[Sudipto-S-Team]

Fantastic eye for detail and off-beat interest. Loved your thread. Will watch out for more. I am sure your boys would have been just fine on the trip though getting accomodation can sometimes be difficult with two dogs.
I have one small complaint - you should have been kinder to the "overlooked by star-trek crew" boy. He probably lost his front teeth in a fall with his face down. He is probably epileptic too. And it's not a good idea to have fun at the cost of a poor boy with such a disability.
Thanks for the otherwise lovely thread.
Sudipto

[maddy42]

great writeup jay. nice pics. that was one hell of a trip. waitin for more pics

[ramkya1]

Jay,

That's a great piclogue so far and loveliy pictures too. 7900 would be one of the longest ones, this one smells pretty nice of more exciting things to come. All eyes to hear it unrolling...... keep them coming. Tnx for sharing this Yatra.

--Ramky
======

[wanderernomad]

Excellent pics and the travelogue holds a lot of promise. Just a slight observation, not critical but, wish you would not have written about that poor chap in such a tone. I am sure intentions were not bad but still it appeared in poor taste.
Otherwise a great pictorial narration where the pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Good eye for detail and fantastic composition. Which camera?

[btirthankar]

Looks like we got some common gene strains.

Love that spirit!!

[Rajesh Rawal]

hi jay...

seems to be an amazing journey ,really cool pics there...

the fort in pic 1 & 2 is known as the naldurg fort in a place called naldurg which is on the mah-karnataka border after you cross solapur on the national highway 9...

isnt bijnor somewhere in u.p,just trying to get my geography right!

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Excellent pics and the travelogue holds a lot of promise. Just a slight observation, not critical but, wish you would not have written about that poor chap in such a tone. I am sure intentions were not bad but still it appeared in poor taste.
Otherwise a great pictorial narration where the pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Good eye for detail and fantastic composition. Which camera?

Maybe that was not his intention. I too happen to take such funny pictures. But the pictures that he has taken reflect how harsh life is for these people to make us realise and inspire us not to be wasteful atleast.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Fantastic eye for detail and off-beat interest. Loved your thread. Will watch out for more. I am sure your boys would have been just fine on the trip though getting accomodation can sometimes be difficult with two dogs.
I have one small complaint - you should have been kinder to the "overlooked by star-trek crew" boy. He probably lost his front teeth in a fall with his face down. He is probably epileptic too. And it's not a good idea to have fun at the cost of a poor boy with such a disability.
Thanks for the otherwise lovely thread.
Sudipto

I was less worried about the acomodation but more concerned about the dogs acclimatizing. I do not know much about dogs's ability to acclimatize at high altitudes. Trying to gather information though. Coz I intend to take them to Ladakh with me next year.

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Excellent pics and the travelogue holds a lot of promise. Just a slight observation, not critical but, wish you would not have written about that poor chap in such a tone. I am sure intentions were not bad but still it appeared in poor taste.
Otherwise a great pictorial narration where the pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Good eye for detail and fantastic composition. Which camera?

Guys ... there was no intent to insult him in any way. As I recollect I was really sad to see him. I remember a long time ago when I used to visit Haji Ali mosque in Mumbai, I used to be extremely saddened to see beggars, young kids men and women with twisted bodies begging along the path to the mosque. I couldnt then imagine myself go through such trauma of a life as such. I quit going there since. Seeing this photo makes me relive all those traumatic moments, so i was just trying to lighten the moment for myself. Sorry if anyone was unintentionally offended, But the chap sure did make 20bucks to lookafter my pair of shoes for 10 mins.

Travelling through the country does make me look how simply people live their lives while we fuss over small nothings. Not that we arent justified in our ways but just looking at the simplicity of life on the other side is a truly humbling experience for me. It is sometimes overwhelming to the point that I can shoot no more pics. Just watch and proceed.
The pic of the railroad guard at the traffic crossing, and the rickshawpuller kid, that smile hid a world in it. A world that we will never see. I consider myself lucky to have been able to been able to capture those moments, some of which are etched forever in my heart and mind.

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

hi jay...

seems to be an amazing journey ,really cool pics there...

the fort in pic 1 & 2 is known as the naldurg fort in a place called naldurg which is on the mah-karnataka border after you cross solapur on the national highway 9...

isnt bijnor somewhere in u.p,just trying to get my geography right!

Yes you are right, that was a complete misquote from me, thanks for reminding and correcting.

[sushrutha]

Very good pics.
Your pics speak words, they just have so much depth n detail in them.
Keep them coming

probably, the most interesting travelogue I've ever seen on TBHP, and thats saying a lot.

I tend to avoid taking pics of people when I'm out with the camera.. Time to turn over a new leaf.

[jaysmokesleaves]

This is the continuation from where I left off the last time...

Train guard watching a goods train pass by.



Labourers working on the tacks



A scenic view along the NH. It was like a huge pond with lots of birds chirping away.




