This was a dream trip for all of us. We were all super excited for what was in store and prayed to get some snow.

BHPian varunraizada recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Warning and Suggestions before we dive in

• This is a really long travel Blog, so remove some time to read it
• Please see the pics in full screen (click on the pic to zoom into full screen mode)
• Keep making notes for your trip !

There's a cycle of life.

• Have a Dream
• Find ways of achieving it
• Give it the final push
• Live it
• Repeat

Well, till very recently, I thought, the cycle ends at Step 2, till I realized, the most difficult, critical and life changeing step is the 3rd one.

Here's a story of one such dream which we managed to get to Step 5

Dream Catchers

We (3 cars, 5 people) were all set to pack off to Spiti Valley

We : 3 Bhpians (Bhushan, Sauvik and me)

• 2 cousins of Bhushan (A & S)
• Bussy (VW Van)
• Furteela Ghonga 2.0 (White Fortuner from Mumbai)
• Haryanvi (White Fortuner from Gurgaon)

The Plan

Bussy, FG 2.0, Bhushan Sauvik and me were to start driving from Mumbai and Haryanvi and A & S were to join us from Gurgaon

At this time of the year, we were expecting roads to be shut between Manali and Kaza, thus we planned to go via Shimla to Kaza and then return back in case the roads were found to be shut .

BTW, this is Bussy

This was a short trip (Gurgaon Kaza Gurgaon in 7 days) and it was everyone's (except Bhushan) first trip to Spiti, so we were prepared to be on the road most of the time, although we kept 2 days for Kaza

Our single minded focus was to find some snow there ! (Probability was decent if we got clear roads without land slides)

Preparation

Warm Clothing

1. Warm Jacket - Rateted about 5 degrees
2. Warm Jacket - Rated about -15 to -20 degrees
3. Thermal Inners - for about 4 to 5 days
4. Wollen Socks
5. Gloves
6. Wollen Cap (Covering the ears)
7. Neck Warmer

All of the above items are critical during different temperatures that we came across. We mostly shopped from Decathlon who have superb quality stuff at a reasobale cost

Car

1. Additional set of wipers (Just in case the rubber hardens in sub zero termperature) - Nothing like this was observed
2. Jumper cable - As a precaution - Thankfully this wasn't required for any of the cars
3. Snow Chains -In anticipation
4. Tow Ropes - In case we get stuck
5. Wiper Fluid - In case we need to drain it in the night to avoid freezing and bursting of the pipe - Wasn't required
6. WD40
7. Few Micro Fiber clothes
8. Tyre Inflator / Deflator
9. Puncture Kit - Although we did encounter a puncture, the TPMS warned us and we got the puncture repaired at a local shop

Again, these items are critical for a long road trip - Better to be safe than sorry , especialy in a place where we may not find someone to help for miles together

Medication

• First Aid Kit
• Many Band Aids - In the cold, it's easy to get bruised
• Sunscreen
• Diamox - We had one every day when we were ascending
• Oxygen Can

Food and Eatables

We carried quite a bit of food in the cars as there are trips where you will get something to eat only in villages that we reach and not anywhere else. If you're well fed every morning, this should not be a problem. We were overprepared on this one

Photography Equipment

1. Camera
2. Lenses
3. Go Pro
4. Drone

(Not getting into details here, else this will become another thread in itself)

Day Wise Iternarary

• Day 1 (11th April) - Mumbai to Gurgaon
• Day 2 (12th April) - Gurgaon to Khandaghat
• Day 3 (13th April) - Khandaghat to Sangla
• Day 4 (14th April) - Sangla to Chitkul to Tabo
• Day 5 (15th April) - Tabo to Kaza
• Day 6 (16th April) - Kaza
• Day 7 (17th April) - Kaza to Kalpa
• Day 8 (18th April) - Kalpa to Gurgaon
• Day 9 (19th April) - Gurgaon to Mumbai

Total Distance Covered : 5004 km

Sections marked in Pink are the sections of NE4 (Delhi Mumbai Eway) that are currently open)

I'll try to mention a daily record of the places we visited, route taken, road conditions and of course lots of pictures. Read on !

By the way, this is Bussy

Day 1 - Mumbai to Gurgaon

We left Mumbai around 5pm and reached Gurgaon at about 2pm (About 21 hrs including breaks). We were 3 drivers, so the drive was nice, safe and not at all a stretched one.

Route taken

• Mumbai to Bharuch - NH48 - 325km
• Bharuch to Dehgam (NE4 interchange) - 10km
• Bharuch to Vadodara - NE4 - Reyaka Exit - 91km
• Vadodara to Thandla NE4 Interchange , MP (Via Godhara) - NH148N - 218km
• Thandla Interchange to Bhanpura Interchange - NE4 - 211km
• Bhanpura Interchange to Kushtala Toll Plaza NE4 Interchange - NH148D - 257km
• Kushtala to Sohna - NE4 - 295km

• Sohna to Gurgaon - 20km

Total : 1425km

Notes : Google Maps will try to route you through internal roads especially in the Gujarat and MP sections connecting the two interchanges of NE4. Try to stay on NH148 / NH52 always, even if it may lead to a 20 to 30 km additional route. The internal roads are narrow and full of speedbreakers / bad roads.

Taking the NE 4 on the 3 sections where it is ready was an amazing experience and also time saving (Except for the Bharuch / Vadodara section - where NH48 might be faster as we need to go through Vadodara city towards Godhara) . We managed to beat google ETA by almost 4 hrs over the entire 1425km journey due to that

Here's a footage showing the eway in full glory

NE4 Feedback

Bharuch to Vadodara - 90km(8 lane) section is concrete road and very similar experience to the Mumbai Pune EW. Slightly underwhelming given that this is a greenfield project, the quality of roads could have been better - We paid zero toll here given that this was recently launched and it's toll free till elections we believe

Thandla to Bhanpura (MP Section) - (8 lane) One of the best roads to drive on in India ! Fresh tarmac with hardly any undulations - We could count the number of cars that we passed during the entrie 211km route . Risk : We encountered a fox and a hare on the eWay. This was during our night drive. Please drive with highbeam and keep an eye on the sides of the road for any movement that might come through onto the road. Best to stay within the speed limits (120kmph)

Sawai Madhopur to Sohna : 297 km (8 lane) - Fantastic road quality but about 90% of the MP section. Well inhabited in terms of traffic. There's a 15km toll free section where we encountered wrong side driving by bikers - That too on the rightmost overtaking lane - So please drive carefully here

Day 2 - Gurgaon to Kandaghat

The original plan was to reach Narkanda on this day, but we got extremely late in starting from Gurgaon which meant some traffic getting to the highway and stopping our trip pre maturely at Kandaghat

We picked up the sparkling Haryanvi and loaded it with our stuff.

There was an issue with the spare tyre of the car, due to which we needed to rotate the tyres and also get the alignment and balancing done for both the cars. This took us some time causing a dealy. We stopped at Cosmopolitan Wheels - We would rate it 4.5 on 5 for the quality of work, service and hospitality they showed

We then set off towards Rohtak to take the trans Haryana Expressway (NH152D) to Ismalibad (About 40km from Ambala / 100km from Chandigarh). Roads again were majestic with minimal traffic.

The views around the eway were brilliant with fields and farms all across on both sides . This joins NH152 to lead to Panchkula. We took some photo breaks as wel

As we were quite late entering Himachal, we found sparse traffic at most places and took the right before Shimla towards Chail.

Given the roads becoming extremely narrow and the wonderful scenic beauty of the place, we did not want to drive in the night , so we decided to stop at the first decent hotel / homestay. We found the same at Kandaghat where we checked in at 11pm .

Seven Heaven Home Stay

Feedback on the HomeStay - Very decent , peaceful and hospitable staff. We only had to spend the night and had planned to leave really early morning next day.

I'll rate it 4 out of 5

One feedback - Avoid delaying dinner as we found that most hotels / eateries were shut post 10pm and we found nothing. Even this homestay couldn't provide us with dinner at 11pm so we dug into our reserves we loaded from Mumbai.

Day 3 - Kandaghat to Sangla

We were up an awake at 5am and ready to start by 6am. This was the first day of sub 10degrees temperature and we all had our teeth tottering

Driving lot at Kandaghat Hotel

The whole day today was only driving and trying to reach Chitkul / Sangla.

Kandaghat to Kufri - We took the Shimla By Pass route through Chail and met NH5 at Kufri. This ensured that we don't get into the mess of Shimla during the day and also a fantastic and scenic road to Kufri. The negative of this route is that the roads are very narrow and need to be careful and slow all through to Kufri , but we were not in a hurry :-)

Kufri to Narkanda - Roads are two lane and quality of roads is brilliant for NH5.

Narkanda was infested with rash cab drivers so we went even slower inside the town.

Narkanda to Rampur - We had to descend here and Rampur reminded us of the plains as the temperature suddenly soared to 30 degrees

Rampur to Karcham - Two lane fantastic tar road (Only issue is roads getting spoilt due to landslides) - There are sudden places where we found this issue and thus it is advicable to go slow in these sections

Karcham to Sangla - The road becomes a single road here and is a Kaccha Road . Need to be slow and careful as there are no barriers on the cliff side.

Again, our hard cut off was when the daylight ends as we didn't want to miss out on the lovely landscapes

So, today was about very few photo breaks. Sharing some

Bussy about 20km from Shimla

A clear distinction of the types of mountains / terrains and weather we found in Spiti. It's quite marvelous the difference which is clearly visible

While waiting for roads to be cleared after a small landslide, the clouds decided to give us a beautiful sight

Hotel where we stayed - Hotel Sangla Mansion - https://maps.app.goo.gl/1L7VYuWHaAVCC33n8

Part of INEJ Hotels Group - This is a chain of 4 hotels that has been started off in 2022 and Sikandar and his wife are doing a marvelous job in creating a brand that most of us will absolutely love. The stand out for us was their hospitality. Never before have we felt so much at home ! We really wish this chain grows larger in the Spiti circuit catering to travellers like us

Highly recomended

Feedback and Rating : 4.5 out of 5 - Only reason is the lack of heaters / bed warmers - May be they will build that in very soon.

