v_310

saw the thread today only! fantastic ride, well narrated.

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animeher

So close, yet so far - Day 8

We started towards Tanot at 9 a.m. The path is straightforward, with no probability of getting lost unless one is drunk or stupid – or both.

While going, we saw a windmill farm. A large amount of huge windmills are continuously spinning, to power up Jaislamer.



About 12 k.m.s from Jaisalmer, we reached Bada Bagh. At Bada bagh, there are cenotaphs (aka Chhatris) of Jaisalmer rulers, dating from 15th century till 1950s. A cenotaph is built in memorial of the dead. This tradition was ongoing till recent, but due to death of a prince by a mysterious disease, it was stopped in 1947.







A large number of cenotaphs are situated here, and seeing the dates on each, one really goes back in time. A very serene, serious place.







Later, we joined the main road to head to Tanot. Riding on this road was the most fun I had in entire Rajasthan ride. Initially we encountered a few trucks going on opposite way, and as the wind was blowing towards us, the air blast when the trucks passed would hit us like a brick. I started leaning whenever a truck came in opposite direction to avoid this hit, and after 2-3 such slaps, even Nandinee started to lean!

Later, the number of trucks went down, and empty roads stretched their hands to welcome us. At one such stretch, I leaned and started giving throttle. The speedometer 90 KMPH.-94-98-100-102 KMPH. The fastest I ever rode with a pillion. But it was not enough. Again on a second stretch, I leaned with the hand twisted, and Vesta touched 107 KMPH. After bringing her to normal speed (around 85 KMPH on that road), I sat straight, when I heard Nandinee’s voice: “Hit it again!”



On next stretch, same exercise. We reached 107 KMPH, but then the roads started to get a little bumpy. We got back to normal speed, and then a goat decided to jump in the path and dance its way to the opposite side! Then it struck me this is not the right place to see the top speed, and we rode sedately from then on.

Racing with a camel cart!



Some on road scenes











There is one Ghantyali Mata Mandir, with ‘First Darshan’ board. So parked Vesta there, and took Darshan. The story mentions that Pakistani soldiers tried to destroy that temple. It was shocking to imagine that where we were testing top speed were there Pakistani soldiers trying to capture the same land!





We reached Tanot Mata Mandir at around 1.30 p.m. This temple is depicted in the movie ‘Border’ too. In 1965 war, Pakistan had attacked with some 3000 bombs. 450 bombs fell around the temple, but the temple was not damaged even one bit. Similarly in 1971, hundreds of enemy tanks and vehicles were destroyed by Indian Army and were forced to retreat.









Some calves in temple campus, trying to eat my jeans away!



The main point of today’s trip was to see Bordar Pillar no. 609, the last accessible point to civilians. After some 100 meters from this pillar, Pakistan border starts. The norm for this trip was to ask permission at Tanot Mandir checkpost, which was supposedly easily given, and head further 15 kms for the pillar. But this was not to be so.

The army post had new set of rules now, stopping everyone at the Tanot Mandir only. It was shocking to know that after traveling 150kms, we would be stopped for last 15 kms. Even Longewala was out of reach for civilians. Some Jaisalmer taxiwallahs had blamed the Army about taking bribe for letting people to the border pillar, so Army had decided to stop the whole affair fully. We were told we needed permission from Jaisalmer office or Ramgarh office, which was situated about 60 kms behind!

We argued, hassled and nagged the sentry, the officers and whoever we could find in army uniform for about an hour. Even caught hold of a medical officer who had come for a visit, but the answer didn’t change. Some soldiers even explained to us:

“What’s there to see? Nothing! Same as here. See, it’s like this. You see that gate? There is a similar gate there, only big in size. In this place, there is a floodlight there, and there, there is a bunker!”

One even shared his experience:

“When I joined the army, I was all excited to see the border. ‘Oh I want to see the border!’ But when I reached there, I thought, ‘enough of the border, I want to return!’”

