[genesis]

@Sudipto-S-Team: Regarding requisitioning vehicles. If you remember, during Lalu's daughter's wedding they had requisitioned entire showrooms of vehicles (tata and mahindra) to be used for the ceremonies

On a humorous note here is a picture I had sent to my friends from Bihar who have always been at the short end of the stick when it comes to the shenanigans of their politicians.

[mitchontheroad]

taking an extra day to do...nothing
did both the elephant ride and jeep ride yesterday. i am rhinoed out!
it is hot and dry here. cant believe a couple of days ago riding from rainy, cold tawang i was in pants, leather chaps, and rain pants- t shirt, shirt, fleece, leather jacket, and rain jacket. now in shorts and flip flops!
i guess all the parks will close in 2 days. at least the elephant rides will be done and the parks may be open a few days longer.
after sudipto gave me hvk's number i called him. maybe he was the blur that whizzed past me on my way to breakfast that morning! he seems to be an amazing character and is a driving machine. i think maybe he has an IV of pure caffeine hanging from his roof and keeping him going!! i also was unsure of his crossing bihar at that time but he is definitely a man who will do what he is going to do, no? he told me all the bad guys would be sleeping. lol
i also missed praveen and maybe we can connect in sikhim in a couple of weeks.
i am going to try for Mon, nagaland from sibsagar and then majuli b4 the 'big turn' westward and out of this area. really only about a month left on this leg of my trip. i will be heading for malaysia and indonesia for the next 6 months or so...if i have any money left!
later

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by mitchontheroad

he told me all the bad guys would be sleeping. lol

I always tell him that. And this time I did too.

[btirthankar]

@Mitchontheroad

Its an amazing initiative you have taken to journey places, we from this country did not think of so far.

Please post photos of Arunachal.

Most of all, please share your thoughts on what all you find so good here that you dont find in your own country.

[mitchontheroad]

who could those two handsome devils be?! bollywooders, cricketeers, politicians??? lol
i think you may still be eating from that spread of food!!
bt, i have just tried and failed again to upload shots onto this site.
yes sudipto i compressed it to even smaller than you suggested but it stayed in the 'uploading pictures' mode forEVER and so i gave up...again.
the main thing here is that it is 180 degrees different than the culture in my country and that alone is the reason to be here. asia is my favourite part of the world and india is my favourite country to travel in. admitedly, i have failed when it comes to learning hindi...or any other language here. next time though i will. i must!
the foods, the smells, the sounds and the colours all add up to make travel in india a spectacle. i tell other foreigners who have never been here that something amazing will happen every day that will make you sit back and think about things differently. now, whether that is an interesting person you meet or a sumo running you off the road, it is still an event, no?!
also, india is a country where people who come to travel here either love it or hate it. there is no in-between; and i think this cannot be said for any other place on the planet! you will never hear anyone who has been here say something like, 'oh, india...its ok...'
impossible!
and, of course, the scenery and landscape of the country. and doing it with your own transportation makes it even better. and, as ive said before, any bad day is washed away by one good one. althoughi hope to never see saikhowa ghat/sadia area again until they build a nice bridge there!!
later

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Frankly I was quite scared for him when I heard he would travel through Bihar at night but the logic of avoiding extortionists during the day was quite sound, so I said a silent prayer only and didn't object.
I am quite aghast to know that the Bihar police tried to snatch his vehicle away !!! It would have been completely illegal actually. Self driven cars/vehicles cannot be requisitioned for election duty.
I wonder how much it cost him to come out of that jam.
Sudipto

Just spoke to HVK, he slept @ Kanpur and drove 40hrs straight and now is at Udaipur, he'll reach Palanpur tonight and take rest, yes... take rest. Then he'd cover Koteswar which is the western most village/ town in India and scramble back to Mumbai before 30th.

--Ramky
=======

[maddy42]

Wow mitch your experiences are amazing. Great initiative by you to share it with us.

