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Day 8:
We bid adieu to Thimphu after breakfast today. The plan was to ride to Lobesa which would be our base for the day. Later in the evening, we would visit the famed Punakha Dzong.
We started our journey at 0830 today to Punakha. A few kms after Thimphu, we had to get the permits signed at a check post. We started to climb up gradually and reached the Dochula Pass at 1000. The cold was starting to feel with the finger tips going numb at some places. This was severe at places where the sun was shut off the sight. Parked the bikes and visited the 108 Chortens at the Dochula Pass.
We spent around half an hour there and took some pics.
And had some fun too
After all the fun we started to ride down the pass towards Lobesa.
In Thimphu, when I started the bike today, the engine did not start at the first crank. A bit of open throttle helped to start and the bike took fairly long to get into the idle. Well that was some hint to the things that was supposed to come here on the run down. The bike was parked for fairly long time on the Dochula Pass and the engine cooled down. The bike started with a small input to the throttle and we rode. As we started down, Suhas came on the radio and said Ice on road, be careful. With this everyone slowed down. I shut the throttle and the bike stalled. I was thrown down along with the bike, my first crash in 48000 odd kms on it. It was a slow speed crash and the bike skid for a few feet. A SUV following us stopped and a gentleman came to my help along with Dilip and Imran. We thanked the gentleman and parked the bike to a side and checked. Luckily it was damage to the handle guard alone, a small crack. Thanking Almighty, we started again to reach Lobesa for lunch.
Checked into Hotel Kingaling and ordered lunch. The rooms were large and spacious even with three beds, had a wonderful view with a private balcony overlooking a river.
The restaurant too was spacious and luxurious.
The lights were switched on one after the other and the following pictures depict the same.
After seeing the grandeur, we returned to the hotel, had a quiet dinner and hit the sack.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 99 kms
Start time: 0830 from Golden Roots Hotel in Thimphu
End time:1300 at Hotel Kingaling in Lobesa
Fuel expenses: 440INR
Food, Beverages and accommodation: 2023INR
Punakha Dzong was a wonderful experience
Helpful people around during troubled times
Day's lowlights:
Fall on the descent from Dochula Pass. My first one on the Ka in 48k kms.
Biting cold on the mountains.
Day 9
The plans for yesterday were tweaked once we reached Kingaling hotel. Phobjikha was on our radar yesterday and Punakha today, but as he team decided, we did Punakha yesterday and decided to do Phobjikha today. It turned out to be a good decision as the Punakha Dzong would open by 1100 and this meant the journey too Paro would have been delayed.
We started from the hotel at 0800 after having breakfast. The route was awesome with some landslides here and there. The high mountains on one side meant we were riding ni constant shadow and the cold started to creep in. The finger tips became numb after sometime. We stopped at a hotel for some tea at 0930. There was a bonfire next to the hotel which gave a relief to the frozen fingers.
We continued further up the mountain where we missed the turn to Phobjikha. Returned back to the turn off after asking a few locals for directions.
The road after this was almost non existent and we had to lower the pace significantly. We reached Phobjikha valley and stopped for a bio break.
The Phobjikha is the home to migratory bird, Black Necked crane. We wanted to see this bird and so we started to ride further before we left the town in dust. A few kms later, Imran spotted the bird and called out to all. But Suhas and Dilip were over a crest the moment he called and the intercom failed the same momment. We waited for them to return while we watched a couple of crane. A few minutes later, both of them arrived and Suhas was fuming for stopping. He was in no mood to listen adn so we turned back and started towards Paro.
The return was back on the same route and we had tea and filled up at Lobesa. After this, it was uneventful journey to Thimphu and further to Paro. I fell back a few times on the Dochula Pass as the fall yesterday was playing on my mind. Stopped at the place for a few minutes to analyse how I could have handled the situation and avoided that fall. We regrouped at the Dochula and then at the Thimphu gate. After this we rode together to Dharma Resort at Paro.
Some more pictures from the day.
And today does end with a special mention of Sandhya who went over all the obstacles to take a few pictures of us.
Without these, it would have been just memories.
Today happens to be more special as we happened to meet
Aashish_390 at Paro. Incidentally he started the same day as we did from Bangalore and happened to cross our paths more than a couple of times, but with the gears and helmet on, we could not identify ourselves. When Aashish posted his entry to Bhutan the day we entere, I replied to him and we were in constant touch throughout until we met here. Thanks a lot, Aashish for taking time out in the freezing cold and coming down to meet us. He beat me to travelogue as well with his nice, crisp and fast flowing one. Link here,
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...-ktm-duke.html Day's highlights
Distance covered: 252 kms
Start time: 0830 from Hotel Kingaling in Lobesa
End time:1700 at Dharma Resort in Paro
Fuel expenses: 400INR
Food, Beverages and accommodation: 66INR
Awesome winding roads.
