Historical Cycling Tour from 15 Miles to Leh

Over last couple of years, cycling has become a passion and a way of life for me. On 23^rd March 2016, I signed up with Youth Hostel Association of India for this 12 days (including test ride) bicycle ride in the Himalayan valley from 15 Miles to Leh. It was not just covering this route on cycle, for me it was discovering life, pushing myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It was for testing the strength of my grit, belief and purpose. It was for getting inspired and hopefully for being an inspiration. I will share an everyday account of this amazing cycling trip through one of the toughest terrains in the world.

Day 0 – July 10, 2016

We reached 15 Miles YHAI base Camp at 8:30 am. In the afternoon I took a walk to the Manali market and Hidimba Temple. From the Manali market, I could see Rohtang Pass. We were in total 53 riders in Batch 1 who were leaving for ride on 13^th July 2016. In evening, we sat down at Beas River side near our Base camp. After Dinner at base camp, we get to know each other in introduction session.

Day 1 & 2 – July 11-12, 2016

In morning, we got our bicycles from YHAI with all required accessories. Then after lunch we got ready for our test ride to Naggar, a beautiful village between Manali and Kullu. We had two trips to Naggar Castle with some steep climbing. There is a Russian painter, archaeologist Nicholas Roerich home converted into Museum in Naggar Castle. While returning to base camp, we enjoyed Fresh Apples from Orchards.

Day 3 – July 13, 2016 (15 Miles to Marhi – 48km)

We started our ride from 15 Miles to our next destination Marhi, roughly 48 kms. Total climb of the day was 1800 meters. I started at 9:00 am after SDM arrived for flag off. I was riding Firefox Target D, which performed up to the mark on the rough route. We passed through Manali and took a 15 min break to click photographs. Till Marhi, I did solo ride waving to other riders & Army in between. As it was my first long climbing experience, I had to stop after every 15-20 minutes for break. Near Solang Valley, I met a couple who were riding with their tents and bags which motivated me. 

By 2:00 pm we had a break for lunch. At that time, there was around 18km to be covered. Clouds started gathering and suddenly there was no visibility beyond 5-10 feet. Then it started drizzling at around 3:30 pm. Luckily, I was not carrying Rain coat with me and started feeling cold. I pedaled continuously for last 1:30 hrs. & drank water from my Hydration Bag without stopping and reached Marhi by 5:00 pm. By far this was the toughest day of this journey. Some of the riders kept arriving by 10:00 pm by night and some of them quit the next morning.

Day 4 – July 14, 2016 (Marhi to Sissu – 45km)

We started our ride in foggy weather from Marhi to climb Rohtang Pass. It is a ride to Rohtang Pass located at 3978 meters.   Interestingly Rohtang means “pile of corpses” as many people die trying to cross the pass during cold weather and unpredictable snowstorms. From the top, breathtaking views of the glaciers and snow clad mountains of the Chandrabhaga Range on the other side of the pass was spectacular. The ride down was challenging due to very bad road conditions. Many bikers and tourists were saluting us or giving thumbs up throughout the route, which boosts my morale and my dream of carrying National Flag on my bike, motivated me. I enjoyed the most on downhill with speed and drifting and singing patriotic songs.

The downhill ride ended in Koksar where we had lunch at roadside dhaba. After Koksar there were some plain straight downhill roads towards Sissu where many of us might have touched the speeds of 70’s and 80’s. The camp site at Sissu was wonderful with Chenab River flowing in the backyard. There was a waterfall flowing through a heart shaped rock structure. This was one of the best camp sites of this journey and there was no shortage or supply of water.

Day 5 – July 15, 2016 (Sissu to Jispa – 60km)

After Sissu I decided to reach at last to every milestone and enjoy the ride with fellow riders. Sissu to Jispa is around 60kms along with Chandra and Bhaga rivers. It turned out to be a rough ride due to bad roads, sudden change in gradients, and hot afternoon. Parts of the road were filled with thick layer of dust and rubbles. We took a break in between at Tandi for 30 minutes and had lunch. From Tandi, there was a climbing road towards Keylong. I took a break under shades and wait for fellow riders to join. We then again took a break at Keylong for lunch. The road from Keylong was unexpectedly tough as the road suddenly increased in gradient and afternoon was very hot. Final stretch towards Jispa is a complete downhill with sharp turns in between. After Jispa there are no mobile postpaid network connections. Jispa was the place where we got built up location for stay. It took 8 hours to complete this ride.

