[SmartCat]

Pic 1: This Google map gives an idea about where we are headed. From Ahmedabad, we reached Virangam (where we stayed for the night) and then headed towards Dasada. From Dasada, we caught the NH15 at Radhanpur to get to Barmer (Rajasthan). The dark blue line is the Pakistan border.



Pic 2: Sunset near Ahmedabad.



Pic 3: Time to catch up on some office work at Virangam Lodge. Hmm. But if you notice closely, I think the application being run is Winamp.



Pic 4: We reach Dasada. This contraption is an old Harley Davidson - believe it or not.



Pic 5: We asked a few locals for the "Little Rann", which has the Rann of Kutch look and is famous for Wild a s s. The locals don't know what we were talking about, so we motor on towards Rajasthan.



Vid 1: Suddenly, we have lots of time to kill now. And we watch a train go by.

YouTube - Train near Dasada, Gujarat

Vid 2: And then we drive on the wrong side of the road, dodging livestock.

YouTube - Livestock on Gujarat Roads

Pic 6: According to the GPS, we are about 20 km from the Pakistan border.



Pic 7: And then, we finally enter Rajasthan - using a very rather unconventional road.



Pic 8: We stopover at a local truckers dhaba for some food.



Pic 9: Kid at the dhaba looks at us, and can't stop laughing. I guess we kinda look funny.

[KSM-Vtec]

Good going brother, it gets more and more interesting

[SmartCat]

Sort of, yeah. We had just been fooling around going here and there till this time. The objective of the trip - to explore Rajasthan - starts from here.

Pic 1: We had planned to drive down to Barmer on NH15 and check out some forts there. But halfway through, we found a very inviting state road (half covered with sand!) leading to Jodhpur. So we took that, joined the Barmer - Jodhpur NH112 somewhere in the middle and reached Jodhpur in the night.



Pic 2: Weather in Rajasthan is never predictable. One moment, it is hot and dry like you expect it to be in the summer.



Pic 3: And then, suddenly there is a huge dust storm.



Pic 4: Visibility is nil beyond 20 - 30 feet. Truckers stop, so even we stop driving.



Pic 5: Ma! Guess where I am?



Pic 6: We have sand in our ears, but who cares!



Pic 7: This truck is stuck in the sand..



Pic 8: .. but that doesn't stop the truckers from fooling around & making merry.



Pic 9: We have chai at the dhaba, and all the kids converge on us.



Pic 10: Sandstorm lasts for 20 minutes. It's clearing up a bit now, so we decide to leave.



Pic 11: And within minutes, it starts raining!



Pic 12: The sun, the sand storm, the rain and then back to the heat - all this happened in a span of 30 minutes!

[ramsnavy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Those will be hanging on both sides of all vessels to protect the hull from damage while berthing at a jetty. Generally tug boats will push the vessels close to the jetty while berthing and the vessel will tend to slightly bump in to the wall. They look small in the picture, but generally old tractor tyres are used for this purpose.

I dont think those are rubber tyres at all in the picture, but proper fenders (yes those rubber tyres are called fenders in naval parlance)

And yes, Gansan you are right about the tugs helping the boats to berth. But these days with precision engine controls most of the smaller and medium sized boats prefer to do their own berthing, provided the navigator is confident enough

[MX6]

That strange contraption is called chakda in gujarat.

And rains in desert is mostly preceeded by warm air blowing the sand on our face. The short shower also signals the change of weather. The sky takes a very strange hue those few days. It's amazign to watch!

[SmartCat]

I dont think those are rubber tyres at all in the picture, but proper fenders (yes those rubber tyres are called fenders in naval parlance)

Those fenders are a very low-tech accessory on a high-tech $50 million yatch. Isn't there any technology to prevent the vessel from crashing into the walls?

What do container ships and oil tankers do? I don't think I have seen them using tractor tyres.

And rains in desert is mostly preceeded by warm air blowing the sand on our face. The short shower also signals the change of weather.

For us, the showers were short ( around 3 mins) while the sand storm was relatively long (20 mins). We were truly perplexed at the weather we saw.

[aargee]

Just loved your post & narration & especially the one on http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post1751822. I couldn't imagine how one would feel to experience the heat, sand storm, rain and then heat again & that too in a span of 30 minutes. Amazing

[ramsnavy]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Those fenders are a very low-tech accessory on a high-tech $50 million yatch. Isn't there any technology to prevent the vessel from crashing into the walls?

