[mh09ad5578]

Magic with words! just brilliant. Have already shared it with all my riding and travel friends. The pics, the narration is drool-worthy. Eagerly Awaiting further posts. Kudos and thanks for sharing!

[//M]

Wow a motorcycling trip of such magnitude, both in terms of distances and duration, calls for a coffee table book and some amount of leisure time to go through the narration and pictures.

Incredible story telling and droolworthy pictures. Eager to read the rest of the report. Once this travelogue is complete, I think l am going to get page-wise printout of this entire report and read it every now and then, for the right amount of motivation to dream of doing such a trip on a motorcycle someday, God and family willing !

[Mortis]

Great travelogue and journey ! I unfortunately have a bit of advice/criticism for you. The entire first post before the journey begins could be shortened a bit. Right now it feels like when you look up a recipe and the chef starts out with an unnecessary story from their childhood nor something.

[ToThePoint]

Awesome travelogue Red Liner. Have to hand it to you guys for pure guts to undertake such a treacherous journey into the unknown with just 2 weeks to spare. But like they say 'Unplanned journeys give the best memories'.

Loved the 'not knowing' part and the amazing pictures...keep them coming!!!

[ruzbehxyz]

Dera Red Liner

Thanks for sharing.
Excellent travel thread. Enjoyed every bit of it.
Will definitely use this for my future plans.
This will be very useful for future travelers to North East.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I unfortunately have a bit of advice/criticism for you. The entire first post before the journey begins could be shortened a bit. Right now it feels like when you look up a recipe and the chef starts out with an unnecessary story from their childhood nor something.

For your information HE has written HIS travel story in HIS own way, and there are no rules. If it is bothersome to read you could always skip a part or an entire story which is upto you.

KK

[Ganapathy]

Hi Red line - Awesome writing You really are a gifted story teller ! This travelogue of yours may just be the clincher to help me convince my friends to do something similar.

Hats off to you guys for even contemplating this trip . You guys are really an inspiration to the rest of us dudes who get our pleasure vicariously by reading travelogues and live hoping, just desperately hoping, that by some miracle One blessed day we may just for once stop drooling over travelogues like these and get on our Bikes to be a part of a similar journey. Eagerly await the rest of your story

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

For your information HE has written HIS travel story in HIS own way, and there are no rules. If it is bothersome to read you could always skip a part or an entire story which is upto you.

KK

What I meant is the topic is exciting but the story was taking too long to start leading to impatience ! No offence was meant

[Red Liner]

Day 5

We split from our dear Himalayan friend and let him trundle on to this destination for the day. We were off to our own manna for the night, but not before a few poser shots at a nondescript spot on the highway.








I had only been parked a few minutes when...



That should give you a hint of how frightfully hot it was that day. And we were in the first week of March! I dreaded what it would be like in May.

As we kept riding, I felt pain in my palms. I needed a short halt. This was why.


After a full 5 days and 3000 kms on the trot, this was the state of my hands. My palms weren't yet accustomed to long days in the saddle until this trip on this bike. When you let go off riding for a while, it takes the body and mind some time to get re-accustomed to being on the road for days in a row. I wasn't complaining though. Okay, maybe a little bit haha.

We had ridden through some of the worst parts of this province or state called West Bengal. Now we were riding through some of the most picturesque parts of this place.



So much so I re-christened it "Best Bengal".


We reached our hotel without much ado. And as usual, we spent the evening exploring this little town Mangaldoi.


It was also festival day, Shivratri.

Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance. It is a major festival in Hinduism, and this festival is solemn and marks a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, non-injury to others, charity, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees keep awake all night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage.

We spent some time in a local temple to get some positive vibes for our very own pilgrimage. And then walked out into the nightly celebrations.


The sun rises far earlier in the East of the country. Actually the Sun rises exactly when its supposed to ride, but India has a single time zone for the entire country. India is almost 3,000 km wide but has one time zone. India lies east of the Greenwich Meridian line between 68.7 degrees and 97.25 degrees longitudes. Since every 15 degrees of longitude corresponds to one hour, there is a time difference of almost two hours between the western most and eastern most points of the country. This means that if someone living in the western end of the country (Gujarat) experiences sunrise at 6 am, the other end (Arunachal Pradesh) has already seen it at 4 am.

Insane. So we were up by 4 am without delay and went walking out for a cup of tea.



It was soon time to roll.

[diesel_head]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Great travelogue and journey ! I unfortunately have a bit of advice/criticism for you. The entire first post before the journey begins could be shortened a bit. Right now it feels like when you look up a recipe and the chef starts out with an unnecessary story from their childhood nor something.

So when you have a write up, please apply your suggestions to that. Else send a private message to OP with such frivolous comments.

[pcpranav]

excellent, superb, awesome !!
this is really a well narrated travelogue - writing style is lovely.
This is an epic ride which you both have done, lots to explore and lots to discover - outside and within ! Thanks for sharing with us. waiting for more.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by diesel_head

So when you have a write up, please apply your suggestions to that. Else send a private message to OP with such frivolous comments.

Will definitely keep that in mind. Although I don't see any harm in expressing an opinion on a piece of written media as we do with other similar things.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Will definitely keep that in mind. Although I don't see any harm in expressing an opinion on a piece of written media as we do with other similar things.

No worries Mortis. All criticism is good. No criticism is bad.

I write to please myself first, and the audience if any next. If what we do doesn't make us happy, and instead is only driven to make others happy and gain acceptance, our happiness will always be driven by people around us, and not from within us.

Something for all of us to ponder, on a Friday morning.

Hope you will be with us to enjoy the rest of the report together.

[ABHI_1512]

Brilliant start to a write up that I was so eagerly looking forward to, lovely pictures, heartwarming anecdotes and the enjoyment of two riders thriving in each other’s company. Keep them coming Red Liner, waiting eagerly for the rest of the log, specially for the Arunachal and Sikkim leg of your journey.

Regards.

[Arjun Bharadwaj]

Refreshing the thread 5-6 times a day to see if the next leg of the journey has been posted

What cruising speeds did you guys have to maintain on the journey sir? All the more curious because you rode along a Himalayan for sometime which is a relatively slower cruiser.