Day 6 – July 16, 2016 (Jispa to Zing-Zing Bar – 35km)

Today we ride from Jispa to Zing-Zing bar. Our route continued along the Bhaga River till Darcha. From Darcha the roads climbed in switch back turns and gradually lead to Zing-Zing bar. Zing-Zing bar is at the base of Baralachla climbs, the next major milestone on our tour. There were multiple waterfalls and at the base of waterfalls there were loose boulders or nala’s. Crossing the boulders on cycle required some skill. On the route, we had a brief halt at Patseo near Deepak Taal as it was drizzling outside. After Deepak Taal, we passed through the first Army base camp and I felt so patriotic to see our soldiers. Zing-Zing bar camp was at 4300 meters altitude. Oxygen levels were periodically checked for those who were feeling uncomfortable. It was the first time I felt bit difficult in breathing.

Day 7 – July 17, 2016 (Zing-Zing Bar to Sarchu – 53km)

The strenuous section and high altitude of the trip begins from here. From Zing-Zing bar the hard climbed started and continued to Baralachla, elevation of 16040 feet/4890 meters. Route passed through beautiful Lake of Suraj Taal. A group of motorcyclists were amazed to see me riding a cycle on top of Baralachla. They applauded “Bravo, Bravo” and took some pictures. The views from the pass are amazing. At higher altitudes, oxygen availability is less so the efforts get automatically multiplied. Once again weather changed drastically and it started raining.

Sarchu is the border between Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir. This was the point where we had crossed Spiti Valley and entered into Ladakh Valley. Road descends from the pass to the plains of Sarchu. The landscape changed completely with no trace of trees. The landscape is awe-inspiring – blue sky, enormous mountains, and marvelous contours of the rivers.

Day 8 – July 18, 2016 (Sarchu to Whisky Nala – 48km)

Today is an uphill ride covering the famous Ghata Loops and Nakeela Pass and downhill to Whisky Nala. Ghata Loops is a 21 hairpin bends that takes us from 4190 meters to 4630 meters. Nakeela pass is at 15547 feet/ 4950 meters after Ghata Loops. It was a proud moment for me at Nakeela Pass and riding with the flag on my bike. I again did solo ride after Ghata Loop end till Whisky Nala because of late hours.

Day 9 – July 19, 2016 (Whisky Nala to Pang – 29km)

This was the small distance ride of complete journey. There was around 6km of climb till Lachungla Pass and then downhill till Pang. Pang is one of the world’s highest transit camps of army. At that night, I called my home from Army’s Satellite phone and ensured them everything is alright.

Day 10 – July 20, 2016 (Pang to Debring – 41km)

At Pang, Flag off was done by Army Major at around 9:00 am. After climbing 5km we reached Moore Plains. These are the world’s largest plains after 16000ft height. It is a very good road surrounded by deserts and mountains. Our camp site was at Debring, which was the highest camp site of all. It was at 4600+ meters of height. There were some dried up lakes along the roads and it was very hot in afternoon. For long distances there was nobody. We sat down silently near a milestone for an hour.

Day 11 – July 21, 2016 (Debring to Rumtse – 56km)

Today was the second most difficult ride on our tour to cross Taglangla. Taglangla is at 17582 feet/ 5359 meters and is claimed to be the second highest motorable pass in the world. I was persistent and kept riding. It was a great relief to reach on the top. We celebrated, danced a lot at the pass. I stayed there for 1:30 hours and took my lunch. The downhill ride to Rumtse was rewarding. The camp site at Rumtse was one of the best with 24 hours water stream flowing and farms spread on the sides of tents.

Day 12 – July 22, 2016 (Rumtse to Leh – 80km)

We are now close to the end of this amazing journey. The ride to Leh is great as we say human habitats, animals and trees after many days. Roadside after Upshi you find military establishments and beautiful monasteries co-existing. The road is mostly plain except for the last 10km stretch to Leh which gradually goes up. On the route we came across Rancho’s school, Thiksey and Shey Monasteries. It felt like heaven when we finally reached our last base camp in Leh.

We had 53 members in our batch out of which 43 managed to reach till Leh. We cycled for about 80 hours throughout the journey. The next two days we explored Leh city and visited places like Shanti Stupa, Zorawar Fort, Hall of Fame, French Bakery and Leh Market. On July 24, 2016 I returned back to Delhi with my first ever experience in Air India.