Goods carrier including human cargo



Heroic antics on top of a moving local bus. A regular feature along the roads across India.



Traffic cop at Bhubaneswar. Warning us for inching forward at the junction.




Some locals bullying a helpless old truckdriver on the NH....


Paneer(home made cheese) being transported by bus. Apparently, the water drips off and the paneer completely dries by the time it reaches its destination.


The next day was spent geting the Safari washed and serviced from the outside and an entire internal vaccuming done to remove all traces of any dog hair and smell. Then went to the Bridgestone dealer for the tyre episode mentioned above in an earlier post.

As luck would have it, we would do the entire remaining trip without a stepney.

At this point I wish to mention a list of extra gear I carried with me for any unforseen event.
Portable tent
Portable chair
Sleeping bags.
Flammable wax(to start and maintain a fire)
Foldable shovel.
Quik fix puncture repair can.(This was completely useless as the product did not work as advertised)
Slime solution for 1 tyre and mini compressor.(the mini compressor was extremely useful, didnt use the Slime)
Radiator leak fix.( Some kind of powder that u empty into a leaking radiator to plug a leak)
Few packets of noodles.
1kg pista & 1/2kg kajus(all finished in the trip)
2 big boxes of Snickers 24x2(chocolates)
5 packets of Bounty(chocolates)
3 packets of Twix(chocolates)
Roadmaps and printouts of route queries on TBHP.
20 litres of diesel filled in a big Bisleri Jerry can. Completely leak & odour proof.
1 Large umbrella.
Swiss multi-kit.
One professional Gerber 6" military knife.
1 jacket each (for me & dad)with the usual clothes.
1 Professional Compass.
Purchased a tubeless tyre puncture repair kit in Bhubaneswar.

[jaysmokesleaves]

The following pictures were taken from the rooftop of the friends house I put up in, in Cuttack. The dogs had a blast, with the space available to them, running up and down stairs like no tomorrow. Skidding all across the terrace with their playful antics.

Daytime view from the rooftop.






Red Label doing a Hancock while Blackdog looks on.




The view from the rooftop shot at night.







Few early morning pics




This was the last day in Orissa. The next day early morning around 6am we headed for Delhi leaving Black & Red in good company. They later were driven to the farm to be in the company of a few cows goats and local chicken. I am told that they were having a blast living it up doggy style.

To be continued.

[jaysmokesleaves]

We set off at approx 6am from Cuttack after a large breakfast.
There was no sign of any rain and the weather was extremely cool and pleasant. Just the perfect kind of weather to undertake sucha trip.
The Destination was to reach Fathepur in UP where we would stop for the night and meet some friends in Kanpur the next day. We were anticipating very bad roads from here to the Barhi where the road meets the GT road -2.
We passed through 2 states starting with Jharkhand and then entered Bihar.
To my pleasant surprise Jharkhand was extremely beautiful and green all along. Im sure there is lot to see too and maybe worthy of a trip too.
The roads were mostly normal 2 laned NH. No sign of any expressway here.
The roads were horrible for a large section from Cuttack to Jharkhand and non extistent in some sections upon entering Jharkhand.


The first and last tea stop in Orissa on this trip.






There's dad watering some plants.



The lovely roads that didnt last very long.




CALL ME - This seems like the more modern version of Horn OK Please.



Excellent roads lasted only for around 50kms after which it was nothing short of painful and cautious driving. Craters would emerge out of nowhere on a visibly plain road and the thud would be bone jarring even in a Safari.
A lot of suspension repair shops dotting both sides of the road.





Victim of the terrible road conditions. There were many such examples i was unable to shoot due to the terrible bone jarring ride.



Some superb roads on the Bhadrak Baripada stretch.




Saw many of these 3 wheelers carrying these tanks and bouncing all across the road unable to maintain a straight line for some reason.



Excellent road continues




The number of people travelling in this Jeep makes a mokery of max payload figures. There were easily 25+ people in this jeep.



A new Tata Winger being driven from the Jamshedpur factory to some dealer.

[jkdas]

Your photos were real eye opener.

And thats a long distance.

[jaysmokesleaves]

From Barhi to Delhi.
Stopover at Fatehpur and proceeded to Kanpur next day. Spent a day in Kanpur too. and then headed for Delhi.
Roads from Barhi were superb concrete 4 lane highway and well maintained.
Once you enter UP, the road is dotted on both sides by endless villages.
children, cattle and people strolling on the GT road and some vehicles shooting out of nowhere make it an extremely dangerous stretch to drive on.

The GT road from Barhi. This road NH-2 connects Calcutta to Delhi as part of the GQ.

The GT road.





A fine example of Natthulal at one of the toll booths.



Some more examples of overloaded local public transport.






Enroute to Delhi we saw this car wreck. The horror stories that one gets to see ever so often. Its so bad that you will not recognize it from the front. Most people who saw these pics cudnt.
No its not an Indica.



Its a Santro.