Bari's Motorbike Diary

Nagapattanam-Kanyakumari

Bari — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:09:28 +0000

Wednesday, November 16
Today is going to be another monster ride. Firstly we have to make up the distance, we didn’t cover yesterday. So we headed out by 6:30 am down further south all along the coast. Navroze and I left a little earlier with Joe and Rakesh following in the jeep. Dinesh was going to catch up soon with Naveen and Ameet in the other jeep.
About 15 km from Nagapattanam was a small town called Valankanni, where there is a very famous church. Based on a vision of the mother Mary to a local kid, this chapel was founded in the 15th century. It was later expanded to what it is today. (see photo). We spent a little time there and continued south. The roads got progressively worse and there were no signs in english anymore. So communication became quite difficult. Even though some in the crew could converse in the local language, Tamil, the information was in complete contradiction to each other. We figured to trust the info from the bus drivers.
We went through many little villages where the roads were non existent and felt like south indian version of our experience in Bihar. The weather was hot and humid. We were riding a couple hundred yards from the bay of Bengal and going through some of the villages, the stench of the dried fish was quite unbearable. We stopped for a dosa lunch in a small town and carried on. By about 1 pm we found a shahed spot and took a break there. Tried to get a quick shut eye, and soon Dinesh and the others caught up with us. As they had not yet eaten, we opted to proceed to Ramnathpuram to eat. We got there by 3 pm. Finally, It had taken us 7 hours to reach Ramnathpuram which was about 220 km from the start. The distances shown on the maps were based on the main highways and not the coastal routes that we were traversing on. By the time we had a bite to eat and tanked up, it was already 4pm. We still had over 300 km left to go.
From there we decided to head a few km inland and cover the rest of the distance to Kanyakumari by the national highway. The roads were much more forgiving and we started to cover more ground faster. Along the way, a car pulled up next to us and the passengers recognised Dinesh from their past connection. hey were headed towards a town called Thirunelvelli, which was on our way. So they led the way for us.
Soon the sun set, and as it got darker, we had to slow down our speeds. I was very clear to everyone that if i was tired, i would be pulling over to rest and not make the same mistake as in Orissa.
The roads being good, were were going at speeds ranging from 70 -80 kmph and managed to reach Kanyakumari just a little after 11 pm. we had ridden for almost 17 hours and covered 525 kms.
It was very thrilling for me to have reached the southern most point of India. We had just covered the entire east coast and it was a very hard ride.

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Chennai-Nagapattanam

Bari — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:31:47 +0000

Tuesday, November 15
Woke up by 6 am and saw a telugu newspaper under my door. Surprised to see inside a photo of me with my folks from the previous day in Nellore. Got ready and was down by the bike by 7 am. Hardly a surprise, no one else was there. Was wishing i had slept longer. It didn’t feel good to start the day feeling tired, as the body was getting more and more fatigued everyday. Soon Dinesh came down and slowly the others. We had planned on meeting with Navroze on the way out of town.
Our ride todaty was to have been from Chennai to Ramnathpuram, which we had figured to be around 400 km. We knew the road to Pondicherry (150 km ) was very good but were concerned about the road after that as that region was hit with some very heavy rains the past few weeks.
From Chennai onwards, Bhaskar (a riding buddy of Dinesh, from Bangalore) was going to join us in the ride. He had a very nice Honda CBR 1100 super bike. Barely 45km from our start, Bhaskar’s bike began to over heat. We pulled over and Joe opened it up and found that the coolant was leaking and it wouldn’t hold up. So after over an hour by the roadside, Bhaskar took the decision to abort his ride and get a van to come and pick up his bike to take back to Bangalore. Bummer, he had been planning this for a long time and was looking forward to doing this with us. Sorry man!
We had now decided to make it to Nagapattanam instead of Ramnathpuram for the night. We were still 100 km from Pondicherry and from there it was another 180 km to Nagapattanam. We figured on having an earlier start the next day to make up for the extra distance.
The road to Pondicherry was very good and the weather was was not as hot and muggy as it usually is in that area. We had intended to have breakfast in Pondi, instead we got there for lunch. I was familiar with the town as I go there every time I’m in India. So I led them to a restaurant called Satsanga, which served French and Italian cuisine. For those not familiar, Pondicherry was part of the French colony till the 60’s. There are lots of Europeans and Americans visiting that city for the Auroville ashram.I go there to buy old furniture.
Lunch was very gratifying and we headed further south along the coast. This entire area was hit very hard by the tsunami last year. So, as we were riding through, we could see the camp sites for the evacuated fishermen. The road was unexpectedly good for the next 100 km or so. Navroze and I ended up on a different road from the others as there were quite a few deviations in the towns. Over the phone we figured out that we were going off by another 25 km which didn’t seem so bad on that very picturesque road. So we opted to carry on and meet up in Nagapattanam. from there the road was winding through even smaller villages and the roads were also quite beat up in many areas due to the rains. One of the main bridges had collapsed in a town we needed to pass through and there was another 20 km diversion through rice fields and in the darkness of the night, we were wondering where the hell we were heading as we couldn’t see any lights anywhere. Finally we reached the hotel in Nagapattinam by 8 pm. Rahesh, Ameet and I decided to have an early dinner and catch up on sleep. I was so exhausted that i fell asleep by 10:30 pm without even getting out of riding clothes.

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Guntur-Chennai

Bari — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:08:54 +0000

Monday, November 14
Today was a very special day for me. Navroze and I were very eager to get started early. We got rolling by 6 am.Navroze had to get to Chennai as early as possible to meet up with a friend of his there. I had wanted to stop on the way in a town called Nellore (where i was born) to visit a very dear aunt Sarojini. She is my father’s sister and has been very close to me all my life. She has not been in good health and I was very keen on stopping by to see her.
On the way there we stopped at a small restaurant outside a town called Ongole and had a dosa for breakfast. No more parathas, thank you! The roads were fantastic and we were covering the distance fairly quickly. By 11am or so we reached Nellore from where I went in to town along with my brother Gautam.. Navroze carried on to chennai by himself. Dinesh was still behind. I went by to see my aunt and within 15 minutes or so, my parents dropped by. They live in Hyderabad and happened to have some political work to attend in that surrounding area and opted to surprise me there for a few minutes. It was lovely to see them and there was a lot of press as well. Just spoke to them briefly about our adventure so far and headed to my village Vakadu for lunch.
This was the first time in my life that i was going to my village on my own. I have been before by car or bus but never like this.Caught up with Dinesh and my brother Ram and friends on the highway and proceeded to the village. We got to Vakadu which is about 20 km towards the ocean from the highway, by about 1 pm. There was an elaborate lunch spread. I took Rakesh around a few areas of the village where i had spent my childhood. There were a bunch of kids celebrating children’s day by participating in sports events and other talent programs. Their teachers recognised me and came over to talk to me. Soon, all these kids swarmed around me asking for my autograph. It was extremely bizzare and surreal as some kids didn’t even have a pice of paper and they asked me to sign their palms. They asked me sit amongst them and watch the program. It was very touching and soon i had to say bye to them to go have lunch.
Had a quick shut eye after lunch and got going by 4 pm towards Chennai which is slightly over 100 km. As we were leaving the Andhra state line, the sun was setting behind the palm trees that lined the road. By the time we reached Chennai, it was 6 pm and was already dark. The traffic into town was quite hectic. It took us an hour and half to reach our accomodation at Andhra club.
There we were met with many of our friends from our early school years. I saw some friends that i hadn’t seen for about 24 years. Lot of reminiscing and laughter over drinks and dinner on the roof. We showed them some of the pictures Ameet had taken so far of our ride and got to bed around midnight. Another late night and short on sleep.

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Visakhapatnam-Guntur

Bari — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:46:07 +0000

Sunday, November 13
Having a rest day doesn’t mean we are rested for the next day. Usually it’s one party too many and too late, especially when there are a lot of friends and family around.
We had hearty breakfast of more than one choice. It was pretty much everything south indian: idly,vada, dosa,uthapam and good strong coffee. By the time we had breakfast I was ready for a nap. My elder brother Ram and a few friends were leading the way out of town in a car. They were joinng us for the next 2 days. more partying!
The road out of Vizag was super.. 4 lane highway with a divider separating on coming traffic. After the ass whipping we received the previous few days, this was a runway. I was comfortably cruising between 100-120 kmph.
We stopped after about 2 hours for a cup of coffee. But the local shop did not have any, only tea instead. Interestingly, the chai guy was reading the local paper and our photo was in it with a write up. He recognised us and was quite thrilled. The chai was good and we carried on very comfortably. Navroze and I stopped off at another town to take some photos. With in 5 minutes there were quite a few onlookers around us who also recognised us from the paper. it was quite trippy hearing them call us by our names. What amazed me more was that they all read the paper and were quite informed.
Stopped in a town called Tanuku for lunch. An old friend of ours G.V.Ramana’s brother in law hosted us to a terrific lunch. By the time we got there I felt quite exhausted. I didn’t know if it was because of fatigue setting in or if it was the light in Andhra. The sun was very bright and squinting while riding does tire the eyes. I took a quick shut eye before lunch and we were taken around the compound of the house where he had various birds and animals. One of the most outstanding animal there was this bull (see photo) which stood over 6 feet tall and was just picture perfect. Amazingly beautiful. We were very apprehensive about going any closer to take the picture.
From there we headed to Guntur which was another 150 km or so further. we reached the town just as it got dark.The road was fabulous from start to finish with hardly a pot hole. All signs were clearly marked in English, Telugu and in Hindi languages. We were put up in a private guest house which was very comfortable. My younger brother had driven down from Hyderabad to meet us there. He was going o join us in the car till the next day to Chennai.
Navroze and I had decided to have an early start and Dinesh would catch up with us later, as he would be riding much faster. So we got to bed earlier than the others at midnight.

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Bhuvaneshwar-Visakhapatnam

Bari — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 18:07:54 +0000

Friday, November 11
Another early rise. Would have loved to sleep for a couple more hours. Today it’s another 420 km to Our destination. THe highway promises to be good. Could feel the soreness from the fall in my hip and in my neck. Got a better view of the damage to the bike (see photo). Had eggs and toast for breakfast at the hotel and got going. The roads were quite nice and the landscape was beautiful.
We planned on getting to Andhra Pradesh state border which was about 200 km away and then break for lunch. Dinesh took off ahead of us and we planned on meeting for lunch up ahead. Meanwhile Navroze and i cruised on the open road at about 100 kmph and stopped for some refreshments.
When we reached the border, there was an excitement in the air around us. The sense of familiarity with the language and people made the communication easy. We went ahead another 50 km and had a traditional andhra food on a banana leaf. We were all giddy with joy and the food was fantastic. The others at the dhaba must have thought we were nuts. Afterwards, Dinesh felt he wanted to get to Vizag (short for Visakhapatnam) as soon as possible and meet up with my brother Ram and a bunch of friends who were waiting to receive us and party. Navroze, Joe, Rakesh and I rested up for another 45 minutes and then got rolling to finish up the last 120 km or so left. The roads in A.P. were absolutely amazing. all the way from the border to the city.
By 6 pm or so we reached and we were put up at a guest house a block from the beach. We got a glimse of the Bay of Bengal for the first time on the east coast. from here we follow it all the way down south to the tip of Kanyakumari. Before all that we had some partying to do. It was lovely to see so many friends who greeted us and later we shared with them our adventures over dinner and drinks on the beach a few kms away. Before we realised it was already pat 1 am and by the time we came back and got to bed, it was already 2 am.
Tomorrow we are breaking in Vizag, so no worries.
So good to be in Andhra! Good strong coffee from here on again.

