AdrenalineTrip of 2011 -- Jalori Pass Part 1

Okay, so around 2 weeks ago I headed up to a place called Aut (really, it’s called that) to join a cycling tour from Aut to Jalori Pass.

For those of you who don't know what Jalori Pass is, it's a Pass (NO? REALLY?)

Nothing significant in terms of geography, but the view, oh wow, it is spectacular! I mean you’re at 3050m so the view is amazing already but the day that we went up, there were no clouds, no cars, and no smoke. It was stunning. You could see the underlying valley that we had just come up and then when you looked further you can just see the hills slowly fade out and get replaced with the massive line of the Himalayas

But really, for anyone planning a trip with a little adventure, go to Himachal, the views, the people and the scenery are so worth it.

Anyway, enough tourism promotion. I don't get paid anyway... :P

The biking trip was an interesting experience, lots of insights into oneself and their surroundings, but hey, that's what happens when you go to a place where there are no two-wheelers trying to kill you...

I was planning separate posts on each day, but time has passed and frankly, the small irritants have long but passed leaving only good moments and those insightful moments...

So,

Day 1: Got onto a bus at Chandhigar, my uncle mentioned before he left that there were some 4 foreigners putting a bike into the bus. Naturally, I’m thinking, wait, cycling? I'm going for cycling! Maybe they're in the same camp! Then I thought, wait, the Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI) who organised this is so small (stupid me.) I mean I only heard about them like 3 months ago (silly Me.) how could these guys be coming for this??? 

This feeling was increased when one of them mentioned that they spoke to someone and *mumble mumble* destination *mumble mumble* Aut *mumble mumble* we're going to Manali.

So my head is now thinking, okay, I guess they are going to Manali. :(

The bus ride starts and it goes on for a good amount of time when I decide to ask the conductor to tell me when Aut comes so that I can get off. To which he responds "okay, the 4 foreigners are also getting off there"

The feeling comes back again...

I know what you're thinking, why didn't I just ask them where they were going? Introduce myself?

Well, I made a weird first impression... when the ride started, I was sitting in the row behind the 2 girls and one girl reclined her chair, and the other was doing the same only my knees stopped her from doing so. She looked back and saw me and I went "sorry, my legs are in the way" only it sounded like” sorry, mahs lehgt are int thwhis wayhjsis" so after an awkward smile, she turned around.

Oh and they were speaking French for most of the trip, so I was convinced that they were French and didn’t speak English (which I thought was retarded seeing that like 0.005% of Indians could speak French - Less actually...) I sent a message to my friends expressing how much I wished I knew French, just so that I could freak the shit out of them!

Anyway, so we got off at Aut and it's just the 5 of us, 4 foreigners, one with a cycle and me with my gigantic blue duffel. Yeah, I carried like 15 kg worth of clothes for a 7 day trip, for which 5 days would be on the road...

Not the smartest move...

Day 2: So, started with a jog to a little temple, oh and we woke up at like 5:30, 'twas a blessing as I had been positioned so that the cool night breeze came onto my face throughout the night.

Oh so the foreigners were actually there for the cycling thing too.

The day was mainly for acclimatisation walks and testing bikes out, getting your gear and sleeping.

Day 3: so we woke up and were on the road by like 9 am. I honestly had believed that we would be on the road by like 7am to beat the sun because up there, once the sun is out, it's just hitting you with strong rays.

I'm going to summarise this and just say, it was brutal. Not for everyone, (at least not to my knowledge) just me.

We made it to a checkpoint, where everyone was chilling and drinking water, some 4 km into the day and my spirit was already broken. I had gone there thinking that day one of the cycling would be the easiest, 24 km on relatively flat ground. Sadly, relatively means that you climb 500ft at the end of it, but you’re going up and down almost the whole time.

See it's not that I didn't know how to cycle uphill or something I mean I do know, in theory, low gears are the key, but I just kept pedalling and got nowhere. I had sweated buckets, so much so, that when I removed my helmet at any point the straps were actually DRIPPING sweat.

