week 18+ logs

Day 119 aug 20 thu
Delhi – Noida – Ghaziabad – Meerut - Muzzafarpur – Roorkee - Haridwar - Rishikesh
245 km – 11747 kms
NH58
The two coffees I had yesterday evening and night ensured that I stayed awake till 5. Wake up at 8.30 and clean up whatever is left outside and add to the bags packed yesterday. The day I leave Delhi is finally here. 2 whole weeks gone by. Say bye to Rajeev and then go load the bike. Come back up and eat breakfast with Smriti and then leave. Say bye to Smriti and sale-bhehnchod wala Aditya. Forget to say bye to the maids, but I had done my I’m leaving today to them yesterday. I must have said I’m leaving tomorrow 4 times already! It’s around 9.50 and bang into the middle of office going traffic. Reach DND (it’s Delhi Noida Delhi!) cor-it’s Delhi Noida Direct!) and have flashbacks of the time I used to work at Noida and take the same route daily from Munirka to Noida. Yet another past lifetime.

Get pulled over by traffic cop who checks papers, uses the now standard issue magic detection finger on the luggage, and says bike ko tempo bana diya hai. Ask our way around to Ghaziabad and then Meerut. Am a little surprised to see no cows. My strongest memory of Noida roads used to be those chilling cows. Ride gingerly through Ghaziabad – don’t want to be pissing off anybody here.

Reach Meerut; bypass Meerut. A whole bunch of engineering colleges along the way. Subbu wants a fatwa put on engineering colleges. Bike begins to slide along the road, puncture! I stop to check and it is one – I had skipped filling air in the morning with airpump and then at petrol pump, coz there was a line. But the Om Trayambakams at work again. I have stopped with the puncture 5 footsteps from a puncture shop! Get puncture fixed -Nail. Also seems like my starter is screwed. Subbu takes over the wheel and after ages I sit in the pillion seat. Realize the seat is fucked – Why didn’t Ananya or Saurabh tell me! Have to visit mechanic.

I can’t see over Subbu’s head so settle down and do my Om chanting and other song singing. See Kaminey posters along the way – so much for making Piggy chops act without makeup. All the posters have her in the single sexy pose she does in the film (the separating my boobs jhatak during her wedding baarat). I keep thinking I was a bit extreme in my first view opinion of Kaminey, but despite watching it twice, I still felt something missing. Jai Maharashtra.
Reach Haridwar. Feel a lot of good energy, also terrain changes and can smell Eucalyptus in the air. Somehow anyplace that smells of eucalyptus is a good place in my head. See the sun setting behind the giant Shiva statue, but can’t be bothered to stop and take camera. Sit behind and watch the sights – the pillion always has the best view – so let me enjoy it for once.

Reach Rishikesh. Nice to begin, but soon becomes that religious spot hill station with yoga yoga yoga schools. Pass through Sivananda nagar – yaay – see the Divine life society office and the ashram. Subbu goes for a 2 month yoga Vedanta course here from tomorrow. Purnam and mangalam bhavatu. Subbu heads to Laxman Jhula and finds the guest house he had stayed before. Nice place – at the edge of the hill overlooking the holy ganges, with view of the Laxman Jhula - have to find out the story behind LJ.

Unpack, and head out across the Jhula for tea. Return, sit on the terrace, watch the river and talk about experiences, Vedanta etc. We exchange cameras – now have Subbu’s Canon 350D. Have to figure out how to use it properly. Bathe, eat, and here I am now. I know I’m missing a few things from today, but can’t recall. Heading out to terrace again to see Ganga flow by.

Day 120 aug 21 fri
Rishikesh
18 km – 11765 kms

We wake up to sounds of bells ringing devotees’ wishes up to Shiva. Head across the Laxman Jhula for breakfast. Are too early, so suffice with tea and wake back. Plan is to drop Subbu at the ashram by noon. Roam around taking pictures and talking to people. All the spots are further on. No one knows why it’s called Laxman Jhula. Subbu heads ahead while I hit the book shop. Want to give Subbu the pranic healing book I had seen yesterday.

Superb bookshop = Siva Books Emporium, Ram jharoka mandir, laxman jhula, post- tapovan sarai, Rishikesh, Uttarkhand 249192
shivabooks@yahoo.com, sivabooks.com
Well, atleast for spiritiual and religious books. Pick up the Pranic healing and couple more for myself. Books have been the bane of my luggage, but there is no other weight I would choose to carry. They don’t have a book I want, but will get it by evening.

Head back to the room. Subbu’s all packed. We exchange cameras. Press the S2IS on him and get his Canon 350D with it’s bulky bag. Need to repack.
All set and leave for the ashram for subbu’s sadhu course. The last 4 days have been very different from the last 3 months. Conversations have been about spirituality, processes, ideaologies, people and so on. It’s true what they say about Satsang and the company one keeps.

