[hvkumar]

You must have your international roaming activated to get mobile connectivity in Bhutan.

[ishotmydog]

jaykis i would also like to meet before you go man, i stay close to hadapsar. chalega?

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by ishotmydog

jaykis i would also like to meet before you go man, i stay close to hadapsar. chalega?

No issues dude..hoping to catch up with you too..I swear..i havent met more committed ppl in life..Should be there by 5.00 am. (hope someone wakes me up )

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Captdey

Where is the Motel at " Raigunj " or at " Dalkhola " ?
I remember seeing one at " Raigunj " is it the same
you are talking about ?

Cheers

The motel is at Dalkhola, on NH31, as Mr. Kumar has explained. Raiganj has Tourist Lodge (on NH34) and a couple of hotels/ lodges in town.

Originally Posted by JayKis

@SVBond..Yup thats a mandatory thing....The question is the range of airtel in all these places..

@Sutripta..I guess thats the case if you go via CAL...But we would be going via Bardhaman..

For Bhutan you'll need international roaming. And Bhutan international roaming rates are very high.

If via Barddhaman, it means youll just brush past Cal, saving 20 + 20 Km. Still quite a bit more than your figure. There is another route, KGP - Bankura - Durgapur Barrage - Darjiling More using NH60. Shorter. Looks good on a map. DONT even think about it.
I would still suggest NH34. Instead of turning left on NH2, turn right, take the original Bally bridge and Belghoria expressway, and you are on NH34 in no time at all. Though officially bikes are not allowed on the expressway, no one bothers. You'll just have to use the old bridge.

Safe and enjoyable journey

Sutripta

[MX6]

Originally Posted by JayKis

Wow..thats some commitment you got!!!!!..Well hope to meet you up in Hadapsar...This is probably the first time I would be travelling on that route..SO have no idea where the Shiva temple is..But a combination of google maps and my hunch tells me it would be the one in front of the Hadapsar ind estate..PLz correct me if am worng...



@Ampere..Thanks a lot..That book i hrd is awesome..Havent read it so far thou..Let me ride and experience it first and then read it and find the similar items What say???

You get off the bridge that goes over the hadapsar ind estate and the first signal you see there is the landmark. Left turn goes to Magarpatta city/ mundhawa. Straight to hadapsar gadital and then eventually to solapur.
Right side is the shiva temple. They are constructing a bridge over that signal. We will surely catch up. I'll call at 4:30.

And yes, read it, find the similar items then right your own book!

[ampere]

By the way the author in that book also started from Pune !!!

[MX6]

Sorry JayKis. My mobile phone conked out last night. I tried re-installing the firmware. Then the back up went for a toss. Now my mobile starts, but don't get any network. Just an error message - no access to network.
Due to this issue, I was up late till 3 am. Was too eager to meet you and didn't want to sleep, fearing not being able to wake up early. The last I remember was around 4:20 am. Dozed off without my knowledge in a seated position with my laptop on. When I woke up, I kicked myself looking at the clock reading 10 am.

Will try to catch you on your way back! That's a promise.

[wanderernomad]

From Psholing go to Thimpu first to get the permits. Plus the road is in very bad shape for about 35 kms after Lacchusanj ( almost right, I Hope). This is about 72 Kms after Psholing. But even here the road is bad in patches as repair and widening work is in progress. The speed will be very slow and it will be very dusty too. Keep this factor in mind.

[cyclops]

Sorry for digging up an old thread. But just wanted to check how was the trip?

[saket77]

I bet that if the trip was done, the OP can make a REAL material travelogue out of that.

[Majumdarda]

I wish to go on a motorcycle round roadtrip from Pune to Kharagpur and back. [Bullet 500]
So please can someone advise if this trip was successfully completed? If not updated overhere, is there any other threads I should be looking into.
Please advise.

Best regards,

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by cyclops

Sorry for digging up an old thread. But just wanted to check how was the trip?

My apologies for not updating this thread. The trip had gone very successfully albeit 3 years back.

