|
April 14, 2007. Penultimate day at Kolar
I didn't update the website since we left Vishakapatnam for several reasons. First three days it was a zooooom kind of ride to Chennai from Vishakapatnam and then at Chennai it was sheer bliss meeting with my best friend and traveelling around the Tamil Nadu Capital. Then we proceeded to Tirupathi with Padma on my pillion and now after tonsuring off my head we have finally arrived at Kolar. Below is an attempt to recreate some of the events of the past week.
April 7-9, 2007. Vishakapatnam to Chennai
We started off from Vishakapatnam with a plan to do Chennai in 4 days but then the road (NH-5) was so good and had sparse traffic we just zoomed off. Proceeded from Vishakapatnam on 7th at 6.00 am and by 9 we were in Rajamundry (220 km) and by late afternoon we were in Vijayawada (445 km). We broke for lunch and rode slowly for another 60 km and took a break for the day at Guntur. It was largely uneventful ride where we passed through vast tracts of rice growing fields along the way. One interesting phenomenon is that around Rajamundry the highway is flanked by a large number of nurseries which sell saplings, seedlings, seeds and even full grown trees of various species, both ornamental and productive.
From Guntur we moved towards Nellore (240 km) and travelled on the national highway 5. All along the way I wondered why all roads in the country aren't like this. If every road in the country were to be like this then freight movement between parts of the country would be too fast and food produce would never get spoit. Anyway we crossed Nellore before lunch time and broke for lunch at a local dhaba about 20 km after Nellore. Chennai was only 130 km from here and it seemed as if Kishore wanted to reach Chennai by night but I was not interested. Our hosts were expecting the next day and not today. So finally after some running around looking for hotels at Tada we decided to stop at Sullurpete about 10 km before Tada and 80 km before Chennai. We just stayed in the modest hotel room and stuck around the town, resting.
We started from Sulurpete at about 3.00 pm and after a swift ride through Tada, Arambakam, Gumidipete reached Chennai outskirts. Meanwhile Rajagopalan, Padma's brother called me and informed about the booking of a room in Hotel Golden Tower in downtown Chennai and gave me details of the same. We reached the outskirts of the town and made enquiries to reach the hotel. At the hotel we were pleasantly surprised to see the luxury room that was booked for our stay. After freshening up I went out to meet up with our host and my best friend Padma at her workplace. Later in the evening we proceeded to watch a movie at Inox.
April 10, 2007, Mahabalipuram and Vedanthangal
Our day started rather early we proceeded to Padma's place after breakfast of Dosa. She was ready and we all piled up into the car and proceeded towards Mahabalipuram on the scenic East Coast Road. It was nice to see the various sights of the beach, breakwaters and casuarina grooves on the road. Our first stop was at the Crocodile Bank which houses several species of crocodiles in near natural surroundings. It was a wonderful sight to see several open mouthed and lounging reptiles. There was even a large Gharial which was blissfully sleeping in the aquarium. Other enclosures housed different species collected from across the world. One thing is the clearly overpopulated enclosures of some species. There has been over reproduction and nobody has been able to take them out and relocate them in the wild.
Further we went to Mahabalipuram where we marvelled at the Shore temples and stone chariots in the world heritage site. Since I had seen the other ruins here we just headed back towards Chennai and broke for lunch at our hotel itself. In the afternoon as we made plans to visit Vedanthangal Bird sanctuary where over 60,000 birds arrive every year, Kishore decided not to accompany us and it was only me and Padma who proceeded on to the bird sanctuary. Vedanthangal is a wonderful place full of White Ibis, Hornbills, Cormorants, Egrets etc and it is very easy to sight them. Moreover the local guides also help in the sighting activities.
April 11, 2007, Chennai to Tirupathi
Morning was spent with Padma on the beach playing in the water and sand. It was a great fun as the waves touched our feet and caked them with sand. Later Padma decided to ride with us till Tirupathi and hike up the hill and return back. So we loaded my luggage in her car and two up we rode towards Tirupathi. This 160 km evening ride was different from our previous rides because of the company. There was no load on the bike and since the road passed through some beautiful countryside we rode slow chatting about everything under the sun and finally reached Tirupathi at about 9.30 pm and after dinner we visited Ekambar Reddy's house where we dumped our luggage and proceeded to climb the hill.
