Day 14- Ahmedabad to Kumbalgarh

Being a weekend, Vikram an avid bulleteer himself, decided to join me on a short trip to Kumbalgarh in Rajasthan and having good company on road is wonderful. We decided to leave by noon after waking up late. While sipping on our midday chai, Eva agreed to join us too. now Vikram jr was pissed off that he was left out, although there was a pillion option wid me. since he had his own views about riding pillion (:-)) and also the fact the he will have to take a bus back home alone, he ditched it.

As we hit the road at about 1.30 pm, there was a leak of fuel from Vikram's carb, which we fixed in no time. For a moment, he thought his road trip had ended in less than 10 mins. We first stopped for lunch at one of the highway dhabas, ordering roti, dal, rice, curd and one of the gujarati sabjis made from baingan. food was ok, but the two full glasses of chaas (spicy buttermilk) did us good.

We reached the Rajasthan border by around 4pm and eagerly approached the "Water hole" which was right at the border line. Apparently all vehicles coming into Rajasthan from Gujarat pit stop here, since alchohol is banned in Gujarat. Chilled beer tastes better when the conditions are hot and man- we did see heaven!
From there on we hope to reach Kumbalgarh in an hours time. The final stretch was somehow very narrow and potholed and Eva was finding it very difficult to ride pillion, since vikram did not have the backrest bar. We swapped bikes for the final stretch and finally reached at about 7 pm.

Kumbalgarh is the place of birth of Maharaja Rana Pratap and it is about 100km north of Udaipur. For those who havent been to the state of Rajasthan, we only know it as a desert. Surprisingly Kumbalgarh is clothed in green vegetation and gets pretty cold at night and early mornings. Infact it was really misty when we stayed there.
We stayed at the tented accomodation up the hill and hit the bed pretty early.

Distance Travelled- 380 km
Journey- Ahmedabad to Kumbalgarh
Roads- 65%- Excellent, 10%- Good, 25%- Very Bad

Day 13- Ahmedabad

Having got up at around noon, i decided to walk around the neighbourhood. I hadnt imagined Ahmedabad to be such a big Metro. One thing I noticed was that, traffic signals were non existent even in wide main roads, and the traffic absolutely chaotic at junctions.I was hungry now and wanted to have the local food. First had a glass of Lassi (sweet yogurt drink), which they called Lachchi. Yummy it was and gave me energy to walk around for another half an hour. I was disappointed that I was unable to find restaurants serving authentic Gujarati thali. The neighborhood was an upbeat one and therefore the restaurants a tad too expensive for my liking. Didnt want to take a chance, so barged into a McD to have fassssssssssst food.

The evening was filled with meaningful conversation with my wonderful hosts as we got to know about each other. I was even offered a glass of single malt (im in a dry state u see ;-)). How did i forget to mention Vikram Jr, the cool banglorean kid in the household! Later in the evening we paid visit to a CS gathering organised by Leo at his friends place. As expected it was a bachelors paradise and all of us did have some real gud fun. Leo is another guy who argued in my favour in the CS forum and it was a good gesture for him to have invited me to their party. Later we realised his house is in the same apartment block that I lived in Cochin for the past one year and here we meet in Ahmedabad in the strangest of circumstances. What a small world!!!! We reached home at about 12 i think and spicy Punjabi food was awaiting us. Parathas with keema was excellent, but very very hot n spicy. Just thinking about it tickles my tatse buds! Crashed in full stomach!

