[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by //M

Y I am probably one of the initial few bhpians who have been able to reach out to Jolingkong and Nabidhang on a private vehicle so that gives me some bragging rights.

Quite a few Bhpians have covered this route
I was there in early May. We, 4 friends rode, drove, camped in this region (Vyas Valley, Darma Valley, Chaudas Valley).
Contrary to the YouTube videos and insta reals, Adi Kailash, Om Parvat, Darma etc. are not very difficult routes (compared to a few routes we did in North East). Any vehicle with good ground clearance can do it.
We saw HH Splendors, Pulsars crossing the Ganesh Nallah in the afternoon when the water level was comparatively high and saw our over preparedness (XPulse with rally kit, knobby tires, ECU remap, big sprocket etc.) and it was like

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

First of all thanks a lot for this post. Came at the right time when I am putting down route notes! If you could please help me out with the questions which I have.

1) Considering Tanakpur as starting point (Pune to Tanakpur is 2 day drive) is it possible to do Tanakpur(Leave early) - Pitthoragarh - Dharchula in a day and also manage permits the same day? If yes then it will save a halt at Pitthoragarh and next day Dharchula to Gunji can be done comfortably.

2) Keeping Gunji as base camp, it seems from your Day 3 that Gunji - Jolingkong drive and trek to Adi Kailash is easily doable in a day. I hope it is possible to return by daylight?

3) Referring to day 4, if I include Kailash parvat view point (assuming it is allowed to trek) as well with Om Parvat, will it be safe to stay back at Gunji on return or push ahead till Dharchula? Dont think there are any stay options at Nabhidang except KMVN which is visible on maps.

4) How are the stay potions in Gunji? Homestays available apart from the usual KMVN camps? Did you do any advance bookings anywhere? If yes do share the places of stay as well.

If I manage to spare buffer days then I really wish to stay at Jolingkong and Nabhidang if possible.

As I did this journey from Pune, let me give some relevant inputs.
1) Pune to Tanakpur is one and half day journey. We started on Friday late night and reached Pitthoragarh by Sunday afternoon. Better to spend more and get ILPs through agent, will save your half day. If you start in the morning (around 9 AM), you can reach Gunji by 5 PM considering an hour break in Dharchula to collect ILPs and stock up things.
2) If you leave Gunji by 5:30 AM (ITBP checkpoint at Kuti opens at 6 AM), you can be back in Gunji by 5 PM (after spending entire day there). Gunji/Nabhi should be your base camp to cover these places. We drove directly from Pitthoragarh to Kuti and a few of us had minor AMS. Om Parvat and back is half day activity.
3) If you start at 5 AM for Om Parvat, you should be back by afternoon and can reach Dharchula easily by evening. we didn't prefer to stay in Dharchula as its a very crowded place, you can get a lot of better home stays in between.
4) There is one homestay in Gunji run by a Padma Shree awardee gentleman and his family (Omkareshwar atithi homestay). it's a nice place to stay but need to be pre booked. there is another place in Nabhi (close by village) named Mount Nabi Homestay & cottage, which has very nice cottages and food. rest are mostly shared accommodations. there are lot of places throughout but better to book these places in advance.

[//M]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Quite a few Bhpians have covered this route
I was there in early May. We, 4 friends rode, drove, camped in this region (Vyas Valley, Darma Valley, Chaudas Valley).
Contrary to the YouTube videos and insta reals, Adi Kailash, Om Parvat, Darma etc. are not very difficult routes (compared to a few routes we did in North East). Any vehicle with good ground clearance can do it.
We saw HH Splendors, Pulsars crossing the Ganesh Nallah in the afternoon when the water level was comparatively high and saw our over preparedness (XPulse with rally kit, knobby tires, ECU remap, big sprocket etc.) and it was like

Absolutely agree with you on the terrain. We did see multiple cars losing traction and struggling in that one particular incline / hairpin bend with loose sand near Garbyang and ofcourse while crossing Ganesh Nallah. However, we also heard that the BRO is in the process of making a bridge to avoid driving over Ganesh Nallah. If that happens, the Adi Kailash route will be doable in almost any car with decent ground clearance.

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Pune to Tanakpur is one and half day journey. We started on Friday late night and reached Pitthoragarh by Sunday afternoon.

Pune to Tanakpur in one and half day is astonishing on motorcycles, mainly considering the intense heatwaves in Central and North India. Do share a little more details on distance covered / route taken !

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by //M

If that happens, the Adi Kailash route will be doable in almost any car with decent ground clearance.

Pune to Tanakpur in one and half day is astonishing on motorcycles, mainly considering the intense heatwaves in Central and North India. Do share a little more details on distance covered / route taken !

Yes, we saw lot of new gen construction equipment being procured by BRO. May be most of the road should be ready before June next year. But we can never have fully tarred road considering many of these hills are made of loose gravel soil and small stones, landslides will continue. But many people on Youtube and instagram have created hype of this place in terms of difficulty level. I even got the winch fitted in my Fortuner by watching those videos
Sorry, I didn't share complete information. We took the bikes on a trailer till Pilibhit, unloaded the bikes and parked our trailer at a friend's place and resumed our journey. During return, loaded the bikes in Pilibhit and resumed journey till Pune. These are off-road oriented bikes with just 200 CC engines, can't think of taking them to Bombay forget Pitthoragarh.