April 12-14, 2007, Tirupathi to Kolar
There was nothing much to do in Tirupathi except visiting the temple of the Lord. As per my vow I went and tonsured my head in the lord's honour and waited for the darshan but unfortunately we had miscalculated and darshan didn't happen at all. So with a heavy heart we retraced our steps down the hill. Next day we finished some administrative work and proceeded towards Karnataka the road was good and we had travelled on this road several times. Hence the familiarity was a boon. As we exited Andhra Pradesh the weather became much better and cool breezes welcomed into our home state. Now we are staying in our home state and waiting for time to pass so we will head home tomorrow.
April 6, 2007. Rest and recuperation at Vishakhapatnam aka Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, India
For the past two days we have been sleeping, watching DVDs, eating and just relaxing. Catching up on the e-mail, friends and family. As we move towards the end of our tour these rests seem to have become a necessity. Next four days will be hectic riding from here to Chennai (850 km) and maybe we will stop at Nellore for an extra day to trace some family roots of mine... let us see depends on the weather... as AP is a heat belt and it is very stressful for us to ride in the heat. Since Vizag is surrounded by mountains of the eastern ghats and sea it is slightly cooler than Orissa and the place we are staying is quite well ventilated and hence we are not too stressed out due to heat.
After two days we took the bikes out for a short spin and visited Simhachalam about 15 km from Vizag. Nestled amidst lush green hills of the eastern ghats Simhachalam is the site of a beautiful hill temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha (half lion and half man). Accessible via a motorable road, this temple architecture combines the Orissan and Chalukyan styles, and it attracts scores of pilgrims from across the country especially from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The presiding deity Varaha Lakshminarasimha, is worshipped in the form of Varaha (wild boar) and Narasimha. The main deity is in the form of a Shivalingam covered with sandal paste. Legend: It is commonly believed that the original image of Ugra Narasimha appears so fierce and scary that the image is kept covered by sandal paste throughout the year and opened only once a year during the Chandana Visarjana festival.
History of the shrine: According to www.templenet.com Kulottunga Chola I of Tamilnadu, made endowments to this temple. Inscriptions dating back to the year 1087 AD record this event. Later the Vengi Chalukyas of Andhra Pradesh renovated the original shrine in the 11th century. Much of the structure as it stands to day is the result of renovation by Narasimha I, of the Eastern Ganga dynasty in 13th century CE. Vijayanagar monarch Krishna Deva Raya, visited this temple in the year 1516. There are as many as 525 inscriptions in this temple.
Noteworthy features of the temple: This temple boasts of a beautiful stone chariot drawn by horses. The Kalyana Mandapa within the temple has 16 pillars with bas reliefs depicting the incarnations of Vishnu with Lord Narasimha is the most frequently occuring. The artwork here has elements of similarity with that of Konark. Elephants, flowers and plants are portrayed in plenty. The outer walls of the sanctum also depict images of a royal personality (said to be King Narasimha) in various postures. Also depicted are images which portray cavourting couples in various poses of passionate love making. What is surprising is that inside a temple images of non-traditional, socially unacceptable sexual postures. I wonder sometimes why our society which was so open thousand years ago has become closed and conservative.
We have less than ten days to complete our journey of the past four months during which we have travelled across five countries (four in my case) and met with so many people. I am kinda feeling bad that the tour is coming to an end. But all good things have to come to an end and we have to resume our life back home... working and earning a living. So mentally I am preparing myself for a busy schedule once I return back to Bangalore.
Today we met up with two colleagues of Rajeev. Both were in awe of our adventure and one, Mr. Panda from Orissa is an aspiring traveller and biker who has similar dreams like ours. But is bound to his job and career like millions of fellow citizens and to a large extent even I was in his position until recently till I decided to live life on my terms, come what may. I hope I will be able to continue living life on my terms!!!!! When I think of this I wonder if it is possible or not... it is difficult especially in Indian scenario.. very very tough... but I am going to try doing it and hopefully I should succeed and at the end of my life look back and feel satisfied with the way I have lived.
