My Big Escapade - Destination Unknown...

My Big Escapade

2009-11-26T11:35:00.002+05:30

Been on a big ride of 175 days and 25508 KMs.

The track has been...
BigEscapade at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

Summery:

As i sit at the southern tip of India, naively imitating Swamy Vivekananda, a mix of emotions rush to my mind. Sense of achievement, euphoria, disbelief and despair. Despair cos its all going to end soon. Thrilled at playing back my entire journey so for, in my mind. The places i have been, the people i have met, the experiences i have gained. All this feeling the cool breeze from the Indian Ocean i am staring at. Been more then 170 days on the move, living a nomadic travelers life on my Karizma. Across India, Bhutan and Nepal. It all sums up to one thing that i was happy at that moment.

On the way to beach in Kanyakumari, visited the museum on Swamy Vivekananda. His great journey across India was depicted there. He was short of money to pay for the boat man to take him to the now Vivekananda rock. He jumped into the strong waters and swam across to the rock. Spent quite some time there contemplating his journey so far. I felt right to do that myself too. Though i did not swim across to the rock, it was nonetheless great introspecting my travel so far.

It all began with suggestion and encouragement from my friend. Who recognized that i had not many bondages or commitments. Had my own share of disillusionment of this world due to some events. I could go on a big escapade away from my regular life. In what bettor way then riding away on my Karizma, which i love to do. Felt just right and din know what else to do other than this, in life at that point of time. My friend also gave me an high level itinerary.

The general far fetched idea being an all India ride, did some planning with my friends, though i was mostly passive on the route. Initially it was supposed to be a clock wise ride around India. Since i was not sure of how long i would last on the road and how long things would permit me, we decided it would be counter clock wise. So that i could ride out places i had not visited first. East coast, Bhutan, North East, Nepal, Ladakh and West coast was the basic itinerary. It was all wish full thinking at that time. The only fail safe being if something unfortunate happens, dump the bike at a transporter and fly home.

My friend helped me out with lot of ideas for the journey including the idea of geting custom fabricated panniers made. Took like 2 weeks to get that done in parts with four different parties. Shopped a lot, GPS phone for tracking and Laptop for logging among other things. In a months time i was ready to hit the road.

The day i was to start, had a small walk with my dad who had to let me go being unconvinced. The first thing i felt pushing the bike of the stand was, boy has it become monster with all the load. Did give me scares. My friend came to see me off and i started riding out of Bangalore crossing the city in the peak traffic. Soon i was riding away on the Kolar NH with Destination Unknown. With no idea of how long i will be able to continue on the trip. Its was Vijayvada for the day as i wanted to go out of my normal touring radius. Thus i was moving towards the east coast. Visiting places which i had only heard of. Vishakapattanam was quite a place especially on the beach road and made for a good day's halt with a lot of places to check out. Continued upwards on the east coast, stayed and visited places like Bhuvaneshwar, Puri, Konark and Chilika Lake. The sun temple at Konark was fascinating relic though a bit explicit in carvings. An evening on the Puri's beach was like a bliss. Crossing a couple of states i was still able to communicate in local language which helped me a lot. Telugu is my mother tongue and i could speak a some bengali which meant am kind of at home all through the east coast as for a language is concerned. Got off the NH 5 and settled in for a night at Digha, a coastel town, with cement beach! Had a nice ride on the very hard flat beach on my Karizma, before heading for Koltata. Took an off beat route crossing the Hoogli river by a ferry. Interior west bengal is thickly populated and its always dodging the traffic on my overgrown bike. Make it to Kolkata the City of Joy in 12 days. My father comes around for a visit and its couple of days break there. Here on the journey ahead had lot of uncertainty as lot less people travel around here on motorcycles. It was a gamble riding to Sunderbans and even had to sail over to an island on a small boat meant for people, along with my bike. Luckily found a place to park my bike and had couple of nights stay at Sajnekhali Wild life resort. Well no luck with a tiger spotting on a whole day's boat ride, but for couple of trails of day old pug marks.

So far so good and Bhutan was next on the itinerary. Hopping over Siliguri, Entered the Royal kingdom of Bhutan, and put up at PheountSholing. Its a border town along with an Indian town Jaigon. The two towns separated by a wall could not be any different. Felt the sense of freedom and security walking around in night, where i was always on the alert on the east coast India. Could get sim cards for 20 Rs and immediately activated on the go! Permits was time consuming and also needed a call from Indian embassy to get things going. Ride ahead on my first international road trip to explore the Himalayan country. Had couple of days of holdup due to a landslide, before reaching Thimpu. It was so very developed and felt like i was in a European town. Very nice and polite people around here but i guess there are always exceptions as my phone got mugged here of all the places. Statistics makes no sense i guess. Well have to move on. Rode around the Paro airport, the only one in Bhutan, to visit Takshakt Geomba also known as Tiger's nest, Perched on the side of a sheer cliff face. East of Thimpu i could see not much development. It was just miles and miles of winding mountain roads and a small towns on the way. Could ride for hours and still be in the same geographical area. But whose complaining as those were beautiful riding days on the mesmorising country side of Bhutan. The Himalayan mountains were on the greener side with highest pass around 3700 meters and any higher would need trekking. Loved taking breaks and gazing at the valleys and mountain ranges. After 10 days and 1400 Kms traveling in Bhutan, I exited at the Samdrup Jongkhar town bordering Assam state of India.

All of a sudden a sense of insecurity grips me. Such a transformation coming from the safe haven of Bhutan. Most had advised me against traveling North East India but for my co conspirators of this trip. Added to that there was serial bomb blasts a couple of days before i reached Guwahati. Had seen only a couple of triplogs on net of people traveling this region on motorcycles and cycles. I was in contact with them and they were kind enough to guide me around over phone. I would be lying if i said i wasn't scared. Riding towards Guwahati, keep seeing these boards by Military, advising against terrorism. Lucky that a friend of mine from collages days was from here and i put up at his parent's place. This was comforting and i could think straight. Visiting Arunachal Pradesh was first on the cards but the permits were not available for couple of days. Thus i moved down to Meghalaya and stayed in Cherrapunjee for a night, riding over the ridge of a picturesque valley. It was a bit funny cos i had wore all my rain gear when i entered the second most wettest place in the world and it was bone dry! What do you know it does not rain for four months here! Its surprising how in this modern age of Internet many things we learn by going to actual places. The places and villages and people felt really strange and the only way i can express is that it felt strange. Lot of places to visit around there, including a long hard trek to check out the amazing living root bridges. Back to Shilong for a couple of days rest and permits for states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal.

From there on i am supposed to be riding in troubled areas as i move in to Tripura. Never thought i would be riding in these states. People not really vella and i had meal for like 5 rupees. There were even military escorted convoys to get to Agartala the capital of Tripura. Some how i was allowed with out the convoy. Guessed the trouble makers would not be interested in a single bike. Was hosted by an police Inspector in Agaratala for lunch. Nothing like a home cooked meal to energize. Stayed near Neer Mahal, the lake palace for a night. Its first rains of the season as in head east to Mizoram. My idea of riding through an interior route to Aizwal, the capital, got foiled by rain. Had to stay at

Mizoram border town khanmun's guest house, nestled in forest kind of place. Had to back track and take the horrid route via Silchar. Entering the hilly state, the difference between the neighbouring state of Tripura was very evident. For a change i see lots and lots of Karizmas and many new bikes there. Aizwal was perched on steep hills with hardly any buildings and households on flat ground. The rear of these structures were supported by couple of stories high stilts. Spent a nice evening there with a local bullet group who came to visit me. Had a chance to visit a lake inside burma. But that would have been a three day trip with bad roads and rains. Mizoram was very safe and there are no sign of trouble. But next up was Manipur, where there are atleast 30 active militant groups even now. Most people advised me to avoid Manipur. Took confidence from cyclists who had toured manipur and went ahead. Again rain was spoil sport here as i attempted to ride to Imphal via the Natorious NH 150 also know as Tipaimukh Highway. But the attempt was enough to give me shivers riding into deep narrow forest road. Any way came back to Aizwal and took the Silchar route to Manipur. Heavy military presence in this state. Lot of soldiers patrolling the highways. Was even hosted by a Assam Rifals camp for a night. Was lucky enough to have a glimpse at how soldiers in action live. The Major, my host also gave me a good insight of the state of affairs in the troubled state. Made it to Imphal the capital the next day. Guess that is the only city in the state. Kohima was next up and i was out of Manipur with no trouble at all but for heavy rains. Sad that such a beautiful hilly state is in turmoil. Not yet breathing easy as i just entered Nagaland. Again contrary to all i have heard about this state, it was a peaceful ride and stay actually.

Exited Nagaland from Dimapur and headed straight to Kaziranga National park. Spotted lot of One Horned Rhinos on a fantastic early morning elephant ride. It was time to head north into Arunachal Pradesh. Since monsoons were approaching fast i decided to skip exploring eastern Arunachal as rains are supposed to be deadly around here. So Tavang was the only place i felt feasible. Got permits in Tezpur and soon i was crossing over the Misty Sela pass to reach Tavang. Thanks to suggestion of my friends and a veteran motorcyclist's article in 60kph.com , i went straight to DC office and then to Mountain Brigade to secure the permit to Visit Bum La, a disputed border mountain pass between India and China. The next day was luckily of clear weather and gave a window to attempting the pass. Had to get clearance by 3-4 check posts before i could proceed. It was tough, especially a some meters of incline on rounded stones. But it was rewarding atop Bum La. Was hosted well by the Sikh Regiment stationed there at the Border personnel meeting hut. Then it was kind of escape for Arunachal as i had to ride out terrible rains to get back to Assam. Looks like my North East leg is over and i head to Sikkim after a couple of day's rest in Guvahati.

Reaching Gangtok, i was suddenly in a tourist region. Looks like 'dangerous' part of the trip is over and from then on it was in safe touristy places. Well i could breath a sigh relief. Loved Sikkim and a couple of days of party at Gangtok was great to unwind with out worries of safety. With some hard work at getting permits, visited Nathu La, the trade border pass between India and China. Felt great to be there. It was time to head north and the rest of the Sikkim ride was mindbogglingly beautiful. Plenty of waterfalls around. ChungTong is a point of Y fork and i had a awesome rides to Zero point and Gurdongmor lake on either side of the fork. The bright blue Lake being at an altitude of 17000 feet. First time i get the taste of riding wide open high altitude places of himalayas. The development in north sikkim was hardly any thing compared to south. Had troubles with basic needs of phone coverage and petrol. Had to barrow some as well. Couple of landslides and fuel shortage made sure that i would spend a night at police check post in the middle of no where. But loved every moment of all this. Spent a day at Pelling gazing over the Majestic Kanchanjunga mountain range. Then ride out of Sikkim into Darjeeling to experience the famous toy train.

Before i realized i was out of country again, this time i entered Nepal via Pashupathi nagar border town. There was some political turmoil in Nepal just a week back and i was advised not to get there. But contrary to news on TV, things were peaceful here. Nepal is not all hilly as its got lot of plains south of Nepal with the Mahendra Raj Highway being life line. Crossed over the Kosi river and reached Kathmandu, which would be my base in Nepal for some time. It had been almost 3 months into my trip and my father came over to visit me. That was a great couple of days spent with him before he left to Bangalore, wishing me luck. It is crowded in Kathmandu. But the tourist area Thamel is quite a happening spot for chilling out. Do a couple of days ride to north of Nepal to the Kodari border town with China. It was full of activity at the border. A little south and rode more of the beautiful countryside till Jiri. The plains and hilly regions of Nepal are as different as they can be. Thought heading west but being encouraged by my friend, took a flight to Lukla. So that, with a couple of day's trek, could get a glimpse of Mt. Everest! There are no roads here so had to resort to flight and trek. Since i dont do trekking, was very skeptical in what i was getting myself into. After couple of hard days of trekking, was blessed with a clear day and there i spot the Mt Everest. Almost head back, but got tempted to go ahead till the Base camp, self motivating all the way. It was tough days, having to deal with AMS and long walks, but it was very very rewarding reaching the Everest base camp and Scaling Kala Patter to view Everest as closely as possible by non professional. Felt the sense of achievement and it was time to get back on the road heading west.

After the triumph there was a set back. A kid ran onto the road from behind a parked truck and got hit by my bike. Next two and half days were nerves uncertain days spent being a forced guest at a police station. Luckily the kid was ok to be discharged from the hospital and i was free after paying the hospital bills! That was an experience too. Made it to Pokhara and settled a the calm lakeside are around Pheva lake, a haven for tourists. Fantastic place to unwind and freak out. Before heading south to India, thought of taking couple of days ride to Muktinath, which turned out to be a very tough offroad ride for two days. Was awesome place to visit but the horrid paths and couple of bike spills took a toll on my health and lost it big time in Pokhara with stomach Infection. After 3 days of no improvement, trusting that riding would heal me started uncertainly towards India heading south. And i did get bettor!

Varanasi, one of the holiest places of Hinduism was the reason for detour away from Himalayas. It was the hottest temperatures i have ever ridden, touching 46 degrees. Spent a day at Varanasi having a boat ride looking at all the Ghats, visiting the Kashi Vishvanath temple and also witnessed the great Aarthi ceremony held everyday evening on the banks of Ganges. It as hot as hell and was time to get back to the hills of Uttaranchal and Uttarakhand. It was a few days of beautiful peaceful country side ride in these states and nice stay at Almora. Rode all the way to Badrinath. Had more places in mind to visit but it was all cloudy and misty in the hills and could not gaze on the mountain ranges. So it was time to move on.

Step by step i had rode through many legs of the journey and still found myself and the bike going strong. Yeah i had to deal with increasing backache. But i was still good to go. Stop over in Dehradun for a couple of days hosted by a very good senior Doctor, who was kind enough to drive me to Rikesh and Haridwar. It was time to get into my final leg of journey before heading home. This part was my dream from 4 years and yes it was Ladakh. Thought of riding the circuit clock wise so i would be gaining altitude slowly. Did not want to deal with AMS like i had to in Nepal.

It was unreal looking the 'Welcome to J&K' board as i rode into the state. Finally i was on my way to Ladakh. Crossing the Javahar tunnel, Kashmir valley welcomed me. Dal lake are in Srinagar was a fantastic place i spent a couple of days. The relaxing shikara boat rides are a thing to remember. Ride out to Gulmarg and found the place well deserved its name. The slopes covered in white with flowers.

With disturbance in Srinagar, moved on and stayed at Sonamarg in a Tent. The beautiful of Himalayas yet again apparent. Crossed the tough Zozi La which lifted me into Ladakh. Made it to Kargil and decided to ride out the Zanskar valley. First time in the trip i needed to carry extra fuel with me. This was a long detour with hardly any roads. The offroad path riddled with stream crossing were tough especially in the evenings. Being the peak of summer, the snow melt streams are quite heavy. Other than that, the Suru and Zanskaar valley were beautiful places to ride. Felt every thing the eye could see was mine as there was hardly any one for miles together. Got to gaze at Parkachik and Diran Durung Glaciers. Both of them came up as a surprise as i naively hadn't made any home work. Back tracked to Kargil and it was time to get Leh'd. Finally i am there in Leh crossing over a couple of passes and unworldly landscape. Took a couple of days rest as a breather.

Nobra valley ride for 3 days was very relaxing and pleasant, with weather blessing me with some sunlight. Scaled the Khardung La, officially world's highest motorable road. Finally i got to get my picture on with the board with my bike. Every day's ride in the himalayas has something different to offer. Checked out the Hunder sand dunes, panamic and on the return tried out Wari La. This was the less traveled path and isolated. It was just beautiful out there feeling the magnitude of the mountains. Had to some tricky obstacles to cross and made it at the end of the day and back to Leh. Since i had time in had, wanted to explore eastern Ladakh and sketched out a circuit. Very less first hand info available as few ride these regions some closed to foreign tourists. Stayed at the bank of the famous high altitude Pangong lake. Since i could not find any company gave a try and was successful in scaling Marsimek La, solo. Felt unreal to be there at the place i used to dream of. Continued east and rode along the LAC with China. It was mind blowing experience with all the isolation, wide open spaces till the eye could see. The uncertainty of path as i just had tire tracks to follow. The warm reception and hospitality of soldiers posted in these remote places was touching. Salutes to them for dedicating their lives so that we could have our way of life. Reached Hanle, one of the villages in eastern most Ladhak. With hardly any arrangements for tourists, had a home stay. Also had a tour of the Observatory there. Heading west towards Nyoma, the landscape was unbelievable with colorful mountains. The beautiful blue Tso Moriri was a bit hard to reach with some rough path, but in the end it was worth all the effort. Reached Leh with satisfaction and there was only one direction now. Its South.

Heading out of Leh was already in the direction of Home after months of wandering. Ladakh was not yet over as i had to cross many passes like Tanglang La, Baralach La and finally Rothan Pass before reaching Manali. Climbing down Rothang was very though with all the slush and bad weather. Made it to Delhi the next day. Pretty happy at having a relaxed tour of one month in J & K. Was hosted by a friend in Delhi, met many friends in Delhi. It was the hottest and most humid place in my entire trip! Ofcourse would not leave the capital without visiting India gate.

The ride down was through Rajasthan. Explored the city of Jodhpur before heading south into Maharastra. Swine flu was the headlines as i entered pune and again another news i found over hyped by media as i spent couple of days with my friends. Explored a bit of Maharashtra by visiting Mahabaleshwar, panchgani and Thoseghar. The western ghats as always was best to travel in monsoon. Then rolled into karnataka after 5 months. Relaxed a day at Goa and Bijapur with relatives. Kanyakumari was the target before i actually ride towards home. Caught the west coast from Mangalore and headed south. Was quite an adrenalin experience riding in the fast paced crowded highways of Kerala. Finally made it from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Wanted to check out some ancient temples in Tamil Nadu, and with trip almost at end, faced break down of my bike. Lucky that i was near Trichy and was able to get the bike fixed there. Visited the Srirangam temple, and the Big temple at Tanjavur, before reaching Chennai.

Like all good things this trip had to come to an end and made it to Bangalore after almost 6 months on the move. My father relieved to see me back and congratulated me on the achievement.

My companion, the HeroHonda Karizma behaved flawlessly, till the only break down almost at the end of the trip. Braved all the rough terrains, distances, altitudes and weather extremities with me and ran for thousands of Kms just on oil changes. The maintenance was only replacement of consumables like disk pads and chain sprocket sets.

To give numbers, the trip was of 25,508 Kms spanning over 175 days and 3 countries. Which i never thought would be the case when i started out. Thanks to friends all over the country who helped me out with info and logistics, was able continue the trip comfortably.

We never really know what we are capable of till we actually give it a try. Now when i look back on those days every thing looks so unreal. I can still remember each day of the trip and will never forget i guess. In they end they are memories of life time.

Here are the Links to the Logs of the Days...

Article in 'Bike India'

2009-11-26T10:35:00.001+05:30

An article on this trip has been published in Bike India magazine, Dec 2009 Issue.

Click on the picture for online issue teaser...

Stuff i took along

2009-09-30T19:17:00.006+05:30

Tankbag:
--------
Eicher Road Map book
Lonely planet book
Tissue papers
Copies of permits.
Laptop along with Wireless modem In a cusion cover
The above rolled in thick track pant went in a thick plastic cover
Laptop charger
Camera charger
2 Phone chargers
2 phone data cables
2 Spare helmet visors
cotton pack
Insulation tape
Multiplug socket
3 pin to 2 pin converter socket
Nose plier
Wire cutter/Sleav'er
A length of electric wire
Screwdriver
Bank account Cheque book
Small medicine kit
LED torch
spare torch batteries
sizzer
nail cutter
blade
2 pens
Liquid Mosquito Repellent.