Reach the office to find all tam brahms manning the holy fort. After all the formalities and chitchat, walk with Subbu into the ashram and look around. This was the original ashram built by Sivananda. It’s a huge complex now, but a lil stark compared to the Vishudevananda ashrams. The Vishnudevananda ashrams (True World Order?) are not affliated to the Divine life society ones. Ashram and disciple politics. Leave subbu to his studies and head towards town.

Find the Enfield mechanic and hang around waiting for the chief mechanic. Talk to Australian (Merri) who is on an India – Nepal – Thailand – Australia trip. Is caught up in the travels and the wife back home who’s waiting for him to return. A percussionist - has learnt to play the Indian drums in benaras. Is returing the hired bullet and will now head to Thailand. Asks me if I want a helmet. I refuse – already roaming with an extra helmet bouncing off at the back of the bike.

Head out, find ATM, find phone charging shop. Chitchat with shopkeeper gets a one-day rishikesh –manali route. It’s unclear but after Poonta Sahib I need to head directly into HP. Go back to mechanic and give instructions. Take a shared auto to the hotel. Get dropped off at main road, and then walk to the hotel, amidst devotees who are confused when they see me. Read my new book that got delivered– the Holy Science.

Subbu calls and says we can meet for dinner around 7. Start walking towards the main road. Reach main road but continue walking towards Rishikesh main market. It’s a long but splendid walk, with the river flowing to the left and people and stories flowing past. Observing the people tells you a lot about where they are from. Everyone gives me a wide berth. Haircut? :D

Meet subbu outside the ashram and walk to the mechanic. Work is done but the seat is not fixed. We throw out the seat and do jugad for a new one. After brief back and forths about whether to put an original thunderbird seat vs. just jugad for back seat, we decide on jugad. We walk around and have a really bad dinner. Bike ready, drop subbu back at ashram and head back. Sit by the river and read.

Day 121 aug 22 sat
Rishikesh
0 km
I read. I walk. Devotees, ashrams, temples, river, yoga centers, colors, beads.

Day 122 aug 23 sun
Rishikesh – Rani Pokhri – Dehradun – Poonta Sahib – Sataun – Minus - Newra
206 km - 11971 kms
NH72, SH1
Head out early. Subbu’s DL is at the ashram lodge. Send him sms to remind him to pick it up at end of sadhu course. Plan to come back here, but October onwards the entire lodge is booked for 6 months. There won’t be standing place on the roads.
Take the beautiful fresh road and bypass Rishikesh. Bypass Dehradun and head to Poonta sahib. See the magnificent gurudwara by the river.

From Poonta sahib, decide to skip the Shimla road and head north into Himachal. Hello hills, Hello landslides. Dry but amazing sight of kms of landslides. Do jugad to keep camera out. The landslides have now been cleared (thank god for the extended stay at Delhi, else good possibility I would have been stuck under one of these. But everything is super dusty. Ride along a river. At a village, give a guy a lift. He tells me it’s the Kasi river. Also points out that the Great Kali’s (WWE) village is close by. Drop him off. A few kms ahead, stop at a ‘spot’ – Am a bit happy meanders still make me stop to look. A kid walking around tells me on asking that it’s the Thamsa river. A river changes name in 10 kms? Take photos of the deodhar forests when a man asks kiska survey le raha hain and starts walking towards me. I wave, shake my head and walk back to the bike. Finish the cig when a maruti stops by with two cops in it. Make me show papers and do the usual QnA. Why I didn’t take the easier, quicker and safer Shimla road and am taking the Himachal ke khatarnak raaste. I say that’s why I’m taking this route. He says tumhe khatron se khelna ka shauk hain and lets me go.

Incidents like these and those numerous ‘himmat’ make me stop and think. Is this dangerous? How? I don’t even life or injury insurance. The best way to avoid all this shit is riding carefully and safely. I don’t care whether I am setting a record, just seeing, experiencing and moving on. The only ‘record’ ride was the Bangalore Bombay in a day ride – 1072 kms in 20.5 hrs. The only downside was the general inability to walk straight the next day; well and yes, the occasional sleep waves that happen during long boring stretches. We even managed to do the return trip to Bangalore in a day, except 70 kms from Bangalore at 2.45 am in the night, the bike seized; which we left on the side of the road and jumped onto a truck.

