Day 4 was the beginning of one of the most adventurous and exciting legs of this journey to Chhatru Himachal Pradesh, as DJ realized later. As usual, he started early at 5:30 a.m. Soon enough, he began encountering roads that turned sharply to the right and left. There were several hairpin bends, along with cliffhangers over a distance of 20-25 km. Over the next couple of hours, our favorite rider encountered so many water streams that he eventually lost count.
10-12 km before Udaipur was a water stream known as the Daldal Naala. True to its name, the stream was washing away almost every stone, whether small or large, from its path. To prevent the stream from passing away traffic completely, a JCB excavator was standing in it, trying to plant stones. Unfortunately, this move didn’t seem to be working as the flow of water was too fast. Eventually, the JCB simply stood on one side of the way, and vehicles passed one by one- first a truck, then a Pulsar, and then DJ’s Enfield.
It wasn’t until Udaipur that DJ got his first whiff of tarmac. From there, he made it to Tandi for petrol and for chain oiling. Here the fuse of the Bullet’s lightbulb was also changed. Cruising on the tarmac, he reached the Khoksar checkpost, where the Indian army noted his entry.
Soon DJ reached Gramphu at 2:30 pm, and suddenly the road changed to the complete opposite of the tarmac. At this point, it was almost as if the contractor had suddenly stopped work due to lack of payment. Driving conditions on this highway were very bad, and DJ reached Chhatru after wrestling with the bike for 17 km. Feeling extremely tired, he found his kind of accommodation and food in the very first tent. In fact, he was given so many blankets that he started feeling warm in his tent, despite the temperature hovering around zero degrees. He made his growling stomach quiet by gorging on plain food (no onions, no garlic).
This tent was located near the exit point of the Hampta Pass trek. The entry point for this trek was 2km from Chhatru. DJ took a leisurely stroll to see the exit point, returned, and cleaned the bike. The Bullet’s chain was making extra sound, and he oiled the chain using vegetable oil instead of castor oil, as this was the only option here. He removed all the gear on the bike and kept it in his tent.
Chhatru has a very small population. Most people are either returning from Hampta pass or proceeding towards Chandrataal. The evening had bad weather in-store, with cold winds. In the evening, the tent owner prepared mixed veggies and roti without onion and garlic, but DJ was so hungry that night that he ate 8 Rotis. He realized that no matter where one went, desi food stems from appetite every time.
After dinner, DJ went to sleep and woke up at 3:30 a.m. He freshened up and then slept again for a bit. From a friend he made amongst the trekkers later, he found out that they had still not returned as their vehicle had got stuck while on the way from Chandrataal.