Left Pannier:
-------------
Electric air pump
Spare tube
Duck tape
Puncture Kit:
Rod Livers to pull out the tire
Rubber patches
Gum to stick patches to the tube
Left Saddle bag:
Force tool kit
Puncture sealant
WD40
Maps and travel guide books
Spare Thicker gloves
One set thermals
Neck support
A set of casual dress
Rain suit

Right pannier:
--------------
Water heater rod
Camera tripod
Right Saddle bag:
Spanner set
Wrench
Spare Motorcycle jacket
2 Family photo albums
Shoes gaiters
Bike Spares:
clutch and front break livers
Clutch and accelerator cables
Chain tensioner
Gear liver
Disk pads 2
Bulbs 2

Back pack on rear seat:
-----------------------
2 pants
3 shirts
3 sets of undies
3 pairs of sox
2 towels
1 t shirt
1 bermuda
1 pair of slippers
1 Pajama
Toiletries
Electric Heating pad
Another medicine kit
Zip tie strips
Spare bike keys

The back pack strapped by a bungee net
Same net holds two water bottles
Plastic cover over the above
Another bungee net to secure the plastic cover

Stuff in Medicine kit:
---------------------
Band aids all sizes
Tabs for Cold, Antibiotics, Loose motion, Headache, fever, body pain, AMS, Acidity.
Antacid tabs and Lorenzes
Nasel drops
Iodex Balm
Moov Pain relief spray
Vicks vaporub
Pain relief gel
Glucose powder packet

Stuff in Toiletries:
------------------
Soap
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shampoo sachets
Small hair bottle
Talcum power
Moisturizing cream
SPF sun block
Vaseline

What i wore:
-------------
A set of undies!
Cargo pant
formal shirt
Thick ankle high woodland shoes n sox!
Camera in a waist pouch
Knee pads inside pants
Motorcycle jacket
Riding gloves
Helmet
Watch
Goggles (in jacket pocket or on the face)
Cell Phone with headphones in shirt pocket along with spare cash
In the pants pockets:
Right pocket: Wallet
Left pocket: Hankey, Lip balm, pen drive, coins
Left knee pocket : Documents for easy access
Passport, Bike RC book, Insurance, Driving/Riding License,
Photographs, permits.
Right Knee pocket: miscellaneous.

Stuff about panniers-
Custom made from Galvanized sheets.
A half centimeter cushion stuck inside and a black rexine leather stuck outside to reduce vibrations and metal flapping noise.

The caps open to the outside on both sides so that Cramster saddle bag can go in both the panniers. The idea is the let the saddle bag take most of the weight and the pannier be a metal cover carrying its own weight.

There are slits to the inside of the panniers to accommodate resting flap of the saddle bag, once the panniers are closed.

First mount point for the Right Pannier

Second mount point for Right pannier, resting on the silencer...

Looking inside, the nut screws right into the silencer...

Third mount point of Right pannier. A custome made metal tube in the place of Indicator socket.

First mount point of the Left pannier, Resting on Saree guard...

Second mount point of Left pannier. Metal fabricated piece welded to Saree guard and screwed to pannier...

Third mount point of Left pannier...

Since the Indicator socket is used up by the metal tubes to support the panniers and occupying its space, the Indicators move back and are fixed on the Number Plate.

Trip Stats

2009-09-13T01:48:00.002+05:30

KMs
---
No of KMs = 25508.
No of days = 175.
Avg KMs per day = 145 KMs.

No of Riding days = 110.
No of Non Riding days = 65.
Avg KMs per Riding day = 232 KMs

Max Kms traveled in a day = 672 kms Day 1, Bangalore to Vijaywada.
Min Kms traveled in a day = 50 kms Day 173, Trichy to Tanjavur.

Pictures
--------
Total pictures Clicked = 11248
Avg pix clicked per day = 64

Trip cost
----------
Total cost of the trip including initial preparation = 2,50,000 + Rs

The Breakup:
Preparation cost before trip = 30000 Rs (Approx)
Phone chareges including Internet for laptop = 20000 Rs (Approx)
Major Incidental Expences = 12000 Rs (Approx)
Miscellaneous expances = 10000 Rs (Approx)
Fuel cost = 45000 Rs (Approx : See below)
Hotel Stay cost = 57210 Rs (See below)
Bike Maintenance cost = 19650 Rs (See below)
Food cost = 55000 Rs (Approx)

The Avgs:

Avg cost of the trip per day = 1428 Rs
Cost During the trip = 220000 Rs
Avg Cost During the trip per day = 1257 Rs.
Avg Phone cost per day = 114 Rs
Avg Miscellaneous expenses per day = 57 Rs.
Avg food cost per day = 314 Rs.

Major Incidental Expences = 12000 Rs (Approx)
(Flights between kathmandu & Lukla 5000 Rs, Hospital charges for the kid 7000 Rs)

Fuel
----
Total Fuel = 1000 Ltrs Approx (Assuming 25 kmpl)
Avg fuel consumption per day = 5.7 Ltrs
Avg fuel consumption per riding day = 9 Ltrs

Total Fuel cost = 45000 Approx
Avg fuel cost per day = 257 Rs
Avg fuel cost per riding day = 409 Rs.

Bike Spares
-----------
Rear tire 2 changes = 5800 Rs
Front tire 2 changes = 2550 Rs

Chain Sprocket sets 3 changes = 2400 Rs
Front disk pads 4 changes = 900 Rs

Bike Maintenance
----------------
Engine oil changes, Service and Breakdown with spares = 8000 Approx

Bike Maintenance including the above bike spares = 19650 Rs

Avg cost of Bike Maintenance per day = 112 Rs
Avg cost of Bike Maintenance per riding day = 179 Rs

Food
----
Most expensive meal = 625 Rs Kathmandu
Least expensive meal = 5 Rs Tripura

Hotel Stay
----------
No of Places stayed = 90
No of Hotels stayed = 80
No of Days stayed in Hotel = 134
No of Days stayed with Friends and Relatives = 40

Total cost of hotel stay = 57210 Rs
Avg cost of hotel stay per day = 427 Rs
Avg cost of hotel stay for the whole trip = 327 Rs
Most expensive stay = 2200 Rs at Auli Clifftop Hotel
Least expensive stay = 50 Rs at Budha Lodge Gorekshep

Following is the list of Hotel Stays and the room Rent. Its Amazing how i can remember the rent paid and almost all the hotel names. Did lookup for the names and rent for very few of them from the logs. Did forget hotel names at places.

Place	Hotel	No Of Nights	Room Rent Per Day	Total cost
Vishakapatnam		2	600	1200
Aruku	Rajadhani	1	400	400
Bhuvaneshwar	Bhuvaneshwar	1	400	400
Puri	Samudra	2	700	1400
Digha	SeaHawk	1	700	700
Dimond Harbour	Sagarika	1	300	300
Sajnekhali	Sajnakhali T L	2	700	1400
Siliguri	Hill View	1	350	350
PheuntSholing	Paradise	2	450	900
Gedu		2	300	600
Thimpu	Tandin	3	450	1350
Jakar	River Lodge	1	500	500
Mangor		1	200	200
Tashigang	Druk	1	350	350
Cherrapunjee	Cherrapunjee holiday resort	1	500	500
Shillong	Prakash	4	450	1800
Kailasher	Kailasher Tourist Lodge	1	300	300
Melaghar	Sagarmahal	1	180	180
Khanmun	Tourist Lodge	1	200	200
Aizwal	Millennium	3	300	900
Jiribam	Dream Land	1	100	100
Imphal	Nirmala	1	550	550
Kohima	Fira	1	350	350
Kaziranga	Chikuni Guest house	2	650	1300
Bomdila	Tourist Lodge	1	150	150
Tavang	Dongphoo	3	500	1500
Tezpur	Parijatha	1	300	300
Gangtok	Kachan Residency	3	450	1350
Lachung	Karzang	1	250	250
Lachen	Lutong	1	350	350
Pelling	Garuda	1	350	350
Darjeeling	Grace Inn	2	300	600
Lahan	Godhuli	1	405	405
Kathmandu	Yanki	10	310	3100
Phakding		1	100	100
Namche Bazar	Yak	4	200	800
Tengboche	Himalayan view	1	200	200
Dingboche		1	200	200
Dingboche	Peace & Happiness	2	200	400
Lobuche		1	200	200
Gorakshep	Buddha Lodge	1	50	50
Lukla	Namaste	1	200	200
Pokhara	Barahi	6	550	3300
Jomsom	Xanadu	1	470	470
Gorakpur	Prasident	1	450	450
Varanasi	Temple on Ganges	2	625	1250
Luknow	Inder Residency	2	500	1000
Nainital		1	1000	1000
Almora	Deodar	2	500	1000
Nandprayag	Himalayan	1	300	300
Auli	Cliff Top	1	2200	2200
Srikot	Ram	1	350	350
Panchkula		1	550	550
Pathankot	Vishal	1	500	500
Srinagar	Aziz	3	550	1650
Sonamarg	Tent	1	500	500
Kargil	D'Zijila	2	650	1300
Rangdum	HomeStay	2	400	800
Padam	Tourist Lodge	1	200	200
Leh	Mehak	7	440	3080
Diskit	Sand dune Guest house	1	300	300
Surmur	A.O. Guest house	1	250	250
Lukung	Eco Huts	2	300	600
Chushul	PWD Guest house	1	200	200
Hanle	HomeStay	1	300	300
Karzok	Nomadic Life	1	300	300
Pang	Tent Dorm	1	200	200
Keylong	TashiDeleg	1	600	600
Manali	Devlok	1	400	400
Ajmer	Haveli Heritage Inn	1	550	550
Mount Abu	Ganesh	2	600	1200
Mahabaleshwar	Prince Palace	1	500	500
Palolem	Palolem Beach Resort	2	200	400
Shivmoga		1	450	450
Kanhangad		1	350	350
Ernakulam		1	400	400
Kanyakumari	TriSea	2	650	1300
Trichy	SKV	2	250	500
Tanjavur	Tamilnadu	1	650	650
Chennai	Aspai	1	1125	1125
Total		134		57210

Other Numbers:
No of Sims used = 9
No of Sims lost = 7 :(

Day 175 - Aug 30 - Chennai to Home (Bangalore)

2009-09-01T12:11:00.003+05:30

Aug30 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Community

333 KMs Tripmeter 25508 KMs

Its the home run today. Keeping fingers crossed. The final few steps is what can be tough and anxious. Feel bettor than yesterday morning. But the cold in me and the heat outside still interfearing with my thinking about the moment. The ride back home. with good road all the way would take like 5-6 hours to get to Bangalore. So i start a bit late. Kiran was kind enough to come to the hotel and guide me out till the highway. Bid byes and time to get moving.

Was a typical hot day and its just a leisure ride on the wide and great NH46. Its just 4 or 6 six lane all they with noting much to differentiate between a km and other. Stop for a food at a highway hotel. Having cold on a hot summers day is frustrating. Cant have cooldrinks, cant sit outside and have to sit in the AC section so that its cool and then sit away from the AC so it wont be too cold. And have coffee too.

Get to Krishnagiri in good time and take a right at NH7 and this very familiar road. The landscape or i say roadscape is actually pretty around here. So stop a few times to click the roadscapes. Reach Hosur and call up dad saying i am near and have to deal with some traffic now. The traffic after Electronics city had eased up due to roads done pretty done and saved me some slow go.

Reach home in no time and glad to see my relieved Dad waiting for me. We hug and catchup after a long time. He congradulated me on the achievement which need not have been achieved he says :) Dunno what to write ahead but that i am Home.

The trips come to an end. Though kinda miss the talking with wind the days to come. I must say that i was tired and guess made it back just before my back took a real bad beating. Back in the comforts of home and the trip is yet to hit me i guess.

My partner the Karizma went places with out a hitch till it broke down in Veralimalai. Thanks to friends all over the country, got the help and information needed and helped me complete the trip.

Kiran seeing me off at chennai...

The gates to home...

Getting nearer...

Just clicking away the roadscapes today...

A full meals for lunch...

At this nice highway hotel...

Never seen such green 4lane road!

Trying out Bokeh...

Some shallow mountains to cross. Then things will get cooler...

Thats quite a topple over...

Missed my train...

Food for thought...

Hit the NH 7 and take a right to Bangalore...

Almost there....

Would have been riding up on the 15 km long flyover if that machine had worked any faster...

Traffic has eased out here thanks to the done up road in these months. Else it would be painfully slow here.

Last hurdle before home...

Father and son united :)

Goes into the parking for some time i guess...

Thats the Odoreading at the end of the trip. Reduse 10034 and get the Tripmeter of 25508 KMs

Day 174 - Aug 29 - Tanjavur to Chennai

2009-09-01T11:49:00.002+05:30

Aug29 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trail Maps

345 KMs Trip Meter 25175 KMs.

Having trouble sleeping at night. As expected i was sick with fever by morning with weakness and all. Well i cant be smooth after all at the end of it i guess. Rest a day? well this was nothing like it was in Nepal. So went on with the plan for the day. Got up early and left room by 6am to check out the famous Tanjavur Big temple. This was a bit smaller compared to srirangam temple but the entire premises is free of regular life. The huge court yard in side couple of gates. It was awesome in the early morning coolness. But was hard work for me with fever. Looking at the top portion of the main tower, recollected a program about it in discovery channel few years back. Like the huge single piece of stone at the top was moved up by a 6 KM ramp. Cos not cranes in those times. But latest discovery says something else i heard. Even the center main temple was huge with a huge Shivlinga inside. Walk around the complex and it was time to ride on.

Had a long way to chennai and its going to get hot. Once again relied on riding to cure my illness ;) Got out of the hotel packing in slowmotion. Instead of going via Nagapatnam, thought of going via kumbakonam riding along the river Kaveri. Was suggested by arun which i took but not in the exact way. Stuck to the main roads and boy was it crowded over there. And i thought i would be riding in peaceful country side. Now with not so good sleep. I felt sleepy, real sleepy. Got pretty hard to control and had to stop for a tea. Things were bettor after that. Saw another huge colorful temple in Kumbakonam. Even in the next town as well. Later Arun tells me that there are around 17 huge temples in the area. With not so pleasurable ride i hit the coastal road to pondicherry. Traffic eased out here and can now ride peacefully.

Heard of people visiting Koodalur. Thought would check it out, then visit Mahabalipuram and then head to Chennai. Kiran was kinda enough come and wait for me ont he outskirts of chennai. Made it to pondicherry by 3 pm. Now i had to stop for the click at the meter. Yes i had made it to 25k Mark. Though not the target but was nice to see the number. It was getting late and heading directly to the ECR to make a run to chennai. Been to pondicherry before so can as well move on. Now i ride the famous East coast road. Keep seeing the sea to my right. Tempted to spend some time there but its getting late to chennai so i move on. Make it good pace to Mahabalipuram by 5.15pm. Vaugely remember going there in my child hood, where we had gone almost near to the beach in the car. But once there it was all crowded and vehicles were supposed to be parked quiet far from the beach or the shore temple. Well have to turn back then. Have a quick bite and communicated with Kiran who was on his way to meet me at Muttakodu.

Get there by 6.30 pm and meet up. Then follow him into Chennai. But boy was there traffic! and it was hot. Caught up in the peak evening traffic and its not even a weekday! Was an agonizing hour of riding in touch and go traffic, i was sick, tired, bike was heavy. It was tough time. Kiran patiently waited was my extra wide bike to get around the traffic. Plan was to stay in Vadapalli so that i would be easy to ride out tomm to Bangalore. Guess its better to deal with most of the traffic in the evening then the next day in the heat of the day. After no room at a hotel and another 20 mins to get to another one couple of kms ahead, took the expensive room as i was done riding for they day.

Phew things looked settled now. Freshen up in the room and ride out with Kiran to meet the Chennai guys for the dinner. It was a nice evening over bike talk with Kiran, Kishor, Steve, Vicky, Madhu and Ananth. I was surprised to see a cake with Destination unknown written on it along with 25! Looks like 25 is my number and what a coincedence tripped 25k kms today. Bid byes to the guys and back to the room. Well this is my last night out and hope to catch some good sleep before the home run tomm.

The Tanjavur Big temple...

From right below the gate...

One gate inside...

The huge top to the main temple tower....

Me in the main temple yard...

The main tower...

Lot of ancient script on the walls...

Entering the main temple...

Its huge inside...

Huge ShivLing in the sanctum sanctuary...

Looking out...

Huge Nandi facing the temple...

My bike's now the poser...

Looking around for the palace...

Can actually ride in some palace premises...

Cant go no fruther...

wall around the palace... where can i get it???

A huge tower by the palace...

It does not open till 9am. Guess i am not going to stick around...

I ride out...

Tanjavur's clock tower...

The streets...

Ready to leave Hotel Tamil Nadu...

Pretty classic appearance at the lobby...

Ride on the country side...

Lush crops for the season...

Some village houses...

Temple at Kumbakonam...

Bridge across the river Dry...

Nice coastal roads...

A tad too late to catch 35k on the odo...

Where i am heading today....

There it is! 25k on the TripMeter!

Entering Pondicherry...

Some french looking building?

Entering ECR...

Looks nice to ride...

Some salt farms around...

Now this is a 10x zoom and he was that far. But he was sharp enough to figure out that i had stopped for a pic. Awesome. Waved back :)

Some back waters...

Caught him unawares this time...

Backwater beach...

A back water canal...

Just a zoom click of the Mahabalipuram shore temple...

Sun going down...

The last time i would look at a sea for some time :)

The wonderful cake by Chennai guys...

No flash, so the guys are a blurr...

Day 173 - Aug 28 - Trichy to Tanjavur

2009-08-29T00:48:00.002+05:30

Aug28 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Travel Community

60KMs TripMeter 24863 KMs

With the parts arriving at by 11 and bike to be delivered late noon. We thought of visiting the Srirangam Temple in the morning. It was hot but after my stay in Delhi, any place feels bearable! We catch a rick cross the kaveri and into the Srirangam town. As we get near the temple, the imposing huge colorful front gate can be seem. Its only gets bigger and bigger as we near. Have seen these temples only on TV and now we are there. This is a busy temple with lot of life around. Seven gates till you get into the sanctum sanctuary. Each gate is an opening through the rectangular perimeter. Ok not sure of the exact design. Just writing what i observed. The first 3-4 gates had a lot of shops and civilization. Huge stone temples inside. Ofcourse there were lots and lots of people. Got into the Q and took us a good part of the day before we were through the Darshan. The 1000 pillar mandap was closed for some reason.

Caught a rick back to the hotel and had lunch. Got to the KRT Service center by 3 pm and the engine is back to the shape and about to be mounted on the bike. Looks like i can ride out in the evening. And still keep my plan to stay at Tanjavur. So that i can visit the Tanjavur temple with out worrying about the luggage on the bike. Went to the room to check out and by the time we were back to the service center the bike had gone for test ride! Wow that was fast!

I received fantastic and fast service from the cheerful and helpful staff at KRT HeroHonda showroom at Trichy. After riding for 24800 kms i thought i had to take my bike back to bangalore on a truck. But the helpful staff there understood my situation and made sure that my journey would not end with a engine Breakdown. Thanks to them i was able to continue my journey right from the service center and started towards Tanjavur on the same evening.

Here is my heart full thanks for the timely help, support andprofessional work from the staff at KRT HeroHonda showroom at Trichy, for helping in continue my journey.

Had a small photosession at the showroom before leaving. Bid byes to Mani as he left for coimbatur and rode towards Tanjavur. It was just 56 KMs. It was hot and i had been having too many cold drinks and i had caught throat infection in the morning. It was getting bad. I know how the drill goes. Going to be sick tomm. The night traffic not really helping. The HID is very much missed. Any way make it to Tanjavur by 7.30. Not as small a town as i imagined. Saw the Big temple's center tower light up in the night. After a bit of hunting found a room at Hotel Tamil Nadu. Kinda expensive at 650 bux but its hard to find parking with reasonable price. So take the huge TTDC room. TTDC hotels are nice and airy with huge premises with a legacy look. Worked a bit on my logs.. Err a lot and slept late with a early wake up tomm morning.

