Bikers Fraternity

THE ADVENTUROUS TRIP TO LEH!

noreply@blogger.com (Raul) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:44:00 +0000

THE ADVENTUROUS TRIP TO LEH

12^TH AUGUST 2009:

Reminiscing those glorious fourteen days of my life ………

Finally the wait was over. I was at the airport in the wee hours, waiting for my baggage to be checked in. I saw glimpses of my friend who had dropped me, as he looked at me through the glass wall and I bet he would have thought that I was one lucky guy, who was about to realise his dream. But the things many people would not know are, that the two weeks I spent with the other four team mates (Sandy, Hillman, Jason and Varun) are the days, I for one would never forget for the rest of my life.

I was sitting in the lounge after the security check, recapitulating the enormous struggle, the obstacles and operational hazards that I had to cross to undergo to make this trip possible. The hour long chats; the Skype calls; the endless research to find out the optimum and best road route to Leh, figuring how much it would cost for the logistics and trip as a whole; making a list of haves and have-nots for the trip, the list was endless. I knew for sure, that I would be in for surprises, but now when I look at it, it is really an awesome experience to mentally relive it all again; frame by frame, sequence by sequence, how we pulled it off, overcoming all unforeseen challenges along the way.

I boarded the connecting flight from Chennai at 5.00 am, to New Delhi via Pune and it took more than 4 hours for us to reach New Delhi. The price one has to pay for adopting a frugal stance from day one; though not the best option when travelling at normal times. Well anybody can go to Leh and return spending money lavishly, but to do it with a shoe string budget and yet get the best of both the worlds; was the only reason that overwhelmed me into taking this arduous extra-long route. It was value for money that mattered.

After collecting my baggage and calling folks back home, I was off in a pre-paid taxi to my friend’s place, at Dwaraka. New Delhi was a lot different after 10 years, from the last time I had come down to the Capital. The climate here has for sure taken a beating. Thanks to the whole lot of factories that keeps flooding the outskirts and make sure they stay in the Top 3 of the world’s most polluted cities. I had to take leave from my friend’s house as soon as I reached there, as our bikes would have reached the railway station a couple of hours earlier. I took the Metro and I must say that was the only good thing I saw, which has changed over the years. As soon as I reached the Station, the scorching sun had welcomed me by showering me all its radiant warmth, and to top it all with 80-90% relative humidity, nature’s hospitality was at it heightened best!!!. Added to the agony were the long hours of power-cuts in the Capital City!!! What more can you ask for?

I was of the opinion all this while, that Chennai was the worst place to be at! I changed my opinion ever since I made this trip there. In fact I swore, if any Delhite or anybody from any State makes any comment about Chennai, being the hottest and sultriest place to be at, they would have had to hold the rotten end of the stick, thanks to a possible flurry of the choicest un-parliamentary phrases, I would hurl at them. Before making this trip, I had half a mind of settling down at New Delhi later in life. No way will that ever happen, after what I experienced in New Delhi. My choice now has narrowed down to Bangalore in the South and Chandigarh in the North.

AT THE NEW DELHI RAILWAY STATION/AIRPORT:

This was the day I got exhausted to the core. I reached the station around 11.00 am and was there till 5.00 pm. I was totally irritated by seeing how the touts work over there. They lack discipline, completely unorganised and take their own sweet time to do things. It drove me crazy as hell. Finally, I got all the 3 bikes on an auto carrier and got them back to my friend’s place. I hadn’t eaten a thing and that made me completely tired. I went straight to my buddy’s bed and slept for a few hours. Sandy and Ranji’s (Hill man) flight landed at around 10.15 pm and I was there at the airport by then. After getting their luggage, the two of them got into a cab and I followed them on my bike to Paschim Vihar where we were supposed to stay with my father’s friend. That did not happen as Uncle went off to Agra that morning and was not able to return back to Delhi as he missed the evening train. After a misunderstanding of sorts, the three of us finally checked in a Hotel R Star at Gurgaon, opposite to the Airport Runway.

13^TH AUGUST 2009:

After a long and tiring night, next morning, Sandy and I got up and left for Dwarka on my bike, to get his bike. Hillman was taking a nap till we came back. As soon as we were on the road, I got a call from Varun who said that he has arrived at the New Delhi Airport. I told him to meet up with Jason and wait for us at the airport. We reached Dwarka and got Sandy’s bike from the flats. We picked the 2 chaps at the airport and went back to the Hotel. The room was in a mess and came as a shock to poor old Varun, who thought that we were all set to go! This was just the beginning and would become more of a normal routine during the two weeks ahead, which I guess Varun would get used to or let’s say forced to get used to!!! J After some planning and discussions, we stuffed only the bare necessities into our bags, leaving all the remaining personal effects at my Cousin’s place at Janakpuri Extension. She was so happy to see us after a long time. We bade adieu to her and as none of us had eaten anything, we went to a nearby hotel and satiated our hunger pangs. I decided to take Ranji with me to Dwarka to pick up his bike. By the time, we returned I saw Varun and Jason sleeping like innocent babies and Sandy was not to be seen around. He had gone to a browsing centre to find out information about our trip. When we both were done, we took the bags and waited for Sandy to return. We decided to split into two groups. Varun and I went to Gurgaon to get the sleeping bags for all. Sandy, Hillman and Jason left for the Castrol Bike Zone to get the bikes fine-tuned for the trip. We reached the place after calling the dealers ‘N’ number of times.

I won’t forget an incident which happened when we were in Gurgaon. There was this hot sexy babe we bumped into and the chivalrous guy that I am, I wanted Varun to have a word or two with the sexy babe. But Alas! That was not to happen. Our Man was frozen, more like a statue after what he saw in her. “What caused him to disconnect beats me totally - I don’t know”. That still remains a mystery. J

Anyways, we got ourselves a good deal and bagged four of the sleeping bags for Rs. 4,400/-. It was almost 6.00 pm and we were nowhere close to where the Castrol Bike Zone was located. After asking the bystanders and auto wallahs and making rounds on the same road, we finally found the place.

CASTROL BIKE ZONE- GURGAON:

Oh this was my first achievement, getting a sponsor for Bikers Fraternity and I must say I was impressed with the way the mechanics handled our babies. They normally close their shop at 6.30 pm but that day, it closed somewhere around 8.30 pm. I never saw that kind of dedication from their Chennai counterpart, where I give my bike every time. We took snaps with the Mechanics and the Owner who played a good Host! Jason utilised the time we spent in the garage by getting a portfolio of sorts done by taking self-snaps in the same place a dozen times. J It was drizzling a bit when the bikes were all set to go! Once it stopped, we left for India Gate.

INDIA GATE:

It was close to 11.00 pm, when we reached India Gate. It took us nearly 2 and half hours to reach the spot. Delhi is a big place and fellows like us who are here after a long time can easily get lost. Sandy and I left for our Cousin’s place to dump the goods. It took a while to figure out where Janakapura Extension was? We finally found our sister’s place, dropped the bag and took the parcel rotis and butter chicken she had ordered for us. When we finally found our way back to India Gate, the boys were all lying down on the lawn. All of us were tired and once we had the rotis & curry, we got ourselves completely recharged! At around 1am, we left the humid Delhi for good, and our trip kick finally started.

Varun and Sandy on the Avenger took the lead, followed by Ranji (Hillman) on his Bullet and the tail-enders being Jason and myself on my Pulsar. That was the formation we followed. On our way to the Chandigarh Highway, we lost track of the other two bikes / bikers for some time as I saw Ranji’s elbow guard flying off from his bike, and he didn’t realise it. I tried honking, but in vain. We picked the elbow guard and tried to catch up with the other 2 bikers, but only could see Hillman at a distance, but no signs of Sandy and Varun. Ranji then follows me, and we end up in front of the New Delhi Railway station, near to the Ajmer Gate. There, we were asked to stop by the Delhi Police who were patrolling that area. Sandy called up and I told him that we were waiting near the station. One police official talked to Sandy and finds out his current location and gives him directions to the Railway Station. It was quite obvious that the cops were trying to fleece money from us by finding faults on our bikes. The officials demanded 1000/- as fine for not having all the necessary documents. We had all the documents for the bike and I told the cops that we wouldn’t require a NOC as we are not residing in that city. Sandy’s patience finally wore off! He felt that there was no point being Mr Nice Guy! The Angry Young Man asked the cops to prove their point by showing us where it is written in the Rule book! He even said that he would be more than happy to pay them more money if they prove the point. The cops, who made up all the baseless charges, had no other choice but to leave us. We left the place at around 1.30 am, followed the same pattern, Sandy/ Varun leading, Ranji in between and Jason /myself following them both.

14^TH AUGUST 2009:

We kept riding and finally reached the Highway. After riding for 2 hours, we stopped at a Hotel to have some Chai as all the three bikers, at times were feeling sleepy. We met this interesting gentleman or should I say Magician cum poet, who entertained us with his Magic tricks and dedicated one sher- sheyari on kudrat (environment), when he came to know of our primary purpose-Spreading Awareness on The Melting Himalayan Glaciers! We bid adieu to the Magician and his assistant and rode again only to stop at around 5.30 am or so at another Dhaba as it was raining cats and dogs! Varun and Sandy took a cat nap, while Jason and Renji were taking snaps wearing the Black Hat! Close to 6.00 am, we were back on the roads again, when the weather cleared and the sun emerged through the clouds to our relief. Our stomachs were growling and we decided to stop on the way at a Dhaba, somewhere in Haryana for breakfast. We had nice Alu ka Parattas with ounces of Makhan on it and Curd. We even had Lassi, but it did not turn out to be as good as I expected. We feasted our tiring eyes on some local beauties (kudis) and lazed out for a while. Then we set out again to accomplish our mission.

This was a beautiful stretch, and after a couple of hours, we started feeling sleepy again. We then stopped at a Dhaba, where we slept for an hour or two. After getting up, we asked for Chai. It was a hot and humid day, so to keep myself cool, I emptied a jug of water over my head. Apparently, the same didn’t work out for Sandy as his body was in an immunocompromised mode. Soon after that, he caught a bad viral fever, which stuck to him for the next 2 days. It was pouring cats and dogs in some areas, but we moved on undeterred as we had taken more breaks in this trip already than we normally do. So it was more like, even Hell comes down, Chandigarh would be the next stop. But, if things had to go the way I wanted them to, it would not be a very gruelling challenging trip. We stopped some 50 kms. from Chandigarh nearby Ambala. It was around 1.30 pm or so. That’s when Sandy breaks the news and tells all of us that he’s got this sick fever. L He was of the opinion that he has Swine Flu, Oh my God! I don’t want to describe the scene anymore. After having our lunch, we left for Chandigarh. Once we reached the City Beautiful, Ranji’s bike started giving some problems. I remember him saying it was something to do with the Battery box. So we are off to this place called Motor Market, which to all us bikers looked like a one stop place for any bike related issue. I was impressed. When we reached this place, we stopped at a mechanic’s place who would rectify Hillman’s bike in some time. Meanwhile, Sandy and I left to the nearby hospital to get him diagnosed. We went to PGI (Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research) and decided not to go further, as I was sure that Sandy could pick up nosocomial infections. Thanks to the sickly people who throng the place.

I then called in Dad’s friend Mr. Rajinder Sharma if he could help us out. I asked him, if he could give us the number of his Family Doctor, and he messaged me back with the number. We rode back to Motor Market, where we got Sandy’s front tyres replaced with brand new ones. We even got the bungee cords which would keep the luggage intact.

At around 7.00 pm, the frustration started to build within all of us, as we were not able to achieve the target. After lot of heated discussions, we left Chandigarh heading for Ropar. At around 10.00 pm, we are nowhere close to the Manali route and landed up at a Dhaba, where we decided to have our dinner. All of us were totally tired, ordered for rotis and some veg curry. Hillman was in no mood of riding any further, while I wanted to ride the whole night to cover up the distance. Well, finally we decided to ride till Ropar and stay at a Gurudwara there. We even gave directions to the fellows who asked how to go to Manali, but the Irony was that we weren’t able to figure it out ourselves! We rode for couple of hours round about Chandigarh. Midway, while doing so, at one particular curve, Ranji slipped into slushy pit. We took his bike somehow, and he finally admitted that he might have got sleepy after all the riding. J From then on, I was riding his bike, while he was sitting with Sandy. Varun and Jason were on the Pulsar. So after riding for a while around we reached a place called Chunni, we happened to meet some Sardars who said, “Sirji aap ko kisi ne mislead kiya hai, asli rasta to oos taraf hai”. Sada munda…Oye Kudiye! Joh boleh so nihal wo hi Sat Sri Akal ….balle balle… is all I could understand from whatever they muttered in Punjabi J There was this other Sardar who would say that Manali is only 70 kms. from where we are. The short cut it seems…lol J yeah right! Finally, we gave up all hope to hit the highway and went back to Chandigarh. We tried knocking the doors of the Gurudwaras on the way, but in vain! Ranji was alert again, and rode his bike, I was riding Sandy’s bike with him, Varun and Jason on the Pulsar. Somehow we lost Jason and Ranji and were riding somewhere in Mohali, I guess. We called up Jason to find out that they somehow found their way to a Hotel at Sector 32, Hotel White Palace. After riding for an hour or so, and making ‘n’ number of calls, we finally saw the boys at the hotel entrance. We had to pay Rs. 2500/- for a room, which looked to me more like an attic. Well, I guess we boys didn’t have any choice at all! Before I could I realise, I was snoring away to glory.

15^TH AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 10.00 am and I checked on Sandy to see if he felt better. When I placed my hand on his forehead, it was piping hot and he was getting worse as the day progressed. After everyone freshened up, we checked out from the hotel and got into a café Coffee Day, which was near the hotel. I called Rajinder Uncle, who was busy as his neighbour’s son committed suicide. At the time I called, Uncle was at the mortuary. When I told about Sandy’s condition, he told us to wait for couple of hours, as he would have to come all the way from Mohali to meet us. I had also called in my Dad, who had asked me to go meet one of his old friends, who was put up at Sector 8C. Dad had the address with him and sends it via sms. Jason and I left in search of that Uncle’s house, while the three of them stay put at Coffee Day. We somehow found out Uncle Sharma’s residence, but he wasn’t staying there anymore. So we left the place soon. On our way back, we passed by Neh Chand’s Rock Garden, and I decided to show Jason this magnificent place. We did see things out there in 10 minutes, took snaps and left for Sector 32, where the boys were waiting for us.

Uncle had come in by that time. Sandy and I accompanied Uncle in his car and left for the Clinic. We got Sandy diagnosed and doctor said that it was a viral infection and a day’s rest or two, should get him back in shape. We got the medicines and came back to Coffee Day. After a small discussion, we decided to halt at Anantpur Sahib, which was close to 120 kms. from Chandigarh. We got our baggage, tied it to the bikes and left Coffee Day around 7.30 pm. Uncle was guiding us the way till the Highway and we were following his car.

ABORT MISSION- JASON:

Midway, Jason who was sitting pillion on my bike got a call from his Mom. I could sense some kind of bad thing happening by the way Jason was expressing himself. He then tells me that his Grandpa is critical and is in the ICU. I overtook Uncle’s car and everyone pulls over. Once I broke the news to everyone, I could see that frustrated look in everyone’s face. We then decided that Jason backs off and leaves for Chennai. Uncle then dropped him at the bus stand, and we continued on our way to Anantpur Sahib. I was riding Sandy’s Avenger with him as a pillion, Varun on my Pulsar, Ranji on his Bullet. We rode for close to two and half hours through the slushy road and finally made it to Anantpur Sahib. It was around 11.00 pm when we reached the Gurudwara. We called up Sandeep Singh, the caretaker of Gurudwara, referred by Rajinder Uncle to get the rooms booked. We got a Big room with four Beds with A/C for Rs. 200/-. After dumping the bags, we rushed to langar hall (place where we get free food) and had something to eat in turns. Varun and I walked around the gurudwara and took some snaps. We went back to our room and slept.

16^TH AUGUST 2009:

ANANTPUR SAHIB (GURUDWARA):

We got up around 10.00 am or 11.00 am, as we knew we didn’t have much to do for the day. We had a discussion the previous night, as to what would be the POA (Plan of Action) for the rest of the days. We thought it would be advisable to stay put in Anantpur and leave the following day, giving a day for Sandy to recuperate. We had our breakfast and left to the markets nearby the Gurudwara leaving Sandy at the room. Ranji bought a Kirpan (the religious dagger) from the market. We then took our bikes and thought to visit the nearby places. We had lunch at a local dhaba, as Ranji was getting sick eating the rotis and the curry they serve at Langar Hall. We had some rotis, tomato curry, lassi and Cokes for lunch. The lassi was horrible. I thought, being in Punjab, you get to have first class Lassi. I was so wrong! After taking snaps at a park and with Ranji almost losing his bag, we left for a field where Varun and I took part in Kabadi match played by the young kids there. Ranji wasn’t interested in anything apart from taking snaps. We did have loads of fun playing with the agile young lads; wish we had some kudis in the team too, for us to showcase our skills. J Anyway, after taking snaps with the local lads, we left for our room. After coming back, we did bit of planning, had dinner and went back to sleep. (Not included the part where Sandy tells us that he is feeling sick and then we have loads of arguments that night)

17^TH AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 6.00 am in the morning and by around 10.00 am we left the place for Manali. We follow the same pattern. Varun was riding the Avenger I guess with Sandy as pillion, Ranji on Bullet and me on my Pulsar. We stopped at a temple where we tied some holy bands to protect from us getting into new hazards, which I got used to by then…lol J stopped at a few places for ablutions and even to take snaps. We stopped for lunch and refilling gas for our bikes at around 1.30 pm. There we met some folks, who had made it to Ladakh, a couple of times and they advised us as to how to go about the journey! Ranji and I got sick of eating rotis, though I made a contrary statement the previous night to Varun and I quote:- ‘When in Rome, be a Roman’. When the witty bugger reminded me of this, I couldn’t do a damn, but just give him one wide shameless grin J and eat the jeera rice, which was not at all good. I was even getting tired of having vegetarian food all the way till here. Every place we went, all they would have is Shahi Paneer, Paneer Kofta, Paneer ##$@%$$!

After filling our tummy, next thing in line was to get the bikes filled. We finally got the Pollution check done at that petrol bunk, which were trying to do right from Chandigarh! We rode again and we stopped sometimes to get some blood moving to our numb bottoms or to buy some mineral water, which we started having a lot along the way! The mountains were lovely; especially the 2-3 kms. tunnel, which we passed, was simply mind boggling. I was riding alone in this part, Sandy and Varun on Avenger and Ranji on his Bullet. Somewhere down the road, was the tunnel, which would cut across mountains, and it was a wonderful feeling to ride in that 3 kms. stretch of tunnel. The temperature was so cold and it would have been pitch dark, had there not been any road lightings. Everyone in our group was so impressed with this tunnel that we kept talking about it for hours.

I stopped at the Mata Durga temple on the way and offered prayers to the Mother, asking her to help us all to complete this trip somehow! I liked the Prasadam we got (kind of puffed rice) kept eating and munching a lot of them. It drizzled on the way, but we kept going. At around 6.00 pm, I saw Ranji at a chai shop waiting for us all. Twenty minutes later, Sandy and Varun joined us. I remember Varun introducing me to a lady who said she was from Leh! She looked more like a Tibetan to me. There was this Airport at this place where we had this Chai. I don’t remember the place. Let me check the google maps. Eureka! I found it. I think its Bhuntar, somewhere near Kullu. Boys, let me know if I’ve gone wrong. We rode again for an hour or so, and we stopped at this small village to buy some petrol cans. I was having a nice time playing with those huge dogs, feeding them biscuits. We left the place soon, and after riding for an hour or so, we reached a Check post. We stopped there and had to pay some kind of Green Tax. I think they charged Rs. 100/- per vehicle. We met a tout at that place, who then took us to a Hotel where we stayed put for the night. After dumping our bags, we left our hotel close to 10.45 pm. We didn’t order food from the hotel and decided to go out and have it in the Market place.

The night life is pretty good out here. I heard from the locals that they are open till 1.00 am or 2.00 am in the night. It was a nice stroll to the market place. We got ourselves Thermal wears, gloves and head gear to protect us from the chilly winds. We then went to this HIMALAYAN Dhaba where we had some Non Veg after a bloody long time. J We had rotis, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Gravy for dinner. Varun, I guess for the first time could see me not grumbling about not having something nice to chew J We went back to our room and after watching Cartoon Network on TV for 10 odd minutes, we slept off. How can I forget this part! Our Man Varun was talking about awareness programme to the owner of that hotel. I had left them both to talk and when I returned to the room, the owner was talking about his younger kid being a mischievous brat and our man was giving the owner suggestions to change his name. Giving him Numerology tips! Never knew our man was a King in this field too J

18^TH AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 6.30 am and left the place around 8.30 am. Yeah! No matter how early we get up, we would end up leaving at 9.00 am or 10.00 am in the morning. This is a well-known fact, I knew from Day 1. Our Sunny boy Varun was not giving up on that though, not for the first few days at least. J We left the hotel, heading for Rohtang Pass. The place we passed by was stunning, and though we initially planned that we wouldn’t stop every now or then, the natural beauty was so awesome that we happened to stop every now and then. We took loads of snaps, and I for once thought to ride on the Black Beauties that were grazing on those mighty mountains. We stopped at a tented camp (hotel), where we had our breakfast. I think it was 50 odd kms. from Rohtang Pass. This was one amazing place. We had omelette and bread. The omelettes were yucky, half cooked. We had no choice but to eat them. As usual, Ranji was taking snaps and this time around he trained a puppy there in 2 minutes.