Still awesome trails after the turn off from the highway. Others may differ with me, but I loved this part very much.
Imran and me had a close look at the Black Necked Crane.
Day's lowlights:
Phobjikha was a dud, maybe an one off day.
Still made worse with argument Imran and me had with Suhas.
Biting cold on the mountains.
Day 12
It was time to bid good bye to Bhutan and start our long journey back home. The host, Mrs. Sherub Zangmo was kind enough to provide us with some tea before we left. She insisted that we have it as it would make us fresh and keep us going. She also took a few pictures of us before we bid good bye to her.
We reached the Phuentsholing - Thimphu highway and turned towards Phunthsholing with a heavy heart. Miles went by quickly before we were at the checkpost where we got the permits stamped for the first time. We returned the permits and moved on. We exited the Bhutan gate at 1345 and into India.
In between we stopped for a hearty breakfast of Poori and Momo
We belted down the highway and stopped for a late scrumptious lunch
And finally made it to Siliguri at 1800. We encountered lot of traffic as we progressed.
Had a nice dinner at a small restaurant next to the hotel and hit the bed.
Suhas and Sandhya had a suite for themselves today. Tomorrow Sandhya will fly out of Bagdogra to Bangalore and we continue the journey on bikes.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 301 kms
Start time: 0830 from Dharma Resort in Paro
End time:1800 to Hotel Geetanjali Inn at Siliguri
Fuel expenses: 250INR
Food, Beverages and accommodation: 1014INR
we crossed over to India today.
Lunch was awesome fair today. Imran could gorge on some Chicken afer a long time.
Day's lowlights:
None.
Day 13
Started after breakfast to Bagdogra airport where Sandhya disembarked on the journey in a flight. Bid good bye to her.
However after this, the Google maps took us on some WIP state highway which made things worse. We finally managed to join the NH after navigating through village traffic. Added to this, the fuel stop where we stopped had a faulty card reader and we had to move on. Adding to the above, when we stopped for lunch, I found my hydration bag which was tied behind the tailpack missing. It contained a pair of shoes, flipflop, some spares, an allen key set and 27INR in coins.
We stopped for a late lunch at 1500 in Muzaffarpur. The service was awfully late but the food was good enough to overcome the delay.
And finally managed to reach our stop for the day, Sapphire Inn at Gorakhpur at 1930. The chains were lubed and made ready for the day ahead. Freshend up and had dinner at Sagar Rathna restaurant in ground floor. The sight of Dosa, Dahi Vada, Dahi Idly and filter coffee on the menu was welcome change.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 641 kms
Start time: 0830 from Hotel Geetanjali Inn at Siliguri
End time: 2000 to Hotel Saffphire Inn at Gorakhpur
Fuel expenses: 1764INR
Food, Beverages and accommodation: 1698INR
Ah!!! South Indian food in Gorakhpur.
Day's lowlights:
That wretched stretch of the SH and my hydration bag sacrifice.
Day 14
Another long day lay ahead of us today. So an early start was planned and we saddled up at 0500 only to realise Dilip's bike had a puncture. A lot of people on the street gathered on seeing us in gear and trying to plug the puncture. So we decided to move out and carry out the repair elsewhere. Inflated the tire a bit higher and we made the move. Some kms down the highway, we could find a puncture shop and corrected it. Breakfast was done with just before we hit Lucknow.
The elevated expressway in Lucknow was jammed as there was a serial accident which slowed us down, but me managed to run through the gaps and out of the jam in no time. It was a horrible sight of an i10 smashed beyond recognition along with couple of other cars and trucks. The Lucknow Jhansi stretch had lot of truck traffic and thereafter it was clear run.
Lunch was done and dusted early today by 1300. We had an awesome meal today, probably the best in the entire trip. The presentation, quality, quantity and the price were spot on.
Salad
Dal Tadka
Paneer butter masala
Roti
Dhal
Jeera rice
And a glass of Masal Chach.
The place
There was a bottle neck after lunch which lasted a few minutes and thenafter it was clear run. We stopped for a bio break on the MP MH border.
A few kms after this and 50kms to Sagar, a grinding noise from the front brakes ensured I had to stop. On examining the brake, I found the disk pads missing. Searched around 400m back and found nothing to match it. Called up Suhas and Co who were further ahead and reached them. We decided to remove the caliper body and safely wrap around the bike and move on. Dilip was the savior here as he wrestled and opened the tough mounting screws. With this the caliper was tied to the handle and we moved on. Suhas called the owner of the stay and he put us to a mechanic right away after we reached there. I rode to the place only to find that the pads were not available. By the time I returned, Suhas had called up Satkar Bajaj in Narsinghpur and the workshop Manager offered to help us the next day. With this, the day ended on a sour note.