Originally Posted by saket77

I bet that if the trip was done, the OP can make a REAL material travelogue out of that.

I tried writing the first few days of the travelogue and then went to sleep. You just woke me up from the slumber and i will try to do justice to this thread.

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

I wish to go on a motorcycle round roadtrip from Pune to Kharagpur and back. [Bullet 500]
So please can someone advise if this trip was successfully completed? If not updated overhere, is there any other threads I should be looking into.
Please advise.

Best regards,

I didnt go via the Pune -Nagpur-Raipur route because there was Naxal issues going on at that time.

I went via Pune-Hyderabad-Vizag-BHubaneswar route and that was in good shape at that time. Pune- Hyderabad is double lane and so is Hyderabad- Rajamundry (please check if it has been made four laned) From Rajamundry onwards it should be four lane till kharagpur.

I was able to do Pune-Khammam (around 750 kms on the first day. Second day did only till Vizag as I had to meet my friend in Vizag and get his bike serviced.

I think one way journey should be around 2000 kms and it would be a comfortable 3 day trip. For return it would be a 6 day trip. Just to make things interesting you could choose one route while going and the other route when coming back.

Please check with HVKumar on how are the current road conditions.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by JayKis

My apologies for not updating this thread. The trip had gone very successfully albeit 3 years back.

Great Jay. Why are you keeping us upstage of this adventurous travelogue. Bring it on man, no matter if the trip was done in 2010.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by JayKis

My apologies for not updating this thread. The trip had gone very successfully albeit 3 years back...

Welcome back JayKis. Let it be three years old now. Please let us know how was the trip, what all you saw and more importantly "the images".

Probably after three years, you will have to concentrate more on the write up, but yours was a motorcycle trip. It is a total different thing to make such a ride on a motorcycle and then read about it. It will be motivational bible for many like me.

Please share with us.

[JayKis]

The trip to Bhutan
Epilogue:


Disclaimer
All the characters mentioned in this are real and any resemblance to any person living or dead is entirely intentional. The characteristics of the characters may or may not be real.

Characters:
Lawyer: True to his name he is an aspiring lawyer but caught in the wrong industry. He can never be politically and diplomatically incorrect.
Bevdaas: Bevdaas is no brother of Devdas. He is the man who brought many liquor companies out of bankruptcy on his 3 month stint to UK. He is the only man who has seen the world from “west to east”. His favorite song is “Saat Samundar Paar mein UK Peeke aagaya, mein UK peeke aagaya” starring Divya Bharti in Vishwatma.
Don: Anything related to the DON is pure intrigue and moreover I don’t want to die. Don doesnot exist and no one has ever claimed to have seen the DON. Rumor has it that the only way to spot him is near a dukhaan selling Bhajia Pav.
Poet: Poet was nick named thy for his apparent lack of creativity. He is the only human being ever married to a bike. The reason: Bikes don’t call up thrice in a day, do emotional atyachaar and don’t have to match any Horrorscopes to get married to one.
Road Rash: True to his name, rides bikes in any sort of way that a normal person does not and cannot. Wheelies and stoppies are his specialty. He is capable of riding any bike like a rocket and is pursued by both ISRO and NASA for his exemplary skills.
DJ: Aspiring Disc Jockey living in the land of the Nizams. Develops instant affinity to any pretty thing that moves on two legs.
SUB: Short for Submarine. A cousin of the Poet. Named thy for living under water.
Teacher: A cousin of Road Rash and a teacher of many a nursing canary.
Taipan: Like his Australian counterpart, known to offer stinging remarks if you aggrieve him. Found in the jungles of Guwahati and Bangalore. Also an avid photographer and known for his penchence for routers.
KayMoo: That’s his original name. An avid globe trotter and a caroms player.