Saturday, November 11
Good to just sleep in and not having any alarms going off. Woke up around 8:45 am to the sun light coming in strong from the window. Strong coffee was followed by a few cups of the same and a feast of a breakfast was at the table. After having parathas and eggs for the past 45 days for breakfast, having dosa, vada and idly with sambar was delicious. Ram had organised a masseur to knead away the knots in our tired bodies. we had a lazy morning and then we went to a bar called Chrome for some cocktails and lunch. Very late lunch. by the time we came out, it was already past 4 pm. There was a press conference arranged with the local media at 5:30 pm . We spoke to them for an hour or less.
Although i had not quite digested my lunch yet, We made our way to dinner at my dad’s place. He is not here. It feels strange to have been in India for 7 weeks already and i still have not seen my parents. I plan on seeing them in Hyderabad after we are finished with this ride. Feels like i have eaten more food in these 2 days than i have in past few weeks.
Tomorrow, a local t.v. channel is coming by to talk to us before we get rolling by 8;30 am. very tired and sleepy now. (atleast i am not on the bike) Good night!

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Behrampore-Bhuvaneshwar

Bari — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 16:45:57 +0000

Thursday, November 10
Yesterday was a rough day for Dinesh. He had a bout of food poisoning in the morning and was throwing up all day. So he got through the ride yesterday as soon as he could and was wiped out by the time we reached the hotel. We decided that Navroze and I would start off early with one of the jeeps and Dinesh would catch up to us when he felt more rested.
Woke up to Naveen’s alarm at 4:45 am and got ready by 5:30. As always, Navroze and I finally rolled another half hour later. The roads were empty and it was a little chilly. Road out of town was as bad as the road in to town. Uneven and broken up in many places. The first 50 km or so was like that and then it got a little better. After that we stopped off for a chai and some breakfast in a small town called Krishnanagar (see photo). The chai is dispensed from the machine and is served in a disposable clay cup. Weird mix!
By around noon we reached the suburbs of Calcutta. Passed over the hoogli river and the national highway 60 came up. what a relief! Fantastic 2 lane each way highway wih a divided in between and light traffic. We got open up the throttle for a while until we broke for lunch. Also we were back in area where we could get good yogurt and that meant i could indulge in Lassi, my favorite drink here.
We had no idea how many more kms exactly to Bhuvaneshwar, but as long as the road was like a runway, we were flying with big grins. after almost 400 kms we saw signs saying we had another 300 or so more to our destination. The light was slowly dimming and Dinesh opted to carry on as fast (and safe) as he could to Bhuvaneshwar and we would meet up there.
Meanwhile Navroze and I had already been on the road for about 12 hours and we stopped for a chai, then for a tire inspection for the backup jeep, then petrol and finally dinner break. by then it was around 9pm and it was colder than i had expected. we put on our rain gear just to keep the wind out and got back on the bikes to finish the last 180 km or so left. I felt awfully tired after dinner and was having a very difficult time focusing on the traffic ahead. The thoughts were racing through my mind to stop and take a quick shut eye or let Joe ride for awhile, because i knew i couldn’t go on like that. Perhaps if the remaining distance was very short, but we had a long ways to go and i was also thinking that it would slow down Navroze, if I were to stop so soon. As i was thinking these, i must have taken a wink too long and i crashed in to the central divider to my left and was thrown off the bike at about 50 kmph. I was flung on to the dirt median and rolled over a few times and miraculously escaped without a scratch. The bike skidded along the its side and crashed to a halt. I was shaken and was feeling idiotic for not going with my instinct right away. Very stupid of me! Joe and Rakesh were in the jeep right behind and they helped get the bike back up and it was working fine, except for the horn which was muffled. There were a couple of big scrapes on the bike’s side but it was working fine.
I noticed that the rain pants i had on over my jeans were damaged at the my left shin area quite bad and also on my right hip. I must have fallen on my hip, as i could already feel a little soreness.
I was awake now! With the intention that i would stop at any moment if i felt sleepy, I got back on the bike and carried on to finish the remaining 160 kms.
We stopped briefly a couple of times for chai and to wash face and by 1:30 am we reached Bhuvaneshwar in Orissa state. What a ride. Over 19 hours and 675 kms was very taxing. I was very thankful for the incredible luck i had and was ready to say enough for the day.
Took a hot shower at the hotel Bhuvaneshwar and hit the bed. Tomorrow we were heading to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state, my home state.

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Siliguri-Behrampore

Bari — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 17:19:37 +0000

Wednesday, November 9
My alarm went off by 5 am and i loked out the window and it was still dark. Got ready in half hour and it still was kind of dark. no one was ready to roll yet. Navroze made me a cup of his private coffee (which he brews every morrning. thank you Navroze!) Sanjeev was bidding us adieu as he was catching a flight out of Siliguri in the afternoon. We hope to see him again. By 6 am or a little past, we were rolling.
The air was very cool and felt quite refreshing. The sun was rising to our left as we headed south. Warm light cast ling shadows to the right of us on the road. Riding past many more tea estates, the sun light looked very romantic seeping through the trees and he smoke from the villages was tinting the light in amber tones.
The road was fine for about 25 km and then the potholes made their presence be known. Off and on the road was fine and the distressed road would slow us down quite a bit. The shadows from the trees on the road also disguised the potholes and even within 10 ft of us, it was difficult to identify the craters. We hit a few of them quite hard and would hope that the bike was alright to go on.
By 8 am, after 80 km, we stopped off at a dhaba for some breakfast of roti and a curry of soy and potatoes which was pretty good. But he scrambled egg made with mustard oil was not right for me. Just didn’t taste right. Passed on it.
The road would alternate between looking like swiss cheese to a four lane super highway. On the good stretches we could easily cruise at about 120 kmph, but on the other crawl at abot 20 kmph.
This went on all day for the 12 hours it took to reach Behrampore and we covered a little over 400 kms today. Tomorrow’s destination is Bhuvaneshwar in Orissa state. We realized that there was a small mistake when the original mileage was calculated. It’s actually close to 650 km and not around 400 km as we had initially planned for. Planning on waking up real early and see how much we can cover. Who knows what the road conditions are? We’ll know tomorrow. Till then, good night!

Technorati Tags: India Bike Trip, Joe’s photos

Coochbehar-Siliguri

Bari — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 13:12:18 +0000

Tuesday, November 8
I was getting late getting to the bike in the morning as i was still uploading images. Didn’t know whether i would have any connection at the next halt. We started out by 8 am and headed towards Siliguri, West Bengal. The weather was just fine and the road was kind as well. We took a slightly different route than the one we took from Gangtok to Coochbehar. This road was fine as well and we had a fantastic view of the Kanchen junga mountain range on our right. at around 29,000 ft, hat is the second highest mountain range in India after the Everest.
Siliguri was only 140 km from our start and we had planned on servicing the jeeps there during a long lunch after which we would carry on towards Kishangunj or Raigunj, which were 70 - 150 km from Siliguri towards Calcutta. We had been told that the roads were quite bad and that it would take forever to get through. Sound like Bihar roads. In fact, we were to get on this road from bihar, which we avoided due to bad roads. Now we have no choice.
We received word that there was no decent accomodation in those 2 tiny towns and it would be another carnival scenario around the bikes and us, if we ended up there in the dark. The reports on the roads were quite conflicting as well. some say that there are ok and some say otherwise. The only way to know, is when we get on them.
a consensus was taken to stop for the night here in Siliguri and wake up early and roll by 5:30 am, without fail and make the 450 km ride to Behrampur as planned earlier.
We had lunch at hotel Jamini which is in the not so heavily populated part of town with good parking. Got some rooms here for the night. I think we are the only guests here. Weird little place. Everything is very slow here.
Sanjeev Shah our film maker friend and crew member for the last 4 weeks from Amritsar has to get back to Ahmedabad and is catching his flights out of Siliguri tomorrow. We will miss him. Hope he was finishing the journey with us. Tonight, we will have a send off dinner for him.
Will keep posted if we do get rolling early. Otherwise we are in for an even longer rough ride tomorrow. Cheers!

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Shillong-Coochbehar

Bari — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 12:40:06 +0000

Monday, november 7
The plan was to be out by 6:30 am. Don’t ask how or why, but by the time we were off it was 8 am. The road out of Shillong was very good, though there were a lot of lorries on it. The diesel fumes were back in our lungs. Ahh… the smell of urbanization.
The ride was real fun all the way down to Gawhati. Back in Gawhati, the traffic was heavy again and we ended up spending another 45 minutes there waiting for somebody or something. At this point, e knew it was going to be dark when we reached Coochbehar anyway, Just wanted to minimise riding that way.
After about 230 km, we stopped off at the same dhaba on the way where we had chai a week before. Tanked up the bikes and off for another 230 km or so. The road was quite good mostly and then the last 100 km, as it got dark, the road was a mess. For sme reason, i did not remember it being as bad as that the first time around. I guess, i put it out of my mind because the road had gotten better towards the latter part of the ride going to Gawhati. To face this road with the sun setting in our faces and the dust being kicked up, was not a pleasant run. We reached Coochbehar by 8 pm and checked into the same hotel Ellora.
Finally i had internet connection again. So i managed to upload the couple of blogs that i had written.
Tomorrow we get back to Siliguri (in the chicken’s neck of Indian geography) and hope to carry on further South.

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Haflong-Shillong

Bari — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 12:23:42 +0000

Sunday, November 6
The road to Shillong promises to be better than the road we took there, so say the locals. We got started by 7 am and it was quite foggy as we were rolling down the mountains. Quite serene. Soon we pulled up to the side so we could get some pictures. Immediately a jeep full of police pulled up next to us and asked us where we coming from and the other same questions. The ASP (additional super-intendent of police) was actually very nice and had on a big smile. He was quite thrilled that we were doing this and was quite philosophical in his thinking about the local situation which he shared with us. He offered to arrange lunch for us at a place called Umrang so, about 100 km away which is where he was going and it was on our way. So soon we had an escort of 3 police jeeps showing us the way. The road was quite bad in some areas but mostly it was fantastic. The road ahead was single lane with bamboo groves all round hugging the road. The mountains were lush and overgrown with flora, which i shall not even attempt to name. Stopped off a couple more places and took more pictures.
We got to Umrang so by 10 am and were shown to the police bungalow. Prime location! Beautiful clean big building overlooking a large blue lake. The cook there was somewhat surprised that we had wanted to eat right away and get going to Shillong. We have been skipping breakfast a lot and having a brun ch at around 11 am or so and follow up with some chai and biscuits later in the afternoon. Walked over to the lake and saw the local town folk preparing for a religious ceremony on the banks for the next day. Little kids were swimming and bathing in the lake. Looked so inviting. Got back to the bungalow and had our lunch. When the ASP had asked us to stay for lunch earlier in the morning and we had agreed, he immediately contacted the bungalow on his walkie talkie and asked them t prepare lunch. As always, we mentioned to him that we were non-vegetarians. So he calls back and says” Roger, Roger, Non-veg, Roger!” Very amusing.
After lunch we headed towards Shillong which was another 145 km away. The road started out kind of bad for the next 50 km or so and then it was smooth riding. Beautiful tarmac on lovely mountain side. Our asses were thankful.
Truly, the state of Assam is gorgeous! It has everything from forests, hill stations, abundant rivers, and views that are spectacular in any direction. The people were all very nice and beautiful. Never posed a threat to us directly. Roads were good, bad, straight, curved and topsy turvy. Great for motorcycle riding.
We soon got in to Meghalaya state where we stopped off for chai at around 2:30 pm. We were only 50 km away from Shillong, the capital city. We had covered over 11,000 km so far on our journey.
Got to town by 4:30 pm as the light was going down. Had made arrangements at the hotel Pinewood, which was fairly easy to find. Quite a quaint hotel. Shillong being at about 7000ft above sea level, was quite nippy as we were riding there. By evening it was around 16 C. Nothing compared to Leh, ladakh, but still cold.
I wanted to sit down to write my blog, but didn’t get a chance. We were to get ready and go meet Dinesh’s friend Marcus’s in laws, who live there. Navroze, Dini and I went there and had a very good evening meeting everyone, particularly Neil who is a trained concert pianist. Fantastic wine and a delicious meal wrapped up our evening.
The plan is to leave by 6:30 am tomorrow to Cooch Behar in West Bengal via Gawhati. It’s around 450 km and that’s a long ride. A few days earlier we had covered the Cooch Behar to Gawhati in 10 hours. He had to back track on that same road and also add another 110 km from Shillong to Gawhati. Atleast a 12 hours ride to anticipate tomorrow.

