Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Himalayas: The Only Motor-Trek Across the Entire Mountain Range.
    Himalayas: The Only Motor-Trek Across the Entire Mountain Range.
    Himalayas: The Only Motor-Trek Across the Entire Mountain Range.
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    Himalayas: The Only Motor-Trek Across the Entire Mountain Range.

    By Sumant Barooah

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    An International motor journey across the whole Himalayan mountain range traversing foreign countries, covering over 14000 Kms in a gruelling journey of 76 days.A first-hand account of the arduous journey criss-crossing Countries, Mountain Peaks, Passes, Forests, Rivers and desolate roads, some infested with Terrorists.
    And enjoying the company, the food, the festivals, the people, the Bazars, the comradery, the views, the season and the Boozing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSumant Barooah
    Release dateSep 6, 2020
    ISBN9781005395698
    Himalayas: The Only Motor-Trek Across the Entire Mountain Range.
    Author

    Sumant Barooah

    Sumant Barooah33 Fairview StreetVictoria 3122Australia.Mail: onlysumant@gmail.comPhone: 0415466008GCE. Univ. of CambridgeB. Sc (Honours)Associate, Clothing Institute, U.K.Diploma in Creative Writing. U.K.Photography Faculty.I have worked across the Globe in a different profession.Last I lived in China for 8 years.I was the Regional Director for a British company for all the Countries in the Pacific Rim.Written for Magazines in India and China.Have two Photo Books in Print1.Among, The Temples of China2.Assam. ‘Xunor Xophura’ The Golden ValleyA travel book on a National Expedition. I was part of an expedition driving all across the Himalayas, from Karakoram to China, across the countries on-route, a journey of 74 days.3.‘A journey of a lifetime-Riding the Himalayas’4.‘China A Chequered Life.At the moment doing two other books,5.Sexual Happenstances, A Guide to Sexual Adulthood6.An Inside View of An Outside World7. Sri Lankan Surfing Serendipity-Another one on Life in ChinaAll writings are fiction with a memoir background.

    Read more from Sumant Barooah

    Related to Himalayas

    Related ebooks

    Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      South India By Harley

      Jul 31, 2019

      South India By Harley
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mongolian Mission

      Mar 26, 2018

      Mongolian Mission
      4 min read

    • Article

      Passage through India

      Jun 25, 2020

      Passage through India
      6 min read

    • Article

      Love At First Sight

      Sep 22, 2017

      Love At First Sight
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shangritopia

      Jun 3, 2021

      Shangritopia
      6 min read

    • Article

      Himalayan high

      Oct 12, 2022

      Himalayan high
      13 min read

    • Article

      GOING All The Way

      Aug 14, 2019

      GOING All The Way
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ride-eat- Love

      Nov 14, 2018

      Ride-eat- Love
      4 min read

    • Article

      In The Shadow Of Everest

      Jan 21, 2020

      In The Shadow Of Everest
      5 min read

    • Article

      Forgotten Sands

      Feb 4, 2022

      Forgotten Sands
      5 min read

    • Article

      Enduro India

      May 30, 2022

      Enduro India
      6 min read

    • Article

      Kaleidoscope of Colour

      Nov 13, 2019

      Arriving in Nepal is like being thrust into the middle of a kaleidoscope, with music blaring. Kathmandu, the capital, grabbed my attention instantly. The city assaults the senses – it’s vibrant, thumping and pungent; an overstimulation of colour, noi

      10 min read

    • Article

      The Madness & The Magic

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Madness & The Magic
      7 min read

    • Article

      Diving In

      Oct 18, 2023

      Diving In
      6 min read

    • Article

      INDIAN Tales

      Feb 1, 2019

      INDIAN Tales
      4 min read

    • Article

      Exploring The Unexplored

      Jul 27, 2018

      Travelling is one thing that brings peace to my being. I ensure we are on a vacation with family and friends at least a couple of times every year. Sometimes it is important to take a step back from the daily routine and think of where one is headed.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Hardtails In The Himalayas

      Jan 6, 2020

      Hardtails In The Himalayas
      7 min read

    • Article

      Tea, Tigers And Twisties

      Sep 2, 2020

      Tea, Tigers And Twisties
      6 min read

    • Article

      Charity Expedition Rider

      Jan 5, 2023

      Charity Expedition Rider
      3 min read

    • Article

      Annapurna Meltdown

      Oct 4, 2021

      Annapurna Meltdown
      8 min read

    • Article

      South India By Harley

      Sep 4, 2019

      South India By Harley
      6 min read

    • Article

      Under the Stars

      Apr 2, 2020

      Desperate to escape the city over a long weekend, a colleague and I began to look at options. After endless research and rejection of each other’s choices, she left for Pune, leaving me to plan my own weekend. I booked and paid for a beach camping ad

      6 min read

    • Article

      An Uncertain Road

      Feb 16, 2017

      An Uncertain Road
      9 min read

    • Article

      Head In The Clouds

      Oct 28, 2022

      Head In The Clouds
      5 min read

    • Article

      Wild Enough For You?

      Feb 22, 2024

      Wild Enough For You?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Monsoon magic

      Nov 27, 2022

      Monsoon magic
      6 min read

    • Article

      Stardust And Wanderlust

      Nov 7, 2019

      Gin ghar gin takht. For the tipplers this may seem a cryptic advertisement for the spirit but please allow me to ramble. This has been the motto of the Baroda Gaekwad Dynasty for 300 years. Simply translated it means: The saddle is my home, the saddl

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Himalayas

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Himalayas - Sumant Barooah

      HIMALAYAS

      The ONLY

      Cross country

      motor-trek

      across the entire mountain range

      An International motor journey across the whole Himalayan mountain range traversing foreign countries, covering over 14000 Kms in a gruelling journey of 76 days.

      for

      Mr. Phalguni Matilal

      A first-hand account of the arduous journey criss-crossing Countries, Mountain Peaks, Passes, Forests, Rivers and desolate roads, some infested with Terrorists.

