week 15 logs

Day 99 jul 31 fri
Pokhara – Davis Falls – Sjangja - Bartung – Butwal-2 km – Bartung - Tansen
204km –10217 kms
Wake up on time, pack, and leave. Its bright and sunny, but low clouds still hanging. No Machpuchhare, no annapurna. Head towards Davis Falls. Sceptacular it is. Thundering and disappearing into a hole. At one spot, the vapour is so strong, its like its raining there. Skip Mahendra caves and head south on Siddharta Hwy.

Its sunny hot. Spectacular ride – hill views of all kinds, waterfall after waterfall, rivers joining, meandering, splitting; valleys full of fields, high peaks, deep valleys. Stop at spots to take photos. Riding along quietly when Saga calls out. Look left. For 3 seconds, we see the peak of Machpuchhare. By the time, we park and come back its gone. Saurabh had seen a sign saying Machpuchare view restaurant and wondered where and looked left and there it was.  At some point, right rear shock collapses again. Hardly a month old – did the guys at Muzzarfarpur fuck me? Ride to next town Sjangja and smart efficient mechanic gets it welded. Ride on. Cobra passes in front of us. At tea stop, old bag lady looks at me and keeps saying in Nepali either bhairawa jaise kaala hain or Kal Bhairaw. Everyone else was in splits – the owner wouldn’t even look straight at me- with lil smile on face.

Tansen was a town I had wanted to visit; esp. the Ranighat darbar, known as the Taj Mahal of Nepal, but not this time. It’s a 4 hr walk from Tansen, and today is penultimate day of 16 day Nepal leg. Can extend, but chuck it. Bypass Tansen and head to Butwal to stop for the day.

It starts pouring as we cross Tansen and 2 kms before Butwal, yes 2 kms after riding for 200, 2 kms away from stop for the day, we see a traffic pileup and a bunch of people on the road ahead. Strike, roadblock? No landslide, and a massive one at that; like half a hill is on the road. A truck is caught in it, and the mudrock is upto 8 ft. 2 earthmovers are at work. Park bike and walk to take a look. Boots sink a feet into the mud. It starts pouring again, and more mud is washed into the landslide. A brand new waterfall appears right beside the bike. Some persistent bikers get a blocking bus to move out of the way and recommend I head to Tansen, coz this will take time and unsure when it will clear. It stops raining and the new waterfall disappears! Get Saurabh who is sitting inside a bus, and head back to Tansen. 50 new waterfalls are flowing now, lots across the road. Mudslides we hadn’t seen an hour ago are now blocking the road, but manageable. Ride on the opposite side of the road to avoid getting stuck under any new landslides! Its look ahead, down, left, left up, and ride along. Right shock collapses yet again. What is it with the right rear shock! Have to get it changed, hopefully at Butwal.

Reach Tansen and find a hotel. Crappy, but has DVD shop selling Korean dvds below. Go to other hotel, check room, dump stuff and rush back to DVD shop in wet clothes. Buy DVDs, return, eat, and well here I am.

This log doesn’t do justification to today’s ride. Ranks among the top 5 days (ridewise) in mataozm’s now 99. Spectacular and dramatic. Tomorrow day 100 of mataozm. What a journey it has been. 10000 kms and now 100 days. Hope jugad happens so I reach the top of India.

Bed bug infested mattress and cover. Can’t sleep, can’t pull cover for cold. Fucked.

Day 100 aug 1 sat
Tansen – Butwal – Sunauli - Gorakhpur
179km –10396 kms
NH29
Wake up, pack and leave for the Border. I decide to skip the Mahendranagar leg and get out of Nepal via Sunauli – cant do 400 kms with a broken suspension! Reach Butwal, well 2 kms before Butwal to see the same traffic jam. Yesterday’s landslide is still at the same state, a bit more worse than yesterday. It drizzles, but tapers off as the sun comes out. Have breakfast and wander around in the muck. Walk down to the river and find spot on rocks between a waterfall and the river. After watching spiders fight against the current for a while, fall asleep on the rock.