Continue reading BHPian Varunraizada's travelogue for more insights and information.

The benefit of a shaft drive was apparent as the rider of the Kawasaki Versys 1000 had to lube the chain before the return trip.

BHPian cjt2012 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This trip was on my mind for a couple of years, after having planned the trip last year, we dropped the plan a few days before the trip due to the extreme heat in May.

This year, however, we decided to venture on the trip towards the end of March.

A road trip is always about the adventure and thrill of the journey and not just about the destination. As a group of four (Parvez Patel Age 70 - 2022 BMW R1250GSA, Khodaram Zandbaf Age 62 - 2017 BMW R1200GS, Darayus Dastoor Age 61 - 2022 Kawasaki Versys 1000 and myself Clement Thomas Age 48 - 2017 BMW R1200GS); we started planning for the trip at the beginning of January 2024, a WhatsApp group was made and that was about it.

It was not until 14 days before the trip that we really sat down and did some groundwork on the possible routes and arrangements in Bhutan. One of the group members had his sister undertake the journey by air last year, so we decided to employ the services of the same travel company, to arrange our Hotel bookings, bike clearances and meet us at the Indo-Bhutan border.

Odometer Reading the day before the trip

Loading the Base attachment of the Moskomoto Reckless 80 setup

Initially, inside Bhutan we were contemplating renting Bhutan-registered RE Himalayan, however, thankfully better sense prevailed once we reached Bhutan.

Some arrangements inside Bhutan are mandatory a brief list of requirements as listed below:

• A Bhutanese tourism department-approved guide is mandatory to accompany tourists along with a Taxi and driver for the guide.
• Passports or Voter ID is required to enter Bhutan. We used our Passports which were duly stamped upon entry. Tourist must pay a sustainability fee at Immigration of Rs1200/- head/ night of stay in Bhutan (For Indians, Srilankans and Maldivians). For all other nationalities, USD 250/- night must be paid as sustainability fees.
• The tour operator has to present Proof of hotel reservations. All hotels for tourists have to be three-star and above. Travel insurance is also required which is set at Rs700/- per person for the duration of the stay.
• Original RC of the bike, Valid insurance, PUC, Original Valid Indian Driving license card, are the necessary documents for any Motor vehicle including Motorcycles.
• It is preferable to have the motorcycle in your name otherwise you may need an authorization letter from the owner permitting you to ride in Bhutan.
• Rs 4500/- per Night of Stay in Bhutan for Motorcycle/Motorcar is to be paid in cash at the Regional Transport office in Phuentsholing.
• These documents have to be submitted to the RTO in Bhutan who will then issue the Route Permit.
• Indian Currency is accepted, and the exchange rate is 1:1
• One very important point - Make sure you have your bank cards cleared for transactions in Bhutan (generally on most Indian bank-issued cards - it's written in the small print that the cards cannot be used in Nepal and Bhutan). You will be required to call your Bank helpline number and ask them to allow usage of the cards in Bhutan.
• Please also ensure that you have sufficient INR currency at hand, as everything has to be managed by cash inside Bhutan.

My bike is generally well-kitted for long trips, but I did a small service at home only wherein I, changed the Oil, cleaned the K&N air filter, Cardan shaft removed and greased, Cardan Oil changed, Checked torque values on all crucial nuts and bolts and Tyre pressure checked.

I have both Aluminium Panniers and Soft Luggage and for this trip, I decided to go with the soft luggage basically to manage the weight (Panniers tend to be heavier)

Some very essential generic requirements on the motorcycle are as below:

• USB Charging port 12V (My bike has 3 USB ports)
• Aux Lights
• Headlight guards / protectors
• The Connected cradle to accommodate the phone is a very essential requirement when using a Phone for Google map Navigation.
• In hindsight, I should have probably used a Tail bag instead of the dry bag in my Moskomoto Reckless 80 set up along with the two dry bags on the side. Pack one bag with all necessary travel essentials (preferably the tail bag) which should contain everything that you may require for the night stay at the hotel and your next day's morning routine, The other bags can be left secure on the Motorcycle itself, this saves you time and effort to get back on the road the next morning.
• Ensure you have a good set of riding gear, this is non-negotiable - I was using Klim Adventure Rally Pro Jacket, Klim Badland Pants, Rynox Gloves, Scorpion AT950 modular helmet, Rynox Dry Innerwear (Not a big fan of this product- I found it to be a little uncomfortable as it sticks to your body after sweating, I rather prefer a cotton t-shirt inside in this heat).
• All four of us were using the Parani intercom, but the pairing was not as seamless as they claimed and the four of us could never get connected with each other. Only two of us could always remain paired. I am not entirely sure if we were pairing it the correct way, but it was very frustrating after having invested in a new intercom only to see it unable to connect all four of us.

Other equipment carried were: Sony Action cam with loop recording charged by the bikes 12v USB port, essential tools, a Puncture repair kit, a compact air compressor (12V supply from the bike), a jump starter, Cable ties (very important), straps, bungee chords, Essential first aid and medicines, Spare Brake pads front and rear, Spark Plug set, key fob spare battery, Emergency key.

Throughout the trip, only regular fuel was used on my bike, however, my friends used 95 octane wherever possible, but as we realized on the highways it was not easily available.

The only thing unanimously decided was that we would not be riding late into the night, and that, we should find a decent hotel with safe parking by sunset.

Day 1: 24.03.24 Mumbai (MH)- Akola (MH) (583Km)

As usual, group members were not exactly on time. By the time we congregated and started the trip, it was 6:15, getting out of Mumbai in the early hours of the morning was easy, however, roads after Thane for about 30-35 km are under repairs and have a lot of diversions. Lack of route planning meant that we were just following Google and it did take us through some villages. Not a very smart idea, and we decided that the route needed to be better thought out, We all decided that, we would stick to National Highways only, and if they were not available, only then take a State Highway.

For the most part, the roads were good. We stayed at the Grand Jalsa resort off the highway at Akola.

Day 2: 25.03.24 Akola (MH) - Rewa (MP) (780km)

After the previous day's experience, we decided to only stick to NH, and the route took us via Nagpur, Seoni, Jabalpur, Katni to Rewa. By far, the best National Highway in the entire trip, first NH53 until Nagpur (absolutely brilliant roads ) then NH 44 and NH 30 towards Rewa, The roads were so good that I could engage Cruise control at 100kmph and leave it for up to 15min on some stretches. The motorcycle being absolutely planted and stable, it just gobbles up distances effortlessly. We stayed at Hotel Chandralok, the hotel is owned by a Sikh gentleman and he is a bike enthusiast. Nice hotel and good food. The festival of Holi was around and this meant that traffic on the road was not as bad, but this would impact us the next day.

Near Pench Tiger Reserve - Hydration stop

At Hotel Chandralok Rewa - Brilliant Hospitality specially for Bikers

Day 3: 26.03.24 Rewa (MP) - Muzaffarpur (BR) (530km)

Started late from Rewa due to the good hospitality, Again sticking to NH as planned we made rapid progress, However, soon we realized a serious problem, It was Holi and it was a very big festival in Bihar. So big in fact, that everything, and I mean every damn thing is closed in the entire state of Bihar. This meant that Petrol would become an issue, and sure enough, three of the bikes were down to one line on the fuel gauges (The GSA with 31ltr fuel tank was very comfortable / not concerned) and no petrol pumps were open, we had already started riding very conservatively but we were very concerned with our fuel situation.

Towards late afternoon, we found a petrol pump which was closed, however, there was a pushcart next to the pump and they were selling petrol in Black, Selling 750ml whiskey bottles filled with petrol (say about 700ml per bottle) at Rs150/-. We bargained and were able to strike a deal for one bottle of petrol at Rs110/- . We bought 6ltrs each, enough to propel us until Patna. This entire fuel fiasco meant that we wasted a lot of time trying to find a petrol station. Contrary to popular belief, Roads were very good initially via Hanumana, Mirzapur, Mughalsarai, Mohania, Arrah, Patna towards Muzaffarpur, NH30, NH135, NH35, AH1, NH319, NH922, NH22. We got some traffic on the outskirts of Patna. As dusk set in we stopped for the night at Hotel The Premier in Muzaffarpur (BR).

Don't even ask how rubbish that hotel was, but nonetheless a place to stay the night.

Near Mirzapur - road side eatery

Highway services after a Toll plaza

Day 4 27.03.24 Muzaffarpur (BR) - Bagdogra (WB) (438km)

Started later than planned, got very heavy traffic to exit the town, following NH only as planned, The roads were, for the most part, good. Towards evening, we were tired and decided to stop for the night at Bagdogra.

Route taken was Darbhanga, Phulparas, Forbesganj, Araria, Purnia, Dalkhola, Kishanganj, Islampur, to Bagdogra.

That is NH27 all the way. The section of road after Dalkhola until Kishanganj was no so good with some potholes.

The night was spent at Orbit Hotel, which had decent facilities with food.

Near Purunia - The best and simple Dhaba food experience during the trip

Day 5 :28.03.24 Bagdogra (WB) - Jaigaon (WB) (158km)

We had a leisurely breakfast and left the hotel late since this was the last leg to Bhutan, we took the most scenic and stunning northern route, surprisingly the roads were excellent and through some densely forested areas with tall trees on both sides, after which started the tea gardens, we crossed the famous Coronation Bridge on the Teesta river, which is a sight to behold, towards evening we reached Jaigaon. At Jaigaon, as we were approaching the border the roads were very bad with chaotic traffic.

