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It had been quite some time since I rode long distance on BB.  being out of action due to a bike crash, has a damping effect on a rider’s life. 

The effects of the nearing D-day were numerous… swinging between excitement and some feeling of fear as well… the knee was still on its way to being mended and I cannot strain it beyond a certain point as I start feeling the effects of the ligament rupture… Pain and then a very visible Limp when I start walking.  But a man’s gotta ride when he has the urge to ride… You cannot keep a biker down for longer than necessary and that dictates my life as well :-)

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INTRODUCTION : Shoja is a beautiful village situated in the relatively lesser explored regions of Himachal Pradesh called the Seraj Valley/ Great Himalayan National Park. Its very green and the plus is that it is away from all the traffic that lines up the popular hill stations. Added attraction is that you can cover the places like Gushaini & Bathad on the Tirthan river in the same trip which are not very far but are very beautiful. Please read through the lines to get a better picture.

LOCATION/ HOW TO REACH : Shoja is located about 500 kms from Delhi. The place is on the periphery of the Great Himlayan National Park and is 5 kms from Jalori Pass which forms the boundary between Shimla Hills and Kullu Hills. There are two routes to reach Shoja - 1st is from Delhi - Chandigarh - Ropar - Bilaspur - Mandi - Aut - Banjar - Shoja.
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After loitering in Manali for a day, gathered my stuff, had breakfast, paid the bill and moved on… Home beckons.

The ride from Manali to Pandoh in itself was beautiful, invigourating and refreshing.  Not having to bother too much about timelines today meant that I would be able to enjoy the scenic beauty as often as I wanted to and could muck about wasting time in enjoying the simple pleasures of life… dipping my feet in the chilly waters of Beas.

Riding along the Beas reminded me of my earlier foray in this territory with a couple of friends (mentioned here).  That was one hell of an experience.  Lessons learnt from that ride sure came in handy on this ride of epic proportions.

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For the sake of keeping it short and in order to avoid a writer’s block, I would be condensing two days of riding in one post.

After the conquest of Khardung La, the ride back was some what depressing… what would a person do if the one thing which kept him going was a dream fulfilled? But these bouts of depression did not last long once BB was parked… had other things to consider… should I do the return leg of the journey from Srinagar/Jammu or come down to Manali and hit the plains from Ropar? and whether it would be easier than reaching here?

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