[//M]

The clutch was replaced a few weeks back as a part of routine maintenance and I also got a set of Michelin Anakee Adventures sourced in from a tyre guy in Mumbai. The tyres prices have really sky-rocketed and this pair of Anakee Adventure costed me a princely 45 K. I guess I did this bit of shopping without much research.












Some pictures from a couple of short rides in the recent past -
















The initial impression with the Michelins are pretty good, however it is yet to see some dirt trails as of now. Hoping to do a longish ride to the hills soon and share more feedback on the tyres.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by //M

Michelin Anakee Adventures sourced in from a tyre guy in Mumbai. The tyres prices have really sky-rocketed and this pair of Anakee Adventure costed me a princely 45 K.

Prices of Michelins especially have gone through the roof - for my Tiger Sport 660, I received a quote of 48k (plus some friend discounts) for Road6.

And Anakee Adventure is 44k for the CB500X!

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by //M

The initial impression with the Michelins are pretty good, however it is yet to see some dirt trails as of now. Hoping to do a longish ride to the hills soon and share more feedback on the tyres.

How are these Anakees compared to Pirelli Rally STR.
I also understand there are cheaper alternatives from Apollo at 1/3rd price. But keen to understand the grip pattern / wet driving characteristic.

[Freespirit27]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Sorry, I didn't share complete information. We took the bikes on a trailer till Pilibhit, unloaded the bikes and parked our trailer at a friend's place and resumed our journey. During return, loaded the bikes in Pilibhit and resumed journey till Pune. These are off-road oriented bikes with just 200 CC engines, can't think of taking them to Bombay forget Pitthoragarh.

Attachment 2613356

Wow, great trailer! May I know what speeds you are able to maintain with it, whilst towing? Also any issues with traffic police/ regulations/ RTO permissions to be looked out for while using them?

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Freespirit27

Wow, great trailer! May I know what speeds you are able to maintain with it, whilst towing? Also any issues with traffic police/ regulations/ RTO permissions to be looked out for while using them?

Thanks, average speed is ~ 10% lower than the normal speed. But it again depends upon the vehicle pulling the trailer.

It's a registered trailer with its own registration number and insurance. Cops do stop us (mostly in state borders) but after looking at the documents and explaining this entire concept, they generally let us go.

[//M]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

How are these Anakees compared to Pirelli Rally STR.
I also understand there are cheaper alternatives from Apollo at 1/3rd price. But keen to understand the grip pattern / wet driving characteristic.

The Anakee Adventure is doing really well from the limited number of kms I have clocked so far. Hope to take it for a longer ride to the hills and share a comprehensive feedback soon. In comparison to the previous Pirelli Scorpion Trail II that I was using, the first impressions of the Anakee Adventure are pretty impressive and it feels way more sure-footed.




I never had the Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR on the Tiger however I have the Scorpion Rally STR on the Dominar 400 and that is a great tyre in its own way. One click of the Dominar 400 with Rally STRs chilling somewhere in Spiti last year.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by //M

The Anakee Adventure is doing really well from the limited number of kms I have clocked so far. In comparison to the previous Pirelli Scorpion Trail II that I was using, the first impressions of the Anakee Adventure are pretty impressive and it feels way more sure-footed.

In this short time are you getting the impression of the Anakee Adventure being better than the Trail II. Is this in the wet and dry?

I have heard of some people riding a BMW GS complaining about high road noise with the Anakee’s. Is that your feeling too?

Like you mentioned please post a comprehensive review of the Anakee’s and a comparison between the two after you have run them a reasonable amount of kilometres.

Thank you //M.

Cheers

[//M]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

In this short time are you getting the impression of the Anakee Adventure being better than the Trail II. Is this in the wet and dry?

I have heard of some people riding a BMW GS complaining about high road noise with the Anakee’s. Is that your feeling too?

Like you mentioned please post a comprehensive review of the Anakee’s and a comparison between the two after you have run them a reasonable amount of kilometres.

Thank you //M.

Cheers

Having clocked roughly 1000-1200 kms on the Anakee Adventure, I feel it is a pretty worthy choice if one is looking for a 70:30 setup. It is noisy, but only marginally. You can’t really tell the difference in tyre noise as the wind noise always overpowers it so it is not really bothersome for me.

The Metzeler Tourance Next is by far my favourite rubber on tarmac. It is silent, has leech like grip levels and is extremely confidence inspiring on corners. However, it fizzles out over slightest of slush or loose gravel where you can feel the lack of traction pretty evidently. Also, one issue with the Tourance Next is that it gets sidewall cracks in about 8000 odd kms, while the tread can last easily around 12000 kms or even more depending on riding style and conditions.