We left the place and our journey uphill started. Ranji was the first fella to leave followed by Sandy on his Avenger and Varun and I on Pulsar. They weren’t any tarmac on the way up; the road was covered with pile of wet mud, which looked more like tons of chocolate syrup poured on the road. There was this one stretch where we had to wait for the land mover to take out the excess mud, as it became increasingly difficult for even cars to pass through. Ranji had somehow escaped that part. After riding through these tough roads, I was getting tired and our dietician pal Varun kept giving me the supplements that would keep me going - The Kish Mish (dried grapes). That did help us throughout the trip! Finally we reached Rohtang Pass, where I saw Ranji and Sandy waiting for us. We took snaps of ours and the yaks which you get to see there. We bought mineral water which cost us around Rs. 20/- to Rs. 25/- per bottle.

We had a small Awareness Programme with the tourists, who had come down there and in 10 odd minutes we left the spot. Ranji leading, followed by Sandy and then by us (Varun and me). The mountains mamas were so awesome. We clicked loads of snaps of iced clad Mountains and the dusty road. We did see the Army convoys every now and then. Suddenly, there was a stretch of beautiful road and we would then increase our speeds from the normal 10-15 kmph. to 60-70 kmph. The beautiful roads stopped after 5-8 kms. as there would have been water flooding some parts of the road and that stretch would have cracks. Then it’s back to the usual snail speed.

The views we got to see of the Mighty Mountains from there were breath-taking! It was close to 5.00 pm and it started raining. We were far from any place to take shelter. Then we stopped at this rocky kind of a cave, not exactly a cave! I hope you get the picture. We waited there for some time. My knees were aching and I told the boys that there is some kind of tent down the curves and told them that would be a better place to halt. It was still drizzling and we made it to that tent. It turned to be a hotel. We stopped there. We were all shivering even though we had our rain coats on. I guess most of us were partially wet. We ordered for 2 or 3 rounds of Chai followed by a round of Wai Wai Noodles or Thukpas as the locals say there for Noodle soup. It was close to 6.30 pm when it stopped raining. We left the place and thought we couldn’t make it to Sarchu which was 140 kms from where we were, and decided to ride another 20 kms to this place called Khoksar, where we would halt for the day! We only did a measly 71 kms. the whole day. We reached Khoksar close to 7.45 pm. One thing about being up in the Himalayas is that it does not get dark so soon. So we boys were lucky that we could ride till 8.00 pm every day.

We went to the Army Quarters and found out that there was one Himachal State Tourism Guest House nearby. We went to that place. Varun and I went to meet the official to ask if we could take room to stay. He would then ask us to write a letter with all our details for security reasons I presume. He told us that they were no rooms they had, but gave us two alternatives. One was to travel 14 kms more to one of their guest house. The other one was to use the dormitory room. We chose the latter one. We paid Rs. 15/- per bed for a night. The cheapest stay we ever had on this trip. Enter Dormitory - the room is warm, but has a very unusable common bathroom. There were no lights in the rest room. It was bloody dark and kind of smelly too. But, we didn’t have a choice. We met this Cyclist enthusiast from Amsterdam, who was cycling all the way from Manali to Delhi. We did exchange our views with him.

One funny incident I recollect is about Ranji showing off his photography skills to this gentleman, who we later found to be an ace photographer. Lol J You should have seen the look on our Man’s face totally embarrassed, a Kodak moment I must say chaps! It was quite heartening after a long weary ride to get a good laugh at Ranji’s expense. That’s the day we all tried wearing the thermal wear for the first time, and we (Varun and I), tried the sleeping bagsJ. We went in turns to Sunny Dhaba nearby and had our dinner. Ranji and I went first and had some Rice, rotis and Mutton Curry followed by Sandy and Varun. It was pretty cold outside. I remember the locals saying that it should be around 2-3 degrees Celsius and that’s pretty normal for them. We came back, talked for a while, charged our phones, which were of no use, as there was no network for all of us except Sandy’s BSNL mobile. Around 10.30 pm we hit the sack.

19^TH AUGUST 2009:

I got up around 5.00 am and tried calling the guys, but all of them woke up some time around 6.00 am. We had do the routine packing of bags. From then on, it became our (Varun and myself) job to fold those sleeping bags. I wanted to attend nature’s call, but the place was so bad that I thought I would do it on the roadside, when we take a break. We went to the same Sunny Dhaba and had some parathas. We guys wanted to buy some warm clothing, and the owner of Sunny Dhaba took us to one small room where a guy was selling second hand stuffs. All of us got some woollen and cotton socks as they got wet on our way from Rohtang. I got a pullover, tracks and woollen gloves. This was the first time we got to use that Air pressure pump kit. After checking the tyre pressure, we were only to leave that place around 8.30 am. Sandy took the lead, followed by me, Ranji was somewhere behind.

The roads were so good that I couldn’t resist myself going at 40’s anymore behind Ranji. I think I overtook Sandy and I was least bothered if they were behind us or not? I think they were. I remember keeping a bet with Varun about how much he thought we would cover the entire day? He replied back saying that he hopes that we would cover close to 155 + or – 5 and I said we would around 165 kms. We were in for a shock later that day to see we covered more ground than we expected. We did around 230 kms in those mountains in a span of 12 hours minus 2 odd hours in breaks. That’s was the first time Varun felt that something worked well in our favour. We stopped at Sissu for 10 odd minutes to have some Chai. Then the next stop was at Tandi. That was the last petrol bunk on that road. The next bunk they claim was 365 kms away at Leh.

We met this Slovenian family who was on their way from Leh. This Slovenian Dude came in a Land Cruiser with his son and his son’s girlfriend. Our ladies’ Man was soon hitting on the Slovenian babe. Bugger! We filled our tanks and even the jerry cans and left the place. It was close to 10.30 am. The roads weren’t that good from there. Some places, we had to make our way through when the goats would cover the entire road. The next stop was at Keylong, where Varun and I stopped, while the others carried on. After riding for quite some time, we reached Baralacha Pass, which was around 16,000 feet above sea level. Varun told me of some kind of ritual which one has to do, when they pass that area. We then left the place after taking some snaps. Before we left, we met Ranji at that spot who predicted that it may snow soon. And guess what! It really happened. Hillman’s word came true. We both were so thrilled seeing snow for the first time in our lives. We then stopped at a place where we went to scrape some ice from the mountains. It was so much fun. We thoroughly enjoyed that part.

We rode again for nearly 2 to 3 hours till about 3.00 pm. I was feeling drowsy and so wanted to take a nap. I asked Varun to ride for some time, and as soon as we started climbing the Gata loops, while taking a turn we went off balance and fell. I had some raisins and water and started riding. 10 minutes later, while taking a sharp turn, we slipped again, this time on fresh tarmac. I still wonder? They were 20 loops, which we crossed and then we reached the vast plains of Sarchu. On the either side of the valley are the Mountain ranges of Zanskar. The landscape got monotonous and we climbed towards yet another Pass called Lachlung La Pass at 16,616 feet above sea level. It was around 5.00 pm, when we stopped for a break. We were living on raisins and mineral water till then.

We met an Iranian Gentleman somewhere in his 40’s with his kid. I had to excuse myself from that conversation as I had a crisis situation to be taken care of first! All through I was only uploading, now , I had to download!! I went outside to find a suitable place, where I can ease myself. Finally I located one bathroom, a primitive bathroom, similar to the one they have in Slum Dog Millionaire. I paid 10 bucks to the lady who owns a shop and this bathroom. This was the only bathroom in that camp. She said she would allow only someone if they stayed at her place for rent. Seeing my desperation, she gave me the keys. I paid her 20 bucks and rushed to the bathroom. When I entered, I found out that it did not have any latch, so I wouldn’t be able to close it from inside. It was windy outside, and it kept that flimsy tin

bathroom shaking every now and then. It was tough for me as I had to hold on both the sides of that tin room like our man Atlas and shit in mid-air as I wasn’t accustomed to squatting. It was one hell of an experience, akin to firing Agni missiles right on target!!! When I came back to the tent, I was a very relieved, happy man. No tensions at all! I ate bread and omelette, had some noodle soup, and then left for Pang.

We bade adieu to the Iranians. It was around 7.00 pm and Sandy stopped at a place and waited for us. He then asked us for water, which was over. The mineral water left was with Hillman and he was nowhere to be seen. Sandy then decided to go down to the stream and collect some water. On his way up, he splashed some water on his face and his eyes were burning. After some time, he was back to his senses! Varun gave him the raisins to quench his thirst and passed some to me. We kept riding through those treacherous mountains and crossed many Steel bridges made by the Army. It was around 7.45 pm and it started getting dark. It was tough riding on those roads. 10 minutes later, we reach this check post where an official calls us up. I go in to meet the officer, sign in a register giving in all details of us. He then tells us of Ranji, who was waiting for us and just left for Pang which was 10-12 kms away. I thanked that official for the info he gave me, as I started getting worried about Hillman. Soon, we found Hillman waiting for us in front of a hotel (tent), where we checked in for the night.

As soon as I got inside the tent, we got to order hot chais and we warmed our frozen hands from the fire, which came out from the gas stove. We ordered Rotis and Dal and soon tucked ourselves into the sleeping bag and slept. The temperature outside would have been minus 2 degrees Celsius or so. I was reluctant in getting the luggages from the bike. Luckily, Ranji and Sandy went outside to get them. Sometime later, Varun and I went out with the torch light which would go off every now and then as it had some kind of loose connection. There was this funny incident which happened then. Our man would hold the light in the direction where I went to pee and when it came to his turn, this torch went off and he was peeing in the dark. I was trying to get that torch on and shake it and the ray of light happened to fall on few ladies, who happened to walk on that road. I then put the spot light on our Man who was still pissing and these Tibetan ladies happened to see this scene. They were laughing and making some kind of joke in the local language. Our man was blushing and as we walked inside, the ladies in the house looked at him and started laughing like crazy J I still wonder what the ladies saw and talked about? It was close to 10.00 pm and we hit the sack. I missed this part. When we went out, we looked at the sky which was so beautiful. I never saw so many stars in my entire life. Forget about stars… I think we saw many milky ways like ours from this wonderful pollution free place. I have never seen the sky with crystal clear clarity, housing millions of bright stars – I now realise the effects of pollution in the cities that deprives us of such awesome spectacle.

20^TH AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 6.30 am and went about doing the routine things we’ve been doing for quite some time now like packing up the bags, folding the sleeping bag et al. We had our breakfast, a glass of hot milk with Bread and Omelettes. We had a puncture shop nearby, where we checked our tyre pressure. That’s when I realised that my engine oil leaked a bit and when I checked the oil gauge, there was not much engine oil left. I asked Sandy to take Varun with him, as I didn’t want to strain my baby anymore. I just prayed to the lords above to make sure nothing wrong happens to my baby. We left Pang around 8.00 am in the morning after taking snaps with the jawans, who had come down to the hotel for Chai.

We started climbing upwards and after an hour or two, we reached the More plains. This was one beautiful place, surrounded by mountains all over and lot of loose sand. There was no road at all. I took the lead here and soon saw the boys not following me. When I turned to look in for them, they were busy taking pictures. We soon left the place and started riding again. It was difficult to ride on the loose sands, and soon I saw Sandy and Varun on the avenger slipping from their bike and falling on the group bringing about a heap of dust in my direction. Nothing happened to both of them, not even a scratch.

Then Varun walked for about a kilometre where the road started again. We met many bikers coming from Leh towards Manali and they wished us good luck! There was a good stretch of road and then followed by no road at all for the next 20 odd kms. We then passed through an Army camp and started ascending towards another Pass called the Tanglacha La Pass. We stopped at a tent. We had chai and started speaking to the Jawans posted there. We came to know that it was the last day the chai wallah’s shop would be open, as he is closing down for winter. The next time he would be back at the pass is sometime around May. After 20 0dd minutes, I started feeling giddy. These were signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) I was sure about that! I had an aspirin which did help me a bit. I started descending from the pass and in sometime I started feeling normal. After descending that pass, I was a happy man! I got sick of riding at low speeds in that horrible road. The valley had awesome roads all the way till Leh.

This was the final leg. I accelerated my throttle and off I was, GONE IN 6O SECONDS. J I rode in those beautiful roads through those spectacular mountains. The colours of the mountains kept changing from Dark Chocolate to Pink to Purplish at some places. The shapes were also something I had never seen anywhere in my life. I shall attempt to explain what I saw in words. Even if I did try, I would only be able to narrate to the extent of 20% of how it actually looks like. Not that I’m bad in narrating, some things are better left to be seen than written. I crossed Upshi and Leh was just 70 odd kms from there. I happened to see a board which said Welcome to Ladakh! I was jumping with joy; people would have thought I was a crazy biker doing all those crazy acrobatics while riding. Oh Lord! I was on top of the world. That tired look I had all throughout the day faded in a jiffy and soon you could see me humming the songs from Nirvana, Godsmack- I need Serenity and Deep purple- Life on the Fast Lane.

I reached Upshi and soon Sandy and Varun reached the spot. While I was waiting for Hillman, Sandy and Varun rode downwards towards the Indus River from where they collected the holy water in their plastic bottles. We left for Leh which was 60 odd kms as soon as we saw Ranji. We reached Leh in an hour’s time, somewhere around to 4.30 pm. We stayed at a hotel wherein we booked 2 rooms. One for Sandy and Hillman, the other for Varun and myself. Sandy and Hillman hit the sack as soon as they reached the place, while Varun and I went down to the market to have Lunch. We went to this punjabi Dhaba, where I had Thali and Varun had Parathas. We came back to the room and I dozed off as soon as I lay down on the bed. At 7.00 pm or so, we both left to the Market place. Sandy and Hillman were not in their room too. We walked around, took snaps and finally had dinner at this nice candle lit restaurant. We came back to our rooms and hit the sack soon.

21^ST AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 7.30 am. We all freshened up and left the hotel in an hour’s time. I went down to the District Collectors Office to get the permission to enter K-top (Khardungla Pass). Meanwhile, I asked the guys to have some food and get to the DC’s office. That day, Dalai Lama was to visit Leh, so the DC was not available till Noon. So, since there was a delay in getting the permission, we decided we use this time wisely. Ranji got his bike fixed up, I got mine done yesterday. I had to top up the engine oil and Sandy had to change the Brake shoe. He did it by himself after he got the spare part.

We met the DC who reached the office around 1.00 pm. We got his signature on the paper and soon left for K-top which is 37 kms. away from the LEH City. It took us close to 4 ½ hours to ascend and descend the hill. Varun and I were the first bikers in our group to reach the spot. I shouted at the top of my voice and the guards who looked at us, initially frightened smiled back at us. We made it to the Highest Motor-able Pass. It was a major achievement. We clicked snaps, played with snow and soon you could see Ranji making his way downwards to the Valley. Sandy and Varun were at the Souvenirs shop to buy some merchandise. After 20 odd minutes, being in that place, I slowly started getting giddy! I was hit by AMS again. I honked to make sure they come to me, but the buggers were busy glued to something else. I somehow managed to speak to the army people, and they helped me out by giving me hot water and some tabs to counter AMS. Diamox, I guess!

We soon left for the City where we stopped for 10 odd minutes. It was close to 5.35 pm, when we left Leh City. Our plan was to cover as many kms. we could in that short span of time. We kept a target of 125 kms., but managed to do some 100 kms. It started getting dark at close to 8.00 pm. The snaps taken here were amazing. After riding for 3 hours or so, we stopped at Khaltse at 8.45 pm by the side of a Dhaba. Hillman wanted to rest there, while we thought it would be wise to reach Lamarayu, which was known to be a bigger town, then where we were! There was only one hotel here at Khaltse! I went with the local there and had a look at one of the 3 rooms had. I came back and told the folks it was not worth staying! Soon, we left the Dhaba for Lamarayu. We never knew, the road ahead would be so hopeless! It was difficult to ride through those horrible narrow roads. We were riding at a snail’s pace, as we wanted to avoid puncture.

Whenever a truck from the opposite direction passed by at reasonably high speeds, it would take the dust little while to settle down and that proved to be so dangerous as we could hardly see anything in those conditions. Moreover, with truckers who only know to turn on the High Beam, it can’t get better than this! I know, everyone would have thought to have stay put at Khaltse, especially Hillman. I’m sure, he was thoroughly pissed off, but you got to know that we had to do this if I had to reach Delhi on the said date! A few kms. before Lamarayu, Ranji’s (Hillman) tyre got stuck in the gravel. I got down from my bike and helped him out.

Close to 11.00 pm, we reached the sleepy town of Lamarayu! We were then hunting for a place to stay. For a moment, it looked like we would never get a house to stay and might have to spend the whole night in that biting cold! A particular hotel we got in was different from any other. It did not have an entrance gate in the ground floor. It had a flight of stairs, which would take you to the first floor and there you have the Main Gate! There was no reception, no nothing! I woke up an old man who was sleeping near by the door. I asked him, if we could get a room. Lucky for us, an American tourist, who was to turn up tonight called in earlier that night and said that he would not be able to make it! We took that room, though the place looked like a dungeon! We had no other choice. Hillman was so damn pissed, none of us wanted to talk about it. All I wanted is to have some good night sleep and hopefully a good supper!

I asked that Old Uncle if he could prepare something, to which he replied that, the kitchen was closed. I was so hungry that I could have eaten a wild boar all by myself! I was so irritated by the way things were happening! Looking at my sickly picky face, he said he could probably make some soup and egg fried rice. I couldn’t believe my ears. I hugged that Old Uncle and said that was more than enough! Back in our room, we dumped all the luggages and the cramster saddle bag to the corner of the room. One fact many would not know is that in this part of Kashmir, you don’t get Electricity for 24 hours. Yeah! They have it only for 12 hours from 11.00 am to 11.00 pm. We couldn’t even charge our phones. Damn! But anyway, it would have been of no use. Only Sandy’s BSNL connection would work. That was the only way we could have been contacted in that area. We all tucked ourselves in that sleeping bag of ours by 11.30 pm.

22^ND AUGUST 2009:

We got up around 7.00 am, paid the room rent, which was Rs. 400/- and the food cost us Rs. 300/-! That was pretty expensive for 4 fried rice and 4 soups that didn’t taste that good! Well anyway, left the place at 8.45 am and the road ahead was way much smoother than the ones we travelled yesterday! Hillman took the lead followed by me for some time, until Sandy overtook us. We reached Fotula Pass, the highest motor-able Pass on the Srinagar- Leh Highway. Took some snaps there and left as we did not have much time in our hands to admire the inexplicable beauty of the Mountains!

The roads were amazing and it was good to ride at good speeds in this stretch of the Mountain. The roads are narrow, and I think we saw fellows from BRO (Border Road Organization) widening the roads. It’s going to be a 2 lane road soon; but one thing is for sure, though it will bring more safety, I’m sure it will kill the thrill factor. I guess we could say that we were one of those fortunate bikers, who drove down in those narrow risky, treacherous roads and experienced the unique thrill that the future generation bikers would miss out on! We rode for a while and we slowly started descending the terrain to the dusty town of Kargil! We filled the gas and moved on to the narrow lanes in the city! We saw Jawans every 100mts. armed with fully loaded AK-47 all throughout the town. There were many barricades seen too!

It was almost 1.30 pm and all of us decided that we should have our lunch. I was so happy, because from the time we left Chandigarh, all we had is Vegetarian food and I was so bored eating the same. The raisins were much better than that! So, we stopped at this typical Muslim Restaurant to have some food. I saw them making some Afgani Kababs and Rotis and I was like WOW! I’m sure going to have a tasty lunch. But that wasn’t in store for us. The Hotel owner refused any one of us entering his place to eat. For people who don’t know, I found Kargil not a friendly destination for the visitors. Most of them hostile, may be because they are under the constant threat from the lunatic extremists. We all got so offended, but didn’t want to argue with them. We went to this other hotel nearby run by a Muslim man! He was a nice person and we had ordered Rice, Mutton balls Curry & Chicken Curry. I really liked the food, may be because it was after a week or so, after I had some meat. Hillman didn’t quite like it and I had his share of Mutton balls too!

Soon we left towards Dras, where we for long were waiting to see “THE OPERATION VIJAY” KARGIL MEMORIAL! After crossing the town, we were back on the Highway. Nearby Kargil town, we stopped at this Memorial in the name of Shri Bahadur Singh. History says that it was due to this man, we have this portion of land. He was a brave warrior and did not let the Pakistani Army infiltrate into our territory. Along the way, all of us got very patriotic and were humming all Patriotic songs! We were so close to the border. We have the Indus River- Chenab I guess, which flows by the side of the road we were riding on. On the side of the river bank is the disputed area. A lot of those infiltrators operate from that mountain.

