Team-BHP - Travelogues

A trip to Taiwan and Bangkok

gajadonga — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:51:24 GMT

I was planning to do an international trip for a long time waiting for an opportunity.It materialized in the form of Taiwan and Bangkok official trip.I did this trip 2 months ago.My flight out of Hyderabad was 11.50pm to Bangkok and the from there to Taipei which is the capital of Taiwan.With all enthusiasm reached the airport the flight was delayed by one hour.Took some photographs of the airport before departure.

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Thoughts Of The First Civilian On The Highest Motorable Road In The World!

prateekm — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:42:27 GMT

What would be more offbeat than travelling on a motorbike on the highest motorable road in the world, that too, all alone? And this was way back in 1989 and the bike was RX100 from the YAMAHA stable. Though a mere 100cc, what a great bike it was!

The 470 kilometres Manali- Leh road covers the most formidable mountainous terrain, passes over five high mountain passes- the Rohtang pass ( 13500 feet above sea level) Baralacha pass ( 16100 feet) Changle ( 15010 feet) Changlangla (16616 feet) and last but not the least, Tanglangla ( 17580 feet) above sea level.

I was the first civilian to have travelled on this road, the day this road was opened for civilians- July 17^th, 1989. This is a military road, an important link for the army for the transport of men and material to the border posts. Earlier, it required an inner line permit for even Indian nationals to travel in this region. This road is buried in snow for almost 8 months in a year.

A few words about this road would be in order. G.R.E.F. the road construction wing of the Border Road Organisation has lost almost one life for each kilometre of the road constructed, a �memorial� to above 400 personnel. My salute to them! The terrain is utterly inhospitable and weather extremely unfriendly. The temperature suddenly plummets below 0 degrees and during winters, the normal night temperature hovers around � 35 degrees and daytime, shoots up above 40 degrees.

It passes through 5 high passes, is the highest motorable road in the world, GREF plough�s about 1.7 lac . C.U.M.T of snow for every 100 kms which takes over 3 months, employing over 300 personnel and about a dozen snow cutters! At many places, the road is covered with over 20 feet snow.

Though open for just about 90 days in a year, it assumes importance because of it�s strategic importance, being so close to hostile neighbours.

I had started my journey from Bangalore and had reached Delhi early July, making halts at several places in between. The journey was un-eventful and passing through Kasauli, Solan, Shimla & Kullu, I reached Raison, where the Himachal Tourism runs a camping site on the banks of the river Beas. I pitched the one-man-tent with a little help from the caretaker of the camp, Shri Brahma Dutt. Raison is an apple orchard country and according to legend, the Pandavas visited this place, atleast thrice in their chequered lives! Next to the camp site runs the river Beas (derived from Rishi Vyas) where I had an exhilarating cold bath. This being the first night out in the open, without the protection of the � four walls�, the wind howling and the gurgling waters of the river making tremendous noise, I barely slept that night.

Early next morning, leaving the apple country behind, I reached Manali where I had breakfast of aloo paratha with dahi along with delicious pachranga pickles. After meandering around for a couple of hours in the Manali market, I tanked up the bike tank with petrol and an additional 25 litres in 2 jerry cans that I had purchased at Bilaspur, the previous day. Beyond Manali, there would be no petrol pump for the next 470 kms, till I reached Leh! (remember, this was way back in July 1989! When I travelled later in 2004, I noticed that a petrol pump had come up in Keylong, the District head quarters). The next 41 kms to Rohtang Pass is a driver�s delight. A halt at Marrhi, some hot tea, I met the Prince of Leh � Karma. He was on a bike with a friend, they were both on a Bullet mobike, accompanying them was another Ladakhi, on a brand new Yamaha RX 100, purchased from Chandigarh and proceeding to Leh.

After a brief halt, we all travelled together, admiring the breath-taking view of snow peaked mountains from the top of Rohtang. All tourists turn back at this point (1989, remember!) We reach Khoksar (from Manali, the other side of Rohtang). Here, I had to make my first entry at the police outpost. From here, the road was restricted to the Military and I am proud to be the � 1^st entry� in their register!