April 3, 2007. Vishakhapatnam aka Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, India
Fantastic, smooth and wide roads, mango orchards and eastern ghats
We have reached Vishakhapatnam aka Vizag the coastal city of Northern Andhra Pradesh where India's famous ship building yard is located. The only large industries located here are the Vizag Steel, Indian Navy and the sole private entity HSBC Bank. Our host Rajeev works for HSBC back office operations and goes to work in the night shift, so here we are enjoying the much required rest during the end of our tour. As we rode from Berhampur to Vizag we could feel the perceptible change in the temperature. People in Bangalore complain that Vizag is hot, but they haven't been to Orissa...
Puri Jagannath temple is a fantastic piece of art, but the beauty has been marred by temple authorities who have constructed modern cement structures left right and center without any respect or consideration for the old temple. The 217 ft spire of the main temple is a sight to behold and I wish the modern constructions hadnt sprung up and the old temple remained as it was... it would have been a much glorious sight than now... anyway thanks to the spiritual significance the temple is thronged by thousands of devout Hindus every day.
An interesting feature of the temple is the annual Rath Yatra during which the local king sweeps the streets just before the lord's chariot passes. This custom was installed to make the king feel humble before the lord and the people. A wonderful custom indeed and great to see it being followed even today. If only the politicians learnt some humility from these cermonies our country would have been much much better place.
Yesterday as we rode from Puri to Berhampur... to make things faster and take in one more location we had taken a ferry ride across the mighty salt water lake Chilika which is the natural habitat for Irrawady Dolphins... since we were late and missed the big government ferry... we had to settle down for a small leaky wooden boat on which our bikes were tied up and I got stuck between and had to stand throughout the 45 minute boat ride across the lake. Even as the boat cut through the choppy waters of the lake we kept our fingers crossed because whenever anyone of us i.e. me, Kishore or the boatman moved the boat would tilt to one side... and unloading the bikes from the boat was one hell of an experience.
From where we got off the boat to the National Highway 5 off which Berhampur is located it 55 km, narrow, potholed and muddy, dusty road. To add to our woes the sun beat down on us mercilessly and it was surprising that though both sides of the road through most distance had small pools of water, channels or river the weater was hot... and inside our riding jackets... we were feeling as if we were melting inside... finally we reached Berhampur and settled down at our hosts place. Luckily on the road we were accosted by two reporters of daily newspapers who took our pictures and interviewed us... I guess a story will appear about Borderless Bikers in a day or two in the local papers.
Puri, Orissa, India
April 1, 2007. Busy roads, Heritage monuments and erotic sculpture
Started off from Samskrithi Bhavan at about 9.00 am and first went to Ashok's house for breakfast and to meet his very very hep, 74-yr-old, highly travelled and knowledgeable father. After a few minutes of chat with him about our tour and breakfast we proceeded out into the city to visit the birthplace of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (yes the great Bengali freedom fighter and founder of Indian National Army, was born in Orissa not in Bengal). But today being Sunday the museum was closed and we just saw the exterior and moved out of the city and hit the National highway 5 towards Bhubaneshwar. The road is busier than a mainroad in the city and we progressed carefully.
At Bhubaneshwar we took a detour and hit the Puri road and travelled till Pipli where we took another left turn towards Konark. The weather is burning and we were getting baked inside our riding jackets... we saw several water canals and were tempted to stop and take a dip but decided against it. We reached Konark at about 12.20 pm and first went to the well maintained museum which displays several excavated objects related to the Sun Temple. After about an hour and half at the Museum we moved to the Sun temple and wow... this is one hell of an architectural marvel. Tall, vast and highly intricate the stone temple is wonderfully executed work of art. It needs at least a weeks time to see everything properly in the temple campus. Entrance fee is only Rs.10 per person and luckily still photography is not charged.
