Quote:
Originally Posted by auto_enthusiast Its got to be a car.
Agreed that there are some cons to it, but then too, IMHO it has to be a car.
With regards to a bike, apart from other things mentioned by fellow members, one more imp. thing that needs to be mentioned is unloading and loading the bike every single day in n day out which can be very tiresome |
Well those days of tying a rope or even a bungee chord with hooks and all on a bike and struggling is over now. The present saddle bags are smartly designed. I have a Viaterra Claw saddle bag which has humongous space (55 Litres) and can be mounted or dismounted on a bike in about 2-3 minutes max. It just has 3 simple velcro straps. Infact I have done mounting / dismounting it in under 2 minutes. There are other like Cramster which does not have strapping too. Just straddle it over the pillion seat and you are done. 30 Secs. and they are huge too.
But having said that I have come to this thread again to perhaps retract my earlier stress on riding a motorcycle over a car after going through the discussions and sharing done by lot of senior and experienced T-BHPians.
The reason is in the 6 month trip (unless recker_us breaks his tour into 2-3 seperate smaller trips of 8-12 weeks duration in which case he can try the bike / car / bus-train combi ). But if it has to be a 6 month trip then a car perhaps a not so old Alto or slightly older Wagon R ( again this is considering his recker_us budget of Rs. 1.5 Lakh for the transportation) will be suitable. The SUV/SX4/SWIFT/ETIOS etc are out of reckoning right away due to budget constraint.
recker_us plans to spend his time in eastern /north eastern India which experiences heavy rain. For example Guwahati experiences severe rain from March itself and it is really heavy showers there. It is not for nothing that Cherrapunji is called the wettest place on earth
. So unlike the Bangalore, the weather conditions are pretty harsh in northern India and also the roads are extremely bad during rains with endless extreme slushy roads / landslides / potholed / bad roads etc. Then there is the Himalayan chill and combating AMS and all, then a bike almost shuts of night riding possibility where as in car it is still doable.
Bike is good for wind in hair and sun in face ( my own words down in this thread). But 6 months trip warrants safety as a priority to put the mind at ease.
Further if one is a NON-Biker, as some one had said, one will tire in less than a week time on road. It requires lot of Passion to be a biker.
So I would suggest an ALto / Wagon R, may be the front passenger seat and modded to recline 180 deg and form a sort of bed, a 5 Kg LPG gas with portable burner ( 5 KG LPG cylinder is available in many petrol pumps I heard), ready to eat food / Maggie / spices, a few utensils, a couple of 10 liter cans ( for water and petrol if needed), medicines, Music CDs, some nice books, foldable chair and table for outdoor solo partying, A camping tent and a sleeping bag (perhaps a Minus 5deg sleeping bag would be nice in Himalayas), Navigational tools like MMI(Map my India)/garmin GPS (very very handy and important),
You could plan your stays at YHAI / YMCA / B&B / clean Dhabas (avoiding expensive hotels) or if you plan to sleep in car then may be at the local police station compound, with their permission / or busy petrol pumps on highways) or even some charming outdoors if you feel so, using your camping tent and sleeping bag and with some barbecuing / cooking your favorite meal while you are seated at your portable table and gazing the sunset and listening to your favorite music and not a soul in the vicinity
Perhaps you can even take a Bicycle on the top of the car to help you ride in the local towns or explore some trails if you feel like.
Also learn some basic repairs at your friendly repair shop carry spares like bulbs / fuses / etc, include in your tool box an army knife/ a camping axe/ torch etc.
Some Mobile sims like airtel and BSNL also don't work in North east. check out which one works, carry some spare sims of that service provider, even create a support system ( through this very forum with T-BHPians in East and NE region ) like my biker friend from Bangalore who on a NE/Bhutan/Nepal/Himalaya and all India ride was camping at his Bike friends places (on invitation)though they had never met and only interacted over net earlier.
The possibilities are immense. and Yes, a car can take a whole home with it for creature comforts as some mentioned above which a Bike cant. Bike is more of raw and passion and adventure with the risk factor increased manifold. For wind in the hair, may be you have to stop the car and take a stroll on the road some time, but that would be fun too.
Also please do carry the laptop and record every days happenings ( later down the years, this will be one nostalgic memory and to be told to grandchildren). Lots of Pics. the list is endless.
In all I think most of the above tour accessories and the car can be managed with the budget of Rs. 1.5 Lakh ( you may have to slightly stretch and presuming some items like Laptop / camera etc are already there).
If you are really up to it ( as my friend did) do a live update everyday of your daily trip on the forum with photograph and then there you have a successful sabbatical
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado ok so most of us agree it has to be a car. But my suggestion , it should neither be 800 or alto, go for a OMNI my friend.
You can put a Folding bicycle in it, and full length bed on the passenger side, plus you can have a mini kitchen as well. Surf the net and you will find mini motorhomes built on the OMNI, called as Suzuki carry elsewhere.
A good second hand Omni should be well within your budget. |
Hey Silverado, we both seem to echo the same sentiment and I was busy typing for a while and see we are in same page.
An omni is a good option too and unlike some opinion that it is risky and dangerous, I believe that can be a perfect vehicle for this trip. and an aftermarket Air conditioner would be great in the Omni. that is sure some camper van that you have there