How does one describe what happened, I am really not sure? The race is well named Himalayan Challenge. Who would have thunk it? Last night finally the sun rose over the mountains as we all sat out on the deck, the snow glistened on the mountains and we all knew then that the Passes would definitely be closed now for winter.
Here we are finally back together having shared a very unique experience. Scary at times but by the same token this group is here because they aren’t afraid of a challenge and in some ways feed on it. Everyone is calm cool and collected. Everyone sharing their own unique adventure through the storm. A few couples found shelter in a Scottish castle we had been with them in a convoy through the storm, for the better part of the afternoon and as we had no idea where we were due to so many detours due to rock slides,had stopped a cabby offered him money and then following him. We got over the main bridge into Manali and we ran into visibility trouble and the group just like that was gone. Annette tried calling but due to road conditions couldn’t even hit the numbers on her phone. So we lost them. Another couple Bill and Jacqui ran into car troubles and got separated. So we all hunkered down with various levels of unique comfort in different hotels
The whole city had gone out; cell, internet and power so we were isolated.
Anyway, back together now we awaited the plan.
Our Meeting came late last night over dinner in our new found hotel.
After a reconnoitre they announced the police and military had offered to escort us out of Manali. However we must go by convoy leaving no space between cars. They found a bridge of sorts that could take us, but one car at a time across to the other side. We would need to leave at 5 am and not dilly dally. The bridge was 26km down stream.
The passes had closed for the winter so we had to rethink the route. The organizers presented their plan. Instead of going up to 15,450 feet to Kaza and Sangla we would be going to Shimla at about 7500ft. Still high but due to adverse weather and now soooo many rockslides we needed to stay on routes that were known to be open.
So off we were headed to Shimla and the Cecil hotel built we were told 107 years ago. I guess during the height of the British Empire.
Driving in India is a unique experience and one is jostled more than you can believe. Rounding sharp turns in the mountains on very narrow roads with oncoming traffic trying to pass multitudes of trucks buses and people who honk constantly. You become numb to it. Some very courteous others will actually drive into you rather than give you an inch. As our car is long and difficult to turn sometimes on narrow thoroughfares and bridges I get out to try and help Tony manoeuvre the car. I tried to stop a motorbike from crossing one bridge and he literally ran into me. I jumped at the last minute but too late for Tony to move and Tony hit him. No one was injured except perhaps the pride of the man on the bike who thought little of me. I hope it wasn’t cultural.
This morning after crossing the bridge, pictures tell the story better than I, one at a time we then wound our way past beautiful waterfalls and very fast rivers that still had swollen their banks. The bridge shook and wobbled as we slowly drove across. One car sustained damage as he was too wide. Thankfully all crossed safely.
No turning back now….!
Roads are still washed out along the route and the damage is horrific. Seeing massive boulders and at one spot the whole side of a mountain sliced in two was unnerving. We came across a tunnel carved through a mountain by workers. Unfinished inside but probably 10 km long. What a feat. It was eerie. Other than that, the scenery was magnificent and I tried to snap as many photos and videos as I could.
At a PC Control station for the group we decided to take the roof off . We are still trying to dry the inside. I got out of the car and low and behold within seconds unbeknownst to me, behind me monkeys surrounded me. We had been warned they will steal everything and get into your car so be careful. I immediately jumped back in car, Tony started it up which I think rattled them a bit and they scurried off.
We started climbing up the windy road. Our first incident occurred near Mandi where we tried to pass a bus. The pickup on the car was too slow and a bus rounded the corner towards travelling in the opposite direction. We quickly had to get off the road or be hit head on. The car behind didn’t let us back in so we had to drive on to shoulder of the opposite side of the road. Deep breath Lee Ann and back on the road after some interesting looks from cars passing afterwards.
The road after this improved quite a bit so we got confident and picked up speed almost two full lanes. Traffic is continuous. We came across one of those climbing left turns, the road narrowed suddenly and there it was a big bus and a rockslide causing the road to narrow. We were blindsided and a Bentley was coming up hot on our tail. So it was either hit the bus, not a great idea or drive into the rocky rockslide. Tony chose the rockslide and we wedged ourselves up on a boulder. Pride injured and a running board damaged but everyone fine. Stopped for a few minutes to survey the damage nothing serious that for now a mallet can’t fix. Back on the road to Shimla. The road conditions deteriorated from there again, landslide after landslide. The damage to the road made the drive very very uncomfortable. I was tossed around. I have nothing to hold on too in the car and perhaps from some of the videos you can see just how much you are buffeted. It is exhausting. To say that India is a little bi-polar is an understatement. One minute the roads are a drivers dream the next a drivers and cars nightmare and the change can be so fast. We finally arrived in Shimla, 8 hours of straight driving. I guess the quickly put together tulip map have a couple of distance errors making the access complicated and fraught with errors for us. We came into the back of the hotel and the police then directed us the wrong way. Three Bentley’s tried driving this route. Lars went first. The hill was so step, we could see his clutch burning, he now fears he has burnt his clutch out. The black smoke was terrible. In the end 5 people came to push him the last bit we thought. That was only halfway. He was able to turn around and went up the rest backwards.
We were next, our car now appeared to have either vapour lock or was running to rich. Tony took one run at it and realized it wasn’t possible. So we backed down the road blocking traffic for about 20 minutes. We had no choice. I got out at the main road and helped Tony to make the turn around in the narrowest of spaces. One side dropped off down a cliff. We drove back to the cop and told her impossible for us to go that way. She said if she could have her picture taken with the car, she would make an exception andwe could go another way. We quickly agreed. Interesting experience. However Within in 2 minutes we were surrounded by people wanting their photos taken and clamouring all over the car. I guess if the police could do it, so could they. We had to inch forward slowly to clear people from the car. A few minutes later we arrived at the Cecil Oberoi hotel. Dropped the car off in parking lot and proceeded into lobby, greeted by hot steamy face clothes which wiped the grime and dirt off our hands and face. I guess I didn’t mention how grimy we were. The landslides have left so much dust in the air.
So here we sit in this magnificent hotel high up perched on the side of the cliff. It was built in a traditional style and the service is old world. It’s magnificent.
Tony has crashed on the bed.
While I write. Another day another Indian Challenge. I think now finishing this race will be the challenge. I believe there are 2 or 3 out and a few trying to catch up.
On a bright note on the last registered race day, we finished third overall. I believe we are 11th of 40 cars, that includes a lot of modern rally cars with roll cages etc. We are currently second in our class of car overall.
So the Bentley is holding well.
