En route to Jaisalmer...

Day 4: Odo reading 910 kms

It was 5 in the morning and our alarm went off with a loud crank (Satisfaction by benny benassi) we got out of our room and there was no one in the hotel except for the receptionist, who was kind enough to prepare us tea. This kind gesture extended to our bill as we found out that it was only INR 300 for three guys overnight stay in a room that could accommodate four (Rajasthani's are very good hosts, something that karnataka should learn).

Now that we had almost done 1000 kms it was time to check how our babies were doing ( yes the bikes), We checked the engine oil level, sprayed some oil on chains and did some minor repair works (we carried a complete tool set, spare tube and clutch,accelerator wires) with all systems go, We started out at around 6 in the morning heading south for the first time, Destination 'Jaisalmer'.

We went out into the highway connecting both the cities, It was an enthralling morning with the young sun piercing thru mist which looked like golden smoke. We were fully geared up as it was cold and the wind was strong. The road ahead of us was nothing like we had ever seen, it was hypnotizingly straight. The closest thing it resembled was railway tracks. As for us, joy of joys, now we could throttle up and hit it as fast as we can, yes this was the time and we did not miss it. Clear skies,bright weather,cold morning and a road so flat and black that you could sleep on it, if there's a heaven for bikers I think this would be it...Nirvana !

Bikaner-Jaisalmer highway

The Road

  

We pushed ourselves and our bikes to limits on this stretch of motoring perfection (the German Autobahn were not even close) and before we knew it we had covered a lot of  it and reached a place (to our astonishment) called "POKHRAN" yes, the place where our nuclear bombs were tested. The jury is out whether India should have done this but I believe that the so called 'world' stood up and started noticing us because of this, When you have power, it shows !

Gowda and me

Before we could think of nuclear radiation someone mentioned that we could have a break and finish our lunch. So we pulled over at the nearest highway dhaba and had a great lunch but I should tell you that the curd here was really really thick ( Eureka ! the cows are irradiated with gamma rays). We finished our nuclear powered lunch and set out to tackle the road again.

Atomic lunch

By now the temperature was hitting the roof and we thought riding faster would cool us down ( typical biker reasoning) but with this we had completely forgotten that our machines were under great pressure as we were constantly doing 100km h (and not to mention the 50' celsius)  hence we decided to give ourselves and our machines a small break every 50 or so kilometers during one of these breaks we saw this arsenal of tanks being moved by our army.

Tank

We felt a joy witnessing this and thought about how hard our army was working to keep us safe, In this desert, where nothing grows, we found Army Soldiers in thousands, the true patriots protecting our country from the enemies, Both foreign and domestic. Hats off !!

Jaisalmer

As we approached the city we were sad that this exhilarating ride had come to an end but I guess our bikes were thinking otherwise, We were taken back by these wonderful machines which had carried us at a breakneck speed in one of the most inhospitable regions of the world. We were falling in love with our bikes, far greater when compared to the humanly expression of this emotion which diminishes with time !