Late in the evening, we reach Keylong, the district head quarters of Lahaul, 110 kms from Manali. It has taken almost 10 hours to reach and we decide to stay at the Dak Bungalow�s 2 tents for the night. Karma�s friend has a problem with the bike, several local �mechanics� tries to repair the bike but the bike catches fire instead! Heard the adage- too many mechanics spoil the bike?

Karma and myself share one tent and we talk of our families, culture, the hardships the Ladakhis face due to the extreme inhospitable weather. We talk late into the night and then doze off.....

The next morning, they plan to stay in Keylong, �import� a mechanic from Manali and Rezin- the Ladakhi, decides to stay in Keylong. During breakfast, i meet a Danish couple, who are travelling on 2 Yamaha 600 CC bikes.

The tarred road after Khoksar had tapered off, and then on, the �road� was rough, slippery with mud and snow, surrounded by deep gorges on both sides. They decide to accompany me and after a hefty lunch, we are on our way, hoping to reach Sarchu, 115 kms from Keylong.

The terrain got more difficult every kilometre that we travelled. The road was so tough that, we could not reach Sarchu and it was well past sunset that, we reached 2 abandoned tin sheds. We planned to stay in the tin shed for the night. We had managed to travel just 85 kms that day.

Getting up early next morning, we were amazed to see the pond behind the shed had frozen during the night. Though July is summer in this region, the night temperature plummets well below 0 degrees & during the day, it shoots up above 35 degrees centigrade. Though bright and shining just a few minutes earlier, the sun just disappeared and the sky was covered with dark clouds within no time and lo and behold, I experienced my first hailstorm! As we started towards Sarchu which was still 28 kms away, there was a rock-fall and we had some difficulty in going through the debris.

We reached Sarchu a couple of hours later, where we came across a police check-post. It took some time for the officials to permit the foreigners to drive through, with a lot of convincing from me. Later, the Danish couple and me decided to part ways, as they had plans of trekking in this region for a few days. They were short of petrol and borrowed 10 litres from my stock.

The next two and half days were a harrowing experience to me. I had expected to cover the entire distance in one single day. That was not to be! The entire journey of 470 kms from Manali to Leh took all of 4 days!

Though the snow on the road is cleared off by GREF, the snow on the mountains and hills on the sides of the road start melting as the sun rises. The trickle early in the morning, turns into torrential flow of cold water from the slopes, onto the road, going down the valley. At about 3 to 4 spots, you cannot cross across after 3 or 4 pm, the height and the flow of the r is enough for you to be carried away down the valley. I came across such a rapid where the height of the waters was almost 3 feet, I decided to drive through. Unfortunately, the rear wheel got stuck in between two stones, I panicked, raised the accelerator which engaging the clutch and then, the most horrendous happened- the clutch plates got burnt! With great difficulty, I go the bike out from the water, had to spot jog for almost 45 minutes to get the numbness out . With a lot of tinkering and scraping of the plates that, I could resume my journey, albeit, at the speed of just 5- 10 kms an hour. Most of the journey then on, was in the 1^st and 2^nd gear due to the clutch burn out.

I was in a pretty bad situation. Because of the high altitude and lack of oxygen, I had a severe headache, breathless even with a little exertion, I could barely think straight. A shoe bite which hurt real bad added to the miseries. And now the clutch plates! During the night, I had a nightmare; the soldiers find my body, totally frozen! I realised how ill- equipped I was- no essentials like the torch/ matches/ watch/ proper winter clothing. With no pain killers and the shoe bite hurting, half the time I was riding in hawai chappals. The only solace was the breathless (no pun intended!) landscape and scenery.

The next day, I had to cross the formidable Tanglangla pass and the pace that day got slower because of tracts of sand. The next few kilometres, traversing was extremely difficult, more so with the burnt clutch plates. I had to invoke all the Hindu Gods to proceed further. Late evening, I reached the Upshi Military check post but could go no further as vehicles cannot travel beyond, after 6 pm. So near yet so far!

After 4 days of hard driving, totally famished, a groggy head and blood shot eyes, I entered Leh. Truly a Shangri-La for me. I felt, after these four days of such experiences, that I had matured by over a decade and much wiser. A piece of advice to a would be solo traveller on this route ( remember this was in 1989) Keep a diary, as the saying goes- � Dead men tell no tales�.

