Misty Manali

Topped up my tank and left around 10 in the morning, bidding goodbye to Chandigarh. As I entered Punjab, there was a road diversion and I soon lost the way riding through deserted villages. Finally managed to hit the Ghats leading to Manali, but it started raining. I stopped for come chai and biscuits since I did not have breakfast and it was already quarter past 12. The roads were great mostly, twisting and turning around the hills. Soon I realised that Himachal Pradesh is a state that will leave you spell bound in her beauty. I spotted another bike on the way probably headed to Manali too, but since I wanted maintain the momentum I didn’t stop. I thought it would be easy to spot him when I took a break anyways, but never got to see him again. There was hardly any traffic on the road and the excitement inside was building- it was going to be my first visit to Manali.

As soon as I hit Kulu, I called up a friend to share my excitement. In another hour’s time I’d be in Manali. On the way my bike rode through a 3km tunnel, where unfortunately I was stuck behind a bus suffering from tuberculosis. On paying the ‘Green Road Tax’ of Rs.100 I entered New Manali, crossed over the bridge and reached my guesthouse in Old Manali. Here too I paid Rs.300/night. The room was spacious, with cheap wooden flooring, a big queen size bed clothed with thick velvety blankets and attached bathroom with hot water. Although there was a television, I didn’t bother to switch it On. It was a two storeyed building and my room was in the first floor, giving me ample view of the snow-capped peaks in the background. I could hear the water gushing below all day.

My neighbour was a guy from the UK by the name Martin. He had just returned from Leh that morning and told me how bad the road was due to incessant rains and landslides. I decided to spend a couple of days in Manali and the next morning rode up to Vashisht which was famous for a temple. It was a very steep ride and two Spaniards rode pillion too, which made my bull go out of breadth. My friend in Gokarna had mentioned about the Moonlight café in Old Manali, so I went there for lunch. It seemed to be a popular place among foreigners; food was decent and not too pricey. Travellers came here in groups over a game of cards and food. I liked it!

New Manali was the place where Indian tourists flocked to. Typically it was filled with shops and restaurants of all kinds. Winter wear including skull caps and gloves seem to be a thriving business and I picked a cap for one hundred bucks. To my surprise I could hardly find any firang in this place just like I couldn’t find Indian tourists in Old Manali- there was a clear demarcation.

During the evenings Martin and I bonded over a couple of beers and later coffee in the morning. He gave me some valuable tips on riding up to Leh in winter since it was my first time. Usually people ride during the months of May, June and July; during September the weather is harsher and the roads are either damaged or washed away by landslides. This am talking about Manali-Leh, while the Srinagar route is very good. Since Ive always wanted to do the Manali route, it was worth the risk and I wasn’t going to back out now. Martin mentioned to me that he and his friends had to return to Manali some 7 times just after reaching Rohtang, which is about 54 km away, due to inaccessible roads. Monsoons had made the Rohtang pass absolutely inaccessible and they had to close this stretch quite often this year….

Chandigarh

In order to beat the morning traffic I left the hostel by around 7 am. In between I got lost a bit in the city and when I approached a cop, he asked if I was going to ride all the way to chandigarh. When I told him about my journey thus far, he got excited and rode along with me until the outskirts in his patrol vehicle and wished me good luck. On reaching the highway, I stopped at a Dhaba for breakfast. The guy served me two aloo parathas with a chunk of butter melted on top of it accompanied by thick curd (plain yoghurt) and pickles. In addition to that I had two cups of chai. For all of the above he charged me Rs.48 only. Since Chandigarh wasn’t too far away, I thought I’ll ride slowly in an effort to boost the mileage (km/ltr) of my motorcycle. The roads were great right throughout and I stopped at McDonalds somewhere in the outskirts of Chandigarh. The place was filled with rich Punjabi kids and even a politician who came in with police escorts. It was about 3 pm and I tried reaching Jojo, another of Eashwar’s biking friend. As per his suggestion I managed to find a place for Rs.300/night and its called Gulati Bhavan. The room was 15’ X 20’, furnished with a huge queen size bed and an attached bathroom. Couldn’t ask for a better deal. Jojo worked in night shifts, so I we decided to meet up for dinner.