Me and Mani on a rick ride to the Srirangam Temple...

The rick cockpit...

The huge front gate of the temple...

The second gate...

Nannari Sharbat to beat the heat...

One more gate inside...

Huge temple structure...

Paintings in one of the sub temples...

Quite an architecture...

Satellite image of the temple...

The wall of one of the perimeters...

Huge pillers...

Mani and me..

Its not a white gate, but painting work in progress...

Thats a 1000 pillar mandap...

Amazing carving in other part...

err... i was just... err...

Kinda graphic carving there... can see the weapon stabbed into the other person!

Ladies performing small individual ceremonies inside the temple complex...

Market in the temple...

City busses are chrome!!

The bridge across river kaveri...

Mani and our rick...

The rick is not 'For hire' but ..... :D

Chrome busses again...

Caught ourself in the reflection...

The engine almost back to shape...

Forgot the name of the place...

The room there...

we are leaving...

Bike ready to roll out of KRT Service center...

Mr Arun, Mr Albert, Mr me, Mr Shivakumaran and Mr Ganesh from right to left :)

Ready to ride out. Cant believe would be riding so soon after the engine breakdown!

Elephant on the move...

On a truck....

Road towards Tanjavur...

The main tower of Tanjavur Big temple...

Day 172 - Aug 27 - In Trichy

2009-08-29T00:46:00.003+05:30

Heard the bang on the door in the middle of the night. What? where am i? whose it at this time? Well its Mani. Salem is just 5 hours away. It was great meeting him after years. We chat back to sleep. Its reality check in the morning. In a way i am kinda happy with the forced rest. Take our time and get to the Service center by 9.30 am. The people at the service center were impressed and and happy to work on my bike. They were waiting for us as they could not remove the seat. It was stuck under the saddle bag which was again the panniers. Any way got that out. And they assigned two mechs Shivakumaran and Ganesh dedicated to work on my bike on priority. In no time the engine was out and it was going to be disassembled. In a few mins the engine was all over the table and the damage checked out.

The broken bearing has taken 3 gear cogs along with it. The balls were all over the gear box. Since not much Karizma's around here the spares have to be shipped in from else where. The KRT service center had the required bearings but the gear cogs had to be sourced. Mr Arun the manager contacted his network of HeroHonda service centers in Chennai, Salem and Nagarcoil and the spares from different places will arrive the next day by 11 am. And i was promised to give me the bike up and running the next day. Were the spares available the bike would be ready the same day. Any way i am not hard pressed for time. Mani was also free for couple of days and he would stay with me in Trichy till bike was ready. So there is nothing that can be done till the next day. So can as well relax and catch up with old time.

Thought of hitting the room, freshening up and check out a movie for which we had a couple of hours. But whats stopping us from getting high at noon? ;) Settled at 12.30 boozing and chatting and living up our child hood. Went on and on and soon we were late for movie. Who wants movie :D continued. And was only 6.30 we got out and had not realized how the time went! Went to the service center and the parts would most definitely arrive the next day. Albert and his from the service center join us for early evening dinner and you know what :) It was great catchup up with their enthusiasm.

And what do you know had a hang over by late evening. And were even out of it before we crashed for the day!!

The the prettiest drain i have ever seen!

Flowers!

A cycle with a big bell!

The engine's out!

Its opened!! Not clear in the picture, but could actually see a couple of bearing balls at the bottom.

The culprit....

Engine all over the table... Ouch that hurts!!

The broken fifth gear cog!!

Crank and the pistons doing fine...

Ring sealing was kinda ok i guess...

Thats all the riding i could do for the day...

Thats Supervisor Albert, Mechs Ganesh & Shivakumar and Mr Arun the Manager, from left to right. All very enthusiastic on getting my bike fixed.

Day 171 - Aug 26 - KanyaKumari to Trichy

2009-08-29T00:44:00.002+05:30

Aug26 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks

337 KMs Trip meter 24769 KMs

It was time to head back up north. Cos there is no south after this point. Arun suggested me to ride along the east coast all the way up to pondy chennai. But i admit i was tired. Was tired after ladakh and reaching Kanyakumari after Kashmir was what kept me going. Now i wanted check a couple of temples in TamilNadu and ride ECR and head home all on good roads. Its going to be all fast roads till madurai some 200 kms and the plan for the day is Tanjavur getting of the NH 7 at Madurai. Looks like i have some time so take it easy in the morning. Even get rid of the irritating month old beard of my face! Break fast in the comfy sea facing hotel and could have spent another day there. But there is not end to it. So i start by like 11.30 am. Ride through some narrow road first. See windmills popping out here and there above the houses. That should be some nice click props i thought but it was also a sign of wind in the area! It hit me only when i got on to the open 4 lane highway! Was kinda slow in the beginning stopping n number times for clicking wind mills. There are lots and lots of them. Looked pretty in the mountain background. Once i got tired of clicking windmills and picked up the pace thats when i realized the wind there. Boy was it windy. I had never leaned the bike and still went straight! There would be these sudden gaps and bursts of wind that jerk my balance. Overtaking trucks causes same thing. Some times cant ride above 80. It was very unerving for sure. The wind pressed the helmet one side of my face. No wonder there are wind mills in such great numbers here.

As i rode north wind subsided making me able to ride more and more verticle and i picked the pace. Wanted to keep it in cruise mode and steady. But with open roads with minimal traffic and the previous 4 days of cramped roads on west coast, meant throttle is going to be max. It sure was fun for change. Bike was behaving awesome. I also had thought that road off Madurai is interior narrow roads and i would reach Madurai by like 2 pm. That would take me to darkness to cover then 150kms if the roads are small. Road at good pace upwards of 100 and nearing madurai by 2.15 and got off the nh7 towards Trichy. After a few kms found a hotel at highway junction as i was hungry for like an hour.

start of by 3pm and hoping to cover the remaining 150 kms before darkness. But what do you know its a four lane highway!! With every thing feeling right, (err though i had this small fear of my bike from couple of days) with music in my ears it was throttle happy. Though would reach tanjavur in good time and catch up on rest for my aching body. Nearing Pudukotai got of the highway. Had to ride through a village Veralimalai to catch the road to pudukotai and tanjavur from there. Was like 4.30 pm and stoped for adjusting the chain. Obviously i was the center of the attention with all the gear and luggage. wanted to scuttle out of there soon and put the first gear and as i engaged the second gear a noice from the engine and the kicker went back! O ooo thats not good. Neutral and and gear and again a noice and yes i have a break down. After taking me around the country for 24.8k kms show its first breakdown. Knew something inside relating to the gear. Cos the engine would run fine if i hold the clutch. Being very very optimistic called on to the mech and pushed the bike to his show a few feet away. Now i have no escape from the curious eyes.

Now i am sure the mech would not have worked on Karizma and i was right. Its a small village town after all. He checked to see if the chain got stuck in front sprocket. Nope it was fine. Called My friend syed who manages a HH service center at Bangalore and let him talk to the mech over there for diagnosis. Then syed tells me that surely a couple of gear cogs must have broken! Oh man!! By then the senthil the mech over than discovers the source. The front sprocket's bearing is broken and the balls have been thrown around in the gear box. Boy o boy. Are we in trouble. Syed said that he would start immediately from Bangalore on his CBZ with the parts so that he could work on the bike and get it going. Cos the it was doubt full weather senthil who had never worked on zma would be able to put it back. But then i could let syed take the risk of riding all the way on the traffic infested highway that too at night. Spent 15 mins fiddling with the mobile acting busy but actually was thinking what to do. Must say i was putting on quite a show cos i dont speak full tamil and the ppl over their speak just tamil. Rode all over the country, two other countries with no language problem and here i am struggling to communicate in a state just next to mine! Then thought would give this mech a try. Thoughts went on about how the trip is going to end. 200 kms short of 25k kms and back on a truck?? wanted to give all the try to fix the bike and ride home.

It was decided that the mech would open up the engine the next day, see what parts are required. They would be fetched from trichy 30km away and he would work on it by the end of the day. Now there was no place to stay there. i said i could stay with the mech! He said if it gets delayed he stays in the shop for the night. I said no problem. I know i was not thinking straight but was ready to do anything to avoid trucking the bike back to Bangalore. Its funny like how i wanted to run away from the same people kinda fearing them to be honest. Now i have to trust them and they were very nice people as well. Called up Arun telling about the same. It did not take him a second to give me the best possible suggestion in the situation. Just truck the bike till trichy 30kms away and give it to a HH service center. Man that sounds so simple and would make my life very easy. Plus availability of parts was even doubtful in Trichy. And here i was ready to open up the engine with an inexperienced mech and be in a town with no place to stay! Well like i said i was not thinking straight. Arun talked to the mech to arrange me a luggage auto or something to get my bike shipped. Yup thats very very logical thing to do. Have to hurry cos it was getting late in the evening. What luck a very mini truck or a very big luggage auto kinda vehicle parked opposite to the road and mech talked to him and he's free to take the bike! 500 bux sounds very reasonable. out of no where there are 10 ppl loading the bike into the carrier and fade away before i got to thank them. Or guess i was involved in thoughts. The mech and a bike parts dealer ther suggest KRT Service center in Trichy.

Any way looks like there is some plan. Bike is up and now we drive. Half way through the drive Arun calls me saying that he had informed the service center of my coming and they will wait for me though its gonna be late. That was quite something thanks Arun. Else was thinking what to do with the bike which does not move unless the clutch is applied! Reach Trichy and its a big city! which means lot of traffic. Make it to the service center by 8 and they were open waiting for me. It was a sigh relief. Manager Mr Arun and Suberviser Mr Albert assured me that things will be taken care of. The bike was placed in the service center. Then even dropped me off in a comfy hotel to stay which was walkable distance to the show room. Knew would be here for couple of days. Phew now things looks like they are in right place if not in right shape!

As i just lie down trying to get my bearings right, get a call from Mani asking when i would be in chennai. After the situation is revealed it turns our he is in Salem right now and has the next few days off. So he coming over the trichy! No point of him waiting at chennai. It does not matter which place for two old friends since school to catchup. Looks like things are falling into place and i doze of.

The fantastic comfy room at Kanyakumari Tri Sea hotel...

With a view of the indian ocean with a offseason price of 650 bux!

Before i leave Me, my bike and the Indian ocean :)

Ride through the small roads. Wow hardly any traffic...

Windmills and windmills every where...

Looked pretty in the mountain back ground..

Never seen a windmill with just two blades..

A windmill a chimney another windmill another chimney yet another windmill yet another chimney!

Cant believe my eyes seeing the empty road. Ride down NH17 in Kerala can do that to you...

Last of the mountains south of india...

Where have all the vehicles gone...

Thats how bike a windmill blade is!!

And thats how windy it was!!

Had to run to catch the gloves being blown away. Now why did i go to the other side of the road to pee? well din wanna face the the wind you see !

Finally some solitude for a change...

Looks like a desert over here...

Greenery increase as i head north and off the NH7

The hotel was strategically placed at a junction cos there is nothing else on either direction for hours!

Heading towards Trichy before i get of the highway...

Interesting looking rock formation and this was like a KM long!

And i thought the strech of road would be single laned, bad and through villages :D

TamilNadu green carpet for you...

A farm house...

There you can see the broken bearing. The balls are missing on the top. The bearings rings did not break but actually the metal strips that hold the bearing balls together...

And the bike is being lifted into the carrier...

Front wheel up...

Bike almost in... Help full people who did this without being asked or thanked. Humbled at the simplicity and helpfull ness of these village people. Else i would be been even charged for load was it in big city.

Bike strapped on to the carrier...

My cam not really good at taking pictures on a moving vehicle at night...

Day 170 - Aug 25 - In KanyaKumari

2009-08-26T09:31:00.001+05:30

Aug25 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips

The day was to spend around the KanyaKumari. The hotel staff wake up every one at the hotel so that we can walk up the tower on the hotel to view the sunrise. It was pretty cold and hoped to see un. But not much hope cos its not the season of clear skies. As feared could only see some pretty colorful clouds blocking the sun. Took a lot of pix and went back to the room for couple of hours of more sleep. Leisurely got ready and walked towards the boat jetty for the two rock islands visit. As i took the ticket and went in, was shocked to see the number of ppl waiting! thought to skipping but the guard reassured me that the ferry were huge and would carry the whole bunch in one go. well ok will wait it out then. After a few mins the Q moves and its lots of pple getting in and out of the big ferry. Had to jump in the ferry being pushed around by the waves. With the ferry full, its smooth wavey sail till the vivekananda rock. There's even a small temple where a foot print on stone has been preserved and worshiped. Its believed to the foot print of Kanya, one of the incarnations of goddess parvathi, where she meditated on one foot for years to impress upon Lord shiva to marry her. It was great looking at the wast expanse of Indian ocean and what do you know i am not on mainland India! Could stare at the south tip of India from the rock. Waited for the next ferry to get us on to the Thiruvalvar statue rock and then back to main land India. Had lunch in saravana veg hotel and got to the room. It was a bit hot in the noon but pretty comfy in the room.

Its only 5.30 when i get out of the room again. As suggested by arun take my bike and ride out a lil to the right from the coastal tip and there's beach road and at the end of it a small road going parallel to the sea till a point where sunset could be viewed. Was hungry and it was time for street food made with boiled peas and groundnuts. Yummy i must say. I was pretty early for sunset and wait it out feeling the cool sea breeze, which was more like wind! It as a great spot but like morning there are clouds in distant horizon and the sunset was not visible. Ride back after when it was getting dark. As i was walking to the tip see the Wondering monk museum and walked in. Where Swami vivekanada's journey of india was depicted. Could not read all of it as it was a lot of text. walked by the parts of the journey and a read a bit of the Kanyakumari session of his journey. Where he have no money to pay for the boat man, jumped into the raging sea, swam to the rock, and introspected his whole journey so far, before traveling up the east coast.

was out and walked on to the beach and sat there at the tip. I haven't spent much time till now looking back at the journey so far. Cos for me its not over till its over. But thought would emulate Swamy vivakanada in some way. No i am not swimming to the rock :D. Just sat there looking at the Indian ocean thinking about the journey so far, the places i have been, the experiences i have gained, the people i have met and wondering if i have changed a bit. It felt good. sat there observing the waves till it got really cold and wind hard to bear. Walked back to the room and kinda i am already heading north.

Morning view of the south tip of India. Looking out for Sunrise...

The Next five pictures are a panorama of the south sea...

Not much of a sunrise as skies are not clear this time of the year...

The best part of sunrise...

A light house nearby...

Sun getting higher

Windmill farm afar...

the south tip of western ghats...

Bike in the parking lot...

the lobby of the hotel room...

The memorial and the statue in day light...

Viveknanada rock memorial...

Thiruvalvar statue...

Beach view from the hotel lobby...

Transparent lift..

Q shelter for the ferry...

Quite a long Q!

Going to the rocks...

Passengers going in and out of the ferry... Huge ones that can carry 150 ppl!

The ferry...

The crowd in the ferry...

And we set sail...

the statue from near...

Looking at the mainland India..

The wall of Kanyakumari temple..

There is one more ticket counter on the vivekananda rock!

Shri pada mandap...

Me at the memorial..

The directions on the floor...

The indian ocean..

Me and the indian ocean...

Powerful waves pounding the rocks...

A fishing boat by the rocks..

A lil gyan...

Q waiting for the ferry to hop on to the next rock...

People jumping into the rocking ferry...

The statue up close...

me there...

Some teachings...

the lights the light up the statue in the evening...

Looking up from the foot

Zoom into the face...

The hotel i was staying...

me posing..

The Tri sea view

The ferry coming to take us back..

One of the levels in the staute...

Some teachings...

The rough sea between the rocks...

South indian thali at Savarana Veg...

A sunrise and sunset view tower...

huge waves..

can see the lot of sea haze...

Bike and the indian ocean...

Ride west to get a bettor view of sunset

Unsinkable fishing boats...

My evening snack being prepared...

A fishing boat being assembled...

Bike and the setting sun

The snack

The snack and the beach great combination...

Some fish left to dry...

Sunset and the bike...

Not much of a sunset view due to distant clouds in the horizon

The rock lit up in the night...

The wondering monk museam...

Buy anything in the shop for 5 bux!

The rocks again...

The huge temple wall...

Light house in action...

Day 169 - Aug 24 - Ernakulam to kanyaKumari

2009-08-26T09:11:00.001+05:30

Aug24 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips

303 KMs Trip meter 24427 KMs

Spent till late in the night the previous day working on the logs. Well as every day i break the promise made to myself to starting early in the morning. Takes 5-6 snoozes to get me out of the bed. And i cannot leave by 7 am i said at the reception. Boy did the manager nasty regarding this! Ofcourse gave my peace of mind as well. Any way atleast this makes me alert waking me from my sleep morning mood. Ride to the NH 47 and stop at a restaurant for breakfast. Have just Idly as i dont like coconut oil which they use virtually every thing. Boy were the idlis good. Start riding looking at the Sign boards to KanyaKumari and gets me even more eager to get there. Ernakula is very well developed modern city. Was surprised to see show rooms of WolksWagon, BMD and even Audi showroom beside the road near to each other! 300 kms to K'Kumari says the boards and with not a very high avg speed forcasted for the day should get me there by 5 5.30 i guess.

Takes me nearly 2 hours to make to Allepy. Its quite crowded city and busy with traffic. As i have seen every inch of land is occupied and there is hardly any bypass for any city so far and the entire NH traffic have to squeeze through the city traffic. Get to a back water bridge and see boards saying boat jetti 2 kms! Thought atleast lemme check out the boat jetty before continuing. The road is a bit peaceful and i get to the boat jetty. Stop for clicking a few boats in the back water canal. See a pretty looking Shikara kinda boat and get close to click it. The boat owner approaches me boat ride and politely convinces me for one. Well i got tempted. Felt tired from the lack of sleep from last night and body was hurting. Could use some relaxation. Bike was parked at a hotel and stuff carried to the boat. Booked for a couple of hours ride and cant believe i am doing this. This quite a detour in time schedule. I was told its 6 hours by taxi to kanyakumari. But i am slower though. But thats later to worry about.

Get on to the boat and the weather was pleasant with cool breeze and mild sunlight escaping between the clouds. Soon get on to bit open space and see many house boats parked. They were big and unlike the house boats in srinagar these actually sail around. They come in all sizes and varies in laxuary. some have plasma TV and AC as well! Heard its like 4k for 24 sail! That must be nice experience. Get call from santoosh and we exchange our adventures of the previous day. He seemed to have had a good and tough ride, riding in remote parts through the villages before getting back to bangalore. The boat ride was feeling great and relaxing. Din knew when one hour passed and have to get back. The boat man takes a different route through the canal and kinda gets me worried thinking if there is something fishy. Keep checking my fone's gps tracker to see if we are heading towards where we started. Well i got worked up unnecessarily as there was lot of network in canals and we soo get on to the direction where we started. Pass by many houses just in front of the back water and the ppl in them need boats to get around. Soon it was over and i get off the boat and on to my bike. Really tempted to stay there for the day and just relax. But since i had planned for a day at K'Kumari decided to push ahead.

Then on its was continuous traffic ride. Getting scares and doing my own share of ripping in traffic. There are just few short stretches of roads with sparse traffic. It was kinda becoming labour of riding. Ride almost continuously so that i could avoid night riding in the night. No HID and rain would be bad. Cos every minute i rest means 1.5 5o 2 mins of ride in the dark. It was mix of roads alternating between straights and curves. Thought of skipping a meal. But me got very hungry and when you gotta eat you gotta eat. There was promising boards of Subways ahead but the distance was misleading. one said one kms and next one said 4 and the next one again 1! Found a regular hotel instead and had the big big kerala rice and was served with lot of types of curries and sambar. Unlike popular non-keralaits opinion, i actually liked the big big rice :) This was near Trivandrum. Luckily there was bypass for Trivandrum and i gladly take it. Now the roads narrower as i guess the big cities in the line up are over. Its undulating roads, curves and narrow roads passing through rows and rows houses next to each other on either side of the road.