      And enjoying the company, the food, the festivals, the people, the Bazars, the comradery, the views, the season and the Boozing.

      Riding ~

      the Himalayas

      19

      The Himalayas has been a challenge to every mountaineer, traveler, trader and adventurer in the world, protecting, nurturing and nourishing the life of the sub-continent, home of some of the oldest religion in the world with its temples, monasteries and legends.

      Romancing brigands, explorers, travelers, hermits, priests, poets, writers and the tribes have made it their home.

      Extending over miles from the stark cold deserts of the west to the tropical forests of the east, it is a wonder at every bend hiding glaciers, rivers, valleys, glens waterfalls and blossoms, changing colours at the onset of every season. It will be every so long before it settles down to a predictable pattern.

      At the mention of adventure and explorers today, one envisions journeys into outer space or lone treks across the North or the South Pole, in outlandish gears armed with electronics to foretell your next step, one wonders if there are any frontiers left for, we mortals.

      No not the diehard Mr. Phalguni Matilal, a seasoned expeditioneer and an avid traveler feels otherwise; adventure is everywhere, you must know what you seek.

      As the leader of the Adventurers and Explorers Society, he single-handedly set up ‘Riding the Himalayas’, a motor-trek from Turtuk, in the Karakoram range in the west to Kibitho, the very end of the Eastern Himalayas. A single journey of 76 days, starting at Delhi and ending at Calcutta, a distance of 14,000 Kilometers across the Himalayas, through India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan to Arunachal Pradesh.

      Every collective motor expedition in India is misunderstood and normally called a Rally, and configured as a collective bashing around the hills at break-neck speeds, considered a domain of lunatics. The ‘Expedition’ as it was designated,

      actually turned out to be an adventure in full form in the weeks that followed.

      For some of us it started on the 29th of August 2003, at the formal Press conference and flag-off. A group of sixteen people gathered at the Park Hotel flying out of Bombay, Pune, Calcutta and various parts of Delhi, without a route map, no experience of driving in ‘Scorpios’, ‘Boleros’, ’Invaders, no idea of the terrain or the weather; aged between 22 and 67 years, one with a steel leg, one slightly asthmatic, some with vertigo and some with hydrophobia to begin with.

      Somebody in the Press Conference was keen to know if we had 4X4 vehicles and the Mahindra representative nonchalantly affirmed, rather than allay our fears, that 4x4 were not necessary.

      Route maps and itineraries were presented, a sumptuous lunch, the customary round of thanks and applauses and we were bound for better or for worse journey ahead

      Mr. Pahlguni Matilal, the Leader, a retired senior bureaucrat, Mrs. Matilal, Mr. Keki Daruwala, retired bureaucrat, a renowned poet, Ashish Dutta, a Director with the Railways, Sujoy Chakravarty, Traveler, Corporate Executive from the TATA group ,Farah Vakil, Ralliest and Ecologist, Photographer, Bird Watcher, Mohit Midha, Photographer, Bird watcher, the Film Crew of Sanjeev Chettri, Girish Bisht, Harinder Rawat, Car Specialist, Drivers Sanjeev, Ramesh, Ashwini. And yours truly, designated the Film Director.

      Reebok attired we arrive at the Gymkhana Club with our near and dear ones, to bid us a great journey. To wish us luck we were joined by the one and only Hari Singh who has won the Malaysian, Thailand, Indian Rally Championship five times, a Sardar, almost seven feet tall, impeccably dressed; "ganne de khet vitch tamatar thithe"! His favourite exclamation at the time, I remember clearly

      Garlanded, Photographed, a short prayer and off we were on this journey of a lifetime.

      Early morning pitter-patter raindrops of late August, bags slung in, equipment stacked, choose your riding partners, getting away photographs for the sponsors, formal roll call and God speed. Walky-Talkies ablaze with mindless chatter, shedding behind the excitement of preparation, closing offices, selecting and packing personals, shopping preparing your mind-set for the journey, weather, heights, leaving behind the loved ones, a daughter, a terrier, a girl friend, a routine, a life.

      The India Gate floats by in the swirling mist of an early fog. Negotiating early Sunday morning traffic in our new wheels, Hari leading the way we hit N.H.1 on our way to Chandigarh and Mohali.

      Personal accoutrements are refurbished at Chandigarh and lunch is served at the Mohali Cricket grounds. This was our first encounter with celebrity status with the Press in attendance, photographs to splash all over the nation and personal interviews. Bouquets greet the leader, an accomplished cricketer, and Hari Singh the local celebrity.

      A hurried goodbye to civility and we are on our way to Paragpur paying our respects at Takht Sri Anandpur Sahib established in 1664 by the 9th Guru Sri Tegh Abrader Sahib.

      Adventure beckons; as we were passing the local river Beas some of the photographers got down to do some photographs, not knowing that it was forbidden. Soon enough the whistle blowing police, weapons drawn swarm two of our vehicles on the bridge. They made it clear in no compromised words that we were possibly spies from a neighbouring country and need to be arrested. In fact, one of them was so agitated that he thought this was his opportunity to earn the police medal. We had to show them our cameras our expedition credentials and yet they would not let go of my camera until I disgorged the film within. The leading vehicles fortunately returned on our walkie-talkie arousal and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1