Stop at a place where a earthmover was breaking the landslide side of the road! Guess making it safer. Take photos– the earth mover driver wants his picture taken. Oblige and ride past. This entire stretch is surreal (a word used a lot on this trip) – see horses on shop tops, gorges, valleys, mountains, forests, rivers, birds, flowers. The people are now different from all seen so far. Facially, clothing, language – both men and women in the gardwalhi vests and caps. But one thing stood out, a lot of people in villages and across, look very similar – relatives? As I climb higher, the scale gets bigger. Intent has now been modified to reach Choupal. Reach Newra a small village along the Thamsa river. Locals convince me to stay here instead of Choupal. My tired body mind is more than glad to do so. Find a hotel and check in. Hotel owner who runs a shop below makes me sit and does QnA during registeration. On hearing previous job and salary, launches into prospects for his two sons. One doing BTech in EEE – I say good prospects as long as he does a CS course. Sad but true. I know only 3-4 people from the entire batch of 60 still working in EE. The other son is in the 12th Bio. What should he do? I say Biotech but how good is he? Not too good at studies. I say Nurse and then head abroad? Man is shocked – there are boy nurses? I say yes, my cousin is one, now abroad someplace in the Gelf(am not sure about this but it’s the natural progression). He shakes his head and says we have no male nurses in HP. I say paisa banana hai toh… Leave him pondering this. Eat dinner at a rundown place which is almost shut, but gives me some dal chaval. Watch the final hour of the Ashes. Yay England. Good bye Flintoff.

Day 123 aug 24 mon
Newra – Chopal – Theog – Kingal – Sainj – Ani – Jalori Pass – Shoja – Aut – Kullu - Manali
327 km – 12298 kms
SH2, NH22, NH21
Have breakfast and pack. Any public packing is a spectacle with a crowd watching with rapt attention, with the usual asshole who comes and asks bag mein kya hai. I just smile, or if he’s dangerous looking, says kapde spares. Best was that episode in Northern Maharashtra when I asked back, aapke bag mein kya hai.

Head out into this beautiful morning with the sun warming the hills slowly. Its cold as I leave the village, and after 15 kms of jittering into the deodhars, I stop and tug out the cold gear. Body warm but legs cold – thermals are in an untuggable region of the bag, and I’m not stripping in public.

After green stretches of heart melting vistas, I reach Theog and a paved double lane highway. Average speed just doubles. A brit duo on 600 cc bikes pass me, and then for almost 30 kms we ride together without a word. They stop at Narkanda, I ride past – need to get to Manali today and it’s still fuckin far, at current rate. So much for Rishikesh Manali in one day. Now I figure he probably meant I take the Shimla Manali highway – that would have been a day ride.

At Kingal, where I am to get off the highway and take the white roads again, I stop for tea. Talk to some army guys in the convoy that’s stopped for chai. One Maharashtrian army guy who confirms that I am from Bombay and have a house there. Also find out that I have to cross Jalori pass. Where did that come from – not on the map. Get a bit anxious – have heard it’s the toughest pass in India.

Cross Sainj and get back on the village road. Soon I am climbing Jalori pass; a 12 km long climb with good and broken roads. A couple of phirang bikers pass me, focused on riding their bikes, without the customary nod or hey. The final 4 kms are tough but well passy. Reach the top, say a prayer for G. Jani at the temple, and head down. Going down was harder than coming up; and the scary boards that say ride in first gear only and high probability of brake failure doesn’t help. Reach the bottom and one of more of India’s passes has been crossed. Pass the rest house at Shoja – found it funny.

It’s evening and will get dark soon. Do a speed run across more Deodhars and rivers. At some point, the Sutlej comes into play. Pass school kids returning home and the lo-fives begin. Am in a very nice happy mood. See some kids play on the road with those platforms on wheels – u sit on the platform and roll down the slopes. Major posing and photo session happens. Go ahead along the river, when at one point, I have to stop – at a meander, the Sutlej also seeps into this emerald green pool. I stop and take photos. A schoolkid is loitering around and I ask him if he wants a lift. He says no, I’m in the opp. Direction you’re going. Chitchat with him and take photos – he takes my mobile number for some reason.

Reach Manali at 8. Eyes are tired, but call Pearl and confirm lodging. Grit teeth and do the last 40 kms of the day rather quickly. Meet Pearl and gang at a café in old Manali. Find my room, say no to more hanging out, and pass out.


Day 124 aug 25 tue
Manali
12 km – 12310 kms
Wake up to a chilly but bright morning. Bathe the dust off and go meet Pearl. Catch up over breakfast. Pearl notices lice on my hair – the mystery behind my head scratching is solved after 2 weeks! Meet the rest of the gang and end up convincing them to not stay in Manali for 2 days but leave tomorrow and spend more time in ladakh.

Go with Karn to main market and find plastic 5 lt can, camera bag, and a beanie cap.

Walk around Old Manali, take photos of the red bridge. Sleep for a while. Evening head out again to town to tank up. Meet gang for dinner at People. Nice place. Walls covered with drawings made by customers. Pearl, Karn, and Asha have a go at their own drawings. Chitchat over colored pencils.

Day 125 aug 26 wed
Manali – Rohtang – Jispa – Baralachla - Sarchu
223 km - 12533 kms
Wake up to a brisk sunshine. The weather seems perfect for the ride to Leh. Decide to try the 2 day trip. Say bye to Pearl and gang as they head out in a Qualis. Pack, stock up on water, and leave Manali at 8. The ride to Rohtang was peaceful and rather quick - No drama like the last time. Reach Koksar and meet the gang eating brunch. Reach Keylong and then Jispa and there’s still a lot of daylight. Darcha goes by. I give up and roll a J. Solo has its benefits and just dust on your mind does no good. Darcha goes by. The scenes are the same. BRO workers, good roads, bad roads, more ice though. The initial tremor of doing Manali Leh solo has worn off. Its just another road; and well I double checked my air pressure. The foot pump gauge has conked off and shows a deviation of 8 psi.