It was kind of scary and at the same time you get a thrill when you know especially when there is a placard by the side of the road which says “Be Careful- The enemies are watching you” We passed many such memorials on our way to Dras. Around 3.00 pm or so, we reached the outskirts of Dras. Sandy was the first to reach the Kargil Memorial. You would have to ask Varun to know how excited and at the same patriotic I was, the moment I reached the Memorial. This is one place I say, EVERY INDIAN HAS TO BE ATLEAST ONCE IN HIS LIFE! I happened to see these emotive captions in the gallery and I got really moved by it, tears brimming in my eyes, with pride and patriotism. I quote “BRAVE OFFICERS WHO GAVE THEIR TODAY FOR OUR TOMORROW”.

Ranji came in by then, and started taking snaps of Tiger Hill & Tololing surrounding us. These are the points we captured from the Pakistan Military and Allied Forces! They have a gallery in that memorial where you get to see the used rifle cartridges, mortar shell, helmets, things captured from the intruders and photos of the Victorious Army Jawans hung on the wall. I liked one such hung on the wall. It was so funny that I couldn’t control my laughter. It was a cartoon on how Pakistan General looks after every war fought with us. The 1^st one being picture of the general with his arm fractured, the 2^nd being his arms and leg plastered, the 3^rd one being the General being completely plastered, and the last one comes with a statement asking What Next? I even commented saying that the next one would be the General in a coffin! J

I saw some other visitors who gave me a stare, that stare really send some chills down my spine. They looked like the local Mujahedeen’s or something! I felt really uneasy after making a comment on that picture. It was 4.10 pm and Hillman was the first to leave the memorial towards Zojila Pass. Sandy followed Hillman. All that chills made me so nervous that I wanted to pee. I saw that man standing near his White Qualis. I was shit scared! Varun asked me why I wasn’t leaving, and I kept giving him lame excuses and spend some more time in the bathroom, waiting for them to leave the spot. After they left, Varun did ask me what was wrong. I would say nothing at all! We started off from the Memorial saluting all those Army officials we saw on our way. Sandy and Ranji were nowhere to be seen. It was Varun and I all along in that stretch of road, till we reached the base of Zojila Pass. I overtook Hillman after a while, and was riding on a straight stretch of road, which was so smooth, which made me feel as if we were riding on the Indian Military Air Strip!

Little ahead, I saw a White Qualis stopped by the side of the road and the occupants were washing their hands from the stream nearby. My heart started pounding faster than the piston’s back and forth movement in an Engine. I just wanted to get away from their sight ASAP. I rode as soon as possible and somehow covered ground. That was the last time I saw that car. Phew! I rode for some time and saw Sandy taking snaps of Zojila Memorial at the base of Zojila Pass. This is often called as the Gateway to Ladakh. Perched at an altitude of 3465 mts. above sea level, it is located in the main Himalayan Range on the Srinagar - Leh Highway. This is one of the most dangerous Passes we crossed in this region. When we were on our way to the top of this Pass, we could see the Dras Valley on one side and Kashmir Valley on the other side. It was an amazing sight to see. When we were at foot of Zojila Pass and were waiting for Hillman, we did hear some artillery firing somewhere close by! From here on, we followed the same pattern. Sandy would be leading, followed by Hillman and I would be the last one. Soon after, two roads divulged in treacherous terrain and sorry “I couldn’t travel on both, and be one traveller alone I stood, I looked down to one as far as I could to where it bent in the curves. I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference”. Ahem!!! Sorry folks! Got bit poetic. I had to somehow fit these lines from the Poem ‘Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost.

Well, back to the story, we were riding on one of the most dangerous Passes in the Kashmir Valley. The views were breath-taking! I wish we had more time in our hands, so as to spend the whole day clicking pictures of the serene mountains. There was a road block way ahead! There is an interesting thing one must know about Zojila Pass. It’s a one way. The road is too narrow for two cars to pass in opposite directions at the same time. And we are talking about Trucks here. These guys took the wrong route to get to top of the pass and had blocked the way for vehicles who wanted to descend from the pass. It was close to 6.00 pm and it took at least 30 odd minutes to clear the road block. Soon, we were back on our bikes again and came across the most beautiful place I’ve been in my life so far. This place is called Sonmarg also known as “Golden Meadow”. We had to stop at so many places here to take snaps. We couldn’t just leave without taking them, though we had very less time in our hands.

We stopped at J&K tourism hotel to have some tea. It was 7.00 pm and in a hour it would turn dark. We were 87 kms. away from Srinagar. This was our target for today! I didn’t want to miss on that for any damn reason. While we were having our coffee, Varun was of the opinion to stay in a Boat House for the night! Everyone liked the idea, but then we had to think about the bike’s safety too. We didn’t want to wake up the next day to see our darlings (Bike) burnt or blown away into pieces by some Radical group, who operate in this city to create chaos and fear in the city. So we zeroed in on a normal hotel, which would have a parking lot by the side of Dal Lake. It was around 8.45pm, when we reached the outskirts of Srinagar. There were no signboards or anything of that sort that could guide you to Dal Lake. We found it very difficult to navigate through those narrow by-lanes of Srinagar. There is no Night Life in Srinagar. You don’t get to see a single soul after 9.00 pm. It’s a sleepy city. We were so hungry, that we stopped at the next hotel we saw on our way. We didn’t want to take a risk on that. We had rotis, sheek kababs and chicken curry. This was way much better than the one we had for Lunch.

We left for Dal Lake and on that road booked in one Hotel Malik. We dumped our bags in one corner of the room and then transferred the pictures from the camera to the Laptop. That’s when I realised how much of importance the laptop made in this trip. Thanks to Sandy’s thinking, we were able to take a lot of snaps in this trip. I had a hot water shower, and that was so damn good! We surfed the channels on TV. It’s was nice feeling to get back to civilisation. J We then planned how much distance we should cover in the next day. We thought of skipping Jammu, and probably take the by-pass to save in time. We so wanted to go to Wagah Border and the Amritsar temple, which at this moment looked doable. Soon after discussing the plan for the next day, we all slept.

23^RD AUGUST 2009:

I got up around 7.00 am and the boys were still at bed. I didn’t want to call the boys as I knew they would take ages to get ready and probably I would have to skip the plan. I left the hotel for Sankaracharya Temple. It was 6 kms. uphill ride from where I was staying. You have a Sivan temple up there and I prayed to the Lord that we should make it to Delhi safe and sound. It was a chilly morning and I made a mistake of not wearing a jacket. When I reached the hotel, I saw Renji and Varun taking snaps of the Dal Lake. Sandy joined in a little later, and we all went for a boat ride (Shikari). That’s where we bought the necklace and all the goodies for the Ladies! J We came back after an hour and went to the nearby Vaishnavo Dhaba to have some Hot Alu ka Parathas and Yoghurt. We left the hotel somewhere around 11.30 am and our next stop was supposed to be at Jammu bypass Junction. We rode continuously and then happened to s top at Banihal for lunch, which is 180 odd kms. away from Jammu bypass. It was 2.15 pm by the time we left the hotel.

We had the routine thing we have been having through the trip - Roti, Kapada, Makaan…oops..Roti, Panner Butter Masala and Moong Kali Dal, which was Varun’s favourite and not mine. I didn’t like it a wee bit! So, with our tummy full, we left for Jammu hoping we would cross the Jammu- Punjab border at Pathankot by 8.00 pm at the maximum and that was our next stop for dinner. As usual, Sandy was leading from the front on his Avy, Ranji in the middle on his Bullet and followed by Varun and myself on my Pulsar. We were riding for close to 2 hours and there was no sign of us getting down to a valley. This is the first time I think everyone in the group got sick of riding in those mountains. I overtook Sandy and Hillman because I was feeling really sleepy driving at a constant speed of 45-50 kmph. I was leading now and was cruising at around 70-80 kmph. and thought the boys would overtake in a while. There were no signs of both of them. I decided to stop nearby a tea shop at 4.20 pm, as I knew the other two might be feeling drowsy, while riding on altitudes close to 3000 mts. above sea level. One wrong turn, and we could land ourselves to the Highway to Hell!L After 20 odd minutes, I saw a white helmet far away! The helmet was our Hillman’s. I then told Varun that I could see them coming, assuming that Sandy was following Ranji. Meanwhile, we bought some mineral water and biscuits from a bakery nearby. Ranji came in and seeing no one following him, asked for Sandy!

Hillman said that he was riding solo for some time and he thought Sandy was leading. We ordered for tea and thought he would come in by the time we finished it, but there was no sign of our man. We tried calling him, but as there was some network issue, we couldn’t reach him. I started racking my brains thinking where I had overtook him last and told the other two that he would have been some 10-12 kms away from the spot we were! I took my bike and was off searching for my brother, thinking nothing untowardly should happen! This is one moment I won’t forget. I got so freaking tensed because I know Sandy normally catches up with the group in no time! This time, we were all drowsy and tired! I saw some police jeep and officials nearby an accident spot. I was shaken, and prayed to all the Gods and knew he wouldn’t let me down at this juncture. I parked my bike and walked towards the edge of the cliff and found out that it was a bus, which slipped into the gorge.

I, then asked the police officials if he happened to see my brother, gave his descriptions passing through this way. The official said he doesn’t remember. I told him, if you do see him coming now; just stop him there till I come back as he is not to be seen. The official agreed! I went ahead cruising around 80-90 kmph chanting the Lord Shiva Mrityunjeyam and Gayatri Mantram (sacred verses). After 5 odd kms, I saw him riding from the other direction and I waved my hand at him. Whoa! That was such a relief. I thanked the Lord Almighty on being so kind to us and then asked my brother to lead. On our way back, I gave a thumbs up to the police officials, pointing at my brother, signifying that everything was OK! We soon reached the Tea shop, where Varun and Ranji were waiting for us. I asked Sandy what took him so long, and he told us that he felt so sleepy, that he stopped at the side of the road, put the parking lights on and dozed off for some time. It was close to 6.00 pm and we were still 90 kms away from Jammu. We decided that if anyone wants to take a break, they inform the whole team in advance.

We left from the spot and head towards Jammu. It was getting dark and we were getting really irritated on those winding mountains. At around 7.30 pm, we stopped at a tea shop nearby Udhampur Railway Station and asked directions to the locals as to how to reach Kathua. When Varun was busy jotting down the directions in his notepad, I called in my friend who stays in Kathua, Jammu and also asked him for directions. I wanted to cross verify if we are not been taken for a ride by the locals! We rode on those narrow roads, which is supposedly the State Highway! There were no street lights, no nothing! It was as if we were crossing a jungle of sorts. I took the lead followed by Hillman and Sandy. They were no signboards telling us which route we have to take and so we blindly followed what the truckers told us.

Somewhere down the road, I saw a signboard which said we had to take a left towards Samba and after 10 odd kms. you would touch the NH-1 Highway! Sandy had asked some trucker who told him to take a right! Finally, after having a talk with the guys, we followed the signboard I saw earlier. We went through a jungle and it was just the 4 of us who were riding in those woods. Not even a single sign of a trucker. We rode close to 7-8 kms and boys started thinking that we are going on a wrong path! There was another round of altercation and by then a trucker was passing by. We asked him to stop, but they wouldn’t, thinking that we could be some dacoits. Sometime later, we saw a trucker and he stopped. He told us that we had taken the right way and said a few more kms down the road, we should take a left and that road would lead to the National Highway. As the trucker said, we did finally reach the NH-1D Highway. It was close to 9.20 pm and we were riding somewhere nearby Muthi Hardu. Parts of the 4 lane road were still under construction, so most of the time we rode on 2 lane roads. It was difficult to ride in those conditions with the truckers with their High Beams on, coming in the opposite direction speeding through! I took the lead again and all of us just wanted to cross Jammu ASAP.

By 11.45 pm, I reached Kathua and stopped at a HP Petroleum (Gas Filling Station) and called in Ranji to see where they both are! From our conversation, I found out that they had stopped in at a Dhaba some 15 kms away. I told them that I would be waiting for them at the petrol bunk. Meanwhile, I called Aman, my friend who stays at Kathua. I filled in gas for my bike and in sometime Aman came to the gas station to meet me. The last I saw him was close to 2 years back, when he came down for the convocation held in my college. We spoke for some time and I introduced him to Varun. Ranjith came in at that time and filled the gas. I told Aman I would come some other day to meet him and left for Pathankot. Sandy had taken the lead, and we caught up with him after some 20 minutes. All of us were exhausted and feeling very sleepy too. We cleansed our face every now and then with water to keep us awake, but it was getting worse as we were riding ahead. We somehow cruised our way through Lakhenpur and finally crossed The Jammu- Punjab Toll plaza! We saw a Motel nearby and thought it was wise to check in, rather than take a risk and reach Pathankot. We were happy that we crossed Jammu and now reached the Land of five Rivers- Punjab. It was sometime around 12.40 am we checked in to an A/c room, Room No 105. We were too tired to do anything. We skipped the dinner and hit the sack.

24^th August 2009

We got up at 8.00 am and left the motel by 8.30 am after taking few snaps. We take a group snap, knowing that this was the last snap we would take till we reach Delhi. I very much wanted to go to Amritsar and Wagah Border, but decided to let go of it as we did not have time to cover up all the distance. I’m sure the others felt the same, but we were happy for a fact that we covered 95% of places we wanted too. That in itself is a BIG ACHIEVEMENT!!!

We were on our way to Ropar and trust me guys, whenever I saw the Sign Board which would say Take a left turn for Amritsar (105 kms) and Right for New Delhi (375 kms) I would find it so difficult to take the turn to New Delhi! This was really frustrating! To top it all, my bike was in the reserve and I had to fill gas in the next gas station. I missed out on a few as I was totally dejected that we couldn’t make it to Amritsar. Soon, we found ourselves in a very bad situation. There was no petrol left in our bike and it stopped on the State Highway. With Sandy and Hillman somewhere else, I knew we were in for a big shit! I pushed it for 10 odd meters before trying my luck again. To my surprise, my Babe was roaring and I knew I had to find a gas station before she goes off again. I did not make an eye contact with Varun till such time we found a petrol bunk. I rode for another 2-3 kms. and my babe stopped right in front of HP gas station. I looked up in the sky and thanked the Lord above to get us through this mess. One thing about my babe is that she never lets me down! I love her so much and I’m sure Varun would feel the same.

We rode till 1.30 pm and I stopped the vehicle after seeing Sandy’s Avenger parked on the side of the road. Hillman soon reached the spot. This was close to Ropar. We called Sandy and found out that Our Man was busy having Lassi and Samosa Chat at a nearby Sweet Shop. We went there and ordered for the same. This is the first time I enjoyed having Lassi with Butter (Malai Maar ke). I had two whole glasses of Lassi and Samosa Chat. It was something all of us thoroughly enjoyed. My engine was giving trouble and had to pour 500 ml. Engine Oil to cool the babe. After having Lassi, all the four of us had a smile on our face that lasted till we reached a crowded town. This is where all of us were finding it a little difficult to get to the highway. Varun and I had taken the lead and were stopped by the Punjab police as they got suspicious about us riding in their small town for quite some time. After a thorough enquiry, we were let off! That was the second time we were stopped by the police, the former one being near the New Delhi Railway Station. The police personnel told us the way to reach the National Highway and soon we were riding on the smooth and broad roads.

From here on, we maintained close to 100 kmph. till I reached the outskirts of Chandigarh. I stopped there to give a call to both Sandy and Hillman, only to find that they were some 70 odd kms from Chandigarh. We called Uncle Rajinder and he told us to come to Sector 27 to pick the bags Jason left in a hurry on his way to Delhi. As soon as we reached the City Beautiful, our worn out face started to brighten up. Thanks to all the Chicks in Chandigarh! We met Uncle, who asked us to join him for Lunch and told that we would join him when the other two reach the city. We soon left for Rock Garden at Sector 1, near Sukhna Lake. While Varun was busy taking snaps of exquisite artwork made by Nek Chand, I was busy admiring God’s most beautiful artwork - Women. Sandy gave me a call when we were at rock garden and asked us to come down to Yummy Yummy Food Court at Sector 37-D. It took us some time to reach the food court. It was close to 4.25pm when we reached the spot. Hillman had left for the Dhaba near Ambala. We spoke to Rajinder Uncle and his friends for couple of minutes before leaving for the Dhaba. It was close to 4.45pm, when we finally left the mall.

Sandy took the lead and we were following him till we reached the Highway. All I wanted now was to reach New Delhi as soon as possible. I crossed the Dhaba where Hillman was waiting for us. Sandy stopped for Hillman to start and we waited for both of them some 20 kms. away at a gas station. On their way to the Gas station, Sandy met with an accident.

From what I heard from Hillman, Sandy was ahead of him and wanted to overtake a car which was ahead of him. The guy who was riding the car was swaying from left to right not giving way to Sandy. This happened for nearly 10 minutes and Sandy thought it was high time to teach the guy a lesson. He overtook from the right, and from the opposite side there was a car overtaking a lorry, which absolutely left no space for sandy to move. Sandy braked and was at around 40-50 kmph. and his handle got stuck to both the cars and his balance went off, thus leading the bike to skid. Sandy luckily escaped unhurt but the crash guard took the brunt. Once they came to the spot we were waiting for, we planned that we would ride as fast as we could reach New Delhi. I only came to know of the accident once we reached Delhi.

It was close to 5.30 pm and we were 150 odd kilometres from New Delhi. Sandy took the lead followed by me and the last one who rode the last leg of this exciting bike ride was our very own Hillman. We rode for 3-4 hours and there was no sign of Sandy who was leading or Ranji who was behind me. As we reached the outskirts of Delhi, I figured out that we have reached the Capital without having to look for a Signboard. Guess how? Thank the pollution! I reached Delhi at 10.30pm and found out that Sandy had reached the place at 10.10pm. Ranji reached the spot close to 11.30 and found it little difficult to find his way to India Gate, where we asked him to wait. Sandy, Varun and I met the Fraud Mallu (FM) Delhi guys at a food joint in some happening hall. That’s when we got a call from Ranji saying that he made his way to the Capital. We were all happy for each other as we somehow made our way through! We soon left for India Gate and met Hillman waiting for us.

We then went to my cousin’s place to get our bags we left there. She got a room booked at Kerala House and we left for the place soon. Hillman had got a room booked nearby the Railway Station. Varun had an early morning flight, so he thought it would be wise for him to stay at the airport. It was close to 2.30 am when we left for Airport from Kerala House. We had Monce with us to guide the way till Dwarka. From Dwarka, the Airport was close by. We dropped Varun at the airport, gave him a brotherly hug and left for Kerala House at Janpath Lane, Delhi. We crashed off as soon as we reached the room.

25^TH AUGUST 2009:

I got up around 8.00 am and met many bigwigs of Kerala – Politicians, while having my breakfast in the Hall. My brother-in-law is the Central Minister and that’s how we got ourselves a room in this Guest House. We did not stay there for long and we left for our cousin’s place not that far away. We called up on Ranji to find about his whereabouts. Sandy and Hillman’s flight were scheduled between 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm in the evening, whereas mine was somewhere around 9.30 pm. The bikes had to be sent back.

We went to the Railway station after having a sumptuous lunch at our cousin’s place. We called in the touts who had helped us taking the bikes from the station in the beginning. The prices of sending the bikes from Delhi were costlier, than while sending the bikes from Chennai. They were quoting 4550/- per bike, then we got it down to Rs. 2800/- which is also comparatively higher than what we spend to get the bikes transported from Chennai to Delhi for Rs. 1900/-. From what I heard from the locals, it wouldn’t cost us more than Rs. 2100/- including packaging et al. They are two trains which run on a daily basis. We booked the vehicles in Grand Trunk (GT) Express which leaves at 7pm or so. Sandy and Ranji left for the Airport earlier so as to catch their flight. I was at the Railway station till they boarded our bikes. The touts can be very cunning, if you don’t watch them. As suspected, the buggers didn’t load my vehicle in GT Express, as it was already booked by some other party. The tout was trying to make an extra buck, but he forgot the fact that he was messing around with a Malayali (Mallu)!!! I gave those touts a piece of my mind and paid only Rs. 2650/- per bike for being dishonest! I had no choice but to give them as I didn’t have much time in my hands.

My flight was at 9.30 pm and had to reach there atleast one hour before take off! I left the place at 7.00 pm and took the Metro from the Railway Station till Pallika Bazaar. I bought some shirts and sandals as you get things cheap at this underground shopping mall. Left for Airport at 7.30 pm from Connaught Circle in a taxi. It took us more than a hour and 15 minutes to reach the airport. I went to the Spice Jet Counter and got myself the boarding pass. I had my dinner in one of those Food Malls at the Airport and also got women’s sandals from the Duty Free shop for Mom.

I was the last one among the 4 bikers to leave from Indira Gandhi Domestic Airport Terminus. While boarding my plane, I was sad for the fact that I will not be riding soon as all our bikes have to be fixed up and happy for the fact that the trip which SEEMED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE IN THE START WAS POSSIBLE IN THE END!!!!! IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!!!