Few of the quotes that I kept telling myself throughout the journey and following them heartedly are:-

Never Criticize, Always Encourage.

You just want to be passionate. Find something you care about and care deeply.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now.

Finally quoting a FB post from one of the friends in the group, which sums up the whole journey - Mountains, they test you, bring you on your knees, break your over-confidence, sometimes part you in millions of pieces and then all you know is – Life is not about getting stuck in complications but about living the simplicities.

Updates in Google Adwords so far in 2016

Beginning in February 2016, there was a rush of announcements that culminated at the Google Performance Summit on May 24. Those announcements will shape much of what search marketers will be working on in the second half of the year. Here’s a look back at all the big feature updates, launches and news from Google Adwords so far this year.

Right Rail Ads: - In February, Google confirmed that they would no longer serve text ads in the right rail on desktop. The move unifies how text ads display on all devices.

Ads in Local & Maps: - In April, Google started showing ads in the Local Finder, the page of local and Map results that users got to by clicking on “More Places” from the local three pack on the main search results. Google no longer categorizes Maps as Search Partners. The change means that only ads with Location Extensions are eligible to show in Maps, and it also means advertisers can opt out of Search Partners and still show ads in Maps.

Expanded Text Ads: - Expanded Text Ads are the biggest change announced in the first half of the year. Every single advertiser running text ads will be rewriting ads in the coming months.

Device Bidding: - Google is bringing device bidding back to pre-Enhanced Campaign days. Bid modifiers remain, but tablet and desktop bids will be separate, and advertisers can set base bids for Mobile.

Updates for Shopping and Retail: - GTIN requirements for shopping feeds went into effect to help Google improve the relevancy of product listing ads for user queries. Google officially brought Shopping Ads to Image Search. They also added a “store pick up” link option for Local inventory Ads to appeal to local shoppers who want to buy online and pick up in-store. Google announced inventory search in local knowledge panels for users to be able to see if an item is in stock at their local retailer. The feature is automatically available to retailers running Local Inventory Ads. Shoppers will soon notice 32 or 16 products as Ads in Google Search. Earlier there was space for 8 products.

Conversion Attribution Model: - Search Marketers can now set different attribution models including the new data-driven attribution model for individual conversion events in Adwords.

App Parity: - Google finally launched an iOS app for Adwords. Now Advertisers can access Adwords Apps on both Android and iOS.

Redesigning Adwords Interface: - Advertisers will hope to see newly designed UI of Adwords in second half of 2016.

Google Analytics 360 Suite: - Google launched a premium suite of Analytics. New in the premium suite is the long-awaited data management program (DMP), a landing page testing/personalization tool and a custom reporting tool.

Adieu Converted Clicks: - From September 2016, Converted clicks columns in Adwords will get deprecated. Advertisers will now consider All Conversions and View through Conversions.

Similar Audiences: - Adwords now create similar audiences using customer match data for targeting on Gmail and YouTube. Also, advertisers can now target Similar Audience in Search Ads or Re-marketing List Search Ads (RLSA) Campaigns. Also, RLSA Campaigns can now run on Search Partner Sites.

Cross-device Conversions: - Cross device conversions are now included in All Conversions.

TrueView Discovery Ads: - TrueView in-display Ads are now known as TrueView video discovery ads. These ads run on YouTube.

In-Market Audience: - Advertisers can now target In-market audience in Gmail Ads.

Target CPA on GDN: - A new version of the Target Cost-per-Action bidding structure with zero eligibility requirements launched on Google Display Network. Previously advertiser needed fifteen conversions in 30 days to opt-in to Target CPA. Now advertisers will be able to opt. all campaigns into Target CPA from day one with no campaign history, driving better and more efficient performance.

Quality Score Reporting: - Advertisers will begin seeing null Quality Scores in Adwords (designated by “-“), which will display where there are not enough impressions or clicks to accurately determine a Keyword’s Quality Score.

Price Extension: - The new Text ad Extension shows pricing information about products and services and takes up significant real estate on mobile.

Responsive Ads: - The Next generation of Text ads, Responsive Ads are design to adapt to their surroundings and create the perfect fit for any ad slot on the Google Display Network.

Carousel Cards: - Google is planning to launch carousel cards for Sitelinks used with Text Ads.