We have a friend who is a businessman and an avid motorcycle rider at Jaigaon, so we had a good evening tea and snacks while we waited for our Guide to take us into Bhutan.

After the immigration process, we proceeded to Hotel Gardhen, Since Parvez was tired and exhausted, he decided that he would not be riding the motorcycle inside Bhutan and instead sit in the car with the Guide and Driver, and to give him company, Khodaram also decided that he will also not ride inside Bhutan. Both the bikes were left at Jaigaon with our friend and only Darayus and I got our bikes into Bhutan.

As mentioned in the beginning, we were contemplating renting Bhutan-registered RE Himalayan, but when we saw the bikes on offer, we quickly changed our mind and decided to use our own bikes.

The difference between Jaigaon and Phuentsholing is stark and you will be amazed at how clean and quiet Bhutan is.

Tea Gardens in West Bengal

Jaigaon/Phuentsholing Border Entry gate to Bhutan

Day 6 : 29.03.24 Phuentsholing - Thimpu (150km)

We checked out of the hotel at 9:00 am and went to clear immigration which was a time-consuming process, Indians make up the bulk of the tourists who visit Bhutan, and Immigration clearance took about 1.5hrs.

Then we went to file the route plan and clear the paperwork for the two motorcycles which we intended to ride, it was also a slightly lengthy procedure which took about an Hour to complete, we paid Rs22500/- per bike for the 5 nights route plan inside Bhutan.

Formalities completed, and we started our trip to Thimpu. The quality of the roads is excellent and they are completely built and maintained by the Border Roads Organisation, the roads are totally winding in nature and are a real pleasure and fun experience.

On the way we stopped at Takthikoti canteen operated by BRO on the invitation by Chief Engineer of Project Dantak, towards evening we reached Thimpu and checked into Hotel Nordenma.

One of the fellow riders knew Kelly Dorji (Actor and Model), he invited us to his Restobar in Thimpu called Grey Area, we had some great food with impeccable hospitality from Kelly. A huge thanks to him for inviting us.

Enroute to Thimpu - Kawasaki Versys 1000 and the BMW R1200GS

Day 7: 30.03.24 Thimpu Local Sightseeing

Started the day visiting the Buddha Dordenma, Simply Bhutan, Royal Takin Pzeserve (Takin is the national animal of Bhutan), Bhutanese Cuisine at an authentic restaurant, and some local shopping.

Buddha Dordenma at Thimpu- Angels look mesmerizing

Day 8: 31.03.24 Thimpu - Punakha (73km)

Again a day on the motorcycle, with excellent roads and breathtaking scenery, The two of us on the motorcycles would take off using Google maps and reach the pre-determined meeting point. as discussed with the guide, driver and our two other friends.

We stopped at Dochula Pass which is a monument with 108 stupas in memory of the fallen soldiers. The bikes always generate a lot of interest among the public wherever we stop, At Dochula, we saw a lot of tourists, specially a group of "Ladies only" tourists group from various parts of India, we ended up meeting the same group a few times more along the trip in the next couple of days.

We also met a group of three German riders who rented RE bikes locally and were exploring Bhutan.

Onwards we rode to Chime Lhakhang " The Divine Madman temple", whilst there, we witnessed a freak accident, burning down and gutting the Monastery which was being newly constructed for the Monks, we chipped in to help in any way we could to remove combustible material from the immediate vicinity. This put us behind schedule to visit a few more places in Punakha, We later went to our Hotel and called it a day.

We stayed at Hotel Lobesa, it had a beautiful view outside the windows, a good balcony and big rooms, by far the best hotel we stayed at in Bhutan.

Punakha Fort Entry - Note the large honeybee comb

Day 9: 01.04.24 Punakha - Paro (115km)

Started after breakfast, since we missed a few sightseeing locations the previous day due to the fire at the Monastery, we went to the Punakha Fort. This is an impressive structure with unmistakable Bhutanese architecture, a sight not to miss is the school of Trout fish which you can see from the bridge leading to the fort, after spending some time at the fort we were on the road again back along the same road for most of the way.

Stopping again at Dochula Pass, the cafe is very good and since the sky was a bit more clear than the previous visit, we were able to see a few of the tall Himalayan mountain peaks at a distance.

The highlight of the day was our invitation from the Chief Engineer of Project Dantak to visit the headquarters. We were deeply honored and thrilled to have received his Invitation, we had a very good interactive dialogue with the Chief Engineer, who was kind enough to explain the various aspects of the BRO's mandate in Bhutan, the history behind the entire project and the Museum.

We were presented with a coffee table book consisting of the entire history of Project Dantak. Deeply honored and Salute to our soldiers who work in such extreme terrains.

We then took to the road leading to Paro, as usual, the roads were brilliant with swooping curves at every turn.

Paro is a beautiful town located in the Valley, this is also the town with the International Airport. Towards evening we reached our Hotel. We stayed at Hotel Ratna Vara, a decent hotel, However, the food could have been better.

We retired early as the next day was the big trek to Tiger's Nest.

Day 10: 02.04.24 Paro Local sight seeing

We left the Hotel early to the Tiger's Nest base, but before that, we stopped and had a refreshing breakfast at a local diner.

Tiger's nest by far symbolizes Bhutan, it's a must-do trek for tourists arriving in Bhutan. It's by no means easy, and definitely not for the faint-hearted, and you need to be relatively fit to attempt such a Trek.

The base camp is at 7300ft and the Nest is at 10500ft, the trek itself is about 5.5km, Parvez, the oldest among us chose to sit this one out, We started climbing at about 8:40 am and finally reached the summit at about 12:00, spent about an hour in the temples on top, the view of tiger's nest from any direction is breathtaking and beautiful. The trek consists of trails and steps both paved and stone steps.

The cafe midway is a good place to rest your legs and re-energise.

The trek down was also quite daunting, by the time we reached the base it was about 2:30pm, and we were all tired and decided to head back to the hotel.

In the evening, we went out for a bit of souvenir shopping.

Tiger's Nest - A Bhutan trip - "must do trek"

Day 11: 03.04.24 Paro - Phuentsholing

We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed back on the road to the border town of Phuentsholing. We again had the same invitation to refresh and recharge at the Takthikoti GREF canteen which we accepted. Reached Phuentsholing towards evening, and headed to the same Hotel (Hotel Gardhen). Parked the bikes and came out to Jaigaon to have tea at our friend's place. After that, we headed back to the Hotel in Phuentsholing and retired early since we planned an early start for the return road trip.

Day 12: 04.04.24 Phuentsholing - Darbhanga (BR) (530km)

The previous night's food did not seem to go down well with my gut. I felt sick in the stomach and threw up a few times in the night. My friends did not think I was fit enough to ride, but, that was not a choice. The friend in Jaigaon was also riding with us for a few hundred kms on his Triumph Tiger 800, he offered to take me to a hospital on the way.

By 10:00am my condition had worsened, I had thrown up about 5 times and was feeling severely dehydrated, I spoke to a doctor's friend, and she prescribed Tab Ondem and an Antibiotic to fight the food poisoning. The tab immediately helped and I was feeling a lot better, thus decided to continue as much as possible, and took the same roads back so we knew that the roads were good.

By nightfall we were in the town of Darbhanga and decided to stop for the day at Hotel Garcia International, It was a very nice hotel and we had a nice peaceful night.

Day 13: 05.04.24 Darbhanga (BR) - Hanumana (MP) (500km)

I felt a lot better in the morning, starting at about 8:30 am roads were good as we were taking the same road back, the afternoon heat was too much and we were stopping often to hydrate and stretch our legs as we were having cramps.

Passed UP in the evening, it was very sad to see the lack of any hotels after Mirzapur, by nightfall we had passed Mirzapur but could not find any hotels, so we kept pressing ahead, it was only after entering MP we saw a newly built hotel, we took the rooms even though it did not have any AC, it was about 9:30 pm by the time we reached the hotel, had dinner and retired for the day.

We stayed at the Highway Treat Hotel.

Day 14: 06.04.24 Hanumana (MP) - Nagpur (MH) (598km)

Road were as good as they could be, made rapid progress. These bikes on such wonderful roads are really a treat and a dream ride. The skies were overcast and that also meant that the heat was a little lesser than usual.

Reached Nagpur by sunset and called it for the day.

Day 15: 07.04.24 Nagpur (MH) - Wadner (MH) (370km)

Since we were not in a tearing hurry to reach, we took it easy with the riding, the day time heat had again started to rise, the roads were excellent and by early evening we decided to stop for tea at a roadside hotel which had just newly launched, since rooms were available with AC we decided to stay put there. Stayed at Hotel Gurukripa.

Day 16: 08.04.24 Wadner (MH) - Mumbai (MH) (520km)

Started around 7:30am and took a slightly different route than when we had left from Mumbai, using NH53 passing through Bhusawal, Jalgaon, Dhule then onto NH60 towards Malegaon, Nashik, Igatpuri, Thane and Mumbai. NH60 was good but every intersection has multiple speed breakers and as such has to slow down.

The real agony was the poor condition of roads leading to Thane which starts about 30km before Thane and the afternoon traffic with the scorching heat was really unbearable. Finally reaching home by 6:00 pm.

The epic round trip was about 5500km, In hindsight, we could have accomplished this trip in 2 weeks, but with a group of riders, we have to cater to the pace at which everyone is comfortable.

The bikes which accomplished this trip were the real gems, each of the motorcycles did not miss a beat or give us any kind of mechanical trouble.