Demoralised beyond belief, I think I must have walked 15km that day.

That day itself the ride along motorcyclist and the mechanic told me that if I wanted to, I could go back. Go back to Aut and then home.

I really considered it I mean my mind was like screw this, we're not (I refer to myself as several people) ready for this! Let’s go back and try again next year! but there was this bit of me, oh a bit so small that if I wanted to I could silence it, but this bit of me, I realise, in hindsight, was my willpower. I mean my entire body was ready to quit but that one voice made me realise something that I’m going to say for the rest of my life, actually 3 something’s.

1 - Everything is possible, if you just take it one step at a time

2 - There is a solution, when all is lost and your back is against a wall, there is always an escape and a solution. It just depends on you, what you choose.

3 - We all have our place in the puzzle, it just takes some time to figure out what and where we fit.

With those ideas in mind, I decided I would sleep and see how I felt the next day. Surprise, surprise, I felt better and decided to continue along with the fact that I can try and do the next leg on the bike and if I can’t do it, then I can walk. I've already established to everyone else there that I wasn't able to cycle uphill so, if I walk I won’t feel embarrassed at all. Cause the worst has already happened.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------END OF PART ONE

Fast Fast Fast Fast Fast

Movie Review - Fast 5

 Rating - Fan of the series? Like a good punch up? Bank Heists? Action Flick Junky??? -- Must Watch

The new movie decides to take a new turn on the fast and furious franchise, moving more from the fast cars and irrelevant storylines, they have started to make interesting twists and deeper plots, (like the drug trade in the 4th one, Letty's death and a 'mission of vengeance') all done before, but now with fast cars!

The fifth movie starts off with a bit of a recap, the last scene from 4 is redone and immediately, the understanding spreads through the audience that this is most certainly a kick-ass movie which should not be looked at with the believe that the stuff that happens is real. Surviving a 400 meter fall into water and such.

The background of Rio was an excellent choice, the combination of beauty and the beast that one hears about the city is only amplified with the story moving from the favelas to the well urbanised central Rio so seamlessly that I was just in awe how it could be possible that these two areas could exist so close and yet be so different.

Anyway, I’m drifting from the movie.

However, the fact remains that the movie is a bit of Oceans 11 with a smack dab of the Italian Job with some guns to make it look pretty. That being said, the integration of the cars into all of this was done brilliantly.

One thing I would have liked to see would be more racing, as the 5th Fast and furious movie, it has all but forgotten its roots, fast cars and technobabble about said cars that makes the audience go

"Damn, I want one of those!"

There is good character development (especially the little love story that occurs on the side, and another one which is just random)

Acting wise, Vin Diesel has never been better, he is 100% bad-ass in the movie but you do see the human side in him kick in more than once, which was very nice to see. Tyrese Gibson's character was really annoying...

The introduction of the Rock some 20 minutes was awesome!!! One, cause he doesn't look like how he has been in his more recent movies, the big tough guy with a soft heart. In fast 5 the rock's character means business and it is immediately established that he's the best of the best. Oh and did I mention that his beard looked awesome! Even though he was sweating more than the entire cast and crew combined...

Best Part of the movie: Several parts actually, the introduction of the Rock's character, cause you know that a movie that has 2 muscle bound stars means that there is going to be an absolutely crazy fight scene.

That came, in SPADES! Or DIAMONDS (That's a bit girly... :S)

Then the chase scene, so epically impossible that it just made it even cooler than cool!

The Rock's Car! Oh my god! Ever wanted to see a Tank with the speed of a Ferrari?

THE POST CREDITS TEASER!!!!!!! DO NOT LEAVE THE THEATRE TILL YOU SEE IT! (That is if you're a fan of the franchise)

Trivia - The last scene occurs in Goa; don't let anyone tell you anything different.

That's it on my end; please comment on my reviewing and on the movie!

Footnote: Watch the movie and answer this, do the Rock and Vin Diesel Not look like twins????