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Dimapur-Haflong

Bari — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 11:06:47 +0000

Saturday, November 5
Heading in to southern Assam to a place called Silchar. We had calculated the distance from Dimapur to be a little less than 300 km. We enquired about another route that would cut down about 50 km, but it would mean that we go off the main highway. We were quite spoilt from the previous couple of days with decent roads. So, we just assumed the same for today. We barely got onto this half beaten single lane road when we were halted at the police check post and had to wait a few minutes. Some police officers got in to the first lorry and soon all the other lorries,buses, cars and us formed a convoy behind it. We come to realise that that was the national highway and that there was a violent incident on a bus 2 days prior on that road and so were advised to travel in a convoy for safety. We travelled like that quite slowly for about 45 km from where we had to take a diversion to a place called Diphu. There was no traffic which made the heavy forest a little more creepy feel to it. Otherwise, it was beatiful. The road though narrow and broken up in many places was still managable. We stopped for a quick few minutes to take pictures or film the ride, which was making certain members of the crew very nervous.
We stopped by a local chai shop which was next to a police check post and talked to the official about the insurgency activity in that region. He said, there was some incident the day after yesterday or yesterday after yesterday and to travel cautiously. We carried on till we joined up with the main national highway 54 at around noon. Then we spent an hour finding a place to eat in a town there called, Lumding. Then, we asked some locals about the road to Silchar. They advised not to take that road we were on, instead to take the road back to a different town and go in a round about way. This was getting annoying. We stopped some truck drivers and asked them about the road and safety conditions. They seemed to be alright with it. But certain crew member was adamant about not going on that road as the local chap had said. So the local chap then asks a guy he knew who was coming along from the opposite direction, and he said it was fine. suddenly everyone was fine about carrying on. We found a restaurant just a few feet away and ordered some lunch. That took another 1 1/2 hours. We were losing quality daylight and we only had a couple more hours left of it.
We were told the distance to Silchar from there was about 140 km or so. Soon we came across a sign giving the distance at 244 km. Boy, did that let the air out of us! already the road was getting even more bad and we would be losing light very soon and we were in the middle of nowhere forest. so we took a decision to instead make it to a town called Haflong, about 100 km before Silchar.
We rode for another 2 hours after the sun went down and the road was really bad in many areas. Around 30 km to Haflong, I felt my bike responding a little awkward. Was pulling to one side and the steering was not quite right. I pulled over and asked Navroze to see if i had a flat. He didn’t seem to think so. also, we Dinesh’ and my bike was out of gas and were now on reserve. So i figured it was just the fuel flow or the dust that has clogged tyhe air filter. About 5 km before town, it was obviously clear that my reat tire was punctured. We couldn’t stop in the middle of nowhere and try to take it apart. So slowly we came down the hills to the town and safely reached a hotel called Elite by 7 pm.
By this hour the whole town was closing up and all the repair shops were shut. Luckily, the owner of the hotel contacted someone he knew and he re opened for us. Amazing joe, got my back to its running condition.
Tomorrow, we are to make it back to Gawhati via Shillong in meghalaya state. We opted to stop off in Shillong for the next night halt and make up the extra distance to Gawhati the day after.

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Kohima, Nagaland

Bari — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 10:17:12 +0000

Friday, November 4
Today was going to be an easy day. a short ride of 75 km to Kohima and back to Dimapur by evening. Unlike the other ares of India, here we have to kind of backtrack as we ventured further towards the border towns.
The morning was very pleasant and I had an hour to sit down with Navroze and Sajeev to film an interview about my experience so far. Soon after we set off to the hills. It was already 10 am and one of the BRO officers escorted us to Kohima, incase we get hassled.
The first 20 km was still in the plains and quite congested with traffic and people. As soon as we got to the hills, it was clear and the roads were lovely for the bikes to move around. Beautiful green valleys and the constant buzz of crickets was everywhere. Some places the sounds of the crickets actually sounded like cel phones ringing. Often, I would check my pocket to feel if my phone was vibrating. No calls, but that of nature.
There were a few vendors along the road selling fresh pineapples and oranges. We stopped off to sample of the local fruit and were absolutely taken by the fruits. The locals were nice as well and spoke quite good english. curiously, there are a lot of missionary schools set up in that area for a very long time.
The sky was a beautiful deep blue with a few clouds. soon, it was getting more cloudy and cool with that. The chance of rain is very sudden in those parts and could rain as much as 3-4 inches an hour or two. But, no rain poured dow on us.
The ride to Kohima took about 2 hours and we were taken to the war cemetery. Perched in the best of town and well manicured, the war cemetery was the spot where in April of 1944, the allied forces fought and stopped the invasion of Japan in to India. Then we were taken to the church that the veterans of that war had helped build. I was getting a little antsy to go check out the local streets and people instead. By now, it was already 2pm and we stopped by a tiny restaurant called Little China where they served us some very spicy noodles. Nagaland chillis are infamously spicy. By 3:30, we started to roll as the sun sets as early a 4 pm and gets very dark by 5 pm.
We got back to Dimapur and had some early dinner and called it a night at the BRO camp.

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Dibrugarh-Dimapur

Bari — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 17:56:09 +0000

Thursday, November 3
We were told that the road from Dibrugarh to Dimapur was “too good” by the BRO. We left the hotel the same time as usual, around 7 am. Barely had we passed the city limits when Navroze’s bike had a mulfunction of all the electricals.
it was assumed that there was a short in the wiring due to the pressure cleaning the bikes went through earlier in the morning to get rid of all the dust. Anyway, joe did a quick fix and we got rolling again. But the problem continued a few more times and Navroze tried to ride for a while longer with no horn or indicator lights. Riding without the horn here is quite risky and I kept a close distance ahead of him. The road was very good as we were told and we decided to pull up by a chai shop and open the bike up to fix the nagging problem. Soon with the horn loud and chirpy, we rode out. The road was clean and smooth with lovely curves going through more tea estates (see photo).
We were covering the distance in good time and so kept pulling over to take a bunch of small breaks. Before dark, we reached Dimapur which is in Nagaland state bordering Assam state. The BRO over there received us outside with a banner welcome and escorted us to their camp in the middle of town. The nicest of them so far, very clean and spacious. The personnel were very hospitable and generous with their time. The man in charge, Brigadier Narasimhan had organised a cocktail party in our honor at 7 :30 pm. We had 2 hours to clean up and party.
It was a delightful evening, and they showed us a small film explaining the history and accomplishments of the BRO.
They are the unsung heroes who work in treacherous border areas of the country, making them accesible to the army and civilians, and do not receive the attention or credit that they deserve. Cheers!
We planned to driving to a town called Kohima the next day to check out more of Nagaland. We were strongly advised not to venture any further than that town due to militant insurgent activity in those areas. That was fine with us.

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Itanagar-Dibrugarh

Bari — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 15:23:31 +0000

Wednesday, November 2
The sun was up very early. We had breakfast at the BRO camp, said our thank you and got on our way. We were given excellent directions and status on the road conditions.
The road was very good for the initial 55 km and then became a single lane uneven road ( see photo). After having been on the infamous Bihar roads, this was just fine.
After about 150 km, we were received by Mr. Verma ( also with the BRO) who had driven 3 hours to meet us. He had prepared a very appetising lunch and then escorted us to a place called Simen Chapori which is on the banks of the river Brahmaputra. From the main road we had to go on the dirt road (see photo) for about 10 km to the awaiting ferry. We loaded up the jeeps and bikes on to it and sat back for the next 2 1/2 hours enjoying the boat ride. The river was only about 3 km wide but as the water was lower than usual and there were a lot of islands that needed to navigated around. Also, having to go against the current made the ride slow and enjoyable. The sun set early and the the stars were out by 5 pm. Looking up at the sky from the ferry felt like being in a planetarium. It’s been a very long time since I saw so many stars in the sky.
By the time we got off the ferry, it was pitch black and we had to get back on the bikes for another 25 km to Dibrugarh. (see photo). The road out of the ferry was as you can see in the pic. for about 10 km and then the highway was fine.
We made reservations in a hotel for the night. Just as we got in to town, Dinesh’s bike got a nail in his back tire and luckily we were already in town and joe fixed it as soon as we got to the hotel.
This is the eastern most part of India on our journey.

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Gawhati-Itanagar

Bari — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 13:44:47 +0000

Tuesday, November 1
Today is the big Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. I couldn’t be more excited about being far far away from the cities and observe it from an area of India which I never imagined.
We had already tanked up the night before and we were all set to get going to Arunachal Pradesh. We were soon on the Brahmaputra river bridge (the same one we crossed the night before) and realised that although everyone said to go that way towards Tezpur (a town on the way to Itanagar), we should be going on a different route. After some navigation on the bridge (see photo), we got going towards the east on NH 37. The initial part was a nice wide 4 lane highway and soon ended in to a double lane road which was still very good. The road wounded through the hills which were quite lush with dense vegetation. There was a very strong army presence everywhere. An armed soldier was visible at every bend of the road.
Once we got past the mountains, the road was on the plains again. We stopped at a dhaba for brunch at around 11am and got going again. Maybe it was the easy road or the food or the warm sun on us, but we felt sleepy soon. We pulled over by another bridge and the trees that lined the road were swaying gently like a fan. We took a break there, where I was ready to continue to sleep on longer. It was so peaceful. But we wanted to make it to our final stop before it was too dark and so we got going again.
The road was very good as the Commander Pandey had mentioned. After 200 km or so, we tanked up again and had chai at the local shack and moved on to complete the 65 km. There were a lot of trucks and cycle wagons carrying bamboo and banana trees. These were in preparation for the Diwali festival. Soon, we came across a short cut to Itanagar which was going through some villages towards the mountains and would cut short the distance by about 30 km or so. The road was being worked on. It was very ridable however. There were men breaking down heaps of rocks by hand in to small rocks which are laid down for the roads (see photo). Each man works on a mound for 4 days and is paid Rs 80 per day (less than US$2). What a life! What do we have to complain about?
A we got to the foothills of mountains, we were at the border of Arunachal Pradesh, This state requires special permit for visitors. We had a written document from the BRO which gave us access. As soon as we went past the gate, we felt like we were entering an amazingly beautiful place that has been untarnished by any commercial exploitation. (see photo). The hills were so very dense with wild banana, palm, ferns and teak. I was so taken by it, visually. Every turn was more beautiful and gratifying than the previous. Tiny villages by the road side with kids walking around freely on the road by the mountains. The women were very immaculately dressed in gorgeous traditional outfits and were all walking toeards the bigger village/towns, in celebration of the festival. Besides the Diwali holiday, they celebrate Kali puja in those areas.
We reached Itanagar by 4 pm when it was already getting dark. The BRO camp was actually in the next town about
15 km further from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.
So glad that we got to see and enjoy the beauty of the land and the people before it had gotten dark.
We were cordially received by Commander Pandey at the camp and offered very comfortable accomdation. He and his staff were extremely helpful and hospitable to us. Getting correct information on the road conditions and routes were priceless and gave us a sense of mental comfort.
A few of us went down in to the town to check out the local festivities. (see photo). I thought their use of the banana trees and split bamboo to set the oil lamps was quite remarkable. There was a lot of fireworks and the celebration was in full swing. The people were very friendly and made me feel very happy to spend Diwali wit them.

