moeed

Date: 06/11/2008

Distance covered: 600 km


Day 0

It was 5 th November. I returned home in the evening after my practical exam. I was frustrated since the exam was tough and I didn’t even sleep last night. There was a 10 day gap before my theory exams would begin. So I thought of going on a long ride since I would be busy the whole month with exams. Called up my cousin and asked him if he could accompany me on the ride. He was ready for it. So we thought for a while and zeroed on Gulbarga. The initial plan was to start on 6 th since I was very tired and wanted some sleep. I told him that we would start at 6 am the next day. But my cousin was the adventure seeker and suggested that we would start a bit early around 4 am. I was somewhat skeptical with his idea as it would mean riding at night. But he insisted upon doing so. I thought for a while and came up with a much better plan. I suggested that we would start at 12 am and do a complete night ride. He agreed with my idea. So I had my dinner and went to his house at 11:30 pm. We chatted for a while, wore jackets and gloves since it was very cold outside and started at sharp 12 am.


Day 1

Filled the tank and we were on the NH 9 in no time. I decided to ride slowly since I was doing a night ride on the highway for the first time. So I maintained speeds between 70-80 km/h. The roads were fine till about 30 km and as soon as we crossed Sangareddy, the roads became worse. My bike hit the potholes several times and I had slow down the bike to 50 km/h. If this was not enough, there were the lorry and bus drivers who were overtaking like maniacs. There were so many potholes that we couldn’t even count them. Sometimes the speeds went down to 30 km/h. I had to do harsh braking many times to avoid the potholes and due to the overtaking vehicles. On top of that, every one was driving with high beam and those almost blinded me several times. We somehow managed and reached Zaheerabad and took a stop of 10 minutes. We had covered 100 km in 2 hours.

Started off from there and took a right turn from the NH 9 for Bidar (by mistake) which was actually a longer route. Bidar was 25 km from here. The roads were smooth now but at the same time it was pitch dark with not vehicle around. So we decided to rip on this stretch. I maintained a speed of 90 km/h and occasionally touching 100 km/h on this stretch. We covered this distance in about 15-16 minutes.It was biting cold and we were literally shivering inspite of wearing the gloves and the jackets. Finally we reached Bidar. Had to stop at the railway crossing as a train was about to pass. Asked locals for the direction from here and we were finally back on the NH 9. We had to take a left turn for Gulbarga. We decided to stop there and have tea at a small tea stall.

Gulbarga was another 120 km away and the time now was 3:30 am. We started off again. I was riding on this road for the first time and that too in the night. The roads were smooth but again there was not a single vehicle around. So I maintained a constant speed of 80 km/h and touching 100 km/h on some slopes. We finally reached Gulbarga at 5 am. Clicked some snaps.

We started sight-seeing. Went to the railway tracks and clicked some pics. It was dawn by now. My cousin decided to visit his relatives so we paid them a visit. They were shocked to see us so early in the morning and were petrified when they came to know that we came by bike, riding the whole night. Nevertheless, we were served with yummy breakfast. We had our fill and decided to explore the place. Our first destination was the Gulbarga fort. Asked directions from the locals and finally reached the place. Clicked some pics. There was a Jama Masjid nearby. Visited that as well. One strange thing which we noticed was that tangas(horse-carts) are still used here for public as well as goods transport. I started searching for basantis(from sholay movie) but couldn’t find any. We found a tourist tanga at the fort. It was nicely decorated. The owner was kind and allowed us to take pics of his tanga. I even rode the tanga. It was a great experience. From there we went to visit the Dargah of Khwaja Bande Nawaz . A lot of people had come to visit the dargah from various parts of India. After that we visited the medical and dental colleges. Then we went to a park. We found a nice pet (dinosaur) there. Clicked some pics with that and went to a lake. It was 12 pm by now. We decided that that we should start back for Hyderabad. Went to our say goodbye to the relatives but they stopped us for lunch. Had lunch and started for Hyderabad.

It was 1 pm by now. I was riding slowly so that we could enjoy the highway as we were going on it for the first time in daylight. Stopped frequently for clicking pics. We decided to take the Bidar route again and visit the Bidar fort. Reached Bidar at 3 pm. Went to the fort, spent some time and clicked pics. It was getting late so we were back on the highway for Hyderabad. The roads were again bad and I had to ride slowly. Reached Hyderabad at 7 pm. Rode through the city traffic, dropped my cousin and finally reached home at 8 pm. I was totally exhausted and sleepy. Had a quick dinner and crashed to bed immediately after that.


The complete album

http://picasaweb.google.com/mohammad...SblsuChJjj-wE#


Some pics (clicked with N73 since I didn't have a digital camera then)



My cousin




That's me




Gulbarga in the morning




The railway track




Catching the sunrise






The jama masjid




The tourist tanga




Me riding the tanga




The cannon at the fort




My pet dino






My bike at the lake




The X




Another lake which comes before entering Gulbarga




Sunflower field on the highway






The highway




On the way to Bidar from Gulbarga




90 km/h




A reservoir




The clock tower at Bidar




Found this huge banyan tree at the Bidar fort




The fort entrance




The Bidar fort












The museum entrance




A madrassa

Aryan

Topic Approved.

@Moeed: It would be nice if you could share a few photographs along with the trip-log.

__________________
...in search of that perfect world - My Travel Blog :)

vishnuu

Moeed u r really adventures rider yaar

I think u have got some time to upload all ur pending logs..

moeed

Thanks for the approval. Actually there was some problem with the pics. I'll upload them now.

Thanks buddy! Yes, I thought of uploading my pending logs since I have a lot of free time now