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. 

Day 8 & Day 9- Goa, Day-10 Goa to Pune

Day 8

Went for a morning walk along the beach. shutters were still down on most of the shops. Decided to have a heavy breakfast and thus ordered american breakfast which included toast, egss, baked beans, fresh juice and coffee. Met this German girl Linda, who was on a voluntary program in Kondapura and had come to visit Goa during the weekend. It was her first visit to India and she had a cultural shock travelling to kondapura alone. infact she was scared to go out alone. but in goa she felt at home just like Berlin!

Took to off to Agondo beach which was about 10km South of Pallolem. it was absolutely empty, but the ride was great though. SInce it started raining again, I had to come back to my place, was wondering if i shd stay or leave to north goa. Left the decision in luch and went for lunch. Surprisingly just as I ordered rice and dal, Linda came back again. Her train was at around 4 in the evening. Asked me if Id be there next weekend, NOPE, on  my way up north. anyways gave her enough inspiration to visit Gokarna! Another Australian lady Susan joined me at the table. Guess what, she had just lost her entire home at Brisbane to the wrath of the floods and had begun rebuilding her life. Came to Goa through a sponsored ticket to restore her sanity. The best thing abt her visit was tht she was planning to go to Madurai, not to see the temples but to meet Krishnan, the man who left his Five star hotel chef job, to feed the destitute. Amazing rite? Her friends in Australia too chipped in with whatever they cud. You can imagine her mindset after losing everything in the floods and now just 6 months later she has come to contribute whatever she can to this noble human in madurai. Humanity and mankind still exists!!

Left Pallolem to Mapusa where my friend eashwar was kind enough to put me through to Girsh his friend. Stayed at Girish's house for 2 nights. Along with his wife and super kid Bharath, this small knit family are the epitome of hospitality.

Girish n Bharath

Day 9

Since Girish had work the next morning, he coud'nt accompany me but gave a list of places that I could visit. Started off with Fort Aguada, once again the drive was awesome. Unlike the south, this part of goa was very crowded, mainly with the Indian tourists. There were tourist buses, vans and hired scooters everywhere.
People where running and jumping posing around for pictures.

Calungute Beach

I then rode down to Calungute. The beach was filled people everywhere and vendors plying their trade, which was brisk actually, I noticed that most guys loved to carry around a beer can wherever I turned, So very different from Pallolem, which was more of a relaxed place where foreigners outnumbered the locals.

King of the Road @ Calungute

Next stop was Baga beach and I was drenched by the time I reached there. Nothing much to see, I rode off to Anjuna.

Here too there were tourist bus and vans bringing in loads of tourists. Had super hot chai and mirchi pav in a small tea shop sitting right above the ocean, tasted like heaven amidst the rains.

Anjuna Beach

The sun finally came out and i decided to ride around the place, and stop at some village for lunch.

Vagator Beach

Found an interesting bar/restaurant where there were abt 5-6 customers sipping their drinks at the bar table which was laid along the roadside. An overly drunk italian started singing hindi songs to me. Imagine a firangi singing and dancing around in the middle of the road during afternoon. a belgian guy tried to give him company, but could hardly move out of his bar stool. He then told me that he had been in goa for more than 6 yrs and had married a lady from nagercoil, who now ran a bar in goa.i realised the world is very small!! After both the gentlemen left, Steve a barman from Belarus told me that his stay in goa was long enuf too. He was trying to find a permanent work in some bar in goa and did no plan to return to his country any time soon. Then there was this american couple from Colorado who had been studying Tibetan in Himachal for two years now. they even gave me some tips for my visit out there (next week). And for lunch had this amazing Curried Chicken Pasta salad.

Reached home in the evening and played around with Bharat until dinner time. Filled my stomach with awesome roti, groundnut chutney and palak dal, before snoring off!! One another thing I forgot to mention, the entire state of Goa was devoid of any petrol due to some blast at the refinery. Hence the city of Mapusa was filled with thousands of vehicles queued up at the petrol stations. I managed to buy some 4 litres of petrol for Rs.100 each. I believe the crisis wud continue for the next few days. Bid goodbye to the wonderful family and hit the road to Pune.

Day 10

As suggested by Girish, I went to Kohlapur and then took the NH 4 to Pune. Before Kohlapur, you need to cross the Amboli ghats, which is one of the most beautiful hill stations ive ever seen. bad that i couldnt do justice to the beauty with my camera (not blaming the camera though, its just my limited photographic skills).

Ambuli Ghats

Once you hit NH4, the roads r just too good and you can reach Pune in no time. At about 5:30 pm, i reached Eklavya's apartment, once again thanks to Eashwar's connections.Rain followed me throughout my journey and but I still enjoyed the drive from Goa to Pune.

Distance Travelled- 460km
Journey- Goa to Pune via NH 4 (there is an option of NH 17 also)
Roads- Excellent (finding ATM is very difficult)

Day 6 & Day 7

Another rainy morning at Gokarna. being a weekend more indian tourists kept arriving. Since my clothes were still wet, i decided to pamper myself at Om beach for another day. During afternoon I rode to Kundle beach, which was virtually empty. The roads were amazing though, full of curves and flanked by lush green vegetation on either side.

