[Roadinc]

Originally Posted by faustus77

@roadinc
On a different site I followed your trip upto Chandigarh. After that I lost touch until I joined team-bhp.
Great to read about your journey to Arunachal and your wanderlust.
rgrds

Thank you @faustus, my journey is currently featured only of team bhp and my personal website, but the one on team bhp is the most updated one. love this forum. I has to discontinue on the other site as i believe they did not understand my wanderlust :-)

FYI... In Siliguri now heading to the NE again to continue from where i left.

[adc]

Originally Posted by Roadinc

FYI... In Siliguri now heading to the NE again to continue from where i left.

What I so like of all your journeys, other than of course the ride and the places - are the interactions that you have. A journey without local interaction is sterile - each and every journey of yours bring such good intricate stories of people and their places.

Let your wanderlust continue for ever - namdapha and interior Arunachal is what we are looking forward to by next year in our travels.

Thanks much for sharing.

[nevinfrancis]

respect buddy.keep exploring, not everyone can and dare to do things like this.

it was my dream to trek along the 'el camino de santiago' - the way of st.jacob and last summer i did that together with a friend along the altantic coast in portugal - from porto to santiago de compostella in spain.

started with much enthusiasm and after about two hours i realised that its not my thing,physical endurance is something special that only a gifted few have.we completed the 300 odd kms journey in about 8 days.

but at the end, the satisfaction was worth every drop of sweat. the people we met along the way, the life of normal villagers we saw, the time i got to spent with myself, everything was just enriching.

keep going, there is something very spiritual and intimate in this.

[dave7377]

Merwyn,
i was just listening to bhupen hazarika's song " Ami Ek jajabor" and its hindi translation by Gulzar where he explains the translation of "jajabor". You fit in the description perfectly.
Great log and a wonderful journey which still cotinues. Keep going.
regards
amit

[Roadinc]

[quote=nevinfrancis;2572728]respect buddy.keep exploring, not everyone can and dare to do things like this.
'el camino de santiago' -

Nevin, i am adding this trek to my to do list in the future when the road takes me outside our country. I am going deep now and i cant imagine myself to be back in the regular life that we are trained of.

Currently i am headed towards Arunachal from where i left, this time i am also taking with me a few opportunities for me to make some bucks and penetrate deeper into the uncharted cultures of the eastern side of our country.

Originally Posted by dave7377

Merwyn,
i was just listening to bhupen hazarika's song " Ami Ek jajabor" and its hindi translation by Gulzar where he explains the translation of "jajabor". You fit in the description perfectly.
Great log and a wonderful journey which still continues. Keep going.
regards
amit

Hey Amit, its interesting that you mentioned Bhupen Hazarika, just a couple of days back i was in Kaziranga, Assam (incidentally the same day when 2 tigers attacked and killed 2 villagers in Kaziranga in 2 separate incidents) having chai and pakora under the cold Assam skies with Bhupen Hazarika's soothing voice in the back ground. in fact these day every where in Assam you can feel his presence as every one the young and the old humming on his tunes. Truly a great Son of Assam and who will be missed dearly.

[mr.sinha]

Words fail me to describe my thoughts after I discovered this thread today, and went through all 16 pages of it in under 2 hours. Riveting. I bow to your spirit of adventure and freedom.

[San Phrangmung]

So where is the rider these days. Which part or parts of Arunachal do you plan to cover this time. And are you going to make a documentory as well.
Lots of winter festival coming up so you will be having feasts frequently even in the remotest habitation. Good luck.

[Roadinc]

Back on the road: October 2011.


After a fruitful pit stop in Bangalore, with motorbike done up like new, a new paint and a thorough check up and fixtures. Now I have a new logo to represent the journey in its current form, a new look of the website coming up soon and a project to garner some money to sustain on the road………... A revisit to the origins of Further and beyond and address some emotional detachment and obligations towards family matters. This pit stop provided assistance to continue on the journey that started almost 2 yrs ago. .



................... And so it was time to hit the road again. The idea now is to head north east with some merchandise that could assist the tribal lifestyle and also provide me with some tool to penetrate into uncharted areas and cultures. I could have put the motorbike on the train and reached Assam in 4 days but the absence from the road for 3 months was eating me up inside hence I made the choice of riding all the way, and reconnect with the road.



Rajiv suggested he would join me if I en-route my journey through Delhi where we could do some work as well route and a company is always good on the road. My machine was happier to be moving again and drove relentlessly. By the time we reached the capital the meter had clocked 3500kms.

I always enjoy detours, it’s a good break from the monotony of the highways and known roads, there are times you even get tired of the interior roads when highways saves your day, it’s the never ending story of the road, same goes with the weather on the road, one part of the country will be soaring hot when you despise the heat and in the very next state you pray for the sun to come out in its full glory. What you ask for in one state is provide by the other.



Green seems to become the theme of this ride, from Bangalore to Delhi the country seemed to have been painted in different shades of green. We sailed across the konkan coastline under blue skies and lush vegetation. Amboli ghat was a savior from the heavy traffic on NH 17 post Goa and cruised on NH 7.
In Mumbai i rested my sore thumb for a bit, ran some errands, oiled and tuned the motorbike and headed out on a pilgrimage.



After an overnight stay in Highway hotel near Vadodara, we rode 350 kms thru marshy land with some beautiful birds try to catch fish and mounds of salt collected from the land As soon as we reached palitana we climbed 3500 steps of to reach the Jain temple on top of the hill and hear stories about leopards in the region and how the guards of the temple keep them away. After climbing down we rested at a dharamashala and left at 5 AM for Ahmadabad.