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Coochbehar-Gawhati

Bari — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 12:45:29 +0000

Monday, October 31
Happy Halloween!
I’m missing a couple of fun halloween parties back in Los Angeles.
Today we are heading to Assam state, famous for tea. I had always wanted to visit this area.
We got started by 7:30 am and the road was very decent. We tanked up in town and hit the national highway 37 to Gawhati, capital city of Assam.
Went through a lot of small villages and towns, where the people seemed really nice and friendly. we soon crossed into the Assam border, where we were occasionally stopped at the police check posts and without any problems cleared to go further. Since there is certain insurgent activity such as extortion and such, there was a concern. By the suggestion of the army, we stayed on the national highway which runs through the middle of the state. They had advised us not to go on certain routes and we sure weren’t going to mess around.
There were a few areas where the road was broken up and dusty, and there was a crew repairing most of those. Other than that, the roads were terrific. so much so that when we took chai break, we just wanted to nap. We did get some quick shut eye.
As we got more in to the state, the landscape was gorgeous. Paddy fields on one side, mountains on the other, with clean air and blue skies. The weather was perfect. No rain, just warm sun.
By the time, we got to Gawhati, the sun was setting and it was a pretty one to see as we soon crossed the bridge over the Brahmaputra river. We were being hosted once again in these north eastern states by the BRO and we soon found their camp.
The sun was now setting much earlier in this eastern region, by around 4:30pm and gets light out as early as 4:30am.
We sat down to plan out the next day’s route to Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh state. One of the officer told us that the road was quite bad and that we would not reach there before dark even if we left by 5 am. So we were contemplating scratching that from our route or planning on breaking the journey in to 2 days. Navroze then contacted the person in charge in Itanagar, Commander Pandey, who was very enthusiastic about us coming there. He said that he had just driven on that road a few days prior as it was under his jurisdiction and that the road was very good. That was awesome news for us and we hoped he was right.

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Gangtok-Coochbehar

Bari — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 12:49:33 +0000

sunday, October 30
I screwed up on the dates in the previous entry. Also, I noticed that i misspelt the town name “Darbanga” in the title entry: Gorakhpur-Garbanga. I’m sure there are more, and I’ll try to correct.
We heard about the tragic bombings in New Delhi, the train derailment in A.P. and about the many flooded metro cities in the southern India. Our heartfelt sympathies to those affected. For those who were concerned about us, we are all O.K. and in fine spirit.
Gangtok was lovely in the evening. No vehicles are allowed in the main part of town(where we were staying). So all vehicles are parked else where and the streets are for pedestrians only. Lot of young and old folks walking and socialising. We stopped at a coffeeshop (see photo) and had a nice coffee for a change. all of Western and Northern India is primarily tea drinkers. Tough for the southies, who relish in a nice strong cup of coffee. We had dinner with Jigme later that evening and got back to our hotel and got to sleep a little past midnight.
Woke up by 6 am and got to our bikes parked in Jigme’s garage down the road. He then offered us some coffee and by the time we finally rolled, it was a little past 8 am.
Our destination was coochbehar in west Bengal state. We had to take the same road,NH 31-A (see photo) back down the mountains for about 90 km before we got on to NH 31-C. The road was smooth and after the previous few days of rough riding, we were sure enjoying this. It was a gorgeous route and the mountains were to our left and tea plantations all around. although it was hotter and more humid than where we just were, it was still pleasant. Riding under the canopy of trees (see photo), with green fields all around, was refreshing.
Before we knew it, our destination for the day was only 50 km away and we stopped off for a chai at a road side village. We reache Coochbehar by 4pm (can you believe it?!!!) way before it got dark, while the sun was still up. Tghe ride was only about 250 km and we realised how much nicer and easier it is to do 8 hours of riding, if the roads were nice.
The hotel we checked in to is hotel Ellora in the middle of town. Decent little hotel and luckily for us, it is Sunday today, so the shops are closed and the roads weren’t all crazy.
Having the internet connection makes it that much more convenient to stay current with this blog.
Tomorrow, off to Gawhauti, Assam.

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Purnia-Gangtok

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 12:37:02 +0000

Friday, October 29
Very determined this morning to make it to Gangtok, Sikkim by night fall.
The night before, Dinesh and Naveen spoke with 2 chaps at the hotel and enquired about the road ahead of us. They having travelled a lot on those roads recently suggested an alternate route to Siliguri, in West Bengal. We figured that even if that road is bad, it couldn’t be any worse. so we followed their car for 45 km as they were going in that direction. So instead of just carrying on east, we headed north towards the Nepal border and then east to the next state.
The road was a single lane road going through a lot of villages and tiny towns. Hardly much traffic and the roads were much much more pleasant to ride on. After about 3 hours we crossed in the West Bengal state. But the last 3 km before the state line ended, the roads were thrashed again. almost like one last ass whipping. The sign read “end of Bihar”. Boy1 were we glad! There was a certain sense of euphoria as the landscape had changed as well. Lot more trees and the himalayan mountain range was once again visible. The roads were so much more nicer. We passed by a number of artisan’s shops where they were sculpting idols of the goddess Kali (see photo) for the upcoming Diwali holiday on Nov.1st.
Soon we came through a town called Naxalbari. Had to stop to take a picture. Not only because of my name but because of its political standing. It’s the birth place for the Naxallite movement in India. For those not familiar, they are the extreme left wing guerilla organisation who are considered a threat and danger to the establishment. Very strong presence in Andhra Pradesh, my home state.
By 1:30 m we reached the town of Siliguri. Our cameraman, Rakesh who had taken a week off, joined us there. After lunch, we headed towards the mountains. It was a lovely ride and the views were very soothing. The air was once again breathable and we felt fairly dust free.
We eached Gangtok, in Sikkim state around 6:45 pm to be received by a very old school mate of ours, Jigme Namgyal. Jigme went to Rishi Valley school withy Dinesh and I for 3 years and we have not seen him for 25 years. He hosted us with exceptional hospitality. We shared stories of the past over drinks and dinner and he accomodated us at his cousin’s hote, The Anola in the middle of town. (see photo). We decide we needed to break for a day here and catch up with rest, laundry and give our asses a much needed break.
Saturday, October 30.
After a lovely comfortable sleep in a bed with no bugs and hot water to wash away the grime and dust of U.P. and Bihar, we caught up with Jigme again. A little while later, another class mate of mine, Raman (prasad)Emani, who is now a Lt. col. in the Indian army visited us for an hour (see photo). He is stationed 18 miles north of Gangtok. It was a very lovely reunion of sorts sharing old time memories. Coincidentally, another teacher of mine from Rishi Valley, premilla Rajan was in town the day before with her husband. We had gone to see her, but she had just checked out the morning before.
We had fantastic sikkim food for lunch and a wonderful day! it’s beautiful here, the landsccape, the people, the food and everything. Cheers!

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Darbanga-Purnia

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:26:00 +0000

Thursday, October 27
Today is my brother Gautam’s birthday. Happy Birthday!
We couldn’t leave by the crack of dawn as I had hoped. Instead by 7 am we got started. We kept asking for directions out of town to the next town called Madhepur. Following a bunch of directions, we ended up 17 km at a gas station in the wrong direction. Instead of going east, we were headed South. They suggested we continue further south and catch the national highway where the road is better than the one we were supposed to be on. so we added an extra 100 km to our already long route for the day. When we reached the NH 3, the road seemed promising and we felt that perhaps it was for the best as we could cover more ground on better road. Stopped off for a traditional bihari lunch (see photo) at a roadside dhaba.
No sooner than a hundred km or so, the roads of Bihar proved to be the most difficult, we have ever been on. Even in the himalayas, at it worst we covered 20 km in an hour. Here we did 18 km in an hour. The roads were absolutely unforgiving. If we found a 4 inch piece of tarmac on the edge of the road, we would be on it. Our asses were thrashed over and over again.
We sat down(or stood up, rather) for a chai at around 4pm and decided to see how much further we could continue. We still were 150 km away from our destination, Siliguri, West Bengal. Within afew km we realised that that it was impossible to carry on and opted to call it a day at the next nearby town called Purnia.
We were covered head to toe in the dust and by far, our bodies had taken the worst beating. checked in to a hotel Harsha which was the home to even more bugs than the last 2 places. We had to keep the lights off, so the bugs wouldn’t come through the cracks of the bedroom windows. It was quite a yucky night!

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Gorakhpur-Garbanga

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 09:50:03 +0000

Wednesday, October 26
We woke up not wanting to ride more of the previous day’s roads. Surprisingly, the roads were alright for most part. The first 100 km or so was fairly decent and as soon as we crossed in to the Bihar state border, the roads were living up to their expectations. The next 10 km took us a very long time and we had to pull over for breakfast.
There we were told that the roads were like that for quite a while. But, the roads did have quite a few decent patches and some really bad ones. I was also fairly taken by the beautiful green landscape. I was expecting much more barren wasteland. The people were nice and hardworking.
Also, the elections were being held that day in some those areas. We were warned of crazy hooligans and whatever else and to be prepared. none of that, we encountered. Instead we were stopped a couple of times at the security check posts and were free to go when we told them of our ride.
After a town called Muzaffarpur, we got on to a smaller highway to Darbanga. Very green and rural. The roads were very decent and there were a lot of kids on buffaloes around in the fields.(see photo). we weren’t too far away and we kept stopping to get off the bikes to relieve our butts. Soon the sun was setting (see photo) and we pushed ahead to Darbanga as it got dark. The few km before the town, the roads were bad again and it took us over an hour to reach our hotel, in the middle of town.
It was very packed in that part of town and we couldn’t keep the local crowds from swarming the bikes. One thing we noticed in our journey so far was that earlier when we asked not to touch the bikes, they would comply. Here, before we could even say anything, the hands are all over the clutch, throttle, pressing any button. Very different personalities.
Here too there were tons of bugs from grasshoppers to some other kind very attracted to light. So to find them in our food, in my hair and in my mouth when i was talking was not uncommon.
We tried to get to bed early enough to wake up early and get the hell out of there to the next state, West Bengal.

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Lakhimpur-Gorakhpur

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:54:21 +0000

Tuesday, October 25.
We wanted to get going as soon as possible, to rid us of the grass hoppers.
The next big city was Lucknow, which was about 130 km away. The road was pretty good and it took us about 3 hours to get there. We stopped for brunch of the local parathas and omlettes. ( getting a little sick of the eggs).
We then came through a historical town called, Ayodhya. (see photo). This is around the area where the demolition of the Babri masjid took place last decade and the whole issue is still in dispute. From here, the road pretty much disappeared. It was the beginning of our ass whipping. The roads were completely torn up and made the ride very uncomfortable and slow.
The rest of the day was more of the same. Even when the road was paved, it was very un even and the ride was very bumpy and it carried on in to the early hours of darkness (see photo).
Finally we reached Gorakhpur, still in Uttar Pradesh state.where we were unloaded our very sore asses and called it a night.

