Riding Solo to The Thar Desert !

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2007-01-26T14:16:00.003+05:30

THE JOURNEY

The Beginning

The Story

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

DAY 5

DAY 6

DAY 7

Not The End...

This is not the END...!!!!!!!

2007-01-26T13:49:00.000+05:30

Alright…After covering 9 major cities…7 National Highways…and riding for 218 hours…I am back at home thinking about the wonderful moments spent during the 7 days of freedom! I must say…being on a road trip is an experience worth having…You have to do that to feel that!!

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that I re-discovered myself on this trip…There are so many other things which I think can not be shared through simple words…One more thing that I realized through this trip is that biking is not only fun but also a test of your physical and mental strength…There are times when you are dead tired…there are times when you think you cant do it…there are times when the bike betrays you and that too in the middle of nowhere…there are times when you are scared…there are times when you are hurt…But you have to go on…Because the road goes on…Because the life goes on…!!!

National Highways covered: NH-8, 79, 14, 15, 11, 76 and 12

Total fuel consumption: 87.5 liters (Rs.4700)

Mileage: 32.28 km/liter

Total cost of the trip: Rs.10000 (including fuel, food, lodging and extras)

Day 7: Back to the Base

2007-01-26T13:48:00.000+05:30

Day 7: 7^th November 2006

0700 hrs: After a quick freshening-up session, I started off towards Bikaner in the last dawn of the trip…The road ahead was good along with some views of agricultural land where ‘fali’ was the only thing grown in the name of agriculture…I tried to reach Bikaner as soon as possible since it was going to be the longest day of the ride…After taking a few photographs of the Junagarh fort and taking out some money from an ATM, I took the way to Deshnoke to visit Karni Mata Mandir…As I had read on the web, the mandir was full of rats roaming all around…But as these rats are said to be sacred, there is nothing to fear about these extra-large rats…The way back to the Jaipur road was awesome and I finally came out of Bikaner…

I took NH-11 towards Jaipur and had to divert from Sikar which was still very far…I don’t really remember if I had a look at my watch or not, but somewhere in the afternoon, I reached Fatehpur…By this time I was very tired, so rested at a dhaba and had lunch…After this I just ripped off and neither had the time nor the strength to enjoy the ride…

1800 hrs: Sikar… Tired… Trip Meter: 2582.4 km

Neem Ka Thana… Very Tired… Trip Meter: 2643.5 km

Kot Putli… Exhausted… Trip Meter: 2694.8 km

2300 hrs: Gurgaon… Home… Dead… Trip Meter: 2825.0 km

This was indeed the longest ride with the day trip equaling 616.7 km!

Day 6: Bikaner

2007-01-26T13:46:00.000+05:30

Day 6: 6^th November 2006

0800 hrs: This was really the best morning…I was just loving it…After a quick bath I was served with hot paranthas which were included in the camp package…Deepak, a caretaker there, wanted to have a test ride of the bike as he had rode every bike other than Karizma…So while I had my breakfast, Deepak got a chance to ride his “dream bike”…After the breakfast, I loaded the luggage and bade goodbye to the Thar Resort people…Now it was time to walk in the desert once again…I just wanted to have the rough n tough feeling of walking in a rain of dust with hot wind blowing…It was indeed very hot in the daytime…The Desert was so quite with only the sound of flowing wind…This mighty desert surely gives you all the thrills…

While struggling to walk on the sand dunes, I noticed some army men setting up a tent over a ‘teela’…I went there and came to know that they had some function there…They told me that I was just 20-25 km away from the Indo-Pak border and I should not go further…An officer warned me that since I was alone I would definitely be doubted and can land myself into trouble as it was a high security region…the LOC was only a few kilometers away!!…Wow! I had almost touched the Pak border!!…I went with his advise and turned back, though I seriously wanted to go further…As the officer said, if I was accompanied by some people I could have gone some 5 km more towards the border…But since I was alone, it was definitely not advisable…