Trouble had begun in this region in 1989.....Leh was under curfew for almost a fortnight due to some violent incidents but fortunately, as I entered Leh, there were police vans going around, announcing the relaxation of curfew during the day. The petrol tank was almost dry and topped it up at the Indian Oil�s highest petrol station at 10500 feet above sea level.

After such a tiring but exhilarating journey, Leh was paradise, where I spent 3 nights, relaxing, visiting the world famous Gompas- Buddhist monasteries, a trip Khardungla- the highest motorable road in the world, feasting on the exotic delicacies of Ladakh, wondering- given a chance, would I ever travel on the same route, again? (Yes, after this trip, I have had the opportunity of travelling on the same route again twice, but by car).

Langkawi- Paradise Regained

Lukeskywalker — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:22 GMT

Twisting and turning on an uncomfortable airline seat, I look at my watch for the umpteenth time, it is 5 am Singapore time, I glance out of the window and like what I see, the dawn breaking over the ocean while I am at 11000 m above terra firma and travelling at some 840 km/hr.

Dawn Breaking
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This was a trip that almost never happened, my wife was to attend a conference at Singapore for two days and she wanted us to take yet another break, initially I was against it but then the temptation to travel always wins.
So began the hunt for some destinations in South East Asia which we have not seen yet. But the limitations I had set for myself like short duration, low cost and the acute shortage of preplanning time meant there were not too many places we could choose.

So we decided to go to some place we have already seen but will definitely not feel that a second visit is not worth it, LANGKAWI- the name screamed at us, the little piece of paradise on earth.

Now the hunt for airline tickets and places to stay started, I had less than a week to decide and book, so kept the broadband lines hot trying to book air tickets and hotels. I suddenly discovered that a ticket which was available the previous day suddenly showed as not available the next, so it seemed like curtains for the trip, but then a colleague of my wife suddenly discovered a flight which was within our budget and rightly timed, so instantly booked it and we were on. The hotels were the easier choice, we had seen some places in Langkawi and knew more or less as to which part of town we wanted to stay.

November 13- Day 1

My flight from Bangalore took off at 5 minutes past midnight and reached Singapore at 6.55 am, I disembarked and wandered out through the magnificient Changi international where I had to kill around 4 hours before boarding the flight to Langkawi. But airports are interesting places, I never get bored watching people.

The ATC
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The Skytrain at Changi
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My wife joined me at the airport and we checked in together. The Air Asia flight was full and left on time. An hour and 15 minutes later I peeped out of the window and saw the islands approaching.

View of Langkawi from the air
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Landing at langkawi international airport we went straight to the numerous car rental booths in the airport and hired ourself a car- a Toyota Vios, it cost us 240 RM for two days of usage.
I drove out of the airport carefully as I am not used to driving an automatic, but quickly got the hang of it and drove to our resort. Enroute we stopped at the Telaga Harbour which is a beautiful and scenic quay.

Telaga Harbour
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Me by the quay
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We drove into our beach resort - Mutiara Burau Bay and checked in.

Mutiara Burau Bay
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The reception
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The pool at the resort
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The Villas
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We took an hour long nap and decided to drive around town.

...contd.

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We all have only 'One Life to Ride'.

singingyogi — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:31:49 GMT

Hi Friends,

The 2nd. edition of my book 'One Life to Ride - A Motorcycle Journey to the High Himalayas' was released on November 1, 2009. It is a 232 page paperback plus 8 pages of colour photos. The book is about a 4300 kms solo ride I took from Pune to Ladakh/Kargil/Srinagar in 2004 at age 54.

I plan to publish a few excerpts of the book in this forum. I will also include pictures of the trip in my next posting. For now, I'm putting up the part where the trip begins. A picture of the book cover is also included.

***
Come to the edge.
We can’t.
We’re afraid.
Come to the edge.
We can’t.
We will fall!
Come to the edge.
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.

