BULLZ- the mighty ones

I just have no consolation that i missed out this trip.

Awesome trip, log and pics ....Amazing guys..

@diffuser:nice triplog there and some very good pic also. loved the pic of that goods train entering the tunnel.

@andy and nabendu: Thanks fellas...sorry for the late reply :P. Will post the fourth day log now, which, after an enormous amount of slouching, I managed to finish.

Day 4: The Longest Day

Started at: 6:30 AM
Trip-meter reading: 565 km

The day of the return trip started off quite early, and after fumbling around with bungee ropes and hotel staff hassling for tips, we were on road. After a stop at the Victory at Sea war memorial, which we had omitted earlier when passing by, and a few snaps of the sun rising on Ramakrishna Beach, we headed down the Beach Road for one last time. Savoring the sights, we were pretty glum on the way back, still trying to maintain a decent pace. I tried to take a few bends in the road by leaning, but then decided against it. Vizag, for all of us, was a love affair that required a second innings. A few kilometers down the road, we halted briefly at a tea stall to get a shot of the sleep-buster. Ranjan found the time to purchase a few fruits to drown his early morning hunger pangs. One blue streak crossed the road in front and I was forced into thinking if it might be a Yamaha R1, from the sound of it. Turned out to be the younger cousin R15 being ripped heavily. After covering the beach-patch, we arrived at the village at a T-junction. One of the roads was supposed to be shorter route back on the NH-5. Unfortunately, the morning junta was not informed enough and we were none the wiser, taking the longer road which cost us in terms of time.


Sunrise in RK Beach

Back on the NH, we decided to keep the next stop at Srikakulam straight, to avoid any delays on way. On my longest ride-without-a-break, I covered 115 km-odd during the next phase of the journey and reached Soumya and Pramir relaxing on a bridge. The road signs were indicating Srikakulam on the right for the last 5 km, but we hadn’t located the stoppage we took on the way to Vizag. To make things less confusing, we waited for Somnath and Ranjan to join us. Once the pack was together, we moved ahead and turned right into the city for getting some light breakfast. The stop was a roadside shop which had the usual fare, so we spent no longer than required for fueling up the belly for the ride ahead. The stops that we took ahead were short and hasty, so nothing much to ramble about them. Everyone was maintaining his own pace, riding separated. I took a few stops myself to click some pics on the way back; Pramir had packed him camera along with the luggage and was in no mood for photography. After another stop at a bridge, where a couple of us had some local brand ice cream, it was decided to try hanging on with others as a few of us were running low on petrol. Having filled just enough to carry us into Orissa, where petrol was cheaper by five bucks, almost half of the pack was about to touch reserve sooner or later.


Waiting for others


My ride's high a$$


The Caravan


From a bridge


Loved this spot


A river on the way


Mini-Himalayas

A few kilometers before entering Icchapuram at the border, we saw a lot of vehicles lined up by the NH and Soumya ahead was following the order too. Shouting the f-word aloud in my empty head, I parked by the road and saw the police check that was going on. After taking the documents that we had with us, we found that a slightest mistake won’t be spared here. I was having a lapsed insurance, while both I and Soumya were not having a PUC. I didn’t know that insurance was to be renewed periodically; thought dad had taken care of it when buying the bike. Almost sure that no other in the group would be having PUC, I tried calling Somnath and Pramir to warn them. Somnath wasn’t able to decipher the message, which incidentally I was trying to convey discreetly, with the police party right under my nose. Pramir had run out of fuel a few kilometers back and was looking for a petrol pump or a local retailer. After a long wait and hundred bucks per head, haggling that a student (ahem!) can’t afford to pay much, we moved ahead to avoid any more trouble. After a few minutes, I, Soumya and Somnath stopped at a wayside bus stop shade and sat down to rest our sore behinds, while Ranjan had been instructed to head back for aiding Pramir. Evidently, some confusion had occurred, and both of them were not able to find each other. Pramir has sourced some fuel from a local dealer in a village, and joined us after what seemed to be an eternity, along with Ranjan. A short while later, we found a petrol pump, which actually had petrol, unlike a lot of other that we had, and were about to, pass. I did another short top-up, knowing that we would be reaching inside Orissa soon.