Baralachla was a piece of cake. Just broken and good roads with dramatic iceladen mountains on view. Reach Sarchu and see the P gang trying to find acco. A group wandering around clicks a 100 photos of me entering the camp.

We decide on one camping ground and check in after bargaining. After tea, we walk around and start talking about the cold. Two hours later and we are still at it, in various aspects and tones. Play some word games. Have dinner and sit listening to a internation assortment of musicians singing and playing Beatles songs, and then requests like Rolling stones and so on. Good stuff, only I left coz it somehow reminded me of being at Totos and listening to the same track list since Totos Immemorial. We go out and watch the brilliant sky with the Milky way and all sorts of constellations. Everyone except Pearl see a shooting star. It gets colder and we retreat to the tent. Play dumbcharades (after ages) and then hide inside my sleeping bag and watch a Mithun film I picked up in UP while I pass out.
p.s. this was written after 3 days, so all the finer details are gone :s

Day 126 aug 27 thu
Sarchu – Pang – Tanglangla – Upshi - Leh
272 km – 12805 kms
Wake up around 7. It’s still cold outside, but thanks to sleeping bags, had a good night’s sleep. Have tea, breakfast, and pack the stuff onto the bike. Everything is stiff and cold.

Head out into the great wide open. Pass a large group of cyclists – mostly Indians, which was super nice to see. Through out the day, kept seeing different groups and types of cyclists – some with accompanying cars; large groups with buses, solo cyclists and so on. One couple even sat at the side of the road and had a picnic basket! Climb Gata loops. As before it was just another climb, only this time I try to take the shortcuts across the switchbacks. At one such shortcut, bike stalls and slips back. It’s a brake-twist handle-brake-slant bike-stop scene. Recover and head up the shortcut. Now operating in the 15000 ft range. Wherever there is shade, the temp. drops. Stuff my jacket into my gloves.

Reach Lachulungla 54 kms later to find the girls taking pictures with the BRO guys. Karn hops and we head down the pass till we reach the India gate (or Pearly gates as it has now been renamed. Karn hops off here and heads back into the car. Watch the terrain change into brown with the rock spires reaching for the skies. Reach Morae plains (or pang ground as it is known locally). The intense blue of the sky and the clear visibility of layers clouds for kilometers makes me gasp, all over again. Follow the bumpy dusty dirt track for the next 30 kms. It’s slow careful riding to avoid slip sliding along the foot deep dust grooves. Am still trying to figure out the depth of fields to use on the camera. Stick to 22 and 3.5 with random variations in between – basically want to capture what I see, so 22 seems to make sense, though it’s probably shooting to infinity. Will read up more and practice more.

Stop at this dramatic (yes, you can still keep getting awed by the surroundings despite the constant bombardment of wow sights.) spot and toke up. Trucks pass by, raising huge dust clouds, and trundle off into the distance till they become colored toys on the edge of visibility. The blue of the sky gets too intense and I stop looking up; as if it made a difference. Solo riding through such places creates this tunnel inside your head to a different world. Look out for marmots but no luck; instead see a solitary helmet lying on the road. Stop and wonder what’s its story. Reach the end of the plains and get back on the road. The mind has shifted momentum; am no longer doing a speed run, but hang the now dusty camera on the neck and begin to document.

Leave the plains and see some signs of civilization- stupas. The climb to Tanglangla begins. Probably my fave pass along with Baralachla – its one of those passes where you earn the right to be on top. The road is much better this time round. The Manali-Leh route is said to be one of the 5 toughest motor routes on Earth; but I think its true only if you do the stretch when the roads open; May end – mid June. After that, most of the roads are built and then it’s just another road. The climatic factors can be easily handled with proper clothing and a garlic pod.

You think you see the road to Tanglangla, until you turn right and see the road disappear into another long loop along another mountain that was hidden from view earlier (am sure there is a better way to write this sentence!) The temperature drops and the bike slows down, but trudges up the pass. Soon am riding along icecapped hills. No one to have a snowfight with. Reach the top and smoke the rest of the J. The world’s second highest motorable pass (or should I say the world’s third highest pass). Majority of the people know of Khardungla as the world’s highest pass, but there is Marsimekla too. The last time we had tried to scale it, we went at the wrong time. Throughout the climb to Tanglangla, was thinking about whether I should attempt another go, only having eaten and in the morning! Let’s see. With my bad spatial reasoning, I might just end up somewhere in Tibet.