On the way reminded by a strange man who appeared and disappeared in a minute, just to tell us about the ancient harappan civilization around. We took a quick 7km detour to Lothal an ancient dock now in ruins of the harappan times, excavated in 1954, along with the ruins there is a museum giving you accounts of tools used during their time. At the site there is nothing much see, there is just a thought of how life would have thrived and how nature has changed from the times of the Saraswati River flowing to accommodate life in the ancient civilization of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro to salt fields and harsh arid landscape. Before leaving the ancient site we spend 2 hrs under a tree concluding that nature is the ultimate boss, and civilizations will perish after over exploiting the recourses in the environment.



In Ahmedabad we visited the Kopa jain library which houses over a lakh ancient text inscribed on leaves, I also saw the evolution of current devnagiri script from the ancient Ashokan times. Soon we were on our way to Mt Abu where the Delwara temple is located after getting lost in the architecture we headed to Sadri village in Rajasthan and stayed there overnight. To complete the pilgrimage of Jain architecture on this route we went to Ranakpur which I believe has the most intricate work and the most beautiful temple in India. Rajasthan was surprisingly pleasant I guess October is the right time to travel here, its green, its cold and beautiful, the rains last year kept most of the lakes full and the Puskar lake was a sight we desired before we made a dash to Delhi. And it did not disappoint.



In Delhi Rajiv dropped off, I reconnected with some friends ran some errands and started solo to honor an invite to celebrate Christmas with the Lisu tribe in the last village in Eastern India.



Winter has just started in UP, An instant realization of being a populated country hits you, the trucks and the cycles keep you on the toes till a point that you want to take chai breaks and many of them. At Shahajanpur I stopped for the night in a Fauji Dhaba and left early morning to reach beyond lucknow.



Here was the challenge: single lane highway with heavy fog and poor visibility. This would easily the longest distance I would have ridden ever, 80kms in 3 hrs. The road becomes better as you are approaching Lucknow and here you can make up for the time lost with the four lane highway all the way to Bihar, but I had a couple of stops to make. Never I had been inside UP to see its people in their land and their way of living.



I could not help but stop at Ayodaya to witness one of the biggest congregation of people I have seen going around the sacred town. I further learnt that there were more an 10lakh people circumambulating the town 14 times as Lord Ram did it. It was a colorful sight so the cameras came out instantly. Another opportunity I got through a friend, whose parents were living in a village called Mehndupar in sant kabir nager district some 40kms from the Nepal border. Serpentine roads, vast field of paddy, ground nuts and other veggies, small ponds between fields, pockets of trees for shade and lunch for people working in farms, with the sun up and the chill in the air it’s a pretty surreal set up. Homes are made of mud and bricks with layered cooling system of baked tiles and the open roof veranda inside the house. Again my visit happens to be at the best time of the year when the climate is moderate.



People as everywhere are inquisitive when an outsider comes to their village; everyone wants to know the business that brings me here. While walking through the narrow by lanes of the village you notice the difference in tones, clothing and mannerism suggesting how strong the caste system is prevailing in India and how a man is content with this way of life.
Mom’s are a beautiful creation of nature. I had homemade food after a very long time on the road which satisfied my soul, every night I was given warm milk of the home bred cow and heavy quilt to fight the chill of the night. I was feeling pampered and spoilt. Even while I was leaving she packed some raw rice from their harvest and loads of blessing. God bless all the mothers of the world.




I had my rest and road was calling again, this time friend from Bangalore called who wanted to join me for the NE leg, I asked him to join me at Kaziranga and I rushed through the highways of Bihar, Bengal and Assam before making overnight halts at Kushinagar, Begusarai (Bihar) Siliguri(WB), and Bongaigoan(Assam)to reach Kaziranga. Kaziranga became a tiger reserve only 6 months ago and incidently I reached the place on the same day when 2 men were attacked and killed by 2 different tigers in separate incidents 15kms apart.

Seems like the Cats have come out of their hibernation and surely are here to stay.

[Roadinc]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

So where is the rider these days. Which part or parts of Arunachal do you plan to cover this time. And are you going to make a documentory as well.
Lots of winter festival coming up so you will be having feasts frequently even in the remotest habitation. Good luck.

San, Just updated my log. This time i am trying to get some light (solar) to Vijaynagar/Gandhigram, my shipment has arrived and will be spending Christmas with the Lisu tribe and then head to Anjaw district to continue from where i left of.

PS: i will also be at the Hornbill festival in Nagaland.
Current location: Dibrugarh.

[ac 427]

Digging up a old thread.

What is happening man ? where have you been ? No updates.

Which part of the world are you galvanizing in ?

cheers
ac

[ramzsys]

His blog is regularly updated.

And there's a thing or two to learn from his footprints and his reflections that cater to the larger aspects in life.

[KSM-Vtec]

This is the first time i have come across this thread. I just dont understand how i missed it.

I wish i had been tracking you since day one MC!! will await your updates each day going forward...

What you are doing is unbelievable....I hope taking inspiration from you, someday i will be able to sum up the courage to take this step.

[Funda]

Went through you website. Its nice. I liked the theme, represents the true free spirit in you. In few pages when I was reading the logs, there were scroll bars within the frames, life without boundaries would be awesome. Thumbs Up for the website. Keep going and lets us discover our country through you.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by Funda

Went through you website. ...

What website?

Address pl. Fatafat!!!!

[Darryl.Burke]

Originally Posted by skdking

What website?

Address pl. Fatafat!!!!

Probably the one linked from Post #176 in this thread.