@lifewater your hospitality skills are amazing. The spread on the table made me hungry:-)

Best of Luck HVK. Hope to hear about ur experiences soon

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by mitchontheroad

bt, i have just tried and failed again to upload shots onto this site.
yes sudipto i compressed it to even smaller than you suggested but it stayed in the 'uploading pictures' mode forEVER and so i gave up...again.
the main thing here is that it is 180 degrees different than the culture in my country and that alone is the reason to be here. asia is my favourite part of the world and india is my favourite country to travel in. admitedly, i have failed when it comes to learning hindi...or any other language here. next time though i will. i must!
the foods, the smells, the sounds and the colours all add up to make travel in india a spectacle. i tell other foreigners who have never been here that something amazing will happen every day that will make you sit back and think about things differently. now, whether that is an interesting person you meet or a sumo running you off the road, it is still an event, no?!
also, india is a country where people who come to travel here either love it or hate it. there is no in-between; and i think this cannot be said for any other place on the planet! you will never hear anyone who has been here say something like, 'oh, india...its ok...'
impossible!

I will upload them for you. I have already PMed you my ID.

India is a land of contrasts. Poverty/Wealth. Excesses/Deprivation. Joy/Suffering. Intellect/Folly. Care/Indifference. Rudeness/Compassion. Radical/Liberal.

If Perfection is Science, Imperfection is Art.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by maddy42

.................


Best of Luck HVK. soon

Meit HVK at A'bad yesterday night, he covered Pathan, Koteswar and back to Ahemdabad for a rest, today morning he must have left at 3 am and probably in Mumbai now. From what I hear from him, we have a MAHA travalogue coming up.

====

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

From what I hear from him, we have a MAHA travalogue coming up.

====

You sure? A travelogue from HVK? Or the logs from his GPS

[mitchontheroad]

so many ways to spell it. nice place though. took a walk last night after the shower to put things into perspective. Mon to sikhim. weather. dates. time left etc AND, i realized i had better get my *** in gear if i dont want to waste some good weather in indonesia! so, mon is out. i will head to majuli and then a quickie in kaziranga. then, on to guwahati and pretty much do a hvk to sikhim. lol
ideally i would like to be out of kolkata by the end of may. we will see.
praveen has his phone always switched off according to the mobile service.
hvk is gone with the wind. i spoke to him yesterday. he was home and actually had had a nap! the milage he did in 3 weeks is what ive taken 6 months to do!
anyway, when i get to kolkata, i will get some expertise and let someone show me how to get some shots onto this site.
later

[Saurabh M]

Originally Posted by mitchontheroad

the main thing here is that it is 180 degrees different than the culture in my country and that alone is the reason to be here....the foods, the smells, the sounds and the colours all add up to make travel in india a spectacle....also, india is a country where people who come to travel here either love it or hate it. there is no in-between; and i think this cannot be said for any other place on the planet! you will never hear anyone who has been here say something like, 'oh, india...its ok...'
impossible!
and, of course, the scenery and landscape of the country. and doing it with your own transportation makes it even better. and, as ive said before, any bad day is washed away by one good one. later

You have summed it all Mitch. Much appreciated. Will look forward to meet you when you are in Kolkata during May.

Sudipto-da: Hopefuly you will be able to arrange for a meeting with Mitch, at Kolkata.

[maddy42]

@ Ramky Thanks for the update. Eagerly waiting for HVK's story

@Mitch. Great journey. You seem to have gone in depth at each location and am eagerly waiting for you to post some experiences

[Lifewater]

Originally Posted by adc

Great snaps Lifewater, met Mitch at the Kolkata meet before he embarked on this fantastic journey and he looks as fresh as then.

Did you meet up with HV kumar, got a sms yesterday evening mentioning that he was in Tinsukia.

And definitely +++ to this

thanks adc, no did not meet HVK, seems he just flew past like a tornado leaving a lo of rains in his wake

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Lifewater, you do exemplify our age old tradition "Atithi Devo Bhava".

OT: What does Lifewater means, because Whisky also is derived from a word which means "Water of Life"

Thank you very much. Thats what I have learnt from my parents. Lifewater means Life(Pran) water (Jal) = my name Pranjal

Originally Posted by maddy42

Wow mitch your experiences are amazing. Great initiative by you to share it with us.

@lifewater your hospitality skills are amazing. The spread on the table made me hungry:-)

Best of Luck HVK. Hope to hear about ur experiences soon

Is it please drop by in my place if you are planning to be this side.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Lifewater

thanks adc, no did not meet HVK, seems he just flew past like a tornado leaving a lo of rains in his wake

Is it please drop by in my place if you are planning to be this side.

lifewater, pity we could not meet.
We had to pass Dibrugarh twice during our trip - first when we had to cross over from Pasighat to go on to Kibithu and second time when we returned from Kibuthu. We stayed at Hotel Rajawas on the way back. unfortunately, I did not have your mobile number, and we had no email access.