Kundle beach

Met a few villagers on the way, working hard on maintaining the beauty of the region. A lady stopped me to ask what time it was and then when I asked her if I could click a photograph, she demanded money. tht surprised me and I kept persisting , while she was trying to pull my leg. finally she allowed me after she was satisfied with bullying me. I realised how often we underestimate the intelligence of a villager (shame on me)!

Smart lady who ragged me (Left)

While the sun slightly showed up in the evening, guests started filling the beaches.A group of college kids from Bangalore were having a gala time (too much of swearing though), a tamil family seemed to have entered a diffrent planet on entering Namster Cafe, while 2 or 3 indian couples were enjoying their time alone. Music fills the background for most of the time.

Namaste Cafe

After another lively evening, where I had copied music (about 13 GB) from the restaurant and a couple of other travellers., we all celeberated the birthday of a girl whose name i dont remember. Looked like she had come with her husband just after getting married. More rains and off to sleep.

Day 7

 I decided I will leave even if it was going to rain, since I was getting too comfortable for the past 3 days and had to hit my destination in 2 weeks time.Santosh serived me a heavy American breakfast, after which I packed my bags to leave. Bid goodbye to Santhosh and Bandhari, the guys who were part of the wonderful group catering to the visitors in Namste Cafe.

The road from Gokarna to Goa was just amazing. Having had the worst riding experience the previous few days, it was a welcome change to see excellent roads in great weather. Enroute hit Karwar, which seemed to be a very well planned city. As you enter, u see the huge Karwar Port and then keep riding along the beach, which is a beautiful sight.

Surprisingly the entire hundred km stretch was virtually empyt. but another surprising element was the number of cows along the highway. Although you can cruise at high speeds in this leg, u need to be extra careful due to the fact that Cows have the right of way here. Just after i entered Goa border, it started pouring. Since there was no sign of the sky clearing anytime soon, i decided to hit Palolem straight away. Found an excellent accomodation (double-bed with hot shower, tv and parking) for 200/night. thts the ebst part of visiting goa during the offseason- Customer is King. Hit the beach for lunch.

Palolem Beach

Learned my lesson- Never eat in a restaurant siting on the beach, freaking expensive. An israeli couple who were curious abt south india gave me some company.

It started raining heavily once again and came back to my room to have a good night's sleep.

Distance Covered- 110 km
Journey- Gokarna to Palolem beach
Roads- Very Good (keep an eye on the cows)

Day 5- Om beach

Woke up to a cloudy morning and took a nice walk along the beach, watching the fishermen still trying their luck for that prize catch in the ocean. The sound of the waves is just scintillating and I decided I will stay here for the day.

Nature acknowledged my decision by pouring rains throughout the day. I couldnt accept the invite from my Spanish friends to go around Gokarna, since I had clothes to wash (the bad side of travelling light). Went for a walk in the evening, where I bumped into a girl studying in Kerala. Later she told me that she's from Andamans. A group of 5 college kids from Bangalore arrived in the evening along with some more Indian tourists from Mumbai. Don't ask me if im sitting in the reception, its compact place where only about 20 people are there you see! Meeting new people is the essence of travelling rite? Habibi (gentleman from Dubai) invited me for a late coffee before we were joined by our Spanish friends.

The rains are still lashing over this sleepy town, which has completely held me in its tenter hooks. My next destination Goa can wait for now!


Distance Covered- 3 km
Journey- Om beach to Half-moon beach
Road condition- Very sandy (how else can a beach be?)

Day 3 & Day 4- Wayanad to Gokarna via Mangalore

Day 3

After a hot bath I left to Mangalore at around 10:30 am. I must mention here that NH 17 is the worst highway that I have encountered in my entire life. The 300km stretch from Wayanad to Mangalore was a 9 hour endurance test for me and my bike. Fotunately for me Tharun had suggested a place for stay, which belonged to religious trust. For Rs.250/night, the room was a palace for my battered body. A delicious dinner at Mangla Restaurant (once again sugested by Tharun bhai) was followed by a deep sleep.

Distance Covered- 300 km
Journey- Wayanad to Mangalore
Road condition- 15% Good, 30% Bad, 55% Worse, Very heavy traffic at Koilandy, Mahe and Thalassery


Day 4

Not finding much to do in Mangalore, I left to Gokarna by around noon. Stopped at Udupi for lunch, until where road works hampered my progress After Udupi, the ride was uneventful until I reached a place whose name I cant remember. A beautiful ride along the Arabian sea lasting for about 3-4km, followed by near empty roads for the final stretch to Gokarna. Just before I took the left on the highway to Om Beach, cops stopped me for a routine check. I was let go after they realised that my papers were in order, not before asking innumerable questions about my ride. They even thought I was lying when I told then my plan to hit Leh on my bike.

Anyways took the road to Om beach which as one hell of a ride. The winding roads climbing around a hill lock, with the beaches on your right side about 200 ft below- breath taking!