Things change a bit there are continuous smaller towns with lot of slow traffic on the road, and places seem comparatively not so vella. The traffic is normal and slow for me and i have to maneuver around. Did feel the difference in the road and before i realized i was already in TN state looking at the number plates of the vehicles and uniform of the traffic cops. Kanyakumari is still a 40 kms when it starts to get dark. And i am not gonna be able to ride any faster than before. Slowly and steadily i make it to Nagarcoil and once of the city the traffic lessens and the road heads to kanyakumari. There are lot of deviations. Tired of asking aroud, i kinda memorize the name for Kanyakumari in Tamil, graphically. This makes it easy for me to read the boards written in Tamil. Its dark now some 20 kms to kanyakumari and the lights starting my eyes. Seems like i lost my night riding abilities! Just a follow a tempo doing good speeds and i see sign boards reducing the distance to Kanyakumari and i am finally there by 7.15 pm. Get call by arun and SMS by prem congratulating me even before i got to the tip. They were tracking my by my blog link. Am in the town and instead of looking out for rooms i head straight to the end of the road.

And i am there at the southern tip of india. Had not come here before though its close to bangalore and now that i come from kashmir it feels all the more special and rewarding. Managed a couple of pix of my bike at the tip with my flashless cam. Cant believe i rode Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Found a pretty good hotel near by and tad expensive but great bargain for an offseson price. So took it as this was my last major stop and wanted comfortable ones. Great view of the sea around. Dump stuff into the room and walk to the beach. Was hungry by now but din wanna waste time and had some yummy chats by the beach. The Vikananda rock memorial and huge Thiruvalvar statue was lit by lights and the structures were looking great in the night sky. walked till the end on the beach just a bit behind water and sat there for quite a while soaking in the moment. The weather was very pleasant. Was just staring at the huge waves pounding away on the rocks. Never seen such huge waves so far as after all these are from the occean, the Indian ocean!

Its gets cold and the winds gets stronger and that gets me going and i settle in my cozy room for the night. Work a bit late on the logs and crash for the day.

Wet morning streets of Ernakulam.

Kanyakumari here i come...

Have breakfast here...

Ride on the Ernakulam streets...

It looks like a metro city...

Do i see a BMW show room? din know they had outlet in india!

I passed a Wolks wogan showroom and now an Audi showroom! One of the 10 in india...

That A6 is 53 Lakhs onroad!!

More A6s there

Loook look one of the A6 has Zma sticker on its side !

Backwaters wide and plenty..

A fisherman going about his business...

On the banks of Backwaters!!

Checkout a Allepy backwater...

Pretty looking boat, kinda motorized shikara...

Other boats in the dock...

What do you know i end up taking a ride in the same boat!

The cheerful boatman Raju..

Some standup sailers...

Me enjoying the boat ride...

Sail on...

House boats spotted!!

More of them...

Plenty of them...

Now this was a big one!

Floating weeds...

Ac on the house boat...

House boats sail into the open..

There are milestone boards on the water's edge for the backwater highway!!

Lot of traffic in the backwater canals and they even have vehicles like horns!

House by the water, they need a boat to get around...

My boat sails on...

A komarant drying its wings...

A horizontal coconut tree!

My gear on the empty seat...

Never see so many cocks together!

Resorts with houseboats...

A long snake boat of the onam boat races. 100 plus ppl sail on it...

Another komarant resting on a log...

Temple which you need a boat to visit...

Getting back to where we started...

Backwater highway has petrol bunks too!

The free traffic streches of highway...

This happens in Kerala too!

A Taj Mahal like building, not sure what it was...

Quite a traffic jam. I got off the road to wear rain gear and there was sunlight all of a sudden...

More back waters...

Long jam for KMs cos a truck had broke down on the highway...

Yeah right!

Quite a distraction i must say...

These empty streches were a laxuary and rare...

Yes i was strictly doin 40kmph avg speeds...

Din know they had a restaurant division in india...

Roads get smaller after Trivandrum

Ride in this and more traffic for hours together

Enter Tn and see the shouthern tip of Western ghats...

Four type of plantations next to each other...

I see mountains again...

Almost there...

Deal with the traffic in Nagarcoil...

I am there!

The Kanyakumari Arch...

Bike at the southern tip of india...

Biking looking at Thiruvalvar statue...

Shops there...

The Thiruvalvar statue lit up in night...

Sea view benches at the south tip of india...

The powerful waves on the beach...

Long exposure shot by gone crazy!

The Empty streets leading to the beach, in late night...

Day 168 - Aug 23 - Kanhangad to Ernakuklam

2009-08-24T00:05:00.003+05:30

Aug23 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips

345 KMs Trip Meter 24124 KMs

Ernakulam some 300 kms south seems to be the target for the day. Its going to be tough with the all the traffic that is promised. Santoosh had to leave for Bangalore and decides to rode with me till Kannur. Think of having breakfast some where outside kanhangad hoping to eat something else than chapati and tomato fry. When we stopped at a hotel for breakfast we endup eating the same anyway! As expected there's lot of traffic on the highway. Many bad patches on the road in between as well. We take turns leading and the trailer used to get left behind many times due to the traffic. Hard to ride together and have to slow down for the trailer to catchup. There are quite some very rough patches of road. Really hope the panniers can withstand the torchers of south. Takes us like 2 hours to cover 70 kms and thats gives an idea of avg speeds i will be doing till i reach Kanyakumari.

Bid byes to Santoosh as he getting of the highways heading towards the mountains on his way to Bangalore. It was nice riding together. The road now goes closer to the coast and just a few feet from the water many places. See many back waters on thew way. Could actually see the flow of water from the sea into the backwater canal. There was this heavy traffic jam at Mahe. Every things is occupied here. The cities and towns never ends and this area of country is thickly populated. The ppl seem to be well of in general. Have to get used to the aggressive traffic and am at my almost defensive riding. Well thats not much of help either as you have to be with the flow of traffic if not faster. Progress is very slow. Stop for a leasure lunch around Ayyanikad i guess. Lil did i know what was waiting for me.

Start by around 1.30 pm wondering if i will be able to make it to Ernakulam today as i am yet to reach calicut. The next 3.5 hour session was quite an experience. The roads got bettor wider curvy'er and boy did i feel like i am in F1 race. Never experienced such aggressive traffic. Hardly find any sober drivers. Every ones driving at their optimal speed and boy are they fast. Busses doing 100+ speeds on the narrow curvy roads. All the vehicles do these wild jerky turns to adjust their trajectory. Each such act gets my heart beating up. Next ones up before i relax. Every car, bus, pickup, truck zipping in either direction. Overtakings and evasive manuvers! Even a small bike with huge box of fish on the rear of zipping around. Every over taking was hard earned. It was not only humbling experience but also scary. Its hard to ride slow as its narrow and will be honked from behind in no time. Never experienced an ambassador or truck come behind me and honk at me! Have also to worry about traffic behind as i am not sure when one will pass me. If you cant beat em join em! Geared up for my share of adrenalin. It was hard to keep up with some cars on narrow curvey roads. Narrow i mean 2 lanes plus width but narrow for the aggressive driving in display! Remember especially a dark blue Mercedes c200. Boy was he driving. Tailed him for quite some time and when even if i could did not overtake him cos he would pass me dodging the opposing traffic in no time! Then i loose him. I mean i loose him driving ahead of me! When i look into those aggressive cars , i dont see some rich daddy's maniac kid, instead regular people with families inside and old passengers! Get shivers from the busses hurtling down on the curves from opposite direction at 90+ speeds. Scary overtaking the buses as you just never know when they will swirl right on me! Even two wheelers are no less. Many times they get on to their quick crossing initiative and see me get startled and jamming my breaks; so they politely stop and let me pass with smile, but it takes some minutes to recover from what i think was an Accident just missed! I guess in other places drivers are used to drive in traffic free roads and tone down in traffic areas, but ppl around here always ride in such heavy traffic and they get very good at it i guess! NH 17 in Kerala is a completely different experience! Was just hoping that i would be safe till the end of the day. Boy this has turned out to be a whole different adventure which i will remember.

By 4Pm around Kuttipuram and stop for a break to catch my breath. Boy was the session good. Ask for further directions and Ernakulam seems to be 100 kms. I dont think i can make it in daylight. But also heard that roads to Trissur are very bad and i am bettor of riding via ponnani closer to the coast. Arun had suggested me to get off the highway and ride south on the mountains as the roads are bettor and less traffic. But that would mean riding for a day or two more. Which i declined as i am aching all over and want to keep it short or so i think. Even a guy at the petrol bunk suggested the NH17 instead of NH47 to Ernakulam. Said its just 100 kms and taking 50kmph its only two hours. I knew this was another of those impossible and highly optimistic timings these locals make. I really want to see how they manage 50kmph avg riding/driving at 40 to 60 kmph! Any way i get off the wide and nice l ooking highway to the narrow road towards ponnani. Now where am i sent? the road is very narrow, it started raining, there are lot of potholes and even have to do rain water puddle water crossings and how am going to maintain avg? But on every enquiry i was reassured the way i was going. Looks like it would be a long evening ride. I have to take a leak but cant as there is no concept of outside city limits. There are continuous houses on either side of the road. Takes me like an hour to hunt for a place to relieve myself! Reach ponnani and the road becomes wide here and pace increases. But not to be very happy cos its bad patches and narrow paths every now and then. Sure enough its gets dark with 35 kms to Ernakulam. My bike's HID is officially dud now! Cos it keeps switching of. The halogen bulp not much of help. Plus the wet road and opposing lights. It was tough i must say. Any way reach Ernakulam by like 7.30. Find a hotel after a couple of tries and bikes gets a safe parking. Thats about the day.

Santoosh and me before we start of for the day...

The medicated warm drinking water you get in Kerala restaurants...

Our early pitstop for breakfast...

Road for the ride...

Santoosh negotiating the bad patches...

Good that the bus is off the road!

See many back water canals..

The empty road is some short lived lauxary i must say...

Boats on the back waters.

NH 17 going parrallel to the arabian sea...

The arabian sea by the road...

NH 17 for you!!

Always houses on either side of the road....

Traffic jam at Mahe...

Water from the sea getting into the backwater canal...

This is outskirts between towns on the map!

Some free roads to give me comfort...

A Kerala veg thali with the big and thick rice...

Thats the rice variety unique to Kerala. But i must say i liked the lunch very much..

Where i had lunch, a house turned into a hote...

Some awesome streches in between....

Boy these nimble looking buses, boy they can drive these things!!

Then it rains...

Ganesha festival today...

People going to do Visarjan of this year's idol...

Huge fishing net beside the backwater...

Day 167 - Aug 22 - Shivmog to Kanhangad

2009-08-23T23:33:00.003+05:30

Aug22 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks

291 Kms Trip Meter 23778 Kms

Pretty comfortable hotel in Shivmoga and din feel like leaving. Like i have been saying; a traveler has to move on. Got to the Jewel Rock hotel for breakfast and have this amazing set dosa! Stayed in this city in my early school days. Had come to this very hotel with parents many times i am told but i hardly remember. Any way felt good to be there. Get a call from Santoosh that he is already in Hunsur! the lazy me is just having break fast. And also looks like i am too late for calicut today. Decide to skip Agumbe and head down via NH 13 the supposed to be faster and less scenic route. It was a typical pleasant morning like it is in Malnad area. Awesome twisties and sparce traffic and forest ride spotted quite some birds and the red squirrel. Reach Theertahalli and take a left towards Koppa along the NH 13. Make it there with pretty good roads along the NH13. Take the road to Karkala along the NH and it got narrow and small! With NH boards looking they have been there in quite some years. Soon i am to make an entry to enter the barricaded forest area. I am given a entry slip which i am to deposit at the exit of the forest reserve. As i enter i see the board of Kudremukh national park! Have never rode before in this are. It was interesting forest ride where you get to here the quiteness and some small creatures sounds. Roads were worthy of complaining. Get calls santoosh and seemed like he would be early so he would take some time off in coorg at his friends place and rendezvous with me in Kanhangad. Some 20 kms later i was stopped by some machine gun wielding forest guards and was rudely told to open the panniers. Kept the cool and talked casually and they got interested in my travel and some chit chat i was let off with out checking. Well really did not want the panniers to be unloaded as it would take a lot of effort to pack the stuff again. Then all of a sudden the road widened into smooth bright tarmac and wide curves and throttled on. Surprised to see that i was even touching 110 at some curves. Felt like the trees around gave extra oxygen to the bike!! Was more interested now in riding than stopping for pix. Roads in karnataka when good are awesome and when bad are nightmare!

After an enjoyable undulating high speed ride reached Karkala and seemed like i had crossed the mountains and am in relative plains near the coast. I could hardly see any mountains in the route i did today will be out of karnataka soon. Exchange status with santoosh and also update Meghan that would be passing by Mangalore in some time. After some more pleasant riding make it to Mangalore. Meghan and Abhishek come out to meet me for lunch and it was a nice conversation with the young guys sharing enthusiasm and experience. It was time to move on and Meghan joined me for lil distance before we bid farewell. Soon the roads worsened and it also looked like it would rain. But the bad roads gave way to good ones soon and rain was a false alarm. These false alarms take out valuable time due to wearing and removing the rain gear. There is quite some amount of traffic. Take it leisurely and i make it to Bekal fort and the resort was not working there it seems. Just clicked a pic from outside and went out to kanhangad as santoosh would be there any time. Bustand was decided to meet. What timing we both reach the place almost simultaneously. It was already 5.15 and knowing the mad traffic on the nh, going further only would result night riding till calicut. So we decided on calling quits for the day.

Got a nice looking room. Freshened up and we went out for exploring the city. Once i park my bike i have no energy to take it out for spins. So i go pillion with santoosh. We were unsuccessful at find a snack and settled for cake and groundnuts! I din know of a beach at kahhangad town but since we were near the coast there has to be one nearby says santoosh and of we go in search of it. Have to cross the konkan railway track and few kms we hit the coast and boy what a beach it was. Completely isolated though there was habitation all along the coast. It was awesome there. Wished we had gone there earlier. There is beach every where but just that its not designated as a tourist spot. Spent like an hour there chatting catching up with the few months and trying out some photography. Get to room and crash for the day...

Set Dosa for you... and boy was it Slurpy!!

Waiting for the hotel's celler door to open up...

Quite a parking for the night !!

Cool morning ride under canopy...

Dried up bamboo...

And i spot the giant red squirrel.. having its breakfast...

One fantastic ride...

Some town houses enroute...

Entering the Mandagadde bird sanctuary... hope to see some birds...

Farmer busy...

Farmer women hand planting paddy saplings...

A strange bird in the paddy fields...

A nice place for a break...

Guess what we do here ;)

Narrow forest road...

Streams enroute...

The only mountain shot in got in Karnataka's western ghats this ride!!

Still on the forest route...

Even chimneys grow moss in rainy season here!!

The mountain view before i get down to the plains...

Me with the enthusiastic Abhishek and Meghan at Mangalore after lunch...

Bad roads to deal with...

Its going to rain, roads getting bad and lot of traffic. Looks like a fun time ahead...

Some back waters on the way...

Its time for some good kerala roads...

Weird divider on the road...

A fishing boat off duty...

Back waters! where water from the sea enters the land...

Bekal fort in Mansoon. Did not go in though...

Found a beach in Kanhangad!!

Me and santoosh there...

Twin HIDs in R15 lighting up the beach!

Day 166 - Aug 21 - Bijapur to Shivmoga

2009-08-21T21:02:00.004+05:30

Aug21 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips

395 KMs Trip Meter 23488 KMs

Started for Shivmoga by 9 am. But first i have to retrace my way back to Hubli. Thats good 200 kms. Going to Kerala via shivmoga and hills would have the horrible Karnataka's coastal road. Pretty uneventful ride till Hubli and riding all the bad patches in between and stopping for a clicks.

Got on to the GQ and it was all smooth sailing till Haveri. Coming back to south my bike feels at home and 110 and 120 is quite comfortable now and ride out pretty good pace. Of course have to deal with the bad unfinished patches of after Haveri till Davangere. Reach Harihara by 3.30 and have about 80 kms to shivmoga. Get of the GQ and it was a pleasant ride on the hills. Some bad patches thrown in. The panniers have withstood ladakh but now KA bad roads are a challenge to it.

Make it to Shivmoga 5.30 and settled in a comfy hotel at reasonable price. Nothing much to right about today.

Smooth roads towards Hubli..

N i thought i was carrying too much load!

Some villagers...

There are plains here too..

Turned out to be a Bokeh with a insignificant plant getting focused...

Now flowers in focus...

Sun Flowers on the other side of the road looking out for the sun...

Man, these things gottu get a room and not my bike!!

Tried out a Bokeh after i made them leave my bike :) But missed the flash in my cam :(

Have to wear rain gear... Parking on the right side of the road so that i can use the gentle slope of the road towards the center. If i park the bike on the left side, i would just tip over!

The same outcrop of the mountain with Windmills..

Riding the GQ...

A gain temple representing the solar system i guess...

Green paddy fields every where...

Approaching the hills...

Stop for a break and some clicks...

Farmers busy...

The NH 13 leading to Shivmoga...

Day 163-165 - Aug 18-20 - In Bijapur

2009-08-21T20:57:00.002+05:30

Just relaxed for couple of days in my relatives place. Was pampered with a lot of affection and delicious food. Spent 2 days lazing in the home and was given a small tour of Bijapur the third day, by my cousin Prasad. Just a few pix from my stay there...

Here is a small story of my Nephew Vishnu.

Once upon a time Vishnu wanted to try out my bike...

He rode fast...

He rode very fast...

But told him to holdon a bit and he wondered why...

Then i suggested him some riding gear which he did not like in the beginning..

He gave it a try...

They he liked riding with the gear even more...

The moral of the show is : Give riding gear a try, you may actually like it :)

Masks made compulsory for school kids in Bijapur!!

Went out for a spin the city with Cousin and Vishnu... Lot of historical monuments through out the city...

Us at the Gol Gumbaz... Visiting it again...

Some clicks of the Gol Gumbaz...

The Museum in front of Gol Gumbaz...

The majestic tomb...

Inside the the Monument and looking up to the dome way above...

Climbing up to the top...

Jumma masjid viewed from the top..

Beside the dome..

Inside the dome on the circular corridor...

Looking below...

The Bijapur townscape...

Vishnu there...

Looking up to the dome from floor...

The Gol Gumbaz

Giant shiva statue at Shivagiri..

Awesome cloud formation and color at that...

Day 162 - Aug 17 - Hubli to Bijapur

2009-08-20T12:01:00.002+05:30

Aug17 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trip Sharing with Google Maps

188 KMs Trip meter 23088 KMs

Leave my sister's place early so that my bike could be attended first at the service center. Say my brief travel story so that my bike would get some good treatment. The spares are available for my relief. Wait patiently for the work to be down and the bike is rolling out of the service center by 1 pm.

Head straight out of Hubli town and welcomed by super smooth two laned road. Naive of me to think its like this all the way to Bijapur... Looks like its going to rain and i am forced to wear rain gear. 15 mins and the rains gone and there is even some sunlight. These false rains alarms are very irritating. I have no patience to get out of the rain gear so i ride on. Stop for lunch at Nargund and some 20 kms around here is offroad. Gave me scares that it will be like that till Bijapur. But luckily the road got to its good state and i could ride at 110 and above. Back to the fun of overtaking all the vehicles on the road. Pretty uneventfull ride and i get to Bijapur by 6 pm and i settle in my Aunts place. Will be here for 2-3 days. This is like my another home and could relax for couple of days here before my run for the southern tip of India.