My only rendezvous with this great city is during my third year of Under Graduation wherein we learnt about the city in Contemporary Architecture. It was designed by Le Corbusier, who is also the mastermind behind most of the public buildings in this small city. There was a main arterial road which was intercepted by various cross roads, dividing the city into sectors. The city was very neat with wide roads and I even saw a lot of young women burning the tarmac in their motorbikes. Remembering a little from college, I visited the Assembly building and the Court complex and managed to click a few pictures too. Few security personnel did not take it in kind and I managed to convince them that I was a student (had my ASU Student ID card in my wallet). A torch and a small rucksack was missing in my utility kit, which took me to the shopping complex (I think Sec #17). Very efficiently planned, the entire shopping complex is centralised in a square with ample parking.

Finally met Jojo for dinner, which led us to a restaurant called Sher-e-Punjab. It was more than 10 days since I had any non-veg or alchohol and I was craving for some good food. After a quick pint of KF, we went down to the basement for food, where we were joined by another friend of Jojo’s. He did the ordering and I did all the eating. Wow, excellent afghani chicken kebab followed heavily buttered naan, butter chicken and rajma. I couldn’t breathe after the feast and found it very difficult to sleep! The next morning Jojo was kind enough to come by and send me off as I headed to the enchanting Manali.

New Delhi

Thanking Raja and his family for having me over for three days, I left to Delhi by afternoon. Just after crossing the Toll gate, I heard some noise and to my horror, the Silencer bend pipe had come off the engine. Luckily for me, I had not yet taken the flyover leading to Chanakya Puri, my destination for the night. The mechanic who had seen my bike the previous day was close by and I rode straight into his garage. There I got my silencer replaced and fine-tuned my bike once more before heading to the Youth Hotel, riding past all the foreign embassies and state offices. Since it was located in the diplomatic enclave, there was pin drop silence on the road and very meagre traffic on the well laid tarmac. On showing my membership card I was given a dormitory for Rs.275/night. The place was neatly maintained and I was honestly surprised how organised things were. There was a German couple at the counter, who were told that a guy and a girl cannot stay together in a room. I still remember the shock on their faces, and felt sorry for them. At my dorm there were some 10 bunk beds in a two tier fashion. There were a few others staying there and to my surprise I was the only traveller there and to top it, none of the others held a Youth Hostel International membership card even. In fact they seemed to be surprised asking what a traveller was doing there. Two of them were lawyers, one an artisan and two others had come for a presentation. One of the lawyer guy sported an orange tikka on his forehead and started asking about my religion just after the introduction formalities. It made me very uncomfortable. When I told him that I do not practice any religion, he did not understand but clearly seemed offended. I get this kick when I flummox people, for not being what they expect me to be. The other lawyer guy seemed to be a nice person boasting of many high level connections. He told me that he was on the main counsel team defending A Raja, the ex-telecom Minister languishing in the prison for the 2G scam. Was wondering why then was he staying in a dormitory for 300 bucks a night? The artisan guy was from Madhya Pradesh and he had a bachelor’s degree in Architecture. He informed me that he had come to perform in front of a panel which issued grants for certain native arts forms which were fading with time. I remember him telling me that it was similar to Poi Kaal Kuthirai which was prevalent in Tamil Nadu. Apart from these interesting characters, there were two other guys who had come to attend a seminar as part of the ‘Landmark’ course, which was a self-development program. One of them was a veteran while his friend a novice who had joined the program only a few months earlier. The latter was very enthusiastic and kept telling me about how it can improve your life and ‘take communication to the next level’. Although Ive heard about this ‘Landmark’ thingy from my friends earlier, I pretended as if I didn’t know anything and kept asking him questions. There are a lot of good things one can learn from these programs, but to see people blinded by the thought that your life will change overnight, is very disheartening. The next day I decided to hit Karol Bagh to shop for some spares and thermals. I have seen GP road in Chennai and JC Street in Bangalore, but this was something else. Since there would be limited access to fuel stations in Ladakh, I replaced my stock petrol tank with a larger one (20 litres). Raingear and thermals were found in a different area in Karol Bagh and as I proceeded to leave the place, I got totally lost and it had just started raining too. After going round and round, I managed to reach the hostel by around 10 pm. Lesson learnt- never go to Karol Bagh in your own vehicle, parking is next to impossible! The next day I had to leave early to reach Chandigarh.