One of the major highlights of the Konark Sun temple is the beautiful life like sculptures of humans carved on the exterior plinths of the temple. The entire exterior of the Natya Mandapa consists of beautifully proportionate and life like images of women dancers in various dance postures. The main temple's plinth is covered with several erotic sculptures and are really well executed. Wonder how the sculptors imagination worked or if there were live models for reference??? Anyway after about 3-4 hrs at Konark we proceeded towards Puri (35 km) on Orissa's Marine drive. The road passes through the Konark-Puri Wildlife sanctuary and is flanked by the ocean on left and forest on right. It was a wonderful ride from Konark to Puri and we enjoyed every bit of it.
Some examples of erotic sculptures in Konark
Puri is one hell of dirty and crowded town. There are temples everywhere
and touts offering to find you a cheap and good hotel everywhere. Narrow, overpopulated roads characterise the residential areas of the temple-town. We took a peek at the world-famous Jagannath temple and decided to enter it tomorrow.
Cuttack, Orissa, India
March 31, 2007. Bikes ready to move and attract attention
We took a day's rest at Cuttack mainly to get our bikes serviced the final time on this tour and also to do some website updating and trying to get things done. We met with a lot of nice people like Mr. Kamal and Ashok who took us to a south Indian restaurant and bought us breakfast. We visited Ashok's house and got a very warm welcome from the members of his family. They have invited us for breakfast tomorrow when we will meet the patriarch of this joint family.
We left our bikes for service at SUSHIL TVS and they were very very courteous and noted all the problems we had on our bikes. Like my bent crash guard, misshapen mirrors etc and also when we mentioned about our requirement of flags to fit on our bikes the manager Rajendra went all out and got the stand on our handles fabricated and flags printed and installed on our bikes. Now our bikes really look fantastic and like expedition motorcycles. All decked up and ready to move. Our plan is to move to Puri via Bhubaneshwar and Konark and halt for the night at Puri tomorrow. Some press people we met this morning have promised to visit us tomorrow early morning and interview us for their publications. Let us see how many keep up their word. Right now it is 1.10 am and I am trying to update the site.
Looking forward to reading your comments on our website, tour, mission etc. Please do post a few words on our guestbook. Thanks in advance.
Cuttack, Orissa, India
March 30, 2007. Two crashes in a day
Kishore came back from Bangladesh yesterday and we rode from Bongaon to Digha - a beach resort on West Bengal - Orissa border and stayed the night. This morning we visited the beach and the ancient Chandaneshwar Shiva temple and proceeded towards Cuttack at about 10 am. The initial 40 km of road from Chandaneswar to Jaleshwar was worse than Bihar roads... mud, sand and rocks were strewn all over the road. Our progress was very very slow till we hit the National highway 5. At about 1 pm we were riding near Balasore pretty slowly (30 km ph) and I had to brake suddenly due to a car braking hard infront of me and my bike skidded due to sand and I hit the ground. After that our progress was pretty fast on the superb roads of NH-5 which is part of the golden quadrilateral. But calamity struck as we entered Cuttack... as we were riding into the city looking for Samskruthi Bhavan where we were supposed to stay a cycle rickshaw suddenly crossed my path forcing me to brake and I skidded and this time the crash was pretty bad... my right knee is scraped and Cramster Tank Bag fell of the tank and has a hole now... the crash guard is bent, a big scratch on my head lamp faring, both mirrors out of shape, bent handle... lots of small damages... hopefully will be able to fix it tomorrow at the local TVS showroom... I think the front disc brakes are jamming and that is why I am falling too frequently... need to get them checked too..
Finally I was able to get the Intel Ultra Mobile PC to work and log on to the internet and during the remaining 15-16 days of our tour I will be updating the website regularly thanks to the PC. I wish it had worked earlier so we could have used it much better for our communication purposes. Anyway I am glad it is finally working and couldn't have asked for more from Intel. I hope it will continue to work the same way till we reach home. Thousands of mosquitoes are attacking me even as I am writing this update so I am going to close it here and hit the sack... need to get up at 6 am and proceed with our work. Diary writing and website updating has been pending since a long time and I want to complete it asap. Look at our picture galleries for new pictures uploaded recently. UP roads.