Parked myself in a shack in Namaster Cafe for Rs.250/night, which is the only place open during the off season. To this day I have never seen a more beautiful beach than this one.

The restaurant sits right on the beach, which is dotted by a few dogs and cows apart from a handful of locals.

A Spanish group of 5 (only remember the name of Maria) just arrived then, who asked me a few suggestions about Kerala, where they planned to visit later. I shamelessly flaunted my knowledge on La Liga (Spanish football league), trust me its a good ice-breaker. An elderly gentleman from Dubai who taught Reiki worldwide, was my companion for the rest of the evening.



Distance Covered- 300 km
Journey- Mangalore to Gokarna
Road condition- 30% Good, 50% Bad, 20% Worse, 4-laning works throughout the first 200 km

Day 2- Wayanad

Started the day with a hot black chai made on a prehistoric electric heater. Although the sun came out, we were still in our jackets and sweaters. As suggested by Stanley cheta, we decided to trek into the forests to the tea plantations above.

It proved to be a hard task, especially with Manu and Eashwar refusing to climb. As always Appu was walking ahead with our guide and even claims to have spotted a tiger which none of us heard or saw. Since my mates had to return to Bangalore that evening, we had to shorten our hike back to the guest house.

Stanley cheta was generous enough to offer lunch at his house. All of us hogged on the delicious hot kanji, thoran, chammandhi and pappadam that his wife had prepared. At about 2 pm they left to Bangalore, while I went back to the guest house.Had a blissful sleep for three hours and when I got up, I realised that I was all alone in the jungle with the creaking Crikets as my only companions. Later I was told that Silent Valley is so called because there are no Crikets out there, not sure if its true though.

Distance Covered- 60 km
Journey- Within Wayanad
Road condition- Good, 10 degrees to 75 degrees slope

Pursuit of Happiness

F R E E D O M ! ! ! the word that best describes my current state, although some may call it UNEMPLOYMENT.

Thats right I have quit my job and started on my long awaited road trip across India. During the last 6 months Ive literally been a laughing stock of my friends, since my so called journey had been postponed a brazilian number of times; couple of blokes even offered to pay me if I ever left..;-)
Anyways all thats history now...13th of Aug was my last working day. Ironically I had to start my road trip on the 14th, a day before our Independence Day.

Day 1

After a small send of party by my newest friends Tharun, Sanat and Syed, I left Kochi on 14.08.2011 at 5:30 am . Sanat accmopanied me until Calicut, where we stopped at his house.

Sitting in the university campus, Sanat's house had a very earthy feel about it. Natural water bodies amidst thick vegetation gave an exotic feel to the whole place; who wants to slog it out in a over crowded polluted city. How can I not mention Sanat's sister Shruthi running around clicking pictures with her child like enthusiasm.

We visited an ancient temple on a hillock, from where one could view the entire Calicut region. A thick cover of Mangrove forests engulfd by the river and the Arabian Sea, utter bliss!

The next stop was at the virgin beach along the Kundalini Bird sanctuary, riding under 5 foot high bridges and knee deep puddles.

Fishermen busy removing their catches and kids displaying their angling skills, this rocky beach is any photographer's paradise.

After a sumptuous lunch, I left for Wayanad to meet my friends who were travelling from Bangalore for the Independence Day weekend.The ride just before the Ghat section, which is the final leg before Vythiri was nothing but a nightmare; not because of the first rains in my ride, but due to the pathetic road condition.It took me nearly an hour to cover this 13km stretch. Reached Parathodu at 4:30 pm, the point where Sanat's caretaker Stanley was waiting to take us to the jungle house. Once Jojo, Manu, Appu and Eashwar arrived,we bought some snacks and left for the guest house not knowing what to expect. I hadnt experience anything like this before- the climb to the house was maybe 75 degrees sloped, a thrilling 5 minute ride.On parking our vehicles, we had to further hike up to into the forest with all our luggage in hand, which proved to be an even harder task.What a relief it was to finally sight the house.

To describe the property, it was a very modest house with two rooms, a kitchen and a sitout, with the loo outside. the only source of water a hose outside the house; The entire hillock had an amazing system of water sourcing, siphoning the natural water though a series of hose pipes laid in the gravitational direction of the hill and we were told that this system had been in place for more than 40 years. Coming back to the description of the house, there were no beds or cots to sleep. Eashwar and I had a sleeping bag each, while the others slept on straw mats. To top it all the power went off as soon as we parked our dead a***s in the portico.

We were sitting in pitch dark in the middle of the forest with only the insects and birds giving us company. Not to be bogged down, we lit up a born fire to beat the cold. Unfortunately even the firewood refused to pay heed to our desperation, due to their wet nature. As we succeeded in lighting the fire, the food arrived to further lift our spirits, ensuring that our get together was a memorable one.

Distance Covered- 300 km
Journey- Cochin to Wayanad with 1 stop at Calicut
Road condition- Cochin to Calicut- Very good
         Calicut to Wayanad- 5% Good, 65% Bad, 30% Worse