The Anakee Adventures won’t let you pull off surprising lean angles like the Tourance Next would but that is expected as the Tourance Next is a 90:10 tyre. The Anakees however feel far more versatile for our conditions. One is more confident over bad roads, ruts, gravel, slush and even loose sand. This is a big plus point for me as I usually prefer travelling to remote places in the Himalayas on the Tiger. I cannot comment on the durability aspect as of now though.

The Scorpion Trail II is fine but it is neither here nor there. It will not put the same grin on your face as the Tourance Next on tarmac, nor will it put the same amount of confidence over trails like the Anakee Adventure would. Being more of a 80:20 setup, it is supposed to be a versatile alternative for all riding conditions, but to me it is not really the option that can double up as a jack of all trades. One set of Scorpion Trail II lasts about the same number of kms as the Tourance Next.

Overall, pretty happy with the Anakee Adventure as it suits my riding style the most.

Garagemates chilling together ahead of a routine Saturday morning wash.

[//M]

To celebrate the big cat’s 7th anniversary, I did an impromptu weekend ride to Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. It was more of an impromptu plan as I realised the gruesome North Indian summers is just around the corner and it was just about time to do a short overnighter to some place in the hills. Palampur was always in the back of my mind however the 500 odd kms one way distance meant that riding time would consume most of the day over the weekend. So to keep it short and simple, I started off from NCR early on Saturday, 29th March, and took the longer route via Anandpur Sahib, Una and Kangra. An early start ensured that I beat the heat waves of the plains and by the time the temperature was getting warmer, I was already in the foothills.

By noon, I was around Kangra and Palampur was just a short while away. The traffic was messy between Kangra and Palampur but since the distance between the two towns was less, traffic didn’t get too bothersome.

The snow-covered peaks of the Dhauladhar mountain ranges was such a beautiful sight. Add to that some impressive stretch of tarmac around Kangra !

Palampur is a very small hill station dotted with tea estates. I had booked my stay at Infinitea Dakbungalow which houses a beautiful tea estate within the premises. The stay was beautiful, luxurious and relaxing - a perfect way to unwind after a longish ~ 500 km ride.

I was in Palampur by 1 PM so I had ample time to unwind, relax and even explore the town for a while.

Picturesque sight of the Dhauladhar mountain ranges








A short little break at a cafe in Palampur town




Spent a little while exploring the surroundings












Ended the day by watching a lovely sunset from the balcony of my room








The first half of the next day, 30th March, was spent lazying at the property, walking around the tea plantations and watching the lovely snow capped peaks at a distance. A Sunday morning couldn’t have been more idyllic !

Some clicks of the Infinitea Dakbungalow and the tea plantations around it
















I left Palampur after a wholesome lunch at a cafe and headed straight to Chandigarh via Hamirpur and Bilaspur.

Bidding goodbye to this beautiful town








Spent the evening in Chandigarh hopping around and doing the much coveted Gedi-route.

Next morning, I started early from Chandigarh and headed back to NCR.



By 10 AM on Monday, 31st March, I was at the workplace staring at the laptop screen, but my mind was still occupied with the lovely ride that just happened over the weekend.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by //M

To celebrate the big cat’s 7th anniversary, I did an impromptu weekend ride to Palampur in Himachal Pradesh.

Wow!! You visited my home town!! My home is about 10 KMs from Palampur but I have done my schooling from Palampur. You must have passed my school on the way to your stay St. Paul's School.

I have always wanted to ride to Palampur on one of my bigger bikes, but for one reason or the other, have not been able to do it for the last 15 years. The once I could plan and execute it was 16 years back. But now the roads infrastructure has improved and there are some lovely sections of tarmac on the way. Hopefully, I will plan the trip soon.

Doing a 1 nighter to Palampur and back is a testament for bike's ability and your skill and stamina.

Which route did you take while coming back?


CHEERS!!
Rachit

[//M]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Wow!! You visited my home town!! My home is about 10 KMs from Palampur but I have done my schooling from Palampur. You must have passed my school on the way to your stay St. Paul's School.

Oh yes I did cross St. Paul’s School couple of times while exploring the town and the market area. How come you never mentioned about your Palampur connection, might have been a good excuse to drag you for the ride.

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

I have always wanted to ride to Palampur on one of my bigger bikes, but for one reason or the other, have not been able to do it for the last 15 years. The once I could plan and execute it was 16 years back. But now the roads infrastructure has improved and there are some lovely sections of tarmac on the way. Hopefully, I will plan the trip soon.

Doing a 1 nighter to Palampur and back is a testament for bike's ability and your skill and stamina.

Which route did you take while coming back?

It was indeed a tight ride but I could only spare a weekend. I was just back from Spiti the previous week after taking a healthy 11 day leave, so I did not dare to ask my bosses at work for more days off in such quick succession. But I was craving for a ride to the hills so I just took the plunge to go for that short little motorcycle trip before the summers set in.

The route taken was Delhi - Karnal - Ambala - Rupnagar - Kiratpur Sahib - Anandpur Sahib - Una - Kangra - Palampur - Bhawarna - Hamirpur - Ghumarwin - Kiratpur Sahib - Rupnagar - Chandigarh - Ambala - Karnal - Delhi.