Begin the descent from Tanglangla and step into yet another terrain change. How many greens can there be in the world? No idea? Well do the manali leh road. Reach the picture postcard Sasoma and Lya villages. Wait a while to let a group of 8 trucks go far away; have had enough of riding in zero visibility dust clouds. Sit on a rock and smoke. Some BRO workers – the labour kind – mostly Nepalis and Biharis, approach and ask for a cigarette. One cig becomes 6. All stand around smoking in silence, looking at the setting sun over the icy mountain caps. Sometimes your heart just cries quietly within. See the trucks at the bottom of the mountain on some good unbroken road. Head down maneuvering the last of the raw brokenness of the Manali-Leh road. The road is now buttery but a lil bumpy; but I’m still doing 40. Am glad I’m made this decision at Pokhara. After 2 weeks of trying to sight the Himalayas, I had decided to actually become the Himalayas, and here I am, riding along ice and freezing my fingers off! My right leg is numbish now. Stop and walk around. I don’t know where to look and focus. Walk in circles doing a 360 pan. I think my visual cortex will short circuit by EOD.

Pass school children who start the lo-fives. The stretch from Sasoma to Upshi is this magical journey, accentuated by the sunset and its attendant shadows. Reds, greens, yellows, oranges, browns, whites, blues –a force 10 visual orgasm. The Indus joins in the fun gliding along the road. Welcome to the Ladakh plateau – the land of passes leading to this spectacular plateau. And welcome to civilization – farms, people, cattle, buildings dot the multilayered landsuperscape.

From Upshi to Leh, it’s a race against and away from the sun. The rays are intense and almost unbearable to ride without sunglasses. Reach Leh to find out my phone doesn’t work. Airtel ka Dhoka. I recall that Leh ad of theirs as one of the parameters of me moving from hutch or whatever its called now to Airtel. I can see the network but get only limited service. What the fuck! Use STD booth to find out where Pearl and the grumpy but gorgeous gang is. Head out past resurrected memories to Changspa and along the Shanti Stupa to the hotel. I am a dust body.

Unpack and dump dusty stuff in room. Bathe and thermal up. Walk to the market and trace the GGG. Have dinner with some more friends of friends. Seems the Confluence festival has barely 250 ppl registered and the stage is still not set up; the event starts tomorrow.

Walk back, chitchat, and sleep.

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.

update

in leh now. logs of week 15-19 will be up shortly.