The bike being give a new chain sprocket set..

Quite a few place to see enroute but have lost the morning session on the bike work...

Great empty two lane road...

The village livestock...

not so green but hardly any trees

Have to get into rain gear now with rain threatning ahead...

The wet road...

A stone outcrop in the plain and its used to hoist a few windmills...

Typical Karnataka hotel's way of serving coffee...

Lot of these colorful oxes pass. Prolly there was some competation.

Farmers washing their farming equipments, rich farmers cleaning their metal ones and the not so rich ones their organic ones...

Some wet bridges to cross...

The half done road and was not sure of how long this would be...

more of it...

Some village residents...

The road gets back to the form...

Some sun flower farms on the way..

Raising waters..

The bridge was around 3 kms long!!

There are plains here too...

Some festive ceremonies going on...

Day 161 - Aug 16 - Palolem to Hubli

2009-08-19T07:15:00.002+05:30

Aug16 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trip Sharing with Google Maps

227KMs Trip Meter 22899 Kms

Kinda tempted to stay one more day. But decided to move on. But cant ride all the way to Bijapur as i have to get the Chain sprocket and Battery. So i am going to stay at Hubli for the day. Since its a sunday have to to get them only the next day. This delays Keerthi's schedule by more than an hour as he had to be at office by sun down. Ride out of the Resort and towards Karwar. As we wanted to avoid the Ponda hubli strech which is supposed to be bad. Thus a road through anshi national park is decided. Stop at the deviation towards anshi for breakfast. Have to make a few calls. My fone's not connecting and std booth not going through as well. This causes more delay. Just as we start riding we have to stop again to get into the rain gear. We pass kadra village and its was nice riding throught the ghats with good tarmac. Soon its gives way to pathetic potholed roads. After braving it for few kms, asked a villager for Yellapur in the next town. Well we are suppoed to go back to kadra for a short cut. Have to ride the bad roads back again and get to the other side of the mountains.

We get to kadra n surely get directed towards the small short cut road going through the KAIGA project area. We kinda get questioned at the checkpost and after the entry we are let in. This turned out to be good as it was very narrow road through the forest and mostly under canopy. There was a dropoff on once side of the narrow road. Get to the open and on to the highway towards Hubli. Kinda lost our bearings and wondered we could have taken the main road from karwar to yellapur! Any way now that we are here can only ride ahead. Its smooth fast paced ride till hubli on the awesome road with less traffic. This is tipical of karnataka state which has less traffic. We split up at hubli and where Keerthi dashes to Bangalore and i stay at my Sister's place in Hubli for the day.

our room at the Palolem beach resort..

The premises..

The restaurant right ont he beach's ede...

Keerthi and the bikes...

Riding away towards karwar..

Keerthi giving his bike the fill...

The Red and the Black...

And i officially enter karnataka after 5+ months! It was a awesome moment...

Back to Idlis

A water fall in Anshi national park...

Keerthi clicking the water falls..

The fantastic roads in Anshi national park...

Get into the narrow foresty road going towards KAIGA.

Get onto the Yellapur Hubli road..

Have to stop for rain gear...

Was a false alarm and the it gets sunny again and smooth roads to crusise on..

A bullock cart by the raod...

Enter Hubli

My cousine's naughty kid clicking himself..

Day 160 - Aug 15 - In Palolem

2009-08-19T07:14:00.002+05:30

Nothing much to write about in the day. We just spent the day to unwind in the beach laxuary. Lucky enough to get room in the Palolem beach resort which is right next to the beach. Bikes were given a rest and we got up lazily and the restaurant had sand for floor and the beach for view. The weather was great and just lazed around. Took couple of hikes on either side of beach and just clicked around.

Me and Keerthi at the breakfast...

Fishermen dragging their catch of the night..

Ordering what comes to mind...

Keerthi coming back after a click session of the beach...

Fishermen coming in after their night out at the sea...

Boat being dragged into the sea...

Our tooth brush stand...

Clicking around the beach...

Went to the right end of the beach and was surprised to find backwaters there..

Some more clicking...

Komarants...

colors on the beach..

colorful boats...

what combination of sentances...

my tiny gorilla pod even supports the heavy SLR!!

Then we explore the left side of the beach and this is a long session of walk and clicks

Try a bokeh...

Quite a name for the resort...

The beach from the left end...

walk through the rocks..

The busy photographer...

A crows assembly rock..

A small private sort of beach...

The crack in the rock..

Me the sea gazer...

SLR on a very stable tripod...

Plenty of click opportunities.

Its gets dark and the sea haze increases so much that we can taste salt in the breath and cloths feel sticky. Could even see the misty haze heavy with salty sea vapour. It gets bettor as we get away from the rocks. Then its back to the lazy table on the beach for some snacks.

a spin to canokona city and see these two wheelers decorated in lights and what not. Prolly praises of some competition..

Tried a night shot but its too dull...

Day 159 - Aug 14 - Mahabaleshwar to Palolem

2009-08-19T07:07:00.005+05:30

Aug14 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trail Maps

493 KMs Trip meter 22672 KMs

The sleep was lil disturbing as it felt a bit damp inside the blanket. Never had experienced humidity in cold before. The schedule was a bit tight today with visits around Mahabaleshwar and panchgani and also make it to south goa. Took my 12 snoozes on the alarm before i could get myself out of the bed. Thats a good hour lost. The Lack of sleep acting now. Start lazily by 8.30 for Mahabalewhwar local visit where i should have been done with them by now. Leave the luggage in the hotels reception and i ride towards Kate's point. The whole town is misted out in the morning. Find my way towards panchgani and take a detour to left towards Kate's point. It was a narrow road with tree and plant life on either side of the road. Kinda first visitor for the day and the canteens are just opening up. Luckily there was sunlight and the area was clear of mist. Walk towards the view point and taken aback looking around. IT was a huge area to be seen and just kept looking left to right and right to left. Took plenty of pix. Even shouted a few times the echo point and surely heard the echos. As i start towards aurther's seat i was told that its misty out there and nothing can be seen. I was even given a scare of algae on the road etc. But you gotta ride you see. Half way to there, it began to mist and soon i was deep in it. Visibility was very poor. Rode slowly till the end point. There was no chance of getting any view. ANd have to ride back in mist. Must say it was enjoyable though. Reach Mahabaleshwar and start towards panchgani by 10.30 am. A pleasant ride on the fast smooth road.

Reach panchgani and take the deviation towards Table land. The table land is basically plains high up on mountain tops. Its like huge fields just raised up above compared to surrounding area. After some switch back climbs in the town reach the entrance of the Table lands and i ride on to them. Its flat treeless and majority of area is covered with grass. Thought the concept of high plain i attractive its not quite obvious when on the table itself. But its still fun with grassy meadows. Have to be careful in choosing the path to ride it could be slippery in the rain frequent area. Get quite into the table laned and after a few pix sessions, suddenly the whole table land is covered with mist, nothing of the great views around can be seen. Have to trace back my way too lest i would endup on a slushy path. This is the first time i used the gps in the fone to see if i am back tracking correctly. Track my way out and stop for a long long lunch in panchgani. Ignorantly i spend quite some time there and its only 2pm by the time i start. Suddenly i feel all the hurry, how will i reach a place 400 kms away starting at 2 pm. Its not like other days where i just halted when the sun went down. Cos keerthi is coming all the way from bangalore so that we could party in goa. Seems i have messed up the schedule today. Before getting to fast track riding went till the edge of the Harrison's solly which basically a protrusion off the highway on a narrow plain above the surrounding low lands. I spend some time there too. Now with kinda checking and visiting Mahabaleshwar is over, its just ripping towards goa. Get on to the fourlane highway and try to make up good time by riding at a good pace. Enter Nippani and felt exited about entering karnataka state after a long time. But not for long as i get into maharashtra again riding west of Nippani off the highway. Its already 6 pm and how i wished i was on the other side ofthe hills some 80 kms away. And now i have to ride the winding roads and small villages in twilight and darkness. How i wished i hade atleast a couple of hours. The Route was Ajra, Amboli to Savanthvadi on NH 17 as directed by PraveenS. It felt great riding on the country sides with full of lush green crops. My bike's chain seems to be awfully loose. Its misbehaving just withing 5k kms of its life. On tightening it was seen that the chain had gone real loose and it had unevenly worn out. Man just hope that it last till i get to a next major city. All this take time and Its almost dark when leaving Amboli. Saw a pretty neat lodge at Amboli and was tempted to call it a day there. But it would spoil the weekend plans at goa. So i have to push it today. Its almost dark when i left Amboli and the landscape seemed attractive looking at them in the fading light. Its all dark now and its like 8 pm when i am NH17 and still have 120 kms to go!! Man this is going to be a long evening. There is lot of traffic on the NH17 and slows me down a lot. Looks like one exotic evening is going to be wasted. Get a call from keerthi that he has already reached Palolem. Traffic eases a bit and i gun the throttle to 100 - 110 at some possible places but there are lot of average killers. Reached Panjim By 9.15 pm and The Light starts to misbehave and in some time its gone! the battery is the culprit. Should have changed when i had the chance in delhi. But now more than a hour of riding i am rendered hid less. The 55w halogen runs but if the battery is not supporting 35w then 55w bulb would drain it in no time. So i have to optimize the usage of the headlight with riding on pilot lamps where every possible. This slows and tires me down even more.

Nearing Margoa, i ask direction from a CBZian for canakona and he says he's heading there. I requested that i would follow him. What a paradox, a zma with hid following a cbz torch light !! It was pretty dark with hardly any traffic and was damn lucky to find the cbzian to guide me through. Reach Palolem beach by 11 pm and its pouring rain just when as i had to park the bike and pull out the luggage. Keerthi had ordered food as the hotel was closing down and i wasted the last order with limca and mineral water. Only to realize later that i could have ordered something else! Well will have to be a good boy tonight. Its been a long time since we met so we take stroll on the beach catchup with times and chit chat. And crash for the day.

Misty morning in Mahabaleshwar...

Riding out of the misty city...

Mossy pathways...

Deviation of the main road towards Kate's point

Trees covered in moss

More of them...

some gyan about kate's point

These monkeys came as close as 2 feet from me trying to intimidate and i stood my ground till they retreated !!

The following 10 shots are the panorama of the view point...

Some Monkey business...

green slopes...

the drop offs...

lemme pose a bit...

Riding towards Aurther's seat..

Trees almost covered in moss

It gets misty enroute..

More so nearing the aurther seat view point..

more moss again

Pick a path but both are misty...

Nearing Aurther seat view point

Have to get down there but there is no chance of seeing anything so i turn back...

it gets mistier...

Strane green trees

Please have your seat!

Buildings in mahabaleshwar covered with these sheets to prevent the heavy mist from entering and making things damp..

Other buildings covered whole..

Leaving the misty city...

Can you please pick my horse?

The Venna lake...

The green mile again...

the grass hardly exposes the brown soil...

A water fall enroute...

An old man and his sheep...

In panchagani town...

Looking up to the edge of the table land...

Bike on the table land.. Its a natural lawn every where....

Locals visit here on their bikes too...

The horse men trading horse rides...

One puts on a show...

Bike on the lawn...

Get on the bigger table..

Could see one more table land ahead...

There's even a lake up there...

The path is bit slippery have to be carefull...

The unreachable table...

Many carriage rides for tourists...

Its a green carpet....

The inviting table...

Harisons solly visible from table land...

All of a sudden the whole table land gets misted out...

Hard to find the less slippery path i came from...

Made it to the staring area...

Its a carnival atmosphere. Some games...

CBZ's faring used to make mini superbike farings!!

The harrisons solly again...

Now on the harrisons solly..

A cycle hawker emptying his own stock, view gazing on the edge...

Bike on the edge of the solly...

Thats not mike bike btw.. had no time to get a pic like that with my bike...

Then i ride towards the GQ

A village house...

Riding the GQ to save some time..

Strange the left lane is concrete and the right is asphault..

Beautiful GQ

Yeay i am in in Karnataka state for some time...

6 laned Thavandi ghat!

Bangalore milestone... kinda can reach home in the next day... but i still have plans...

pretty farming...

Awesome country road...

Just green green..

Green mile again...

Time to get into the rain gear...

Climbing down the ghat in night

Day 158 - Aug 13 - Pune 2 Toseghar 2 Mahabaleshwar

2009-08-19T06:53:00.003+05:30

Aug13 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trip Sharing with Google Maps

244 KMs 22179 KMs

Had moved to my childhood friend prakash's place the previous evening and had party till late in the night. That got me slow to start today. PraveenS had chalked out awesome route and quite a fill for they day. Bid farewell to Prakash and started pretty late and its 11.30 am by the time i leave pune. PraveenS says i can still make it. Since i had to leave the luggage somewhere to see placed around Mahabaleshwar, the schedule was to ride till satara, turn right to checkout toseghar windmills and ride north towards Mahabaleshwar. Sounds simple. With on and off rains, its a pain to get in and out of rain gear. Any way reach satara on the GQ and turn right in search of Toseghar. PraveenS had given simple and effective directions and i surely found my way around. Crossed a tunnel and it was super green on the other side. It was already 2 pm and i kind have to make it quick. Guess will have to skip visiting Sajjangadd fort due to short of time. It was again green every where. Every bit of mud was covered with light green grass. It was beside the road, on the mountains and every where. It glowed when sun escaped the clouds and shined on them. Now i needed ask around bit and i doubted if any would would understand the word 'windmill'. But on trail and error found out the hindi 'pavan chakki' which everyone around knew and directed me towards the place. Could see a few far above the mountain table plateos. The weather is but dull and windy. Atleast the windmills will be happy. As i ride up i see more and more of them. I see a farm to my left and there was a bad road leading to it. The windfarms on the opposite mountains looks attractive and thought of heading there. I head there they were still 10-15 kms with bad roads. Thought would check out the one i passed.

I was told that i can ride into the farm, and after a bad patch there was a decent road leading the farm. It was great up there on the table with lot of wind mills. The farm extended quiet some distance and had drop off on the edge of it. It was amazing up there and the windmills were quite huge. Just rode around lazily and walked around a bit. Could hundreds of windmills far across on the adjacent mountain plateaus. The cloud was playing around and would give glimpses of the huge farms afar. Felt like being in a alien land. It was 4 when i started to ride. Though short of daylight you got the have food when hungry. Come back to the satara town as directed and take a left towards Kaas village. The road again climbed up and with great views all around. Then the road lead to on top of a flat ridge with drop offs on both the sides and there were lakes on both the sides as well. It got windy and it was strange and beautiful place to ride around. An option was to return to satara to stay for the night. But going back all the way was kinda not acceptable. Rode on gazing at he beauty. Wishing i had started early and i could ride at ease taking more breaks. But its not possible racing against the daylight. Get near Bamnoli lake and there were options to ride around the highly designed lake or take a boat. It was already 6 pm and taking a winding road around the lake for not feasible. So boat it is. It turned out to be bit expensive but with time running i had less options as well. Plus there were scares of swine flue even in this remote village. I was told all stuff were closed at mahabaleshwar cos of the same. Called PraveenS to checkout options and re reassured me to continue saying the words "tell them you coming from pune, they will run away from you" hehe. The boat was arranged and paid for.

It was a big metal motor boat with a high nose. Thought it was impossible to put the bike in and it was actually! But their idea was to put the front wheel in with the rear wheel dangling. Now now are we sure? none were. The bike was hoisted nonetheless and all including me used a lil brain to tie the bike to secure it on the boat. It was kinda scary imagining the bike rolling into the water! One person even sat inside just holding the bike preventing it from rolling out. The other wise pleasant evening boat ride felt apprehensive. The half hour felt real long. We make it to Tapola with bike still on the boat and 3-4 ppl gather to bring the bike back. Pretty relieved seeing the bike standing on its own rubber. Mahabaleshwar is still 35 kms away and though just a lazy ride in bit of dark would take me there. Stopped couple of times for some clicks too. It got darker and the unexpected happened. It got misty and i mean misty. With gaining darkness in the twilight, it was getting harder and harder to ride. Would just get blinded if i turn on the lights. It got tougher and challenging as it got darker. Was riding less than 20 kmph with just the pilot light on. Then i saw local biker standing for a break. When i complained about lack of visibility, he suggested turning off all the lights and riding on indicators!! And what do you know it worked! The indicators worked a blinking fog lamps. Due to a malfunction in the indicator wiring it remained on without blinking later! good for me. It still was tough work with my dead tired and hungry. A big vehicle over took and i just stuck to his tail for the last 5-6 kms. Must say it was one scary ride. Any way made it to damp and wet Mahabaleshwar. The power was out as well. Hotels were expensive and found one for 500 bux. settled in the room and breathed a sigh relief. The target for the day was achieved. It was just about finding food and could not work on logs as i was pretty tired.

A few clicks of pune city from the previous day...

Awesome urban view from PraveenS's home's balcony...

Prakash and me...

Some protection against swine flue!!

He has a CBZeeee....

I hit the GQ and ride towards Satara...

Awesome roadscape around pune...

Nearing the tunnel...

Just about to exit...

Now i am on to the famous Kambakti ghat

View from above...

Fantastic oneway twisties...

the road gets back to being flat...

I get off the highway at satara and ride towards Toseghar...

I like riding under the canopy...

Beautiful landscapes around...

First of the windmills spotted...

Ride uptowards and past sajjangad fort...

Almost all the mountains are green layered...

Quite a few mountain top plains...

Getting nearer to the windmill farm.

It starts to rain..

Pass a windmill farm...

One to road to get into one...

A huge farm on the other mountain top plain..

Ride into the farm..

A huge windmill yet to be assembled...

More pix on the windmills

the people working on one looks so tiny...

Me standing near a step of one...

On the edge of the huge natural table...

Hundreds of windmills on the other mountain top plains afar...

I ride away from the toseghar towards Bamnoli and views around...

Satara town below...

lot more greenary....

Its just plain grass on the plains...

Awesome plain near Kaas with drop offs on both the sides of the road...

Ride towards Bamnoli...

Lakes and lakes everywhere...

On a small break enroute...

At Bamnoli town...

Riding to the edge of the lake...

The Bamnoli lake..

Bike has to get into one of those lakes...

A freaky dog skull...

Bike hanging on the edge of the boat...

From inside...

He is holding the bike just in case it rolls out!!

A supposed to be pleasant boat ride...

The boats engine..

View at the lake...

Bike on the shores of Tapola..

Some water scooters lazing around due to lack of tourists...

Riding towards Mahabaleshwar...

Green green mountain slopes...

Quite a busy shape of the elangated lake...

It gets real misty to ride...

Day 156 - Aug 11- Tamini Ghat and Karloi Beach

2009-08-19T06:50:00.016+05:30

Aug11 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips

344 KMs Trip meter 21885 KMs

Joined PraveenS And Ashwin on monsoon ride on the western ghats. Its been long time for me on a group ride and this will be great fun. Plan was to ride out by 10.30 but the typical laziness and we had to change the engine oil too. Finally hit the road by like 12.30 Ride out of the busy pune streets and out on the hills. Its rain country and we are soon made to crawl into our rain gear. It all felt familiar, riding on broken roads with rain and the hurry to get there. Take a break paradise resort before Tamini ghats for a quick bite. Which turned out to be a long break. But the time there was well spent. The resort had a great view. We then move on towards Kundalika view point. The space now opens up give a treat to the eyes. Its light and glowing green every where. Never seen such bright grass before. Many waterfalls adorning the hills. We then take a detour for the Kundalika view point. It was a small road with lot of loose asphalt gravel. Now it take it slow its difficult for me with my heavy bike. It was great riding for some time in a forest kinda canopy. Then it opens up to a platform on the left. It looks great but i was told the best is yet to come. We park our bikes and walk a bit down and there it hits me. The great canyon view there. It was very unexpected for me and was a great surprise. Loved the views around there. I doubt the guys would ever move back to bangalore :) Spent some quality time there and took some more detours on the same road to get near lake.