Wake up 4 hrs later around 3.30 pm; the clean up work is still on- two machines at work now. Around 4.15, its done, and bikes are let through. Quickly wriggle our way through the cars parked and then across the superslush still on the road. Its taken us 23 hrs to cross 100 metres!

Cross Butwal and head out to Bhairawa. Have snack and last chiya in Nepal – after 2 weeks of weak tea, looking for to kadak chai. No one stops us at Bhairawa and we ease into India at Sunauli where no one stops us either – its Saturday evening – everyone’s chilling. You kinda know you are in India automatically – the India side crowd is 10 times the crowd Nepalside. It starts pouring and all the muck, dust from Nepal is washed away from us and the bike. In the plains now, and everything looks, well, plain! Now I know why they are called plains! Its getting dark and I want to stop at Farenda, but can’t find a hotel; decide to just make it to Gorakpur. Reach Gorakpur bustand and check in a hotel by 8.30. Eat and pass out early.

Day 101 aug 2 sun
Gorakhpur – Basti – BaraBanki - Lucknow
279km –10675 kms
NH28
Wake up and leave quickly. Skip fixing the shocks; another 200 kms and I can get a full service at an authorized service center. 20 kms later after a bump, a smack and sproing sproing sproing- Just like the cartoons – the rear right spring goes bouncing on the road. Stop the bike and check status. Wondering what to do when a group of people at the side of the road ask what happened. Tell them and ask where the nearest mechanic is – 5 kms ahead they say. Come back to bike and try to see if it can take just my weight or do we need to remove the luggage etc. The main man of the group calls again and says our trolley is going there only, u can load your bike on it – no need to pay anything. You will also remember that you had come to Gorakhpur. After a few moments of hesitation and wondering what their angle is, we accept. The labourers help load the bike on the tractor trolley and off we go, standing holding the bike. 5 kms and 20 long mins later, we reach a mechanic shop who says he can do it. We offer the trolley guys 200 bucks which they refuse to take – then we tell the driver, give it to the labourers.

Go with the mechanic on a cycle rickshaw to get new shocks. Today the ride keeps getting slower – from bike to tractor to cycle rickshaw. Go to shop and get shocks for 1840; the muzzafarpur guys had sold it to us for 2300! After chitchat, the shopowner gives only for 1800 and says baaki choot aapke himmat ke liye. Everyone keeps talking about himmat – it takes courage to do a roadtrip? Find ATM, water, and get back to bike, which mechanic quickly fixes. We leave and wow the new shocks are kickass.

Keep going on the highway; boring, just trucks and buses and fields on the side. Reach Lucknow after dusk and head to Hazratganj area. LP reccos are over budget. Then a man says come with me and Saurabh goes with him to look at cheaper hotels. One hotel is full and I get pissed – why would he take us to a hotel which was full. I stay back and Saurabh goes with him to another one. He calls later and tells me to come to a hotel. Seems that man wasn’t an agent and was generally helping us out! Wow what a day. Helpful people everywhere and just the fact that we are outsiders makes them go out of their way and help us. Thank you UP. Tomorrow’s plan is to leave early and get to Saurabh’s hometown Syana in time for Rakhi.

Day 102 aug 3 mon
Lucknow – Sandila – Sandi – Fatehgarh –Farrukabad – Amritpur – Allahganj – Katra - Bareilly
330km –11005 kms
NH24, SH25, SR26, SH29,5W, SH53 (bumpy), NH24
Wake up at 8 and plan to take village roads today – bored of highways. UP roads have been very good so far – animosity towards Mayawati has reduced considerably. I decide to skip seeing the Bhulbaliya (maze) at the Bara Imambara, and just do the home delivery today. Syana is about 380 kms away and its already 9+. Take the Hardoi road out of Lucknow and pass the Bara Imambara. Its quick impressive from the outside and just stop and take pictures. Some other time, if there will ever be such a time.