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Almora-Lakhimpur

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 06:17:11 +0000

Monday, October 24.
It was very foggy when we got up. The town was waking up to their daily routines,(see photo) vegetable vendors setting up their produce, street cleaners sweeping the roads and sidewalks, kids off to school and such, we tanked up and started to unwind the mountains. Next 100 km was in the mountains, before we would hit the plains. That ride was very enjoyable. Fresh air, beatitful views and awesome roads. Except for a small area where there was a fresh landslide being cleaned up, there was hardly any obstacles.
In 2-3 hours, we came down through a nice town called Bhimtal, which had a nice big lake in the middle of town on to a town called Haldwani.(see photo). After the quite mountains, this was back to reality in a harsh manner. lots of traffic with noise pollution, exhaust fumes and dust.
After we crossed the towns, the scenery changed to a very agricultural scene. Lots of paddy (rice) fields and sugarcane, very similar to Punjab. Lots of tractors and lorries on the road. The roads were in very good conditions and since the mental application was less than the previous days, we all felt a little tired. So we pulled over by the fields (see photo) and a few took a quick nap. We once again would have a lot of people stop by and gather around. Amazingly, people just stop and park their bicycles, motorcycles, or any other vehicles, right on the road.
After a while longer on the road, we joined the grand truck road. This is one of the oldest national highways, route originally laid down during the Mughal era, a few hundred years back linking Delhi to Calcutta.
We reached Lakhimpur soon after the sunset (see photo) an had a little drama in front of the hotel. There was no closed parking and the crowd that thronged around was like a mob checking out the circus coming to their town. We some how go o park our vehicles in a private residence not far from the hotel and walked over to Ashirwad hotel. (the best in town, but leaves a lot to be desired).
I have stayed before in places infested with mosquitoes or even cockroaches, but this had its own, the grasshopper. They were everywhere.
We had some dinner downstairs and the rasmallai (dessert) there was very enjoyable.

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Rishikesh-Almora

Bari — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 05:38:42 +0000

Sunday, October 23.
Sorry for not updating the blog any sooner. It has been difficult to sit down to write some days after an exhausting ride and often not having the internet available.
Big THANKS to my dear friend Rahul Bhushan who designed this site for me and made it very easy for me to update. Also, the inclusion of the India map, should give some of those not familiar with the Indian geography, a visual reference to our whereabouts. ( The only correction on it, should be that we started from Bangalore and went directly west towards Mangalore and from there went up along the coast.)
Now, back to Rishikesh.
We had a long ride planned for today through the state of Uttaranchal. We set off by sun up and were soon riding through the mountains along side the Ganges river. (see photo).It was very foggy and the air felt fresh and brisk. Thye mountains were silhouetted in shades of grey and the trees were everywhere right up to the road. For the next 2 hours the road was fantastic and it felt like I was taking a lazy man’s jog.
We soon got more and more in the winding mountains and the view was quite spectacular (see photo). Hardly much traffic and the road condition was good except around most turns where the water was over the road and it was just rubble underneath. The worst was at a waterfall crossing where the road was being repaired and the water over the very loose rocks was fairly deep (see photo).
By 4 pm or so, we stopped by a small roadside chai place and relaxed with the locals (see photo). we were only 50 km from Almora, but it was going to take us another 3 hours to cover that distance. The winding roads began to look identical as we kept riding making me feel like i was in a loop. The last hour of the ride, was in the dark, and we had to slow down the pace even more.
By 7:30 pm or so, we reached the hill side town of Almora, where we halted for the night.

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Map of the trip so far

Rahul — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 16:26:52 +0000

We now have a map showing Bari, Dinesh and Navroz’s trip from Bangalore to Rishikesh. The route shown is close but not exact- if you’re interested in seeing detailed regional and highway maps, go to Maps of India. Look for the clickable highway maps.

More links in the “Maps/About” Category.

Update: The map shows the ride starting in Bangalore and then heading northwest to Goa which is not correct. Rather, the route was directly west from Bangalore to Mangalore and then up the coast to Goa.

Chandigarh-Rishikesh

Bari — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:30:34 +0000

Saturday, October 22.
Lovely to wake up in a clean bed and have cel phone connection to talk and for internet. Joe was picking up a couple of new tyres for the bikes for down the road and he also needed to open my bike up to check the fuel pipe. Dinesh’s bike was overheating a bit last evening as we entered Chandigarh. So Joe went to work on them, while Amit the still phototographer and I were updating images and text on to our websites.
By the time the bikes were done, had breakfast and ready to roll it was already 10:30 or 11 am. (see photo). Real slow start. The day was sunny and warm and we headed towards Dehra Dun, about 200 km away. Our night halt was scheduled to be New Tehri, which is another 100 km from Dehra Dun.
The roads were lovely and soon we started to get in to the hills, were very different from the himalayas. These were very small and dense with forest. We only went up to around 2000 ft and it kind of plateaued. Going through the villages along the road side and seeing the relaxed pace of life was very nice. Again, lots of school children in uniforms walking to school was a common sight.
The trees were lined all along the road side forming a canopy over us. At about 50 km from Dehra Dun, Dinesh’s front tyre got a puncture and went flat. (see photo). We were so thankful that something like yhis did not occur when we were in the Himalayas. By the time mighty Joe fixed it and we got rolling it was another 1 1/2 hour delay.
We then got to Dehra Dun and had lunch around 4 pm. We then decided to break our journey at Rishikesh which was 40 km away. We wanted to avoid having to ride at night.
The traffic through the town was heavy and crazy. When we got out of the towns, the road was through the forest and if not for the blaring headlights coming at us in high beam, was fine.
We reached Rishikesh by 6 pm and settled in to a hotel Natraj. We sat down to discuss tomorrow’s ride plan and figure we will have to make up the lost time from today. I am happy to get this time to post this blog and be current.
Cheers and Good night!

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Manali-Chandigarh

Bari — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 14:47:34 +0000

October 20th. what a refreshing break it was to be in Manali. (see photo). Much warmer during the day around 20 c. Manali is a small tourist destination at the foothills of the himalayas. Very picturesque. Noticed a lot of couples who seem to be on their honeymoon. Also lots of foreigners ( non Indian) on Enfield Bullet motorcycles. Meanwhile Joe serviced all our bikes, from all the beatings they had endured in the hills. Thanks Joe! Most Crucial member of the team.
It was so refreshing to take hot showers and sleep with a heater although it wasn’t absolutely necessary. We celebrated the night before with a bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label whiskey , i was carrying, waiting for an opportune moment. We all felt, we need to when we reached Manali. It did say “green Manali, clean Manali”
Our video photographer, Rakesh took a hiatus from our adventure to get back to Pune to finish some work on his film. He will re join us in a week. We hope! We saw him off and generally walked around and I was busy updating the website. since I still didn’t have any Reliance wireless connection, I couldn’t upload. so I had to wait till I got to Chandigarh, Punjab.
Oct. 21. We had breakfast at the hotel and set off around 8:30 am. It was still quite cold at about 15 c when we set off. Before we left the town, my bike began to stall and Joe did a quick fix and got me going again. The fuel pipe was bent and he opted to take care of it later. The roads were quite nice though we encountered more traffic in 4 km than we did in the previous 4 days. We set off towards Kullu (see photo), the capital of Himachal Pradesh, which wasn’t very far.
Soon as we came down the hills more, it got warmer and we soon took off our thermals and the warm jackets and slipped in to something more airy and light. The mountains were very green and at the bottom was a stream that was quite full and flowing next to the road with a constant hum. at some points the water was so still, it looked like a sheet of glass. The mountain side was very lush with plant life including date palm. It was quite a sight (see photo) with waterfalls leading from the mountains in to the stream. The waterfalls we saw in the higher mountains were frozen solid.
We also saw lots of school going kids all immaculately dressed and walking along the roads to their schools. We saw some women carrying bundles of grass ( see photo) that they pick from the steep hill sides. Joe actually went up to them and tried to carry a bundle on his head and couldn’t even pick it up on to his head. They were so heavy.
At around 2pm we stopped by a small restaurant by the stream and had a relaxing lunch. The winding road was perfect for any motorcycle enthusiast. Freshly paved and with enough turns and twists to keep us wanting more.
We then entered Punjab state (see photo) again. Chandigarh was a planned city designed by Le Courbousier. and it is all on a grid with wide streets and real straight roads. By the time we reachd the city limits it was 6 pm. But then it took us an hour and half to get to our hotel. There was a lot of traffic and that is all we could see in that light. Missing the Himalayan air already. We reached hotel North Park with the help of a hired local. The hotel was very nice, spacious and clean. Already we were wishing to stay back and really enjoy it. But we are already behind schedule by a day and have to move on.
Finally had internet connection! Got to post some of the blogs, that i had written earlier.

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Leh-Manali

Bari — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 04:58:58 +0000

We woke up cold and wanted to get going before it got late. We were told to cover about 240km to a place called Sanchur where we could break if the skies were clear. If overcast, we were advised by the army personnel to carry on through the next pass or we would be blocked off from going to Manali, our destination.
After we left Leh around 8 am we soon were climbing the second highest motorable road in the world, Tanglangla pass at 17,582 feet above sea level. Once again, the views were spectacular. The air was fresh, except when the lorries passed us. (smoke is much worse than on the freeways of L.A.). When we left Leh which is at about 10,000 ft, the temp. was around 6C. Soon the temp. was dropping and the wind chill was numbing my fingers and toes(even with 2 sets of warm socks and gloves).
After the Tanglangla pass we came down to about 14,000 ft where the landscape was flat. The roads were pretty bad for most part. Akso, since it was so cold, my camera wasn’t working. The battery was froze. Ocassionally, Joe’s camera would work from being in the jeep and he managed to get a couple of pics.
We rode for about 50 km in the high plains and then stopped by a tiny army camp area in a place called Ping to have some potato parathas. There were some workers eating there who were absolutely covered head to toe in tar. Except for their eyes and the inside of their mouth, they were completly black. Navroze talked to them a little and learned that they were hired to work on the roads there with hardly any protection and they barely made enough money to even send back home. It was a very brutal job. Even with all my gear, i was cold and these chaps were mostly with one pair of tattered socks and slippers. and a makeshift jacket.
We soon reached Sanchur at about 4 pm. It was not a village by any means. There was an army camp and a few tents along the road side, making up this village. By the end of this month, the roads are closed off for the next few months of winter. Everyone felt bitterly cold and the sun was behind the mountains, making it colder by the minute. We were advised by a local chap in the tent to break there for the night and not proceed any further till day break next day. Somehow, we felt it would be the right thing to do, as we were feeling cold and a little sick (nauscea) from lack of oxygen. We were offered a tent with blankets to get under and we decided to camp there. It was so cold, we didn’t even get out of our riding jackets or anything. ( see photo).We didn’t feel like eating much either, since then we would have to deal with the consequences of having to go outside for relieving ourselves. We tried to go to sleep hoping it would day break soon. We were having a hard time breathing and trying to be comfortable in the tent. Kept waking up often and asked if anyone could see the sun yet. It was only 1:30 am . This went till till about 7 am, when we opted to get up and get some chai. It was -6 C in the tent. At -4 C water freezes. So any water we had was frozen solid.
The bikes and the jeeps were frozen and hot water had to be poured over the engines to help start them. on the jeep engine, the hot water when poured, froze immediately. So we decided that the 3 bikers would carry on slowly and that the jeeps would catch up after they started.
The roads were extremely bad from there and the water that were on the roads were now ice. Thee landscape was barren and cold. (see photo). Our fingers and toes were frozen and when we rode in the sun, it was around -6 c as opposed to in the shade where it was around -10 c. My camera wasn’t working and it was quite a struggle to take a pee break even. Hats off to those living in the cold. Glad i am from South India and even in U.S., living in warm L.A.
We covered 80 km in 4 hours and we still had about 140 km more. So we were determined to keep going however slowly, without many breaks. There wasn’t even a place for chai, anyways.
When we came down to about 6000 ft, it felt so warm and we stopped at a village called Darchu for some eggs and chai. It was refreshing to see trees and were so relieved to be out of the bitter cold.
From there we srossed in to the next state, Himachal Pradesh. The views were still spectacular, very green and the mountains were awesome. Felt like I was in switzerland.
We still had one more major mountain pass to go through before we got down to Manali. The Rohtand pass was at about 13,000+ ft and by the time we got up there andwere winding down, the sun was already setting and was getting dark and cold ( see photo). We are 3 little dots going down the mountain in the photo.
By the time we reached Manali, it was 7:30 pm and we were so relieved. Having stayed with the army for the past couple of days, with no heat and barely some hot water, we decided to get us a hotel instead. also, we opted to take another rest day there to soothe our bodies and mind. The past few days in the himalayas were absolutely the most beautiful and the toughest ride, so far. It literally pushed us to our edge and made us face what our capabilities were.
I feel humbled and proud to have gone through the great Himalayan mountains.