ONE YEAR LATER - Part Two

 

Hi, it's been a while... thought I would finish this thing off before I start recording my trip to Jalori Pass.

Hello, it’s me again!

So, I left off last at the note of me having gone to Bombay to study for exams again.

Previous Post - Here

So I studied, with tuitions in geography and economics, I was all set to beat the daylights out of the subjects that I had denied me my A's (what! who doesn't want an A, and who says that they didn't try for it)

I came back to my parents who had in my eyes been able to see me work for the last 3 months and were glad to see my conviction towards the exams (in my eyes at least, remember, this is after all my point of view, one which is not always correct *cough* N.D. *cough*)

So, blah, exams, went in, wrote, my face contorted with pain as my wrist started acting up, and I continued writing. One month later, exams are over! Woot! I think the school was sad that I was finally going and never coming back for another exam!!!

(I really don't think anyone wanted me to go into the pain of each exam, am I right? if you do want me to, please leave a comment in the space below stating said fact "I would like to know how your exams went, can you write about it (or something like that)" and I'll write about it, seriously, I will!

Bigger and Better

So exams are over, celebrate!!!

No, that didn't happen, :(

Well it did, but not in the way that some people celebrate. Since the biggest hurdle was over, I now needed to find a new thing to do or sink into obesity and loneliness as I glided through the halls of my home for the rest of the year...

What I did do is go out looking for an internship, and man did I find one!

I managed to get an internship at J Walter Thompson or JWT.

My boss, a guy called Kishore, one of the senior copywriters was a really great guy, (I’m not sucking up) I turned up for an interview for the internship, I sat down, he asked me my name and he pointed me to a desk and told me to get comfortable as he got the computer on said desk running so that I could work.

AWESOME! :P

There I was really able to get into the whole thing of copywrite and what an ad agency looks like, don't get me wrong, but music playing and people running to play foosball was really cool. I felt really shy as the kid intern there, fresh out of school when all the people there were like

“You’ve just finished school, what the hell are you doing here?"

At least that's the jist of it...

I'm under a thingy of confidentiality so I can't write what I did... or can I??? Muhahahaha!

No, I respect the value of a NDA so sorry IP stealers!

Not Without My Bike!

This was the time where I turned 18 (FTW!) and also decided to go cycling with a family friend and near pro in the Bangalore biking scene Vivek.

The first time I met him for the intent of cycling, I got there with my bike and he looked it over, pointing out some things that were wrong, the biggest one being that the seat height was much too low. I was lent a spare bike and we headed off to IISc, it wasn't far, but man, was I unable to keep up with him, it was like the tortoise and the hare, only I knew that if he didn't know me, there is no way he'd stop!

That was the start of the cycling enthusiasm.

And that was the subsequent start of this blog where I have tried to note down aspects of my life and allow people to get an idea of what goes on inside my head behind the barriers.

So here's to more posts!

And more comments!!!

What a start to a week

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last 3 days, Osama bin laden is dead (chorus starts with Ding Ding the Witch (or something a bit cruder) is dead!)

Found in Pakistan, Shot in the face, Buried at sea.

Thats the news in brief.

Now it gets interesting with the conspiracy theories, the rapid burial, the hushed up op(kinda necessary given Pakistan's very open intelligence policy :P) Lack of photos and DNA testing ( there was, but we have to take the word of the people who have been chasing the 'ghost' for 10 years so it's certain that they may just be like, you know what, screw it, if its him, YAY! if its not, then he'll be considered a fraud (kinda)

Fact is that after spending loads of cash, lives and turning upside-down 2 countries, the USA can officially say that their hunt for the people responsible is over.

I personally want to watch what happens, the conspiracies, the cover-ups, the holes in the stories...

Sadly, or Joyfully (i'm still confused...) i'm heading off to the north of india (not the extreme north) for a cycling/trekking trip to Jalori Pass for 10 days. so i will be off internet for 10 days!

I'm so sure that i'm gonna do one of those screams where I look at the sky and scream as the camera zooms out to show the dense forest!


Virpratap, Out.