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
March 17, 2007. Retracing our route from Baghdogra to Kishanganj and travelling through Bengali heartland
After completing NE India, Myanmar we returned to Siliguri and moved up into the lush green hills of the mystic land of Sikkim. The tiny state which is as big as a district in UP or West Bengal has several natural, cultural and religious attractions. The state which was under dispute with China until recently has made remarkable progress in terms of power generation, telecom and tourism. Every small town here is connected with internet and mobile networks.
We stayed two days at Sikkim Manipal University, Gangtok and visited the various sights of Gangtok including Namgyal Institute of Tibeteology, Hanuman Tok, Ganesh Tok, the Himalayan Zoological Park and also took a ride on the famed Gangtok Ropeway.
In my opinion apart from the scenic valley views and the panoramic views of Mt. Kanchendzoonga, India's tallest mountain, Gangtok's must see locale is the Himalayan Zoological Park. This is perhaps one of the few zoos in the country where animals are kept in near natural conditions. The experience of walking across the vast mountainside which houses the Zoo is akin to walking through an evergreen forest full of wildlife. The authorities have made some really good view points at each enclosure where one has to struggle to sight the wildlife. I specially enjoyed watching seven leopard cubs playing like kittens in their enclosure. The sloth bear, Indian civet, Indian leopard etc are all in vast green enclosures. A must see for every visitor to Gangtok. After Gangtok we took a ride to Namchi to view the giant statue of Padmasambhava aka Namdrup Tse and returned to Siliguri via Jorethang and Darjeeling.
After taking a day's rest in Siliguri and another day halt due to the Nandigram violence we started towards Kolkata and halted at Berhampore (403 km) and reached here today. (220 km)
Imphal, Manipur, India
March 1, 2007. Travelling through strife torn North East India
We have finally reached Imphal, the capital city of Manipur and the getway to Myanmar... Morey the border town is only 105 km from here and Tamu the other side of the border is about 135 km. We have to give a million thanks to Border Roads Organisation's officers and staff for courteously accommodating us in their officers' messes along the way from Dimapur, Nagaland and Imphal. It is only because of their cooperation (especially that of Brigadier Pandey, chief engineer, Project Sevak) and the wishes and enthusiasm with which Col. Rajan has helped us get in touch with Brig. Pandey that has seen us this far. Brig Pandey has gone out of the way to help us get a permit to cross over into Myanmar which should be arriving in a day or two after which we will move and cross one more border.
But right now we are stuck in Manipur for at least the next three days due to a Bandh called by one of the dozen militant groups operating here. I frankly don't understand why they are disruptig public life instead of actively participating in the progress of the state. Imphal city which is a state capital is worse than a 'C' class town in Karnataka. Dirty streets, clogged drains and armies of mosquitoes characterise the town.
One good thing about the state is the immense respect women are accorded here. It is a matrilineal society and women call the shots. Militant groups award capital punishments to those who commit crimes against women here. We visited the market of the town and saw a wide array of jungle produce being sold for consumption. Will update again in a few days.
Keep visiting our site for further updates.
Guwahati, Assam, India
February 22, 2007. Borderless bikers cross borders again
This time to return to India. We did a 360 km non stop ride from Jaigaon to Guwahati yesterday on the National Highway which passes through a Tiger reserve and some fantastically plain roads. After riding through curvaceous, narrow and up and down roads of Nepal and Bhutan this stretch of road was a good respite. We head towards Myanmar border from here towards Dimapur, Kohima and Imphal. Keep visiting our site for further updates.
Paro, Bhutan, where Bhutan's sole airport is sited.
February 18, 2007. Borderless bikers cross borders again
Crossing borders first of the states and now of nations seems to have become a routine and a simple process for us (of course of those countries which are friendly with India). We crossed out of Nepal into India through the Birganj-Raxaul border and rode across India's most backward state (Bihar) where fields are better and flatter than roads and entered into West Bengal. After getting stuck in Siliguri for a day due to incessant rains we proceeded to the twin towns of Jaigaon-Phuntsoling on India-Bhutan border and today after clearing necessary entry and motorcycle permit formalities we formally entered the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan.