Guillaume Apollinaire,

1880-1918

French poet, philosopher

Martial Law for a Motorcyclist
It has rained the night before and the morning air retains a degree of chill. Sunrise in Pune is still an hour away. A faint wisp of mist all around limits visibility but that’s really no bother since traffic is sparse this early in the morning, with only the occasional car hurrying away towards Mumbai, lost to sight in less than half a minute.
I open the visor of my helmet to welcome the feel of cold breeze on my face but in the bargain also have to contend with the loud gushing sound that accompanies it. That doesn’t feel good, so I pull down my curtain of Plexiglas to enclose myself again in my capsule-like helmet cutting off noise and letting exhaled air, circulating in an enclosed space, warm my face. The dark sunscreen of the visor tints everything around me in a cloak of grey-blue. New buildings looking like boxes of blue glass sprouting on a lawn of grey concrete dominate the landscape on either side of the highway. I am just out of Pune, headed northwest on National Highway 4 (NH-4) passing through a suburb in the making.
Roads are being laid. Yellow and red excavators and bulldozers appear crouched and waiting, as if anxious for another day of hectic activity. One of the big machines, its hood open, is being revved up by a grease-smudged young man. Where not too long ago, the ears heard the tinkling of bells as oxen helped plough the farmland; it is now the reign of the internal combustion engine.
The past is literally being bulldozed away. And the trucks cart away more than just old bricks, broken chunks of cement and warped rods of rusted steel. If you looked closely you would also see bits of songs and pieces of folkdances crumpled within this rubble; torn pages of history which no one wants to read today.
Going… going… gone.
A fast moving bright blue Volvo bus is overtaking me on my right and abruptly my focus shifts to the NOW.

These early minutes of the ride are a period of adjustments. Taking a firmer grip of the handle, slowing down a bit, I stand on the footrests and let the trousers settle to their natural fall. The thin chamois leather gloves take their time fitting comfortably over my fingers. These gloves are old and shaded dark with patches of dried grease and sweat accumulated over previous rides. I have a brand new pair tucked somewhere in one of the saddle-bags, but they are thickly lined with down and I will need them only when I approach the cold Himalayan ranges.

A checklist unfolds in the brain – a motorcyclist’s version of a pre-flight check.
One cluster of thoughts monitors the overall health of the motorcycle and remains alert to any sign of deviation from its current peak mechanical condition. I am glad I opted for the streamlined saddle-bags which have been loaded and checked for balance on a sample ride the previous evening. The heavier spares and tools have been divided and packed for easier accessibility. On the highway, you don’t want to open up the entire bag because the small spanner you need to tighten the brakes is inconveniently packed. The mechanic in me is processing a variety of other inputs. Do the tyres maintain the correct amount of spring in their step? Are the clutch and accelerator cables gliding smoothly in their casings? Do the brakes feel right? Are the tappets still on friendly terms with the actions of the piston? It is too early in the ride for things to start going wrong with the motorcycle and such monitoring will gain importance only as the miles add on. All questions answered for now, these motorcycle-connected thoughts fade from centre stage to be replaced by another cluster, which is focused on rider-status.
Is the body sitting in natural bilateral alignment? Are the muscles of the forearms holding the handle with more than necessary effort? Are the ankles and feet too tensed? Are the eyes squinting without reason? Is the forehead unnecessarily creased? It’s going to be a long ride and tiny muscular stresses can build up over a period of time to become major points of contention. The heart, at its own 72 beats a minute cannot, at first, keep pace with the much faster beat of the engine, but I try out a variety of mental calibrations and soon the equation is adjusted to read: One heart beat = four engine beats. There… the ‘dugh… dugh… dugh… dugh’ of the four-stroke engine is now also the beat my body is synchronized to.
Now that that’s all set, I can forget about my body. Just water it, feed it and rest it and it should be fine. I don’t have to get too involved in ‘body-gossip’. To this end, I have delegated all body duties; so each organ can take care of itself as well as cooperate with its colleagues. No complaints or pleas for help will be entertained, be they from exhausted muscle groups, finicky taste buds or sore eyes. Sometimes such martial law announcements are required to keep all the millions of cells that constitute this miracle of a body functioning in some sort of physiological harmony. I cannot have mutiny on board!
But neither will I push my subjects to the limits of their endurance. I am a benevolent, loving dictator. (Doesn’t every dictator think that?) I will rest frequently. Every 50 minutes or so, I will stop to rehydrate the body machine. Water is an elixir that I carry in adequate supply.
Other fundamental commandments have been agreed upon. I will ride only in daylight and will let the progress of the day’s ride decide where I will sleep for the night. Also, I have promised Meena I will not litter.

