Jalori Pass Cycling Expedition Part 2
Day 3: Towards Manglor Camp
We had our wake-up call at 5.30 AM in the morning. We had our morning chores, followed by a yummy breakfast which included oats, and then we got ready to commence our expedition. We transferred our luggage bags to the Base camp store Room. We also packed our lunch which included parathas and dry vegetable sabji with pickles. I had my phone switched off to save battery, in case there was no electricity in higher camps. We were provided with a packet of snacks for the journey which included a ParleG packet, Frooti, and some chikki. We were then ready with our bicycles and the base camp leader hosted the green flag to signal us to march ahead. The next batch of participants were also there to wish us luck.
Our first camp was Manglore camp. We had to cover 22 kilometers over the road to reach Manglore base camp, the target for the day. We traveled back through the 3 km long Aut tunnel and crossed the Beas river on our journey. Mithun was accompanying us for some 5 kilometers, and then he stopped. The returning batch was about to reach that point and a handover of responsibility of our group to the trek guides. After some 15 minutes, a few cyclists reached our point. In around the next 30 minutes, the whole returning batch reached, and they greeted us luck for our journey and also shared some stories. There was also a 12-year-old boy who completed the trek along with his family. Mithun planned to return to the base camp with that batch and introduced us to Tiwari Ji and Bindu Ji, our guide and mechanic for the complete expedition. The road was almost flat with only a small uphill points, hence we were able to cover longer distances without any fatigue. We stopped at places to take photos on our bicycles. As we moved ahead the view from each corner of the road was mesmerizing. We had some awesome photos on the way which included our cycling and the Himalayan scenery with the Tirthan river parallel to the road at most places. The roads over here are built-in such a way that one side is hilly terrain and the other is a direct pitfall. The traffic is mostly passenger vehicles, buses, and loaded trucks. We had to carefully steer from the road corners. For some parts of the journey I was ahead of the group and then I used to stop ahead and use my mobile camera to capture photos of the folks cycling past me.
The journey was smooth as the roads were almost in good shape, we all tried to keep pace with the group as we didn’t want to leave any team-mate behind. In case of any issue with the bicycle, the Tiwari Ji would fix that in a jiffy. Bicycle chain getting out of the loop was a frequent issue that many of us had to face. But that was just a small issue, which got fixed in a matter of minutes.
On our journey, we met many locals who enthusiastically waved to us and we waved our hands back to them. We had a small shop near a construction site and met one retired army personnel, he was there to inspect the construction of his new home near the riverside. He mentioned he is planning to open a restaurant over there for the tourists.
We waited at a point where we could fill our water bottles and have some snacks. The potable water usually comes directly from smaller streams next to mountains. Our next break was for lunch at around 12 Noon. We ate our packed lunch and continued towards Manglore, the destination for the day. We reached Manglore Base camp by 2 PM and parked our bicycles in the store-room inside a small shop. Manglore is a small town next to the river Tirthan. Our accommodation was managed on the 1st floor above a shop. There were 2 rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. We took a rest for some time. Our legs started to give a hint of some pain. As it was a sunny day, I hoped the water not be too cold and jumped to take a bath. The water was cold but survivable. It was refreshing to have a bath with cold water.
At 4 PM we went out for a walk around the town. There was a small river stream nearby and our guide took us there. The water was cold, so we were only able to immerse our legs in the water for a short duration. We started another round of photography there. We had some chit-chat with our guides, Bindu Ji and Tiwari Ji.
Then we had to return back to our campsite. We had our breakfast served hot. By this time, I realized the cold is making my legs pain more. It was difficult to climb stairs now, due to knee pain. Soon it was getting darker and colder. We then started playing UNO in our rooms to kill some time. Hot breakfast is served around 6.00 PM on the camp terrace. Damn, my legs were still paining.
We had our dinner at 7.30 PM. The dinner was delicious, roti with sabji and then kheer. We then picked up our blanket and sleeping bag and went to sleep. We had to wake up early to start our journey the next day and our legs were still paining.
Day 4: Towards Jibhi Camp
We woke up at 5.30 AM to sip our morning tea. Then to morning chores, followed by a hot breakfast. We packed our dry lunch and were ready to march to the next camp by 7 PM. It was a 14.7 km long journey to reach Gibhi. We took our cycles and started our ascend. We had heard from the other batch that Gibhi is the best campsite and we were overly excited to reach Gibhi. The road today was a little steeper than the day before. We had to take several breaks in between small ascends. This also gave me opportunities to explore my inner photography skills. Bindu Ji and Tiwari Ji were constantly persuading us to speed up to reach the next camp. Some of us then started to push the cycle during the uphill ascend, by this time we only had uphill ascends with only countable downhill slopes. I and Raj usually cycled at the end to ensure all are ahead of us and nobody is left behind. It was just too tiring to cycle the whole uphill in one go. It started to drizzle by then. By halfway, we sat down near a structure that looked like a bus stop, for our lunch. Few folks were ahead of us, but we were not able to continue before our lunch, so anyways we started our lunch without them. There we met an independent cyclist who came from Australia and was traveling through south-east Asia and then throughout India for the last 1 year. His cycle was fully loaded with stuff, I believe he had his own tent and a sleeping bag with him. Some rest and we were again ready to kick the paddle.
