The Jalori Pass, Himachal Pradesh, India
October 26th, 2008
This article is an excerpt from our week long biking trip through the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. We had just left from our riverside hotel outside Rampur at about noon and were heading out to Manali along the river Satluj. We were six friends on three bikes. The journey was a long one and we did not expect to reach Manali by nightfall.
We had to take a detour from Una, a village just short of Khufri near Shimla. Once past the village we entered a rather deserted strip of half laid road marred by landslides and sheer cliffs. It seemed enthralling and dangerous but this was our best bet at reaching Manali by nightfall.
The route called Jalori Pass touches a maximum altitude of 3233 m above sea level which is the location on the photograph. We drove along the winding paths for hours together before finding a good resting spot by the banks of a tributary. We crossed over the river on a rickety steel bridge that had gone brown with age and trekked for a while to spread our legs and ease our joints. We decided to continue on the path and reached the ascent.
The path was extremely steep and the cliffs would suddenly reveal themselves along the bend making it all the more difficult for us to traverse the terrain. But this is what we were here for. Some good mountain biking! Some experiences on this pass will always remain close to my memory.
The slopes were the major impediment on the route. Infact navigation through some patches was so tough that while ascending we would have to race the bikes to 7000 rpm on the first gear. I think it may have taken us at least three hours just to reach the top most point on the jalori pass which was Sojha. Our hands were tired from holding on to dear life and we were utterly exhausted. We decided to take a break. But it was a risky decision. The sun sets soon in the mountains and the feeble rays of the sun announced the arrival of the biting cold. We had to move on...
Even taking a leak was a great hurdle in the condition we were and we as a thumb-rule decided to stop only once every hour or so! For the task itself took about ten minutes from start to finish. We had to unzip at least three layers of pants to arrive at the thermals and then in the numbing cold... I need not say more... It was a herculean task!
Our target of decent was to reach the small village of Banjar by six in the evening. The decent somehow was even tougher than the ascent! The drastic fall of the incomplete road could not be countered even by the disc brakes on the motor bikes!!! All three bikes were on neutral with their disc brakes jammed and yet we were moving downwards effortlessly! We were scared...
It was one of the very few times we even thought whether it had been a good idea to come this way! en route the decent we encountered a passenger bus trying to negotiate its way along the ascent. The road was packed. We dismounted and pulled our bikes back up the slope! It was not easy. The bikes skid one past the other on the pebble ridden road and the rider had to be helped by two pillion to pull the bike to a suitable patch of flat green. I think now that it must have taken us at least fifteen minutes to pull back!
Once the bus crossed us, it was the limit of our tolerance! We had seen enough and our bodies were screaming for rest. We had to reach Banjar and fast. Manali seemed to be a far fetched thought. We rode like zombies along the rest of the decent which now slowly relaxed its clenched slopes. At last we reached Banjar. Surprisingly we were on time! We rested in a small restaurant and had a lot of the traditional Himachali delicacy called 'Sidu'. It seemed good, but then again anything would have seemed good!
Only after the rest could we gather our thoughts. We decided to stretch our limits and complete the 100 kilometer journey to Manali. And by God, we did it!!!
October 26th, 2008
This article is an excerpt from our week long biking trip through the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. We had just left from our riverside hotel outside Rampur at about noon and were heading out to Manali along the river Satluj. We were six friends on three bikes. The journey was a long one and we did not expect to reach Manali by nightfall.
We had to take a detour from Una, a village just short of Khufri near Shimla. Once past the village we entered a rather deserted strip of half laid road marred by landslides and sheer cliffs. It seemed enthralling and dangerous but this was our best bet at reaching Manali by nightfall.
The route called Jalori Pass touches a maximum altitude of 3233 m above sea level which is the location on the photograph. We drove along the winding paths for hours together before finding a good resting spot by the banks of a tributary. We crossed over the river on a rickety steel bridge that had gone brown with age and trekked for a while to spread our legs and ease our joints. We decided to continue on the path and reached the ascent.
The path was extremely steep and the cliffs would suddenly reveal themselves along the bend making it all the more difficult for us to traverse the terrain. But this is what we were here for. Some good mountain biking! Some experiences on this pass will always remain close to my memory.
The slopes were the major impediment on the route. Infact navigation through some patches was so tough that while ascending we would have to race the bikes to 7000 rpm on the first gear. I think it may have taken us at least three hours just to reach the top most point on the jalori pass which was Sojha. Our hands were tired from holding on to dear life and we were utterly exhausted. We decided to take a break. But it was a risky decision. The sun sets soon in the mountains and the feeble rays of the sun announced the arrival of the biting cold. We had to move on...
Even taking a leak was a great hurdle in the condition we were and we as a thumb-rule decided to stop only once every hour or so! For the task itself took about ten minutes from start to finish. We had to unzip at least three layers of pants to arrive at the thermals and then in the numbing cold... I need not say more... It was a herculean task!
Our target of decent was to reach the small village of Banjar by six in the evening. The decent somehow was even tougher than the ascent! The drastic fall of the incomplete road could not be countered even by the disc brakes on the motor bikes!!! All three bikes were on neutral with their disc brakes jammed and yet we were moving downwards effortlessly! We were scared...
It was one of the very few times we even thought whether it had been a good idea to come this way! en route the decent we encountered a passenger bus trying to negotiate its way along the ascent. The road was packed. We dismounted and pulled our bikes back up the slope! It was not easy. The bikes skid one past the other on the pebble ridden road and the rider had to be helped by two pillion to pull the bike to a suitable patch of flat green. I think now that it must have taken us at least fifteen minutes to pull back!
Once the bus crossed us, it was the limit of our tolerance! We had seen enough and our bodies were screaming for rest. We had to reach Banjar and fast. Manali seemed to be a far fetched thought. We rode like zombies along the rest of the decent which now slowly relaxed its clenched slopes. At last we reached Banjar. Surprisingly we were on time! We rested in a small restaurant and had a lot of the traditional Himachali delicacy called 'Sidu'. It seemed good, but then again anything would have seemed good!
Only after the rest could we gather our thoughts. We decided to stretch our limits and complete the 100 kilometer journey to Manali. And by God, we did it!!!