At my friends place in Gurgaon

Having recovered from a violent bout of flu, I bid goodbye to Agra and headed towards the capital city. My good friend Raja lives in Gurgaon with his pretty wife Sushmita and my visit coincided with the arrival of his parents the day before. Although we studied together in high school, we got to know each other better during his days in IIM-Bangalore (by any chance did you assume that I passed out of the same institution? I pretty well know that those who have known me for years now will never commit such an error and my joy filled thanks to the others who did think for a moment that there too. Ive been too much of a rebel and vagabond to excel in academics, so clearly am no IIM material.), while I was employed there. I remember spending quite a few weekends in his hostel room among the brighter brains. Our friend had over the years transformed from being a pazham/nerd/padipps to indulging in a few human vices, although he hasn’t yet managed to get rid of the good boy image and am sure it’ll stick on to him forever! Three hours of riding took me to Gurgaon, while it was a tough task to locate Raja’s flat among the maze of some 50 high storied apartment blocks. I have never managed to understand the manner in which houses are numbered; very hard to see a sequence. Since both of them were at work, I was received by his parents who would’ve clearly wondered what an idiot I must be to ride all the way from south. It must have been a shocker to any orthodox Brahmin family. After ten minutes of chit chat, aunty offered me to cook some quick lunch. For a south Indian having been on road for a month now, mostly feeding on roti and dal, it was hard to refuse home cooked iyer food. A plate full of steaming white rice, dollops of ghee melted on top of it, mixed with yellow dal (lentils) served with our very old potato fry!! His parents watched in awe at this malnourished thing wiping off the plate in no time. I had to finally say enough before they started regretting why they let me in in the first place. Having re-energized myself, it was time to fulfil my objective. Before reaching Gurgaon, I had already informed Raja, my main motive of stopping at to his place enroute to Leh- get my clothes washed! Luckily for me, he had informed this to uncle and aunty too. Shameless that I was, went ahead with the job immediately after the gluttony that I had committed. The speedometer cable in my motorcycle had been cut somewhere in Rajasthan and I wanted to get it fixed at the earliest. Since it was a few hours until Raja came home, I went out to explore the neighbourhood and hoped to get the cable fixed too. Gurgaon is a concrete jungle; huge skyscrapers lined along the roads which were heavily battered by overloaded traffic and the recent monsoons. There were malls everywhere- what on earth will people buy every day? By late evening Raja reached home and I met Sushmita for the first time (she looked like a college going kid actually). We had a late dinner and a nice chat while I shared pictures from the travel so far. The next day I managed to locate the Royal Enfield service center with the Raja’s help and managed to get my speedo fixed along with the oil change. My friend decided to take his family to an exhibition in the capital city- Delhi Ghat. I parked my bike at the metro station and took the metro train. It was impressive! Wish every metro city in the country had this facility. A pretty girl who seemed to be in her early twenties was sitting across me, while I preferred to stand. She was about five foot tall with an athletic build, a bit flat nose and white skin. Was she from South America? May be yes, or maybe not. How did I know she was a traveller? Typical characteristics like a map in hand, Aladdin pants, flip flops and a rucksack! The poor girl was being squashed by the locals on either side; unsurprisingly not by young boys, but middle aged men. This pervert was about 45 years old and he kept falling on her every now and then, while shouting on the top of his voice in his mobile phone. She finally couldn’t tolerate it anymore and just got up from her seat. No wonder ive heard New Delhi is very unsafe for woman travellers! The exhibition had food counters and handicrafts from most of the states across the country and I filled my stomach with momos and mishit doi. My friend had some shopping to do and we reached home by around 10 pm. The next day I had planned to leave to Delhi and stay there for a couple of days.