Waiting ahead of the police check


A nice pond


Thoughtful

Heading towards Icchapuram, I found a roadside pond which offered a good opportunity for a couple of bike-by-the-water snaps. I went off-road and the ones following me suspected a loose screw due to the heat, but I motioned them go on. After a few pics, I climbed back on road and sped on to join the others. Nearing the border, we were much in fear about the bad roads ahead. At the point where we had to leave the NH to enter the town, we decided to ask around why the NH was so desolate ahead and people were taking the other path. After getting some ambiguous replies, we decided to play adventurous and go seek the way. Only a few minutes out into the road, we found it splattered with cow-dung, making us feel out of place. Passing the road, we shouted out at all other commuters in Oriya, asking if the road ahead leads to somewhere other than back to VizagJ. After a few miles of cow-dung and empty roads, we hit a really bad patch of gravel and under-construction road, which joined the NH before entering Orissa. Till now, we had faced all types of roads: the good, the bad and the ugly. Now, it was time to hasten up, because we were running late, thanks to the police patrol, and were getting pangs of hunger too. Lunch was decided in Chatrapur, so we quickly made our way there along the Icchapuram-Berhampur patch, too familiar to me from college times. I stopped a second and clicked a picture of my alma mater, NIST Berhampur. Fuel was low, but I was unable to refuel, being afraid of losing track of the other fellows. Soon, we reached the dhaba in Chatrapur and ordered a huge meal quickly. And it was devoured even quicker. Heading back on road, Pramir went off ahead, lest he was spotted by someone (Chatrapur is his hometown). On the way to Balugaon, Pramir stuck with me as my fuel was running low. After many empty pumps on our way here, one had the petrol and I quickly filled up while Pramir waited. Another crisis came by: while the tank was fed, the purse was close to being empty. By the time we reached the ghat section near Balugaon, the sun was taking a dip behind the hills and we had to make a hasty dash to catch it. On the top of the ghats was the last coordinated stop we took.


A spot along the highway


Close up


The Good


The Bad


The Ugly


NIST, Berhampur


Trucks climbing the ghat


Chilika from the ghat top

The journey after that point was, to sum up in a single word, a mess. Descending from the ghats, we were faced by terrible traffic jams containing huge trucks and buses, along with some impatient car drivers, and motorcycles cutting lanes from all sides. Soumya had chosen to wait a little longer at the last stop and catch up later. Somnath seemed to have a moment of realization and dashed off into the mayhem, taking the dangerous opposite lane and the equally dangerous left-sides of the trucks. Feeling that someone should keep up with him, given the traffic conditions, I tried my best to ride behind the petite bike. Others, I had no idea where they were. The rushed drive was by large the most foolish thing I had done on the whole trip, crossing lanes, riding on the lanes under construction, and more wrongs. When I finally reached the railway crossing which was the cause of the traffic jam, I found no one, so carried on on my own. The villages through which we passed were so crowded and the pace was so slow that the bike’s engine was burning a hole in my jeans. Moving out of the village, the roads were two-lane and there was no sense of traffic at all. It was then that my worst nightmare came: darkness. And with that came blinding high beams. Not a single vehicle had the common sense to lower the lights and I was literally blinded due to the oncoming traffic, not knowing the road I was driving on. Thankfully, the potholes were not big enough to kill me, but the experience scared the wits out of me there itself. Still without a single friendly soul in sight, I managed to find my way to the six-lane highway and clambered on. Now another problem rose; I seemed to have lost the sense of direction and was not sure if I was going in the correct direction. I guess that is the second stage of fear. Even the mile markers were in Oriya, and none seemed to be familiar words like Khurda or Bhubaneswar. The ultra-bad headlight beam of my bike was not helping either and I had to lie on the tank to prevent the light from the other lane to pierce my eyes. All this had made me forget the other rides with the group, specially the Kapilash trip, where I never felt helpless once, thanks to Pramir and Soumya riding along me. This time, it was different and made me simmer in anger from within. I vowed never to ride with the BULLZzz again. Now, I came to hurling obscenities to the drivers in the other lane. Shocking, but true. And the worst fear that I faced was, what would happen if any one of us faces an accident on the highway, and no one is around for miles. The very thought crippled my senses, as there was no way we could contact the other members in case of emergency. I tried calling other but none were reachable, or picking up. A bad incident on the way would have made the entire group answerable to many people. I realized my own fault too, when I had sped ahead the others, instead of riding like a team, on our way to Vizag. Carrying on like a blind mole, I crossed a small habitat where I saw Pramir stopped by the road for a smoke. Some of the anger trickled away in my words, but I couldn’t help it (sorry for that Pramir). Moving along with him, I found relief that at least one of the team was OK. Later we found Somnath stopped near a lightened up roadside dhaba and stopped there. From there, we called up Soumya and Ranjan, and waited till they joined. I was sulking all this time, partly because I was afraid, partly because of anger. Later, riding along, Soumya came up and talked away all the anger out of me. Everyone was at fault, including myself. Hence, case dismissedJ.