The benefit of shaft drive was amply apparent as the Versys chain needed to be lubed before the return trip. The superior comfort of the GS/GSA is also something I wish to highlight, the suspension is truly an engineering marvel.

Without a doubt, the BMW GS/GSA is one of the best motorcycles ever made.

I wish here to thank my fellow riders for such a great trip, a memory etched forever in my mind.

Before I conclude, I have to say that our Highway systems have seen a remarkable improvement, they were simply fantastic.

One takeaway for anyone planning a road trip - stick to the National highways for as long as you can before you consider altering to SH or any other roads.

Few more photos for your viewing pleasure

Enroute to Thimpu - On Arguably the best purpose-built motorcycle

At Takthikoti GREF Canteen

Enroute to Thimpu

One of the Few waterfalls on the route to Thimpu

With Mr Anil, Road trip back to Mumbai somewhere in the forest of Jalpaiguri

All the bikes in formation, a nice photo opportunity

William Tell is aiming for the Apple on the head of Mr Parvez

Finally After an Epic trip - Odometer on arrival back home

A small Bhutan sticker to highlight the achievement

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The speed limit for cars on the Samruddhi Mahamarg is 120 km/h and it is possible to maintain the same comfortably.

BHPian Mgdoodler recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Blue Rocket had plans for 2023, which 2023 decided were not to come to fruition. On charts was to travel to Khar Dung La and Kanyakumari sometime between June and Sept 2023 but due to some personal circumstances all long-distance plans were abandoned. Or so we thought.

Thanks to my cousin, who was marrying the love of his life in her city in Dec 2023. Invitations were issued and the plan initially was to make a quick visit to Kolkata for a couple of days for the event itself which then turned into a week’s solo drive to Kolkata and back… and in the end, turned into a 15-day holiday with Blue Rocket travelling through 6 states and the rest of my family flew to Kolkata for wedding festivities.

As per my usual practise Blue Rocket was serviced and a checkup done 15 days before my travel and I drove it for a couple of short excursions around Mumbai.

Plan was to take the Mumbai – Nagpur – Sambhalpur – Keonjhar – Kolkata route through central India while going and return via Konark - Vishakhapatnam - Chhattisgarh - Hyderabad - Mumbai. This was my first time driving any of these routes and my first time meeting the Bay of Bengal. As with most of my long-distance drives, this was just Blue and me all the way. FYI Blue Rocket is a petrol, manual i-turbo Altroz.

Day 1- 1/12/2023 Friday

This was a day I was looking forward to the most, the opportunity to drive on the Samruddhi Mahamarg. I have already driven on the Trans Haryana and enjoyed it and was looking forward to a similar experience.

Left home at 6:45 am - much later than the planned 5:30 am, but I was ok with it as there was a mild fog and starting later allowed better visibility. Travelled across Mumbai via the SCLR and eastern express highway leaving the city behind at Thane, but not the traffic, roads were jammed due to diversions and the first couple of hours were tedious. First stop was to fill fuel at Padgha. Tank filled and the drive started towards Kasara ghat which I would be driving on for the first time and it was a good drive. Stopped for a quick breakfast at 10:30 at a restaurant after Ghoti Bhudruk at 150 kms from Mumbai and 7 kms before Bharvir entry into the Mahamarg.

The mahamarg is wide, well planned and mostly a comfortable drive. Speed Limit for cars is 120 Kmph and it is possible to maintain the same comfortably. Heavy vehicles are few and keep to the middle and left lane. It was a pleasure to drive on this route. I stopped at approximately halfway at around 3 pm for a fuel refill and bio break. I also stopped at about 1.5hrs of driving on the mahamarg for a quick photo session with Blue being the model. As you can see the weather was lovely with blue skies and fluffy white clouds – a perfect winter day for a drive and the road is practically empty.

Road surface could be better and more functional rest stops are required. Hopefully, these requirements will be fulfilled soon.

It was later in the day after 4:30 pm and as we neared Nagpur, I encountered some truck traffic in the fast/overtake lane and middle lane at the same time blocking the road. But it was not for long.

Crossed Waifal toll naka at 5:30 PM, having covered 600 kms in approx. 6 hours with a 20 min break.

Winter and travel towards the east meant that the sun set earlier and it was already dark as we exited the Expressway and made our way to the night stay – Hotel Pride near the airport metro.

Reached and checked in at 6:30 pm. Covering 814 kms in little less than 12 hours.

The day had not ended though. After a quick catch-up with work, I headed towards the nearest Haldirams at Ajni Square. Travelled by metro for 4 stops and exited just outside Haldirams. My last meal had been a protein bar along with a yoghurt smoothie at 3 pm and now I feasted on Dahi Puri and hot Rajma Chawal.

Dinner done I took the metro back to my hotel and turned in for an early night.

Continue reading about Mgdoodler's road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

Had a BMW GS 850 as company for my Royal Enfield during the 5-day trip to Arunachal.

BHPian aviator1101 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction

This ride was meant to be undertaken before I finally left this part of the country. Professional commitments kept forcing me to postpone the dates and this was the final window which was available to us before the proper onset of monsoons in the North East. As such, the weather in this part of the country is unpredictable at any time of the year.

Initially, five persons were planning to go for the ride. But, due to various commitments and repeated postponing of dates, finally only two of us set course for the Eastern Edge of the country.

1. Self on Bagheera (Himalayan 450)
2. Fellow BHPian dagger80 on his BMW GS850

A day prior, dagger80 also reached Tezpur which was our rendezvous for the main ride.

Itinerary

This was the original itinerary:

• Day 1 (13 March): Tezpur to Tezu (461 kms/ 10:00 hours)
• Day 2 (14 March): Tezu - Parshuram Kund - Hayuliang - Walong (198 kms/ 7:00 hours)
• Day 3 (15 March): Walong - Kibithu - Kaho - Kibithu - Walong - Hayuliang (150/ 10:00 hours)
• Day 4 (16 March): Hayuliang - Dinjan (230 kms/ 7:00 hours)
• Day 5 (17 March): Dinjan - Tezpur (340 kms / 8:00 hours)

Day 1

Tezpur - Tezu

We started the day early, hitting the Tezpur Bhalukpong highway at around 6:30 am planning to clear the dense traffic patches before proper daybreak.

We had planned to reach our destination via the North bank of Brahmaputra, ie via Balipara, Biswanath Chariali, Gohpur, North Lakhimpur and Dhemaji.

We decided to cover as many routes as possible before sunset since there was very little sightseeing on this route and it was more of mile-munching and negotiating traffic while crossing the major towns. We stopped for brunch at Subansiri, which has restaurants on either side of the highway and seemed to be a popular meal break on this route.

We refuelled at a petrol pump at Dhemaji and also donned the rain gear since light drizzling had started in a few patches. Google Maps showed us a wrong shortcut and sent us on an unexpected off-roading spree through country roads which of course we didn't mind as a warm-up to the main ride, but we would advise people to stick to the main highway and ignore the shortcut to reach the Bogiveel Bridge.

After crossing over to the South bank, we took the Tinsukia bypass and after crossing Doom Dooma, as advised by local friends, took the Kakopathar route and entered Arunachal through Dirak and followed Namsai, Chowkham, Alubari route to reach Tezu and finally Lohitpur.

Lohitpur is a picturesque hamlet on the foothills at about 12 kms from Tezu town. A friend from the Indian Army arranged our stay at Lohitpur⁩.

Almost 70-75% of roads traversed on this day were good to excellent. We could easily cruise at 80-90 km/h on most parts of the route except traffic-congested areas.

Day 2

Tezu - Hayuliang

The initial plan was to ride from Tezu (Lohitpur) to Walong. However, the rains played the spoilsport. Probably it made up for what it couldn't achieve the first day. The start was delayed by almost 2 hrs. Finally started at 9:30 am. Refuelled at a fuel pump at Tezu since we received inputs about the non-availability of fuel at the fuel pumps ahead of time.

After a short halt at Demwe, to enjoy the breakfast hosted by a local friend, we rode through drizzle to Brahmakund after which the drizzle changed to mild and thereafter heavy rains and in no time we were wet to the core.

However, despite inclement weather and very challenging road conditions, the urge to reach somewhere ahead and of course some very scenic routes brought us to Khupa and then to Hayuliang when heavy downpours forced us to take an unplanned halt at Hayuliang.

This halt was short of our planned destination by almost 3 hours (in the mountains we judge distances by time and not kms/miles) and so we were hoping like hell that the weather would open up the next morning so that we could start early and make up for the delay since the weather prediction was showing an open window of only next two days (though the reliability of weather prediction in these areas is a big question mark).

Day 3

Hayuliang - Walong - Kibithu - Meshai - Kaho - Walong.

A classic example of fortune favours the brave. Delayed start from Hayuliang due to rains. Started the ride amid mild to heavy drizzle, but 20 kms out of Hayuliang, the weather opened up and by the time we reached Walong, it was completely dry roads.

Continue reading BHPian aviator1101's travelogue for more insights and information.

After driving my 4x4 SUV in this terrain for over 5,000 km, all I can say is that I fell in love with this little car.

BHPian Samba recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After getting the Jimny, I was craving a road trip and was checking with my wife, Sukanya aka Bhpian DogNDamsel12 for several places. We bought the Jimny at the end of 2023, and we had a very hectic schedule till Feb end. So we were looking forward to going on a road trip in March.

We considered places like North Bengal, Gopalpur, Vizag, Pench, and a few more, but we were not very content with any of the above plans.

One night, after a very hectic day at work, she was sitting down with the map and somehow came up with- 'I would like to go to Dibang'.