Health Score: - Google is testing a new overview in the Opportunities tab in Adwords that gives Advertisers an “Account Health Score for Search.”

Call Only Ads: - When Google debuted call only ads last year, one of the issues businesses objected to be the fact that only the phone number appeared in the ads. This is now changed, with business names now showing up in a second headline in call only ads.

Drafts and Experiments: - Google had also launched Drafts & Experiments features in Adwords which is now extended to Google Display Campaigns. It can be used to test changes to campaigns, such as bid adjustments and strategies, without affecting performance. In Drafts, advertisers can make a mirror campaign in which to make changes. These can be applied to the active campaign, deleted or executed as an experiment to test how the changes perform against the original campaign by designating a portion of the budget to the experiment for a period of time.

Campaigns Forecasts: - Google is slowly rolling out a new feature that allows advertisers to track goals across groups of campaigns. Advertisers can group campaigns into a campaign set and assign a performance target for conversions, CPA or spend within a specific date range. The tool then provides an overview of performance along with forecasts for goal achievement by the end of the date range.

Firebase Analytics: - Google has launched Firebase Analytics, a new analytics solution for mobile apps. It is designed specifically for mobile apps. That means instead of focusing on page views, impressions or sessions, developers can see what users are doing inside the app, how paid advertising campaigns are performing with cross-network attribution and where users are coming from.

SMS Ad Extension: - Google Adwords is now testing a new ad extension, similar to call ad extension for sending SMS or text messages to the advertiser. Clicking on the text messaging icon will allow users to text the company that is advertising on Adwords. When users click the icon, it opens default messaging app. It prefills the text message with the advertiser’s information. 

Adwords Editor: - Adwords Editor is now updated with inclusion of all Extensions and Expanded Text Ads.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill Explanation

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), the biggest reform in India’s indirect Tax structure since the economy began to be opened up 25 years ago is now a reality. Here’s how GST differs from the current regimes, how it will work, and what will happen if Parliament clears the Bill.

Stage 1 - Imagine a manufacturer of say, shirts. He buys raw material or inputs – cloth, thread, buttons, tailoring equipment worth Rs 100, a sum that includes a tax of Rs 10. With these raw materials, he manufactures a shirt. In the process of creating the shirt, the manufacturer adds value to the materials he started out with. Let us take the value added by him to be Rs 30. The gross value of his good would then be Rs 100 + 30, or Rs 130. A tax rate of 10%, the tax on output will then be Rs 13. But under GST he can set off this Tax (Rs 13) against the Tax he has already paid on raw materials (Rs 10). Therefore, the effective GST incidence on the manufacturer is only Rs 3 (13-10).

Stage 2 - The Next stage is that of the good passing from the manufacturer to the wholesaler. The wholesaler purchases it for Rs 130, and adds on value (margin) of Say Rs 20. The gross value of the good he sells would then be Rs 130 + 20 or a total of Rs 150. A 10% tax on this amount will be Rs 15. But again, under GST, he can set off the tax on this output (Rs 15) against the tax on his purchased good from the manufacturer (Rs 13). Thus, the effective GST incidence on the wholesaler is only Rs 2 (15-13).

Stage 3 - In the Final stage, a retailer buys the shirt from the wholesaler. To his purchase price of Rs 150, he adds value of say Rs 10. The gross value of what he sells therefore goes up to Rs 150 + 10 or Rs 160. The tax on this, at 10% will be Rs 16. But by setting off this tax (Rs 16) against the tax on this purchase from the wholesaler (Rs 15), the retailer brings down the effective GST incidence on himself to Rs 1 (16-15). Thus, the total GST on the entire value chain from the raw material suppliers through the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer is Rs 10 + 3 + 2 + 1 or Rs 16.

Scenario in Non-GST Regime – In a full non-GST system, there is a cascading burden of “Tax on Tax” as there are no set-offs for taxes paid on inputs or on previous purchases. If we consider the same example as above, the manufacturer buys raw materials at Rs 100 after paying tax of Rs 10. The gross value of the shirt he manufacturers would be Rs 130, on which he pays a tax of Rs 13. But since there is no set-off against the Rs 10 he has already paid as tax on raw materials the good is sold to the wholesaler at Rs 143 (130 +13).