Head out of Lucknow traffic. I keep feeling we should take highway as we have to do long distance trip, but we persist. Take an inner road via Sandi bird ‘scantuary’ and suddenly we are on this supernice highway. At a town, manage to get my phone recharged – have been trying for two days and its always been unsuccessful. Nice village scenes – fields, school children, cows, buffaloes, tangas, buggies, etc.

Reach Farrukabad and encounter a bumpy poing poing road SH53. Get mindfucked after a while – can’t do 400 kms in a day if you’re doing an average speed of 23kmph! Stop to ask for alternate directions and the man gives directions and also asks us to come home for tea. Very tempting but no time, so we gratefully decline and return and take offshoot from Allahganj. Return to the highway. At Faridpur, close to Bara Banki, major traffic jam. Weave our way through to finally come to a standstill. Kawariya processions are on- one on each side of the road – full on with DJ, big speakers, carts with a blue Shiva and other characters dancing. Takes a full 45 minskawariya dj procession – Barreily – stop

Day 103 aug 4 tue
Bareily – Rampur – Bilari – Sambhal – hasanpur – Gajraula - Syana
244km –11249kms
Nh24, 154-W, Redroad 69, NH24, SH54
Leave Bareily. It’s not the Sonia Rae bareily. Encounter major traffic jam – it’s been there since last night –kawariyas again. The month is ending. Ride extreme left, right, wrong side, weaving as much as one can with luggage! At Rampur, get fed up and take the white road; it’s empty, but takes longer. No bottled water, but Pepsi everywhere. Ride across village roads, schools, farms.

At Hasanpur, have to get back to the highway as the road on the map is broken. The approach to Syana is quite fresh. Reach Syana at 6! Meet the hospitable friendly parents. After dinner, have a stupid conversation where the dad is talking to me but really to Saurabh. Happens in every household huh? Electricity problems here too. See my face in a well lit mirror; it’s become black. No wonder Nepalis kept calling me Kal Bhairaw. I do like him!

Make some phone calls. Jugad for another 25 days is done. Yay – mataozm rolls on. The kindness of friends.

Day 104 aug 5 wed
Syana – Buland Shahar – Ghaziabad – Noida - Delhi
134km –11283 kms
Nh24, 154-W, Redroad 69, NH24, SH54
Leave Syana after saying bye and taking blessings. The bike feels so light now that only my luggage and no pillion. Reach Buland Shehar and get stuck in traffic jam at bypass chowk. Riding in UP is an unique experience – roads including national highways have cows, horses, tangas, buggies, cow carts, tractors, tractor trolleys, bikes, cars, vans, buses, trucks, 18 wheel carriers, dogs. Regarding the dogs, after the smart non accident dogs in Nepal, its back to being wary of dogs on Indian roads. Atleast there are no suicidal chicken in India; probably all dead in some butter chicken dish.

Reach Ghaziabad and thunder past. Riding in cities is a bit spiritless; the large buildings, the rushing people, the shops, the traffic – everything looks nicer but less real. Slip into Noida – it’s grown bigger but is the same as any other city. Cities are truly depressing after the rest of India. Does it cost much to add some design to our urban structures? Concrete blocks, with just paint and the random dome to spice things up. What happened to all the construction artistry in India. Are we reduced to paintings of nude goddesses as the apex of 21st century Indian art as a way of life? Or is the new art swimming pools and gyms? We have structures that have stood for 1000 years, paintings for 6000 years, but a Metro, a new age construction we are to be proud and happy about, crashing in 6 months.

Noida – Delhi. A bit of amazement at the BRT? Lanes and the bicycle lanes in south Delhi. Though motorcycles and autos ply the ‘bicycle’ lane, it’s still a surreal sight in India. The VIPs have the best run of it all; they just use the BUS only lane and speed past the 5 min signals of South Delhi.

Otherwise somehow Delhi looks a bit nicer; and more importantly feels nicer. Reach Malviya Nagar and Smriti’s house. Dilli 17, here I am.