Bliss is became .. :)

One of the few things I love Delhi scoring over most of the other cities is the proximity to the hills. A bit of manipulation and bein a bitch clinched me a opportunity to ride out for the much post-poned office trip to Narkanda :)

Loads of protests launched by the other 9 people who were travelling in 3 cars - 2 wagon-R's and an Esteem. (Most related to having to be bothered about a lone bike rider, for whom they'd have to constantly keep an eye out.) So, here I am, on a medium not trusted by the majority of the junta for mostly "not-even-having-a-stepney" - yeah .. that REALLY convinces me, fellas !

But otherwise a merry bunch of guys who were as friendly towards Mr. Old Monk and Ms. Vodka - good friends of mine. A friend of a friend is a friend - right ? ignorant fools they still are though ;-) By a pleasant quirk of fate, all the deptt-women dropped out of trip, leaving all us Chade-londe-lapaadiyon-di-toli full freedom to make merry with the aforementioned gentleman and lady.

Taking heed of the sound advise of most on 60kph, I decided to skip the Bullet and took the Pulsar 180 instead. The Bullet was turned in for it's First service on Thursday. It's still at the workshop. Will pick it up in the evening today.

Left Delhi at about 4:30 in the morning, on Saturday, after filling up. Had intended to get out earlier. Got delayed because I was desperately trying to get a new toy, an Acer Multifunctional USB Drive, to work with the system at home. An absolute beauty of a compact mp3+wav+data+dictaphone+FM USB-connectable drive with 256 megs of space onboard. http://www.acer.com.sg/products/multifunctionaldrive/p_multifunctionaldrive.asp

A must-buy with headphones that neatly tucks in under the helmet , to help break the monotony of the drive through the plains :) With Pantera as an antidote for road-rage in the plains; and in the hills to have Led Zep sing "In the light" made for an absolute heavenly experience. Having packed in as many assorted mp3's as I could , left.

First stop Murthal. Paranthas,achaar,curd. Cellphone battery charged. Had almost, actually taken a U-Turn to get back within Delhi's cellular range to re-activate my roaming. Turned out, the battery was acting cocky and the signal came back in just a while. Took the rest of the journey till Panchkula-ultra leisurely with breaks every hour odd to stretch, just to ensure that the backache doesn't spring a surprise on me. The weather was more than pleasant all through with a smattering of clouds following me like a spotlight. Was really funny, because almost all through, I could see bright sunshine just a couple of Hundred meters further and behind me. As I later found out, this was going to be adequately made up for. Kalka onwards, woke myself to take in the hills. At around Parwanoo got a call from the rest of the bunch who had reached Shogi by then, that it was raining cats and dogs with near zero visibility. So, I changed out of my Shoes into Floaters, put on the raincoat, and bought a tarpaulin to cover my bag and re-positioned the bag to properly tuck in the sheet under the Bungee cords. Unwittingly, I let the foot pump in the bag, be positioned such that it kept jabbing me in the back on uneven roads throughout. Didn't think much of it, until later in the night when it felt a bit sore. My run with good luck continued, when I didn't come across anything more than a minor drizzle for the remainder of the journey upwards. Visibility did come down Barog onwards , but I was all thankful , because it was a cloud cover which had crept all over the road. Incidentally, this was the first time I'd seen clouds take over the roads as low as barog, where I've been twice earlier and only found pleasant whether and not much else.

Met up with the rest of the group at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, where one of the group's members' In-Laws lived. The place does fill you with awe, what with it's HUGE estate and even larger history. The school was founded in 1859. Infact, this guy's Father-in-law passed out from the same school and was now a part of the faculty. An extremely good natured host who let us feast on ravishing Sandwiches , pakoras and Gulab Jamuns' and was all for my continuing my journey upwards on the bike itself instead of the car caravan as others had again started insisting on.

The quality of roads from Kalka upto Shimla is impeccable. Beyond Shimla, it's a patchwork of the silky smooth alongwith the bumpy and utter disrepair. But for most part, I remained impressed with the quality of the metalled roads. The Pulsar handled like a dream with excellent maneuverability, no breakdown, stability and not one skid all along the wet hilly roads. The comfort it gave me had me cruising at 60-65 through most part in the hills. Would gently remind myself to not let the freak in me take over and kept him in control for most part. But some irresistible semi-straight stretches of ideal metal, did see a couple of 70-75'rs , when the line of sight could confirm no oncoming traffic for the next half a kilometer odd.