Wah Taj!!!

My first visit to Jaipur was a tad disappointing I must say. For the first time in a month, I experienced very hot and dusty conditions. Due to budget constrains I could only pick a non air conditioned room, which later proved to be a wrong decision. Since the Taj was on my must see list, i skipped Jaipur sight seeing and headed straight to Agra the next morning, where Eashwar's biker friends Tanveer and Co helped me find a guest house. I was told that the best time to visit the Taj was early in the morning. The heat was already taking the toll on me and i started feeling very uncomfortable.  Anyways planned to visit the monument next morning and then head straight to Gurgaon after that.

The next morning was up at 6:00 hrs and couldnt restrain my excitement. Finally for the first time in my life I was  looking at the most celebrated symbol of love from the banks of river Yamuna. Since Eid was celebrated that day, the entry was free, and thousands of ppl flocked in their pristine white clothes to attend the Namaaz and greet each other.It took a few minutes to sink in the thought that I was actually in Taj Mahal. The symmetrically designed gardens on either side of the water channel overlooked by massive white marble structures was a great sight to watch. The huge pool of water, where ppl washed their faces, hands and legs before entering the dargah, was engulfed by a sea of white kurtas. The lawns and tress was immaculately maintained and just like me the tourists from other countries were clicking away pictures in awe.

Banks of river Yamuna

Ive heard people saying that you get overwhelmed by the feeling of Love and Romance, on seeing Taj Mahal. Personally, I think its an overstatement  for I must confess that I could never for even a moment relate the beautiful campus to 'love'. Movies have romanticised this architectural wonder over a period of time.

On reaching my guesthouse i felt very tired and decided to sleep for a couple of hours so that I could ride to Gurgaon in better shape. By noon I realised that for the first time in this journey I fell sick, the temperature rose steeply, I was perspiring, sneezing, breathing with difficulty and stone dead tired.I slept for the next 50 hours and left to Gurgaon only after I recovered fully.

Kumbalgarh Fort, Rajasthan

It has been nearly three months since my last post. I think its high time I updated my travelogue before my memory starts failing me. What I'll do with the format is, instead of mentioning days, i'll stick to the places alone. There are quite a few pics which will describe the journey more colourfully.

Vikram and Eva had planned to return to Ahmedabad by Sunday night, but decided to halt since it didnt make sense to miss the Sound and Light show at the fort, which was at 7 pm.

Vikram at his posing best! (couldnt resist posting it.:)

Outside our tents

 We therefore checked out by noon and found another guest house which cost us less than 500 bucks. A group of 26 bikers from Udaipur invited us for lunch after learning that we rode all the way from Ahmedabad.

After a decent lunch, we had a good afternoon siesta and then rode to the fort.

Kids playing along the roadside pool

An intimidating entrance gateway led to steep range of steps. Before Vikram and I could plot our strategy to start our climb, Eva was well over the top, posing for pictures with the locals, who thought she was from the Oriental East.

The best thing about the locals was that whenever they saw some outsider with a camera, immediately they start posing for pictures. At first I didnt understand, but then was more than happy to click away pictures capturing wonderful smiles and colourful clothing.

Once you reach the top, you realise that the fort actually runs along a huge mass of land housing a number of temple complexes and it is inevitable to avoid comparisons to the Great Wall of China. We were told that the total running distance of the fort was 38km, which was very impressive considering the height at which it was built. It was built by Rana Kumbha in the 15th century.

Fort during the Sound and Light Show

The next day they headed back to Ahmedabad, while I rode towards the Pink city-Jaipur.

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)