1030 hrs: I took my way back to Jaisalmer city…While sitting at a very nice place on the way, a thought popped up in my mind…I just thought that a few people who inhabited the region would definitely know of a water source…So why not look out for one…When I saw a man at a distance, I just had to wave and he was eager enough to help me…He came running to me and told me that the people of that village went to a village 12 km away to bring water as there is a ‘talaab’ which is the only water source for a diameter of around 40-50 km…The talaab was not adjacent to the road, but some 4-5 km down the road on a rough track…I had no idea where it would be but after asking another man and a few wild guesses I found the rough track…After doing an off-road for sometime I finally reached the ‘talaab’ in the middle of a desert…!!

1230 hrs: Reached Jaisalmer and headed towards the fort…I kept riding the bike till I reached the highest point over a steep slope and had a ‘canon’ view of the city...In the fort, I met some Germans who were on an all India tour and also accompanied them to a nearby lassi shop…After chatting with them over a glass of damn good lassi, I moved on…

Trip Meter: 1921.3 km

I had heard of some old Havelis in Phalodi and Kheechan, on the way to Bikaner…I took the way to Kheechan which was a small village with a lot of abandoned Havelis…These Havelis were original masterpieces of the old architecture, made up of big stones and heavy iron…After a view of these havelis, I kept on riding in the outskirts of the village and finally reached a small lake where migratory birds were taking shelter…A bit of rest and it was time to move on…

Now I rode easy and totally enjoyed the desolate tract…On the way was the Bap region which was the most beautiful and isolated area on the way…I stopped at a few places in this region and it was here that I composed a song sitting at a very relaxing place and totally absorbed in myself…

1730 hrs: It had started getting dark and Bikaner was still very far…I had an idea that I would reach Bikaner at around 9 o’clock…But driving on this Highway at night was a bit tough…I was at a place where I could see the lights of a truck even 20 km away since it was barren all over…I could see the Highway moving and taking turns just by watching the queue of trucks’ lights…There was no vehicle on the Highway other than a few trucks…I finally took a halt at a dhaba and enquired about a place to stay as I was tired of the blinding lights of the trucks along with super-cold wind changing the motion of my bike…I came to know of a Dhaba where I could get a cot and a quilt on rent for the night…

2000 hrs: I quickly reached Amar Dhaba and after having some food, sat with local people and chatted for some time…Since I was very tired, I took my luggage off the bike and went to sleep…just on the brink of National Highway 15, in the middle of a desert!!

Final reading of the day: 2208.3 km

Day 5: Jaisalmer

2007-01-26T13:45:00.000+05:30

Day 5: 5^th November 2006

0930 hrs: I already woke up quite late and there was a problem waiting for me right at the door of the hotel…I had given the keys of the bike to a helper in the hotel to clean the bike and the over excited guy tried to start the bike using the electric ignition…Something went bad and when I came down I noticed the meter was not working…The scared guy kept on saying sorry and irritated me more than anything else…I tried changing the fuse but it didn’t work…It was so damn disgusting…But thank God, as soon as I started the bike the meter came back…Though the Trip meter went back to Zero, it was okay as I just had to add the upcoming readings to the previous one…I finally came out of the city at around 1030 hrs…

1100 hrs: By the time I had taken the road to Jaisalmer, I was feeling hungry…So I stopped at a Rajasthani dhaba to have the taste of local delicacies…I ordered for a thali and while waiting, noticed a small child checking my bike in fascination…I called the child and came to know that he was very interested in bikes…His name was Mukia and he studied in 3^rd standard in a village school…He had a collection of Trump cards with pictures of several Super bikes…I was really amazed when he started talking to me about the Technical specifications of my bike…I am sure if he was in a Hi-tech city, he would be an Automobile Engineer one day!!