Keeping tomorrow's picture rosy, if all things fell in place, there were two options ahead. Either Seoni or Chindwara. A quick call to
paragsachania tilted the favor to Seoni. The network of friends is really amazing as each one chips in with very useful information.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 821 kms
Start time: 0530 from Hotel Sapphire Inn at Gorakhpur
End time:1930 to Motel Keti Highway on Sagari bypass
Fuel expenses: 2366INR
Food, Beverages and accommodation: 1002INR
Lunch was awesome fair today.
Roads after Orai till Sagar was a breeze
Day's lowlights:
Smog due to fires after harvesting dotted the entire day.
Puncture to start the day on Dilip's bike
And Brake failure on my bike near Sagar to end the day.
Day 15 
The day began at 0630 with Suhas and Dilip ahead and IMran keeping a tab behind me. We stopped at a dhabha for a spicy aloo parantha.
While the parantha was being prepared, we pondered over the options available in front of us.
We managed to reach Narsinghpur by 0830 and the Gmaps sent us on a wild goose hunt trying to find Satkar Bajaj. Finally after interacting with a few locals, we managed to find the dealership. The guys took the bike to the service area and tried to find the brake pads and the screw holding it. But with no results. Finallywe decided to go to KTM Chindwara with Suhas calling the SA and getting the confirmation on the part availability. At this point I had to make a decision as Imran and Dilip had to work on 24th and any more delays will ensure we reach Bangalore a day after. After cajoling the entire group, they agreed to go ahead through Seoni and stay in Nizamabad that day and I would go to Chindwara and after repairs proceed to Nagpur or worst case, stay in Chindwara itself. A special mention of Mr. Ambarish and his team has to be made at this point as they went out of the way and tried to fix the bike.
So we parted the ways and I proceeded to Chindwara which I reached at 1245, just in time for lunch. But Feroz, the SA ensured my bike has been handed over to Arif who started working on the bike. As it seems, KTM has relocated to the Bajaj premises and the people there were not happy with the decision. The spare parts guy behind the counter took his own sweet time inspite of requesting. He said "Mein kaam kar raha hoon, thoda ruk ja" after whichit was an hour before the brake pads were handed over to Arif. After replacing the pads and with a makeshift locking screw from Satkar Bajaj, the bike was handed back at 1600. Feroz asked me to stay back and attend the launch of the Duke125 later that day,
But I Thanked Arif and Feroz for their timely hep and ran down to Nagpur where Suhas had managed to book a room to stay overnight. Reached Nagpur at 1845. Had an early dinner and hit the bed at 2030.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 388 kms
Start time: 0630 from Motel Keti Highway on Sagari bypass
End time:1930 to Oyo Flagship 070 Kanji House hotel in Nagpur
Fuel expenses: 640INR
The way people went out of their way to help us makes me dumb with no words to describe. If not for these people, I would have sure fallen by the wayside.
Day's lowlights:
Attitude of the spare parts department at Sunil Bajaj, Chindwara. These guys definitely need a slap on their face.
Idiots on MP roads with Scorpio and Creta. They drive as though the roads belong to them.
Day 16. D day, the day I wanted to reach Bangalore but now the situation has made me think twice if I can do it or not. Before I hit bed yesterday night, I mentally prepared myself to have a heave at the target. If I missed, I always knew I had another day on hand and not be crestfallen by the happenings.
0210: The alarm wakes me up gently. I wake up, get ready, gear up, pack my luggage and walk out of the room. The front desk guy has his jaw falling seeing me check out. I am bit delayed as the watchman is not traceable and the bawarchis who have come to prepare food for the wedding today are sleeping in front of my motorcycle. Overcoming these hiccups, I start the bike at 0312,a good 12 minute delay. I switched on the navigation and the hit the road. Since there are road construction and Metro I believe, the google lady takes me through some unknown area and finally onto the highway. Fuel up at the first available BP pump and pump up the throttle. Finally I am on my own.
I pass many sleepy towns and suddenly I am on a deserted stretch with the navigation gone. I move up some kms only to observe that there are no sign boards or lights for further few kms as I notice. I retrace back to the junction where I got onto the deserted road and rest the navigation and lo, behold I am back on track. I fueled up one more time after Hinganghat and move through the darkness. The LED auxillary lights lit up the road beautifully and I saw few trucks and cars make way for me. I feel elated. A Ritz even tried to piggyback me for a few kms before he gave up. Dawn breaks and I see signboards now showing up distance to Hyderabad. I call up Suhas and ask him to proceed not waiting for me to join them. He agrees and I move on.
At 0745, I get another call from him asking my whereabouts. The last signboard I saw said the distance to Hyderabad was 154 kms. The next thing he said was, "You have moved ahead of us". Which I felt as though the earth has moved below my feet. I did 387 kms in 4 hours and 30minutes. I stopped at a toll plaza a few kms down the road after refueling the bike. The group arrives in 10 minutes and we start on.
