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Unromanticising himalaya rides. Long Read.
Its so good to be back to fresh towels, clean linen and hot shower. This was after 2 weeks of riding a 373cc adv bike through treacherous himalayan passes.
I wish someone told me the brutal reality of such a ride. So here it goes.
The good parts are as obvious as one would expect. Spectacular views, mind numbing heights, soul cleansing terrains, beautiful sunsets, dense starlit sky, camaraderie with strangers and once a lifetime experience of riding on edge of earth, literally everyday.
After few days these scenic landscapes become more like a screen saver while you are trying not to be thrown off the rocky roads into abyss or be run over by the merciless trucks or gasping to take every single breath you could get at 19000ft, all the while carrying half your body weight as riding gears on you and then trying to manoeuvre the bike itself.
I thought I was fairly well prepared for the ride thanks to many riders who went before me giving priceless tips. Even then every morning was a chore. Starts with applying pounds of moisturiser all over the limbs and groin to prevent chaffing, then applying thick layers of sun screen and lip balms. Then wearing thermal inner layer and a performance layer on top of it. Then the thick level 2 armor jackets and riding pants, then the rain gear on top of it. All this before getting into knee length MX boots that wont let you walk easily. You look and feel like a 17th century warrior going for war at this point.
After all this, fill up hydration bladder along with electrolyte tablets. Load up day bag with another jacket, muffler, gloves, protein bars and more. Then chew some gums and get onto bike for a cold start prep. Imagine doing this daily for 14 days. I used to get tired just thinking about it.
Riding through the day was exciting because you never know what to expect next. Like entering scenic Shinkula top and going straight into deep, slushy, muddy downhill for 40kms OR trying to ride through zanskar while evading shooting stones OR the long soft sand no-road terrain from Hanle to Umling la OR the snowy barlach la.
Every half hour, scenery changes, different smell, different color and different air. You get to salute convoy of army trucks, throw candies to kids running to get a hi-fi, giving thumbs up to other riders. No dearth of wide open smiles you get each day.
Daily you stop for ginger-lemon-honey tea or maggi from remote small tent shops. However taking loo breaks is a task because its hard to find your manhood with all the gears. Like Fahadh in 22F kottayam, shivering cold will make that shrivelled piece of junk almost non-existent. Yet you need to constantly hydrate, so you need him every few hours anyways.
By end of the day you are drained from constant riding and radiating pain on shoulders to back due to holding handle bar whole day. All you need is a hot shower but one you can never get easily. Most these places are built for season and hence has no electricity. They switch on generators for few hours from 7pm to charge your gadgets. Provide a bucket of hot water for two. Thats it. Most evenings one would just layer up and snuggle into thick blankets hoping to get some sleep. Or drink copious amounts of rum along with it.
Looks like for most male folks, going to Himalaya is a good excuse to drink, smoke like hell. Mountains will make you pay next day though. It was surreal to watch many struggling to breathe while asking for a lighter for their cigs. They don’t see the irony.
How much is enough though ? Earlier it was Khardung la, now it is Umling la. There is always a taller mountain you can climb, thanks to genuises at BRO. Always another lake, another valley, another scenic landmark you can go. Another circuit, another off road track you can ride.
cont..
Leo retweeted
Elon Musk just explained that his biggest fear for American democracy is Americans democratically electing Democrats. You cannot make this stuff up.
My biggest concern is that if there is a clean sweep by Democrats of the House, Senate and Presidency in 2028, they will:
1. Make DC and Puerto Rico states to gain a strong majority in the Senate.
2. Open the borders and legalize everyone living in America illegally to cement a permanent majority.
3. Increase the size of the Supreme Court to gain an immediate majority.
This would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word.
All that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators this election. Other reasons are irrelevant compared to this one.
Leo retweeted
18 women developed kidney failure. Swollen legs. Puffed faces. Frothy urine. They had all bought the same fairness cream online. Goree. Made in Pakistan. Sold through Instagram pages and Meesho.
This happend in Nagpur, India. Doctors ordered tests to find the cause. Lab tests shocked everyone. Mercury at seven hundred fifty two times the legal limit. Lead too. The cream had no expiry date. No batch number. No manufacturer name. Just poison in a jar.
Mercury blocks an enzyme called tyrosinase. That enzyme makes melanin the pigment that darkens skin. Stop it and new pigment stops forming. Old pigment fades as skin cells shed. The result looks instantly fairer. The catch is mercury also damages kidneys nerves and the brain while doing it.