All this made sure we are squeezing on our precious daylight. Now we make a run toward the beach. Rip through the green paths. It was great with light green grass on either side of smooth black road. Make it to NH17 by 5 pm and have a tea break. Its hot and not raining here. Get out of the rain gear and make a fast run towars Karloi beach. Ashwin had discovered it on his solo exploration ride couple of years back. And we are taking on the daylight. Its six by the time we are at the village. Ashwin leads us through the narrow village streets and we offroad towards the light house. We have to leave our gear below as its too narrow to climb up the the actual light. Make it up for an awesome view of the rocky karloi beach and the karloi fort ont the other side. The light house is activated and we are given some gyan of the place and surrounding light houses. it seems the just 12 watt bulb is enough for the job. The beams can be seen till 40 kms! Its all the magic in the reflectors. This was a three second light house and there are other light houses near by with 4 and 5 second intervals in beams. That is how different light houses in the area are identified by the ships nearby. With the tour done we are out of there and now ride down the slippery grassy path on to the sand. Fight it out for few feet and then we have traction on hard sand. Ride out to the rocks and park our bikes. Its hardly 7 pm and we spend almost like 2 hours just enjoying the place, chatting and clicking away. 9 pm is the time when we make up our minds to leave towards home.

Have dinner at a pretty looking restaurant on the NH17. We feel like calling it a day but bed's a 120 kms away. Its time for some late night ride and its a quick paced ride taking turns leading. It was fun ride and we stop for a tea break near the express way. And another quick riding session to pune and make it to homes by 12.30 am. It was an awesome reunion ride as we three had ridden together almost 4 years back.

Quite a contrapation on a bike in pune..

Praveen S up for the ride..

Ashwin joining us...

Praveen and Ashwin again..

Its rain country so have to get into rain gear soon...

We stop at paradise resort for a lazy quick bite :)

The resort's got quite a view..

The Praveens doing the big talk...

Ashwin and Praveen view gazing...

This is the view...

The monsoon ride continues...

Guys waiting while i click...

Many lakes enroute...

green green every where

The farmer and his bulls...

Guys taking a detour for Kundalika valley view point...

Water falls everywhere...

We are there...

Getting down to the view point...

Its a mind blowing green canyon...

Cam just cant capture the depth of the place...

Our steeds up there...

All of us at the view point...

The canyon again..

Spot the differences in the two zmas! one tour retrofitted and the other ralley stripped!

Continue for another place...

its glowing grass riding to get to a lake's edge...

the way we came...

bikes at the lake...

thats mine ;)

The shooters....

We have to leave now...

Ashwin leaving the scene

To get a bettor shot...

The shooter...

My poser bike...

PraveenS joining us...

Ride back through the forest kinda place...

Its open, its green and its great... Guys are also exited as this is their first monsoon ride this year...

More water falls

Anoter canyon view...

We take the green path...

Praveen taking a slippery detour....

Another water falls

Ashwin showing us a drag strip below on the plains...

The rain steads...

Another cool break...

Another lake enroute...

The green mile!

The monster that blocked our way...

The green mile again...

We reach the Karloi beach and offroad to the light house...

And we get in...

We have to leave our stuff here cos....

Its too narrow up there...

And it gets narrower on the top...

Our steads below...

The Karloi beach...

And we discuss!

The Karloi fort on the other side...

The Karloi cannon

Ashwin timing the light house's light's beam on my face...

Time to hit the beach...

And we fight the sand...

Settled for the evening...

Bikers on the rocks!

The light house coming into action..

Some light play...

Its dark and the light house's 12Watt light glowing brightly and it reaches 40 Kms it seems!

Following pix by Praveen Shirali:

Me there...

At Kundalika view point...

Ashwin's bike at the lake..

All our bikes...

We shoot each other...

Bikes on a break...

A colorful wet dog..

At a stop...

Me fighting the sand at Karloi beach...

Working with my cam...

Following pix by Ashwin:

Me at the paradise resort...

At the lake with my bike..

The cam's gotta be used...

Praveen Shirali working with the cam...

Riding out from the small dam...

Looking for a target

There was nothing up there ;)

Working on the light play...

Ashwin captures the beams of the light house...

Cows lit from the light house's moving beam of light...

Day 155 - Aug 10 - Baroda to Pune

2009-08-16T19:23:00.005+05:30

Aug10 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

526 KMs Trip meter 21541 KMs

It is to pune today. Have been hearing some news about the swine flue increasing in Pune. And i thought rest of the ride will be peaceful! Just when i was starting towards pune, get a call my my dad about the breaking news in pune. 4-5 deaths due to swine flu. This is not the first time in the trip where some breaking event has happened in the place just before i go there. Like the bomb blasts in guvahati, presidents resignation in nepal, roits in srinagar just when i was enter back into the city. As always i move towards none the less.

Have a tasty breakfast and start comfortably from Dr Bharath's house. He even guides me till the highway. Its back GQ mode. Pretty uneventful ride. But the on and off rains did trouble a lot. If it rains i have to get into the rain gear and if it stops its too hot to wear the rain gear and they have to go. I am made to gear and ungear for 3-4 times. The last i faced rain was with freezing rain drops. As i head south things get greener and greener and i near the hills and thats western ghats. Already feels like home. Its monsoon riding season now. Green hills and either sides of GQ is green except the tarmac. Now i dreaded the passage through Mumbra. As i remembered the tough time we had the last time we passed there. Plus i got a heavy bike this time. After reaching Thane and wading through the traffic i am enlightened that now there is a bypass over mumbra! thats gladly taken and its a very old four lane highway on the hills next to mumbra. Just wondered was there there a couple of years back as well. Get to puna highway in some time. And its a riding pleasure. curves on the mountains and this is wide roads here. The climb up is pretty rapid and i stop at a point to take pix of the Mumbai pune expressway realizing little that i will be riding on it in some time. Its made in cement and kinda slippery in the wet weather. I vaguely remember riding part of the expressway last time. Stop a few times to get some pix. It was drizzling all the way and the mountains nearby were covered in mist. Now i guess i am to lookout for an exit. I see one towards lonavala and skip it. Hardly a couple of kms and i am flaged down by cops. I am not supposed to ride two wheelers here. But where's the exit? well it seems i should have taken the lonavala exit! how am i supposed to know! there was a small board near the tunnel it seems tell the same but, i conveniantly ignored reading a board written in hindi. Its tough you see. Well i gotta pay now. Am told a 1000 Rs fine + 700 Rs at the toll gate exit or some consideration for the cops who are supposed to escort me out of the expressway. Things settle for 400 bux and i am escorted out of the next exit and shown the way to pune with the NH4.

The NH is pretty good enough and its tarmac, bettor than wet cement surface. With pune nearing i quicken my pace and make it there by like 7.30 pm. Kinda missing the surgical mask which i have ran out of. Already see ppl wearing the masks and cloth on the face. PraveenS comes to pick me up. It was nice meeting after long time. Just as i freshen up, Ashwin, his wife chitra, Umesh an Hari come over and we all head out to a party celebrating my ride. It was a great reunion with old friends and making new friends. Plus it was party as well :) Boy am i heading south :)

Dr Bharat and me at his place before starting for pune.

Hit the GQ again..

Some birds by the Highway...

Got nothing much but to click the GQ!

More temples coming up...

Things getting green...

And i approach the western ghats...

Looks like i am on right time at Maharashtra, its green green mansoon everywhere...

Well if its green, its cos of rain and i have to gear up here...

I see a milestone to Bangalore!

Glad there is a bypass over Mumbra now, else would have been a pain to cross it...

Mumbai Local train!! been ages since i had seen one!

The mumbra township below which i was glad to ride around...

Nice roads towards pune...

The Mumbain Pune Expressway...

In no time i was on it!

Green green everywhere...

Its great riding on the expressway...

The expressway tunnel..

Inside the tunnel now...

The misty mountains above...

Western ghats water falls begin...

Could rain now...

Expressway carved out of the mountain...

Its party with J friends in the evening celebrating my ride. Its me Umesh, Chaitra, Ashwin, Praveen S and Hari from Left to right. Btw i got shot by Praveen S!

Day 154 - Aug 9 - Mt Abu to Baroda

2009-08-16T18:46:00.007+05:30

Aug09 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trail Maps

372 KMs Trip Meter 21015 KMs

Had spent the whole of previous day resting and updating the logs and had not visited Mt Abu. So wanted to do a small round in the morning before i leave for baroda. It was a welcome break from heat. Started by 9am and thought of going towards Gurushikhar, which is the highest point in Rajasthan. It was pleasantly chilly in the morning. Had to ride around the Nakki lake in the beginning. There are lot of points of interest. Well a place that crowded with tourists needs plenty to visit. Thought of riding till the end and checking out what ever possible on the way back. Luggage on the bike was as usual a handicap. Had not left them in then hotel due to an argument with the hotel staff regarding their behavior favoring foriegn tourists. Had already experienced with a couple of other lonely planet suggested hotels. Any way it was getting more and more chilly as i rode up. The views around were great. There was quite some traffic as well. Went almost near the top and it was literally a traffic jam. Just wanted to get out of there. Rode down leisurely. Could feel the chill reduse and the heat pick up as i lost altitude. Enjoyed the mountains road till the plains.

Then on it was just cruising along the GQ towards Baroda. Looked like a small road on the map but it was a 4 lane road till Ahmadabad. Dr Bharath had invited me to stay over at his place in Baroda. Get back to GQ mode with music in the ears and riding around 90 to 110. Reach Ahmadabad by 4.30 and went to expressway to give a try and i was promptly stopped by guards from entering the expressway. When lumbering trucks could enter, why not me i thought. Any way searched around for the deviation and it was two laned road with lot of traffic. Knew it would take more time to get to Baroda. Made it like 6 pm and Dr Bharath was kind enough to come till the outskirts to receive me. Then i fallow his car to his home. Glad to know that he had traveled ladakh this season and the wee days of the passes getting opened. He also gave me a generous tour of Baroda city and it felt like developed place and traffic was easy going. Then on it was a great dinner at his place and travel talk for quite some time. Getting to pune is the target for tomm.

A stroll to the Nakki lake the previous night...

A boat hotel...

Resting boats at Nakki lake...

Nakki lake in the morning...

Quite a few birds around...

Riding up towards GuruShikhar...

Flowers enroute...

Looks like the Gurushikara mountain up there...

Is it a radar station?

Climbing up the top...

Quite a traffic jam up there so made a retreat...

Looks like near by hill being washed...

A small break...

Small dreamy lake...

Ridin down the mountains...

The view of the valley from up there...

Nice twisties though...

Some posing and greenery...

Mr Langur...

View of the plains...

Back to the GQ...

Interesting circle at palanpur

Good looking Gujarathi Thali...

The highway restaurant...

Many temples being built these days here i guess...

The express way i was deprived of...

The other road to turned out good after some time...

Spotted a peacock...

Day 152 - Aug 7 - Jodhpur to Mount Abu

2009-08-08T15:53:00.004+05:30

Aug07 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trail Maps

315 KMs Trip meter 20643 KMs

Had decided to stay at cool Mt Abu for a day and thus wanted to explore Jodhpur a bit and get myself to Mt Abu by the end of the day. Subodh suggested me the Umaid palace, Mehranghar fort, Jaswanth Thada and Kaylana lake to get the gist of the city. The day was cloudy in the morning and giving out a plesant day. After breakfast went to check out the Umaid palace first. Was really surprised to see how developed Jodhpur city is. Looked very very modern with wide roads an all. Reached the palace entrance and was frisked at the gate and also once more at the palace entrance! Things are very well managed. The pretty palace is just like 60 years old inaugurated in 1942. Visitors could only see a limited part of the palace as the rest is a five start hotel and the current king's residence. There were images of places of palace where visitors could not go. Of course lot of info regarding the history. By now the clouds cleared and things got hot.

Could see the imposing Mehrangad fort far above a hill top. Make my way through the city and ascend to The fort. Its quite huge and lot of tourists there. The fort is very well managed and nicely marketed. Tourists could even rent out small audio devises which would explain about different points in the fort in their chosen language! There were small boards with earfone symbol and a number which could be pressed to know about the point of interest. Boy are things run modernly here. One thing i noticed here was that even guards recognized that i am not from around and just looking at the helmet in the hand asked if i rode all the way, and when i said yes, asked if i am doing all india tour!! Smart ppl around here i guess. The fort even had an elevator ofcourse at a charge. Went gazing and clicking around the imposing fort. Spent like couple of hours on it. Time to move on. Visited Jaswant Thada on the way back. Kinda a memorial for the kings who ruled Jodhpur. It was kinda late to visit Kaylana lake as its liek 16 kms.

So make my way back to the towards Subodh's home. Bid farewell with thanks and start by 2.30 pm. Its a bit late and its almost 3.15 by the time i get on to the right highway towards Pali which is enroute Sirohi. The roads are pretty nice but the way is not straight today and have to keep alert for turns. I see a lot more piligrims walking with colorful flags, some were cycling and some were on motorcycles. Only this time they were approaching from opposite direction so i guess ppl are converging at Jodhpur for some festival. I was too naive not to enquire about it.

Reach Sirohi by 6 pm. Though it getting late, i was tired to carry on and took a break for some time. I am lead to Ahmadabad highway saying i would have to take right near Abu road town to get to Mt Abu. The Four laned highway was a treat of a ride, with greenery on either side and KMs getting gulped fast. Its almost dark now. Reach near Abu road and i seem to a flown past the town. I am given confusing directions to get towards Mt Abu even have to take a dirt road for some distance. Guess i must have missed a bettor road. Things are cool now and looks like it could rain as well. Its 7.15 by the time i am out of Abu road and hardly 25 kms to Mt Abu which i have to cover in darkness. 16 kms to Mt Abu its a twisties ascent and boy was it fun. It had been quite some time since i rode twisties in dark. With the Hid illuminating the road pretty well it was a gala time till the top with temperatures getting ever more comfortable. Get there by 8.15 pm and there are plenty of hotels and its again a problem of choice. Just did what i do, like riding to the lenght of town once. Some how settled in a very hold hotel started in 1977. The room and ameneties seemed pretty old but neatly maintained. Had the cybercafe and parking for the bike as well. Thus settled to bit on the higher side. Not working today so went to the near by Jaipur Heritage hotel which had restaurant with you know;) It was very pleasant up there overlooking the Nakki lake. Went a bit high and relaxed in the cool atmosphere.

Modern streets of Jodhpur...

Rajasthani art even on Rickshaws design i guess...

The Umaid palace..

Approach road to the palace...

Bike in front of the palace hotel...

In the campus...

Marvelous structure...

Me there...

Scale model inside the palace...

Pix of the restricted areas of the palace...

Some Gyan of the place...

Few more restricted places...

More gyan of the palace

A view into royal life...

A court yard inside...

Collection of clocks...

Collection of watches...

Out side...

The imposing dome...

Nice place to chill out...

The building around the palace still being built with the same red stone...

The imposing Mehrangad fort quite a way into the city jutting out from a hill top...

Handicrafts shops in plenty...

Fort with day today life around...

Bike getting near the fort...

Its like 12 stories high!

Has an elevator!

The resting cannons...

Life around the fort...

Looking from above...

No flash in the cam :(

Checking out the palace inside the fort...

Daggers....

Rifles of all sizes...

A short fat cannon!

Royal room...

Looking out through window...

Some old hisaab kitaab...

Palakkis i guess...

Decorated roof...

Some business inside the fort...

A guard practicing his skills...

Colorful foot ware..

Making bangles the traditional way...

Another cannon area...

More folk art...

Houses below the fort...

Me and my cannon...

A lake in the city...

Clock tower spotted...

Peering into the households from above...

Just hanging in there...

Colorful villagers...

The magnificent structure...

Walking down to the ground zero...

More folk art...

Cannon ball marks from a historic war when Jaipur attacked Jodhpur...

The Gyaan...

Then i visit Jaswant Thada

A peaceful place to leisure...

The Memorial...

Inside...

Paintings of all the kings who ruled Jodhpur...

Quite a sculpture...

Me there...

The guard posing for the cam...

A small fort like structure in the middle of the city on a stone outcrop...

Busy roads of Jodhpur..

The Royal polo ground now is a cricket ground!

Searching my way out of Jodhpur...

Atleast i spot a few camels...

And a lot more...

Now pilgrims walking towards Jodhpur, some riding motorcycles...

Shopping center for pilgrims...

More some them and some on cycles...

Looks pretty...

Modern temple...

Approaching hills of Rajashtan..

Take a break before the final run to Mt Abu...

Roads smooth...

Great infrastructure...

I see a train after a long time!

Great roads again...

With the sun going down and clouds threatening, hope i dont have to ride in dark with rain...

A huge camel stock..

Riding twisties by night, so much fun...

Overlooking Nakki lake from the Jaipur Heritage hotel.. pic a bit shaky as i was a bit high ;)

The climb to Mt Abu in the end explains the coolness here...

Day 151 - Aug 6 - Ajmer to Jodhpur

2009-08-08T15:53:00.003+05:30

Aug06 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Travel Community

214 Kms Trip Meter 20327 KMs

The lack of sleep got to me and took my time to wake up. Kinda deciced to keep Jodhpur sigh seeing for next day's morning session and today's target was just get to Jodhpur. Started by 9.30 and thought of taking a small detour Pushkar coming so far. Thought would be nice to get to photograph a few camels. Crossed the Ajmer's lake and small hills range and into the crowded pushkar. Thought of getting a glimpse of the Bhrama's only temple in the world, but riding into the town, things got only narrow and crowded and getting in with a loaded bike was quite out of my comfort zone. After venturing quite some distance inside, gave up and turned back and scuttled out. Guess pushkar itself will take a day to explore a bit and cant be seen on the run. On my way back talked to a camel safari guy enquiring about spotting some camels. He was more intersted in selling me a camel safari or atleast get a puja done through his pandit friend.

Since i had to ride to jodhpur he suggested me to ride through Mertha city so that the roads goes through kinda jungles and villages and chances of spotting more camels. Sounded interesting compared to boring highways infested with trucks. Took the road to Mertha city. It was a beautiful two laned roads. But not empty as there were literally hundreds of walking piligrims with colorful flags scattered in small groups along the road. Reached Mertha city in couple of hours and it was lil tough find the road to Pipar city. Seems there is road under construction and had to do some offroading and was riding through small towns with narrow roads till i reached the Birla White Cement factory town ship. Which led to a two laned highway. If not the promised forests and villages, atleast the road had very less traffic. The only trucks plying was of Birla white. This was like 2 pm and hardly any place to eat around. The dry heat and again i start falling asleep. Against the same struggle to keep myself awake.

Make it to Jodhpur like 3.15 pm and though hot it was still manageable. Prem's brother Subodh came to pick me up and i was glad to get into comforts of a home. Had no energy go any where and so after lunch spent the entire evening dozing infront of a cooler. Mount Abu is the target for tomm...

The room at the Heritage Inn...

Nice classic place to stay...bike is parked in too...

The Haveli Heritage Inn..

Ajmer streets up and running...

The lake at Ajmer..

Heading towards Pushkar..

The gate to Pushkar...

Strange Hanuman temple...

The narrow streets of Pushkar...

Color handicrafts...

Way to one of the ghats...

I am out of Pushkar towards Mertha City...

Freesome twolaned road...

Guess this is Thavala village...

Plenty of pilgrims walking towards Jodhpur carrying these colorful flags...

Empty smooth roads..

A Goatherd women...

A proud buffalo soldier...

A camel not a wild one i guess...

Entering Mertha City the birth place of Meera bai...