We reach Hyderabad by 1000, stop of a cup of tea and exit by 1130. The weekend traffic on the highway eases off as we move out of city. After this, Suhas and Dilip opened up and were not be seen till the lunch stop at Food Pyramid. The food looked good but was tasteless.
After lunch, Suhas and Dilip once again took off while Imran and me ran at our optimum speeds trying to pick them. We regrouped for the last time at a Dhabha where we had tea and then it was final run home.
Reached Bangalore at 1900 and got into the harsh reality of traffic. We managed to move on till Yeshwanthpur where the stop go traffic jammed my front brakes. I quickly called up Suhas and tried to find a solution. After opening the reservoir and pumping a few times, I was able to start again. Meanwhile Suhas and Imran walked down to check the problem. We had reachedthe spot from where we started and the ride was at its end. Yes, we could not believe we were at the end of our journey. Finally after goodbyes, me and Imran started to our homes. Imran made sure I reach my home safely and then he continued.
My family were there to welcome me and what a feeling to be back along with them.
With this, the ride of Ka, my D390 with the pack of wolves comes to an end.
Day's highlights
Distance covered: 1124 kms
Start time: 0315 from Oyo Flagship 070 Kanji House hotel in Nagpur
End time:2100 at my home in Girinagar.
Fuel expenses: 2434INR
I made sure that we end as we started, as a TEAM which gives me immense satisfaction.
We are back HOME
Day's lowlights:
The recurring troubles due to poor workmanship at IndiMotard this time. I had a good experience every time before this, but then one mistake can take down a kingdom. Even as I write this, the bike has suffered a output shaft bearing failure which again can be traced back to the rear sprocket failure near Bhubaneshwar. More of this will be shared on other threads with links provided in this thread.
That's it for now, until next ride, Auf Weidersehen.
Some of the information from the ride
The route taken
Bangalore - Rajahmundry via Chitoor, Tirupati, Naidupete, Ongole, VIjayawada
Rajahmundry - Bubaneshwar via Vishakapatnam, Srikakulam, Chatrapur
Bhubaneshwar - Asansol via Bhadrak, Balasore, Medinipur, Bankura, Raniganj
Asansol - Siliguri via Dumka, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Kishanganj, Islampur
Siliguri - Phuentsholing via Sevoke, Mongpong, Washabari tea garden, Malbazaar, Nagrakata, Hashimara, Jalgaon
Phuentsholig - Thimphu via Gedu, Chukka, Semtokha
Thimphu - Lobesa via Semtokha, DochuLa, Wangdue
Lobesa - Phobjikha - Paro via Norbuding, Gangtey, Wangdue, DochuLa, Semtokha, Khaskha, Shabha
Paro - Siliguri via Shabha, Khaskha, Chukkha, Gedu, Phuentsholing, Jaipaon, Hashimara, Malbazaar, Sevoke
Siliguri - Gorakhpur via Bagdogra airport, Muzaffarpur
Gorakhpur - Sagar via Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Orai
Sagar - Nagpur via Narsingpur, Chindwara
Nagpur - Bangalore via Hinghanghat, Wadki, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Jadcherla, Kurnool, Ananthpur, Chikkaballapur
Places we stayed:
Rajahmundry: Hotel Anand Regency, D.No 26, 3-7, Jampet Rd, Gandhipuram-1, Jampet, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh 533103 Phone: 0883 246 1201
Bhubaneshwar: Hotel Aryan International, OYO14489,
Patrapada, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751022 Phone: 072101 01502
Asansol: The Citi Residency,
NH2, Nigha Road, Asansol, West Bengal 713370 Phone: 074073 02222
Siliguri: Hotel Gitanjali Inn, OYO3076,
Tea Auction Centre Road, Green Park, (Near AAEI Club) Mallaguri., Siliguri, West Bengal 734003 Phone: 072101 01502
Phuentsholing: Bhutan Ga Me Ga
Behind Mig cinema Hall, Phuentsholing 21102, BhutanPhone: +975 5 253 064
Thimphu: Hotel Golden Roots,
Thimphu, Bhutan Phone: +975 2 330 043
Punakha/ Lobesa: Kingaling Hotel,
Tshokhana
Punakha Bhutan, Phone: +975 2 480584
Paro: Dharma Resort, Paro
Nemjo Road, Bhutan Phone: +975 17 77 77 28
Gorakhpur: Hotel Sapphire Inn, OYO16890,
1, Cantt Rd, Bilandpur, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001 Phone: 072101 01502
Sagar: Motel Keti Highway,
NHAI,North South coridor,Bamhori Tigada, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh Phone: 09425171495
Nagpur: OYO flagship070, Kanji House,
10,11,12, Kanji House Rd, Anand Nagar, Binaki, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440017 Phone: 072101 01503
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