"Dibang! Where is that? And how did you think of that?!" I was surprised. She said "It is in the far east of Arunachal, and at the end of India. From our earlier trips I have noticed that beneath the snow peaks of the Himalayas, many a national forest and reserves are nestled. Since we have been towards the North, I thought why not East? So I kept zooming into the map to see what lies there. So, Dibang?" And she went off to sleep. While I started my research on where I can take the wife and the Jimny to this less-traveled region.

So the research began. When I started to have a look at the road map, the number of days and the number of places kept on increasing! Apart from Anini, places like Ziro, Pasighat, Walong & few more got added to our list!

The final itinerary came up like this:

• Day 1 Kolkata to Jaldapara & go for an afternoon safari
• Day 2 Jaldapara to Tezpur
• Day 3 Tezpur to Ziro
• Day 4 Ziro Sightseeing
• Day 5 Ziro to Pasighat
• Day 6 Pasighat sightseeing
• Day 7 Pasighat to Bomjir
• Day 8 Bomjir to Anini via Mayudia pass
• Day 9 Anini to Bruni & back to Anini
• Day 10 Anini to Roing
• Day 11 Roing to Bhismaknagar and back
• Day 12 Roing to Walong
• Day 13 Walong to Kibithoo, Kaho, Dong & back to Walong
• Day 14 Walong to Namsai
• Day 15 Namsai to Pangsau pass & stay at Jairampur
• Day 16 Jairampur to Tezpur
• Day 17 Tezpur to Jaldapara
• Day 18 Jaldapara to Kolkata

What I figured out from my initial research was, that this part of Arunachal is very less crowded, the tourist footfall is minimum, and the amenities we will get will be very limited.

So for us, we carried enough medicines, if any minor health issue crops up, we can handle it on our own.

And when Sukanya packs the luggage, I'm mostly clueless about what she carries, but am always sure that whatever I ask for, will come out of our bag! The poor little Jimny had to carry a lot of luggage!

For the Jimny, I just carried very few basic spares like -

• Puncture repair kit
• Tyre inflator
• Tow rope and shackles
• Jump start cable
• Few extra fuses
• 1L engine oil
• A basic OBD scanner

Booked a few hotels and applied for the ElLP a month before the trip.

Sharing a few teaser pics from the trip-

And a couple of teaser videos.

• Video 1
• Video 2

INDEX

• Jaldapara
• Ziro
• Pasighat
• Bomjir
• Anini & Bruni
• Roing
• Walong, Kibithoo, Kaho & Dong
• Namsai
• Pangsau Pass

Before writing further, first let me thank Bhpian aviator1101, Bhpian Gunin, Bhpian Reeturaj, Dbhpian Abhi1512, Mr.Arunangshu Das, & Mr.Chandranath Sarkar for their inputs to plan this trip.

Continue reading about Samba's road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

This pickup truck is a beast on open roads but would it be as reassuring as my Mahindra Bolero 4WD on tiny broken roads?

BHPian gunin recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A decade. That’s how much time has passed since I last visited Anini. Back then I was a carefree bachelor and riding around everywhere on my Royal Enfield. Things have changed in the last 10 years. Now I am a carefree (read as careful) married guy with two healthy kids. So, when a long weekend came up in March, I asked my owner (wife) if we should go for an adventurous trip to Anini and she said no way she was taking a 7-month old on such a trip. I could take the 7-year-old Nibir if I wanted. In fact, she insisted that I take him along. Sharing responsibility and all that- one kid each.

So, we were just two men and our newly acquired 2017 Isuzu Vcross for the journey. I asked my colleague Joibumsang (Joi in short) to join me as Nibir loves him and more importantly listens to him on dietary matters. People who have fussy eaters as kids will relate to me. Also, he is great fun.

A decade ago we rode across these river beds. No bridges then.

This was the maiden trip for the Isuzu and I wondered how it would fare on narrow mountain tracks. I have had it for 2 months and it is a beast on open roads but would it be as reassuring as my Bolero 4wd on tiny broken roads? Well, there was just one way to find out and accordingly, the three of us packed ourselves in the Vcross and headed towards the land of the Idu Mishimis on a grey March morning.

Vcross. A worthy companion of my Bolero 4wd?

We made good progress from Pasighat to Roing where we met the first checkpost set up for the oncoming elections. They saw a sleeping kid on the 2nd row and waved us off. Benefits of having a kid. We would meet many such checkposts on our way to Anini and the Vcross got a lot of compliments from the officers on duty. “Kya Mazaa Gari He” one particularly beautiful lady police officer quipped to her mates. Translation: “What a fine car and what a fine driver!”. That bit about the driver is made up for those who don’t know Hindi. Joi advised Nibir not to go Papa Papa when we were in conversation with beautiful police officers. Life lessons the kid is learning.

Near Mayudia. People come to see snow here.

The road itself is not very challenging. Any car can do this route. There are some small diversions off the highway due to landslides which need some careful maneuvering. We reached Anini in around 10 hours from Pasighat. We did take a lot of breaks. Food options are aplenty on this route. We had some good food some 100 kms before Anini. Try to tank up your car at Roing as the next bunk is at Anini only- some 250 odd kms.

Nibir being cheeky

We gave a lift to an elderly woman working in her fields. A sweet person who forgot to take back her dao (knife) when she got off at Anini. We left the dao at the guest house and hope she gets it back.

Some good roads. Mostly isolated. Blessed to stay near such places.

At Anini, while I was looking for directions a local guy in his car shouted from behind: “Joldi ja K***”- “Move it! *&$@. It is an Assamese (my native) slang and I felt at home hearing it. So kind of him.

We stayed at a small lodge/ homestay named Kazi Homestay. It doesn’t look like much but I recommend it to everyone. Very good and caring hosts and tasty, fresh food.

They served us local chicken for dinner. The owner gave a huge liver piece to Nibir as kids generally like it. The kid made a face and gave the whole thing to Joi. Meanwhile, the owner strolled back in and Joi got nervous and gave half of the liver back to Nibir and he in turn gave it to me. So, the chicken liver meant for the kid ended up on the plates of the two grown men. I wonder how many men are falsely accused of stealing candy from kids.

At night we realised we did not have toothpaste. Joi got some charcoal from a fire. It was quite good and the teeth felt fresh. We did not get any Colgate later on as well. Charcoal all the way.

So we were in Anini and we had the full day to ourselves. We decided to head towards Dambuene/ Acheso as the views are great there. It is a beautiful drive of around 60 kms and one can drive upto the border outpost at Bruni.

Anini Outskirts

What is more important? Journey. Destination or the Company

We finally reached the famous Chigu Resort. A lot of influencers make reels here with the cameraman filming from behind. Joi wanted a similar reel and he walked on wooden planks as I followed his rear with my camera. It might have looked awkward I believe.

Love how handsome the Isuzu is. The scenery is nice too

A farm hut. I would like to stay here

There are lots of places where one can get close to the beautiful Dri River. The kid pointed out one such route and we just went wow. The three of us enjoyed playing in the sand and throwing rocks at the water. With a kid for company, we also get to be kids again.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Throw some rocks will you

We trekked to a nearby waterfall called Mawu Aando falls. The forest was so beautiful with moss and lichen-covered trees. I was very happy to see Nibir enjoying his day out in the wild. Nature has a way of cooling tempered nerves if one is willing. We just sat on the wooden platform near the falls and wished we could be here forever. Of course, we got hungry later and headed to Chigu Resort for some good food.

A kid in the jungle

A pathway to another world

The falls finally

The road here is so beautiful and I wished I could just keep going. It runs through the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary with pine trees on both sides of the road.

Road to Bruni

We reached another big waterfall near the border post at Bruni. It took tackling some streams and thorny bushes to reach but with two enthusiastic people-Joi and Nibir, I had to go along. As they neared the falls they both rushed in to take a dip/ swim. I laughed as they both scurried away from the ice-cold water. I mean there was snow at the top so the water had to be cold.

Braving the thorns onward me march

Beautiful red flowers. Rhododendrons?

It was nearing dusk when we decided to head back to our lodge in Anini. Nibir was fast asleep in the backseat with a day full of adventure outdoors. He loves being outdoors and ditches the screen every single time. We took a moment to see the beautiful landscape with the setting sun illuminating it. It was surreal.

The evening and the Isuzu. I am in love.

Plum blossoms

We reached our stay after dark. Dinner was once again chicken. No more liver pieces this time.

The next day we made it back to Pasighat going through the same police checkposts as we had done in our onward journey with the same comments about how big and beautiful the Isuzu is. The Vcross did admirably well on the mountain roads and kept us comfortable throughout.

The three travelers. Nibir is the kid.

Thank you for reading.

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I enjoyed the tight curves slotting the Bimmer in paddle shifts and tried not to use the brakes as much as possible on the twisty roads, it was ridiculously fun and the B58 never ceases to shock me with it’s potential.

BHPian mobike008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

March 16th, 2024.

The weather out here is still cold, rainy, and mostly damp due to the rains. As we are approaching spring, the weather suddenly changes in between and becomes sunny and glorious. Entire Washington waits for this phenomenon because when it turns sunny, it literally feels like heaven as due to rains the trees and bushes become lush green and the sun's ray falls giving it a gloss and sheen that is indescribable and cannot be captured by pictures and has to be experienced in person.

Last weekend, was a couple of such days. Sunny and Warm around 10C. My wife’s cousin was visiting us from Austin and having spent a brief time earlier in Seattle, he loves this place. He wanted to spend a day in the mountains so we did exactly that.

I always run by a drive idea with BHPian Crackhead who is as keen as me for drives into the mountains. He immediately agreed and a plan was formed out of thin air.

Two families (BHPian-Crackhead joined us in his beautiful Porsche Boxter) in two performance cars to enjoy the beautiful landscapes and a fabulous lunch was the simple plan for the day.