Preparations are on way for upcoming Ganesha festival...

Double laned road built around single laned one!

A villager with colorful pagadi...

Some offroading to get to the Jodhpur highway.. i was clueless as to where i was...

Ride into small towns with many road blocks..

The Birla White cement factory township...

Back to rip roads again... Have to park the bike on the opposite side due to the inclination of the road on either edges else bike would tip over!

Trying to farm in sand!

Looks like i am on the right direction... Barmer Jaisalmer brings back fantastic memories...

Road gets bettor...

More foot pilgrims... Boy do they have some faith to brave the heat!!

Day 150 - Aug 5 - Delhi to Ajmer

2009-08-08T15:49:00.003+05:30

Aug05 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

463 KMs Trip meter 20114 KMs

Supposed to me on the move by 5 am to avoid the days raising heat. But as usual things get late. Its a mini ride from Hitanshu's place to India gate. Got a nice ride on the NH to the heart of Delhi. Early morning free roads make you appreciate the infrastructure. The high way had entry and exits numbered!! Din know this things were there in India! Even in this age of Internet, many things one would come to know only by getting to the place. With simple instructions to find my way make it to the Dandi march statues i guess. Get a call from Prem as he is already reached. Find my way to the awesome structure India gate to meet Prem. Then it was like a photo session managed to pose in front of India gate. Also rode to Presidents house and near Parliament house. The imposing structures were mind blowing. Is this was the first time i visited them. Bid farewell to Prem and started towards Hitanshu's house. Now it was like 9 am and the roads are getting to their full capacity. Still the traffic keeps moving and i get back. Well what do you know Hitanshu even cooked me almost round parathas!

Freshened up and some chit chat and the laziness to stay away from heat and i started by 11.30 am. Not sure of the place i would stay for the day as Jodhpur would not be possible starting so late. So prolly Jaipur or Ajmer. An hour into the ride i start feeling sleepy. Real sleepy. Looks like the last few days of disturbed sleep due to the heat gets to me. I was feeling so sleepy that i was afraid i would fall down! cant really stop in the middle of highway too. Just on the look out for a comfy restaurant to catch some power nap. Saw board of some restaurant some 40 kms ahead and thought would settle in there for some time. Struggle quite a bit to keep myself awake and finally counting kms, shouting and trying to sings something to keep my eyes open make it to the AC restaurant. Some fluids and and power nap did really help and spent like an hour there.

Got back on to the road feeling refreshed and pretty uneventful ride till Jaipur by 4pm. Ajmer still more than a 100 kms away. Just wanted to a quick spin into the city. Took off the highway and rode into the town. The jaipur fort was first up. Getting in would take couple of hours i guess. SO just rode out till i could get a few good pix from outside. Rode further till the jaipur Gate and see that the real city is few more kms aways. Since i am not stopping at jaipur thought i bettor get back to the highway. Well every city in rajasthan has rich heritage and lot of places to see but i had thought of exploring only Jodhpur. Get back to what i thought was the highway, seems like i have missed the by pass. Get into the city and traffic and takes like 45 mins to get back to the highway. Any way i caught lil glimpse of the Jaipur city. Some full throttle ride and thought would make it to Ajmer in good time. Even stopped at CCD. Kinda felt at home as CCD outside the town is my favorite coffee spot on weekends. But soon the road to Ajmer branches off before krishna nagar and its two laned road filled with truck traffic. Things get slow and roll into the town only by like 8 pm. Hitanshu had mailed me couple of hotel names. One of me the Heritage hotel had parking. Kinda expensive for the small room. It was a pleasant stay there in a old haveli converted to hotel now managed by the residents themselves. The weather got pleasant in the evening with cool breeze. Kinda worried of rajasthan thinking of Delhi heat. But here the peak summer is gone and with few rains here and there it nice. Even had dinner in open air. Tried some net update and crashed for the day. Plan was to get up early and make it to Jodhpur soon.

Today completed 150 days and 20000 kms into the trip.

Highways around Delhi has Entry and Exits!!

Awesome roads....

Toll Plaza to enter Delhi...

Way to India gate...

Beautiful in morning low traffic...

Near the march statues...

Me and the bike there...

Finally bike at the India gate...

The majestic India gate...

The flags of the three branches of Indian Military...

Road to the President's house...

India gate from the other side...

Prem working on taking my poser pix...

Fantastic view from up here...

Prem and his ford there...

Never been here before...

Raising the flag...

Pigeons near the Parliament house...

The Parliament house...

My bike there...

One last look at the imposing gate before i ride out of there...

The fast paced roads towards Gudgaon...

Huge buildings...

Just before leaving Hitanshu's place...

The four laned roads not enough for this traffic...

Heading that way...

Staring at a closed hotel wishing it were open with cool comforts...

Full throttle is not enough...

You find camel on expressways in Rajasthan..

Pretty restaurants and shopping centers on the highway...

Getting there...

There were one of these every two kms!!

Beautiful roads approaching Jaipur...

The Jaipur fort...

Strange cow...

Life around the fort...

The Jaipur fort palace i guess...

The Jaipur gate..

City far ahead...

Bike from kinda inside the fort...

Fort walls on the nearby mountains...

Fantastic monument...

Pretty garden inside... Very well maintained...

Elephant spotted...

He is instructing the ele to lift its trunk..

Was late by 2 kms to notice that the bike has done 30k KMs...

Now this is exactly 20k KMs into this trip...

Road towars Ajmer...

One huge lizard!!

Kannada channel on TV!!

Guess this place...

Feel at home with these ;)

Where else but CCD. The CCD chain expanding into neighboring states from Karnataka...

Sanjay from Mangalore, who is quite happy to be posted and living on the Jaipur Ajmer highway since an year! He says its free of pollution so he's happy...

Ride towards Ajmer...

Looks like city of marbles, lot marble depos entering Ajmer..

Day 149 - Aug 4 - One more day at Delhi

2009-08-08T15:23:00.002+05:30

Thought if no front tire today would ride out and try else where. Was kinda getting afraid of Delhi heat :D Spent the first half of the trying to catch up with the logs. As the last few days either i was lazy or the day was tiring. Since i was planing to leave the next day it was to be easy to get out of Delhi from Gudgoan side and would save me couple of hours of traffic. Thus Hitanshu invited me to stay over for the night before heading south. Yogesh had put some effort and made sure that i would not leave Delhi without getting the bike fully done, that is he had sourced out even the front tire i wanted.

I move out of Prem's house. It was a great stay at his place and got spoilt with the great home cooked food. Thanks prem for the affectionate hosting. Ride out to Salil's place to see a few photographs while we wait for confirmation of the tire. Manik joined us and looked like its going to be another meet today evening. Again Prem and Hitanshu had to bare uncertainty till we rode to the Lajpat nagar and got the front tire changed. Then a meet was decided and We were at Subway for the wait. I particularly fancied the blower at the entrance of the Subway shop ;) Prem joined us with his family and then by Sunil. Last but not the least Hitanshu made it to the party as well. Great food, fun and chat. It was time for farewell again and this time followed Hitanshu to his place. The new tires chicken strips giving me trouble and chasing spirited Hitanshu's driving was a challenge. Rode it out as i was wondering whats wrong with the handling. Any way the chicken strips had to be dealt with hardly.

Was pretty late at his home and still managed to host me with dinner and crashed for the day. Not only i need to be getting to Ajmer of some place tomm, i had to even visit India Gate in the morning. Its a must u see. Prem would join me for that the next day.

Its me near Prem's office, cam flash works no more :(

Salil, Manik and me diving into the Salad at Subway's

Hitanshu, Salil, Prem and his family, Sunil at the dinner for the evening...

Day 148 - Aug 3 - Bike work in Delhi

2009-08-08T14:51:00.005+05:30

Had to brave out the Delhi Humidity today. First up was the service as the bike had not seen one for some time now. Had to get a fork changed as it had got scratched just in Pangong and of course the front fender. The customer lounge not really friendly and the heat and humidity was getting to me. Just worked on my logs while i waited for the bike to get attended! Which happened after quite some time. Things were left to uncertainty about the activities for the rest of the day. Had to make Prem, Salil and Bankim to wait indefinitely as the service was taking much more time than expected. Prem whisked me away for lunch and were joined by Salil. Some reprieve from the heat.

By the time we got back to the service center the bike was ready, but getting it out was a pain as it took us like 45 mins to just get the bill and pay. Boy did they make us run around in that late noon heat to get the bill done. On top of that, they had polished the bike with some cheap wax polish tough i had instructed no polish. Now will have tough time with the tank bag slipping for some days! Left pretty disgusted, after this they employees got interested in the trip and etc which i was in no mood to share with them! Salil got me the after market diskpads from his mech, which works pretty well. Went to Salil's house before we could move out for getting the tires changed at KRP. Yogesh joined us on the way leading us to KRP. Bankim who had patiently keeping track of the progress the whole day joined us at KRP and always nice to meet fellow travellers. But i dont get my front tire. Getting the rear tire fixed, took the wind out of us! Had to scout around to find one that could fix the new tire and it was super pain to negotiate my bike through the impatient peak evening traffic.

We pretty tired with the exercise and could think of only getting back to the places. Bid byes and rode back with Salil. It was agonizing ride in the heat all 1.5 hours of it. The working day is tough here, even with all those beautiful wide and organized roads here. Thought of staying one more day with the hope of getting front tire, but by now i could as well just ride away with the one i have :D fearing the Delhi heat.

At DND Flyway.. Two wheelers also have to pay the toll!

The Toll plaza..

Super wide roads...

Salil's new car ;)

Day 147 - Aug 2 - BCMT meet in Delhi

2009-08-08T14:15:00.003+05:30

It was a tiring days ride the previous day. Kinda second highest distance covered in the entire trip in a day. Woke up like 8.30 am. Prem had made sure that i would be comfortable. As the day grew heavier we had lined up things like getting the bike serviced, camera repaired, tires changed and also attend the meet in the same day! Which i thought was impossible in a big city. Painfully experienced the same during preparation of the trip in Bangalore.

The service guys said would give my bike by 5-6, which kinda means i would get it only next day. So instead opted to leave it for next day. Went the Shipra mall hoping to fix the cam. It was hot already and my who does not sweat much was melting. The Delhi humidity getting to me. The Sony service center was some where else. Manik came to pick me up from the mall and so did Salil. I keep saying in between, boy was it hot. The Sony thing did not work out as they were no sure as to how many days they would take! Guess flash less cam was bettor than no cam. So be it. We guzzled like a big jug of fruit juice and the Golghuppe was fantastic.

Moved to Salil's house to check out a few pix and ditched the idea of tires for the day. Made it to the Dhaba meet venue. The venue was just great for people to gather and even park their vehicles without worry. And it was awesome meeting the entire Delhi troop of BCMT. Met many for the first time and glad to meet to so many online friends in flesh. Flattered at being the reason for the meet. It was all fun and laughter and i was surprised at the enthusiasm of the troop even in that sweltering heat. The tasty Macaroni was finished with two cold drink bottles. Then we moved out to Barista to feel a bit cool. It was all chit chat till late in the evening. Lot of pix and it was time for farewell. Salil showed my till prem's house. All i could think at that point for shower :D

Few pictures from the day:
Residential buildings near Gazyabad...

Delhi streets...

Shipra mall...

Not really of much help...

At the BCMT Dhaba meet, missing the flash in the cam...

The Macaroni...

Pic from Narendra:

Pix from Lavkesh:

At Baristha...

All smiles before the dispersal...

Pix from Yogesh:

I am shining! could as well be mistaken for my wax statue!!

The gathering at the meet...

Anup and Lavkesh :)

In conversation....

Cooling of At Baristha...

Day 146 - Aug 1 - Manali to Delhi

2009-08-05T12:33:00.004+05:30

Aug01 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Trip Sharing with Google Maps

572 KMs Trip Meter 19407 KMs

The room was pretty cozy and kinda felt like staying for one more day. But had decided to move on. Started by 9.30 am thinking Delhi should be reached by late evening. The first thing i noticed in the morning was the increased power of the bike and felt like i got a super bike! Had been used to the low power for a month now. If not the scenery the riding fun was good. Going is slow as there is still lot of hills to cover. Looked like i wont get to the capital any time soon in the evening. Lot of ride of nostalgic remembering my previous ride back to Delhi on my old faithful steed and following the same path on my new one. Remember have a great time at the mandi to ropar twisties on the cbz but have to be cautious on the zma with all heavy load and panniers....

Was already like 4pm when the reached the plains near Roper. Could feel the heat increase as i ride. It was getting pretty late but the going got slow due to the bad roads and roads under construction. Get a call from Prem inviting me to stay at his place. If things weren't late enough i missed bypass to chandighar and it was a lot of time crossing the city. Was tempted to stay over at panchkula. It would only be tougher to ride to delhi in the heat the next day. Just as i geared to ride out the rest of the distance, i feel the wobble riding at 100. Yes it was puncture! Cant even put the bike on stand without help. What luck the puncture shop is just near by! So my bike gets attended and made use of the forced break by have a couple of somasa and Jalebi from a nearby Dhaba. Puncture is done and it was 7pm and 250 kms to still go. Should be like 3-4 hours atleast. 580 kms turning out to be quite tiring.

Take a last break and stretch myself and get on the saddle with the fading sunlight. Quite some time since i rode post dusk and bike in its full power in plains and it was just play with throttle after that. Back to the highway fun taking on cars. Yogesh and Salil informed me that they would be waiting at the entrance of the capital as i ride in. That was such a relief. Finding any place in the metropolis with all the heat would have been very very troublesome. Kinda hard to believe seeing the speedo run so fast. Felt nice at using the 5th gear after a long time.

10.30 as i approached Delhi and asked my around to the said bypass and found Yogesh and Salil waiting for me there. It was great meeting them after couple of years. But the journey for the day was not over as Delhi is a big place! Had to ride out some 40 more kms accompanied by the Delhi tourers. Settled at Prem's place by like 11.30 PM. Great to be in a comfortable place to stay. This was the second longest clocking of kms in a day in this trip. Kinda dazed as the last four days were tire some rides.

The big spacious room at Manali...

The Hotel Devlok...

One last look at Manali town...

Pretty hill sides...

Glad there was a bridge over it ;)

Some great looking mountain scenery before i get down to the plains...

I was wondering shouldn't i be on the high below?

The Kullu town...

The bike and nice road...

Inside Auit Tunnel..

Head out of darkness...

road along the mountains...

There were hundreds of these Piligrim bikers towards and from Manikaran. Boy were they riding to the max of what their bikes can do!

At the dam after Auit

Guess what we do here?

The Mandi town...

Lot of road pix as i am seeing them after long time :D

Took a food break here...

Hazy mountains getting down to the plains...

Ab Dilli door nahi...

Pretty roads again..

Have landed on to the plains...

Again a nostalgic shot remembering taking a similar pic with my old steed cbz at the same canal just before hitting the ropar chandighar highway....

Full throttle roads...

Elephant and the bike...

International looking toll plaza...

Then i have a puncture right near a puncture shop!

Tube being heat patched on...

Hit the Grand trunk road...

Colorful toll plaza nearing delhi...

Vertical travel for some time as the gps app crashed after hitting the plains....

Day 145 - July 31 - Keylong to Manali

2009-08-04T12:34:00.006+05:30

July31 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Travel Community

122 KMs Trip meter 18834 KMs

Just when i was thinking that i am done with Nala crossings, i had been enlightened about a Big one near koksar by Yogesh, the previous day. So All morning i was just thinking about it. It was a pleasant morning and hoped it the the rest of the day over rothang also as i have heard of very bad roads on the other side of rothang, thanks to the ppl i met who were on the way to Leh. But no choice but to go through it. Head out of town and the valley looked very pretty in the bright warm morning sunshine. Pass Tandi and ride towards koksar as the valley opens up.

Ran into a cyclist with a board and was easy to recognize him as a tourer and stopped for a chat. He had just the normal cycle and carried his stuff in a big cement bag on the carrier. This was his second trip and this would last for years he says as he has managed only uttaranchal in the last 5 months. He would be covering J&K then heading to Nepal and then Northeast india and then south! Pretty simple stuff he had with him as he was taking a few things across the town! How to ppl do such things... he wanted to contact Limca book of records about his trip. And asked i should have by now. But mine's aint such unique thing to contact them and i am afraid his trip as well. But i took his number so that i could let him know the contact info. Hope things work out for him.

Road ahead towards koksar and lucky me there was a bridge on the scary looking nala! So guess i am done with Nalas for quite some time :d Start the ascent to Rothang taking my own time. stopping at will for pix and taking break when i want. Nearing the top the mist seemed to be pouring out from the other side kinda giving the hint of the weather the other side. Soon its rain drops and i am forced to crawl into my rain gear. The road seems to have vanished under the widening process and its all misty getting to the top. There were a parked vehicles this side, belonged to visitors. Guess they had come here as rothang top was completely misted out and hardly 10-15 feet visibility. Reach the top and it was very unlike the last time i visited it. hardly any people, the board is gone to be replaced by new one i guess. Nothing can be seen and i ride ahead to find the dhabas and all empty. No snow near the road side. I was told that to get to snow one has to go up on ponies. Ride across and start the descent. The road was progressively getting worse. Out of the mist and into the rain. The rained out slush paths were taxing. Have to cope with the impatient cars who honk expecting me to just fly out of the path! Plus have to catch one of the tire tracks to ride slowly hoping not to drop the bike and a long line of impatient vehicles behind. Lot of slush monsters to deal with and it went on for more than a hour. Got me real tired i must say. Glad that i did this trip counter clock wise else Manali Leh strech would have taken the wind out of me.

Manage to get my self to tarmac with rubber side down and its still raining only to let go near solan. Then places get familiar to my last ride near rothang and how far down from rothang we were stopped by ice! It was drizzling all the way and first went to vashisht to check out the rooms. There were available, but wanted to take a spin of manali town before i could settle. Rode onto manali via a bridge and the main road is now blocked for vehicles. Rode to the top till Hadimba devi temple. But since my bike was loaded did not go in. Found a hotel with parking on the way down and settled in hotel devlok. Nice bargain for a offseason price. The evening i took a stroll in the manali bazar area and wasted some time trying to get my wireless modem get going again. Tomm is a long ride to Delhi.

Mountain view from the room in the Hotel Tashi Deleg...

Get to see this walking out of the room...

The room...

The bike parking place...

Riding out of Keylong...

Valley leading to Rothang...

Bike at the famous bilboard... Just teasing the board here as i am riding the opposite direction and did not fell any fuel ;)

Rothong looks cloudy...

Pretty places enroute...

Purple flowers bring color to the dull boring browns...

The pretty valley with rothang to the left ridge...

Mountain top glaciers...

Houses looking tiny on the Hillside...

Some rough path...

Glacier giving out a water fall!

More Glaciers...

Pretty road for a change...

Then i meet the All india cycle tourer... This is his second trip...

The board says it all....

The two tourers intending to do all india ride....Couldnt be more different i guess...

Carries his stuff in there...

Road ahead...

Nice place to live...

Riding up...

Last couple of poses of the bike with the mountains...

A three step water fall which you can ride on!

At the deviation to Spiti, had stopped here 3 years back looking at the now missing board which said, Leh 565 Kms! Then i thought some day and a bigger machine :) And here i am...

Mist coming from across the pass...

The valley leading to Lahaul and Spiti...

Bike wanted one more pose with the mountains...

Mist roads and mist... great combination :)

Some foreign cyclists braving it all...

Looking pretty nearing the top...

but gets hidden behind the mist...

The under construction roads going up to rothang...

At Rothang top... 13002 feet says my fone...

Me and the bike there...

Rothang top misted out...

No snow around the rothang top road, have to use these horses to ride up to the snow this season!!

Starting a misty decent...

Long way down...

But have to deal with slush monsters before getting down...

Its looks pretty down there...