Hope Adidas reads through our blog and sponsors us for our next trip. I would like to thank CASTROL once again for supporting us in our Dream Ride!~

Wayanad Trip: Last Day, Last Post: End of the Mayhem.

noreply@blogger.com (Jashomanea) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:03:00 +0000

Ohh well, as usual, I have kept my promise of writing the post early and I am sure I am writing this in less than 7 months after the last past. Am I? Not sure, will check later.

Last day of the Trip:

We wake up, Kancha is the early bird. He gets up, takes a shower in icy cold water and wakes everyone else up, or that is what I happened. I am sure I was not the first to wake up. We pack stuff, pay for the rooming and set out on the journey.

Since it is already late to start and our chances of enjoying wild life is close to nil at that time, we decide to take an alternate route. A rarely used one which, as per many was a dangerous one. If a road through the jungle is dangerous, the danger has to be due to wild animals right? So we decide that's the way to be. A bunch of young guys, on bikes and danger, what do you expect? We had to jump for it.

So, the journey begins. We had towards Pulpalli (one of the towns in Wayanad District). This, as per me is the road towards the jungle road. By the time we reach Pulapalli town, we could feel horses racing in our tummy's. Yes, it was that bad. With the limited budget that we had, we decided to go to a small hotel or restaurant or dhaba or whatever you want to call it. Lets just call it an eatery. So we all have this tapioca and porota and beef and appams and stuff till the eatery is out of anything more to offer. Well, they did have stuff left, but nothing we wanted. That is when we realized the extent to which we had eaten. We were hungry, the food was yummy, no one thought about the tummy.

Now, everyone had started early in the morning (early for our standards) and we hadn't attended to any calls (if you know what I mean) in the morning, and now the calls had become really really urgent, but we had a long way to go. We rode on from there for an hour or so. We were passing through this nice woods. Serenity. It was somewhere around 1 hour after our breakfast. We were somewhere here:

One guy can't avoid the call anymore. So we stop. He goes to mark his territory and we spend out time doing what we are seen doing in the pic. Time passes by, and we seem to be nowhere close to the jungle we were promised. By this time, everyone desperately wanted to attend to their respective calls. It was call of duty everywhere, but no place with proper range. So we continued riding till we reached a stream flowing through the woods.

I did mention that Kancha was the only guy to take a shower in the morning, right? Now its not like we guys are dirty fellows who don't bath. So, we see this stream and we cannot control our itch. Also, the range was pretty well to attend to the calls. So people spread out making their calls privately. There were instances of people getting queued one be"hind" other after the call, which was particularly made in western style, and that came pretty naturally (for those who don't know the story already, I am talking about the western commode which was available naturally due to the shape of the rocks, and the way people were standing in queue to wash their bums). By the time we finished our calls and freshened up, the forest department paid us a visit and very politely *ahem* asked as to accompany them. With great struggle and with humility, we had to decline the hospitality. We had our commitments to keep after all, you see.

It was noon by the time we started from there. We reached the jungle soon after this. We had a long way to go. Now that the jungle had started, we were relieved. We saw a board claiming to be the entrance to Rajiv Gandhi National Park. In the normal route, the jungle lasts only one hour. So we started making plans for the rest of the day once we reach Bangalore. The route was pretty exciting.

This is when we realized that filling up Pavan's bullet was a mistake. The lid of the petrol tank, which was not original, did not fix well. Due to the extremely beautiful condition of the road, the petrol kept spilling out. We came across a board claiming the main road to be only 30 KM. There was no limit to our happiness at that. We were already exhausted and we thought we could not endure this road for much longer, specially given the condition that most of us had pillions and it made the ride even more difficult.

We covered the 30 KM in a short duration of three and half hours and reached gundulpet. It was 4 PM now. On a normal day, we should have been here 1 hour from the time we started from our lodge, but we wanted adventure. Ohh, and the wild animals we wanted to spot? Here they are:

Can't see the animals? Don't worry, neither could we see anything other than specs.

By the time we reached Gundulpet, we were all exhausted. We took a break, had our snacks. Those who could not attend calls in the stream finished their calls and we proceeded further. Next stop was to be Mysore. Guide Raul took over from here saying he knew a nice dhaba in Mysore. We rode and rode and rode and rode and rode and rode, but no luck with the dhaba. Just when we had lost our patience, we got there. Now this was waaaaay past lunch time, and we could not hold much longer. So, we get down to business straight away. We order everything available. We eat without worrying about the world. We finished our food and the waiter got us an un-ordered dish. Yes, the bill was here. This is what is called reality bites. The bill passed around the table twice before people put their hands into the wallets. Everyone took out everything available. We left the place empty pocket and full tummy.

Now, all the frustration had to be taken out when we hit the Mysore-Bangalore Highway. Full speed ahead on the straight road till Maddur, Cafe Coffee Day. We sit here. Its already night time. We have another 2 hours to cover. Sandy and Raul have 6 more hours ride to Chennai. Sandy comes up with a suggestion to go to this place which resembles the Pathshaala of Rang De Basanti fame, but I am done for by this time. So are a few others. So we decide to wrap the trip up there.

I'm exhausted now. Nothing much happened after this. And by now, you are already bored.

End of News.

--
Thanks and Regards,

Jash Jacob
---
Being yourself is the most important thing to be happy,

Wayanad Trip, Chaos and lots (2nd day)

noreply@blogger.com (Jashomanea) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:49:00 +0000

A long time has passed since I promised the second part and it could come up only now. I hope ti was worth the wait.

Now to proceed on the Trip to the kallu story:

The kallu was not at the place where I was thinking it to be. The cousin of mine was to take me to a friends place where it would be made available. It was dark already and in places like Wayanad, once sun sets it really is dark in the absence of street lamps. So we set out through the narrow winding roads for the kallu. My cousins being locals cruised through the road with the ease of riding on a plane highway, but we (at least I) found it difficult to keep up with the pace. On the way we had to stop for getting the side dishes for the kallu. All of us being big time beefitarians, we bought some nice beef fry. This is when Pavan's bike started giving trouble again. We had to take a stop and my cousin and I along with Pavan went back to the nearest bike station to get things ready. In the meantime, guys who were waiting for us had started feeling hungry and started having some snacks from one of the road side shops. We got the bike set and got back with them. We continued on our journey.

It took us around 20 to 30 minutes to reach another cousin's place which was close to where we were to get the kallu. We spent a few minutes there before proceeding further. It was around 9 PM when we left this place. It is then that we noticed that the beef was missing. Everyone who had ever been holding the packets kept on wondering where he placed it. It finally came to Raul and the link broke there. No one had got the packet from him. After wasting a considerable amount of time wondering where it went Raul remembered that he had placed it down while having snacks earlier. Two guys rushed back to the spot to get it while the rest of us moved to the spot where we were to have kallu.

We were passing through a field and we were expecting to need to go further, but we came to a stop all of a sudden over a small bridge over a stream passing through the field. We were under the sky, with the stars and moon to give us light. We waited there while my cousin (Mejo) went to get the kallu. The rest of us were waiting there spellbound by the ambiance of our very own place under the sky to have kallu and enjoy. We did not have to wait too long for the kallu to arrive and everyone jumped immediately, many of us had only heard about it. The guys who had gone for checking the beef found it exactly where it was left and joined us almost as soon as we started. We were having a nice time drinking, eating and talking aloud with no one to worry about. with only fields surrounding us for most of the distance we could see. Unfortunately the beef got over even before I could have enough of it. [:(] All the greedy fellows finished as if they had never seen beef before. And the kallu got over a bit too soon as well. There might have been around 5 liters, but well, that's just 5 liters among 10 people. We were not satisfied. Well, what could we do, we were done. But how could we be done with the fun :D

While washing the kallu container, someone noticed that under the moonlight the water from the stream (which was a bit murky) looked exactly the color of kallu and decided to fool anyone who did not notice this. So, all of a sudden we have more kallu, actually more than the first round. Manoj who really liked the drink happened to be really greedy. To enact the exact seen:

Its announced that we have more kallu.

Manoj: Hey guys, I'll have the whole of it, the first sip..

Others: You have it man, I'm already full.

Manoj: Sure, can I directly dip and drink?

Raul: Sure man, go ahead.

Manoj: You don't mind na?

Raul: Go ahead.

Everyone: MANOJ!!!! MANOJ!!! MANOJ!!!!

Manoj takes a plunge into the container
Manoj: phrrrrrrphrrrrrrrrrrrrr.... *spit *spit phrrrrrrrrrphrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... what was that... :O :O :O

Everyone else: ROTFLMAO..

Now that was not exactly a pleasant prank, but it was really funny at the moment. Manoj's expression kept changing with every additional detail that others added on to the quality of the water. Well, he did get over it. Now it was time to get back to our room and take rest because we had to start early the next day. The day was over, and so was most of the fun and adventure.

OR SO WE THOUGHT.

Once out of the field, we actually realized that we were left with almost no money. Not even enough to pay for our rooming. Luckily we found it out in good enough time to be able to borrow it from my cousin. We then went to the lodge where we were put up, to find the door to be locked. Out here the day ends early and it was already midnight. The guys might have given up any hope of our coming back. We had to wait for a considerable while to get them openEd the door. By the time we reached our room we were so tired, almost everyone slept off immediately. Space was not a problem because everyone was too tired and most of us woke up with some under or over them (or their legs or arms). I take no moral responsibility for anyone having fiery imaginations about the above statement

We had to wake up early in the morning as if we had to spot any wild animals on the way back to Bangalore, we had to move early. Some among us were lucky enough and awake enough to take care of their nature calls and morning chores before getting back on the road. Rest of us had to keep it for the way. We decided to take a road that was mostly abandoned as I had heard that the chances of spotting wild animals were higher around there. And from here began a second round of adventures.

As we started... na na na... you have to wait... but unlike last time, it'll happen earlier this time.

To NoWhere At NoTime

noreply@blogger.com (Jashomanea) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:52:00 +0000

The Wayanad Trip, Part 1

Confusions, Kanfoosans and Much More:

Well, that is how it all started. The crazy bros (or madmen or any other adjective you would like to use) Sandy and Raul came up with the idea of going on an unplanned trip. One Friday, early morning at 11:00 am (yea, thats early enough for me) when I was just out of my 3rd day in Gym (which did not last long anyways), I get a call from Sandy "Machu, come down to Barista Koramangala". So, I go there dressed in my sweaty gym wear, along with Cjo. After all its just the two bros. Who cares how I'm dressed. On arrival, I'm forced to enter Barista *GULP* and Sandy is with a girl... *GULP* *GULP*. Well, too late to make any changes. Only option is to sit there uncomfortably and wait for the guys to get done and go home. Well, these guys did get up, we went to my place. Till then, I had no plans of any trip. While at my place, the two managed to convince me into joining the Trip, which was supposed to end where the road ends. Well, once they had freshened up, they moved to their friends places and I rushed to work.

I had to finish up work as soon as possible and get going. When I started work, I was relieved because there was not too much work for me. I was glad that I will be able to sneak out early. Since I had not carried any spare cloths, it was all the more important for me to sneak out early, so that I could go home and get my stuff packed up. Well, but as things would have it, just around dinner time, I cursed Murphy for his laws. Yes, things were no longer as good as it was. Some work got piled up and I got held up. I called up Cjo to get some cloths and come to pick me up after filling petrol. Lucky for us. there was a 24-hour Petrol Bunk and so we could fill the tank. Cjo had to wait another hour or so in my office before we could start. It had already crossed midnight when we started.

While all this was happening, in another part of the city, Sandy and Raul were busy convincing more bikers to join the trip. They went to the extent of getting guys drunk and then making them accept this (yes, they can go to any extent to get people for a ride). After lots of convincing, some guys agreed to join. But the next target was to find that perfect lie to tell home. Everyone found their reasons, and started off, pretty late in the night. This gave me enough time :D.

After all the confusion got over at one part of the city, I got a call from Sandy saying they are on Mysore road and asking me to join. I still had long way to go before I completed my work. I informed him the same. After while, growing impatient, they decided to move ahead. Sandy informed me they would be waiting near the RV Dental college. Well, that one happens to be just across the road from where I work :P. So I assumed he meant the Rajarajeshwari Dental College on Mysore road. When done with work, me and Cjo speeded up desperately to catch up with the guys. We rode without any stop and pretty fast for our normal standards. While we are still speeding, we get a message saying that the gang is moving forward and will wait at some Petrol bunk since they need a fill. Now we had to speed even more as we had to catch up with the guys before they do. We crossed the said location and then started checking each petrol bunk in site, but could not spot anyone. After a while, we got doubtful and decided to give a call to Sandy.

Some brilliant guys in the group did not think that they will need enough fuel for the long ride. Middle of the night, no fuel, greaaaat. One bike got dried out. Some took it as a bad omen and returned home. Another bike dried down and people were checking all petrol bunks nearby, only to find that they had no stock either. These guys were moving here and there looking for petrol and we zipped past them without realizing. Only two guys in the group were known to me and I did not spot both, probably due to speeding. As it happened, the stop was supposed to be RV Engineering College, which was way behind the dental college we targeted.

Rendezvous Point:

We give Sandy our whereabouts and realize that we are ahead of them. Some guys return back home considering all the ill haps as bad omen. The survivers reached us. After a negligible break, we started off to our next stop, Barista near Maddur. This is where we get introduced to everyone.

While parking, Cjo noticed that there is a chick in the gang. woooohoooo. All the more excitement. Introduction with the chick me: "Hi, I'm Jash" chick: "Hi, Sunil". >>twissssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh<< heartbreak. That was the first meeting with Kancha, the slim and trim guy with long hair, making it easy for others to confuse him for a girl. Ohh well, but since the group was fun, not having a chick did not matter. After some chitter chatter and gobbling some snacks and enough coffee, we get back on our journey.

The ride went on without much happenings till Mysore. In Mysore, there was a confusion on the route further. But we managed to get on the right track. We clicked a few pics near the Palace and moved on further. We looked for tea, but could not find that late in the night. Our next target was the Cafe Coffee Day at Gundulpet. The ride was smooth, but we reached before dawn break. Going further before dawn was not a good idea because of the jungle ahead. We spent a lot of time there at the coffee day. It was already time for the Bullets to get refilled. The got it done there. We started off again at 6 am.

By this time, the Bangalore guys had already completed anywhere between 20 and 24 waking hours and the guys from Chennai had done even more. Ranjith (Hillman) had already started feeling sleepy and all he could think of was a bed and sleeping on it. But others were not to give up so easily. We moved at a normal pace hoping to see some wild animals, enjoying the view of the deers by the road side. It was nearly 9 am when we reached Sulthan Bathery. Everyone was hungry and wanted to have breakfast. We stopped at the first restaurant we saw, parked the bikes and went inside anticipating yummy food.

Chicken Sambhar and Egg Pulishery -- An experience never to forget:

Well, the general assumption of a mallu hotel is of spicy chicken curry and delicious egg curry. We ordered appams, chicken and egg curry. Everyone was waiting anxiously for the food, but all excitement died down at the first taste of it. The chicken curry tasted like sambhar and the egg curry tasted like pulishery (a curry made with curd as base). Even the appam was pathetic. We had had better appams in Pune and Bangalore.

Well, that was a disastrous breakfast experience. around. Manoj had to get his bullet fixed up at this time. We decided to take a room and keep our stuff and to get freshened up in the meantime. Hillman tried to get a nap in the meantime, with no luck because of the crazy bro duo and of course the rest of us helping in. As soon as the bike was fixed, we started off on our tour. The first target was Edakkal Caves. The excitement made us all forget our tiredness. Even Hillman forgot his sleep for some time. We reached the foothill, parked the vehicles. Had some water and started off on the climb.

Test of Strength and Agility:

Well, the climb up to Edakkal was a tough one. I was already tired by the time I reached the place where the road ends. There was a steep climb where vehicles were not allowed. The buggers who called themselves friends did not even let me have water. I somehow managed to reached the spot from where the actual climb was to begin and snatch the water bottle from them and have some. The climb initially was exiting. I was able to move around pretty easily. The only trouble was to go against gravity with my weight. Even though I could traverse the path without much trouble, I got tired soon since I had been out of physical activity for a long time. Add to that the medicines I was supposed to have those days. I saw Cjo, Kancha and Manoj climb up like monkeys followed by Ranjith, Pavan and Raul. Sandy kept me company for some time, but I was constantly giving up, dehydrated, out of breath. Sandy could not take any more and rushed ahead. I had nearly given up and thought of getting back down, but after a while could not control the urge to go up.

So, I started off all alone, asking everyone around if they had any water. The common replies were among: 'it just got over', 'we are looking for water ourselves' etc. Well, somehow I reached the cave where there was stream of water. After having water from there, with full energy I started again, only to stop in another 5 mins. The guys who had already reached the top called up. I confirmed that they had water. Gathering all the energy left in me, I made for the top. I was hardly 5 feet below the peak when everyone started coming down with the empty water bottle. So well, I missed the top and got no water either. Thus ended the climb and we started climbing down. This time, it was not as difficult. Rushed down till the cave where I had some more water.

Once down, we all had our fill of lime soda and lime water and water, which was the only thing we could think of at that time. While we were sitting there, Hillman and Shaabji (Manoj) got the idea of trying to ride the bullet up the steep road. They tried but had to come back shortly, because it was not allowed. Well, we started off soon after, because we had to cover.

The bee that ruined the day:

After the tiring climb, while we were rushing to our next location a sudden cry from Kancha and subsequent stopping of the bike in which he was riding made us stop. It was obvious that Kancha was in pain, but no one had any idea what happened. At that time, he released his sweater to let out a bee. Damn, it was a really bad sting. People worked at all possible solutions to it. Cjo suggested chuna and some people put ice on it. Any one of these would have reduced the trouble, but the combination of heat and cold made the situation worst. Thinking that the pain will subside in some time, we started off again. But Kancha could not take the pain much longer. We had to stop and look for a hospital. We asked for directions and followed it to a hospital. Only thing, with slight mistakes we got split into two groups ending up at two hospitals. Sandy and Hillman arrived at one hospital and talked to the doctor and were waiting for Raul to arrive with Kancha, while Raul had found another one and Kancha was already getting treated. Sandy tried to call Raul and was already irritated to the core.

These confusions were still going on when Pavan's bullet had a problem. The break cable broke lose. Damn. That too, his being a real classic piece, finding appropriate spare parts was added trouble. We somehow managed to find a garage and get trouble fixed temporarily with the best available fit.

Kancha had to take rest and it was getting late for the best part of the day, the kallu (toddy) session. My cousin, whom I had called up before the trip to arrange some kallu was calling me continuously and we had no clue what to do. cjo and I, who knew the roads well (since I'm the native and Cjo had been with me earlier) decided to, collect the kallu and come back. But the rest did not want to be left alone. We decided to let Kanch rest while we go ahead and come with the kallu. The mention of Kallu and Kancha's pain vanished. He was ready to leave.

The ride they almost missed:

We embarked on our journey to Kalpetta (the district capital) where I was to meet my cousin. The road there has greenery on both sides and has really nice curves. Me being used to that road never thought so great of it, but the guys along (specially Sandy) started cursing Cjo and me for planning to leave them behind and take this route. This went on for quite some time. By the time I met my cousin, it was getting pretty late. Someone wanted a beer since he was not sure about Kallu. So, we queued up in front of the 'shaap' (as the liquor stores are called in Kerala) to get some beer. Well the queues are pretty long in Kerala. We spent a lot of time there. The proceeded to buy some snacks. In the meantime, Pavan's bike was again giving some trouble. We got that fixed and moved on to my cousins home.

The kallu session and the return journey in the second part... keep waiting.. :D

The Gokarna Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Raul) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Gokarna (24-27 Jan 09)
One lazy sunday afternoon after a heavy lunch, I headed back to my room to surf the net when I happened to find an old friend, online on gtalk. We ended up drawing comparisons of the carefree lifestyles we had, not that long ago in college and the monotonous lifestyle one has at work. We chatted for a while after which he left as he had to go some place. This small chat got me re-visiting the video clippings and pictures I had taken in the past. One video clip of mine had opened just as my brother entered the room. The video clip was taken on the shores of Calangute Beach, Goa on Jan (27-29) 2008 where both of us brothers were in a state of euphoria as we did something we had never done before. As my brother approached, we got completely engrossed in the video that we couldn't hear mom calling aloud, from the living room. As soon as the video clipping ended, I looked at my bro and gave him that signature smile of mine flashing my teeth just the way the cow does in an Orbit chewing gum ad and he gave me a nod to show he was game to whatever I had on my mind.

There were friends of mine who had already been to Gokarna and said the place was not like any other tourist spot, not a place where you have scores of holidayers littering and loitering around. So I went ahead and zeroed in on this place after a bit of googling and calculating how much we would have to shell out for the trip. We called up all the bikers we knew in Bangalore, some couldn't make it as they said Gandhi would never stay with them. Well that was the case with us too. Thank the Holy Lord for who ever made Plastic cards to help you when Gandhi bhai is at bay!