Left home leisurely at 10:30 am and decided to take the mountain pass route throughout skipping the freeway which was about 1/3rd of the distance. We kept stopping en route whenever there were beautiful vistas and finally reached one of the most visited & gorgeous lakes in Washington- Diablo Lake which is up in the North Cascades Mountains and National Park. We normally visit this area at least 3-times a year (Spring, Fall & Winter) as each season looks completely different and always breathtaking.

Driving on the mountain roads was rewarding and they were begging to be tamed as it was curvy with beautiful smaller lakes on the sides and gorgeous vistas throughout the route. Porsche chased the Bimmer and then Bimmer chased the Porsche. I enjoyed the tight curves slotting the Bimmer in paddle shifts and tried not to use the brakes as much as possible on the twisty roads, it was ridiculously fun and the B58 never ceases to shock me with its potential.

Last winter was dismal as we didn’t get much snow otherwise this entire route and the mountains would be fully snowcapped, at least until May.

We did a short hike for the dam view and then at the main point which is Diablo Lake Vista Point. Spent an hour or so soaking in the beautiful vistas and then took a U-turn from that point back towards home.

En route, stopped at a quaint restaurant on the way back and enjoyed some good food-burgers, pizza, and Mac & cheese before heading back home by 6:00 pm after covering around 240 miles (380kms) in a total time of 6.5 hours.

Enjoy the pictures and videos. Cheers to Diablo Lake & Pacific North-West !!!

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If you are planning a trip, what would you do? Road Trip Vs Public Transport Vs Transporting Vehicle

BHPian Roark recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So, we are at that time of the year, when trip planning is at its zenith. Locations within the country, time at hand for travel, mode of transport et all.

And as clockwork precision, the mode of transport is a massive point of contention between missus and me. Not to even mention the length of the travel and locations - that brings up the 2nd and 3rd tier of heart-burn. The 1st is always reserved for the mode of transport - own vehicle or public transport

We have gone on trips via public transport to far flung places such as Ladakh as well but somehow I feel the convenience of having your own car and leisure of timing the departure/arrival at a location is just too much of positive in favour of own transport where as the clear negative is the time taken to reach a destination. 

Just take Lahaul/Spiti we were planning this summer. A flight and a rented car will take us to Manali in a day’s time, where as driving down from Mumbai would take anywhere between 2-3 days time. I am not even getting another joker in the mix - the cost (though I feel it might turn out a bit cheaper driving down, but then it is up for debate).

Just a day before we had a mini showdown - drive or take public transport.

So I thought about another option of transporting the car to the nearest rail head. So if Lahaul/Spiti trip is concerned, transport the car to New Delhi by train or we take North East, transport it to New Jalpaiguri or Siliguri by train. 

Accordingly, book your flights, save time of reaching the desired location and also have own car for the trip. Agreed, this option would turn out to be an expensive affair but then anything to have the leisure and convenience of driving your vehicle at far flung destinations. 

Let me add a note here - I have tried self-drive cars. If one is lucky you would get a well maintained car or else, boy, is it a hazard!! I had done a self-drive from Chennai to Pondi. Gosh the car was total wreck. The headlights were non-existent, gear-shift was like shifting in an old ‘khekda’ truck and not to mention the ride. Add to it we were driving late evening on the ECR - unknown road, unknown location and unknown rickety car. Whew!, too many unknowns. From that day onwards, I swore not to ever go for a self-drive. 

As I mentioned earlier, I had gone to locations using a rented car but then I find the experience quite restrictive. There are certain locations to which the driver won’t take the car or look to charge more or there is a certain time we are allowed to stay etc. I remember for the Ladakh trip (way back in 2008-2009 I guess) we were at Pangong Tso, and I saw a road which went ahead (presumably towards Chushul). Though I had not researched much about the location, I was interested to go on that road, to which the driver flatly refused - ‘Can’t go there - that road leads up towards Chinese territory’ or something to that effect he said. 

On an earlier visit to Sikkim (sometime in 2005-2006) we were at the mercy of the North Sikkim driver (North Sikkim drivers are pretty notorious of being a cartel) when we were on a trip to Lachung/Yumthang. Again his writ ran absolutely large on us - where all locations to go, how much time to spend there etc.

So, to encapsulate, how does this transportation to a nearest rail head work? Is it feasible - money wise, time wise and of course safety wise. It shouldn’t be that one receives the car with dents and nicks all over the body. Has anybody tried it before?

The reason I also ask is that the ‘to’ journey is always fun - anticipation, excitement and looking forward to see new locations et al. But the ‘fro’ journey tends to be monotonous. It tends to be bit of drag and feels like endless, objective driven driving - need to get home at the earliest at an appointed date/time type. 

Also, much easier for me to inspire the ladies (daughter added to the ‘others’ club) at home for a road trip.

Here's what BHPian mygodbole had to say about the matter:

Short answer: Transportation to nearest railhead in insanely expensive since you NEED to hire an entire carriage (you can stick in upto three SUVs on one) for the duration. 

I checked the Patna > Pune charges a few months back and was shocked when told that it would cost me Rs.2.5 lakh + insurance + handling. Time frame given was between 14 days and six weeks. (I took a flight to Patna and drove back over three days).

Another option can be to use a car transport by truck. This is still not cheap and road transport is exposed to the variables of weather/politics/road conditions and again the time frame is remains flexible. 

On the 'fro' part, one of my personal rules is never to set a deadline for any journey. Too stressful. I have devised a distraction: I chalk out 5-6 'attractions' on the way home. If I sense boredom/restlessness, I 'cancel' one attraction at a time. If no boredom, we actually visit the attraction, even if it for a hour or so.

Drive safe.

Here's what BHPian am1m had to say about the matter:

If it was a bike, it makes perfect sense to transport to nearest railhead and then continue on your journey. But for a car, I'd much rather provision the extra days and drive there. Make a journey of it, find some interesting places on the way and explore those as well.

Maybe give car/bike rentals at the destination another go? Find a better service provider with better cars, avoid peak tourist seasons when you will have a better choice of vehicles. I think that is the most convenient, take a train or flight and rent a vehicle there.

Here's what BHPian robby0707 had to say about the matter:

Honestly, from your post, i think you already know the answer. That is yo take your car and drive. The problem is that missus is not convinced. I do not think that missus will be convinced by our replies here too. One way of convincing her is to make her understand the perils of hiring an unknown car and driving through unknown roads one by one. 

One option if possible is for the missus and daughter to catch a flight and you can start early and reach delhi by the time they arrive. You get to drive your own car and they get to save time.

Here's what BHPian IAmGroot had to say about the matter:

I was contemplating something similar. Has anyone tried hiring a driver who can take your car to a long distance? Someone who can start a day or two early and reach just in time you reach by flight or train. Is there any such professional service? The catch here is letting someone drive your car for few days. 

Konkan railway has this RO-RO service for trucks. Would have been great to have similar service for Car's, where you can load your car on flat-bed wagon and just relax on attached 3-Tier AC coach. Best of both worlds!

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We encountered heavy traffic at multiple places but there was this guy in a Toyota Corolla who just refused to let us pass.

BHPian maverick029 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Inception

Circa 2017, Routes mapped, Vacation Planned, Heart-Pounding, Excited to travel but Chickened out of a Solo Trip to Rajasthan from Pune.

That's how this story started, It had been a dream of mine to ride from Pune to Rajasthan for a few years now and yet a bike without ABS and my apprehension about travelling solo meant I had to park the idea for the time being. Life moved on and this idea would eventually raise its head again in 2023 when the missus decided we had to visit Rajasthan again in Dec-23. Little bit of convincing and it was decided this one would be a road trip.

Routes

I had already travelled tiil Vapi and was aware of the route so we decided to take NH48 towards Rajasthan via Gujrat Instead of the Indore route.

Pune to Vadodara - Approx. 530 KMs

Pune > Lonavala > Panvel > Thane Bypass > Vasai Creek > Vapi > Navsari > Bharuch > Vadodara

Vadodara to Udaipur - Approx. 330 KMs

Vadodara > Halol > Godhra > Modassa > Kherwara > Udaipur

Udaipur to Jodhpur - Approx. 265 KMs

Udaipur > Nathdwara > Deogarh > Jadan > Jodhpur

Jodhpur to Vadodara - Approx. 561 KMs

Jodhpor > Pali > Sirohi > Abu Road > Palanpur > Mehsana > Ahmedabad > Vadoara

Vadodara to Pune - Approx. 530KMs

Vadodara > Bharuch > Navsari > Vapi > Vasai Creek > Thane Bypass > Panvel > Lonavala > Pune

Preparation

Old Riding Gears made way for new upgrades and the bike got a few accessories like GPS Mount, Mobile Mount, Saddle Stay etc. Full list of all items is mentioned below along with a summary of my experience with the item.