Day 12- Pune to Ahmedabad

I managed to be up by 4.30 am and was ready to leave by 5 am as planned. Having learnt from my earlier mistakes, I wore my rain gear as a precation. It was actually not to shield myself from the rains, but to prevent my clothes from getting wet, since drying them almost seems to be impossible in this weather. As I bid goodbye to the very helpful father-son duo, it started drizzling. On Eklavya's directions, I found the RTO Petrol filling station which would be the only open during this time to get my tank topped up.
From there on it was going to be a straight drive towards Mumbai highway. As I hit the ghat sections, the surroundings were getting amazingly beautiful. With the light still an hour away, the visibility was poor and the mist only compunded the woes. But the ride was thoroughly enjoyable and i finally hit Lonavla at around half past 6 and patiently waited for a chai vendor who was opening his shop. The light drizzle, mistly twilight and a hot cuppa chai is an enviable package. Everyone seem to sell chikkis in this part of the world and I helped myself with two boxes of assorted chikkis (one for me and another for my hosts in Ahmedabad).
One bad thing about the road trips is the inability of the body clock to fall into the routine. Since it was a very early start, I hadnt attended to my morning chores. ;-) A very important item to carry along while on road is Toilet Paper, which I learned from foreign travellers. Infact I had somehow forgotten it and my good friend Ekalavya was kidn enuf to remind me. It may sound silly, but trust me you will need it. You just have to blend with the nature sometimes!!
Since motorbiles arent allowed to enter the Express highways, I had to stick on to the old Mumbai highway, where the traffic was moderate and roads affected by the monsoons. Somewhere near the suburbs of Mumbai, I got held up in horrible traffic jam and by the time i got out it was 10 am.
I forgot the name of the road, I think its called Banwadi road- the worst stretch that ive encountered so far. I realised that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but then there was no way back. The vehicles were moving at 5km/hr, not bcoz of traffic, but due to the horrible nature of the roads. The rains were now getting merciless to increase the misery. As I had eaten all morning, i stopped in the middle of nowhere to find a highway dhaba to have a bit. Got out of my wet jacket and shoes and dried them on the railing, while sipping on a hot hot chai. Ordered a plate of double omlet and pav, which was palatable. half an hour and food intake break did me a world of good, but i had to get back into the wet socks, shoes, jacket and ride in the rains again.
More rains and better roads welcomed me to the state of Gujarat. This time i managed to sneak into the express highway, only to be sent back by the toll gate personnel. Usually the fine is about 1500 bucks, but probably looking at the totally rain soaked biker, the guy felt some sympathy. I rode back in the express way for 8 km and then took the exit to the old highway. the road was totally deserted and was pitch dark. my body was pretty much tired having been on the road for the past 15 hours. Reached the milky town of Anand, at about 9 pm. It revoked memories of my only previous visit to this town, which is incidentally the hometown of my very good friend Suganthi. I assumed its going to be another 30km to Ahmedabad, but was sadly mistaken. It was very difficult to motivate myself to go further for another 80 odd kilometers. But my friend was already waiting for me in Ahmedabad, so no way I was going to back out. I was pushing myself every 5 km and then finally managed to reach my destination at exactly 10.50 pm.
The previous day I had requested for a stay in the CScommunity in Ahmedabad. A big hulla bulla was created by their moderator for posting the requirement in the general section. Since it was a last minute request, I thought Ill push my luck. To my surprise  I got an accept rely from Vikram, who himself is an avid biker. I think I was smart enuf to send my travelogue link along with the request. Infact Vikram later told me that he had also done tis stretch of Pune to Ahmedabad earlier. I was incredibly lucky to be hosted by this wonderful couple Vikram and Eva.

They were kind enuf to wait for me at the road at 11 pm and even offer me dinner. I was dripping wet and my bags were all soaking in water and slush. After a nice shower and a great dinner (which i needed very badly), we started getting to know each other. I think Vikram and I got off instantly as we shared the same passion. Eva was probably gauging me before opening up..;-) Fair enough!!
Since it had been a very very long day, I hit the bed after drying every single piece of item in my bag. Unbelievable day of 18 hrs riding in non-stop rains. This was in no doubt the toughest day of my journey so far and I was immensely satisfied that I had made it.

Distance Travelled- 760 km
Journey- Pune to Ahmedabad
Roads- 20%- Very Good, 40%- Good, 25%- Bad, 15%- Horrible 

Day 11- Pune

During my ride, I realised that my bike's pulling was bad in the ghat sections. I cud feel it acutely in Wayanad and during the Ambuli ghats sections too. Hence I had decided to get the servicing done in Pune, else I need to wait until Delhi. Eklavya was kind enough to introduce his mechanic, John, on the day I arrived, who asked me to bring her the first thing in the morning. I woke up to a great weather and a nice hot cup of chai. Since my friend was down with flu, i rode down to John's shed alone. I had to mend my clutch, get the oil topped and rectify the mileage (km/l), which was a pathetic 20. After the pressure plates were replaced with new ones (During the start  of my journey I had only replaced the clutch plates), he plugged a couple of air/throttle valves and assured me that now I'd get a very good mileage (km/l).Since I had already cleaned my carbs, we didnt need to open it again. How did i forget, the seal in the front right fork had to be replaced, since oil was oozing out of it for the past few days. Finally gave her a good bath scrubbing her off all the slush (thanx to some wonderful stretches of national highway in kerala and karnataka) and get the sparkle back.

I was back for lunch, where Eklavya's dad had cooked some wonderful food. Later in the  evening we had a couple of drinks listening to some vintage war stories (not fiction..). It was 11 pm already and I had to leave by 5 am the next day. Packing took me another 45 mins and I finally hit the bed sometime past 12.