It was hard to swallow that we were stopped just 15 kms from the point we came to see, and that too just because of some stupid taxi walla’s fault. That day, we realized that interacting with army people is vastly different than interacting with traffic police or even usual police. Army personnel are not reasonable or negotiable, they only follow orders. So unless you have a permit from the upper authority, you can be sure their first answer to be their final one.

With heavy heart, we headed back to Jaisalmer. The roads brushed away our sadness again. Riding the same roads on the way back was still enjoyable and not boring as I had thought.







Lunch at Tanot is a serious problem, with no hotels around. One has to go back to Ramgarh for having anything to eat. So we suggest you carry your food all the way from Jaisalmer, if you want to avoid the hunt for hotels. We had our lunch at Ramgarh, that too we selected dhaba which was least dirty of all! So beware and bring your food with you.





It was a fast blazing ride back to Jaisalmer, because we remembered there was some puppet show at about 6.30p.m. near Gadisar lake. So we hoped to reach in time for that show. It was already 6.40p.m. till we finally found the place where the shows were conducted, but the ticket counter people let us in. We sat with full motorcycling gear, and stole the show for a few moments where everyone thought we too would be playing some part in the show!

The show lasted for about 40 minutes, had 4-5 puppet performance and commentary by founder Mr. Sharma. This 83 year old man still has the passion for true Jaisalmer tradition. It was touching to hear from him how Jaisalmer was 50 years ago, how the immigrants would pass the city in 1947 divide, how the town lost its place in business due to sea ports, and how the tradition was now getting sidestepped for money.

The day was spent well, and even though we couldn't see the border, the roads made up for it.

Attending unfinished business - Day 9

We were supposed to be in Jodhpur by day end today. In Maharashtra, I would have planned this 300km ride over the day, but Rajasthan roads have given me enough confidence to first see the rest of Jaisalmer and then after lunch start for Jodhpur.

The bike had gone to reserve, which showed the mileage figure was around 40-43 KMPL, and not 50 as I had expected. While this was the result of high speed riding, the reason I was concerned about the mileage was, I wanted as least petrol in the bike as possible before giving it to Jodhpur railway station a day later. That’s why, I was keeping an eye on the odometer to keep the perfect balance between having least amount of petrol balance verses getting stranded on roads with no petrol!

We decided to visit Sam desert. Sam is almost as famous as Jaisalmer, and is a major tourist spot nowadays. Simply the prospectus of getting to ride 100 kms more (to and fro Sam) made me say yes to this plan.

The path is same as yesterday’s one, but we take a right for Lodhruva some 12 kms further. There is some place named Amarsagar on way, which houses a lake. But seeing the dried lake from the road, we decided to skip it and head straight to Lodhruva. It was as if a style to name dried lakes as ‘Sagar’!.

Lodhruva has Jain temples dating from 1500s, with detailed carvings. There is said to be a cobra living in the campus!

Outside the temple, we found a seller selling stones. Upon close inspection, we found these stones were famous for forming curd out of milk, without any addition. You just need to stir the stone in milk and wait for the curd to form. We bought a few such stones, and nicked a few as part of the bargain! I was bit skeptical and was planning to mount these stones to some small trophy as a memorial of how even educated people get fooled, but the stone actually formed curd at home!

After Lodhruva, we rode further, and took a left for Sam. These inner roads are in fair condition, but not as good as the butter smooth main roads. While riding, we noticed a board ‘parasailing’, and saw a parachute and a jeep in middle of a plain land. A car was just turning towards it, so we followed suit.

The parasailing here was actually motorsailing, where you are tied with the blown up parachute at the back of the jeep, and as the jeep gathers speed, you get airborne. The cost of 5 minutes of such flying was 500 bucks, and when we saw the other people doing this, it was actually lasting for only a minute or so. 500 bucks for staying in air for a minute didn’t seem much value for money for both of us, so just clicked a few snaps of Vesta resting in the field, and moved on.





We reached Sam at around 11.00 a.m. The moment we entered the border of Sam Dunes (which is actually 4kms before Sam village), two people started running with the bike, holding my hand! Damn! I had to stop the bike for the fear of falling with those two!