• JB Racing Saddle stay (Purchased from bandidos for 2300 INR) (Awesome buy fits well and keeps saddle steady. Not one rattle in 2.5K KMS tour and not to forget cheap.)
• Bikers Billet GPS Mount - 800 INR (Good thing about this is I did not have to remove the cover for GPS mount on the bike, it fits using the side screws and looks good.)
• BOBO Mobile Holder - 2K INR (Well cushioned and waterproof, touch capable)
• Zana Backrest - 1300 INR (Horrible, I will cover that later in the blog)
• Liqui Moly Street Race 15W50 (Used it based on past experience but did not hold well during the ride.)
• KTM OEM Sintered Front Brake pads - 2.6K INR (Marvellous, improved braking performance 200 times over, I could pretty much utilize the absolute max of the brakes.)
• Raida Airwave Gloves 2 Pairs - 3.3K INR Each (Comfortable after breaking-in, has Knox armour on palms so that's a plus.)
• LS2 Storm II Helmet 1 Full Face (Size M) + 1 Convertible(Size L) - 25K INR Approx. (Perfect fit, Hate that it comes without D-Rings, Integrated Goggles. Overall Good)
• Raida Knee Guard - 3K INR (Good Mobility but you have to fix it pretty snugly for them not to slip)
• Raida Riding Pants - 7K INR (Great, CE2 Protection, Rubber coating on the bum end so you don't slip.)
• Raida Rover Riding Boots - 6K iNR (Found them good, decent mobility after breaking-in)
• Saddle Bag Purchased from Amazon - 2.5K INR (The brand is not on Amazon anymore and I have forgotten the name. Decent pair have held on nice for 2 years now without any issues.)
• Trek n Ride Empoacher - 1.5K for a Pair (Amazing, I mounted them on engine guard and they performed well. Increased my carrying capacity by 16-20 litres.)

We already had CE2 riding jackets from Solace(F) and Scala(M) purchased for 11K and 13K INR Approx. and they are great jackets.

Hotels we stayed at are mentioned below, I will also add our review later in the post.

• Sayaji, Vadodara
• The Chronicles Hotel, Udaipur
• Ratan Vilas, Jodhpur
• Hyatt Place, Vadodara

The First Leg (Pune - Vadodara/22-12-23)

We commenced our journey around 8 AM, and by 9:15 AM, we were passing through Lonavala. We took a mandatory tea break and encountered heavy traffic on Lonavala's narrow roads. I made a navigating mistake near the section where bikes have to go on the expressway and kind of circled back to Khandala. Corrected the course and pushed on towards Panvel on this beauty.

We passed through Panvel and opted for the Thane Bypass en route to Vasai Creek. The roads were in good condition this time, not too heavy traffic, we managed to make decent progress. Midway, the rising temperatures prompted us to take a break near Vasai Creek especially since we were wearing riding thermals. Decided to refuel the bike and ourselves at the Shell Petrol pump on the Eastern Express highway. Combination of Cheese Maggi and Amul Buttermilk recharged us both and the clean & hygienic washrooms were a plus. We stopped there for about an hour and then off we went.

Crossing Vasai Creek, I was expecting the road to get better compared to what we had encountered so far, however, I would soon be proven wrong. The roads beyond Vasai Creek had numerous patchwork done which resulted in the roads being anything but smooth, Also the amount of traffic confused me whether this was a highway or a normal road. One observation worth noting which surprised me as well was Heavy Vehicles running on the Middle lane and keeping the fast lane free of clutter, Some even gave way to us. Was surprised by the lane discipline for this leg of the journey.

By around 4 PM in the evening, we were nearing Surat, completely unaware of the challenges awaiting us. Google Maps shifted to orange and then to red. Despite maintaining a speed of 95+ KMPH after Vasai Creek to compensate for any time lost, the ETA remained stone-cold at 3.5 hours after Surat. The stretch from Surat to Vadodara felt like riding in a video game, Constant manoeuvring between all three available lanes (with due caution and following traffic rules always). Any slowdown would result in tailing vehicle flashing the pass lights. It was especially bad after daylight faded, KTM 390 ADV headlamps (white LED) were useless on the highway at night making it difficult to ride in the dark. After this debacle, we reached Hotel Sayaji by 8:45 PM. While I was in decent shape my S/O was completely drained, the day ended with us enjoying a great dinner buffet and then falling asleep.

The next day we visited Laxmi Vilas palace and Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum, the Palace was marvellous and we were in awe of the luxury kings would have lived in. Pictures were not allowed inside both the palace and museum so could only capture the beautiful exterior.

There was a wedding being organized in the palace during our visit, the costs I guess would be mind-numbing.

After visiting both the palace and museum we returned to Sayaji and rested for the remaining day. Our Stay in Sayaji was pretty good, the rooms were clean and the staff (Except reception) was very helpful and prompt.

The Second Leg (Vadodara - Udaipur / 24-12-23)

Started out early morning 7:00 AM from Vadodara towards Udaipur, The roads on the Halol Godhra route were pretty nice even if there were only 2 lanes. Traffic was minimal and the highlight was the Narmada canal along the way. We travelled parallel to Narmada canal for about 30-40 KMs and it was one of the most pleasant parts of the journey.

Once in Rajasthan, we primarily traveled on NH48 (Golden Quadrilateral) and were impressed by the excellent road quality that inspired enough confidence to maintain triple digits Unfortunately, my action camera's battery died, putting a stop to further recordings. In Udaipur, the city traffic was in sharp contrast with the highways, dissuading me from riding for the duration of my stay.

Our stay at The Chronicles Hotel was pleasant, the food and staff were great and the Rooftop Dinner on Christmas Eve in chilly weather set to mood for the evening. Highlights of our visit included Udaipur Palace, Bagore Ki Haveli, Hathi Pol Market, Gangor Ghat, Saheliyon ki Bari, and Sajjangarh Palace, with Bagore ki Haveli and Sajjangarh Palace, leaving lasting impressions. The climb to Sajjangarh Palace was both breathtaking and a bit unnerving.

Recommended dining spots include Raaj Baag Restaurant near Fatehsingh Lake and Cafe Edelweiss beside Bagore ki Haveli, both offering excellent food and scenic views.

Below are some pictures from our visits.

City Palace

View from Gangor Ghar

Lake view from Raaj Baag Restaurant

Atop Karni Mata mandir PS. Use the cable car and you won't be disappointed

The Valiant Maharana Pratap

The Third Leg (Udaipur - Jodhpur / 28-12-23):

We hit the road from our hotel at around 8 AM, making sure my trusty KTM, Pochita, was topped up with fuel. Google Maps decided to take us on a detour through village roads and through the heart of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Manoeuvring through quaint villages and sharing the road with some curious wildlife, we eventually found ourselves in Pali, where a straightforward stretch of road led us to Jodhpur. Upon our arrival at Ratan Vilas, we were pleasantly surprised by the warm hospitality.

The hotel manager gave us a rundown of the place, including its rich history and the ongoing Polo tournament in Jodhpur. We decided to check out the tournament, and boy, were we in for a thrilling experience. After a day well spent, we returned to the hotel to unwind with some local music, a chilly evening breeze, and a delightful surprise anniversary cake. The following morning, we explored the Mehrangarh fort and treated ourselves to some delicious local cuisine (Gatte ki Sabzi and Kair Sangri) at the fort's restaurant.

The Return Leg 1 (Jodhpur - Vadodara / 30-12-23):

We set out at 8 AM on the Pali route, enjoying smooth roads and minimal traffic until the Rajasthan-Gujarat border. After lunch a few kilometers into Gujarat, our progress slowed considerably due to the narrow highways and traffic. Notable events included Zana Backrest breaking off near Mehsana and frustration due to the Hyatt Place staff's handling of guests on motorcycles. They wanted me to walk up 3 flights of stairs with 30 KGs plus of gear and luggage after riding for approx 600 KMs. After complaints, our luggage was picked up and delivered to our room after having been rummaged through in the name of a security check. We did not have enough energy in us to give them a piece of our minds and dozed off after some light dinner.

The Return Leg 2(Vadodara - Pune / 01-01-24):

After starting the last leg, we were curious why so many trucks were lying stationary and lining up the highway. Soon we found out it was due to truckers' protest. A good 20-odd KMs were traversed off the tarmac and on sidewalks sometimes. Met a guy in a Toyota Corolla who refused to let us pass (he just had to move enough to open the sidewalk side of the road and he had enough space on the right side). Deboarded my Wife and circumnavigated his particular car and continued towards our destination. Heavy traffic near Vasai Creek delayed us quite a bit and we crossed Mumbai at approx 6 PM and reached home about 8:30 PM.

Looking back we are really glad that this trip was incident and heart-in-mouth moment-free. I could not have completed this trip without 3 essentials (1. My S/O, 2. My KTM 390 ADV, 3. My Colleague's catchy advice "Jinko Jaldi thi wo chale gaye").

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The Z650 while not suited for touring performed without a hiccup but there were a few issues with the bike that I realized.

BHPian bf1983 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Short intro to the ride.

I love long rides! Did one to Rajasthan almost 10 years ago on my Yamaha FZ16 and loved every second of it. Still have so many fond memories etched in my brain.

A few photos from that ride -

My old helmet and cheap ass gloves.

My old FZ16. The seat would feel like a rock within 60 km!

Different kinds of traffic

Empty roads of Rajasthan. I literally stopped near the divider and no one was around.

Jal Mahal

Unfortunately, while my mind loves such long rides my body loves junk food a LOT more so the mind is willing but the body is weak!

To make matters worse my current bike the Z650 is fantastic for short distances and the occasional overnight trip. But with no wind protection and small proportions for my hefty 100 kg frame, it was not a good fit for riding long distances. But all that hardly matters when the heart wins over the mind and insists on doing something.

My good friend Aditya is a Duke 790 rider and I often go on rides with him as he is the planner-in-chief for most of our rides so far. It's been just breakfast rides or overnight rides of around 250-350 kms distance which were manageable for me.

One night after a round of drinks (All good plans usually start off with a round of drinks) he decided to embark on a 2000+ km ride. I being a heart-over-mind kinda guy seemed all impressed by this idea despite fitness and experience being against me. After a few days of figuring out where to go, he decided to go to Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary in Rajasthan. That was 1100 kms from Mumbai and I was thinking I am out as I can't do such distances anymore.

To make matters worse he was planning this ride for January which was peak work season so I told him flatly I wouldn't join. Aditya however kept pushing and went so far as to check my work schedule and found a gap where I could accommodate a ride if I didn't get any work on those days.