I’m approaching a junction where this new bypass that I’ve been riding on joins with the old highway.
An octroi check post on my left wears its usual garland of loaded trucks with their spillage of drivers waiting their turn. One of the drivers has his face covered in white foam and is using the large rear view mirror of his truck to shave. Young boys dart between the trucks, some ferrying glasses of hot chai, others selling newspapers or cigarettes. This place is organized to wait. I ride through the melee at snail’s pace. I can hear a radio asking everyone an easy question: ‘Choli ke peeche kya hai?’ But it’s too early in the morning for that sort of thing. Or is it?

to be contd.

Srisailam, the forest and hills surrounding and the Tungabhadra : A cherished trip

Akadian — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:23:44 GMT

Hi friends,

I had made inquiries about the route from Kolhapur to Srisailam many months ago. The trip finally took place this month on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. On 7th, we started at 6 am from Kolhapur and since it was early morning there was not much congestion on the Kolhapur - Miraj section. After Miraj, the conditions actually improved and I made it to Solapur in good time. After that, the NH-9 was not bad and I had reached Pattancheru by 1:30 pm. Had some work in Lingampally and spent the rest of the day till 7 pm there.

Started from Lingampally and made it to the Bangalore road, where I had dinner at a restaurant called "Parivar" that evening. Proceeded to Jadcherla and spent the night at a place called Balaji Lodge. Would not recommend this to anybody else. It would be better to spend the night in Hyderabad or Shamsabad.

The next day, I proceeded to a place called Binjanapalli and from there took a left towards Achempet. Had a flat tire soon after that when a huge flock of sheep and goats was crossing the road and I was trying to somehow cross to the other side of them. I felt a kid played a prank as a sharp piece of wood or was it bone (not sure between the two) just entered the left rear tire perfectly. On looking back I saw a kid with a sling looking my way. I think he may have done the damage. Put on the spare tire after extracting that piece and proceeded as there was nobody in that small village who could have repaired the puncture.

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The drive from that point was bewitching. The hilly ways started and the scenic views were everywhere. Reached Srisailam without any more incidents and spent some time there, had lunch as well. Before starting again, I thought whether I should proceed to Dornal or go back to Achempet. A thought struck me that what I had already seen holds no hidden promises whereas never know what the unknown path had in store. With that in mind, proceeded to Dornal and found the going excellent till there. But after Dornal, the drive to Atmakur was full of broken roads and big potholes. Reached Kurnool before sunset but needed to access an ATM and also needed some diesel. Spent some time doing these things and making inquiries. People said the road to Mantralayam is good and I believed them.

None of you should as there were numerous places where the roads were broken and the darkness did not help. In short, this is not a stretch for after dark.

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Trip to Thekkady- Theni, Madurai

Majic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:02:30 GMT

Hello all ! This is my first attempt in writing a travelogue and my first drive after a long gap of 4 years. I have taken inspiration from a lot of people in the forum and would try to match the standards.

The plan: function of Wife’s relative at Madurai ( that’s wife’s idea) my excuse , yes we need to go there for the function ( I am just looking forward to the drive)
To drive down: Indica Vista, running in at 11k km
The route : Kottayam, Kanjirapally, Ponkunnan, Mundakayam, Vandiperiyar, Kumily, Thekkady( a small break planned here) Kambab, Uttamapalayam, Usilampatti, Sakkunarani and Madurai

Well, wife has already got the planning going, she is going back to Tamil nadu after a long time and she was really looking forward to it. I as usual tied up with work was looking for a break and that’s when the invitation came. It has been really long time since I had been to Madurai, the last time I was there as a part of tour. I didn’t mind going and she didn’t have to prod me more, she was really surprised as I had agreed to this, mostly I would be saying , No da! I have an important meeting this weekend. She looked at me and asked; Are you sure that you want to do this trip? Nothing important this week? I just smiled at her and said, anything for you!

Well that's just the beginiing, will post more with pictures!