With my stomach full of some real good ‘desi khana’ and ‘chulhe ki roti’, I was ready to move on…Mukia stopped me and sang some rajasthani songs for me and I gave him a chocolate in return…I waved goodbye and ripped off towards Pokharan…The road ahead was just what I wanted…In fact the 5^th and 6^th day of the trip had the real deserted roads which I craved for…With several breaks on the way I reached Decchu and had a clean up session…I mean I washed my hands and face…After buying some more water I took a left turn towards Pokharan…The roads were awesome…I was in the desert quadrilateral of Rajasthan now and I could feel the reality of being lonely…just what I wanted!!

While on the way to Pokharan, a man waved at me from his bike and asked me to stop…He just wanted to know which bike I had because he had been noticing for quite some time that even when I was frequently stopping on the way, I still managed to overtake him after some time and I rode too fast…I just laughed and explained him the things…His name was Mr. Mohanlal Ghanchi and was really a nice man…When he came to know that I was on a Rajasthan tour, he invited me to his house in village Khudi in Barmer…According to him Barmer was definitely a place for me to visit as it was the most dry place in Rajasthan…As I was looking for ‘banjar’ places, I definitely got interested but I knew I was short on time and couldn’t visit Barmer…He still gave me his telephone number and told me to come there whenever I come to Rajasthan again…This and lots more which I would never forget…Really, people of Rajasthan were actually so nice…!

When I reached Pokharan I saw a pillared structure just by the road…It was my favourite place on the way to Jaisalmer…Its beauty could not be captured by the lens…so maybe it doesn’t look so good in the photograph, but actually sitting there with a can of juice and a smoke really gave me the piece of mind that I was in search of…There was nobody around for miles and as far as I could see, I was the only moving object present...I had stopped looking at my watch and didn’t care about the time as I was more interested in feeding my wanderlust…!!

Trip Meter: 1716.4 km

1715 hrs: I couldn’t know how time passed and I finally reached Jaisalmer…I knew of some desert camps in village Sam where I wanted to spend the night…So after enquiring a bit I came to know that I could book a tent from there itself…I did the same and the Manager of Thar Resort told me that his man would meet me in Sam and I should go there as soon as possible so that I could enjoy the sunset…But the sun was in a hurry and I had to enjoy the sunset on the way itself…Sam was around 45 km from there…I reached there at 1800 hrs and met Ramzaan, the man who would provide me with the tent…I told him to wait for some time as I could not miss walking in the desert in the evening…so I decided to have a camel ride and enjoy the full moon in the Thar Desert…!

1930 hrs: The atmosphere of the desert in a full moon night was so romantic that I was in no mood to go back to the camp…But I finally had to do so as Ramzaan said that they had arranged a cultural show and we were getting late...There was a fantastic welcome to the Desert Camp and then the cultural show began with all kinds of traditional rajasthani songs and dances…The girl dancers forcibly held my hand and I had to dance with them…Dancing with them in Rajasthani style was total fun…I then sat with the singers and sang some sufi songs…After a fantastic evening of music it was time to enjoy more of Rajasthani food…Things like ‘Daal Bhati Churma’ stuffed my stomach…I was so tired that I just wanted to sleep…I went to my tent and it was Goodnight time!

Final reading of the day: 1875.7 km

Day 4: Jodhpur

2007-01-26T13:44:00.000+05:30

Day 4: 4^th November 2006

0900 hrs: After visiting Nakki Lake which was far too crowded with boats and boatwallas…and just roaming in the hills for some time in the early morning, I got some cash from an ATM and finally took the highway back to Pindwara…After a breakfast at the same hotel where I had some snacks last evening, I started for Jodhpur at 1030 hrs…

Now this day was smooth as I had no time hassles and could very well enjoy the way…After riding for some time I noticed a hill with something at the top and long stairs to reach there…I parked the bike in a corner and took the way up to the hill…After climbing a hell lot of stairs, I had to trek a bit to finally reach a small mandir on the top...All that the mandir had was some flags and a stone painted in red which I think was the symbol of God…When you do such little things on a road trip, its so much fun…