Turned out they were some camel riders trying to lure us to get on the camels for ride. The sand was too hot to get in, and we both are not that crazy about camel ride, so bid goodbye to the two, and rode further. The Sam Dunes last for about half or so kms touching road, and are spread inwards. We couldn’t get any better photos, firstly because of scorching heat, and secondly because of camel owners trying to get in each and every frame!









We came back to Jaisalmer at 12.00, and were ready to depart at about 1.30 p.m. from Hotel Payal. The hotel’s checkout time was 10.00 a.m., so here too we had kept the luggage in reception room. We geared up in front of the hotel, gathering quite a number of spectators in the process, and rolled on for a fast ride towards Jodhpur.

At Pokhran









Vesta munched up kilometer after kilometer, soon each stop fell behind. At a village, I thought I was seeing things, when I saw some peacocks on the roadside. Turned out there were actually many peacocks there, which were quite used to humans. Some even were spotted crossing the road slowly!



It turned dark soon, and Vesta started to go in reserve. I filled small quantities of petrol, while calculating the remaining distance by the milestones in way. In second such stop, when I filled only 30 rupees of petrol, the petrol disbursing person was surprised:

“Sir! Jodhpur is still far away, how come you are taking only 30 rupees of petrol?!”
“Don’t worry brother, this bike gives good mileage! Even 30 rupees petrol is too much!”

His mouth turned a round O, and had Nandinee not laughed at that particular moment giving out my lie, I am sure he would have a great story to tell his buddies for a long time!

We reached our hotel in Jodhpur at about 8.30 p.m. One incidence with the pigeons was enough for me to decide to find another parking. As it was late, I parked just in front of the hotel’s street, in the center of a three road junction! Prayed that may she be safe from any curious hand, we moved inside.

The hotel is very welcoming, and we were comfortable in no time. Had a dinner and crashed on bed. Nandinee was lost in sleep fast, I was caught up by some movie, when at 1’o clock I remembered I forgot the throttle lock on the bike! I ran outside to fetch it, when I heard someone approaching. I waited with held breath to let him pass, then saw a cow sleepwalking! Fetched the throttle lock, and decided that the movie can wait, let's sleep now!

Lotus fort - Day 10

We were up and running by 10.00 a.m. Just last night, we spotted ‘Omlette Shop’ which was very near to our hotel. This shop is mentioned in almost every guide book, and says the person sells 100s of omlettes, and been doing this daily for over 30 years! Man, that is a huge opportunity loss for chicken populace! After having omlette here, we didn’t feel it is too extraordinary or anything. Just good breakfast at normal price!

The first stop of the day was Umaid Bhavan Palace. Head for museum entry, not palace entry, because the palace is now – you guessed it correct, a hotel! So only a portion of the palace is now open for public.









The palace is very huge and beautifully maintained. But we noticed they are constructing a large number of classic looking buildings around the palace. Guess for Taj the palace is not enough, and maybe we’ll soon have a ‘Umaid Bhavan Annexe’!

After the museum, we went to Jodhpur railway station for knowing the timing at which Vesta was to be handed over for journey to Pune tomorrow. The parcel office informed us to submit the bike in late evening. This was actually relieving that we would be accompanied by Vesta for full day, otherwise we would be at mercy of public transport and rickshawallas.

After lunch, we rushed to Mehrangarh fort, which was supposed to be very near to our guest house. But after going through a strangling maze of dirtiest roads we have seen and filthiest conditions people operate in, we were more than eager to finally reach someplace clean.

The road connecting Mehrangarh to the city was having some work, so people had to take long cut to reach there. In order to save our kilometers, the people themselves decided let them go through the narrowest and steepest ways possible to save petrol! After crossing that maze, we finally found ourselves on the Mehrangarh base.

We opted for audio tour for this fort, as Lonely planet said it was worth it. The person giving us the audio tour equipment was so fully charged, and the way he told us all the directions and instructions was really interesting!

The audio tour IS worth it. And importantly, the equipment has two audio slots (3.5mm jacks), though they give only one earset. If you have a spare one of your mp3 player, you can put it in the second one and two can listen. We had one with us, so both of us could enjoy the tour together.