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Kargil-Leh

Bari — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:46:29 +0000

We all woke up really cold and Col. Rakesh Mishra had asked us to stay for breakfast before we left. we figured it might be best, as the distance to covered today was less than yesterday. But the breakfast took a while to be set up and i was getting anxious to roll. By the time we left the camp, it was about 9 am.
The landscape between this sector, was the most amazing I had ever seen. Every turn, the landscape would change so drastically and the scale was so magnificent. We stopped quite a bit to take pics. and to just take it all in.
There were some mountain passes that were just solid rock going up thousands of feet an at the next turn, it would be sand dunes and the colors were so vivid and crisp.
We went through some villages that were quite quaint. (se photo).They were lined with the chinar trees which were blowing in the wind. The golden colored leaves would drop on us as we rode through like we were being welcomed with a shower of petals.
We reached Leh by 6:30 pm and the camp was another 15 km away from town. we made it out there and checked in to the 2 rooms which we 8 people were sharing. Boy, it was cold and they would bring by 2 buckets of hot water to wash with.
We were resting here for another day. In the morning, Rakesh, Joe and I opted to take a ride in the jeep to Kardungla pass, 56 km away. (see photo). At a altitide of 18,380 feet, this is the highest motorable road in the world. It was so bloody cold -6 C and the BRO guy up there who happened to be from around Hyderabad, took us in to his cabin and offered us hot soup and let us warm our hands and feet back to some kind of sensation. It was fairly difficult to breathe up there as well and was beginning to make us feel nausceous.
We got back down and met up wit the others and had lunch at a place called Amdo Cafe and had some authentic food of Ladakh. We then strolled around the couple of streets hat formed the main area of town.
Later that evening Dinesh, Navroze and I went and met with Brigadier Naik who was taking care of us. We had a very nice conversation with him and he gave us vital information of the road ahead.
It was full moon that night and the light on the mountain peaks was serene. We got in to our sleeping bags and called it a night. The toughest part of the journey was to come next.

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Srinagar-Kargil

Bari — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:17:39 +0000

How I wish you could see what we see! It’s really hard to describe how insanely beautiful this part of the country is.
After we set off from Srinagar, it took us a while to get out of the town, trying to find the way through the narrow gullies.
Once we started to climb, (see photo), it got us all excited. The air was fresh except when the lorries would pass us.
Soon, we were going up fairly narrow road which was, well not really there anymore.( see photo). Due to the heavy snowfalls, the roads take a beating when the snow is being cleared. So the dirt roads are single lane road with rocky cliffs on one side going up hundreds of feet and on the other side, a sheer drop of a couple thousand feet.
So the ride was rather slow and cautious. We got through the zozila pass which is at 11640 feet.(see photo).
That seemed quite high, but that was just the beginning.
We reached a small town called Drass for some chai and some bread which I thought was outstanding. I bought a couple of loafs for 2 kids who were standing outside watching us eat and they left happy. Then I saw an old man standing outside and gave him a loaf as well. He was smiling as was the others working inside. Then the old man walks inside and sits behind the cash desk and it was brought to m y attention that he was the owner. Go figure!
We pushed on to Kargil and got there just as it was getting dark. We then had to wait a while for a guy from the BRO to take us another 30 km to the army camp for us to sleep. It was dark by now and we didn’t want to ride at night. But we didn’t have a choice. Luckily, the roads were good from there and there was no traffic at that hour on those roads. The camp was in the middle of nowhere and it was already very cold at about 6C. We had covered 240 km in about 14 hours. Tomorrow, another 220 km to Leh.

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Jammu-Srinagar

Bari — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:15:42 +0000

We got started fairly early to head towards Srinagar. we had stayed the previous night a few km before Jammu. We passed through the city, which was quite polluted by the lorries spewing the diesel fumes.
Once we got past the town, we started to ascend the hills. Everything was green and beautiful. We were all fairly excited about getting in to the mountains.
By 10 am we reached a town called Udhampur, where we were treated to an amazing brunch by Gen. Sharma and his family. (see photo) Gen. sharma is Dinesh’s brother in- law’s , in -laws. We engaged in some interesting conversation about the area and what to expect along the way. Coincidentally it was Gen, Sharma’s sister in-law, Ranjana’s birthday that day and we shared some fantastic cake. We were stuffed by their generous hospitality, which got us through the rest of the day without many breaks.
The Jammu to Srinagar highway was affected by the recent earthquake (Oct.8th) and there had been quite a few landslides. The BRO (border roads organization0 had done a tremendous job of clearing the roads within a few hours. (see photo).
The roads were winding up in to the mountains and the views were already breath taking. We passed by some local nomadic families who were migrating south for the winter with all their belongings on their ponies. (see photo) Jammu is the winter capital and Srinagar is the summer capital of J&K state. There were also lots of monkeys along the roadside. Didn’t get any pictures, sadly.
By sunset we were descending in to the Kashmir Valley from where the roads were on flat land. We had tea with
Major Manish Kumar and then we carried on to Srinagar, which was still 50 km away. The sky was overcast and we opted to put on our rain gear just in case. The sun set was beautiful. It looked as though a little piece of the clouds were pulled apart just in the west, so we could see the sun setting. The chinar trees were a lovely green with most of the leaves turning golden yellow. I had vivid memories of these trees since my first visit. Sure enough, it started to rain for about 20 km or so making the ride miserable. It was very hard to see the road up ahead with the rain and the on coming traffic’s blaring headlights, which are always on high beam. Just before we got to Srinagar, it had stopped raining and it felt much nicer to finish that way. We stayed with the BRO just on the outskirts of the city. It was the coldest so far at about 10 C.
We had a scheduled rest day there and took it easy in the morning. We went in to the town for some authentic Kashmiri food and then went to the Dal Lake (see photo). Being in Srinagar had brought back a lot memories of being there with my family 25 years back. We took a casual boat ride for an hour or so and headed back to the camp. There we met with Col. H.R.K. Babu for some lively conversation. Very nice and passionate man. We had dinner and got our winter gear ready for the next day’s ride.

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Amritsar-Jammu

Bari — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 15:48:26 +0000

Got up to clear skies and were off by 7 am. The roads out of Amritsar were very good. The previous night’s rain was evident by the puddles on the roads. The smell of the rain soaked soil and the farms next to the highway reminded me of my childhood in my native village, Vakadu.
We stopped off for petrol which always takes us about a half hour. (see pphoto). Lots of locals come around and ask if we are promoting these bikes or shooting a advertisement or something. Most asked questions are how much they cost and what the average is? (mileage). Navroze gets about 50+ km / litre. Our imported bikes get 20 km / litre. One guy had commented with a smile that we must be just going from one gas station to the next.
We carried on towards Pathankot a small town at the end of the punjab state line from where we had our first view of the Himalayan mountain range. The terrain was still flat and we soon crossed in to Jammu & Kashmir state. We were actually doing real well with time and stopped off at a small dhaba (see photos) and had lunch. Soon we reached the outskirts of Jammu where the BRO (border roads organisation) were hosting us. They accomodated us at a nearby guesthouse as they did not have ant available rooms.
Joe changed the tires on Navroze and Dinesh’s bikes ( see photo). The threading on the tires had worn down quite a bit and needed to be changed before we got to the himalayas.

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Amritsar

Bari — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:48:23 +0000

Our day off in Amritsar was refreshing. After we leisurely woke up and did our laundry, posted my blog, it was already late afternoon. We decided to go to the Wagah border which we were told was about 15 km away. So we carted ourselves off in 2 autos. instead it was almost 30 km away and got us there just before sunset. (see photo). This is the border check post between India and Pakistan. There is a ceremony every evening as the nations’ flags are brought down. It has become quite a spectator sport and permanent bleachers have been set up on both sides. It was packed with cheering crowds and at the end, the gates are closed for the night.
We then headed back in to town and a few of us decided to go to the golden temple, the holy shrine for the sikh faith. I had previously seen pictures of the place and was aware of he gun battle that took place there between the Indian army and the Akali dals(?) in 1984. The temple is located in the middle of the city and we got there just around 7pm. We had to take off our shoes and cleanse our feet in a shallow foot bath. Had a glass of their drinking water which was so much cleaner and tastier than any bottled water and then went in to the inner courtyard area (see photo). There in the middle of the lake was the glistening temple in pure gold. There were a lot of people just sitting and lying around the water and listening to the lovely singing of the bhajans from the inner temple. There was a lovely calmness in the entire place. The air was cool and breezy. As we walked around the outer courtyard making our way to the inner temple, it started to rain. It lasted until we were done and left the temple. Very cleansing. The city felt very different getting back to he hotel as all the dust had settled. It rained more later n that night giving me a little concern for the ride next day. Had a nice hot shower and very good tandoori food, a speciality of Punjab, and got to bed by 1 am.

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Bikaner-Amritsar

Bari — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 07:25:18 +0000

Good morning from Amritsar, Punjab!
We did a nice long rode from Bikaner yesterday, covering about 520 km. Left at 7am from Bikaner (see photo). The hotel looks more grand and regal on the outside than it does in side. Trust me!
We rode out for about 2 hours covering 160 km before we stopped for breakfast at a road side cafe, Hans Hotel (see photo). Ordered the traditional Rajasthani breakfast (see photo) consisting of aalu paratha (roti bread stuffed with ptato, onion and chilli) and plain yogurt accompanied by fresh cut onions and chillis. The parathas were made from scratch right there and then and were the best I have ever had! Very fulfilling breakfast and had a chai before we hit the road again.
The roads in Rajasthan were fabulous and we could notice the change in the landscape as we were leaving the state. More trees and the traffic was increasing. Lots of lorries (trucks) and tractors filled with hay ( see photo) resembling the afro ken toys. They look very comical like they have this wild wind blown wig on.
By early afternoon we reached Punjab state. Quite a luscious state. The roads were more beaten but the eucalyptus trees lining the roads and the cotton, sugar cane and paddy fields were on both sides of the road was a beautiful sight from the bikes. (see photo). All the canals and river were brimming with water and the trees would canopy the road, giving some cool breeze as we rode. When we stopped for a quick lunch around 3 pm we realized it was still quite warm outside. Had a quick lunch and were out on the road in an hour. Our fastest lunch break! We wanted to arrive in Amritsar before it got quite dark. We reached the city limits by 7 pm and hired an auto to lead the way to our hotel, Royal Castle (again, only for namesake!)
The harvesting season (for the rice and wheat ) must have just finished. The remaining stacks still in the ground are set on fire, which helps the next seeding. It’s just that, everyone does it at the same time. Obviously! Needless to say, the white smoke was everywhere and particularly as we were entering the city limits and the sun was setting, the visibility is very smoggy like. The sunset however looked spectacular.
We checked in to our hotel and chilled for the night. Felt too tired to post a blog last night.
This morning we all did our laundry (ourselves). Navroze and Joe went to the golden temple in the morning and then went to the airport to pick up a new member of our crew, Sanjeeev Shah. He wasn’t able to join us any earlier due to prior engagements. He is an established film maker from India and we are all excited about him joining us from here.
We are planning on going to the golden temple later this afternoon and then to the India-Pakistan border, which is less than 30 km.