We reached Banjar market in between, where we had some bananas from a local shop. Dr. Shreyas and our group leader Raj Verma had great fun interacting with the locals in the Banjar Market area. After crossing Banjar we moved to smaller roads, with little vehicular traffic. Most of the time, we have the road for ourselves. No more heavy Trucks on the roads at least from now.
We reached Jibhi by around 2.30 PM. The accommodation over this camp was tented and there was a flowing stream nearby. A separate structure was constructed nearby for the washroom facilities. We parked our cycles in the open near the tents and went to the tents to settle down for some time. The light drizzle we faced in between had got us somewhat wet and hence had to hang our jackets outside the tents. Each tent was big enough for about 10 participants.
Bindu Ji and Tiwari Ji took us to a nearby waterfall. The view around the waterfall was great. It was quiet inside the jungle as there were only trees around and the path to reach the waterfall included crossing the streams over fallen trees. Only our group was there at the waterfalls, hence there was no other disturbance in the area and we enjoyed the whole scene. The guides advised not to go inside the waterfall as it is extremely cold water. Still, Dr. Pankaj had the dare to do this and he did it.
We returned back to our campsite for some breakfast. Hot Batata Wada (Potato Tikki) was served to us at around 6 PM. We enjoyed our campsite till sunset with our group and then we had early dinner which included Rajma, parathas, Rice, Dal, and Kheer. There was one bulb in each tent, and one near the dining area, so we had our dinner in dim light. Like today there was a light rain, the weather was a little foggy and colder than the previous camp. We headed to our tents and took to bed. Experiencing the YHAI tented accommodation was another great experience. Again we all gathered in one tent with TiwariJi and BinduJi. Raj and Bindu shared some ghost stories with us. At around 8 PM we returned to our sleeping bags.
Day 5: Ascent to Shoja Camp
We woke up in the morning at 5:30 AM to get ready for the final cycling ascend. We had our breakfast and tea in the cold outside. The morning was a bit foggy. No mood in taking a bath in this cold, and also there is no need to have a bath as due to the cold environment, it never gets sweaty. We got ready with all our gear by 7:30 AM. We had our lunch packed and ready to set sail.
We marched ahead to our next campsite on our cycles. Jibhi to Sojha was only 7 kilometers, but the elevation was huge, and we had to cycle all the way. After a few kilometers of proper road, the path was getting difficult at every turn, with almost all hairpin joints across the whole path. Even the road condition deteriorated for the final 5 kilometers. Most of us were pushing the cycle rather than actually cycling, as it was much less tiring for the legs. It was a bit rainy too. Every 100 meters was taking huge time due to the elevation and worst road conditions.
We had our lunch mid-way and also took a rest while taking photos. While reaching Shoja, we had a nice amount of fog on our way, due to the rains.
The last 2 kilometers were the toughest. Pankaj was the only one who decided not to push his cycle, as he insisted to complete the journey on cycle only. Hence he was the last man on our journey, taking longer breaks, while we just pushed our cycles through. Our guides were motivating us to pick up the pace, as it would get late to reach Shoja.
We reached Sojha around 3 PM. Sojha is a small village at an altitude of 8500 ft. The accommodation site was in a concrete structure. More of like small shops. One room for the boys and one for the girls. One attached bathroom in the girl’s room and one common bathroom outside. There was a resort nearby that provided a hot water bucket for Rs.100. By the time we reached it was almost sunny, and hence I decided to have a bath in cold water here. The first wave of cold water over the body is something that I can’t describe in words. Then I had to complete the whole bath in under 5 minutes as it was getting unbearable. The girls in our group had taken the opportunity to get hot water and have a comfortable bath instead. The view from our site was scenic.
In some time, by 5 AM, the sunny weather turned to moderate rain. It was getting darker and colder. We had our breakfast in our rooms due to the rain outside. The rains showed no signs of retreat till 7 PM, so we had our dinner as well inside our rooms. There was no electricity, so we were dependent on torches and flashlights. After dinner, it was still no signs of the rain stopping. It was difficult to even move out of the room to the kitchen to get food, due to the rain and cold. We took turns getting food for everyone from the kitchen. My turn came when we needed more rotis, it was damn cold outside due to rain. We quickly consumed the hot food and completed our dinner. The boy’s room was small, but we were able to adjust in all. There was no electricity, so we had nothing to do other than go to sleep. Hence, we went to sleep in the warm comfort of our blankets and sleeping bags. By now our legs got accustomed to all the pain and we eagerly awaited the final trek to Jalori Pass the next day.