The blue houses of Brahmins



Mehrangarh fort inside























View of Jaswant Thada from fort



View of Umaid Bhavan palace from fort



The fort is very beautiful, but at the same time, the approach roads go through the worst paths I have seen. It is as if a lotus has bloomed in a mud pond! Don’t mind the mud if you value the lotus!

Jaswant Thada, a monument constructed in carved sheets of marble ,is a traditional cremation ground of Jodhpur rulers located very near to the fort. But it gets closed at 5 p.m., so couldn’t see it. Maybe next time!

We went to the railway station for giving the bike. After getting the bike packed for 110 bucks (which I feel is perfect price, anything above Rs. 150 is not worth the service), we started to remove the petrol. Vesta’s huge belly has many spots for petrol to hide. After a tiring session of rolling and twisting the bike, we finally managed to dry up the petrol tank.

But soon the parcel office informed us, that for booking as luggage, we had to give the bike tomorrow only, and we couldn’t keep it in the premises for the night! We had to keep it in the nearby parking and come back early tomorrow morning. But after the removal of all petrol, Vesta had to be pushed to the parking lot, which was at quite some distance. So I put back around 1 liter of petrol back into her. Later I realized that I didn’t connect the petrol pipe below the tank back to the carburrator, meaning all the petrol had easy exit to the ground! But to my great surprise, not a single drop was dropped! Seemed Vesta gulped that 1 liter of petrol and not a drop fell out of the open fuel knob! Damn! So now I was looking forward for a morning exercise to pull out that 1 liter again!

We put the bike into the parking, and chose to walk back to hotel. Had ice creams in some shop, there was one named ‘Banaras Paan’, and it actually tasted like I was eating the Paan. In fact, it was so realistic, I got bored half way and switched the ice creams with Nandinee. Heym I am not Paan addict!

Further, we saw a Paanipuri shop, and went in with great expectations. That was, undisputedly, THE worst paanipuri in my living memory. Everything had come together in its worst form to create such a wonderful taste. Nandinee as usual backed off after tasting one, and I had to endure the rest of the plate.

We returned to the guest house for packing and dinner. We had planned to sleep early, as tomorrow we would have to wake up as early as possible, for Vesta’s check in. But packing stuff took a good deal of time, and finally we put our backs on the bed at 12.00 midnight.

Return to base – Day 11

The train’s time from Jodhpur was 5.50 a.m. But we had to take the bike from the parking, submit it to luggage office and make sure it boards the train with us. So we left the hotel at 3.45 a.m. only. Paid the highest amount for least distance in my life! The rickshaw charge for around 1.5kms distance was 100 Rs! Guess we paid the rikshawala for his getting up early, and got the ride for free.

I woke up the fast asleep guard at the parking, and got hold of Vesta. I was bit worried how she would start; now that the kick was tied. Luckily, in 3-4 cranks of the starter, she roared to life and got on road. Me and Nandinee stationed ourselves in front of the luggage office, and started the tedious ritual of removing petrol from Vesta’s belly. This way turn, that way bend, this way tilt, that way push, after 20 agonizing minutes of heavy exercise that we finally stopped hearing the sound of petrol after the bike was shaken.

It was 4.30 a.m., and the luggage office which was supposed to open at 4.00 a.m. was still closed. The train was already warming itself up on the platform in front. Helped Nandinee board the train, and again got back to the office waiting for the staff. Finally found him sitting in the parcel office. Got the bike booked in real quick, and boarded on the train. The coolies on the station were haggling for some chai pani, so after a quick bargaining session at 5.15 a.m., paid them 60 bucks and finally settled in the train. Sleep had already taken control of me, and I don’t even remember when I climbed up the top rack and fell asleep!

I woke up to some pushing and prodding, to see Nandinee waking me up out of hunger.

“Aniruddha, there is no pantry car!”
“What?!”
“No pantry car!”