With the wholesaler adding value of Rs 20, the gross value of the good sold by him is then Rs 163. On this, the tax of Rs 16.30 (at 10%) takes the sale value of the good to Rs 179.30. the wholesaler, again can’t set off the tax on the sale of its good against the tax paid on his purchase from the manufacturer. The retailer buys the good at Rs 179.30 and sells it at a gross value of Rs 208.23 which includes his value addition of Rs 10 and a tax of Rs 18.93 (at 10% of Rs 179.30). Again, there is no mechanism for setting off the tax on the retailer sale against the tax paid on this previous purchase.

The total tax on the chain from the raw materials suppliers to the final retailer in this full no-GST regime will work out to Rs 10 + 13 + 16.30 + 18.93 = Rs 58.23. For the Final consumer, the price of the good would then be Rs 150 + 58.23 = Rs 208.23. Compare this 208.23 with a tax of Rs 58.23 to the final price of Rs 166, which includes a total tax of Rs 16, Under GST.

Present Scenario – Currently, we have Value Added Tax (VAT) systems both at the Central and State levels. But the central VAT or CENVAT    mechanism extends sets offs only against central excise duty and service tax paid up to the level of production. CENVAT does not extend to value addition by the distributive trade below the stage of manufacturing, even manufacturers can’t claim set off against other central taxes such as additional excise duty and surcharge.

VATs cover only sales. Sellers can claim credit only against VAT paid on previous purchases. The VAT also does not subsume a host of other taxes imposed within the states such as luxury and entertainment tax, octroi, etc. Once GST comes into effect, all central and state level taxes and levies on all goods and services will be subsumed within an integrated tax having two components, a central GST and a state GST.

This will ensure a complete, comprehensive and continuous mechanism of tax credits. Under it, there will be tax only on value addition at each stage, with the producer/seller at every stage able to set off his taxes against the central/stage GST paid on his purchases. The end-consumer will bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set off benefits at all the previous stages.

Rio 2016: India’s brightest Medal prospects

India is sending its largest ever contingent for the Rio Olympics this year with several medal prospects in its ranks.

Sania Nehwal - Discipline: Badminton. After battling injuries at the start of the year, Sania has endured a mixed season so far. She defended her Australian Open Superseries title and settled for a bronze at the Asian Championships. Saina won bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. She is the only Indian shuttler to win an Olympic Medal.

PV Sindhu – Discipline: Badminton. World No 10 PV Sindhu has had an inconsistent run in the women’s singles in Badminton. Her lone title this year came in the Malaysia Masters and Macau title last year. PV Sindhu is the first ever women’s singles player to win a medal at the World Championships where she won the bronze in 2013 and 2014.

Srikanth Kidambi – Discipline: Badminton. He is the first Indian to win a Super Series men’s title in 2014 China Open Super Series. He clinched the Syed Modi International this year and won two more gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games. He had also won Swiss Open Grand Prix and clinched the Indian Open Super Series. He also has a Thailand Open Grand Prix title to his credit.

Deepika Kumari – Discipline: Archery. One of India’s biggest medal hopes, Deepika Kumari had to settle for silver in the mixed recurve pair event at the Archery World Cup. Deepika qualified for the Rio Olympics after scoring 686/720 in the women’s recurve event at the World Cup in 2015. She is a former World No 1 ranked Archer in women’s recurve and won her first World Cup Gold in 2012. She also won a Gold Medal in the 2013 Archery World Cup and has 3 Silver Medals so far.

Bombayla Devi – Discipline: Archery. Bombayla won a silver medal in the team event at the World Cup this year. She won the Gold in the 2010 CWG in the recurve team event and has 12 podium finishes in World Cups and World Championships.

Laxmirani Manjhi – Discipline: Archery. She clinched a silver medal in the individual recurve event and the team event at the 2015 Archery World Championships.

Irfan Kolothum Thodi – Discipline: 20km racewalk. Irfan is the current Indian record holder who burst onto the scene of race walking after securing a tenth place finish at the London Olympics. He covered the 20km race in 1:22:19.

Tintu Luka – Discipline: Women’s 800m. She secured gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in the 800m event and won silver in the 4*400m relay. Tintu impressive record includes a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and gold in the women’s 4*400m relay in the same competition, which also saw India clinch its fourth consecutive gold since 2002.

Vikas Gowda – Discipline: Discus. He had finished eighth place in London Games finals. He is the current national record holder and has two Asian Athletics gold medals to his credit. He also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.