Notes found on phone - blore mysore walk

Stuff that I had noted down on my phone while doing the Bangalore Mysore walk in October 2008. can't make sense of quite a bit, but ..
~~~~
Travel bag. Trip planner. Map distance app.

day 2 918 breakfast. Wonder la. script. different directors. Actors of choice. 915 pm ram nagar main st, opp. 138 am kengali.

day 3 624 am coughing old man. tree and the diff borders. Square, round, filled. shame shame puppy shame. lil dicks. Why,

Old man. No money no home. short film. T shirts. Love story. Comm thru trees. If house was in forest. Trails. Why push. saw eagle. Slept at bus stop. Woke. 4 pm. short. Plan to destroy village. photos. photo shop. day 3 sleep at 830 pm.

day 4 wake at 5. The ety of suffixes. ions. sions. Ity. capable. what is the most useless intention. flying flying lover. Changing distance params. Place. total. km. each km. law club. 20 qts. to make guy confess. Climax. yes no.

Day 6 5 am. Deleted entire memo mistake. Body parts convos, How to find water. 16 km from man. save 10k each month for cam. what will a villa full of bougainvilla be called? goals. when short term becomes to be able to reach something 50 metres away. fantasy house. nurse maid teacher cook.12 long bath wash chill photo session over. At peace and calm, Roll and leave. 4 pm 12 km from mysore. 7 pm 8 km from mysore.

Day 7 345 am the kilometre of a smile.Entering mysore. checkpoint nothing. 510 am surrounded by atleast 5 mullahs singing. surround sound. 4 diagonals. 520 addition some temple dance song with flute solo et al. Moz gone quiet except one. sleepy. at 530 infant church starts ringing bells for a min. Tipu circle is no longer one. 7am at hanumantus. Closed! thats why missed on first sweep. 1020 am ananya and messai come. 5kms from top. ghats. what will you do when zero.sit. drink. find a place to eat. Life will go on. 210 pm t.


awesome sunset

taking a break

aaah

hit and run victims

bedroom

face during hamstring and ankle packup

clothesline

bathroom

refreshment on standby

bored of the road, so take a train track

divine directions

they say take pictures, leave footprints. where does this fit in?

fresh milk delivery line at mysore

progress with no trees

road beautiful road
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

photos from walk
day 1
day 2
day 3
day 4
day 5
day 6
day 7

week 14 logs

hardcore maoist territory - gorkha

gorkha ke log welcomes us

festival dance at bandipur

hen sitting on not 2 but 12 chickens!

most hardcore position seen among all kajuraho type temples so far

pasu and panchi pati

gameplay in fort wall at gorkha darbar


where eagles dare at manokamna

meanders throughout nepal and how

the one rupee coin is mine - yaay - at devi's/davis/devil's falls wishing spot

when the fog steps to block views, u take photos of yourself

lovism or premvad - these images all over nepal

trek break view

famous golghars at rampur near bandipur

nepali army guys doing morning drills at nagarkot viewing point.

week 14 photos collection on flickr

Day 92 jul 24 fri
Nagarkot – Sankhu - Katmandu
dirt roads, pitch road
32km –9684 kms
I ended up staying up the entire night watching films. Around 5, its dawn and look out of the window to see low clouds ☹ - no Himalayas. Watch it get brighter, then head up to the terrace to see the sun to our right. Saurabh is up taking photos. We decide to head to the view tower to get 360 degree view. Takes us a while to find out where it is. It’s marked in the map, but I didn’t spot it; Saurabh eventually does and we head there. The sun is up but hidden behind clouds. We cross an army camp with armymen jogging up the hill and doing push ups over the stormdrains. Reach to top just at the time the sun peaks out. The top is full of army men in groups, who leave in a while. Take photos of whatever we can, but the sun disappears soon. Well if you want to see the Himalayas, don’t come during the monsoon.

Head back, pack and leave. Despite yesterday’s events, decide to take a dirt road via Sankhu (which locals say will become pitch (local for tar road) and not the pitch ‘to Bhaktapur’ road. Its always been a ‘policy’ not to return by the same road ever since I started roadtripping, so no rocky path is going to change it. Find a crack in the pannier – will fix it in Katmandu, hope it holds till then.

The dirt track is downhill so yay. It’s bad but not that bad. Pass by the Changu Narayan temple, but decide not to walk up. Enjoy the inner Nepal village scenes of farming etc. After 15 kms, pitch happens, and not a ‘tease road’. For the first time in 200 kms, I cross 60 kmph. Just as I’m about to enter a town, see a barricade manned by some youth with dandas who are turning away vehicles from the other side. Luckily there is a road to the left, which a local says to take. Take it and follow other vehicles taking that road and emerge back on the main road in the middle of town.

Enter Katmandu and enquire our way to Jochhne/Freak Street. At the exhibition ground road, see a man selling porn on the road, the cds clutched under his arm! As usual, the recommended place in LP is full, though sometimes its full coz we are Indians. Here too! Find place in a lodge just beside and settle down. Head out to call Ananya and then check mail.

Its strange and funny. So much has happened, but in the ‘outside’, it’s just been two days and its ‘the usual’. I wonder what life holds in store for me when mataozm ends. I don’t even know when it will end. If I just stopped working after the Bangalore-Mysore walk, how does this compare! Money keeps coming in somehow and the road doesn’t end. But logically I suppose it will end after I enter India. Whether I do the Himachal, Ladakh, JnK leg is unknown. After that its basically heading south without ‘sightseeing’. The east- northeast leg (which was actually the initial plan is still a mystery). With a 3 lac (now probably 5 lac with interest!) debt on my head, a job seems the sensible option (sensible :D), but then no east north east leg. I don’t see myself heading out on any more roadtrips after this. Chat with friends who are trying to get into some contest called the Great Indian roadtrip. Seems you have to drive around some route within a particular time and keep blogs or something. Why do you need a contest to do that! If you want to go, just go. Spend some money of your own! (and/or of some kind blessed friends :D). Just pray for them at all the religious places you end up visiting. Punya baato.