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Our maiden road trip on motorbikes..destination Bandipur !!!

s3va — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:09:04 GMT

It all began during one of our Tea breaks at office that we decided to venture out for a road trip on motorbikes. Fortunately, being in a gang of like minded people with similar tastes to explore places around, it was easier to finalize the place and date of travel.

Being our first bike trip, we wanted to test our endurance and then chart out our subsequent trips. Hence we decided that lets head off to the Bandipur Forests, stay for a night and return the next day. All in all a 500 kms ride !!!

Place of stay: Referred some TBHP travelogues, called up & reserved rooms at MC Resort. But we changed the place later as we managed to find a better place by the name Tusker Trails for a cheaper price.(I found this place while going to Masinagudi with my family)

Number of riders: 4 - Ram, Rajesh, Sunil, Siva(Self)
Date of Travel: 6 Nov,
Return Date: 7 Nov
Total Kms planned : ~530 roundtrip

Route: Pretty Straightforward
BLR----MYS---Gundalpet---Bandipur

The bike choice obviously was the most widely used Indian cruiser, BULLET and of course without any Pillion as we decided to ride the bikes single. We did a check list of the bikes that we owned and the feasibility of taking them onto the highways. I owned a Shogun and straightway ruled out, as the bike was not fit enough for long rides. The others didn�t own any bikes at all, except for Sunil who owned a Bullet of his own. A quick Google and IndiaMike.com helped us to find a guy�s number in Bangalore who does road trips on Bullets, of course for a cost. He agreed to loan his Bullets (2 nos. for Self and Rajesh) and the above puzzle was thus solved. By then, one of the members (Ram) managed to loan a bullet from his friend. So all set on the bike front!!!

We quickly worked on the budget required for the trip, and everyone seemed to be ok with it. Now the toughest part was obtaining approval from everyone�s family, as we were all married and most of us even had kids to manage. Fortunately we had hinted our families sometime back about this trip in the planning stage and hence we had to spend less time convincing our families about the trip. With a couple of re-assurance statements and since the gang was well known to the wives, the wives nodded YES to the trip!! :D

I had gauged the road conditions during my earlier trip to Masinagudi along with my family. BLR to MYS as every one knows were quite good. MYS to Najangud, parts of the roads were patchy; especially the patches would be felt really hard while on motorbikes. From Gundalpet for about 6-8 kms there weren�t any roads, as a result of PWD work. From there on till Bandipur forest, the roads were good, though not excellent.

Having briefed the gang about the road conditions, everyone seemed to be take on all sort of conditions, be it roads, weather, breakdowns etc. A week before the trip we visited a puncture workshop where the guy taught us to remove the wheels of the bikes just in case the tyres go flat. We also bought a spare tube, clutch and accelerator cables in case we needed them beyond Mysore where getting Bullet parts would be out of question.

The evening before the travel day, we went to the rental guy to collect 2 bikes. One was a flaring red 99 model and the other a 2001 model. Checked the conditions of the bikes and found them to be proper, with our limited knowledge on Bullet. The guy also assured us that the bikes were serviced and won�t let us down through the trip. We parted ways to our respective houses and planned to meet at 530am on Old Madras road to begin our trip. I went to sleep with oodles of excitement thinking about my maiden bike trip due next morning (though I had done few bike trips in my college, but not to the length of 500 kms)

Day 1:

On 6 Nov, I woke up at 4 am and started preparing for the trip. Checked my bag, purse, clothes, and all those stuffs required for the travel. My son was still fast asleep and my wife came to the basement of my apartment to see me off. Tied the bag with the help of a bungee chord, decompressed the engine and with 3-4 kicks, the bullet started to thump. Bid bye to my wife, and headed off to meet the gang at old Madras road.

By about 5.40 am the gang came by. The sound of 3 bullets approaching still rings in my head, what an awesome sound the bullets made when they rode together!!! We decided to top our fuel tanks at the Shell bunk on Mysore road.

As most of us, except for 1, were not frequent bullet riders, it took some time for us to navigate through the traffic (YES, BLR was clogged even at day break) and reached Shell petrol bunk. Topped up our tanks, took a snap, and kicked off our maiden road trip on bikes!!!..

more updates to follow..meanwhile some pics below !

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