I went back to Mysore from Manipal for my holidays but this time I did not return in a bus or a train, I had the most beautiful company you can ever have, a 1972 Royal Enfield Bullet 350
Eat | Ride | Repeat
Friday, March 28, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Back to Basics
Odo reading: 3,800 kms
Today was the day, the day we thought would never
come. We were ready to take on the last strip of road to reach Mysore but our
hearts were not so willing. A cloud of gloom descended over us as we started
our journey from Haveri somehow we all did not want to go home the last 10 days
was more eventful than a entire year for most of us. This journey had created
memories that were to be passed down to grandchildren in stories.
But the best part of the journey was about to begin as
we took a sharp turn from the Bangalore Pune highway towards Shimoga. Our
greatest fear had come true; the road was not just bad it was not present! ,
the 100 kms we travelled on this road would give us nightmares for the rest of
our lives
I was riding in an upright position ( filthy minds
please excuse) i.e standing on the foot rest which was soon followed by Gowda,
the only poor bastard was Gopi who had to endure this rigorous punishment for
almost two hours. We pulled up our bikes in Shimoga to have a healthy lunch and
started from there Asap towards Mysore. The road between Shimoga and Mysore was
a little better with potholes here and there. We traversed around Bhadravathi
town and Chanrayapatna soon to encounter monsoon rain. The rain was quite heavy
and made us park our bikes and take shelter, as we stood there under a tree we
started to recall the amazing ride we had just accomplished, all things from
desert to chai were discussed, we felt sad that this amazing journey would soon
come to an end as we were fast approaching Mysore.
It was almost 6
in the evening when we arrived in Mysore, most of our friends were
present to welcome us back to the city. We all met them had a chat and soon
went to Vijay's house for a night filled with chatting and drinking. We told
our lengthy story, of course with some masala added into it. We sipped our last
drink and fell asleep thinking that we had achieved what others said was
impossible. There was a small grin in all of our faces. thanks to www.eezeerentals.com
Namma Karnataka !
Odo Reading: 3,300 kms
It was 7 by the time we all got up with our head
bursting with hangover from the previous night binge drinking but the
picturesque scene from our balcony was exhilarating with fog caressing the
mountain side and the sunlight trying hard to break through this thick blanket
of fog. We all stood there in awe to see this dance of the nature being played
right next to our balcony but reality hit us again, we had to travel another
600 kms to reach our next destination and we still weren't sure of the place in
which we will spending tonight. The race was on to get ready as we should leave
as early as possible. Since we were travelling in a small group this was
possible another top tip for all the adventurers out there, always travel in
small groups cause larger the group more time spent in organizing.
We got our motors running in no time and left for the
Karnataka border which was around 300-400 Kms away. We all were excited that we
will be finally crossing into Karnataka border. We made it to the border at
around afternoon and were excited to see the famous Red bus of Karnataka (The
KSRTC bus is known as red bus) and behind the bus we found the poster of Mysore
Dasara. we stopped on a tank bund which we thought was a reservoir to find some
children playing near the road, we had a small chat with them in 'KANNADA' and
proceeded towards Belgaum.
Me and Gowda both did our engineering from VTU (
Visveswaraya Technological University) and hence we so wanted to visit the head
quarters of the university which plagued our lives for four long years. We had
to take a small detour from our main route to visit this place. We paid our
respect to the place and performed what is called Ashtanga Namaskara in
Kannada.
After clearing belgaum we rode through some farm
fields to reach the main road but were amazed to see the posters of Bal
Thackeray in villages near Belgaum. I should mention that the Maharashtra is
trying hard to annexe Belgaum as their territory since there are more Marathi
speakers there than Kannada but I leave the topic for the public to decide and
not comment about it.
We reached and found the main road and from there on
it was a dash to find the next resting spot. We cleared miles as the road was
as smooth as waxed skin. We reached Hubli and took the ring road not repeating
the same mistake we had done in Pune, by the time we reached Haveri it was
around 7 in the evening, we decided to call it a day and crash. Tonight will be
the last night for us away from home as tomorrow we will be reaching Mysore. It
was a love-Hate story for all of us and to decide which was which there has to
be some ethyl in our system.