Find out that Ashu is in Katmandu. Ask friends who are online to put in some money in my phone. Pearl and Joy help out. Send Ashu sms and email. Go to Thamel to the palce where Ashu is staying. Guards says oh only foreigners are allowed to stay here, no Indians. I say hato and go to reception. Ashu has gone out, so leave him a message. Go to Last Resort office in Thamel to pick up my bungy DVD. Also buy other DVDs. Saurabh and I get separated somehow, and after searching for him and not finding him, I beat a quick retreat from Thamel and its DVD shops. Go back to hotel and after smelling hash smoke for a while, ask hotel boy to score for me. Thamel is like Calangute or Varkala, it sucks you in. Apparently the local dealer got arrested so nothing now, maybe later. I’m somewhat relieved. Though I don’t know why; I still have bhang from kajuraho in my bag, and I haven’t used it. Anyway settle down and watch films, resting my body and wrists.

Evening I want to eat something different, so we go to sandwich shop nearby and have well a sandwich. Walk to the durbar square and watch people. Come back to no electricity. So can’t check email as I had told Ashu. Unsure whether to go find him at night; he should be out someplace. Crash.




Day 93 jul 25 sat
Katmandu – Manakamna – Mugling – Abu Khairne – Gorkha
Mahendra highway
151km –9835 kms
Wake up and chill. Head out to find welder. Am too early at 9, shops or atleast workers open at 10! So ride around till I find an open workshop and get welding done. This time remove spark plug and the battery wires. Head back, do some Internet, and return to hotel.

Pack and leave. We decide to skip Patan (which is supposed to be best of the 3 cities), but maybe next time, and head towards Pokhara. Traffic on the way out. Eat lunch at a dhaba? The roads are good and winding along the base of hills. Ride along at 70-80. At Naubise, 4 other bikes join and we keep speeding along the road. Until at one stretch, one brakes for some reason, another bangs into the first, and goes down. I screech and end up bumping into the fallen bike, but still standing. Phew.

Reach Manokamna around 3. Take the cable car up to the temple. Our companion is a local Gorkha boy who gives us info about the place and even some towers! The cable car is Austrian made and a far cry from the jerky one at Rajgir. It rises from 300 m to 1300m over the river. A bit spectacular as it rises sharply, then coasts horizontally, and then rises again. The cable car also has a few to transport goats, which are then sacrificed at the temple. This happens everywhere in Nepal temples, especially at festival times, when 108+ goats and chicken etc are sacrificed.
Check out the temple, then darshan (only for hindus again). See the sub temple where and head back. Coming back is a wee bit freaky as we are right up looking down at everything, the mountains, the river, the fields and Saurabh’s jungle man. It seems looking down from heights is going to be normal in this trip ☺

Next stop we decide will be Gorkha. Though the road in the map is similar to hiking trail, we take it. It turns out to be pitch. See No Vote signs and paintings everywhere. This is inside Maoist territory. Slow down whenever I see a group of people. But nothing happens, except chicken who go psycho as I pass and one bangs into the bike. Feathers fly but the chicken moves on and so do we. At one point, there is a truck parked across the road, with people milling around it, and another small truck lying on the side of the road. Heart freeze, maoist roadblock? Creep along the truck and see that they are just trying to get the fallen truck out. I pass only when a man says to pass.

Reach Gorkha, and spend the entire sunset finding a valley view place. Even though its offseason, all the valley view places are full! Find a place, settle down, and eat dinner. Watch films and pass out. Shalaam Shab.

Day 94 jul 26 sun
Gorkha - Abu Khairene – Dumre - Bandipur
Mahendra highway
61km –9896 kms
Wake up with a chest cold and light fever. Update logs and eat late breakfast. Pack and head up the dirtroad to the darbar of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal. Rains have destroyed the roads, and general self confidence is a bit low. Keep letting Saurabh off and taking the mulchy slippery and rocky curves alone. Its not that bad, but don’t want to take any chances. Finally at the top, park the bike. Have to climb another 1500 stairs. Man approaches asking if we want to be guided. Ok.

Takes us up and around. Small place but distinct from most we have seen so far. Even unseen so far sex positions on the ‘kamasutra’ temple. Peacocks on the walls. Meet indigenous violin? Player who plays and sings a song too. Kanchi re! Guide is a non stop talker, mostly related to his poverty. Meet another Bombay returned person. Human nature is the same everywhere – the moment you know you’ve been a place, you want to tell the other than you have been there too. Some people even ask if we know X person- X from a population of 18 million people! The odds and gods have been favorable so far and I don’t know any of them.

After the tour, guide asks if we want tea at his place. Of course. Go to his tiny huthouse and listen to more poverty and history. Also talk about government and Maoists. He’s congress man and anti Maoism (or atleast their kind of rule), while his wife is maoist. Offers ganja which I accept. Roll and smoke while the water boils. The rideas come rolling back. Been 3 months since I smoked. He gives us his address and after tea and chicken watching, we leave. An idea of spending more time in the hills is formed.

We maneuver our way down to Gorkha and then onwards to Bandipur. Cross Dumre and see this 45 degree dirt track going up, labeled bandipur trail. Wisely decide against taking it and go ahead looking for a road, and find one. Full pitch right up to Bandipur.

Find a place to stay – homestay @200. Woohoo. Nice room with mountain views, only it starts raining and no Himalaya views. Have kinda resigned myself that I wont see anymore. Only thing left is to stop ‘seeing’ the Himalayas and be the Himalayas. Ladakh calling? As we go to unload luggage, it starts pouring and doesn’t stop like the next morning. Park the bike at the parking outside the village. Bandipur is one of a kind village, preserved and non polluted.