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Jaisalmer-Bikaner

Bari — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:10:20 +0000

Ahh…To be connected again!
We went by the fort last evening as the sun set and walked around a bit. The haunting sounds from a folk musician captivated our attention (see photo). He had such a sweet face and the music that he produced from that instrument was so damn good. He was selling a cd of his music, which I eagerly picked up.
Today was an easy ride. Left Jaisalmer by 7 am fueled up, got one last glance at the fort city (see photo) and hit the national highway 15. The highway in Rajasthan is fantastic. Simple 2 lane road with hardly any pot holes and minimum traffic. Needless to say, we lost sight of Dinesh for quite a few stretches. Go Go speedracer!
We stopped after 130 km at a small desert town called Pokhran. There is a lot of military activity around this area. This place got notoriety a few years back for being the site for the nuclear bomb tests, which got the attention of the rest of the world.
So we stopped for breakfast at a modest looking hotel with restaurant. Inside they had quite a large gift shop with lots of local knick knacks and a fairly big selection of books. To my surprise, nestled in between books of Kama Sutra and the royal Indian monarchs and their jewelry was my book, “India Bazaar” .(see photo). Here in Pokhran, middle of rhe thar desert!
Navroze purchase a copy of it and managed to get an author’s discount. It was quite an unexpected little thrill, because we were just talking about the book the night before at dinner.
The ride was cool until about 10 am or so, after that it was very hot, around 38 degrees C. We had another 200 km to go and were determined to just ride on through to Bikaner. We stopped occasionally (see photo) to have some water and carry on. Navroze was lucky to get the shade before I got there. There were some stretches of the highway where we were all going at different speeds and i found myself completely isolated with not a soul in sight and absolutely no traffic ahead or behind. It was quite meditative as many thoughts drift through your mind.
We reached Bikaner city by 2pm and checked in to Basant Vihar Palace hotel. It’s a palace only in name. there seems to be lots of “palace” hotel/ motel??? (see photo)
I finally have wireless connection here and so managed to post my 2 earlier blogs.
Tomorrow we have a long day ahead. We are riding all the way to Amritsar, Punjab about 500 km.
Good Night!!

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Kharaghoda-Jaisalmer

Bari — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 11:50:32 +0000

After a rejuvenating break in Kharaghoda, we decided to make a slight adjustment to our itinerary. Our original plan was to ride about 350 km to Barmer in Rajasthan state and halt for the night there. We opted to carry on instead to Jaisalmer which is another 160 km. The roads were excellent and having left with pre packed breakfast from Mr. jahangir Vakils’s place in Kharaghoda, we covered a lot of distance before stopping for chai.
We got to Barmer by around 2 pm where we had lunch. It’s a very small desert town and we were all glad to have made the decision to carry on. The landscape was changing as we headed more north. Lots of sand dunes with very dry vegetation and the sun was very intense. Lots of wild animals such as peacocks, antelope, langur monkeys were roaming freely close to the highway. Stray dogs are plentiful here. Besides the cows and buffaloes, this is the camel country (see photo).
We managed to complete the 520 km ride in 12 hours from when we left, arriving in to Jaisalmer at sun down. It was a beautiful calming sight. we were booked in to a hotel just outside of the fort city, which was quite comfortable.
We were going to be staying here for an extra day, because we made it here a day sooner.
Next morning Navroze, Joe and I went and walked inside the 12th century fort. All the previous forts, i have ever visited were meant for the royal family primarily. Here, the entire city is perched on a hill with the fort walls surrounding them. Very compact streets with gorgeous havelis and carved decorative details in stone. Sadly, it’s a hot tourist destination and everything is catered towards that.
We walked around for a while, took some pictures (see photos), had some breakfast and were heading back to the hotel as it was already beginning to get hot. We ran into our cameraman, Rakesh who had been in there since 5 am. He was on top of the fort filming a folk singer when he said he felt an earthquake. We hadn’t felt anything. When we got back to the hotel, we checked the news and sure enough, there was a 7.8 earthquake in Northeastern Pakistan and Kashmir felt a 6.8 magnitude shock.
This is a concern for us because we are to be in Jammu& Kashmir in 4 days or so. One of the main highways leading to Srinagar is closed temporarily due to landslides. But by the time we get there, we are hoping for road clearance. No worries yet! We are having the assistance of the border security forces (BSF) who when contacted, told us that it would be fine.
Unfortunately, here in Jaisalmer, there is no Reliance wireless network at all. That is the celphone i use to connect my laptop to the internet. So I cannot post these blogs till we reach our next destination, tomorrow, Bikaner.

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Bhuj-Kharaghoda

Bari — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 10:12:38 +0000

Got out off Bhuj by 7:30am before the heat and traffic kicked in. Had some sandwiches packed at the hotel, so we could save some time. Roads were good and we were out of the town fairly soon. Actually rode out for about 75 km before we stopped for chai,
Soon the sun was up and we could feel the heat. The last couple of days, we were feeling the effects of it. Kept ourselves hydrated and the roads were very good in some stretches. one of the nicest roads we were on was not even on the map.
by about 4 pm we reached Kharaghoda(salty pits), a tiny village town on the edge od the little desert of Kutch. This area is also on the border of the wild ass sanctuary. We saw a couple of them on our ride. On reaching, the village we had a celebratory welcome by our host, Mr. Jehangir Vakil, Navroze’s cousin. (see photo).
Mr. Jehangir, runs a family business here called Pioneer Magnesia works. It;s a beautiful oasis in this desert. It’s lovely to take a day’s rest here. Dinesh, Naveen, Rakesh and jehangir have taken a shikar in to the woods in the late afternoon, while Amit, Navroze and i took a walk in to the village and checked out the salt mounds (see photos). The kids were so joyful when they saw their pictures and followed us through everywhere, Meanwhile, Joe who had earlier cleaned all our bikes, found a baby cobra snake in the dining room and carefully picked it up with a stick and took it outside. Hopefully there aren’t any more around tonight. Another baby cobra was just spotted in the kitchn as I am writing this. No worries! Everyone here is quite cool and nonchalant about it.
Last night when we arrived here, some Jehangir’s friends came by for a bbq dinner and they shared with us some very exciting stories about survival in the desert and adventures on their vintage Indian Chief, vincent, Matchless and Triumph motorcycles. One of them is of the royal family in this area.
Today we had a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage and for lunch were treated to my first authentic Parsi lunch. Tonight, we are having a muslim dinner. looks like I am going going to gain weight than lose a few pounds.
We washed our clothes today and are setting off to Rajasthan state in the morning. We are to have a night halt in a town called Barmer, but might try to make it on to Jaisalmer for the night halt. It would be close to 500 km and the heat is something to be taken consideration of.
I have no internet connection here and so have to post this blog when we reach Jaisalmer.

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Mandvi- Bhuj

Bari — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 16:49:55 +0000

Got up by 6 am and got rolling by 7:30 am. Just can’t seem to leave any sooner. It was cool when we left, although, it was already beginning to feel humid. The roads were very good and hardly any traffic. We were riding through the desert of Kutch ( see photo) which was very arid and dry. Hardly any people around and absolutely no tree shade to pull under when we stopped for a break.
Got to Koteshwar, the western most tip of India. (see photo). Nice moment. It was bloody hot and we couldn’t wait to get moving. at least then, the wind kept us slightly cool. 35km from there was Lakhpat, one of the most successful trading ports during the 17th century. Bhuj is another 100 km from there and we were getting hungry and tired from the heat. It was already 2 pm.
Navroze picked up a local guy who needed a ride to the next town and offered to show us a place to eat. He asked Navroze what we were doing and when he got the low down, mentioned to him that either we had to be rich or really mad.
Another interesting anecdote that has occurred a couple of times. when we park, some onlookers would ask us how much the imported bikes were. When we quoted them a price, they would tell us how foolish we were. For the price of one bike, we could have gotten an air conditioned car and all 3 of us could have gone comfortably on it.
The road conditions today were good for most of the day. good roads and easy traffic. Then we had the last 100 km to Bhuj which we all ranked as the most trying and difficult ride so far. There was a pilgrimage procession along the road heading to a temple that was 100km long. (see photo).It was longer, we just stopped off at Bhuj, our night halt. That absolutely exhausted us all. The heat, the lorries driving completely in our direction to avoid the pedestrians. A lot of the pilgrims have been walking for days, for as much as 400 km , some barefoot, some blind folded holding on to others. They were all very joyful shouting out praises to the goddess.
It was just very strange starting out the day cool and on deserted roads with hardly any people around. Then we end the day hot and dusty and people for hundreds of kms.
Glad to have reached our hotel Lake View in Bhuj. we all feel exhausted but in good spirits.
Tomorrow, we head to Kharagoda, where we have another day’s rest. So looking forward to it.
Thanks again to all for checking the blog and posting your comments.

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Jamnagar-Mandvi

Bari — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:57:11 +0000

Hi Folks,

Back again! sorry, didn’t have any wireless connection yesterday in Mandvi, hence couldn’t blog.
We have covered quite a bit of ground in the last 2 days. We left Jamnagar quite early (by our standards) around
7:30 am. The road out of town was quite bad. Just as bad as it was coming into town the day before. We then went on to the rural roads which run parallel to the coast. After only 25 km we stopped for breakfast at a tiny shop. Got talking to Navroze about some of the documentary films he had worked on and lost track of time. can’t wait to see some of the films when we get back to Bangalore.
Finally we got back on the bikes after 1 1/2 hours break. The roads through the rural areas there were quite deplorable and we barely covered much ground for the next hour or two. When the roads got better, we managed to get moving a little faster. y the time we stopped for lunch in an industrial town called Gandhidum, it was already 1:30 pm and we had only covered about 150 km. As we headed West the annular solar eclipse was in effect, but we didn’t see it. (not that we were looking into the sun or anything). We wanted to make it to Mandvi before dark, because we heard the hotel we were staying was right on the beach in luxury tents. (see photo). On route, we passed quite a few cattle herds. Passing through them, (see photo), was a fun experience. They were so gentle. so well behaved and listening to the whistle of the herdsman.
In Mandvi, we reached by around 6 pm and checked into or tents, and walked over to the sea and watched the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful. Serene waters, shallow and quiet. Naveen got out his fishing rod and went to the shore for his first sea fishing. He actually caught one fish. (see photo). His excitement was captured on camera and will be entertaining for all to watch at a later day. Rakesh and I went swimming in the sea. The water was warm and quite clean. Not a soul around. The property belongs to the king, who has his palace right there, From the water, the view of the coast ha the palace on the west end and a few wind mill generators, like the ones on the 5 fwy on way to San Francisco.
We had dinner on the beach. The temperature had dropped to 23 degrees C (from 36 C during the day) Hit the sack around midnight.