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| Somewhere outside Haveri www.eezeerentals.com |
Sunday, March 16, 2014
To the hills of Satara and beyond
Day 9 : Odo reading 2850 Kms
As the sun tore through the misty morning in Rajiv Gandhi National park on the outskirts of Mumbai we were ready to take on the road. We could see the traffic getting denser as we approached Thane, it was a reckoning for us to see Mumbai (technically a suburb but then again) this was the first time we all were seeing Mumbai we had only heard stories about the traffic jams and crowded roads those stories were not false either.
As we traversed around the roads of Mumbai we were all hungry and stopped in a hotel near the Panvel railway station. As we saw the menu card our eyes filled with joy, it was rice !! curd rice!! for the first time in 10 days we could taste some south Indian dish. We ordered Dosa, curd rice and special chai to end it. This was heaven.
By the time we reached Pune it afternoon and instead of taking the ring road we entered the city only to get lost within a couple of minutes it was hot n humid we had to ask a million people to get to the other end of the city by the time we got out it was late in the evening. As we started to climb the hills surrounding Pune on Pune- Bangalore highway we were all tired and thought we put the bikes aside and relax a bit but this would mean futile cause we learnt later by a bunch of corrupt cops that stopping on this highway was prohibited. The policemen asked us to pay Rs 2000 as a fine for stopping there we had to argue with him for half an hour to get it down to Rs 500 ironically those cops bought few biscuits and made us feed the monkeys.
As we raced down hill from Pune towards the Karnataka border we realised that we had not decided where we will be staying that night, it was well over sunset and the darkness slowly creep ed in so we all decided to go to a place called Satara. We all knew most of the places on this road but none of us had ever heard of Satara we thought we will gamble on this and take the risk as we did not know whether it was a small town or a big city but when we reached there we were awestruck looking at this magnificent city on the foothills of Mahabaleshwar. we found a three star hotel and spent the night in pure luxury. Since we were in the wine making district we treated ourselves with the best white wine available. Aaahh !
As the sun tore through the misty morning in Rajiv Gandhi National park on the outskirts of Mumbai we were ready to take on the road. We could see the traffic getting denser as we approached Thane, it was a reckoning for us to see Mumbai (technically a suburb but then again) this was the first time we all were seeing Mumbai we had only heard stories about the traffic jams and crowded roads those stories were not false either.
As we traversed around the roads of Mumbai we were all hungry and stopped in a hotel near the Panvel railway station. As we saw the menu card our eyes filled with joy, it was rice !! curd rice!! for the first time in 10 days we could taste some south Indian dish. We ordered Dosa, curd rice and special chai to end it. This was heaven.
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| Our room in Satara |
By the time we reached Pune it afternoon and instead of taking the ring road we entered the city only to get lost within a couple of minutes it was hot n humid we had to ask a million people to get to the other end of the city by the time we got out it was late in the evening. As we started to climb the hills surrounding Pune on Pune- Bangalore highway we were all tired and thought we put the bikes aside and relax a bit but this would mean futile cause we learnt later by a bunch of corrupt cops that stopping on this highway was prohibited. The policemen asked us to pay Rs 2000 as a fine for stopping there we had to argue with him for half an hour to get it down to Rs 500 ironically those cops bought few biscuits and made us feed the monkeys.
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| Khandala Ghats www.eezeerentals.com |
Friday, June 21, 2013
Salaam Bombay !
Day 8 : Odo reading 2250 Kms
We got up to see the smoked filled Horizon over the dusty land with all the chimneys protruding into the sky from the factories making Gujarat Vibrant indeed, We headed down south, our destination Mumbai, the economic capital and the powerhouse of India. We started out very early in the morning since we had to travel around 600 kms to reach Mumbai before nightfall.
This was infact the most treacherous part of the whole journey because of the trucks and cars zooming on it at breakneck speeds with no respect to road discipline, to top that Gowda had taken some pills for the common cold which made him really drowsy and wavy on the road. The temperature was hovering between 39 to 40' celsius and humidity was literally killing us, without being distracted by all this we hit the gas and started rolling and soon there was a roadblock, it seems that the corridor between Ahmedabad and Vadodara is not open for two wheelers so we had to stick to the single lane country roads which were brimmed with super heavy trucks (since they are also not allowed) we somehow managed to evade all the traffic to reach vadodara by early afternoon after that it was just miles and miles of empty road for us to play with.
