[VLOCT]

This is so cool. The variety of the places you've visited in this trip is really fantastic.

[sami316]

Day 11:

Again got up a little late today as we came back late after the night show. Today's plan was to go to the Osiyan Temple which is about 65-70Kms from Jodhpur. I have visited this place twice earlier but as my cousin and friend
hadnt been there, we decided to go. We left in the morning around 11AM and reached the Temple around 1PM, as we had to stop 2 -3 times due to railway crossings and one stoppover to visit a small Sai Baba Temple on the way. We saw some beautiful and cute deers along the way to Osiyan who were just roaming around without any fear. They were quite small and looked like they were baby deers. We stopped for a few mins and took their snaps. After reaching Osiyan, my cousin and chacha ji decided to stay in the car, as the after noon heat was too much and also for the fact that there were quite a few steps to be climbed to reach the temple top. My bro stayed back as well as he had already been to this temple before with me.

So at last only me, my cousin from Jodhpur and my friend went to the temple. There were quite a few steps, I haven't counted, to reach the temple at the top, however, this time around, they had covered the top which was a respite for us from the blazing sun. You get a real good view of the sand dunes from the top of the temple. Took a few snaps here as well and then we came back again and asked if anyone was game for a camel ride in this sweltering heat. Except for my Chachaji and my cousin, the majority agreed for the camel ride. We decided to go to a nearby camel camp. But unfortunately we lost our way and were headed to a different camel camp called Reggie's I think. We realized that this is some other camel camp and decided to turn back. While turning back, the back left tyre got stuck in the soft sand. This was something new for all of us and we were stranded right in the middle of the desert with the sun right on top of us. However, we got down and tried to remove the sand from underneath the tyre and tried a couple of times. But the tyre was just spinning without moving further and in the process, it went further down again. The chassis had gone dangerously close to the surface now.

We then searched for some rocks to give the tyre some traction. One of my cousin was digging the sand from beneath the tyres whereas my other cousin was busy giving poses and taking snaps with my nephew. This made the rest of us a little pissed off. Sensing our anger, he said that he doesnt know what to do in such scenarios, well he forgot that it was our first time as well. Anyways, we asked him to continue with his photo shoot and got some rocks and then took out the jack and lifted the tyre a little higher and placed those rocks underneath the tyre. I took the wheel and asked everyone to push the car at the same time. The trick worked and the tyre was back to hard ground. We heaved a big sigh of relief and proceeded towards the camel camp again. We finally found the camels and got the deal of 50Rs for a camel ride for two. My friend and nephew on one camel and my bro and cousin on another. I was a little nervous and having second thoughts of taking this camel ride, as it had been almost 15 years since I last sat on a camel as a kid. But after looking at the way the others were enjoying the ride, I made up my mind and got on one of them along with my nephew. In the end it was a good decision as I enjoyed the ride thoroughly.

After spending close to 30-40 mins, we decided to head back to Jodhpur as we had to do some shopping and then later had to go to my cousin sister's place for dinner. Didn't take the camera to the shopping hence, no pics. However, after the shopping, had dinner at my cousin sister's place. We had some really good chicken and boiled eggs along with rotis. Thanked them for the hospitality and left for my Aunt's home to pack our bags as next day morning we were leaving for Bangalore on the final leg of this wonderful road trip. The pics for Day 11 coming up:

Getting ready for Osiyan:



Stopped at the Sai Baba Temple on the way:


The cute deers we saw enroute:


Some windmills enroute:


The Osiyan Mata Mandir:


View from the top:


Trying to take the tyre out:


Cousin posing while we take the tyre out:


At the camel camp:

[ranjith.rajaram]

Hey Sami after the superman t-shirt the Simpsons t-shirt is also eye catching.

[sami316]

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Hey Sami after the superman t-shirt the Simpsons t-shirt is also eye catching.

Thats right Ranjith. But the funny thing is that he didnt know who or what Simpsons is.

[LongDrive lover]

Nice pics of your desert adventures. That tyre spinning thing in raw sand really must have been scary. Sand is a tricky thing. Thank God, you were a good group of able bodied gents and your trick worked.

[sami316]

Originally Posted by LongDrive lover

Nice pics of your desert adventures. That tyre spinning thing in raw sand really must have been scary. Sand is a tricky thing. Thank God, you were a good group of able bodied gents and your trick worked.

Yes LDL,

We really thanked our stars that day that we were in good numbers and there were no ladies with us. It would have been almost an impossible task for a single man to take that tyre out of that sand.

[sami316]

Day 12 and 13:

Today, we leave Jodhpur in the morning and plan to be in Bangalore by next day evening. It would be really tough ask for us considering that we had never attempted this before, but we knew that it was not impossible.

We got up early, got ready and had a good breakfast. Last night, we had already packed our luggage and belongings in the car and all set to leave. My aunt and uncle got emotional as we were leaving. Even we felt a bit sad leaving them and the kids behind. But we promised to return later this year. We left Jodhpur around 9.15AM and took the road to Pali to go to Ahmedabad via Abu road. We didnt plan to see Mount Abu due to time constraints. Our initial plan was to cross Mumbai by night and decided that we would drive in turns till midnight and try to cover as much distance as possible.

