Getting LEH'd : The start

Getting Leh'd : The Epic Saga Unfolds!!

Packing Day :

Packed Bikes at Gati, Bangalore

After over 6 months of waiting, the days to this epic trip were finally close. I had spent hours purchasing everything I had  felt I would need and had then packed it on the bike, carefully adjusting and readjusting to balance the weight. Having done this, I rode my bike to the GATI cargo warehouse at peenya.
This would be the first time I transported my bike and so I was very nervous about the safety of my trusty steed. The tank was first covered with 3 layers of bubble wrap, then with cardboard. The rest of the bike was then also covered with a couple layers of bubble wrap. On top of this, a tarpaulin cover was stitched on and then wrapped over with plastic wrap. This completed the packing. Seeing this, I was convinced that it would be effective against scratches but definitely not against falls inside the truck. For this, the supervisor assured me they would place boxes containing soft materials next to the bike as a cushion. Having no real choice in the matter, I started assisting others in preparing their bikes for the packing, i.e, removing the rear view mirror and other such fragile accessories. Finally, after a day's effort, we left to enjoy a good dinner together!!

Flying Day :

The Leh Gang

I was so full of excitement, that I didn't sleep at all the previous night. Also, Bala reached my place only at 12:30 instead of 9pm, late as usual. The next day we left home at 4:20am, the perfect time for rascals like us, caught up with Gogo at hebbal and reached the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) by 5:15. My close friend, Bujju and my cousin, Arvind had come along to see me off. I met up with the rest of the riders, took a quick group pic, and bid farewell to my friend and cousin. I had no check-in baggage, and so I quickly obtained my boarding pass and made my way through security.

The final boarding call for my flight had already been announced, and I was rushing towards the boarding gate. On the way, I turned my attention to the adjacent food court and  my hungry stomach growled at me. Unaware that I would be served food in-flight, I rushed to the Barista counter along with Gogo and Bala, and we bought ourselves a sandwich each, just in time. Carrying the sandwich in one hand, I boarded the plane, found my seat, plugged in my ipod and started biting away at the piece of food in my hand.

A while later, I was pleasantly surprised when the air hostesses started serving the in-flight meal. Air India suddenly felt like a very good carrier ignoring the one thing all guys look forward to on an airplane, i.e, the air hostesses. 

Two and a half hours had past and the landing announcement was made. A couple minutes later we had arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. We quickly scurried along the humongous terminal 3 and reached gate 32A to board the next flight to IXC, Chandigarh. This flight was rather mundane barring the weird looking male steward who was giving me queer looks during take-off/landing that made me seriously uncomfortable. As soon as the aircraft landed, I jumped out of my seat and ran to the exit.

Unpacking & Repacking :

On taking the first step outside the doors of the airport at Chandigarh, I was hit by a wave of hot air that instantly caused my inactive sweat glands to get back to work. Knowing the general area we had to go, I tried my best to bargain with the taxi drivers (which proved unsuccessful), and was on the way through Chandigarh to the GATI warehouse, where fingers crossed, my bike would be safe and sound.

Confusions galore as we tried to locate the building. Google maps pointed in one direction, but gave an address that pointed in a different direction. After 20 mins of going round and round, we finally found the right place.

Getting out of the cab, all of us were literally running into the warehouse to see the condition of our bikes. I was initially dismayed looking at what seemed to be a bent handle. After hurrying through the documentation, which involved me signing 15 dockets (I had signed the documents for all the bikes at Bangalore), I eagerly & anxiously watched the workers shift the 200+kg bikes from the 1st floor of the warehouse to the ground level outside without the help of any ramp what-so-ever.

Once my bike was in my hands, I furiously tore away at the packing to reveal my baby. As I ran my fingers along the cold tank, I felt hurt to find a couple of dents on the tank, but was overjoyed that the bike was in my hands and in perfect running condition. Rashith & Srikanth weren't as lucky. Rashith's bull had a bent handle and Srikanth's bird had bent rims. Anil & Bala, had done the group a great favour, and had gone out to get some much needed petrol for all our bikes, just enough to go till the bunk, but still much better than pushing it there!!
After refuelling, we were on the road trying to locate Sector 22-D, Chandigarh. I was leading the group to the hotel without a clue of its proper location. As we were all yet to fix our rear-view mirrors, it was an impossible task to keep track of members behind me. This naturally, caused a few of them to get missed out at signals, and left behind. And before long, we were split into multiple groups, each desperately trying to locate the others and the hotel. In Chandigarh, locating a sector isn't difficult as there are enough sign boards, but locating the block (in our case, block D) is a confusing pain in the neck. Eventually, through all the mayhem, we all landed up at the door steps of the correct hotel, Hotel CITI Heights.
Struggling with the luggage and in the extreme heat of Chandigarh, I somehow made it to my room, turned on the A/C and fell on the bed. While the others got ready to go to the RE service station to get their bikes checked, Bala, Gogo and myself took it a bit easy, making sure to eat first.
After filling our stomachs, we headed out to find the service station. Here, we did a quick check-up, and I noticed that my bull's side stand was a bit bent, and required to be fixed. This task required a gas welder. We found such a welder in some random corner of Chandigarh, and asked him to do the job. One thing about the workmanship here, is that people go out of their way, put in that extra mile, to ensure a good job is done, without even asking an extra paisa. At the same place, Srikanth too got his rims fixed, where yet again I was amazed at the quality of workmanship.
Happy that our vehicles were back in prime condition, we headed back to the hotel, with the plan to have some food, re-pack and hit the hay. But when I reached the hotel, I instead found myself sitting on the pavement, along with Bala, Subbu, Gogo, Rashith and a few others trying to fix a broken side stand. After trying in vain till 9.30, we gave up and retired to our rooms. Re-packing was necessary, so that we could keep quick access items at easy to reach places. This herculean task took the 3 of us in the room (Bala, Gogo and me) till 2am to finish. Finally, I hit the bed, setting the alarm to 3.45 am. Sleep was bare minimum, even before we started our journey. God only knew how the next day would unfold in such a state!!

Bala posing instead of packing

The rest of this epic saga unfolds in the next post!!