Technorati Tags: India Bike Trip, Joe’s photos

Chorwad to Jamnagar

Bari — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 18:07:49 +0000

Today was a landmark day. We set off from Chorwad by 7 am. we rode for about 30 km and stopped for a traditional Gujarat breakfast. ( see photo) It was unexpectedly delicious. We saw these 2 guys walking on the road in their traditional white clothes dyed in pink carrying a bunch of peacock feathers. It was quite a visual and we asked their permission to photograph them. Unfortunately, they were doing a religious journey and wished not to be photographed.
We headed out towards Porbandar. On the way we stopped by the ocean and tried to get our bikes on the beach.(see photo) The sand was not as hard as we thought and so we couldn’t really ride on the beach.
It was very special going to Porbandar today. It’s the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi. Coincidentally, today is his birthday. So we stopped by his house and took some pictures (se photo).
The cows and bulls here are absolutely magnificent. They have such beautiful faces and their horns are like I have never seen before. Solid with sensual curve to he horns.
Off to Dwaraka, the place where “Krishna” grew up. small town with most people making pilgrimage to the temple
( see photo). We had some lunch there and decided that we need to go the extra 33 km to Okha. It’s at the Northwestern point of India with a coast line. (see photo).
Then we headed back to Dwaraka filled up gas and rode out to Jamnagar. The first 115 km were really good with newly surfaced roads and sparce traffic. but that sure made up for the last 25km. It was a deja vu from Mumbai suburbs ride.Badly thrashed roads looking like swiss cheese and the dust being kicked up by the trucks made the visibility quite poor in the failing light. It probably took us more than an hour to do the last leg of the journey. Finally found the hotel and ready to hit the sack. clocked in about 415 km today.
Tomorrow is another long day to Mandvi. I hear the accommodations there are to look forward to.
Good night!

Technorati Tags: India Bike Trip

Bhavnagar to Chorwad

Bari — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 15:57:59 +0000

October 1st, 2005. Good day today! got up by 5am and tried to get riding by 6:30am . Off by an hour, we were out the gates of the palace hotel by 7:30am. Got some chai on the way a couple of hours later and had some sandwiches we had packed up from the hotel. We made it to Diu, (an union territory, which was under the Portugese rule till the 60’s along with Goa and Daman. ) for lunch. (see photo. from left: Naveen, Amit, Navroze, Bari, Joe, Rakesh, Dinesh).
After a 2 hour lunch we hit the road and very soon got lost in a village with roads that are well… (see photo). We pulled over and Navroze asked an elderly man dressed in traditional garb and a massive head dress and topped and RayBan sunglasses for directions. He looked at us and told Navroze that we seemed hopelessly lost and that we should come to his place have some roti (bread) , milk and some rest and then he’ll direct us to where we need to go.
The people have been very kind and friendly.
We got back on the road towards the next town Viravar where we were waiting for the jeeps to catch up. (See photo of 3 asses). We weren’t too far from our final stop for the night, Charwad. We got here by sunset and it is quite lovely. We are staying in a couple of cottages on the beach right next to the ruins of the old palace (see photo).
The weather during the day is quite hot and humid and now in the evening, the ocean breeze is cooling us off.
Soon we shall have dinner and hit the sack soon for another early rise tomorrow. Looking forward.

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Goa to Bhavnagar

Bari — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:13:02 +0000

Finally here In Bhavnagar, Gujarat, for a day of much needed rest. Let me update on how we made it here. Unfortunately, there has been no internet connection available in the last 2 places and so I could not post. Let’s go back to where I last posted.

We left Panjim after a hearty breakfast at around 9am. Joe had already changed the oil in all the bikes. The ride to Ratnagiri was absolutely breathtaking. The roads were fabulous. Hardly much traffic on the roads and the landscape was lush forests on the western ghats. We ket stopping to take pics and just take it in. The air was clean with no hint of pollution. There was a calmness all around, even the tiny villages and towns that we went through were very mellow. No sense of urgency. We stopped every 100 km for a chai break (see photo).

We soon got in to the next state, Maharashtra. We even had some rain for about half hour. Very refreshing. The landscape continued as before until we reached Ratnagiri by around 4:30 pm. It was nice to have a late lunch and still have daylight to go by the harbor for a while. One of our crew members, Naveen Bopiah is an avid fisherman who was keen on trying his luck. Didn’t have any though! Sat on the lava rocks and watched the sun go down. Pretty sight and calming. Was stinking of fish. Lots of fish being salted and dried on the roads.I guess one has to get accustomed to it to live right around there. Got back to the hotel Alankar, which was right on the highway about 10 km from the town. Bummer, no cel phone reception there. so no blog. We filled up petrol that night to save on time to leave early next day. The next day was to ride to Daman, about 450 km from Ratnagiri, in the state of Gujarat. Navroze had been insisting that it was going to be a hard ride and we need to get going.

Hard as we tried, we couldn’t get started till about 8:30 am. We made it down the ghats on to flat lands and had lunch and continued on. The weather was getting hotter and humid. The landscape was getting more urban and not really that interesting. We soon got to the expressway to bypass Mumbai and stopped to wait for the 2 jeeps to catch up. we waited and waited for 2 hours (see photo) trying to figure where One of the jeeps had ended up. Finally we got going at the peak rush hour going through Thane on the outskirts of Mumbai. Because of the unbelievable rains they had recently, the roads were beyond description. Hard to even explain the traffic and road conditions without you feeling that i am exaggerating. It was the hardest 2 hours of riding that i ever hope to do in my life. We covered 35km in those 2 hours. The roads were completely stripped of any asphalt and the traffic was painfully slow and absolutely congested. I felt bad for the jeeps who to keep up with us. The bikes could at least weave through the cracks. Boy! splitting lanes in U.S. traffic at its worst doesn’t even come close to this. Finally when we filled up petrol and got out of the city limits and into Gujarat state line, The highway was incredible. 2-3 lanes each way with a divider. No pot holes and we made it to the hotel in Daman just after midnight. Daman was under the Portugese colony along with Goa and Diu, till the 60’s. Our hotel was right on the beach and the tide was low in the morning when we got out to have breakfast.

We had another long day ahead, about 450km, but getting started was once again a challenge. so by the time we got out, it was already 10am. We went about 25km when we relised that Navroze had lost his cel phone. We called on that number and it was back at the hotel Miramar in Daman. Must have fallen off when he got on his bike. So we waited around at another Chai shop while Navroze rode back to pick up his phone. When we re grouped and started, it was already noon. Had no idea how much we had to cover and the roads were quite bad. When we got to the Narmada river bridge outside of Baruch, we stopped to take some pictures. Navroze pointed to another bridge further down the river which his great grandfather was contracted to build. Hence his family name, Contractor. That was very cool and felt connected. We had lunch outside of Baruch around 4:30pmand filled up the bikes again. Navroze’s bike is giving him incredible mileage of 50-55 km / litre. Dinesh’s and mine are giving about 20 km / litre. So we need to find the right gas station more than Navroze. The bikes have been handling the roads very well. The suspension on them has been very kind to our bodies. Other than the sore bum, I am fine.

It was very late by the time we got to Bhavnagar. Let’s just say, VERY late. We never intended to be riding at night and tomorrow are planning on leaving by around 6:30 am to make it to Chorwad, our next stop.
Here at Bhavnagar, we are the guests of the Maharaja of Bhavnagar and are staying at his Palace hotel It’s about 200 years old and he was the first king to give up his palace to the people after the independence. This is our much needed rest day. Joe, took all the bikes apart and serviced them. by the way, it is Joe’s birthday today! Have to have a drink in his honor (Gujarat is a dry state. Prohibition!) There is a pool here that I want to go take a dip in and rest early tonight. There are a lot of peacocks here, at the palace grounds. Have never written this much before. I’ll keep the next post more day to day. Hopefully there is internet signal.

Amit is our still photographer who has been taking some fantastic pictures. He is working on posting them on our official website.
Rakesh has been the filming the ride in dv and when completed will give you the view of our experience, which we have been privileged to, for the past few days.
Naveen has been the guy driving one of the jeeps and co ordinating and planning the logistics of the trip, along with Navroze, who is the mastermind.
Ramesh is the other driver for the second jeep.
I’ll get a photo of everyone together and post it soon.

We have a had a hitch in posting photos and the travellogue on our official website for the past few days. We have finally sorted it out. Check out more photos and thoughts from the other riders and such at Bharat Parikrama

Thanks to all for checking out the blog and for your comments. I have read them all and am deeply touched by all the support and encouragement. Feels good to be so far and still connected. CHEERS!!!

Kundapur to Goa

Bari — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:37:37 +0000

Managed to get some sleep last night at Kundapur. The food so far has been really awesome even at the roadside cafes. Sure beats Taco Bell!
We set out today after a delicious breakfast of idli, vada and fantastic coffee. The south Indian coffee is supreme!
Before long we got to the sea. It was a gorgeous day and after the recent rains, the landscape was really lush right up to the road. The roads were very good. 2 lane highway with coconut trees all around and scattered lotus ponds. The landscape was absolutely breathtaking. Got a lot of video footage which I can’t wait to see myself.
Just before we got to Goa state line border, we stopped of at this bridge in Kanwar where the backwater river end up at the ocean. Here’s a pic. of the 3 astronauts.
The traffic was sparse in the countryside and horribly congested as we got close to the towns and all the way to Panjim.
We are about to get some dinner and sleep. Tomorrow, we continue up north. Cheers.

Technorati Tags: India Bike Trip

Bangalore Send-off

Bari — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:25:42 +0000

The first day of our adventure started off with a great turnout of our friends and family members cheering us off from a motorcycle themed cafe, “Road Trip” in Bangalore at about 9am.
From Bangalore streets to the open highways (by open, i mean they are open to anyone and anything and anyway, anyhow) with beautiful surroundings. The day was gorgeous. Temp. around 80F and no smog. The rice field were lit up in all the shades of green and the mountain ranges were outstanding.
We started from the Deccan plateau and decended through the Western ghats ( mountain range). We did a total of 450 km and made the first night halt at a town called Kundapur. It’s on the west coast above Mangalore . The roads were good for the first 150 km and in the mountains were really broken up. Great learning experience for riding on the Indian roads. The bike is performing beautifully and i am quite comfortable riding it and keeping up with Dinesh and Navroze. They are 2 really skilled and experienced riders. Leant a lot through them. It was dark by the time we came down to sea level and got to the west coast town of Mangalore. From there the highway is 2 lane and awfully crowded with trucks and all forms of traffic.It took us longer than planned to make the first night halt. We got to the hotel around 9:30 pm. We did take a couple of needed breaks and that slowed us down as well. But the road conditions are what they are.
Now we are getting ready to get to Panjim city in Goa. It’s about 350 km from here. Hoping to get there before dark.
will post from there.

Technorati Tags: India Bike Trip

Getting Ready

Bari — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:24:55 +0000

Here I am , finally in India. Reached safely on September 20th night to Bangalore. Navroze has settled on an Indian made motorcycle, Bajaj Pulsar 180cc for his ride. Dinesh and I settled for Kawasaki KLE 500 as our choice for the motorcycle. I’ll be riding the silver and Dinesh the black.
The bikes were finally delivered to us late last night and our mechanic Joe has painstakingly put them together this morning. The tires still need to be inflated and we need to test ride them later today and tomorrow.
We have been meeting with the local press who want to cover the event.
We are scheduled to start “BHARAT PARIKRAMA” (circling India) on Sunday, Sept.25th at 8am from Bangalore.

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