We planned it in such a way that our trip would start on the 24th jan(Sat) and wind up on the 26th Jan(mon). But it was hard to follow these timelines as we met with obstacles one after the other. I left from my work place early on Friday, and the only thing that was running on my mind was the thought of me, riding on my baby in that never ending road to nowhere. I had my dinner. Mom was in no mood to send her sons away for the weekend. I could see that clearly written on her face. Though equally as supportive as Dad, she has to be comforted by both her boys. A little bit of Jaadu ka jhapi and pappi(Bear hug and kiss) does the trick. After taking her blessings, both of us brothers started our trip at 3 a.m in the morning. We filled our tanks at the nearby gas station and were then off to the Bangalore Highway (NH-4). While I rode on the smooth 6 lane tarmac, I thanked the Vajpayeeji govt for making the Golden Quadralateral! Both of us were enjoying every bit of the ride towards B'lore.

We kept a steady pace and were able to reach the outskirts of B'lore by 8am. After crossing the Electronic city at a snail's pace, bro's avenger bike started facing problems. Stopping at Bhansankhari to leave the bike for service, we went to a kerala hotel we normally go to for breakfast whenever we come for rides via B'lore. Manoj and his other pals had started from their homes to Tumkur and had called me up to enquire as to where we had reached. I told them about the issue we had with Sandy's bike, and asked them to wait at Mahendra Dhaba, opp. to Cafe Coffee Day for the next 2 hours. They reached the spot at 10 a.m, and eventually had to wait till 4 in the evening. As the time kept ticking and the work hadn't started on Avy baby, I asked Sandy, at noon, to go ahead, pick Niki on my One eyed Jack (Pulsar 180) , and leave for Tumkur.

By around 1.30 p.m, the Avy Baby was ready to rock and roll. I had actually received loads of calls by that time from the fellas who were waiting for us in Tumkur. I told them that Sandy would be reaching them soon and we could hit Tumkur at exactly 3 p.m. Just after speaking to Manoj however, I got a call from my Bro (Sandy) saying that he hadn't got a clue as to how to reach Tumkur from where he was. I asked him to somehow find his way to Forum and wait for me. It felt as if luck wasn't favoring us at all. Then half way down to Forum, Avy baby stops all of a sudden. What more could you ask for huh? If I had a gun at that point of time, I would have literally become an insane bloke going on a Killing spree, just like Kasab did! Thank god! My parents had sent me for the yoga classes when I had no idea what I could gain out of it. Trust me, Meditation does come to use.

I then pushed the bike to the nearby mechanic shop, and guess what! The mechanic had just gone out for lunch. This is more than enough for a sane person to go insane. I was glad that atleast I made a good decision by asking the guys to wait for us at a Dhaba and not on an open highway. I must really say, these guys were very cooperative and did not talk about it when we reached the spot and thus prevented us from having a spoilt trip. Lucky for me, Sandy came to the spot along with Niki when I was enquiring as to when the mechanic would reach. Sandy insisted that we go back to Bhanshankari and I would say, as I believed then, that would only eat up on our time. I had no more strength in me to clarify the difference in opinion and started walking down the street in search of mechanic shop on a sunny afternoon. I was thoroughly exhausted and so were Niki and Sandy who were hoping against hope to see the mechanic turn up from Lunch as soon as possible. When I almost gave up hope of finding a mechanic, I happened to turn towards my right to see The CASTROL BIKEZONE. I called them up and soon the mechanic was inspecting the Avy. He found that there was a short circuit on the wires and got the bike roaring in a jiffy. We thanked the mechanic profusely as i thought they were slight chances of us going downto Gokarna, if this is how things continued! The next problem we were yet to face was the Bangalore traffic. We took a short cut and reached the spot when the guys in Tumkur were about to leave.

From there, we took off to Gokarna. Since a lot of time was lost we rode for hours together. We got lost midway and we couldn't see few of the other bikers on the rear view mirror. We called them up to give them our location as we stopped at a nearby tea shop for biscuit and tea. That's where we actually got to know the new bikers. From the Bangalore side, we had Manoj(Regular) Adi(Regular) and the rest were newbies. Their first trip with the Bikers Fraternity! They are Ritu, Shayek, Tyagi and a dude who's name I dont recollect now. These guys were on a Hero Honda Karishma and 2 pulsars. In total, we had 5 bikes and 9 bikers.We started again, and told the new the basic rules they would have to adhere to in order to ensure track on every other rider, making sure not to lose anyone. 10 minutes after we left the tea shop, we faced another obstacle.This time being a puncture on Shayek's pulsar 150. Lucky for us, this happened right in front of a puncture shop. We knew that things were not going to work the way we wanted it to, so we decided not to worry much on the timelines. After 30 odd minutes, we started again from that village.We kept riding for another 4 odd hours and decided to halt at a dhaba somewhere near Shimoga.Thats when Sandy, Niki and I had something after our breakfast. It did recharge our batteries and off we were again having another 250 odd kms more to cover. It was a very chilly night, so that again the journey was delayed due to our regular stops. Shayek was at his very best, cracking jokes when everyone else's lips were cracked up (thanks to the weather)! We seriously needed some laughter and Shayek did what he is best at.

At around 3 a.m or so, we halted at an isolated place and everyone wanted to lie down for a while. I went straight to a stone slab and laid down like a dead body for the next 20 mins. This was good enough. We saw a Chai wallah (a guy who sells tea) on his bicycle the sight of which gave us the energy to get moving. I had been riding my bike all the way from chennai and thought I could touch the west coastline. But then, at around 20 odd kms fromGokarna, I gave the bike to another biker pal and I sat pillion on sandy's avenger allowing myself a catnapwhile he rode closer towards our destination. 30 mins later, around 6.30 a.m we found ourselves in the front of the OM beach. We went down to Namaste Cafe only to hear that they didn't have rooms. Well I guess that's what happens on a Sunday. We went aroundasking the localites who directed us to Kudle Beach. This place, I must say is paradise. There are very few people on this beach, 90% of them being foreigners. It's a pleasant thing to watch the ladies in their bikinis having fun in the sun. We finally got a shack, few yards away from the beach. The place we stayed in was Dragons Cafe. Although rooms were not available, we told them we would wait for one. I directly hit the sack and slept away to glory along side Sandy while the others went to the beach for a swim with the firangs. Waking up at around 11 a.m, I headed for a swim.

By the time I got back, I was so hungry, I could have eaten a roast turkey all by myself. I ordered the mix sizzlers and some Iranian specialities which are very common over there. Adi and I went on a boat ride to Paradise beach at around 4.30 p.m and we ended up meeting his colleague over there. The boat ride was awesome and we saw many dolphins having fun inthe mighty arabian sea. There were some friendly Germans too, with whom we chatted for a while. On our return to Kudle beach, we could see the other bikers huddled up at one corner where they were watching a Hippy (Foreigner) performing magic tricks. Later on in the night, after a sumptuous Iranian dinner, we had a bonfire near the seashore. As our group members started singingsongs one after the other, many firangis began joining us. It was really a night to remember. I liked the songs sung by this "hippy turned Hindu sadhus" couple singing the bhajans; certainly makes one get into a psychedelic trance. We wound up at around 2am and slept soon after. On the 26th Jan 2009 at around 7.30 a.m, Sandy, Niki and I left Kudle beach while the others planned to stay for an extra day. We wanted to ride on the Western coast road, as I had heard we could pass through a famous Shiv temple at Murdeshwar, and then a stretch of road where one would get to see the lake on the right and the sea facing the left side ( a must see) and further down would be the Udipi known for the the Dosas and Idlis. After taking blessings from Lord Shiv and having our breakfast there, the next stop was at Manipal where I was to meet a school friend ofmine. I had promised her a year earlier when we were on our Goa trip that we would visit her,but unfortunately we couldn't make it for varied reasons.

At around 5 p.m we met her near Kasturba Medical College, went to the nearby hotel with her and had a good time talking about the things we used to do in school while we gobbled down what ever came to the table. Sandy and I liked the place so much that we told her we would return again soon. On our way to Mangalore, I missed Sandy on one of those crowded streets at Udipi. I asked Niki to call him and find out where he was. We got him on the line and asked for his location. He told us that he was near the Highway. Since we were not familiar with the place, and neither were there any shops or boards indicating the location, it was a safer bet to ask him to proceed and stop at a signboard which showed that it was 40kms from Mangalore.

We met sandy at the planned spot and left for Mangalore. 20 kms from Mangalore, I saw a Volvo bus from the opposite direction almost blocking me at high speeds. The driver could see me coming, but did not bother to slow down at all. I'm sure it would have been a head on collision if I assumed that he would retract to his side of the road. Not losing my concentration, I applied both the brakes and movedtowards the edge of the tar road. My heart was in my mouth and that Killer Bus just brushed the right hand rear view mirror and that sure did give a tremor to the whole bike. As i was desperately trying to handle my bike preventing it from falling off, I saw a goods carriage Van a stones throw away parked on my side of the road. It was a sure crash as it was very difficult to tame the bike that too on the gravel road. I had only two choices, either to bang the vehicle ahead and get severly injured or jump off the vehicle. I did the latter and survived the accident without a scratch! I thought the bike would face the brunt, but lucky as I was my baby escaped without much damage. The crash guard took the hit and the left side rear view mirror cracked up a bit. By the time I could get my baby started, Sandy and Niki just stopped to see if I was alright. Sandy just couldn't control his anger and wanted to chase the bus driver and give him a sound thrashing. I had to pacify the angry young man and that took quite some time to calm him down. I told him that we would only waste time & energy by chasing him. It would only make matters worse, considering the fact we had 350 odd kms to travel that night.

We started from the point and reached Mangalore by around 7 p.m. We had to skip the Fish fry which Niki wanted so badly, as we were losing time. Still 340 odd kms to travel, we had to skip on all the short breaks we wereto take. The ride from Mangalore to Hassan was the most challenging route we had ever done at night. We got a feel as to how it would be, if one rode his bike on the moon. There were big pot holes everywhere, and to top itall, the dust and the mist combined made one lethal weapon. And for company, we had the Big truckers who covered us with dust as they passed by. We were riding our bikes as slow as we could, to avoid any hit on our bikes.

Sooner than we thought, we had landed ourselves with yet another problem. Sandy's bike took a hit in one of those majorpot-holes. His gear lever bent and he couldn't change his gears. We didnt want to stop in the middle of no where. We decided to move on. He was riding on first gear for 10 odd minutes till we found some shop on the way.We eventually stopped at a Petrol bunk, asked the attendants there if they could help us and so they called in for a mechanic friend of theirs who ended up meeting us an hour later. I knew for sure there was no way we could reach chennai if we faced such obstacles every other hour. I called home and told them the situation. They told us to ride home safely. Sandy was figuring out whether he could do something about it, taking out his tool kit and getting into action. Niki was completely exhausted, would have been wondering how her dream 1st ride with the Bikers Fraternity was turning out to be. I could see the frustration written right on her face, and knew she would blow up any minute.

Right next to the petrol bunk, we had a resto-bar. I went there and got a fosters to chill us. And boy did it calm the Angry young woman. The mechanic turned at the spot while I was having the last sip of Fosters. I had only very little to drink. Damn! The mechanic did what he is best at, and within 10 odd minutes, the Avy baby was roaring back again! We paid him 100 bucks as we left the spot by 9 p.m after filling fuel on both the bikes. Didnt want to take a chance of running out of fuel. The road was horrible for the next 50-60 kms and it took us 3 hours get through. By 12 a.m we stopped near a hotel. It was a chilly night! We had some Chai and good day biscuits to keep us warm. The initial plan was to ride the whole night, but it was quite a daunting task and seemed nearly impossible, the Chilly weather breaking our determination.

We checked into a hotel at 3 a.m and booked a room for us. We crashed into our beds,set the alarms for 6.45 a.m and got ourselves checking out at 7.15 a.m after settling out the room's payment. We started from Hassan and were riding for the next 3 hours without stopping anywhere. The roads were relatively better, and we wanted to cover as much distance as we could. By 11 a.m we reached Mahindra Dhaba at Tumkur where we had started the trip. Here Niki, Sandy and I were ended up lying down for about an hour from 11.00 to 11.45 a.m. After that small break, 'a road nap', I rode to Bangalore which was about a 50 km ride from the Mahindra dhaba, while Sandy decided to stay in Bangalore and get his bike fixed. I was in a hurry because I had to work the same day in Chennai. My log-in time was at 2.30 p.m. Since I was already running late, I decided, 'why not meet my friends from Accenture, Bangalore, while I still was at Bangalore'. And so I called them up, and I took the express highway, reaching Banalghata at 1.00 p.m. Here I met up with my friends and after a good chit chat, hit the highway again, at 1.45 p.m. I rode on, stopping only at a place near Krishnagiri to quench my thirst and I bought some chicken too, relished it, and then headed straight for Chennai. Maintaining a constant speed 0f 80-100 kmph, I managed to reach Chennai around 6.15 p.m. As I was full of grime and soot, I took a quick shower, refreshened and rushed back to office, so as not to miss atleast my half day's work.

It was a great trip, and even though we did face difficulties, all the fun we had made up for everything. There was always a joke to laugh at and a challenge to face and that was what made this trip whole.

The Maiden Trip to Goa - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Cruise De $and$) — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Part 2

We had a sound brief sleep and woke up by 7am. Refreshed ourselves, had breakfast and moved on to hit the beach. We were delighted to see the typical Goan Aunties with their cute daughters. The traffic was pretty smooth. The architecture of a Goan house were similar to the ones that we find in Kerala. I could feel the Portuguese culture in the air. We had to meet a Sailor, Nihal whom we knew from a community called the Fraud Mallus. Met him at Temptations, Vasco da Gama and it was the First Fraud Mallu Meet in Goa!

Raul was enjoying riding his babe and I did wonder why Raul should have all the fun riding his P180 in Goa. Damn! I missed my babe so much at that I hired my babes sista(A Black Avy) for the ride in Goa! We later went to the entrance of Calangute beach. The beach was crowded with lots of tourist from the west of the world and there were plenty of shacks around.
We relaxed at Cheers Shack and just didn't feel like moving out from there. We were delighted by the sight of the chicks in bikinis, waterbikes and paragliding. God! I could only wish we had some extra dough in our hand! With limited resource in hand, we decided to freak out the maximum. Raul ordered two cold Budweisers and I tasted it for the first time and God! I must confess it is the king of all beers! It was smooth and tasted too good.The babes around were awesome and we felt that we were in some kind of paradise. The chicks in bikinis were sheer pleasure to watch. Man oh Man what abs they had! Babes were abundant and that happiness could be seen on our face. We were literally drooling there as if we have never seen chicks before! We discussed seriously, why should we spend a fortune to go to the Miami beach when we can find such a place which fits our bill. We could see the tourist queing up for a ride on the waterbike and God! it was so tempting that we decided to blow up our limited resource but luckily the waterbike ride costed us INR 200/- per head. Raul took the ride first and he was going so fast that he definitely beat the snail! I was under the impression that there was some technical fault with the waterbike. I realised later when I was on the waterbike that it has a clutch kind of thing which acts like the accelerator. I could feel my adrenaline rush up when this Yamaha waterbabe was flying on the sea. Oh Man! I did feel like owning a waterbike for myself! The ride was one of a kind and it was breathtaking. I just didn't want to come back to the shore. Damn! I felt like a sea cowboy when I had that ride on the Yamaha waterbabe! The paragliding was also tempting but we had to restrain ourselves from being bankrupt and beg at the streets of Goa!

Amidst all this fun, something was creeping up in our mind and we wanted to see the location where Dil Chahte Hai was shot. I don't remember how we managed to get back to our senses from the maya world and we moved on to the Chapora fort. We reached the spot and it was like we had to climb up. It was fun walking up all the way to the fort. As we climb up, the scenary around gets beautiful and amazing. As we walked inside the fort, we saw some couple having fun and the lady was in state of nirvana. That place was too cool. We were bowled over by the beautiful scenery. We could see the beautiful Arabian Sea and the Lagoon. We had good photo session. We were happy and proud of ourselves. Sang songs from Dil Chahte Hai and ran around like kids.

It was about 4pm and it was getting too late for us and it was high time we started moving back to Bangalore. I had to give the bike back and so we decided to do so and leave Goa. I was in a hurry to give back the bike and I was happily cruising around the roads of Goa. Raul was ahead of me and I was following him. I got held up in the traffic and had some problem starting the bike. Just before I could start off to my ride, A bear chest foreigner in a rented Honda Activa stops right in front of me blocking my way. I thought I was in trouble and this chap is here to fleece money out of me. I was quickly trying to recall where I messed up with this chap and trying to correlate why me! He started asking me questions as if he was some cop and I was reluctant in giving away any information to him. He asked me whether I have a mobile and I was cautious thinking that he was a over smart tourist and wants to make a ISD call from my mobile! lol. He asked me "Do you have a mobile" I said, "Yes!" What mobile do you have? I said Sony Ericsson, then he asked me whether its a camera phone, I said yes and then asked him a question as to why on earth is he asking me all these questions and then explains that he found a mobile phone on the road and saw that falling off from my jacket! I was stunned and I had no words to thank him. I did feel so dumb and felt embarrassed of thinking otherwise about this gem of a gentleman! Some how I managed to thank him and appreciate his gesture. I thanked good God that there still exists such good men. I should admit that I was in a hurry as time was ticking by and all I wanted to do was to give back the bike to its owner and in this process I did not even realise that my Sony Ericsson K550i fell off my denim jack!

I then caught up with Raul who was waiting for me ahead and we moved on to give the rented bike back to its owner. I told Raul about this incident and he was asking me to be careful with my mobile and suggested me to keep it in the bag we were carrying. We then were charting out on the route we had to take back to Bangalore and wanted to check the road map which was in the bag. We were just about to realise the biggest blunder we ever did in this trip. We lost the bag while taking the snaps in the fort! The bike papers were in the bag and we were clueless as to where we kept the bag. Damn! We rushed back to the fort and we were keeping our fingers crossed to get the bag back and I was praying to God for another gentleman to appear and give us our bag. We checked every place around the fort and all those places where we took the snaps. We realised we were in deep shit with no bike papers and so we decided to register a FIR at the Anjuna police station. We lost our cool and we searched around for a police station and circling around the same area over and over again. Finally we found the Police station and after an hour and a half of waiting in the police station, we got the FIR copy which stated that we lost the Bike documents and the that the investigation is going on. I was fretting and fuming with anger. This incident irritated me to the core and spoiled my fun of being in Goa. Raul was calm and composed and probably he was bitten by "Chill Maadi" bug, staying in Bangalore for a while. We had lost a lot of our valuable time and energy running behind this unseen hindrance.

Time was running out and our plans were in a complete mess. According to the actual plan we were supposed to be half way down on the Golden Quadrilateral Road. We had to re-plan and most of all I had to control my anger and calm down. Went to the most popular shack and thought we would chill there by gazing some hot chicks but unfortunately, the restaurant just opened up and we were the first customers there. Raul could sense me feeling irritated and we decided to move out from there. We had skipped the lunch and fatigue was showing upon us. We had dinner at some typical Goan restaurant. Then we did little bit of shopping and purchased a Goan dress for mom and a scarf for covering my face.

We hit the highway and we took a new route. We had to go through a forest again and we had to cross a hilly region. This stretch of road is something which we both wouldn't forget in our entire life time. The temperature started dipping and we could feel the warmth we had in us going away slowly and steadily. I Was enjoying the ride as the road we chose had sharp turns. I was controlling myself from the cold when after some time I just couldn't handle the cold blowing wind that was making my spine shiver. It was foggy and I was not accustomed riding on a P180 with its dim light. I could not see any pothole ahead and was wondering how Raul goes for night rides on her. I switched over and chose to be the pillion rider for this stretch of road because of poor visibility. We were not able to go at a good pace because of the fog, dust, potholes and the sharp turns. Luckily a tipper truck passed by us which was setting the pace for us. We followed this tipper which was going at a good speed. We could feel a bit warmer by following the tipper. Wonder whether it was the tipper lorry's warm engine or the exhaust. We covered a good distance with the help of this tipper. We stopped after overtaking the truckers at a dark place, we were shivering and I could feel my bones chilled. Raul's feet was numb despite wearing on a Woodlands. We realised that once we halt to warm up, it becomes very difficult for us to cope up with the cold weather that follows on! We exchanged the jackets and gloves as Raul is known as Polar Bear and he boasts of withstanding cold weather.

Little did I realise that fatigue had caught up on me and I was dozing off as a pillion rider. Told Raul to have some tea or something warm at the next available tea shop and after a long chilling ride we found a tea shop and had tea. This hot tea was a life giver, at that point of time my elixir of life! Damn! I could feel the tea go right inside my stomach. We just didn't like time running ahead of us. Our only concern was to catch the earliest bus/train to Chennai in order to be with Dad on his B'day. After each tea break I couldn't tolerate the cold at all and I felt as I were in the Arctic Circle. One might understand my plight as I was used and comfortable with the Chennai heat unlike Raul who is used to Bangalore's cool weather. I tried riding the bike, but my elbow was aching and so was my shoulder. This was the result of riding Raul's P180 which I'm not accustomed with. Got so used to riding my Avenger that other bikes could just not suit my riding. Despite wearing a Studd Bikers leather gloves, my fingers went numb and I could hardly fold my fingers to change the gear. I did put myself to the extreme limit and I could feel the point where I could not carry forward. I was torturing myself by continuing to ride. I was in no position to take on the cold wind directly on me. I decided not to ride until the sun sets in. We had major argument to end the ride and take up a room and start in the morning. Raul would not give in and confidently said that he would ride as much as he can in the night and cover as much distance as possible. Luckily for me, on the way we came across a town where we had some coffee. Raul lost his Polaroid Fastrack Shades at the push cart coffee shop. The coffee was of no help to me. I was literally frozen. On the way, I saw a man burning up an old tyre and I forced Raul to stop there, the warmth from this tyre pyre was so cozy, felt as if I were in front of a bonfire in the Himalayas. I just didn't want to come from there. But as and when I see my watch, I felt the urge to reach home as soon as possible. We were close by to the Quadrilateral and Raul assured me of the warmth we could get from the highway road. I made up my mind and felt not to think about the chillness. We were one determined lot. We pepped ourselves up and charged our brains up. POSITIVE THINKING!

