Day 1 (day of departure): Cart Road, Shimla.

A clear sky above our heads, a beckoning road that lies ahead and a Large Travel/ Hiking Backpack on our shoulder-we are all set to hit the roads again. In ten minutes we’ll leave Shimla and begin our road trip to Leh. Songs about roads, travel and adventure are playing in constant loop in my mind. I can’t stop humming our cult song, “riders on the storm” by The Doors, or Willie Nelson’s “on the road again” or Denver’s “leaving on a jet plane”. Stacking my last stock of provisions in the outer compartment of my Large Travel/ Hiking Backpack, I lock the heavy-duty zip and adjust the shoulder straps. Phungsuk and Dorji stand by the door, their backpacks packed and mounted on their backs; the hip belt fastened tightly. We push off for the roads.

Day 3: SH13 Highway, Mandi District

The ascent has begun. Our faces look weather-beaten and our throats are parched. We are already beginning to look like highland gypsies. We breathe heavily and look ahead at the tapering, meandering mountain-road. We halt for a while. Dorji fishes out two water bottles from the two side sandwich net meshes of his backpack. We gulp down loads of water and decide to rest a bit before beginning another long ascent.

Day 5:  NH-21, Kullu District, Forest Ranger on our left.

We decide to continue our hitch-hiking and wait for a vehicle to pass. Luckily, a truck comes our way and halts. We hop on. Surprisingly, neither of us is tired. Thanks to the steel wire support that keeps the bag’s back pad straight even if carrying heavy weight, our backs are neither hurt nor aching. I take out the road map and a few cola cans from the inner compartment of my backpack. Miles to go! We look at each other and raise a toast, the “do the due” way!

Day 8: SH 26 Highway, Exact Location: Unknown!

A thin slice of rubble and almost peeping out of it, a creek! God, this could be a river a few kilometers ahead. Once again, we feel the adrenaline rush through our spine. We take off our shoes and put them in the bottom shoe compartment of our respective backpacks. The current’s a little strong but we have come prepared. We tighten our adjustable shoulder and compression straps and cross the rivulet with ease.

Day 11: Slight Left, Sharp Right, Welcome to Ladakh!

We are here! Ten days of rigorous walking, trekking, hitch-hiking, sleeping in make-shift tents, coughing and puffing, we’re finally in Leh (Ladakh). We feel victorious.

But for the comfortable and spacious Large Travel/ Hiking Backpack with Padded Back and Shoulder Straps, we would have been dead midway, let alone reaching Leh. Coming so far, we can’t help but plan our next trip, of course, with our companion, the Large Travel/ Hiking Backpack. Night falls and Morrison’s song reverberates from far-far away:

“Riders on the storm…”