This mother of all trips was the lawyers brainchild. The lawyer had been to the UK for a couple of months and was deputed in Chennai. He wanted some sort of escapade on his bike when he got back to Pune. Bhutan appealed the most to him as this was the only peaceful place in the north east. Lawyer dropped the bomb on the table and the Poet eagerly jumped in. Bevdaas was in the UK, so too was the DON. Bevdaas' return to Pune was on the cards but it was scheduled in March. The poet could not wait for such a long time as the danger of the swiss canary was looming on him. The poet wanted to make it to Bhutan before the swiss canary got him. Don had more serious businesses running in the UK and hence was unavailable. So it was left to the lawyer and the poet to chalk out a schedule that would take them to the makzut called Bhutan .

The Poet and the Lawyer spend a couple of days working out on the roles and responsibilities. That’s when the Poet accidentally came in contact with Road Rash . Road Rash was in for the trip. Now the itinerary was chalked out by the Poet and the Lawyer and was versioned more than four times before the ultimate version was chalked out with the help of subject matter expert HVK of team-bhp fame. HVK gave the pass certificate to the plan and the trip was ready to be executed
Next thing on line was the info on obtaining permits and the Indian consulate was contacted in Phuentsholing for the thorough process. Apparently all u needed was a passport or a voters id card and visa would be given for arrival. Similarly permits needed to be taken for the bikes and the docs needed where the usual ones (RC+ Insurance).
So everyone were ready to roll and that’s when the unexpected news came. The Lawyer had got the summons from the Judge and hence would not be able to make it! That was a major setback. No amount of manipulation and coercion would work with him. So it was left to just the Poet and Road Rash to execute the trip. The final date was decided as Feb 23. Road Rash would start from Blore and Poet would follow the next day from Pune.
Now it was an individual game. Each had to get things for himself and his bike and there was only one weekend left. Poet always wore safety gear and Road Rash never. Poet drove one of the oldest bikes and Road Rash the latest bikes (hence did not need anything for his bike). So the Poet had to get things for his bike and Road Rash for himself. The Poet had bought the much needed bike accessories for his solo trip to Kerala and that seemed to be enough. But there was a thing missing from the Poets biker wardrobe - waterproof boots. Poet pushed off to DSG and the price of a pair of boots popped his eyes out. 12K for a pair of waterproof boots!!! That was half the freaking cost of the trip!!! Poet rushed to the poor biker’s shop of Adventure world and bought a set of cramsters for a measly price of 4.8K. So the poet’s wardrobe was complete. DSG Jacket, Alpine Stars knee guards, Pro-Biker Gloves, Vega Helmet, Cramster Saddle Bags and finally the Cramster Boots. And a lonely planet to aid in the discovery of Bhutan.

Riding Gear


Poet called up Road Rash on his wherewithals and there was another set back. RR apparently was trying to wheelie his bike at rocket speeds and the rocket went beyond his control and had hurt his knee in the process .
So much of the trip! Sighed the Poet . He would have to make it all alone and he did not have enough craze and gas in his tank to do a solo trip. But Road Rash’s leg was apparently made of rubber and was back to normal the next day. Road Rash called up to say that the mission was on and he is on the way to his folks place to take rest and get his rubber polished. Well that’s what one call a good news! .

The day before the journey Road Rash called up (at 7.30 PM in the night)to say that he couldn’t find a biking store in the whole of Bangalore and was ready to ride without any gear . Road Rash still wasn’t serious about his safety inspite of his wheelie fall . Poet insisted on the safety gear and Road rash blitzed his way through heavy Bangalore traffic to a cramster store and managed to pull out a pair of bionic knee guards and an armoured jacket just before the shutters were pulled down.
So on Feb 23, Road Rash set off to XX and the Poet went to Office for his training. By evening Road Rash had made it to XX and the Poet had finished off his training and had packed his stuff for the early morning trip the next day. The teacher would be taking the train from Varanasi and catching up with the poet and Road Rash in Siligudi. The Poet eagerly opened up his laptop to scribble on face book the supposedly bold adventure he was ready to overtake. That’s when his old pal DJ came online after a small time frame of 5 years. Poet was ecstatic to meet DJ as he knew he was in Hyderabad and would come in handy in case of an eventuality. So the Poet promised a rendezvous with the DJ for Lunch in Hyderabad the next day.