What do container ships and oil tankers do? I don't think I have seen them using tractor tyres.



For us, the showers were short ( around 3 mins) while the sand storm was relatively long (20 mins). We were truly perplexed at the weather we saw.

Generally the ship berthing areas, where the ships and boats come alongside, have huge cylindrical fenders attached on a permanent basis. Hence, the boats or ships carry only a few fenders just in case they dont find any at their port of call.

There are good quality fenders available, but its such an irony that these so called millionaires do not want to spend on such accessories

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Those fenders are a very low-tech accessory on a high-tech $50 million yatch. Isn't there any technology to prevent the vessel from crashing into the walls?

What do container ships and oil tankers do? I don't think I have seen them using tractor tyres.

They will not "crash" in to the wall exactly, but sometimes there may be a not so gentle bump! The fenders prevent it.

Actually the wharf is supposed to have this protection but most often will not, so the vessels carry their own. They will be removed once the vessel leaves port and will not be an eyesore thereafter! And I agree with rams, it may always not be tyres. I mentioned that because a modern gas tanker our company owned a while back was visiting Cochin port regularly and was getting banged up every time. I remember the then captain bought some used tractor tyres through our agents at Cochin and used them as make-shift fenders.

@ramsnavy
Tug boats are necessary. The control you are talking about is called side thrusters, and vessels equipped with them can berth on their own. Not all vessel have them though.

[vasanthn21]

You sure have spent a lot of time and moolah on the Indian Highways!

Awesome pics and descriptions

Where is the justification to the teaser?

[SmartCat]

Off-roading stupidity pictures come later in the trip, after we get bored of visiting Forts.

Hey actually, our trips are quite "economical". For example, this 13 day 7000 km trip cost us about Rs. 15,000 per person. If we had a diesel car and if we had not paid Rs. 5,000 to the cops (more on that later), our cost per person would have been Rs. 10 - 12k. If I had known that I would be travelling so much on our highways, I would have bought either the Safari or the Octavia.

We don't spend too much on accomodation. We are all "avid" trekkers too, as in, we do atleast one trek per year. We are used to sleeping in cramped tents with small stones underneath or sleeping out in the open in a sleeping bag.

So a Rs. 500/day accomodation suits us fine. Although we don't actually go looking for a Rs. 500/day accomodation, its actually what you get when you don't have a fixed plan. We just stop at the first "decent" looking lodge, on the highway, close to midnight.

Maybe I'll post some of our trekking pictures later too? How is this?



Any guesses about the location? It would be easier for people in Karnataka to figure out the name of this place.

[MX6]

seems like Kudremukh to me. Could be BR hills as well. No idea. But looks good.

[SmartCat]

Kemmanagundi (Chickmagalur), in the rainy season, trekking down a hill, next to a stream-like waterfall . It was an organized trek though.

Continuing with the Rajasthan Trip:

Pic 1: As mentioned before, we got off the National Highway and got into a state highway leading to Jodhpur. State highways are a lot narrower but the views are better.



Pic 2: The roads are smooth and traffic is mostly non-existent, but at some places covered partly with sand.



Pic 3: But at this place, the road is completely covered with sand. Since we had memories of that lorry stuck in sand, we got down to check the depth of the sand. It was hardly 3 cm to 10 cm deep, so we drove ahead - with some ocassional wheelpsin.



Pic 4: Further down, we spotted some "wildlife".



Pic 5: The peacock manages to attract Naveen - our resident peahen. He follows the peacock into the desert, with a camera in hand.



Pic 6: The peacock freaks out and climbs up a tree.



Pic 7: Dejected, our Devdas comes back to the car. Meanwhile, Jagga gives his pose (holding a thorn) for a matrimonial site.



Pic 8: We move on and find a huge deer like animal - almost as big as a horse. Any idea what it is?



Pic 9 & 10: We join the Barmer - Jodhpur NH and capture the sunset moments, and finally reach Jodhpur after nightfall.





Pic 11: Next day, we visit the Mehrangarh Fort.

[SX4LOVER]

the animal is a blue bull.. nice pics really!!

[MX6]

Nice nilgai you got there. The mehrangarh fort reminds me of the potala. Wish it was in white as well!