Some traffic jams...

Slush...

Not to easy to get down there cos...

slushy paths to deal with...

Finally on tarmac.. In Kannada Kothi means a monkey! Could chuckle when i saw the hotel names like Kothi view hotel ;)

Getting down to familiar planet earth...

This pic was just as i got nostalgic as i have similar pic there of my old stead cbz the last time i visited rothang :)

One last look at the great wall to Ladakh...

The temple in Vashist...

could not go in as the bike was loaded...

A wet manali town..

Deodars enroute Hadimba Devi temple

Again a click from outside of Hadimba Devi temple...

Manali by night

A colorful fruit shop...

The evening croud...

Vertical travel for the day...

Day 144 - July 30 - Pang to Keylong

2009-08-03T13:04:00.005+05:30

July30 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Travel Community

179 KMs Trip meter 18712 KMs

Had disturbed sleep the whole night. It must be really cold out there, but lil did i realize that being happily under influence ;) The dust and dirt over there never got registered. As day breaks i get out and see frost on my bike! The bike wont start as the battery is completely dead. Had hardly kick started the bike since i had it. Taking the suggestion of Rathore sahab the driver, Splashed some boiling hot water on the engine. Two kicks and it roars to life. But the battery was a concern. Since the bike wouldn't idle ever since i got on to the hills, if i stop for a pic i had to start the bike and had to kick start it. This got me lazy on pix. Was worried about bike getting switched off in the water crossing and having to kick start there! Any way like all the days i start only by couple of hours later than i intended. The crazy bunch again got together for break fast and this time were joined by Col Sharma as well. We bid our farewells and all moved up while i rode down. The only thing on my mind now was the water crossing where an Innova has got stuck!

After like 7-8 kms reached the place and the Innova had taken a very wrong line. Since it was morning, there wasn't much water but it was still a long one near Kangla jal. Crossed it with gaitors on i was through. Starting climbing to the a pass and guessed it was Lachung La. Taking my time every where and glad i did not push it to sarchu the previous day. The photo session at the pass and as i descend i could see an immediat climb to another pass. In my ignorance thought it was Baralach La. There were some freakily steep short cuts to cut down the distance. Only when i get on to the top of the pass i know its Nakee La. For once the Bro mentioned height was lil pessimistic compared to the fone reading. Some one had written the correct reading and signed with date, this even endorsed by two more writings. Did my bit to mutilate the board ;) Got privecy at this pass and spend some time there. The Ride ahead was kinda on mountain walls and drops of on other side, though gradual one. looked like i the road would be gliding down any time. After going around a few mountains. Its the famous gata loops ahead of me. Not very photogenic as i am not able to get the full view of the loops. There was much more steeper short cuts and would have been nice to see an truck use them! Maky my way down the loops and it a flat ride ahead kinda in a valley. Approaching Sarchu that is. I took like 4 hours just to get there and guess i am taking my time. It was already like 1 pm. Have my fill at sarchu and i hear about quite a few Nalas ahead and looks like there will be many before i reach keylong. The day is getting heavier as well. Came to know about a big one just after sarchu. See a few bikes coming up and that encourages me. As i reach the nala, there wasnt much water and it was not yet the time for the flow. So i am through this one as well.

Then the climb to Baralachla starts. Surprisingly its all white mountains in the valley. Glad there was a bridge over a scarrying looking water crossing. Stopped many times as i climbed to Baralach La. Quite a few water crossing hear as well. The roads get bettor nearing the top and its all smooth. Stop at the last pass before Rothang. And do what i do at passes. Pose and click. The panorama around was breath taking. Spent some time looking around and have to move on. Now begins the long descent. The roads are pretty good, the clouds still playing with the sun and i could see a lake from above. As i near it i realize that its Suraj Taal. Looked pretty under the sunlight. Reach Zing Zing bar for my next fill. Now again i come to know about a few Water crossings. Well what ever it is have to be going through. Just after zing zing bar the its road building under progress. This was a long one. As i keep rolling down the greenery around increases and i seem to getting back to the normal landscape. There were alternates between good road and roads under work and felt like a candy being given and taken again and again from a kid! There were big water crossings but they had cement flooring and it was easy to cross over. Make it to Keylong by 6pm and instead of getting to work, i spend most of the time in the restaurant making calls and odering snax and etc at will. Lazed the whole evening and dozed off with the thought of crossing over Rothang the next day.

Frost on my bike in the morning...

My humble abode for the night...

Lot more of them....

Quite a bunch, were even joined by Col. Sharma, who is on Leh tour on CBZ!!

The tented dorm!!

Riding towards Sarchu...

Quite some natural sculptures...

Now who made that tunnel?

Quite a jagged place...

Trucks having trouble passing each other...

The Nala, which was ok at this time to cross... the stuck innova which took a wrong line the previous evening...

Wild mountain goats spotted...

Bike at Lachung La...

15896 feet says my phone...

At Lachung La top...

There is a decent and immediately a climb to Nakee La!!

At Nakee La... for once the Board said a pessimistic height compared to the phone... phone says...16200 feet and others had mentioned the same on the board...

The other side of Nakee La...

Strange plant with strange flowers...

Riding on the slope...

Quite a hole...

The Gata loops....

Quite hard to get the full picture....

Boy were there some steep short cuts...

Riding towards Sarchu....

Some sights enroute...

The Sarchu tents i thought...

Now these are the sarchu tents, quite away from sarchu actually...

Quite a natural rubble...

Click enroute Climb to Baralach La

Some narrow paths...

Two big streams meeting, the left one with muddy water and the right one with clear water...

The climb to Baralach La was fantastic...

Glad there is a bridge now...

Else the water crossing looked scary...

Tall ice walls...

Plenty of small water crossings....

It was only getting prettier...

The snow cutter i guess...

At Baralach La top... 16133 feet says my fone...

Me there....

Great scenes around...

Quite a stone pile!!

Climbing down the other side...

Suraj Taal there....

Bit close...

Bike at the ice gate...

Sun fooling around...

Pretty roads going down the long descent from Baralach La....

Long way down to the valley....

At Zingzingbar.... Cars were brought out of a shoot out from cnn-ibn i guess... Ritz was the winner it seems...

Off they go....

Bad roads soon after....

A biker's night mare....

Good roads again...

Riding the green hills now...

Had a couple of these but there was cement flooring so was easy to cross....

One more....

The dusty roads continue...

Now this stupid calf for quite some reason thought i was chasing it and it was fast for me to over take in the bad roads and in the end chased it up like a km, before i could over take it!

Pretty glaciers on the nearby mountains....

Pretty looking town below....

Guess rothang is out there and weather does not look good today, hope it will be bettor tomm...

Ok some more good roads nearing Key long....

Finally at Keylong....

No way i am crossing that, luckily i had spotted a road below and i took that one :)

Vertical travel for the day ...

Day 143 - July 29 - Leh to Pang

2009-08-03T11:47:00.006+05:30

July29 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

176 KMs Trip meter 18533 KMs

Was not sure of the day when i woke up. All i could think was what now? Was thinking of resting for one more day. It was a mix of emotions, like kinda happy that ladakh was done leisurely like i wanted for sometime, that Himalayan belt is over and also kinda a sad realization that visiting exploring is over and will be heading home now. That was a bit unsettling. Spent some time thinking and in end just though lets just ride. My things were spread all over the room, took quite some time to collect myself. Left late by like 10.30. Keeping Pang in mind for the day.

As i was leaving Leh, was humming the song 'Humjo chalne lage, chalne lage yeh raasthe....' Sounded very apt for the situation. Especially the line 'aavo milo chale, jana kaho ho na pata...' The weather was quite dull cloudy and chilly, lil did think that Leh Manali was in itself a big ride and was soon away of the fact. As i cross Upshi the landscape was again interesting. Vertical layers of plates and soft layer between. The ride is not over yet and still lot of stuff to see. It was hard to believe that these vertical layers where once horizontal under the ground! Soon rode out of the area into the open and the road started climbing. It was the sign of the long ascent to Tanglang La. Had taken a couple of hours and was hungry by now. Stopped at a Dhaba for of course what else but maggie! There was like beds and all i was told that ppl stay their for the night for 100 bux. I was thinking how could one stay there, just that i would end up doing the same at the end of the day :D Its all climb after that and the climb takes a lot of time. Plus me stopping for pix as and when i wanted. Half way the road vanished and it was all offroad thanks to the road widening work. What needs wide roads any way !! Every meters of climb i felt like stopping for pix and all. It was getting pretty cold and more cold. The Tanglangla top which was visible for quite some time is still looking for. The concentration of the offroad increases and afterr some time i realized i have been mumbling something. It was 'Tanglanglanglanglanglanglaaaa' repeatedly!! Hehe could only have laugh after that. Made it to the top and did not spend much time after above there. It was pretty cold and was already like 2.30. Looks like i am getting late even for pang and i leisured very much. It start rolling down and could see couple of bikers riding up. Take their pix in zoom and as they ride past and i wave, a pulsar stopped and it had a KA registration number! Well what do you know it was Pradeep. Had been on a couple of rides together in bangalore and it was quite a coincidence to meet there. Small world. Had to let him go as i he was feeling the effects altitude. I start riding down. Its all open spaces now. Reach the plains in no time. The decent did not take that long. The GPS fone said that did not decend as much as i climed and kinda stabilized a lil over 4000 meters. A threesome of swiss cyclists approaching from opposite direction stopped and asked if there was any dhaba ahead! Poor guys the only one ahead was on top of the pass! and they had left one couple of kms behind hoping for a bettor one ahead! Gave them a couple of chocolate bars, which they liked pretty much at that time!

Continued and saw a deviation to Tso Kar to the left. It was already 4.30 pm and the weather was getting crazy, with chill there was a lot of wind now. With pang still 50 kms and thought of skipping Tso kar. Could have made it had i left a couple of hours earlier. The wind picked up and i gear i was wearing for cold felt inadequate. Wore a couple of self made neck warmers and road ahead. Entered the More plains. Well after all the plains i have see over Eastern ladakh this was not to that scale. Still pretty good. There were plenty of deviation and the sumo that left ahead of me taking the deviation of kicking up a lot of dust. Did not want to test soft sand for that long and i ignored the diversions and went ahead as the path looked ok tough lil bumpy with stones. Ignored a couple of deviations and went straight. Lot of water run offs being built. Some were higher than the road! Guess it will take years for the road to come up. At the end of the plains where all the paths converge, the terrain abruptly drops off and the road serpents down to pang which can see from above.

Its 6 pm and no way i am pushing till Sarchu. Plus there seems to be a Water crossing and i heard that a Innova was stuck their. So for acco their these dhabas with a room of sorts at the back and 100 Rs a night. Kinda very dusty in the one i picked and had no patience to look for another one. It was getting very cold as well and i was just wondering how do i spend these next 12 hours. After a cup of maggie went to meet a couple of guys from the next tent. They were Abhinav and Anup who were on their way up in their rented indica. They had no idea about the height and place and just drove in like for any other place, soon were joing by Gary who was on his way up on his bullet. Soon it was all conversation and what do you know Gary had a bottle of Old monk. This my just save the day :D Was unsure of have it at high altitude but after one peg i was very sure of having it :D It was all fun and chat over that. We even had a case of the missing rum bottle which miraculasly found its way back when started looking for it ;) were soon done with it and even arranged for another one! Now its all fine and its not so cold out there :D Shifted to the tent with other guys as the owners were cribbing about shutting of the lights for the day.

That was a scary scene, i have to pack them all now!!

Leaving Leh!!

Caught the Leh Manali highway....

Quite a bilboard for himank...

Here i come....

Interesting clicks on the way.... the purple flowers do add for contrast...

Was fascinated by these vertical plates, these were horizontal before india crashed into asia!

The Tanglangla pass ahead...

Huge vertical plates with soft layer between them eroded... could climb up all the way in the middle i guess....

Climbing up to Tanglang La...

Looks like the path i will ride soon...

A steep short cut to Tanglang La....

No more road...

Its bad road from now on....

Getting higher and higher, the valley from which i cam up now looks like a craves...

Gotto let the truck go by!!

Still a long way to the Pass...

Some Marmots sniffing around...

Getting high and getting close....

Have to deal with these....

Road out of no where!!

Pretty looking cut out of ice....

Final switch backs to the Pass...

Almost there....

There!

The Tanglang La baba temple!

Pretty close....

Me and the Bike at Tanglang La

Heights of other near by passes, will verify these ;)

The other side of the pass and weather here looks no bettor....

See a couple of bikers ride up...

What do you know its Pradeep!!

And there is goes....

Half an hour wait here for the road to get cleared...

The start of the plains....

The deviation to Tso Kar....

Posing around in More plains...

Do we really need that ? :D

Some white heads at the end of the plains...

A local horseman...

The More plain road err... path...

The water runoffs are higher than the road!!

Lot of sand monsters to deal with....

No way i am taking the sandy diversion...

Some good path enroute...

Trucks taking the sandy diversion...

Though bumby i like the solid ground!

Can ignore the diversion signs as the main path is pretty good atleast for bikes...

The More plains ends to a sudden drop off nearing pang...

Ends at this canyon...

Climbing down to pang...

Pang below...

Vertical travel for the day...

Day 141 - July 27 - Karzok to Leh

2009-07-28T19:32:00.005+05:30

July27 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks

228 KMs Trip Meter 18356 KMs

Morning was quite unexpected. Something woke me up before the alarm did. It was the sound of rain drops on my tent! Raining outside!! All these it used to be great in the morning. This is kinda depressing. Just lie on the bed thinking that the rain would stop soon. But its going on and on. kill the alarm and wait for the rain to lettof. I keep waiting till like 7.30 and its still raining. Two hours rain and still going on. Now i lost my patience and thought what the heck will ride out any way. One look outside the tent was discouraging! It was cloudy and misty every where and could not see any mountains. Its going to take some time for weather to clear. Could not take pix as my battery was with the owner for charging. Water is dripping into the tent. Lucky that it dripped only to the edge. But it got real cold. Uncomfortably cold.

Get to the dining hall and see the 4 guys also feeling the teeth chatter. They are moving out in their taxi and dont want to get stuck here with bad weather and nothing to do. I just prepare myself so that i can ride out the second i decide. Have some food and things get bettor outside. Rain is fully off and i start loading the bike. My hands are pretty numb and it takes long time to load up the bike. Ride out towards ITBP post and its sunlight now! Man the weather changes quickly here. Offroad till the edge of the water for some pix. Two ITBP folks and start a conversation and i just cant get the pix right. Least they helped in taking a pic of me with the bike. They fancied the bike and took pictures of themselves sitting on the bike, with their fones. I bid fare well and started towards Mahe. It was already 10.30 and the weather was clear now. I got curious about the road that led to the south of the lake and ended. Even the ITBP folks said about it to get a bettor view of the lake. Well in order to stop the war in the head i turned back and crossed the slushy town again and got on to the path heading south. It was all offroad with smooth sand and hoped i would not drop the bike. It was a bit of a climb and i came up to a opening. They were right, can see quite a bit of the lake from here. If only the sky was clear could get bettor color of the lake. But have to take what we get. There was a Bhuddisht ceremony going on and there were lot of piles of stones.

Time to head back and it was like 11 am when i exited the Karzok. Now i can ride out with one mind. Now where are the stones? Just tell myself keep going keep going. After i climb up the valley the path eases out and the weather is once again great!! I stop at open space for a break. Loved walking around. Walked up on the hill top to my left and i see Tso Moriri! Felt i had left it far behind. After some pix session i ride down and there is this plain surface and i get off the path with the intention to ride till the edge. But it was soft sand all the way and handling the heavy bike was difficult stopped the bike mid way on some stones and walked to the edge. And i see the green lake! Its still a few kms. Things are not far noticaly but just that the winding roads increase the distance. Now that i see the lake it means Black top is not far behind. It was great place and spend some time there. But have to move on. Get to the black top and soon the sun is snatched away by the clouds. No sooner the sun is out, it get chilly and wind picks up too! I pick up my pace and ride at around 60-70. The road is just 2-3 feet wide for me cos there is a sand and gravel at the center of the road all the way! Thats makes riding with tricky. Ride down the valley with out stopping much and get to the mahe bridge. No need for entry and i proceed towards Leh via Chumatong.

I am hungry by now and Chumatong is like 20 kms. The ride now is in a valley following the Indus river. Though the surroundings are dramatic, they are kinda unimpressive to me as i am coming for pretty good places the last couple of days. The ups my pace and Have a break at chumatong. All the while wishing for some sunlight. Have maggie there and what else? The sky to the north looks clear and soon i am riding in sun light. Its ride always beside the river Indus switching across sides now and then via bridges. Soon i reach the water crossing i was told about. Not much deep but some looks like some stones in disarray in water. wear my gaiters and cross it. The road climbs up and again down and continues beside the river Indus. Its more like a canyon ride rather then a valley ride. Things are huge and dramatic but some how does not interest me much and i keep riding at a brisk pace. As the sun gets lower its now getting to my eye. Couple of places i would have liked to take a break but the lighting and wind was not good so carried on. 10 Kms to Upshi, near a village is see a brand new BSNL tower. It works said the keeper. Good! Set the fone to access network and made the call home. BSNL is putting up towers every where. In few years ladakh must be well connected to the rest of the world i guess. Reach Upshi by 6 PM. And its a fast ride to Leh but a pain full one. i know i craved for sunlight in the morning but do not want it to hit directly on my eye. It was hurting even through my goggles. Reduced my pace and many curves kinda went blind cos of the light. Only reaching Leh i get relief from it.

Finally i am in leh and the Eastern ladakh circuit went well pretty well. I was happy. am happy. Had decided to rest it out the next day. Did not want to spend time on bike work. As soon as i entered Leh got the engine oil changed, chine set and fueled up. The bike is ready to head south just that i have to get ready. Its still a bliss and cant believe that i managed to do the circuit. Now i can say Ladakh is the best place i visited in the trip. EBC trek was great too, but in trek one would be confined to limited space. Will just laze and blog update the next day.

At the camp waiting for the weather to clear up..

Thats my tent...

The dining hall tent... the Special seat in the center is reserved for Dalai Lama only...

Some last clicks of the lake i think....

The ITBP helps me with a snap...

There they are....

Riding up to the view point...

Yes can see a lot of lake from here....

Some Buddhist ceremony going on there..

The Karzok town...

Quite a pile of stones!!

Riding back to the town...

Last ride by the lake...

The stones again....

Last gazes of the lake...

Avoid taking the smoother looking by paths, they might as well be sand traps...

The hotel owner at Leh was right, maruthi wans now make it here, Just that the roads have not improved but the driving skills have!

Looks like chunks might fall off any time....

Get off from the huge stone path....

Nice place to take a break....

Can still see Tso Moriri....

Trucks making their own road....

Lot of options ehh???

Ride to the plains....

Can see the weather changing lake below... it also means black top is nearby....

Steed waiting...

At the lake...

Looks like salt!

The ripple ride again...

Aaaah black top!

Weather did change at the lake sun's out!

Ride back towards mahe....

Back in the narrow valley....

Candy mountain again! yes i was hungry again!

Riding towards Chumatong... and looks like the wall might fall off any time!

Precarious stones above!!

I have a narrow corridor to stay dry, lucky the road falls under that corridor!

Nala crossing again!

Ride by the Indus canyon....

Now who did this?

Following the river....

An army memorial near Kairi...

Road through shining stones!

In between trees out of no where!

Just ride along Indus....

Green carpet at Himya...

Dramatic mountains...

When you see a BSNL tower, you stop and make calls!

Its sun glare ride for the rest of the 60 kms... very pain full !

Reach the Leh Manali highway....

On it...

Strange flower...

Some trees after Karu....

A stray yak... pic is bit shaky cos i was afraid it would charge! have seen them do it!

Lone threatning cloud near Leh....

Vertical Travel for the day....