Nearing Khurda, we were able to spot the outline of Barunei hill and it gave me a sense of relief that we were not far from the city anymore. The last 30 km were the longest, as the aching bodies were now looking for some rest. Crossing all the small villages on the way, I was just counting down the kilometers to the city. The final meeting point was decided at Jaidev Vihar, in front of The Crown. Reaching there within a minute’s gap of each other, the first audible words were that of a cry of relief. The BULLZzz had done it! The big tour seemed no bigger than a weekend ride now. The physical condition of the bikes and the riders had a different tale to tell, though. After a victory snap, we all took off in different direction to our homes, reminiscing the moments spent in the past few days.

It was an end to a saga for the group. We would have loved if every single member of the group had taken the ride with us, but that day is still to come. Till then, it will be a small ‘nifty’ group of riders, as Rohit likes to say. There were ups and downs on the ride, but mostly the moments shone out. I couldn’t dream of riding without the group, leave alone riding solo. But the next time, I would prefer to ride as a group, rather than riding scattered. With this, I would like to finish be shouting out: next ride ahoy!

Finished at: 8:57 PM
Trip-meter reading: 1022 km

12 hours since last post and still no reply out here.Someone has taken his time out and posted such a detailed triplog along with pics and it's not fair that people just sneak in here without replying, whatsoever.Bad, very bad!!

@Sunil

As usual your log is captivating and the pics are even more enticing.Thanks for sharing the details and pics with us.The whole journey was presented in such a manner that each time i felt i was part of your ride.Best of luck for your future rides and do continue showering your experiences in xBhp!!

again some nice write up there and looking for few more pic from RK beach.

Thanks Swagat bhai....koi nai, if no one reads, I'll just compile a bunch of logs, maybe after a few years, and publish as a book, earning royalities ....Nah, just kidding...

I will try to call on Sunday...my better half will be busy with her friends, so I got freedom...

Adding some more pics below from Day 4...


Victory at Sea


Ropeway to Kailasagiri


Ice-cream time!!!


Reminiscing


Haystacks


Free spirits


Petrol?? Not here!!


Sunset at the ghat


The Final Destination

Nabendu, will upload some soon...just approval required!

Nice snaps dude.. and a very good right up. How was the climate out there, hot?

You bet!!! The days will tan you up, and that was in December!!! The nights are , however, quiet breezy...

someday we will do it....

@Sunil: nice return log again bro.... need some more pics as compared to previous days....

That's really a good idea.Do call me, I am free nowadays!!

Helmets Off!!!!


Liked "The Good, The Bad , The Ugly" and "Sarcasm"

Cheers!

swagat bhai, did paradip...chkout the thread...

santa: thanks buddy