Reached Narkanda by 6 pm. We'd gotten a great deal at the hotel where we were to put up(thanks again to the Bishop Cotton In-laws), at 350 per head per night, for the room plus 3 meals. An average hotel (Hotel Mahamaya) with double beds, quilts, room service, and TV with cable (came in handy, the next day, when India joyfully gave away the match to Sri Lanka. Not a great idea, I'd say, with 10 drunk maniacs, each ready to slaughter or dutifully parent new brothers/sisters for each one of our glorious cricketers ;) figuratively-speaking, ofcourse) . While a few crashed into bed straight away, most others trooped into one of the rooms with Breezers, Royal stags, Old Monks, Red Labels, Beers and Bacardis doing the rounds in no particular order, other than individual preferences. The session went on till about 2:30 am with 4 of us left. There was considerable Mist and fog in the evening when we'd arrived, with the valley below completely covered with clouds. A late night/early morning walk down the roads, at 3am, till just beyond the town limits, cleared the groggy head considerably. Enough, to come back and down one more peg. By this time, it had started pouring heavily outside. The sound of crashing rain in the hills is a experience in itself. The place which is a ski-resort in the winters, offers an amazing variety of views both by the day and night.

The next day was a short drive to Hatu Peak, Thanedar and Saroga. Hatu Peak is a gorgeous location about 6-7 kms from Narkanda. The steep uphill drive on un-tarred roads was a test for the cars, with the older Esteem almost giving in completely and could move only after all the passengers got off. The newer wagon-R's did marginally better. I regretted having left the bike behind at the hotel. But there was enough possibility of a drizzle to have soaked me, which was not a pleasant thought in the chill. So, instead I drove up in the Wagon R along with the others. The last 4 kms till the peak was an amazing trek through the Deodar forests. Though the road goes right upto the top, we were advised against taking the cars till there because the rains had really messed up the untarred roads. There is a temple at the top and an amazing view which was the absolute highlight of the trip. We got stuck for a while there because it started pouring again. Can't quite complain though. The gorgeous cloud cover which engulfed us more than made up. Eventually, we trekked back down till the cars when the rain reduced to a drizzle. The drive to Saroga was to the colleague's Apple orchards.(The Bishop Cotton guy). The view from the orchards of heavily laden apple trees prime for the harvesting season, which starts next week, was incredible. One could see the Satluj flowing miles below.

With not much time left for nightfall, we headed back to the hotel. India was about half way through it's 'spirited' batting chase when we reached. Rounds of drinks ensued to drown the pain. We concluded the session relatively early at around midnight with a longer walk. I took my vodka+limca glass along for the walk and toasted for a much-deserved and awaited weekend well spent.

Next morning we left at 7:15 am with a couple of photo ops through the mist/cloud/fog cover , a few kilometers downhill. Soon a drizzle started which kept up till shimla, where we stopped for breakfast.

Shimla is an assault on the senses. After having taken in beauty of Narkanda , Saroga, Hatu et al, just a day earlier, Shimla was straight out of a nightmare, the gorgeous women not withstanding. It's a concrete jungle with more buildings than trees. Entire hill sides have senseless outcrops of buildings. The elevator to the famed Mall Road, especially the switchover you have to do midway and walk upto the second lift, completes the horror. The sides of Hotel Combermere, which stands besides a Nallah are atrocious dumping grounds for the city's rubbish and the hotel's laundry service. Anyone who's seen this would know what I'm talking about. I don't really know what can be done to "Save Shimla" , but a huge Thumbs-down for a place touted as Himachal's jewel. Having had breakfast of omelets/toasts , we moved.

Here on, I drove mostly alone, completely separating from the group at Jabli, where I stopped to pick up some Cacti and Ivy saplings from the Govt. Nursery, something I'd been eyeing since the last two trips here. They had a gorgeous cactus collection both times. At 10 bucks a plant, I think some of the stuff's a steal. This time however, they'd run out on most of the stuff. Still picked up a few, after arranging for a plastic bag (which incidentally is 'banned' in HP). Ate a slightly different style of Kulcha Cholas there, something I've started to love over the last couple of trips. Next stop, the HPMC vend for 2 bottles of Mango juice, again a ritual from the previous trips. The Cider available at the hpmc vends is bliss. Hot recommendation for cider lovers. Though,didn't pick any for home this time.

The drive then on, was the standard kalka-panchkula-ambala, karnal, panipat-delhi drive, with no distinguishing feature except the usual depression one feels approaching the city. The rain kept on pounding me from moderate to heavy , almost all the way from Kalka, as if to make up for the earlier generosity. Rain coat or no-raincoat, I was drenched . These are the light-weight ones with the joints sealed from the insides avoid seepage. Boo . Most of the water came in through the closed front zipper, inspite of a flap with velcro to cover it. The lowers kept the jeans 'relatively' dry , but only just , with water seeping in through the 'sealed' joints there too. Irritating. To top it all my feet felt like I was walking in a packet of water perpetually, with water having seeped in, making itself at home. I kept on with the misery, as the prospect of unpacking everything to take out the floaters seemed like a bother.

Reached home, at 9 pm. , about 1.5 hours after the first of the cars drove in.

Took a nice long warm bath, changed and went to office, just to make sure the company hadn't shut shop ;-) Took off early and dropped like log till 7 pm , the next day.

Still havn't be able to come "back to work" completely. But that's my problem :-)

Distance Covered - 933 kms.