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Part 1 is here.The morning sun rays fill the room, up by 0700 hours, views of the sea and a doze of fresh air on the balcony while watering the plants, we are on the street by 0815 hours, It’s a bright morning and as usual at this hour just like any other city the sidewalks are filled with noisy children on their way to school.

Morning view of the sea and Casino’s dome from the balcony – unfortunately it wasn’t a clear day

It’s a strange relation, the mother and child relation, stopping their cars in the middle of the roads to let their children out of the back seats and kissing them off to school for the day, these mothers become completely oblivious of the waiting traffic behind them. I must say I was tempted to honk a few times and call them ‘women’ but decided against it, I don’t think it would have made any difference to her mentality. She was lost in her own motherly lovey dovey world. Once the child disappears behind the school gates she snaps back on earth and comes back to shopping mode or whatever she has plans for, the traffic continues.
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Breathtaking vistas of deep valleys and mountains high enough that they pain the neck when looking up, rivers that run wild and unstoppable in its valleys supported from the melting snow, lakes clear and deep which remain so calm that only the reflections of the snowy mountains can be seen but not its surface - a few things that come in my mind when I remember the Himalayas. There are snow capped tips that dazzle in the brilliance of mid-day sun. Early morning and evening sun burns the peaks in orange splendor. Trees are so tall that they seem to be making a vain attempt to compete with the mountain itself.

These mountains are a celebration of nature. From the time I was planning my first ever trip to the Himalayas, I had been dreaming about all these and was fortunate to witness what were once mere photographs dancing in my mind morph into real wonder in my eyes.

Since my first visit to the high country at Sikkim, I have been seeing much more than the superb scenery of gigantic proportions. My eyes and my mind were caught up with tiny flowers that fill the trees or carpet the floor. When we hiked up to Gochela Pass walking forty kilometers in four days, trees were coloured by flowers and the forest shied away from traditional green. They bloomed en masse with splatters of pink, orange and white. Nature never ceases to entertain - when it was done working with the trees it spread colors all over the floor in white, purple and red. It was a big flower fest.

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A recap of the ride till now:

Started on June 16th from Delhi and rode till Mashobra, written in Wishful Riding Part 1. Day 2 i.e. 17th June saw me in Sangla (Wishful Riding Part 2) and Day 3 (18th June) saw me in Kaza (Wishful Riding Part 3) and 19th June it was Keylong (Wishful Riding Part 4).

This is part 5 and would cover the route from Keylong to Sarchu. Since I am yet to travel this entire route, errors/omissions are regretted and feedback and helpful hints are welcome.

20th June 2008

With about 125 Kms to ride to reach Sarchu, woke up at 0800 Hrs, with a relaxed mindset and lazed around for some time. Had a late breakfast at 1000 Hrs and decided to up anchor from keylong and leave at 1030 Hrs.

Since this was the road of my dreams, I decided to savour every moment of it and then some more. However, before i could attain Nirvana, there was a small problem…

BB refused to thump to life. Kicked her for about 10 times and it was a case of Close but no Cigar…
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Before I start, just to clarify that this is not a travel guide but more so my personal travelogue – an account to keep ones sanity. In the last handful of years most of my travels have been work related, the usual dash here and a quickie there, and they have never been as elaborate as one might desire.

The travel bug bit me at a very young age, so young that I can hardly recall! And I was and still am a true believer in - ‘you learn more by travelling a 100 miles than by reading a 100 books’ (In the traditional sense, as with the advent of information technology it has diluted to an extent)

Côte d’Azur- aptly named after the colour of the sea along this coast

The last leisure travel was sometime winter last year, a 3 days wild goose chase around the Scottish Loch’s on a Chelsea Tractor………… it was absolutely fantabulous, no aims objectives plans targets, one of those boyish, lets drive where the wind blows trips, something that only boys can understand and enjoy.
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