I took another halt at Baba Ramdev Mandir in Gajangarh where I met two Pandits who tried their best to waste as much of my time as they could…They had all weird questions about Delhi, the Bike, my camera, mobile phones and what not…When I told them that I am a Brahmin too, they were stunned as according to them a Brahmin could never enjoy the comforts which I had…For the people there, a Brahmin was a poor man who would devote himself to God and would not have any luxuries in life…Even if they wanted they could not earn that much to have these things…

1500 hrs: After enjoying various places on the way, reached Jodhpur and checked-in at Hotel Marudhar on Nai Sadak…An hour of rest was enough to revive my spirits and I got ready to visit The Mehrangarh Fort...This was my favourite…The view of the whole city from this fort was amazing…Jodhpur is called The Blue City because of a blue outlook from the top of Mehrangarh Fort…This blue effect is from the houses of Brahmins as blue is auspicious for them…It also repels mosquitoes as told to me by the locals…The Fort has a beautiful Museum inside where the real armaments used by the kings in olden times are still kept…

I wanted to take so many good pictures here but the camera was in a bad mood I guess…It ran out of battery…Anyway, after taking a few photos I went to the topmost point of the fort and sat there for quite some time…Sitting here with the canon in total silence and looking at the Palace made me feel like a soldier ready to blow off a part of the biggest private property in the world…I don’t know if its true or not but as told to me by the Museum people, the Raja of Jodhpur still owned everything – The fort, the Palace, the city – everything in his own name, and this was the largest private property owned by any individual…sounds interesting!!

1830 hrs: After this ultimate experience, it was time to take the bike for a small service…A session of oiling, greasing, tightening of nuts and bolts followed…I went back to Nai Sadak and checked out some traditional stuff in the market…The market was good and there were some real cheap traditional Jodhpuri Jutis available…Finally, after a light meal I picked up some biscuits and juices for the days to come and went back to the hotel…The day ended!

Final reading of the day: 1545.0 km

Day 3: Chittaur,Udaipur,Mt. Abu

2007-01-26T13:43:00.000+05:30

Day 3: 3^rd November 2006

0630 hrs: Started off for Chittaurgarh…with several breaks on the way I reached Menal, which was around 75 km away, at 0930 hours…The waterfall which I had read about was almost dry yet it was not a waste of time…There was a 1000 year old Shiv Temple with a valley like place nearby…The place was so quite and serene…I could actually relax there for hours…There were stairs going down the valley (some 100-120 feet) which means if you keep going down, you can reach all the way at the bottom of that valley and can see yourself surrounded by a jungle from all the sides and a waterfall from the top…Isn’t that so amazing…There were no sounds other than the chirping of birds and seldom shrieking of monkeys which echoed in the valley…If the waterfall was not that dry…I would have definitely got wet…After spending around an hour there I moved on…As soon as I hit the road again I saw a restaurant…it was a perfect time to treat myself…

1100 hrs: After some good food I realized that I was running short of time and headed to Chittaurgarh…The way to Chittaur had some really nice places to stop…so even when I was getting late I kept taking frequent breaks…

1315 hrs: Finally reached Chittaurgarh and had the Engine Oil changed…

Trip Meter: 933.8 km

Now I had to go through a really confusing situation…My original plan was to spend some time in Chittaur and then finally spending the night in Udaipur…The next day I would go to Mt. Abu via Ranakpur, Kumbalgarh and Haldighati…But as I had to cut down on 2 days, I knew I had to miss almost all of these because if I tried covering these places, I would mess up all the 7 days…So the final decision was to miss Udaipur and the other three and head to Mt. Abu straight away…But this was not the best thing to do…I jumped on the NH-76 at 1415 hrs and ripped off…