Knowing how fluid my work days are I told him let's see and didn't commit to anything. However, he worked tirelessly in the background finding people to join on the ride, setting up an itinerary, and finding locations for us to stay at.

Come the first week of January and somehow my dates were still free. He had already hammered out a workable plan on a budget. And he managed to find 6 other chapris err I mean KTM Riders to join us on the ride. I have to keep reminding myself that it's the riders that are chapris and not the bike.

I was torn whether to go on the ride or not as I could potentially miss out on work since it was peak season for me. However, my dad convinced me to go as he told me money comes and goes but opportunities like this rarely present themselves wrapped up in a neat package.

So that sealed the deal for me and I paid the hotel booking amount and blocked my dates. Ranthambore here I come!

Our planned route

After a little deliberation, we planned to take two days to travel 1100 kms to Ranthambore via Gujarat with a stopover for the night at Udaipur. An ambitious 800 km first-day ride. We figured it would be great if we could do maximum riding on the first day itself so that the rest of the trip could be a lot easier.

We decided to return via Indore and Nashik as that was actually the fastest route as per good old Google Maps.

We decided to do this trip on a budget. The only must-haves were hotels with safe parking for our bikes. Aside from the hotel in Ranthambore which we prebooked, we didn't book anything else as anything could happen to make the plans change.

Planning and preparation

Any long bike trip like this needs a lot of planning and preparation. With the route and number of days planned out, all that was left was to make sure my bike was up to the task.

Luckily my bike was due for its biannual service so I could make sure the bike at least wouldn't be the weak point on our trip given it would be the only Kawasaki amongst all KTM riders.

I overpacked for the trip and my 50 litre Guardian Gears bag was bursting at capacity. Luckily I had two Givi tank lock bags which came in handy thanks to how easy they are to mount and dismount. An 18-litre tank bag in front and a small 5-litre tank bag mounted on the tail rack that held chain lube, battery air pressure pump, and some tools. Attaching both the Givi bags took 1 minute total as you just push it on the lock and loop the strap on the oft chance the mount breaks. Truly the Givi tank lock system is an amazing setup and wish some Indian manufacturers could come up with a similar system at a more palatable price. Nobody in my family knows how much two small bags and a few plastic rings can cost and they never will!

I also picked up an air/water seat hybrid but it's badly designed and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The model was the BBG Wow 2 in 1 seat. The straps holding the seat to the straps are very badly designed and I doubt it will last more than a few months.

Lastly, I concentrated on fitness and dropped 5 kgs for the trip which definitely helped.

Day 1

After what seemed like an eternity, Jan 26th finally arrived and we were all set to meet up at Naigaon just outside of Mumbai to start our journey.

My Joy all ready for the ride

Our group consisted of me, Aditya, Pramod, and Ninaad who turned out to be our lead riders since they were by far the fastest riders in our group, Subhankar (who had a lovely top box which led to many beautiful memories on our trip), Porus, Furqan (who just happens to stay 1 km from my home) and Sanju (a new rider who had an equally lovely top box which ALSO led to many beautiful memories on our trip)

We decided to travel by night to avoid the heavy daytime traffic so we planned on leaving by 2 am itself!

Unfortunately, while most of us were on time someone from our group managed to lock himself out of his house while taking out the trash and he took some time to get a spare key and leave to meet us. We made sure we reminded him of his folly for the rest of the trip

Waiting for everyone to arrive

The line up

Finally, by 3 am, we set off and enjoyed the 6-lane Gujarat highway that we would be following till we crossed Vadodra. However, within a few kms we found out there was extensive road work going on, and with the heavy truck traffic we were traveling a lot slower than we would have liked. We were having mandatory stops at every other toll naka to rest for a bit but since it was cold and we were sleepy these stops were lasting a lot longer than planned.

We got delayed finding a place to eat breakfast. Every good restaurant we found on Google Maps turned out to be shut because it was 26th Jan. We finally stopped at a local khau gully and ate some really nice gujju snakes.

Till now, I was the lead rider and Aditya was the sweeper but that got changed by afternoon as Sanju being a new rider was falling behind and Pramod and Ninaad decided to take over lead duties and they zoomed off!

Lunch was supposed to be post-Vadodara but with a bit of roadwork including work on the upcoming Delhi Mumbai expressway, we couldn't maintain decent speeds. It's a shame we can't take our bikes on the Delhi Expressway when it comes out but hey hopefully most of the truck traffic takes that route which will allow us bikers to ride in relatively less traffic.

We decided to stop at a place recommended by our fellow rider Porus who's family stays in Baroda. Unfortunately, Pramod and Ninaad were so quick that they went 7 km ahead of the hotel! We were so far behind that when they were calling out signboards we couldn't spot them till we rode for almost 10 minutes! The hotel was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed the lunch.

(From L-R, Subhankar, Me, Porus, Aditya, Pramod, Furqan, Ninaad and Sanhju)

Ready to ride

Once we turned off NH48 the roads were a lot narrower and the road surface wasn't great which meant even slower average speeds. However, the scenery was quite lovely and we stopped to take a few photos

The only two non Adventure bikes on the ride

After a while it became evening and the heavy traffic suddenly disappeared but so did the light! Since only two of us had mobile navigation we had to keep stopping to wait for everyone to catch up which slowed us down further. Another issue was there were patches with no network so Discord wasn't working and communication was becoming a problem.

It had become 9 pm and we were still 160 kms from Udaipur, our planned destination. We thought maybe we should push on but some of us were dead tired (Me included !). Our ride captain Aditya said let's not push as we hadn't slept much and the chances of making mistakes will increase if we push on without sleep. So we searched for a hotel in the town we were in (Modasa) and luckily we found a very decent hotel where we all slept like logs.

Our Hotel in Modasa in the morning

Day 2

We woke up nice and early and started loading our bikes. We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise.

The idea was to have a quick breakfast and then head out. Unfortunately, it wasn't a buffet breakfast and we had to order what we wanted to eat which took time. So by the time we left it was past 9 am. Lucky for us the sun was out and we weren't freezing as much. The roads to Udaipur were beautiful and we were glad we didn't head there in the night as we would have missed all the beautiful landscapes we passed to get to Rajasthan. The vegetation changed drastically when we reached Rajasthan and the road to Udaipur was a fantastic 6-lane highway which was FAR better than anything we had traveled by so far. This time no one was holding back and we were really gunning it and enjoying the curves and scenery at err strictly legal speeds (honest!). We still kept up with the breaks to ensure we all were caught up as there was a substantial gap between the lead rider and the sweeper who ensured nobody was left behind.

With excellent roads and making good time we had to turn off on another highway which was 4 lanes and super smooth. With such beautiful scenery, we had to stop for a quick photo session. The roads were so good so far we were laughing at the estimated time to reach our destination.

My Joy! All 3 bags on the bike

Sanju, Subhankar and Aditya

Subhankar

Porus

Lead rider Ninaad and Pramod

Furqan

Ride captain Aditya

The next highway was 6 lanes but our enthusiasm dipped seeing just how much traffic was on this highway and the road surface was very bumpy. Since we HAD to reach Ranthambore tonight by any means we raced on (at strictly legal speeds of course!) Even our slower riders the previous day were pushing hard and we were still making good time notwithstanding the traffic and we were sure we would reach our destination well in time. That's where we were so wrong!

After a leisurely lunch and another turn off, we found ourselves on a beautiful 4-lane highway with sparse traffic. We thought we were incredibly lucky till I heard splattering like raindrops falling. The sky was clear so I was confused about what sound I was hearing. Suddenly my visor got cloudy and I couldn't see well. I stopped to figure out what was going on and I finally saw them. Millions of tiny insects died all over my windshield, helmet, Gopro, and bike. It was a genocide! It took me some time to clean out all that gunk but unfortunately, these insects would be out in the billions! We would kill tens of thousands of them and stop to wipe off the bodies of their dead comrades. Then continue riding and kill a million more! :(

Genocide!

Aditya demonstrated why we had to keep stopping

This really slowed us down as although the roads were simply beautiful the constant stopping to clean our visors killed the momentum we had.

Right throughout the trip we had a lot of attention from locals when they saw a slew of bikes with riders in full gear so we were no strangers to attention. Almost all interactions were wonderful with the usual questions like where are we from, where are we headed, how much our bikes cost, mileage etc, etc. Unfortunately, the only bad incident took place when we had all stopped to wipe our helmets. Three people stopped and insisted on selfies. It took us a few seconds to realize these guys were sloshed. Those who could take off but three of us were left with these guys and they were getting a bit aggressive when I consented to a selfie but refused to take off my helmet as they demanded. While one of them was more aggressive than the others the other two realized I was getting scared and pulled the aggressive guy away which allowed me to start my bike and leave. Luckily they didn't bother us post that. After that there was roadwork at our turn off from the highway and the the sun had gone which made our last leg of the journey a lot slower.

We had bookings at the hotel so we had to push ourselves but the going was getting tough. We kept stopping as there were a lot of turn offs so we had to wait for everyone to regroup before making the turn-off. What was worse there was some local festival and these villagers were having fun right on the road. With blinding lights switched on we couldn't see that they were on the road till we almost crashed into them. Luckily Discord was working and Pramod and Ninaad would announce when there were these local hazards. We were all very tired at this point and we stopped one last time before the last 45-minute leg of the journey. We placed an order for food at our hotel and the promise of a hot bath and hot food gave us the energy to push on & finally by 11 pm we reached our hotel safe and sound. The weather was so cold that the moment I left the hot shower I started to freeze! I ate a little food but then I ran to cover myself under the warm blankets and drift off immediately to sleep after a hard day of riding.

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