Bhutan vistas as we enter the country
Entry formalities It is fairly simple for Indians on motorcycles to enter Bhutan. One has to produce any the following documents for self identification to get an immigration pass for entry into Bhutan.
a. A central government issued identity card such as [i] Passport; [ii] Voter identity card; [iii] Valid driving licence; or any other photo identity card and two passport size photographs
b. For entry on motorcycles one has to carry the following documents: [i] RC Book; [ii] Insurance valid in Bhutan; [iii] Valid Indian driving licence or International driving permit (preferable).
Important: Carry atleast three photocopies of each of the above documents. Apply for the RSTA (Road Safety and Traffic Authority), Royal Government of Bhutan, only after your immigration pass is obtained. One has to enclose a copy of the immigration pass along with the documents mentioned and write an application on plain paper addressed to "Base Officer", RSTA, Phuntsoling, Bhutan" and pay a fee of Rs.40 to get the motorcycle permit and ride through Bhutan. To visit the eastern part of Bhutan one has to obtain an Special Motorcycle Permit and Immigration Permit" at Thimpu. We plan to exit Bhutan at the other border with India which would enable us to enter Assam directly instead of travelling back to Hashimara and Alipur Duar. We have to see if we can get the Special Permit to do so. Because of excessive ULFA activities that road is currently managed by Indian BSF and SSB so tourist movement on that road is restricted. Let us try our luck. Our readers across the globe please pray for our success.
Pokhara, Nepal. February 6, 2007. Borderless bikers cross borders
We have finally crossed borders into our neighbouring state Nepal. There are 12 legal border crossings between India and Nepal but right now only one (Sanauli-Siddharthnagar) is open. Communal trouble in Gorakhpur has closed that border. Biratnagar, Birganj, Kakarvita and Pasupathinagar are closed because of trouble in Nepal. Hence we have been advised to retrace our steps and ride back into India via Sanauli border. This will set us back by another week because we will have to head east from Basti into UP and Bihar and then touch West Bengal and Sikkim before entering Bhutan.
Visiting Orphanage and helping in fund raising
We visited Education Centre for Poor and Helpless Children in Pokhara where 150 children aged between 4-9 are studying English medium. Promoted in 1998 by one Agni Prasad Siwakoti, the school provides English medium education to its children. Currently running in dire straits Siwakoti informed us that if doesn't get proper donations by April he might be forced to close down the school. We felt sad and immediately decided to do something about it. We discussed with Mr. Vijay Rastogi, owner of Hotel Gorkhalee Dhee, where we are staying and another shopkeeper, both agreed to keep a donation box to help raise funds for the school. Today (Feb 6, 2007) we introduced them to Siwakoti and things are on the way now. I hope the school will fun for long time.
Baglung, curvaceous roads of Nepal and Saligrama (fossil) Hunting river Kali Gandaki
After Butwal we headed straight for Baglung the base camp for Mukthinath pilgrimage shrine. The speciality of this locale is the fossils, revered as Saligrama by Hindus in India. There are fossils available in the bed of River Kali Gandaki. We decided to head to Kali Gandaki and hunt for fossils before going to Pokhara. The road from Butwal to Pokhara is highly curvaceous and takes one from valley to valley climbing up and descending down the mountain slopes. On the way to Baglung we ate local dish Nepali Roti, a rice preparation very interesting looking and tasty too or was it... we were hungry and didn't notice.... While returning from Baglung we got stuck in sudden rains and got quite drenched by the time we reached Pokhara.
  
Palpa, Nepal. February 3, 2007. First Camping experience
After proceeding from Lumbini we stopped at KC TVS Butwal to get Kishore's bike tube changed. After this we visited Glory Boarding School and gave a talk to its students and teachers about quality education. It got delayed and we could leave Butwal only at 4.00 pm. It becomes dark in Nepal by 5.30 pm and we could proceed only about 35 km. Finding a clean, flat patch of land by a clear stream we pitched our tents and spent the night in the wild. But the tent was not water proof and it got quite cold by morning. We waited for sun rise and then Kishore wanted to shave and did it in the stream using the bikes mirror. I have long given up shaving and have cultivated a lush beard now.