1600 hrs: Udaipur…

Trip Meter: 1046 km

I didn’t have the time to even look at Lake Pichola or The City Palace…So with some hard feelings I took the road to Mont Abu…Now this came out to be worse…There was a road construction work going on and hills were being blown up with dynamites…All the vehicles had to stop for 15-20 minutes at a point after every few kilometers…The road was a dirt track and biking was difficult as well as risky…As soon as the sun started descending, vehicles almost vanished from the road…I had been told by people that there was a stretch of road from Gogunda to Pindwara, which would take more than 1 hour to cross, which is said to be dreaded and I must cross it before it gets dark…People said that this sretch was inhabited by tribal people who used Bows and Arrows and looted people…Now this was not funny as it was already dark……

This was the longest hour of my life…At around 1900 hrs I entered the dreaded region…The road was properly leveled now…but it was up and down with dead curves…At 7o’clock all I could see was…Nothing!! There was dense forest on both the sides, totally dark surroundings, no light other than the bike’s and not even a single soul for the next 1 hour when I knew that the ‘aadivasis’ would come out from anywhere and cook me up for dinner! I knew that if anything went wrong with the bike...either I was dead or would be helped only the next morning…With all these fears in my mind I kept moving on at around 60 km an hour which was the maximum possible at that time on that road…

Suddenly after a sharp curve there was a big thorny bush right in the middle of the road…After balancing the bike because of a sudden brake, I thought it was over for me…I don’t know whether it was a trap or not…I managed to slip away…After an hour long spine-chilling fight with the scary road…I finally had a sigh of relief as I reached Pindwara…

2015 hrs: After such an act of bravery I definitely needed something to eat…haha…The people at Hotel Siyaram thought I was mad when they came to know that I was coming from Udaipur at that time…Anyway after relaxing for some time I went back to the road as Mt. Abu was still far…

2200 hrs: Reached Mt Abu without enjoying the evening scenes of the hills…couldn’t do anything about it now…I had almost screwed up 2 days…I cant say it was my fault as I was short of time and was not very sure of whatever I was doing…Still it was all fun…Riding in a total blacked-out situation through a jungle is definitely some fun…Isn’t it!!

Final reading of the day: 1239.5 km

I had covered 554 km which was the longest ride of the trip till then.

One piece of suggestion…DO NOT try to cross this road at night especially when you are alone…It is indeed DANGEROUS!

Day 2: Ajmer,Bundi

2007-01-26T13:42:00.001+05:30

Day 2: 2^nd November 2006

0900 hrs: I got up late and paced up on NH-89 towards Ajmer…While ripping the Zma, I crossed a Pulsar 180…The gutsy rider challenged for a race and how could I deny that…The race was tough as we kept overtaking each other at around 105-110 km/hr…I just got fed up of that and wanted to show him what Zma really is…so finally I took off like a rocket and smoked off his ass at 125 km/hr…Oh man that was fun…!!!

1130 hrs: Reached Ajmer

Trip Meter: 481.6 km

After parking the bike and keeping the luggage at a safe place I went for a lunch…After the lunch I headed towards the Dargah Khwaja Sahib (Ajmer Sharif) for a darshan…

1430 hrs: I went to the famous Mayo College…as the entry was closed for common people,I just took a photograph and started off for Bundi…Initially I took a wrong way and headed towards Beawar… but after asking a Maulvi on the way I finally went back to the Ajmer-Naseerabad Bypass crossing a small village called Tabiji and took the Bundi road…In no time a beautiful view surrounded me…I sat there for some time but look at me…I just forgot to take a photo! The road ahead was neither good nor scenic…so just kept riding and after 3 hours I finally reached Bundi.

1930 hrs: After checking-in at the hotel…took a bath and went out for a shave…Just roamed around in the streets for sometime and finally returned after dinner.