We reached the Quadrilateral and I thought now I could feel better but to my dismay, I could not feel any better. I decided to take it on until dawn. The dawn was nearing and I could sense some pride that I survived that harsh weather. I was controlling myself from sleeping and asked Raul to halt at the nearest Dhaba. It was almost 5.10am when we halted on the highway for some tea. There happened to be plenty of charpoy and we thought of taking rest. We ordered for some tea and it was so relaxing that I kept ordering it for more than an hour. Raul was stiff and he could hardly bend his knee. He crashed on the charpoy and it was pretty funny to see Raul sleeping as if he is still riding the bike! I had to massage his leg as he caught cramp. Raul had pushed himself to the core, his eyes were red and he definitely required sleep. I don't like to smoke and hate smokers but the thought of puffing in warm hot air, made me have more than one pack of cigarettes! I was stunned by the amount of cigarettes and tea I was having. Raul was tired and he fell off to a short nap. I could not sleep as I was completely frozen. To defrost I had ordered 12 tea and 15 cigarettes and also tried doing some push ups and sit ups! Kept puffing the cigarette and the tea and kept walking to and fro inside the dhaba.

I could feel myself re-energised and we moved on to reach Bangalore. We decided not to stop anywhere and kept moving. I thought its going to be easy from now on but worst of all I had my brother behind me dozing off and slipping off the bike. I had to be very careful especially when I overtake. The quadrilateral was beautiful and when the sun was bright and shinning I felt as if I were superman who gets revitalised with the power of the sun's rays! We reached Bangalore by 12pm but the traffic in the city was so horrible that we felt so difficult to inch ahead. Our hope was to take the last train which leaves to Chennai in the morning but to reach the station after reaching Raul's room was highly impractical and so we could not reach Chennai as decided. We took it easy and knew how tired we were. We relaxed at Raul's room and we took a ride on Raul's friend's Yezdi.

Our friends who heard our small adventure trip were envying us and they told us that they would love to join us for the ride when we go next time and so they accompanied us each time we make a plan and this was the beginning of the BIKERS FRATERNITY!

Nomadic bikers charging for Valparai

noreply@blogger.com (Vinita) — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Travel is like being in a different world in a different sense, apart from the literal meaning. Travel by bike through the most scenic of places, through roads that could transform from smooth to rough, weathers that can be penetratingly hot or chillingly cold, and through days of not knowing what is to come next, is nothing like anything you could imagine if you’ve not done it before. There is, in each of the members of the Biker’s Fraternity a big rage to break free and live that life that the earth has to offer. And trust me; it’s got a lot to offer.

This time around, Valparai was the target. The goal as usual was to ride through day, through night, to ride through all weathers and all obstacles. Initiated by Renjith, then taken up by the brothers and with inputs from the group, the final plan was out. The trip was to begin May 1, 3.00 a.m. and end May 4, morning. A wonderfully planned out 3 day trip with routes figured out, costs perfectly calculated, and obstacles anticipated, was ready. The bikers were geared up, as always, and so it was onward to Valparai!!!

Route and distance
The proposed plan was to ride from Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Polachi - Valparai back to Coimbatore - Ooty - Bangalore and finally Chennai. This would result in an expected distance of approximately over 1200 km for bikers from Bangalore and 1700 km for bikers from Chennai.

The plan and the anti-plan *wink*
The warm up (Boxing session)
Raul and I were to start on the 30th April, (Thursday), at 3.00 a.m, in order to be able to purchase a jacket he’d been hoping to get and then join the rest. Sandy and the others from Chennai (3 bikers) were to start on Friday morning 3.00 a.m. That meant we should have been in Bangalore before 10a.m Friday. However, being prone to set backs is something we have to learn to live with. Here’s why : On the eve of Raul’s and my proposed departure from Chennai, Raul had been riding his bike with Sandy as pillion rider. They were just touching the hundred feet road, when all of a sudden, a random bloke happened to clumsily walk right into the line of advance of Raul’s bike. Since it was completely unexpected, taking Raul’s by surprise, he had to jam on the breaks. The bloke who was so careless as to not even bother looking where he was going, almost got hit and immediately did what blokes like him do…. raised himself and started arguing, blaming it all on our innocent Raul. The bloke was the miscreant who had to apologize, but instead, went on complaining, eventually thrusting forth his hand offensively toward Raul. Sandy, being the bigger brother, with his brotherly protective genes working at full swing, immediately took the lead, jumped out of his bike and warned the clumsy chap to keep it decent, mind his actions and walk away. But after that reproach, the chap began a physical fight which, by the way Sandy had related, must have been absolutely brutal. The man who was trying to act like the victim, was on his feet, trying to fist fight with Sandy and Raul. While the fight went on, another lad from a nearby Tasmac, came over and started a fight with the two brothers, while the careless bloke I mentioned earlier, vanished from sight. The Tasmac chap called three more of his people. Out of the three men, one was pretty old yet ferocious. They fought furiously, with the bad guys grabbing Sandy and Raul’s helmets and actually trying to hit the owners of the helmets with them!! Our boys were enormously gallant young men. Lol. They fought like brave heroes. The unfair part was that they were only two against a continual inflow of three to four men coming in groups, group after group. So when one group got tired of fighting, they called another group and the vicious cycle went on, while Sandy and Raul remained players in the fight from start to end. As time went on, and our boys were struggling hard to get the bad guys out of the way, whilst trying even harder to protect each other, a new group came in with one man looking like a real, real goonda. Ouch!! He and the others charged towards Raul, when Sandy shouted out to him to “be a man and fight it one on one!” Even the street ladies jumped into the fight and began screaming at our guys like witches. Meanwhile, our Raul was busy doing his verbal stunts, shouting out at the men at large “Do you know who I am?” (Naan yaaran therima), which, we may be proud to say, actually helped scare the men a little. While the wrestling and ‘boxing session’ went on, the bros managed to tell a few random onlookers to call the cops, and although they did call the police, another group of cops arrived at the scene sooner! This is the sudden incident that pushed our trip to hours later than the initial plan.. and hence our anti plan. Lol. Sandy came out of the scuffle with a painful knuckle and hand in general, Raul, with a punched eye.

DAY 1
The trip - a shaky cat on the wall
Well, we got delayed even more because the police kept calling Raul and Sandy for inquiry, and postponed the inquiry so often that in the end, Raul actually called up saying the trip was cancelled. But hey, it’s the BIKER’S FRATERNITY we’re talking about. Even in the midst of such a horrible event, the mind cannot be let to allow a trip such as this to be cancelled. And the biker that he was, he called back immediately, telling me to hold on a few more minutes. I waited a few minutes, until Raul called yet again saying THE TRIP WAS ON! And I was delighted.

Hitting the roads!!!
Although Sandy was to ride the next day with the others, plans had changed by then. The other three bikers dropped out, so he decided to join us on the 30th itself. Sandy, Raul and I started from Chennai on the 30th of April around 3.30 p.m. For us, this would be a 4 day trip, although for Sandy and Raul it became a 5 day trip. Our rides were Sandy’s Avenger and Raul’s Pulsar. We had an initial hunt for shades for Raul and Sandy, (because during the fight, the goondas had somehow grabbed and escaped with their former shades) Finally when the Ray Bans, Bandanas, helmets and Jackets were pulled on, we hit the road around 5.00 p.m! The excitement began just there. We were heading first to Bangalore, where we’d be joined by our other bikers. When we reached Ambur; the sun slowly setting as we rode, it was close to 8.30p.m. When you’re mind tells you to buckle up and just relax, you listen. For me, when we hit the Poonamalle High Road, I’d already forgotten about the trivial commitments that I was leaving behind and that seem to mean so much while one is living them. We halted at a little restaurant called the Taj restaurant where we hogged chicken and mutton biriyani, not to mention the goat hoof for Sandy. Ewe! Lol. He seemed to have liked it though! *wide mouth stare* Once we got ourselves refreshed, we were back on the bikes heading for Bangalore, through Hosur and Krishnagiri. Just as we reached Bangalore, we stopped at a Ganesha temple, spent about 5 minutes there and headed on.
It was exactly midnight when we arrived at Bangalore covering a distance of close to 340 Km from Chennai. Our meet up point was Empire Koramangla where Niki, Ranji and Senthil arrived first and we had a small snack of Shawarmas and tea. Cjo and Jash arrived next, had dinner, cracked jokes till about 2.30 a.m after which we left for a few hours of sleep.

Our trip was just beginning. We knew there was so much to look forward to, but decided to get some sleep before setting out again, so we stopped by at Ranji’s place for the night.

DAY 2
Our meet up and start off
After about 2 hours of sleep, we awoke at something like 4.30 a.m, ready to get back on those bikes. Raul and Cjo had left to pick up the remaining biker pals who were to meet us in the morning. The rest of us gulped down some black coffee and packed ourselves and our bags to meet the rest of the gang, which was finally completed by Roy, Varun and Nipin. The other riders were Ranji’s and Roy's Enfields, Senthil’s Enticer, Nipin’s Avenger, Jash's Pulsar. So on the whole; we had two Pulsars, two Avengers, two Enfields and an Enticer.

The AIDS awareness, condoms and a weighty box of pamphlets
A mission to serve, change and protect
We chatted a while and then made our way for breakfast (at a restaurant called the Tamil Nadu restaurant) in Krishnagiri and a meet up with a member from the TNSACS (which is an organisation dealing with spreading awareness on AIDS). Our objective in meeting with them was to find out what we could do to help them, during our rides, in acting as a mobilisation team that carries the information for them to the various nooks and corners that we touch as we journey. The gentleman (Mr. Anand) was very friendly and gave us as much information as possible about what they are and how they go about spreading awareness on not only AIDS but also other concerns of society such as deforestation, child infanticide, usage of iodine salt etc. He then took us to the office where we were briefed on how they operate and the kind of funds given to them by the government. Here, an inauguration program for their AIDS awareness was being held, and we were treated as Chief guests. That was very unexpected. They took photos of us as well as videoed us and these would have been published in newspapers and broadcast on local news channels in Krishnagiri. We were introduced to every other member of the TNSACS organisation. Our interest was to share as much as we could with the truckers because they are the men that we usually meet or talk to during our riding breaks or when we need to find our way to our destination points. Sandy had a lot of questions to ask, and to which the gentleman answered precisely and clearly. After about 30 minute briefing, our member, Senthil gave a short introduction about who we are (The biker’s fraternity) and how we’d like to help out. The organisation was very pleased and gave us a big box of condoms and pamphlets to distribute to truckers on our way. When all was done and said, and we'd promised to get back in touch in near future as well as do all we can to distribute the pamphlets and condoms, we shook hands with them, bid goodbye and left. We distributed most of the pamphlets at Krishnagiri, and preserved some to distribute to other truckers on our way.

We rode on, 7 bikes in all, with Niki and Cjo dancing happily, and the rest of us chatting, teasing and taking photos of each other and the lovely roads.The road we took leading from Bangalore to Krishnagiri made a total of about 90 Km.

The spectacle through Krishnagiri
I cannot forget the vista of the route that led us to Dharmapuri. Through Shoolagari and Krishnagiri, the sight was spectacular. There’s something mystical about the colours of nature when they hit you just there and you’re looking at them with absolute lucidity. There were such brilliant hills, big and small, some clear and some hazy in the mid morning, there were hills covered in grey stone every side we turned, there were also hills that seemed to support large white stones. This was just absolutely magnificent in the morning hours, the view being held against a clear blue sky, at a time when the sun was not too scorching hot, and yet still emitted that essence of itself in which the right touch of warmth would wash our faces and our very being. Apart from the natural beauty of what has been left untouched by man, was also the impressive decoration of what IS touched by man. As we rode, we saw man’s breathtaking skill in setting up the roads. Right through the centre of the long road through Shoolagiri and Krishnagiri, were a series of flowering plants that ranged in colours from orange to pink to purple to red to yellow. That sight is still so clearly refreshing in my mind. The beauty is added by the feeling one gets when he’s riding through such magnificence, while on a bike. It feels as if you’re connected to nature, not just because you’re in it, but because all that holds you is a seat, and the rest of you is just flying through it. But wait, all that beautiful talk and I shouldn’t hide the fact that it was on that very road, while I was riding with Jash, and we were way past the others, that we lost them. We came to a small halt, where I removed my spectacles to wipe the minute grime off and realised I’d lost my left lens and the frame was broken. I’d been riding like that for ‘who knows how long,’ completely ignorant of that comical looking sight of myself.

At Hogenekkal falls
When all that had passed and we reached the Hogenekkal falls (after traversing a distance of about 90 Km again), we hadn’t had lunch as yet. It was mid afternoon, while the heat of the sun was scorching and we were already getting dehydrated. Since we were in Hogenekkal falls, it meant boating. We were already feeling the heat get to us, and boating would mean putting ourselves in direct attack of the sun. Half of us still decided to go boating. Who could have thought it would turn out to be as wonderfully refreshing as it did? So there it was, Sandy, Niki, Senthil, C jo and I walked our way down the rocks and toward the boat. While the rest of the guys lay back in the shade and just relaxed themselves completely, enjoying the sounds of water splashes and rehydrating themselves, we sat on that boat in the hot sun, wondering “Do we know what we’re doing?” The boat ride was 3 Km. Three kilometres in the mid-afternoon sun. It turned out to be great!! While we were steered slowly we just talked and joked and splashed water on each other, the sun had set and by that time the boatsman had already begun splashing water on us till we were completely drenched, Cjo, Senthil and Niki had taken a dive into the water, allowing themselves a short swim. They got back into the boat satisfied with the decision to dive into that very water that made my bandana stink! It was a wonderful laugh. The relief we got when the water splashed upon our backs and through our hair was like heaven. All in all, it was a lovely boat ride and worth the initial heat of the sun provided we had our sunscreen with us. :P

Toward Polachi
Hungry as we were after our long afternoon, we sat down to a late laid – back lunch. Once our stomachs were filled, we headed for Polachi but Roy took leave from here as he had to head back for some work. So when we left from Hogennekal, we were 10 of us. On our way there, late in the evening, we stopped at a petrol station for a break and a refuel for the bikes. Here we met a few truckers, distributed condoms and pamphlets and of course cleared a few doubts that they had.

Ranji’s trick
Ranji, earlier that day, played a little trick back at the others when he was given a dare on one of our stops for a drink. The boys dared him to give a condom to a cop that we happened to bump into, just a random cop. Wonder how a cop would respond to that. Lol. Ranji boldly accepted to take up the dare, which surprised everyone else. They all watched quietly as he walked confidently towards the police officer, handed out a condom and then began a friendly conversation with him. What a joke on everyone else, because the cop was apparently someone Ranji already knew well enough. In our faces :P.

DAY 3
Senthil’s birthday
From the petrol station, we hopped back on our bikes and were on our way, like real wayfarers. We rode for hours on end taking the Salem bipass toward Erode (we wanted to go through Yercaud but due to time constraint, we decided Salem would be a better option), and by midnight, reached Erode, stopping in front of a lodge, hoping to get accommodation for the night. Being completely exhausted, our ability to ride any further, seemed a big question mark. Now for a place like Erode, getting a room?? Not as easy as one would like to believe. It was Senthil’s birthday, May 2. We surprised him with a cake, smothered cream on his face and made him make his wish. A cigarette stood as his candle. Lol. Well we lost half the cake that fell off the bike, but I guess a surprise like that at that time of night, when we’re in the middle of some place looking for a lodge and tired to wits end, is a surprise that counts. Dinner that night was at a Dhaba, before we reached Erode, where we ordered more food than we could eat and you’ll find a picture of Niki trying to hog it all. Hehe. We had rotis, dhal and chicken masala, gulped down some thumbs up and sprite.

The lodge fiasco
Looking for a lodge at Erode
And now, as some of us waited for a room, Raul, Sandy, Varun, and Cjo were out on a hunt for rooms. And yes they visited a couple of lodges. They came back saying that either the room was not snug or not comfy or that it was just below standards and bleak. And so they kept searching until finally we came to a point where we just needed to get a room, comfy or not. One place seemed alright, especially for our 'NEED' at that moment. We all went to take a look at the place. An old man stood at the reception desk. It was past 12.30. A group of bikers arriving at that time of night, looking for a room, aroused his curiosity. As Varun and Senthil sat at the lobby area, the old man started talking to them. Rahul had left to search for other rooms, because frankly on second thought, we didn't like the dingy place. The old man asked Varun who we were, what we were doing, and why we were at Polachi. He nagged Varun (who at that moment was too tired to make an attempt to use up any renmant of energy, to reply to the old man). Varun tried to answer a few questions, but the old man shot question after question, tirelessly, while Varun answered slowly tiring to such an extent that he called Raul and told him to get back immediately and save him from the old man's torture. The elderly guy then got frustrated and impatient because we were still wandering around the lobby, looking around, deciding whether to take up the rooms. He charged us a total of 1100 for 4 rooms (each room costing Rs. 250 + and extra charge of Rs.100 for two mats). We finally concluded that this wasn't worth it, and hence slowly walked out, as the elderly man showed his irritation asking 'are you coming are you coming in a duck's quack'. Varun who was really tired, and fed up too, shouted back ....finally! lol, and then we all stomped out, fretting and fuming. Yet when we decided so, even when another room was available, it just WASN’T available to US. We were 8 guys and 2 girls and that is just not good when you’re in a village and the times don’t favour a mixed population of friends. When we arrived at this other lodge, the receptionist immediately took one look at Niki and I and that was it. He had fumes pouring out his ears and nostrils. He said to us that he would not permit girls to stay there because we’d come along with the guys. :O And then we told him that we were looking for a separate room for the girls (Niki and I) and he still didn’t consent. He seemed so stubborn. We tried to show him ID cards, tell him about the fact that we’re trying to promote awareness but nothing worked. The guy acted like a child, slammed the gate shut on our faces and told us to leave. How weird! And so we decided this would just not work. Our next option was to just ride on! After a small stop for tea at a restaurant, (where Nipin was almost being hit on by a guy who claimed to be an actor), outside of which, Rauls and Ranji were trying to catch up on some much needed sleep, (sleeping on their bikes after snapping on the cente stand) Jash falling flat on the ground, and after distributing more pamphlets and condoms, we headed on.

The call for sleep..
We rode, we rode and we rode. All heads were bobbing. We realised that we were too sleepy to go on. It was like a virus had caught onto us. Slowly, one by one we were all knocked into a state of complete sleepiness. I tried to shake my head awake. Sandy asked me to keep talking, but I just fell asleep now and then, with my helmet knocking Sandy at regular intervals. And then, it was just over limits. There are many things to be sure of before you hit the road. A few would be: Don't drink and drive, don't sleep and ride. Don't give the bumpers the duty of waking you up. Make sure you've had enough of sleep and make sure you take enough rest between long rides. Well, Raul’s eye started aching terribly because of the punch he had gotten earlier, a punch he did not deserve. He had a rough time riding at night. And this time his eye ached terribly, more than ever. We took the Coimbatore bypass towards Polachi. About 10 - 15 Km beyond the Check post, we stopped.

Nearly a road camp – No where to sleep
Firstly, Raul just couldn’t take it that he got off his bike, and just fell flat on the roadside! He just lay there asleep for about 15 minutes after Sandy poured him some eye drops. After that, he awoke. We rode on till a tea shop, just there beside the roadway. Raul found a charpoy in a small area on the opposite side of the road to where we had halted. Cjo and Niki were about 7 km ahead of us. We couldn’t call them back. Niki was extremely sleepy and found a place to sleep at the petrol bunk. The rest of us caught up on about an hour or less of sleep, just there, outside in the open, with our bags as pillows and the sky above us. It was very important for us to get some sleep. I completely enjoyed the feel of that hour of sleep. It was like heaven when I awoke at about 4 in the morning. It was beautiful to wake up in the outside, to see myself surrounded by bikes just parked there ready to take us through newer roads, to see the dark sky slowly showing signs of welcoming the sun for another pristine day, to watch the others leisurely gear themselves although still exhausted from the continual riding. It’s a wonderful feeling to be on the roads, ride on the roads, sleep on the roads and eat on the roads. It gives you a sense of reality. Anyhow, we then had some more tea and gave the shop owner some condoms and pamphlets and were back to riding, directed straight for Polachi.