  
Lumbini, our first stop in Nepal
We stopped at Lumbini, the birthplace of Bhagwan Buddha. The Nepal government has earmarked a vast area of 3 sq miles to develop a heritage, cultural and spiritual center in the middle of a protected forest. Currently the forests house lots of endangered blue bulls - we sighted few of them. Look like a cross between a Nilgai and a cow... the animals look stately and run like horses. The buddha images in and around the heritage site are very beautiful and depict the serenity wich only buddhist shrines do.
Lucknow, January 28, 2007. After the first crash on the tour... Srinidhi
After spending couple of days in Haridwar and witnessing the colourful Ganga Arathi at the Parmarth Ashram in Rishikesh and also interacting with children and teachers at the Paramarth Gurukul we departed towards Lucknow on January 27, 2007. My plan was to stop for the night at Barelly but Kishore wanted to experience "riding in the fog" and hence insisted that we don't stop and proceed to Lucknow... and after crossing about 90 km we stopped at a Dhaba in Shahjahanpur for dinner and Kishore promptly slept off there on a charpoy... I sat down unable to sleep and wrote my diary and watched some boring movies on TV. At 5.00 am in the morning we started off towards Lucknow and realised that the road was completely fogged out... and stopped again at a Petrol bunk... but then Kishore was again adamant that we move on and we moved on towards Lucknow in the fog.
We saw several trucks, buses, tractors, cars battered in accidents due to less visibility in the fog. Thinking it would be best to follow a moderately fast truck for better lighting I moved behind a truck and was at a steady 50 km per hour when another truck suddenly came from behind and tried to overtake me and the truck in front. But since there was another truck coming from the other side, the truck cut in front of me and I slammed the brakes... the next moment I was being dragged on the road along with the bike... luckily there was no truck behind me otherwise I would have joined the ranks of the dearly departed... Anyway a villager came running and helped me get up and get the bike up also... muddy, bruised and my arms and legs paining I stood there shaken and trying to recover. My left wrist and knee were paining a lot. My jeans was in tatters and thanks to my long johns (inner pant) my knee was not hurt much... and thanks to the riding jacket bought at Cramster, Bangalore my arm and shoulder was safe. After resting some more time, meanwhile Kishore had arrived, we both proceeded towards Lucknow.
On the way at Kamalapur we visited a Sanskrit Vidyapeeth and interacted with the faculty and students of the 116 year old institution sited on a sprawling, antique building which also houses vast Krishna and Shiva temples. After a good interaction we moved to Lucknow and arrived here at 4.00 pm.... after a good bath I applied medicines on my wounds and it is still burning... I hope I will be able to ride soon....
Haridwar, January 25, 2007.
We spent over 15 days in Delhi during the first half and the second half of the month. Pakistan embassy refused to give us visa to enter the country by road. The only traditional three options Bus, Rail or Air were offered to us. We are not interested to travel into Pakistan by any other mode of transport and refused the visa. The only other option they gave us was to change our nationality i.e. a US, Canadian or European if we want to enter Pakistan by road on our own vehicles. All that crap on Bike nomads about asbestos part is all bullshit... it has gotta to do with our nationality that is all. Indian workers are welcomed everywhere in the world but not Indian travellers... That is what we discovered when we applied for a visa to Myanmar. The visa officer just said "You want to visit Myanmar, welcome. But don't even dream of entering our country by road and leave alone by motorcycle. We have banned all motorcycles from Myanmar."
I suppose this is the result of an attempt on the life of the junta sometime 2000-01 by a motorcycle borne assasin, since then the country has been systematically banning motorcyles from their soils.
This came as a big blow to our original plans so now in the first phase of our world tour we are covering only five countries and not eight. We will be visiting India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Srilanka only. Mileage will reduce to about 18,000 km. Next phase we will fly to Bangkok with our bikes and complete rest of SE Asia and Australia. We have got visa for Malaysia and on enquiring with Singapore Tourism Board, they were even interested in sponsoring our Singapore part of our tour as they want to promote adventure tourism in Singapore. But tough luck this time we can't go to Singapore.
