Bike trip to Kedarnath and Badrinath, May 2013

 It all started in April when my friend Purusha from Gujarat called me and sowed this idea of taking a bike trip to Char Dham: Yamnotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

We decided to leave on 18th May from Delhi, and as planned Purusha loaded his bike on train and reached Delhi on the 16th. Unfortunately, due to the complications of the relative life that we live in, I could not leave on the 18th. However, we decided that he'll leave on 17th, do Yamnotri and Gangotri and I will join him on 27th and then we'll do Kedarnath and Badrinath together. We went to get carriers on Purusha's bike, got him new brake pads and set him up for the journey. While doing all this I had a mixed feeling of excitement as well as disappointment as I wont be accompanying him. On 17th evening, we packed his Silver Electra 350 and he left for Rishikesh.

Since the time he left, all I wanted to do was pack my bike and join him wherever he was. The week was rolling by and the date was coming closer, finally on 24th, Friday, I was able to deal with my work which I had to get done before I could leave. In the evening I called Purusha, and said "Bhai, there is something I need to tell you", and heard a sad voice from the other end "I know you are not coming", but then I gave him the news that I could come tomorrow which completely flipped the tone of his voice. Both of us were ecstatic, but more than that the feeling of  'its actually happening' started to creep in, and then I realized that I had to prepare, I need carriers, and horns and a leg guard. I rushed home from work, got on my bike and went to get my bike all set up.
 

List of important accessories for the bike and the ride:

Carriers (also called as Ladakh carriers)
Full leg guard
Louder Horns
4 Bunjee chords
Steel chain with a lock
Waterproof bags
Rain coat
Waterproof  Riding boots
Riding jacket
Gloves
Sleeping bag

I managed to get the carriers and the leg guard, but as it was already 10 at night, I couldn't get louder horns which are highly recommended looking at the Indian traffic scenario. I came home, packed till 1:30 at night, finalized my ride for the next day and set my alarm for 4:30 AM.

Day 1
Unlike any other day, I was up and fresh at the first stroke of the alarm, got everything ready, and loaded my bags on my bike, Enfield Classic 500. The feeling of putting on your boots, topping it up with your biking jacket is a top of the world feeling. I started at 6:00 AM for Rudraprayag, to my surprise half of Delhi was traveling in that direction including a couple bike groups but no one as well prepared and packed as me. The ride till Rishikesh was full of traffic with the sun beating up on me. It was decent till Muzaffarnagar but from there onwards it was pot holes and traffic jams and 40 degrees. Though I had an advantage of being on a bike as many roads were closed for cars due to heavy traffic. I managed to ride about 250 km and reach Rishikesh in 7 hours.
Took a couple hours break, showered, meditated and took a nap, was ready to leave for Rudraprayag at 4:00 PM. Now, I could feel the real thrill of riding in the mountains, the weather was decent and I was set to roll. The distance to my next destination was around 150 km from Rishikesh at a place between Rudraprayag and Agastmuni ashram. It took me 5 hours to reach a beautifully located government guest house on the banks of Mandakini river where I saw my friend on the side of the road waiting for me with his blinkers on. The ride was a mixture of smooth two lane tarmac at some places and land slide affected areas with real bad roads in the other. The last 40 km from Srinagar were in the dark and also illegal as it was after 8:00 PM. I passed by a police barrier while they tried to stop me but if I had stopped, they wouldn't let me go. All roads in Uttarakhand are closed after 8:00 PM so it is recommend to plan all travels keeping that in mind.
In total the first day of my ride was approx 400 km and 12 hours which is double than the global motorcycle riding recommended time of 6 hours per day with reasonable breaks every two hours. It is also important to keep hydrated and keep stretching at every interval.
We decided the same night that we are not going to over stretch our ride and will avoid riding at night. There is another thing we decided every night at which we failed continuously that was to get up and start early. Purusha and I, are not early risers and specially in our adventures we liked to rest our bodies well to be ready for the long day ahead.

Day 2
After sleeping well for about 10 hours, we got up and decided to meditate on a big rock in the middle of the Mandakini river, which was an amazing experience. Had 'Aloo parathas', the staple breakfast of the Indian mountains. Next destination was Kedarnath, which is about 75 km ride plus a 14 km trek. The ride was a pleasure as it was the first time we were riding together, we reached Gaurikund where the bike parking was 3 km further down which made our trek 17 instead of 14, if this was to be done on our motorcycle, we would have been more than happy to do it, but when on foot, it was a pain.

 
We finally started our trek at 6:00 PM, initially in two minds to halt half way or go the complete distance but right after a nice masala dosa at the start of the trek, it got us charged up to go the whole way. Also, it was Purusha's birthday on the 27th, and the gift he wanted from me was that he wanted to be in Kedarnath before his birthday starts, that gave us 6 hours to complete our trek. It turned out that it was actually a good decision to trek all the way as it was a beautiful full moon night and it was not crowded at all, there were hardly any people going up at that time. We reached Kedarnath exactly at 12:00, I wished my buddy, 'a very happy birthday' and we checked in to a comfortable guest house relieving our legs of the hard workout they had been through the last six hours.
With a feeling of contentment, we retired in our beds with heavy double blankets.