Coming to Bundi was not a very good idea…My plan had suddenly got a blow as I had to cut down 2 days due to some urgent work at home…still I came to Bundi just to visit Menal, the waterfall I had read about on the internet…I just hoped that it was worth it…

Final Trip Reading: 685.4 km

Day 1: Jaipur

2007-01-26T13:40:00.000+05:30

Day 1: 1^st November 2006

0630 hrs: Started off from home…I was full of energy and that showed on my beaming face…went to the neighborhood temple and kicked off the journey…as soon as I came out of the South End, the water bottle clutched with the bag, snapped off…Soon I touched the lovely NH-8 and ripped off…The first break came only after 20 minutes…it was too cold and I had to get the jacket changed…After taking a few photographs on the way, reached Kot Putli at 0845 hrs.

0900 hrs: Breakfast somewhere ahead of Kot Putli

Trip Meter: 133 km

1130 hrs: Took a turn towards Jamwa Ramgarh from Chawar

Trip Meter: 235 km

1330 hrs: Entered Jaipur and checked in at Hotel Mangalam

Trip Meter: 280 km

After freshening up a bit, I went on an excursion to Nahargarh fort…the place where Rang De Basanti was shot…The road to Nahargarh was amazing…On the way I met Stan, a biker from Spain who was waiting for some of his friends who were still on their way…He spoke pathetic English, so I just avoided the confusing conversation and moved on…I finally parked my bike on top of Jaipur…Gosh!! The view was so beautiful that I just sat there for a long time looking at the city below… as if I was the King!!

Though being at the top in the middle of a night would be much more exciting…only if you could do that…I finally returned from the aura of a King to my normal self and headed back to the city…I just ignored the way to Amer Fort but it is also a place worth visiting…On the way back I got another tank up for the next day.

2000 hrs: Went to Niro’s for a drink and dinner.

I met the Mathur Family there who were into a business of elevators…They were amazed to know that I was traveling alone and specially came out to have a look at the bike…After having a really nice time with them, I came back to the hotel and just landed on the bed…

The Story......

2007-01-26T13:39:00.000+05:30

The Story

31^st October 2006

2030 hrs: Just 10 hours left…a lot of excitement and a lot of uncertainties are running simultaneously in the nerves…all the preparations are still left…Will I be able to pull this one off?

0000 hrs: Just came back after a test ride of the bike with the luggage… got a tank up for fuel…only a few hours to reach out the dreams!!

The Beginning......

2007-01-26T13:10:00.000+05:30

I sometimes think of living life like a nomad, a wanderer. Actually I don’t think of…I want to. Packing my bag one day and just off to an unknown place…going wherever I want to; stopping whenever I want to; doing whatever I want to; going from one place to another in search of an unseen existence like the Black Hole; in search of an unfelt emotion like the last breath of life; in search of mysteries; in search of the hell or the heaven; in search of darkness, in search of light; in search of peace of mind; in search of prosperity, in search of destruction; in search of anything which is the ultimate; in search of nirvana, in search of moksha; in search of something which I don’t know; in search of something which is perhaps beyond human horizons……

Prelude

It all started somewhere in August when one fine day I really thought of going on a road trip…Sitting in office and browsing trip logs of various riders gave the motivation! I remember thinking, as a kid, of traveling all across the world on my bicycle one day.…but a bicycle was not a very good idea I guess.…though it was always there in my mind and in my heart and I wanted this for the whole of my life…but I knew it was not possible…at least not in this ‘real’ world…so I thought of making it possible at least for a week...…So the planning started two months before…collecting maps…info…etc…but as usual my plans never go by the planned way…ha-ha…!!

Acknowledgements

First of all, I thank God for giving me everything that I have…I thank my parents for being what they are and for allowing me to go on the trip…I thank my lovely sister for the camera and the music player she bought from the US of A for me…I thank that special person in my life who has been there and will be there with me…always…The greatest peace of thanks goes to Vipul, my cousin, who gave me his bike for this tour of a lifetime…Thanks Vipul for the Bike and the bungee chords without which this was not possible…love you bro…Finally I thank the people of Rajasthan esp. Jodhpur and Jaisalmer for being so helpful and caring…