But this wasn’t a Garib Rath train not to have a pantry car! But the railway staff confirmed this, so we had to collect and accumulate food whenever opportunity arose. But later we realized that wasn’t actually necessary. The regulars on this train were used to this, and they had cards of hotels on the next stations. So they would just call the hotel and say “deliver 3 plates of lunch to coach B3 – seat 32-33 & 34 in Jodhur Pune express, which will arrive after 1.5 hours”, and the hotel would actually send the delivery boy with the packets!

The train waited a whooping 1 hour on Ahmedabad station. Had it been previously announced, we would see some spot or atleast go in some restaurant! When the train finally moved from Ahmadabad, we were convinced that we would reach Pune late, and not possible on scheduled time.

This was our last night outside home. Tomorrow we would finally sleep in our usual comfortable bed. The thought kept us warm and happy through the night.

No place like home – Day 12

The train reached Pune unexpectedly at dot time, 5.00 a.m. Guess the 1 hour wait at Ahmadabad was planned after all!

I was prepared for some cheating and bribing at Pune, because of previous experiences of friends. The bike luckily was in good shape, without any visible damage or anything. I pushed the 150kg horse all the way on the platform to go to the parcel office. The person at the office released the bike really quick, surprising even himself I think!

When I started getting the bike outside, a watchman stopped me. As expected, he started to check the bike for petrol. When I showed the petrol pipe from below pulled out for removing petrol, poor fellow’s face was sunk. He started telling stories, sitting here from 7 p.m. yesterday, this and that, now pls give some money! Gave 20 bucks to him, and got out. Again poured the petrol I was carrying back into Vesta, and brought herself to life.

Nandinee was waiting outside station with the luggage. When I reached there, some rickshawalas started asking us to take the ride.

“How will you take this entire luggage on motorcycle? You will need a rickshaw!”

But after seeing each and everything getting nicely put back and tied on the bike, the awe on their faces was very much visible.

We reached home at 6.15 a.m., which was quite early than what I had anticipated. When I pulled the bike into the parking, our landlord woke up; completely surprised to see us after 15 days all geared up this early hour.

“Had a good trip?”
“Well, yes, you can say that again!”

Epilogue

Got the luggage back into home, opened all the windows to let fresh air in, and quickly checked Vesta for any possible damage. I smelled a strong burning smell, which I feared was due to lack of oil. But it turned out the plastic thread used for tying the gunny bags was sticking with the engine, so when the engine turned hot, it burned.

With all things now back in place, and life all set to roll back on routine, we finally sat together in silence, having hot smoking cups of tea between us. Nobody felt the need to say any words, or start any conversation. In the 1851 kms of riding, the conversations no longer needed to be only verbal.

Finally Nandinee broke the silence.

“It was fun, isn’t it?
“Yeah.”
“We should do this again sometime.”
“Yep.”
“So where should we head the next time?”
“Hmm. How about Leh?”

————————————————————-The End————————————————————-

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Bhogvan

He was true. Congrats for getting a partner like that. Not many are lucky like you.

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animeher

Thanks Bhogvan!

Posted the last writeup of the series. Hope the readers enjoyed the log!

v_310

The end? c'mon... pictures of Leh do not do any justice to the real thing! I god married in Jun '08 and did a solo Leh trip two months later - my wife couldn't come along do to an intensified job search.

I'm hoping to do the ride again this year with you guys - provided leaves in August work out well for me and my wife!

Fingers crossed, lets see!

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animeher

@v_310: I am planning Leh ride in August 10, maybe first and second week. Will keep that thread updated.

v_310

^^ yup. am following that thread closely.

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For immediate sale - PM me for a quote and/or more info - xbox 360 elite edition plus an assortment of game CD's.

animeher

I noticed the first two pages were too heavy, so moved the posts around to make reading and loading the pages easier.

HydroXidE

Hey Ani... awesome thread ..
I'm happy you went ahead with this trip after planning it for a long time..

Stunning pictures mate !!!! .. really nice trip log ..

You've got my vote .. ..

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himanshumm

@animeher

Brilliant stuff brother!!! Must Congrats you on completing this trip sucessfully & hope peacefully too (Hope ur wife didnt shout at you he he
well deserving log for BTBC .. count +1 vote from my side..
Best Wishes..