goods truck sent us straight through the guts of makeshift swimming pools on the side of the road and dodging the rocks still falling from the mountain above led us to the top of the road. Fortunately for my legs, arms and all round well being, this was as far as we could go. A landslide that morning had literally sent the entire road for stretch of about 25 metres plummeting to the river below. Local people were feverishly working to relocate the fallen debris on a hope they could restore enough road to get the supply trucks running through again.
We let our bikes sit for a bit, necessary due to the fact we were all surprised our clutches hadn’t characteristically burst into flames under the abuse they’d been suffering up the hills, then it was time to head back down.
I made it a total of 12 metres before I hip and shoulder a big mud patch on my left hand side and spent the rest of the ride trying to ride through the biggest puddles I could find hoping to wash off the evidence before Rob or Ads saw it. No such luck. Fortunately for me on the way up the hill Rob had hit a mud patch sending his bike sideways which then gave him ample opportunity to knock the wind out of the blue stone wall on the side of the road. Also for him no such luck, sporting nothing more than bruised egos we’d puttered down the loose rock filled muddy paths to find ourselves back in a river side town called Kasol. Once more we found ourselves in Little Israel, I honestly don’t think I saw one sign in Hindi at this joint though, the whole town was Hebrewised. Watching a couple sexy Israeli chicks kick starting their Enfields was enough excitement for me and after a bite to eat at a river side café, then a couple of cold ones in the heart of town it was beddy byes.
We’d originally planned to head further into the Parvatti Valley and try to get to the Spiti Valley which pretty much borders Tibet, but not knowing how long the road is going to be out of action for we decided to head back towards Dharamsala and tonight, we’ve made it as far as Mandi. It was a beautiful ride down back along the river Beas and was spiced up a little when rounding one corner we noted an unusual looking beast in the middle of the road. It took only moments to realise it was Rob standing next to his bike which was strategically placed on its side in the middle of a one and a half lane road. After doing the mate thing and making sure he was ok it was time to have giggle and admire the damage to his crash bars and mental stability, his ego has taken quite the beating the last two days but he fronted the critics in gallant form. Once Ads and I had expired our repertoire of bike accident jokes it was time to jump aboard our mechanical mares and finish the ride to Mandi.
Known touristically for the 81 stone temples that line the river banks it is most definitely not your standard northern tourist hot spot. A riverside town come small city that is much more Punjab than it is Himalayan but still provides the standard quirks we’ve become accustom to. The centre of town is a strange sunken two level shopping market that is built around a well manicured garden complete with lily pad ponds and of course a temple to boot. We were all famished by the time we made it to town so put some western experience to good use and attempted to find the food court in this honey comb shopping centre. Dark alleys flexed out from every corner that must have led metres under the city and roads that lay above. We eventually found a little restaurant tucked away in a corner that we had to walk through a kitchen and a bathroom to find, but turns out they had some pretty good tucker anyway.
A cleansing ale would have gone down a treat but lack of delivery proved a dramatic obstacle, so Rob and I had to settle for a bottle of $4.00 gin. Not so bad for a 5 o’clock beverage. A wetting on the whistle and a movie in bed and we were all out for the count.
It was only a small ride today and we’ll attempt to tackle the five hours to Dharamsala tomorrow that is, if we can find it.
I’ve got a couple of potential framer photos so I’ll try and get some of those up and I promise the next time I get some quality wifi I’ll upload some video of the impressive roads we’ve been cruising.