Traffic lights and Raul’s eye
Raul was still unable to take the glare of the traffic lights. They seemed to irritate his eye very much, that we had to blindfold him with a cloth and since we were all still a little sleepy, blindfolding him would mean he’d be prone to sleep. Therefore, for safety sake we had to tie him up with Jash who was riding, with Raul as pillion rider. The guys used jackets to tie Raul to Jash and when all was set, and Raul held on to Jash, we directed ourselves toward Polachi. Jash took such excellent care of Raul. That is what is even lovelier about us riding in a group. We always rode making sure every other biker was within certain kilometre distances of each other. We paired ourselves when it seemed necessary making sure, always, that the bikes with least fuel rode in front and those that could last longer, remained at back. This was essential to ensure that all bikers were safe and we could keep track of each person, also making our contact with the other bikers easier if we happen to lose sight of them.

Polachi at last
Hunger vs Sleep
Around 7.00 in the morning, Polachi took us into its midst. A little town, it was just the place we were to refresh and get some shuteye. But wait, our stomachs were empty! We were both exceedingly sleepy, and yet awfully hungry. It was like a gamble… sleep while we felt sleepy, or eat and risk the idea of losing the blissful daze we were all completely engulfed in. Varun, I believe was the sleepiest. He was the one who set in us the idea that if we waited for breakfast (which was another 30 minute wait), we might feel awakened by the wait and sleep might not come in that easy. However, I suppose our stomachs growled louder than our pineal glands. We gobbled down breakfast at the Sakthi restaurant and by around 8.30 we were ready to get to our rooms, a 2 minute ride away from the restaurant. Niki and I had a room on the ground floor, while the guys split themselves for two rooms one on the first floor and one on the second. Two seconds, and we were fast asleep. Two hours later we awoke.

Riding up to Valparai
We got some biscuit and juice, had a bath which was rejuvenating and as soon as everyone was ready, we made for Valparai! I don’t have to explain the intense heat of the sun that struck harshly upon us and how our jackets were both a protection as well as a terrible incubator of heat. Yet that was us, riding through the afternoon, joyfully as if nothing else mattered, as if all we cared about was the roads and Valparai, as if we knew that getting roasted in the sun would certainly pay off, pay off in more than enough ways. And yeah it certainly did! It’s all completely worth it in the end, completely worth it because when we reached Valparai, I tell you, I’ll give you a two syllabled ‘damn’!! (The way a random guy says it to Lilly in the TV series ‘How I met your mother’). When the clock was close to striking 5, we reached Valparai. One usually never has words to describe a hill station. I am going to make an attempt, but be sure to know that it is just not enough to get the real picture. We had a brief halt for a snack of bananas, banana rolls and tea, as our eyes relished the sight of the beautiful shades of green and blue, shades that only the natural magnificence of earth can portray.

The journey up
I fell in love during this trip. Fine, yeah, I did sort of have my head bobbing on and off during the ride uphill because clearly I was still dazed from the lack of sleep for the past 48 hours, but after the little catnaps, my mind felt energized again. Having parked the bike at a lovely spot en route uphill, we lingered there, whilst the others were still arriving. As Sandy, Cjo and Jash were trying to climb a small elevated portion of land that looked like a miniature hill and ended up with the picture of three men lined one after the other, Sandy holding Jash's leg and Cjo holding Sandy’s butt (hehehehe), Varun, Senthil, Niki and I went down the side of a plantation area and stood there few minutes immersed in a plethora of green. A small snap session, and then the others joined us. Cjo had his modelling session too. :P

The Sholayar Dam
Time was running out, so we rushed up yet again and rode up till we spotted one of the most beautiful topographies I could have ever believed I would see during this trip. It was B-E-A-U-TIFUL!! There was a dam, called the SHOLAYAR dam that was led to, following a trail of rock and stone. From the road and across the pavement, one could not see the edge of the water body. It was steep to look at from where we stood. The hill on the other side was complete in green. It looked more like a valley, with a body of water at its centre. There was something so numinous about that place, something that caught me while I looked at it till I went completely blank. You keep looking, expecting something from the scenic terrain, yet knowing that you’ve already been given the best you could have at the first look of the image. Images like that are exceedingly luring. As I watched over the wall which was an unspoken warning not to cross beyond it, my bandana flew off my head and fell onto the other side. Now, I like that bandana, but I won’t pretend that the bandana was the reason I jumped over the wall. As I clambered over the wall and leapt down to the other side, I picked up my bandana, and turned toward the landscape, not allowing that wall to be a restriction. The air was so pure, the wind was soft, and the water at the foot was calling me. I walked slowly, crawling over rock and carefully taking each step down giving myself the time to take in the exquisiteness of a place that one doesn’t see everyday. As I reached halfway, and the others screamed out to me to place stones in my pockets (so that it would add to my weight), lest I be carried away by the winds, I turned around to see that the others had followed. That vastness was being pervaded by just the 10 of us. It felt like we owned it for that half an hour we spent in it. Steep as it was, we had to be careful with our step. Eventually, we reached the foot, and stood there, some of us bemused some of us preoccupied and some of us washing our feet in the water. As we allowed ourselves to unwind to the maximum, we heard calls from the opposite side that sounded like unseen tribal men chanting cries across the hills. The sun was slowly crouching out of sight, a mark of wanting time. We hurdled our way back up, hoping to be able to ride up to the peak before the night had set in. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re not and yet again, sometimes experience has a way of making what comes to pass more important than the plan itself.

The drunken cop awaiting us
Before we reached the top of the dam, we started suspecting the arrival of cops at the scene. Duh! What else could we have wished to expect? A red carpet welcome for a brave and fearless group of 10 who set out toward a rock-strewn incline and confidently walked out of it naively expecting anything as dignified as just that…a red carpet? but did I say cops??? No, it was just one cop, and no, he didn’t really strike as a cop except for his uniform. Sandy had already tried to frighten me saying if the cops asked us anything he was going to place all blame on me, because I was the one who started our wander downwards. I was one of the last ones to reach the top and the cop was already questioning the others. He talked and talked for about half an hour. No, it wasn’t so much of advice. It was more of him blowing his trumpet. He claimed to be an NSG who'd had the opportunity to meet Indira Gandhi once in the past. One would know clearly the motive of such cops. They try to become friendly, delay us by nattering on and on until we have to pull out the bucks from our pockets and be done with it! You should have seen Raul and Sandy. They knew just how to handle the guy. Butter him up so much he gets all emotional. Haha. And then we gave him a choice of bikes and asked him if he’d like to pose for a photo while he sat on the bike. He chose Ranji’s bullet. Donned in a police outfit and cap, he felt magnanimous. You could sense it in the air, the way he was curling his moustache to the maximum. Lol. And even whilst he was sitting on the bike just for a photo, he talked and talked and talked and we were delayed and delayed and delayed and we frowned and fretted and fumed! Finally, the bucks were in his pocket, and we ran for it. Speeding up the hill till we knew he would not find us no more! Lol. We did a total of about 41 hair pin bends there. Although we couldn’t make it to Top Slip or visit the Athirapalli falls, because it was late, the ride back was INCREDIBLE! We had a few minutes of contemplation, deciding whether to go into the jungle area when it was around 7.00p.m. The votes however were not in favour of going, because it was late, and very dangerous that time of the day. Besides we were happy with Ranji’s (the Hillman) judgement because he was in many ways a guide when it came to the hills. So it was an ‘about turn’.

Lights off and lights on, dense mist and a dark winding narrow road
We were riding down a winding road, with hair pin bends, cruising so smoothly and cautiously downhill; the wind was chilly, biting against our jackets and skin. Sandy, Senthil, Niki and I were ahead of the others. We weren't sure where they were so we decided to wait a while at a small level area from which we could see the long winding roads ahead, swallowed in a pool of mist. The look of it at that moment, when it was dark was so splendid that for a moment I held my breath as I saw beyond the endless twisting roads that were lit by the bikes headlights which so far were the only source of light that focused the narrow roads. I held on to the thought that those headlights were the only reason I could see the road ahead. And all of a sudden, as the darkness seems darker, and the cold gets colder, and the mist sets in, the bikers turn off the headlights and we stood there watching the beauty of a road, built by man, upon a hill whose magnificence was beyond description. For a moment, we were suspended in awe…. Not the jaw-dropping awe, there’s another kind more intensive than that. It is the kind of awe that paralyses you, preventing you from jaw dropping. The splendour of those few seconds of impulsive desire to see the world as it would have been seen ages ago, was tremendous. Everything was dark; we could only see few metres ahead of us. The mist was swishing and swirling around us, somewhere in the distance we could spot another biker’s tail light. A moment never ever to be forgotten. The splendour of it is indescribable!

Raul, Ranji, Nipin and the wrong diversion
Anyway, after that experience, we were rolling backward to Polachi. We hit the Kerala border (Check post) on our return. This is part of the Thirussur district. Round about 7.15 p.m that day, we were in this area, when Raul, Ranji and Nipin were way behind us. Sometimes we get misled by numbers and lights. Apparently, the three guys saw three other headlights somewhere in the distance. As they rode on, they came to a diversion and not knowing which one to take, they looked ahead for the three headlights they imagined to be ours. Raul, Ranji and Nipin then took that road which happened to be the wrong turn. It took a while later for them to realise something was not right, and then they asked directions and headed back and towards us. We had been waiting for them over 20 minutes not knowing what was taking them long. Finally, however, they'd gotten to the right turn, and reached us.

Back at Polachi, for a grander dinner and drinks
Around 10.00 p.m. we were back at the Sakthy hotel, where we had had breakfast earlier. The place had an A/C bar and the guys decided to take up a room, get some drinks, smoke off to bliss and hog some good meal. And so we got ourselves a lovely big room for rent, a room very opposite in looks, to our room at the hotel where we were to spend the night. A nice large bed and a T.V, we just relaxed like we deserved it. We bought Rotis and Chicken curries, Veg curries, Fried rice etc. It was more than we could have asked for. Most of the drinks were readily stacked in the fridge and so the guys helped themselves out while the remaining came in a little later. We spent a couple of hours there, chit chatting merrily. Cjo was dancing away quite enthusiastically. That was wonderful. We ate well and chattered until we became heavy eyed. Sandy and Niki were making plans for the next day. We were to start early morning in the direction leading back home. It was a Saturday night. Most of us had to get back home by Sunday evening. The original plan by now had changed so at that moment, the next step was not yet clear. We wanted to stick together for as long as we could. There was a discord of ideas but we put all that behind and decided to sleep on it, which cured the confusion and cleared our minds. Nipin took up the A/C room for the night, which was really a good decision. The rest of us slept in our original rooms at the BVG hotel that we checked in, earlier that day. It was around 1.30 a.m. when we entered the hotel. The gate was locked and we had to wake the receptionist who opened the gate for us and we all swayed and swaggered off to our rooms and those comforting beds. Snap! And we were already sound asleep.

DAY 4
I woke up around 6.45 that morning. I have no idea how. Niki was next and once we were ready, we tried calling the others, but couldn’t reach them over our mobiles. Later Raul called up and I thought he was calling from his room, but brat! He had sneaked out a ride to Palaghat even before we had awoken. Apparently he told the others that he’d be back in 5 minutes. Yeah right! Nipin called up too, saying he’d gotten two complimentary coupons for breakfast and since Niki and I couldn’t stay in our stuffy room any longer, we decided to walk up to Nipin’s, where we had a nice morning chat as we sipped some hot tea. The others were ready by this time. We got back to our room at the BVG and checked out.

The confusion regarding our return route
We hopped onto our bikes, rode back to Sakthy hotel, sat at breakfast and there continued our un-ended confusion that was on pause since our sleep the previous night. Again, we still wanted to stick together, but we all had commitments, duties waiting to be completed back home. We had to either split into separate groups, from Polachi, heading back in our own directions, with Sandy, Raul and I toward Chennai, the others toward Bangalore and Ranji through Ooty. We wondered whether we could all take the Ooty route, but we’d be very delayed if we did. There was a lot of confusion that morning, with all of us saying this, saying that. Deep down, I guess we didn’t want to have to split up yet. We wanted more excitement, more fun and more entertainment. When we finally came up with a decision, it turned out to be the perfect decision. We decided that all of us would ride through Sathyamangalam, Mysore, Bangalore and then make the split, so once a good breakfast of dhosas and tea was tossed down and we all laughed together at the confusion we originally had and the joy we had in our new decision, we picked up our bags and helmets and readied ourselves for the next route. The box of remaining pamphlets in hand, I got onto the back seat of Sandy’s Avenger and onwards to Sathyamangalam we all rode. We spotted a small tender coconut cart just a few kilometres further from Polachi where, although full from the heavy breakfast, we swigged down coconut water.

On the road ahead, we halted at a temple where there was a round conference of cops and whom we talked to discussing routes and while Niki went into the temple, Nipin was clicking away photos. We stayed there about ten minutes and then were back on our way.

Nipin and his lost camera
Everything seemed to be going alright when suddenly, as Varun, Raul, Sandy and I were ahead of the others; we got a call from Nipin saying he’d lost his camera. That was terrible news. He’d gone back to the temple to see if he’d left it there. Apparently none of us were sure where he might have lost it, whether he forgot it at the temple or whether he’d dropped it on the way. Since we were already way ahead, we stopped at a lake, hoping that we’d hear from Nipin with good news, but Nipin called back saying he’d not found the camera and that he was riding back toward us. It was upsetting, but we figured we had no choice and looking for the camera was not going to be fruitful. Just as we started the bikes, and the others (except for Nipin) had reached us, we got a call from Nipin again… this time with partial good news! A man in a car had seen the camera drop out of Nipin’s jacket somewhere after the temple, so Nipin had ridden back again for the second time to look for the camera along the route, and VOILA! He found it! Woo hoo! We were filled with happiness and relief and Rauls strongly believes that it was because of the prayers at the Ganesha temple, back at Bangalore during the start of the trip, that Gods blessings were with us and we were lucky. Nipin was still way behind us, we had decided first to wait for him at the Siruveni falls. We took the turning into Siruveni falls but a few metres in and we decided that since it was a diversion from Sathymangalam, it would take time for us to get back en route there, so we turned back and took the road straight to Sathyamangalam itself, informing Nipin to join us there. The road to Sathyamangalam was a lovely slightly winding road. It was beautiful. Since we had a halt just a few kilometres before Sathyamangalam, Nipin caught up with us, and we rode together thereafter.

Deforestation awareness - Chat with another gentleman
Here at Sathyamangalam, we were to meet another gentleman regarding the awareness program. Sandy had apparently talked to the gentleman earlier a propos our interest in helping share and spread awareness concerning the ill effects of deforestation. We were to call him and discuss matters, but since the signal was bad, Sandy was unable to talk to him. In the end, the man himself decided to come up to meet us face to face. He was concerned with planting more saplings, in order to make a point. We had already been given seedlings which unfortunately, in our alacrity and rush (that we were put into due to the discouraging act by the goondas back in Chennai, that put the bros held for question by the cops), we forgot the saplings back there. Also, because we were already delayed, and time was running out of our hands, we didn’t have enough time at this point to make a start with the saplings program, so we greeted the man and Sandy talked to him for a while, regarding how we could continue the deforestation awareness procedure during the next ride, and hence bringing the program to action the quickest as possible. Assuring him that we’d be in touch for more deforestation prevention programs, and asking him to keep us updated, we left.

The Panorama through Sathyamangalam
The highway we took was that connecting Coimbatore to Bangalore through Sathyamangalam. Some roads were not laid well and there were about 27 hairpin bends. Although the roads seemed worn out and some patched, the view was exclusive! My!!! I don’t know how many of us knew that was coming, but if I had fallen in love at Valparai, then Sathyamangalam was something more. We were mesmerized. As we rode higher and higher through yet another hair pin bend we could see the hills at different angles. There was something like an island at the centre of the valley that had a water body stretch around it. The hills around it looked slick and sophisticated. The sky was a lovely shade of blue with several hazy clouds lingering about. Right at the bottom the different hues of the brilliant waters and landscapes shot back at us with striking magnificence that for a moment, each biker stopped his bike on his own accord, marvelling at the serenity and wonder for a few silent moments of amazement. As we zoomed by, slowing down at the hairpin bends and gaining momentum thereafter, my mind was running on par with the pace of the bike wheels. There was no discontinuity in thought, just clarity. It was the knowledge that I was on one of the most beautiful places at that very moment, and that places like this exist out there to be explored, that got me realising how much we are actually missing when we’re not out there and how much more there is to explore.
We gave ourselves a lovely period of relaxation halfway up where Raul got busy making movies with Cjo and Varun as models for a Condom ad. The punch line was “Don’t be a fool, protect your tool!”. Varun, the witty one came up with that one, which was just perfect. So as Cjo and Varun modelled, and later Niki and I, we laughed, joked and jumped around. We took snaps there, savoured the beauty around us and then headed on.

My admirer
Although lunch was late again, we had an entertaining time at the Bull and Bush resort where we had Egg dhosas served by a very enthusiastic young boy of around 15 years. As he came around taking orders and shouting them to the men in the kitchen, smiling at us again and again, he specifically came toward me and called me (chellon, chellon or papa)!!! hehe. Well, initially I just laughed it out, and while I heard the others talk about how I should make his day by winking back at him or patting his cheek, I noticed him looking at me, for almost a whole minute. When I jokingly told the others that he was looking at me, Varun immediately changed the words from 'Make his day' to 'Make his LIFE!!! Anyway, before we left, I guess I did make his day, if not his life, lol. I girlishly tried to pat him on the cheek and said 'ina ma kanne'. hahhaha. I would have left this section out if it weren't for Raul. *pout* 'Well so that's the story of my little admirer. Anyway, back to the main point. The Sathyamangalam forest is part of the Nilgiris biosphere reserve and is well known for elephant population. Little were we prepared for the event that followed.

The elephant (part 1)
As we zoomed through the Sathyamangalam forest, we were suddenly all bolted to a stop. There were oncoming trucks that pulled to a stop opposite us and we had to pull the breaks on our bikes a distance away from the huge mass of an object we were all looking at, with heart beats racing. An elephant was feeding right there on the road, preventing us from riding past it. We might have tried, but when dealing with an elephant(and one like this one, although not too huge), taking chances is really not that much of an option. We all waited, even trucks frightfully waiting for the elephant to leave. Senthil was in front of us which means he was closer to the elephant. He seemed to try to make an attempt to cross the elephant, but we cried out to him telling him not to take chances. For a moment, the elephant turned around and looked as if it would charge at us. A second there, we were all terrified, because Senthil was in front and the elephant seemed almost to head his way. Turning the bike would take a bit of an effort and time, especially with jittery hands. Somehow Senthil managed to turn back and ride away from the elephant. It was a rush, with us trying to take snaps of the elephant, yet hurriedly putting it away and watching the scene waiting for more action or movement. A few minutes later, the elephant silently made its way into the trees.
Well, by now our eventful journey was gradually ending, but not yet uneventful. If things went well so far, now we faced a bit of hardship. We rode passed thereafter, calmly after a long ride in which Sandy was out of reach and we heard that he might be on reserve.This happened as we rode along a beautiful tarmac, a beautiful road with trees that elegantly flashed a tinge of soft reddness, enveloping the road, and standing as a lovely arch above us. The news that his bike might be on reserve worried us because we weren’t sure where exactly Sandy was. However, within a few minutes we got word that all was fine and Sandy had found a petrol station to refuel and was waiting for us.

Jash n Cjo's Prank with niki's help
As we rode from the Sathyamangalam forset to Mysore, passing through Chamaraj Nagar, Sandy had been the second biker with Niki as pillion rider. C jo had been the first biker with Jash as pillion. The rest of us were way behind. C jo had apparently stopped at a petrol station. He and Jash planned a trick on Sandy, a trick that worked out with Niki's help. According to the real plan, Jash and Cjo were supposed to play the trick at the start of the trip, but it turned out to be at the end of it. Cjo was incharge of the finaces.. so all the money went to him and he'd manage it. Their plan was to pretend to run away with the money. Due to the pairing rule we had, Sandy's bike was supposed to be within visible distance of Cjo's bike. This made it difficult for Cjo and Jash to carry out the trick. Smart as they were, they then decided to hide at a petrol bunk as soon as they could got Sandy out of sight. Niki, sly ally in the crime, pushed Sandy to catch up with Cjo and Jash who seemed to be way ahead. She knew they were hiding somewhere way behind, but she told Sandy that they must be somewhere far ahead and they had to reach them. And so Sandy and Niki rode on, oblivious of the truth. It was here, as they rode ahead of us, that the incident with Niki and the elephant occured.

The elephant (part 2)Niki's close encounter with an elephant
Our Niki was riding with Sandy, when all of a sudden they stood at a distance as they spotted a whole herd of elephants. Just diagnolly opposite them however, an elephant was busy feeding on leaves about 30 feet away, across the road. I suppose Niki was trying to click a photo when the camera case fell off and onto the road. Niki, stepped out of the bike, walked up to the case, looked up at the elephant which by now was heading toward her. She walked casually back toward the bike, undaunted I’d say. Lol. However, this is something one must be very careful about in forests such as this. Animals will attack if they sense danger. It is not strange to see an animal charge at the sight of movement. Elephants especially must not be provoked. Movement can cause them to sense danger and charge at you, so as much as possible, if one comes across such situations, it is essential to stay absolutely still, doing one's best to stop as far away as possible from the animal. With a whole herd of elephants in the distance and one just a few yards away, hearts must have thumped!!