Delhi, January 3, 2007.
It has been long since I updated the website, 15 days to be precise. Now that we received the ultra mobile pc from Intel we will definitely be able to and upload our trip stories and pictures regularly. Perhaps once in 2-3 days. We reached Delhi on January 1st the new years day... riding from Agra, Mathura, Goverdhanagiri etc, through the fog when the visibility was hardly 10 ft. The bone chilling cold bit us no end and it was tough to decide whether to stay where we were or to move ahead to Delhi. But better reasoning and our work ahead took over and we rode like maniacs and reached Delhi in the evening. Cold and hungry, we settled down in the guest house of MP Sadananda Gowda who has kindly provided us accommodation.
Will upload pictures and stories of our entire trip within the next week. Hang on and be patient please and don't stop visiting our website.
Aurangabad, December 16, 2006.
Reached here last night really late at 11.00 pm after riding through the night on Maharashtra state highway 30 from Nashik. We were lucky to have had a host Dr. Anant Pandare who had arranged our accommodation at the Dr. Hedgewar Hospital Guesthouse. This hospital managed by a charitable trust is one of the leading health care institutions in the bustling commercial town. The hospital mainly caters to the poor and downtrodden populous of the district at cost price basis and is very popular. Though owned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which is popularly perceived anti-minority, the hospital is popular among Muslim community which forms over 20 percent of its clientele
After a good night's sleep we got up in the morning and began exploring the city and also looked up the local TVS dealership Mahesh TVS, who were highly cooperative and immediately solved the brake light jamming on Kishore's bike and also arranged for a press meet in the evening.
Soon we left to take in the local sights the most popular and visited monument in the town is the Bibi Ka Maqbara aka Baby Taj
built in memory of Moghul ruler Aurangzeb's wife
Rabia Ul Dawani alias Dilras Banu Begum by son Prince Azam Shah. According the signboards the mausoleum took over a decade to construct between AD 1651 to 1661 and was designed by Ata Ullah and Hanspat Rai was the engineer of the monument. Designed on the same lines as the Taj Mahal in Agra, this is made of limestone and plaster unlike marble of the original. It cost an enormous sum of Rs.668,203.5 to complete the monument.
 
Baby Taj views
Another interesting but highly damaged monument in the town is the Aurangabad Fort which has a moat around it currently filled with the town's sewage. The fort walls run across a distance over 15 km and have 52 gateways named differently and till date around 42 of these gateways exist and serve as major intersections in the city.
Panchukki
Another interesting monument we visited is the Panchukki or the Water driven flour mill. This unique mechanism was used to achieve dual benefits for the towns populous, water supply from a well about 6 km away and use the same water to run the mill to gring flour between two flat rocks. It uses the medieval style of architecture called Naher to bring water from Sangolia Well by earthen pipes. Then the water is raised by a siphon to the top of a rectangular tower from it plunges into a large pool below. The Panchukki was built in 1744 AD to commemorate Russsian religious teacher Hazrat Baba Shah Musafir's visit to Aurangabad.
After a brief exploration of Panchukki and another fort entrance nearby we visited the Aurangabad caves. Yes! Apart from the globally renowned caves of Ajanta and Ellora caves closeby, Aurangabad has its own series of 13 caves in a nearby mountain and is hardly 5 km from the city center. The caves have predominantly Buddhist and Hindu sculptures and one can easily say these caves provide a sneak preview of the splendour that one is about to get in Ajanta and Ellora caves.
Aurangabad Caves
If you feel that we are doing something cool and want to help. E-mail us to find out how you can help us?
We need the following types of support!
- Offer a place to stay for few days
- Sponsor fuel for one or more legs of the journey
- If you are an editor/ publisher, buy our travel stories
- Get us publicity in your local newspapers, TV or radio
- We need a video camera to shoot our tour. Can you lend us one? Don't worry we will guard it with our lives and return it to you in the same condition.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please free to e-mail us.
|