During this part Mr Gowda somehow dozed off on his bike and kind of ended up under a truck, Gopi was awake enough to avert a disaster (Mr Gopi has in fact saved my life once on the same tone where I dozed off) after all this we thought it will be a very good time for a break hence we stopped at a fancy roadside restaurant to have our lunch, I won't comment on the food but the lassi was heavenly, I haven't had anything as such in my life till then or ever after that.
With our stomach's full and the bikes getting their share of petrol we were rolling again on this super big 6-lane road and crossed Narmada river to enter Vapi, as you come down south you will feel the humidity rising to signal the approaching sea. It was late in the evening when we crossed the border and one can see what the dry state does to the people living there, The Maharashtra side of the border is filled with liquor shops and bars to quench the thirst of Gujaratis who travel hundreds of miles just to drink.
As we rode thru, it was pretty late in the night so we abandoned the plan to take refuge in Mumbai and instead stayed on the outskirts of it. This was the day we rode around 600 kms and cheated death, Time to celebrate (i.e to get the bottles out). www.eezeerentals.com
We got up to see the smoked filled Horizon over the dusty land with all the chimneys protruding into the sky from the factories making Gujarat Vibrant indeed, We headed down south, our destination Mumbai, the economic capital and the powerhouse of India. We started out very early in the morning since we had to travel around 600 kms to reach Mumbai before nightfall.
This was infact the most treacherous part of the whole journey because of the trucks and cars zooming on it at breakneck speeds with no respect to road discipline, to top that Gowda had taken some pills for the common cold which made him really drowsy and wavy on the road. The temperature was hovering between 39 to 40' celsius and humidity was literally killing us, without being distracted by all this we hit the gas and started rolling and soon there was a roadblock, it seems that the corridor between Ahmedabad and Vadodara is not open for two wheelers so we had to stick to the single lane country roads which were brimmed with super heavy trucks (since they are also not allowed) we somehow managed to evade all the traffic to reach vadodara by early afternoon after that it was just miles and miles of empty road for us to play with.
During this part Mr Gowda somehow dozed off on his bike and kind of ended up under a truck, Gopi was awake enough to avert a disaster (Mr Gopi has in fact saved my life once on the same tone where I dozed off) after all this we thought it will be a very good time for a break hence we stopped at a fancy roadside restaurant to have our lunch, I won't comment on the food but the lassi was heavenly, I haven't had anything as such in my life till then or ever after that.
With our stomach's full and the bikes getting their share of petrol we were rolling again on this super big 6-lane road and crossed Narmada river to enter Vapi, as you come down south you will feel the humidity rising to signal the approaching sea. It was late in the evening when we crossed the border and one can see what the dry state does to the people living there, The Maharashtra side of the border is filled with liquor shops and bars to quench the thirst of Gujaratis who travel hundreds of miles just to drink.
As we rode thru, it was pretty late in the night so we abandoned the plan to take refuge in Mumbai and instead stayed on the outskirts of it. This was the day we rode around 600 kms and cheated death, Time to celebrate (i.e to get the bottles out). www.eezeerentals.com
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Crossing of Cancer
Day 7: Odo Reading 2000 kms
And it was time to leave Rajasthan, we continued our southward journey after all the goodbyes and hugs (Setu and his friends) we started our engines to the sound of which we were so addicted to now and straddled ourselves on the seats to chase the clouds over the highway. This time we were on the NH-8 which connects Delhi with Mumbai.
The road was carved out of the stone mountains that surround this area, weaving its way through the granite walls (or should I say Marble), We dropped a gear and disappeared into the horizon with sweeping landscapes and twisty highway which comes as a boon when compared to straight stretches of road elsewhere in this state.
On our way we encountered countless tollgates since this was 'pay and use' highway network but we were happy that they don't charge two wheelers ( I should praise Indian Government for this) we ended up saving quite a lot on this whole trip. Once we crossed the border there was a sense of relief from the heat (as though nature made all these boundaries), Finally our bikes needed a oil change since we had covered almost 2000 kms since we left Delhi hence we stopped at some roadside mechanic shop filled them up with sparkling new oil and started again.