When we had crossed Charmaraj Nagar and reached the Karnataka district targeting for Mysore we stopped for drinks and I got to ask Niki whether she did not see the elephant. Her reply to me was “See the elephant!!! I was chased by the elephant!!”

Bikes on reserve
As Sandy was being tricked by Cjo and Jash, and Niki faced by a charging elephant, the rest of us rode with Raul and Ranji way behind us, not knowing that Ranji's bike had gone into reserve. A few moments later, Rauls bike also went into reserve. There were three petrol bunks along that road after the Bush and Bull resort. There was a Hindustan Petroleum, an Indian Oil and a Bharat Petroleum. Since Rauls and Ranji had been riding behind us, we watched out for them and when they had arrived, the arrangement was for Rauls and Ranji to ride ahead of the rest of us until we got to a petrol station. This is one way to keep further problems in check and ensuring that we minimize any difficulties that could be faced. Since Raul and Ranji were on reserve, keeping them ahead of us would work out right, as it would enable the latter riders to be available or catch up on them to help them out. The good thing was that we finally and did reach a petrol station, refueled and rode on. Also, we called Sandy to inform him that he had been tricked and had overtaken Cjo and so he waited for us at a Paan shop, down that road.

Coffee day and dinner at dhaba
We were riding closer and closer to home now, farther and farther away from the beautiful hills and views of Valpararai and the Sathyamangalam forest. As we rode to Mysore road from Charmaraj Nagar (approx of 80 Km), it was about 9.30 p.m and we stopped at a café coffee day. We spotted three coffee days along that road. There was one across the road, and since we had planned to stop at any cafe coffee day along that route, for a break, Rauls, Nipin and Cjo took a u-turn toward the Mandiya coffee day. The rest of us noticed that coffee day but waited for word from Raul, Cjo and Nipin. Raul called back saying that that coffee day was closing and we wouldn't be able to refresh so we rode to the Maddur coffee day which is supposedly the only coffee day on that road that is open till midnight. It wasn’t the place to have dinner, so we just snacked on some cookies and refreshed. Our inclination was to have a proper dinner at a dhaba, so we rode on to the nearest one from there. It was just a little way further down, a lovely place to have dinner during the end of our trip. We had dinner at a perfectly sized table (for the 10 of us) that lay outside just below the dark sky. It was late, close to 11.00p.m. We ordered rotis as usual with our chicken curries, paneer masala and the drinks of course. It was a lovely night. We were tired, but we didn’t feel it. We looked through the snaps, talked about our trip, kidded around and had a great time with a lovely group of absolutely wonderful, laid back, fun loving people with whom beautiful memories were made.

Synchronisation - A commemoration
When we were ready to leave, with Varun and Nipin having to take a different route, we got the bikes arranged one beside the other, and took a few snaps, bikes, riders and pillion riders. We synchronised bike horns, and then indicators directed left towards our route. A mark of the end of this trip.

Jash and C jo switch seats! :O
From Mysore to Bangalore, we travelled about 130 Km. Our first split came there, when Varun and Nipin headed homeward toward North of Bangalore. The rest of us rode on till Ranji took off in a different direction, while we turned towards Jash’s place in Bangalore. As we rode down, Jash and C jo apparently were still lively with energy and were still stuntsman at full swing. It was during this time that C jo was riding and Jash was sitting pillion. The stunt here : C jo was riding! They were on their bikes, on the move, while Jash from the back switched seats with C jo, and before you know it, C jo is pillion and Jash is biker!! Sandy, who had missed it, wanted to see this! and hence they did the stunt once again, bringing Jash back to the pillion seat and C jo back to being biker! So there you have it, the fun didn't have to stop so soon! However, as a word of warning, this is not something to be tried or experimented just like that. Jash and C jo are experienced biker's and hence were able to do this stunt with caution.

Homecoming
We spent a night at Jash's place. I slept pleasantly without moving a bit. I awoke the way I slept. Lol. I know Sandy and Cjo were awake for a while, that night, still making jokes and laughing away. I awoke first because I was to wake Raul so we could make it to Chennai before noon. Cjo and Niki had left with Cjo dropping Niki at her place, while Jash, Sandy, Senthil, Raul and I went down for some tea. Since our friend Jason was also nearing Bangalore from Mysore, arriving from a journey he’d gone on with his colleagues, I was to join him so I could get back to Chennai as soon as possible. While I went from there to Chennai in Jason’s car (reaching home at 4.00p.m.), Sandy and Raul took towards Chennai through a different route, with Raul first getting himself an awesome rider’s jacket right in Bangalore. Since he couldn’t get it during the start of our journey, he got it during the end of it. Lol, that one’s going to come in handy for him from now on. On their way back, as they rode through Kolar and reached Ranipet, they enjoyed a beautiful ride in the rain on a lovely road where Raul had to remove his shoes, tie it up on Sandy’s Avenger, and ride barefoot for a while.. They stopped for a small interval at a cafe coffee day on the Old Madras road, reaching home that night, around 10 p.m.

A trip to remember
A trip that went from 3 days to 4 days to 5. As a group we had the best of times. What added to our enthusiasm and sense of integrity was the fact that this time around, we made an attempt to start on an ongoing journey to help our society in whatever way possible to us. To be one of those who want to help those who need it, the people who are isolated in a world of absolute ignorance, to spread word on how to protect our earth gives one a feeling of purpose and definitely, a happiness that is explained only in terms of the change we believe we can make. Those few days flew away in a flash, and it now feels as if a large bag of memories was condensed into a single point in time. The trip might not have gone as had been planned, we might not have visited every place we had proposed to, but that’s what made it priceless; the fact that we went through it, all smiles, and were together as a single group with a single desire: to travel, to give ourselves the luxury of another new landscape, new challenges, new roads and new memories! The feeling to travel is nurtured again and again every single time we suspend our thoughts, allowing them no constraint and no compulsion, but one - the compulsion to surrender to the sounds of the road's calls.

The Maiden Trip to Goa!

noreply@blogger.com (Cruise De $and$) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:23:00 +0000

Part 1

One of the most memorable trip we did was to Goa. I reached Bangalore from Palaghat on 27th January 2008. I reached there a couple of days early so that I could make a short trip to the nearby places in and around Bangalore. Bangalore is known as the Bikers Mecca as there are many beautiful places in and around Bangalore at a proximity of 200-350km.

We(Raul and I) wanted to go to Goa for a very long time but never had an opportunity to go. Impulsive that we were, we decided to hit the road to Goa. We were very excited about the very thought of this trip and we could hear the beats of the Goan music at the back of our minds. Our mission was clear and that was to reach Goa as early as possible and to head back to Chennai before 30th Jan 2008 as it was our Dads B'day so we planned to leave Bangalore early morning and reach Goa by evening, relax, enjoy and by next day afternoon leave goa and reach chennai by night and catch a train back to Chennai in the morning.

Earlier, we planned to leave on 27th night itself but as our bike was Tamilnadu registered, we would find the Karnataka Cops harassing us for documents. So we decided to get a photocopy of our vehicle papers and get it attested by the gazetted officer in the morning and leave by 10am. Unfortunately we couldn't find a gazetted officer in time as we were new to the city. We went to the Court to get the photocopy attested by a public notary. This process of getting it attested took away our precious time of riding and reaching Goa by evening.

Things weren't going according to our plan and our decision to take precautions on the bike papers cost us a lot of precious time. We started from Bangalore by 12pm and on our way we had our brunch and also filled up the One Eyed Jack(Raul's P180). I was taken aback by the fuel capacity of Raul's sweetheart. She drank 19 litres of petrol to be full tank as compared to my honey whose maximum intake is 14 litres! We put petrol for roughly 900 bucks and spend about 50-60 INR for brunch. We had 3 plates Idli and Sambar each. We then rode our way and just din't want to stop until we reach Goa. We had to go through the Golden Quadrilateral road which is breath taking and of international standards. As I rode Raul's babe, I recalled the roads on which I used to travel along with my father in his car. The national highways those days were smaller and we had to face on-coming traffic too. But now, there is no on-coming traffic and and the entire width of the highway has been expanded six folds. Should say thanks to the awesome leader who initiated the Golden Quadrilateral. On the way we saw so many wind mills spread across horizon. We saw a all new landscape. We could see the difference of the new emerging India. We were happy, proud and excited.

After riding continuously for three-four hours were feeling hungry and I wanted to have some awesome Punjabi food from an Asli(Pure) Punjabi Dhaba. We imagined the Dhaba to be where there would be lots of charpoys and lots of truck drivers around but we were amazed to find out that there were absolutely no Punjabi Dhaba at all for a brief stretch of well laid road. It was only after 80 km from Chitradurga that we finally found a Punjabi Dhabha and by the time we reached there it was 4.30pm. I was so happy that we finally found out a Asli Punjabi Dhaba. The only difference was that there was no charpoy and the original Dhaba look was missing. It was a modernised version of the highway Dhaba. Anyway, the food was delicious and it was tasty. We had Butter Chicken and Naan with Thumps Up. Damn! That did fill our hungry stomach and it cost us less than INR 200/-

We then decided not to halt anywhere and head straight to Goa! The time was 5.30pm and it was getting dark. The Dhaba owner advised us, not to proceed beyond Karwar once its dark. He was speaking to me in Punjabi as if my mother tongue was Punjabi! All I said was Satsriakal Praji! Goa jana rasta ki hai? and replied to me back in shudh(pure) Punjabi and I pretended as if I knew to speak Punjabi very well! Raul asked me "What did he say?" to which I replied that the road isn't that good and there could be scoundrels who could trouble us. We thanked him for his valuable advice and were wondering as to whom he was referring to as "scoundrels". Being typical Men from Mars, we decided to take on the lousy scoundrels and teach them a task if they trouble us. We were in no mood to halt in any other place other than Goa. That being our mission we reached Haveri wherein we had to take a diversion and take left to reach Karwar. We were advised by all those to whom we asked the direction that the road ahead isn't that good and it is advisable to go in daylight rather than risk your life in the dark and that there are Dacoits who would block the road and harm you and loot you including your bike! It then occurred to the me what the Sardarji at the Dhaba warned us and could relate the scoundrels to the Dacoits. I cautioned Raul and told him the situation. We didn't have that extra money and didn't have sufficient time to pull over at a hotel either. We decided to carry on and face the challenge and see at things when it occurs.

It was pitch dark and P180's headlight isn't that powerful as Bajaj Avenger's headlight. The road were narrowing and it had lots of potholes. Our excitement was on a all time high as we were expecting some high action drama with the Dacoits[:p]. On the way we came through a 'Y' junction wherein we saw one road was pretty errie, dark and isolated. We could see no soul on that road. We wanted to take that road not taken but our intuitions kept us away from taking that road. That road could have been a perfect ambush laid by the Daciots. We were confused as to which road we were supposed to take and so we went back and asked some on going drivers as to how to reach Goa and they asked us to go through the haunted road. We almost took their word and was about to take the road not taken when the high beam of our P180 hit on some couple of people(villagers) who were actually waiting for some mode of transportation to take them to their village and the way they were staring at us like zombies. Damn! This scene did remind both of us of the infamous Zee Horror Show! I asked Raul to reverse back and get back to the nearby village where there were lots of lorries stationed and we went half way and asked the drivers to guide us to west coast road which was the straight road that we had to take instead of taking a right one. After this incident, the warning given by the Sardarji and the locals who guided us the way kept haunting us and we were gauging on the risk we were taking. Just to buck up the our mind, we took the Swiss knife attached to the bike key and kept it ready for any unforeseen encounter with some tribal instinct Daciots. We had full faith in our small Swiss made pen knife that would take care of our basic defense. We had prepared ourselves mentally for a clash with the Dacoits and damn, all we could think was Viru and Jay of Sholay fame[:D]. We cautiously followed trucks which were heading to the west coast road. I must confess, this experience was one of a kind for both of us.

The road was swirling with lots of hair pin curves and it was dense forest that surrounded us. We realised that we were suddenly catching up with some altitude and we could feel ourselves shivering as we didn't expect the temperatures to dip so low. It was very cold and no one expected the weather to change so drastically. We thank Global Warming for this sudden change in weather. The jackets we were wearing was not that effective at all as I was wearing my favorite worn off wrangler jean jack with the Harley Davidson logo. Damn! I love my jean jack but it was definitely not helping me shield the cold wind which was shivering me up so badly. To get the warmth we followed the trucks but it was a bit boring and moreover the road was dusty and so we went at our comfortable pace and crossed many trucks. There were moments when there were no trucks in the near vicinity and all in that road was this P180 and two biker brothers in between the dense forest and beautiful starry starry night. We could breath easy with no pollution in the air at all. We switched off the headlights for couple of seconds to feel and admire the pitch darkness and the bright starry night in the middle of dense forest. God! it was so beautiful. We were feeling as if we were astronauts gazing at the billions of stars up above the sky. It is advisable that you don't try this on the highway and get yourself injured and then blame us for your misadventure!

We reached the West Coast Road and I was thrilled by looking over the huge dark sea. We reached Karwar, which was bustling with activities. There was a fair going on. I then thought that we reached Goa but was disappointed when I saw advertisement hoardings written in Kannada! We were very hungry and our bike almost ran out of fuel. We found out from the petrol bunk that Goa is an hours or so ride from there. The time was almost 10.30pm and we were running out of our own battery. Had to charge ourselves up at some restaurant but the thought of having dinner at Goa, kept our spirits alive! We could hear the Goan Music calling us from the distant. Our pace drastically slowed down and we just couldn't go more than 60kmph, solely because we were almost frozen. Everything seemed to me like a slow motion picture. We couldn't see any distance information signboard for a long time. Fatigue and tiredness were taking a toll on both the mortals who felt like immortals when they're on a ride! After covering a long distance we finally saw the signboard which mentioned "thank you and visit again". We reached the toll gate. We were cautious as we approached the toll gate and the cops didn't bother us. We reached the no mans land and crossed the borders of Karnataka.

Yes, we did it. We reached GOA without a hitch at 11.45pm. A part of the Mission ACCOMPLISHED! We were so happy and glee that we thought its party time and we were dreaming of Goan chicks at the beach side dancing in front of the bonfire and singing Goan music. Damn! We just didn't know from where we got this new found energy! Unfortunately, it was all short lived! Just when I was imagining that I would take off my Jean Jack once I'm in Goa and enjoy the pleasant weather, hell froze over and out of the blue, I felt that I was sitting inside a refrigerator, the Weather God was so cruel that I was almost frozen. This situation reminded me of Tom getting thrown out by Jerry during winter when its snowing badly and Tom turns out to be pale and then gets frozen. I was literally in that condition. When we first saw a resto-bar kind of place, by the looks of it I thought, nay no ways but then when the locals there said that all restaurants would be closed by 11pm! We had no other choice. We did regret that we were 45 minutes late but could not help it. We made up our mind and had what ever was available in that resto bar. At first, the bar owner said that there was no food available and after looking at our plight, he managed to give us the last two plates of typical Goan food! To fight cold and to get warm I thought of having some rum, so had couple of pegs. There were couple of young lads who were around who inquired our details from us. We told them about the rides Raul and I have done separately. They got excited and wanted to join us for the forth coming rides. I said sure and made new friends on the spot and asked them to lend me a cigarette shamelessly as the bar owner didn't have any stocks left of the brand I wanted and these young lads were so sweet that they obliged. We told them about the Avenger Biking Club and told them that we belong to the Bikers Fraternity. Considering the cold that I had to bear, I got myself half bottle of Rum and paid the resto-bar owner INR 400.

I was in no condition to ride but sat quietly behind as a pillion rider and took a sip when ever I felt cold. We crossed a check post where the cops were asking us to stop but by their gesture we thought that they asked us to move on so we didn't stop at the first check post. After a long chilly ride we came across another check post and there too the cops did the same action but shouted. we stopped and replied the cops and showed them the documents. The cops felt that we were running away from them but later after checking the documents they seemed satisfied and guided us to the way to go to the nearest hotel. Finally we reached Madgaon at 3am and took a room in hotel. I was like a zombie then and all I cared was to hit the sack at the earliest and snore myself to glory. We then made plans where to go in the morning and by what time we should leave and whom to meet.

To TADA through sundown

noreply@blogger.com (Vinita) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:02:00 +0000

My first long ride, all the way to Tada, that is something I will remember forever. It was sudden. Rahul called up in the morning saying we were going to ride to Tada, and I was all for it. These are the kind of trips that really make a difference. It doesn't take a lot of planning. Just a sudden desire to be out there in the wild, riding(well for me i was sitting at the back). So we started out, just thefour of us, Sandy, Rauls, Manoj and I. It was about a 2 hour ride allthe way to the Andhra border. There was more of joyful joking with each other, interrupted by a calm silence in which each of us justenjoyed the wind brush past our helmets, where we sat quietly listening to the rumble of the wheels on roads that spanned from tar,to dust, to rock, quietly watching the skies outlined with mountains,drift past, quietly watching the wild with lands that looked deserted and lands that were full of lush green trees. There's nothing more peaceful than a chance to relax at such a sight of nature, and that is what we did on an exciting bike ride. We played, mocked, teased eachother, took snaps and ran out of battery, and yet we did it with asense of duty and cautiousness. Once we reached Tada, we had to go through a rough road with a lot of bumps and ditches, but I loved that. We hiked our way a little way up, fell into water, ran up narrow pathways and had an amazing combination of fresh air and physical workout. Some experiences are better experienced and felt, than explained.This kind of ineffable feeling is something you'll have to realise toreally know. Well, the ride back was just as wonderful. The sun hadset, it was about 7.00 p.m. so the the evening had arrived and it was relatively dark. That in itself was a different experience. We sang songs, talked on about different things in our lives and enjoyed theknowledge that when we got home, we were going to have one amazing night of pleasant, uninterrupted sleep, and it happened!
What can I say, I'm eagerly looking forward to another one of those rides! Each one of them as you guys might have noticed already, is quite different, eventful and exciting!!!! very exciting! The bikers fraternity are not just the regular bikers. They are bikers with a strong motive hidden under a sense of joy and togetherness and that's what makes them one of a kind!

About Us:

noreply@blogger.com (Cruise De $and$) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:19:00 +0000

Bikers Fraternity is a group of young vibrant bikers who ride their bikes wherever the road leads them, after all the Bikers Fraternity is all about riding for miles in a group. The Bikers Fraternity consists of biker enthusiasts who wouldn't mind riding in any weather and to any place on Earth.

The Bikers Fraternity are ardent riders having similar mindset to overcome obstacles and operational hazards that come their way to achieving Success in their Mission. The rules are pretty clear in the Bikers Fraternity as there are no rules except following traffic rules and the bikers often put their mind and body to test.

We are sure that you come across people who ride to work but most in the Bikers Fraternity Work to Ride! One thing, which is common among most members in the Bikers Fraternity, is that you could bribe them for a Long Ride!!!! [:)]

Two brothers, Sandy & Raul who were highly inspired by the Hollywood flick “Wild Hogs” and an Indian documentary “Bharat Parikrama”, formed the Bikers Fraternity. The duo made their first trip to Pondicherry along with couple of friends. The experience gained, enabled them to make a trip to Yelagiri(a nearby hill station off Vellore) along with parents, thus gaining their confidence. Sandy focused on spearheading a campaign aimed at consolidating all the Gods (Like minded Bajaj Avenger Bikers from different cities and towns) to create a formidable bikers force pan India, whereas Raul started exploring newer frontiers with his new found freedom, soaring to new heights, never before attempted.

On January 2008, they made a trip to Goa from Bangalore at the spur of the moment. The Bikers Fraternity took birth. This became the core principle of the Bikers Fraternity to accomplish the trip, the moment you ever think about it. Each trip was considered as a task. A task that provides great sense of satisfaction of achieving what you dream or think to do! After the successful adventure ride to Goa and back within a span of 48 hours, they promoted the bikers fraternity to other ardent bikers and pillion riders. There is no stopping them. Bikers Fraternity has grown to 27 riders with 4 women pillion riders.

The Bikers Fraternity successfully has completed nine rides viz,. Goa, Tada, Nandi Hills, Waynad, Ooty, Gokarna, Pondicherry, Hampi and recently concluded Valparai ride, since inception.

Forthcoming rides this year would be one to Leh in August 09 and Goa by year end.

All the rides till date with the Bikers Fraternity were full of masti and fun but our recent trip to Valparai was a bit different than our previous rides. From this trip onwards, we intend to spread social awareness like AIDS awareness, Child Education, Environment Protection and so on, among all those we come across in our journey. We invite all those ardent bikers and pillion riders who ride on any bike above the 135cc category with exception to Yamaha models.

Contact Us: bikersfraternity@gmail.com

For more information:
http://groups.google.co.in/group/bikers-fraternity

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=43242936

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=462c35c6f1425cbed3ba42f2b7cfb57a&gid=7791614721&ref=search