Day 3
Day 3 started with our intention of worshiping the Kedarnath Peeth temple. Though the accommodation at Kedarnath was decent, but still none of the hotels offer running hot water and they provided us with a couple buckets of hot water charging Rs 50 for each. Going closer to the temple, we realized that it'll take more than 3 hours in the que for darshan, and Purusha was feeling a little under the weather already. We decided we'll go for VIP darshan which is Rs 2100 per person but we managed to get us both in for that price. By the time we had nice darshan, it started to rain and hail. It turned out that it was a good decision to opt in for the VIP darshan. We still hadn't recovered from our trek from yesterday, so we decided to bundle up in our thick blankets and take it easy.
After resting well for a couple hours, I decided to visit the Bhaero Temple which is approx 1 Km, the view from the temple was breathtaking. I also visited the samadhi sthal for Adi Shankaracharya which is 200 meters from the Kedarnath Temple, witnessed the evening aarti and went back to check up on Purusha, who was feeling much better by now. It was one incredible birthday for him.

Day 4
We were up relatively early, and ready for our downward trek. Unlike our climb, this time we were in the middle of a lot of people and mules who were either going up or coming down. It took us about 5 hours of calf and hamstring workout to get to our bikes, loaded them up and decided to take an alternate route which goes through a small town called 'Chopta'. On inquiring more about this town, one man said, "It is the Switzerland of Garhwal", this really got our expectations high. After about the initial 50 km, it really did feel like an untouched place, the tarmac was newly laid and the views at each corner were spectacular, the road was smooth like silk and this was one milestone we did not want to reach, like they say, it was an experience of the journey being more enjoyable then the destination. Our bikes quite felt the same way and it was this time when we could really enjoy the pleasure of riding. I can easily say that this was the best ride of the whole trip.

 

Our expectations took a little setback when we reached Chopta, not because it wasn't beautiful, but because there was no place which had running water or electricity. It was that time of the trip where we started missing a hot shower, on inquiring about the electrical fittings and the plug points on the wall, the little Pahari boy answered, "we are well prepared, as soon as there will be electricity we will put in the bulbs". With no option, we decided to call it a day, chilled a bit with the locals, had dinner and hit the bed early.

Day 5
We were 144 km away from Badrinath, out of which 40 km were pretty bad roads and the rest was decent. Throughout the trip, our journey was smooth as we are both safe riders, this was the stretch were I had my first and thankfully the last little drop, due to the very slippery mud like material from a land slide, also the bags on my bike were not ideally balanced. Thankfully due to the big leg guards and the carrier on the sides, no damage was done. This incident got us both thinking and we became even more cautious. We reached Badrinath, got decent accommodation with a geyser and tv in the room, it was genuinely a feeling of coming back to civilization. Purusha, met a group of 'Gujjus', who gave us chocolates, its incredible how the Gujrati community connects so easily, he had that experience throughout the trip. We enjoyed the luxury of unlimited hot water and head to Badrinarayan temple for darshan, it took us about an hours time in the line and we were in for a wonderful darshan.
After visiting both these places, the expansion in consciousness that i felt was immense. Looking at thousands of people who come from all over India just to have darshan for a second is an incredible experience. The power of simplicity can be experienced in its true value and the underlying strength that our country 'Bharat' possesses is strongly felt.

Day 6

Mana border was the target for today which is the last village of India, about 65 km away from China. It also had the last tea stall of India where we decided to have our breakfast. It was again Maggi (India's staple fast food) but this time with a red flower sharbat which was incredibly refreshing. The view of the snow covered peaks from our breakfast table was splendid.
 
Our final destination for today was Rudraprayag, but on the way we stopped at Joshimath (originally named as Jyotirmath) where there is a Shankaracharya ashram. On the way to Joshimath, Purusha had his first 'falling off experience', again due to slippery nature of the terrain which is a result of the land slides in that area. Thanking his helmet, gloves and well armored riding jacket, he was ready to roll in no time. Use of proper riding gear can not be over emphasized.
 
As soon as we entered the Ashram, the silence of the place took us over, we heard about the history of the place from a Brahmchari and meditated in the Ashram which was a serene experience. There is a 2500 years old  banyan tree that is worshiped since ages, this halt at the Ashram also brought a feeling of contentment and satisfaction as our trip was about to end. It was just the perfect setting organized by nature.


Day 7
We started early from Rudraprayag and reached Rishikesh by lunch time. The ride was smooth, bringing us closer to the relative world. We reached Rishikesh and had a big lunch at the Govinda restaurant, which was a delight and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. 
There is always a temptation in Rishikesh to ride over the Ram jhula and the Lakshman jhula on your bike, we decided to have dinner on the other side of the river also fulfilling this desire.

Day 8
Our plan was to stay in Rishikesh and take it easy. For me, Rishikesh is a place where you feel at peace with your self, its a mixture of simplicity and facilities. Purusha left off for a Bungee jumping experience which turned out great, as I had already experienced that 3 second thrill when I was in Rishikesh the last time, I went for the Ganga aarti at the Parmarth Ashram. Our day ended with dinner at Chotiwala, the famous restaurant of Rishikesh.

Day 9
Purusha had his train tickets booked from Haridwar to Ahmedabad and I decided to leave early in the morning to avoid the rush. I started at 6:00 AM and was home by 11:00 AM. The ride was surprisingly enjoyable as it wasn't hot and there was much less traffic then when I came.

Overall, it was an amazing experience, both in terms of adventure and gaining something spiritually. I would like to thank my friend Purusha for making this happen, couldn't have done it without him.