And it was time to leave Rajasthan, we continued our southward journey after all the goodbyes and hugs (Setu and his friends) we started our engines to the sound of which we were so addicted to now and straddled ourselves on the seats to chase the clouds over the highway. This time we were on the NH-8 which connects Delhi with Mumbai.
The road was carved out of the stone mountains that surround this area, weaving its way through the granite walls (or should I say Marble), We dropped a gear and disappeared into the horizon with sweeping landscapes and twisty highway which comes as a boon when compared to straight stretches of road elsewhere in this state.
On our way we encountered countless tollgates since this was 'pay and use' highway network but we were happy that they don't charge two wheelers ( I should praise Indian Government for this) we ended up saving quite a lot on this whole trip. Once we crossed the border there was a sense of relief from the heat (as though nature made all these boundaries), Finally our bikes needed a oil change since we had covered almost 2000 kms since we left Delhi hence we stopped at some roadside mechanic shop filled them up with sparkling new oil and started again.
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| Pigeons www.eezeerentals.com |
Somewhere along this journey we crossed Tropic of Cancer, it is 'The line' which specifies IST (Indian Standard Time) but for us, time was simply a non existent entity ( In accordance with the biker oath, we did not wear watches) it was either day or night thats all the 'time' we knew. As we rolled along this magnificent highway the thoughts inside our brain ceased to exist, it was just the reality of the present situation that filled our mind with little or no regard to what is going to happen next or that happened in the past, This state of mind can only be achieved either thru meditation or hurtling yourself at 100 kmph down an empty stretch of highway, obviously we chose the later.
It was late in the noon by the time we reached Ahmedabad, too polluted a city I should say. We found a place on the outer ring road to stay, kept our bags and began roaming the streets. Ahmedabad is a peculiar place where one can find Paan shop as huge as a restaurant ( not kidding, and the expensive paan costs like 400 INR) we gently smiled at this custom and set out to buy us some booze, Gowda then exclaimed that it was Gujarat, the liquor free state, hearing this our hearts sank, But there was still hope to find some bootlegger, After scanning the streets and with no luck finding anything we retired to our hotel. What a Bummer !!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Uber Udaipur
Day 6 : Odo reading 1900 kms
By the time our bodies recovered from the thrashing of the roads it had endured it was late in the evening, Setu came up with another brilliant Idea, to go to Udaipur (and chill out) which was around 40 kms away, We started out pretty late in the evening and when we reached Udaipur, the darkness of the night had already taken over the clear bright skies.
On our way to Udaipur we encountered twisty roads as that of hilly parts in India, There was this temple where the travellers offered fruits and flowers to the the deities to keep them safe during the journey (this tradition is countrywide, I remember the same in Sathyamangalam Ghat). As we rode thru this road we could see the city lights of Udaipur from a distance.
We caught up with some local friends of Setu, Mr Mayank and Mr Abhi, Both were very kind to us and took us on a city tour (believe me, when you have local knowledge the city is very different) and introduced us to their friends, Before we knew it we were rolling with seven guys, who took us thru every nook and corner of the city.
By the time our bodies recovered from the thrashing of the roads it had endured it was late in the evening, Setu came up with another brilliant Idea, to go to Udaipur (and chill out) which was around 40 kms away, We started out pretty late in the evening and when we reached Udaipur, the darkness of the night had already taken over the clear bright skies.
On our way to Udaipur we encountered twisty roads as that of hilly parts in India, There was this temple where the travellers offered fruits and flowers to the the deities to keep them safe during the journey (this tradition is countrywide, I remember the same in Sathyamangalam Ghat). As we rode thru this road we could see the city lights of Udaipur from a distance.
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| Udaipur palace with Lake in the Foreground www.eezeerentals.com |
Udaipur is and will remain one of the best cities I have been to, With its heritage permanently intact and preserved in literally everything you see. The udaipur lake has a road which encircles it ( we respected the Biker oath and raced around it), later we went this hookah bar on top of a three story building with open terrace, We had the best view in town and could see the whole of Udaipur lake.
After we finished this city tour, it was time to return to our hotel room in Rajsamand, this simple task became a gigantum one cause we were all drunk and it was almost early morning( we forgot that mercury drops rapidly during night and did not take any jackets ) so by the time we reached our room, we were all shivering hard with no words coming out of our mouth.
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