Doctors biopsied two patients. Membranous nephropathy with NELL-1 deposits. A signature of mercury poisoning. The metal was soaking through skin and settling in kidneys.
On July fourth Maharashtra FDA declared it not of standard quality. Banned Goree. Banned Face Fresh Gold. Banned Golden Star. Raids followed. Stocks worth over ninety lakh rupees were seized.
Then came the criminal cases. Six FIRs across five districts. Section twenty seven of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Up to three years in jail. A Chembur shopkeeper was booked. In Pimpri the Anti-Terrorist Branch arrested a man with twenty three packets. In Sangamner another seller was caught. The FDA even asked for an anti-terrorism squad inquiry.
CDSCO went national in September. Goree and Chandni. Both flagged. Still some shops sell them. People still buy.
The treatment worked when caught early. Stop the cream. Give a modified Ponticelli treatment regimen. Kidneys started recovering. But one doctor warned the truth. With mercury this strong damage can begin in ten to twelve days. Symptoms may stay silent for years. By the time you feel it it may be too late.
That's the story. A cream promised fairness. It delivered kidney failure instead. – at Kakkodi, India
Leo retweeted
I believe the greatest gift you can give your kids is a calm home. It’s not the big house or the best toys that stick with them. It’s a place where they feel safe. Where mistakes are met with patience. Where voices stay low. Where hard conversations are always followed by repair. Kids absorb everything. Create peace and they'll carry it for life.
So they moved it to other side now 🤌
@krishnabgowda Sir, footpath is fully shut with this political flex on indiranagar 100ft road junction. How do you expect people to walk and cross the road ?
Is there no way to stop this menace ?
@DKShivakumar @BlrCityPolice
എല്ലാ മലയാളികളും കണ്ടിരിക്കേണ്ട, അറിഞ്ഞിരിക്കേണ്ട ചരിത്രം. @mknid 👏👏
What did you conjure @mknid ?? Absolutely brilliant, this is. Thank you.
youtu.be/4uJcs0gmMYY?si=WBuQ…
Leo retweeted
Deepinder Goyal says his Rs 85000 wearable device Temple, allows users to share their brain-tracking data with doctors, who will be able to instantly diagnose a rich gullible idiot.
Listening to Obama’s speech in Georgia is like having a cold beer after being out on a looong tiring hot day.
Leo retweeted
Reese's Pieces have no chocolate in them. The peanuts had their oil pressed out and a cheaper fat put back in.
Sugar is first, then partially defatted peanuts, then hydrogenated palm kernel and soybean oil, then corn syrup solids. Everything after that is 2% or less, and it's the dyes, the glaze, some vanillin and a little milk. There's no cocoa anywhere.
Partially defatted just means the peanuts went through a press. The peanut oil comes out one side and gets sold as peanut oil. What's left is a dry peanut flour, and that's what the center is made from, because flour holds a shape in a panning drum and doesn't go rancid. Then they put fat back in, and the fat they picked is hydrogenated palm kernel oil, which is solid at room temperature and costs less than peanut oil. You can see the swap on the panel. 38 pieces have 6 g of fat and all 6 are saturated. Peanut oil is mostly unsaturated, so that number isn't the peanut.
The shell is sugar with 4 dyes and a coat of shellac.
Leo retweeted
Among all the news coming out, there's also the report about counterfeit vaccines from Abhayrab, one of the major rabies vaccine brands.
When an infected dog bites you, getting rabies vaccination is essential to prevent the disease from becoming fatal. But what happens if the vaccines themselves are fake?
Indians aren't just struggling with the menace of stray dogs and the threat of rabies, but also with a system that fails to keep counterfeit medicines off the market.
Leo retweeted
Judge Reno Francis Xavier has been able to destroy the evidence by barging into the police station, as the victim’s family allege, precisely because of his position as Additional District and Sessions Judge.
The Hon’ble Kerala High Court is essentially mocking and insulting the victim’s family by upholding the Judge's fairness and asking them to place trust in him just because “he’s a judicial officer”, when he’s already facing the allegation that he’d abused that position to absolve himself of any cognizance of the crime committed.
Some impeccable sense of judgement from the Hon’ble Milords in Kerala High Court. 🔥
🤡🤌🏼
[BREAKING] "He is a judicial officer. He will co-operate with the investigation"
Kerala High Court halts arrest of MACT judge booked after his minor son causes fatal car crash
report by @GitiPratap
barandbench.com/news/litigat…
So @Uber has now again changed its general pickup point at T1 @BLRAirport without any clear signboards.
It is now straight across exit where their Black pickpoints are. #Janhit_mein_jaari