We stopped at Sirohi for about 20 mins to have some Lassi and got some mineral water. We saw lots of cattle with most of them having huge horns. The Pali road to Sirohi was a single lane road and hence, we lost some time here due to the truck traffic. We finally reached Ahmedabad around 2PM, had lunch and rested for around 30 mins. We reached the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway around 3PM and from here on, my chacha ji took to the wheel. This expressway, as I have mentioned earlier, was the best driving road we came across on the entire trip. Really loved the drive here.

We then stopped at Surat around 7-8PM and had dinner and then tea at a Hotel Sagar Plaza. We spent around 30-40 mins here and then left for Mumbai. We reached the Ghodbunder around 11:30PM but got confused on how to proceed further. We knew that Mr. Dependable, HV Kumar was just a call away but considering the late time I was a little apprehensive at first, but then I had to call him as he was the only one who came to my mind at that time. I was happy that he recognized me and helped us out till we reached the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. We again gave our heartfelt thanks to him and proceeded towards Pune. We reached Pune around 2AM and had some tea at a roadside shop.

I asked others should we rest here or proceed further. My Chachaji who was driving continuously from 3PM in the afternoon from Ahmedabad was still not letting go of the steering and insisted that we continue and he would continue to drive till Kolhapur. We moved ahead and crossed Satara and then decided to stop near Karad at around 4:30AM I guess. Chacha was tired after driving continuously for 13.5 hours but he was really happy stretching his limits and boasts to all his friends about this feat of his. We then slept till 6AM. My brother was next to take over the wheels.

With only me and my bro awake and the other three sleeping at the back, we proceeded further and stopped at Belgaum for 30 mins for having breakfast. The road was in bad shape near Harihar and we had to take a diversion. It was literally, a Holi-day on that day. People were celebrating the festival of colors- Holi and we were stopped at quite a few places, which was delaying us big time. On top of that we came across 2 or 3 Railway crossings between Harihar and Chitradurga where we again lost considerable amount of time. By the time we reached Chitradurga it was
almost 2PM. After Chitradurga, the roads were pretty good and we covered good distance and reached Bangalore by 5.30PM with only having some traffic trouble near the Nelamangala-Peenya stretch.

It was a really good feeling to be back home after this awesome roadtrip. It was quite an achievement by our standards to do Jodhpur-Bangalore within 32 hours. The car was awesome and didn't give us any trouble at all. The only issue we had was the puncture and the back tyre getting stuck in the Desert Sand, in both the cases, the car was not the culprit, we were.


With this I come to the end of this Travelogue, my first at Team-Bhp. I would once again like to thank all my fellow Bhpians for reading this travelogue and sharing their comments and suggestions with us. I would also like to thank HV Kumar Sir for helping us out whenever we were stuck. This journey would always remain close to our hearts, as it was our first roadtrip. As I have mentioned earlier, we learnt a lot in this trip. About our country, about the different cultures and languages we have, and the people, yet, today we feel that there is so much more to learn and so much more to see. Hence, will plan a trip again in the near future to discover this beautiful country all over again. Insha Allah. Thanks again to all you guys.

Check out the snaps:

Going to get the coolant for the car:


Having breakfast:


One last group photo:


The Pali-Sirohi road:


The cows with the big horns:


Good to see a Bhagat Singh Memorial:


Really interesting views here, on one side you have greenery and on the other you have camels on a barren land:


Awesome roads from Abu Road to Ahmedabad:


At the Dhabha:


One of the toll booths near Ahmedabad:

Proceeding towards Vadodara. Chacha took over the wheels:


Stopped at this mosque for the evening prayers:


Last glimpse of the sunset:


Having dinner and tea at the Hotel Sagar:

[sami316]

Remaining pics from the last leg of the Journey:

Quote at the back of a Truck:


Bro taking a nap as he would be the next to take on the wheels:


786 Kms away from Bangalore, somewhere near Satara I guess:


Resting for an hour near Karad:


The sun rising early morning:


The beautiful roads in the morning:


Windmills near Chitradurga:


Hanuman statue near Nelamangala:


Flyover work going on near Peenya:


Bangalore only 10Kms away:


Yeshwantpur Flyover:


Mekhri Circle Underpass:


Finally reached home:

[MX6]

Fantastic. Look at the reception you guys got on reaching home!

[ampere]

I have been silently reading all your posts without commenting on anything. All I can say is you have done a true India on Wheels! Great! Congrats!

As MX said, look at reception you got!

[sami316]

MX6 and Ampere, thanks for the comments guys!

Yeah we got one hell of a reception and Mom had prepared Biriyani on that day. What better way to end the day than having maa ke haath ka khana, which we were craving for the past few days.

[sami316]

I would also like to thank my Manager for approving my leaves. Thank you Sandeep.