Have a snack and then walk to Tundikhel to see the Marshyandi valley and the ahem Himalayas. A man approaches and says ganja. I say tomorrow maybe. He anyway pops in home and accompanies us to Tundikhel and points out places. He also shows a bunch of really old (1 yr) maal. I score nevertheless. Watch the spectacular valley, no Himalayas of course, but still. Return to the hotel and settle down in the room watching films. At dinner served by Nepali houselady who doesn’t know Hindi. So conversation is confusing and slow, but she is persistent and we manage a decent conversation. Both her and her English speaking son are always smiling. As we finish dinner, we hear kids howling and drums and cymbal sounds. We find out that today is Nagpanchami and some traditional dance happens in the main road between the temples. We go to see a small group of people walking playing 2 drums and 2 cymbals, led by a swaying man with a hood clutching a carrot and a radish. The main hero or villain is a man with long fake hair and a evil full face mask, whose main purpose seems to be to scare the radcarrot man. Often the main men disappear into one of the side houses to tank up.

We return, watch films and sleep. Still raining. Tomorrow Nepal’s largest cave, Siddha cave?

Day 95 jul 27 mon
Bandipur
0km –9896 kms
Wake up to see the rains haven’t stopped. Have a bunroti (bread) and jam breakfast. Decide to laze in bed today. Rest day so to speak. Spines and backs are a bit bruised. Spend the entire day in bed watching film and film, with the occasional look out of the window. Have a late late lunch and return to room. Eat dinner and watch films till we sleep. Have caught up with Startrek, Wolverine, Blindness, Hangover, IOUSA, Bruno etc.

Day 96 jul 28 tue
Bandipur - Ramkot
0km –9896 kms
Wake up again to see rain. We don’t move and spend time watching the window and films. No food, we don’t have enough to sustain meals. Eat a bag of pistachios we had.

Around 2, the rains subside and we get up to leave for Siddha cave. Meet a man outside who says its very slippery and leechy. Also as first timers, its better to go with guide for route and also see inside the cave, but no guide now. We think maybe tomorrow morning we go after breakfast. We wonder what to do now, and he suggests go see Ramkot. We start walking along the trail. On and on we trod along slippery mudsteps and stone steps for 2 and half hours. Finally we reach Ramkot, find the golghars, and meet some locals. It’s already 5 and we need to get back. So we start trudging along in the drizzle. Its almost dark by the time we reach Bandipur. With no food in us, its been a good walk.

After tea, we wait for dinner, which we then gobble up. Pass out soon. We leave tomorrow for Pokhara, where we hear its been raining and people are wading in water.

Day 97 jul 29 wed
Bandipur - Pokhara
76km –9972 kms
Wake up and watch the rain. It stops and we set out to see Teendam, a waterfall engineering to come out in 5 stone sculptures of crocs, each one for one god/dess; shiva, durga, saraswati, hanuman, and Buddha. Walk back to town and order breakfast, which takes ages to be prepared. Sit, bask in the little sun, and read newspaper. It’s a bit strange to read about India from a third party perspective.

Get back, pack, and leave. The sun is out, and there’s even heat! Ride along the highway, passing gorges, and rivers, and finally reach Pokhara. See mountains of clouds – no Annapurna, no Macchapure. Ride around the lakeside trying to find cheap acco. After 3 different agents, we find one, bargain massively, and settle in. After a break, head out to call ananya and mom, and Internet. Slow internet, and it starts raining outside. Walk back, meet Saga at a tea shop, have bun tea, and head back to the hotel, and lie on a soft bed and watch films. I have begun to abhor soft beds. Fuck my back up as this bed does too. Time to start suryanamaskars. Spend some time imagining how this place would look with mountains in the background.


Day 98 jul 30 thu
Pokhara – Sarangkot - Pokhara
41km –10013 kms
Wake up to see rain. Do photo sorting until its bright outside. Head out to Sarangkot to view tower. The whole ride was a bit funny, as we couldn’t even see Sarangkot in the fog and clouds. I keep getting the feeling, seeing the Himalayas is not meant to be, but to go and become the Himalayas is what needs to be done. Have to check rain scene in Himachal, Uttaranchal, or just make a dash for Ladakh.

Around noon, it clears up. We leave, have brunch by the lake, and ride along the lake to see how big it is. Submerged fishing nets, guest houses, and restaurants. Pokhara looks downright deserted right now. It starts drizzling and we head to Sarangkot. Almost miss the turnoff. Uphill dirt track but without luggage it seems so easy now! We ride around and then think we go beyond where we are supposed to, ask our way around and finally reach the top view point, which by now is almost invisible itself. Massive fog and drizzle rain. We stand on top looking at the fog. Wait for 30 mins to clear, in vain. To think there are 8 mountain tops behind the fog, from the 8100m annapurna to the 6900m Macchapuchare.
We walk back to the bike, and knock on door to ask for tea. The shop owners don’t come out until they hear the bike sound!- come to collect 10 rp parking. Have tea and head down in the rain. Halfway down visibility changes from 20 ft to well 2 km. Its pouring now, we skip the mountaineering museum plans and head back to the hotel.
Dry off and head to Internet place to upload last weeks photos. Spend 3 hrs doing just that. Chat with ananya. The Internet has become this limited use space now. Can’t think of any sites to visit. Just the ones related to ‘work’ now. Check out the lakestreet, pick up some dvds, meet saurabh on the way and have dinner at this bhojanalaya where owner kept talking about it being only real veg place around and definitely come for breakfast.

Come back and crash early. We leave Pokhara tomorrow morning by 8. Will return to Nepal during its summer. I think we have completed 10000 kms – need to cross check, but around that ☺