Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Day 2 Aurangabad to Wardha


16th March 2013

The day begun at 6 in the morning. Got ready and left for Biwi Ka Maqbara.



By 7:00 am I had reached Biwi Ka Maqbara. Entry ticket was 5 rupees.

As I entered I was mesmerized by the beauty of the "Taj of Deccan". If this is so beautiful I would love to visit the Taj Mahal some day for sure.





















The monument is not very far from the central bus stand. From my hotel which was near the central bus stand it was around 6-7 kms. The beautiful mausoleum is believed to be constructed by Prince Azam Shah in memory of his mother, and wife of Aurangzeb, Rabia-ud-Daurani between 1651 and 1661.


















By 8:30 am I came back to room. After doing the packing and loading the bike with all the luggage, was ready to move ahead. My plan was to go to Wardha via Ajanta/Amravati. But as the distance was beyond 450 kms, decided to go to Wardha directly. Took the Jalna-Mehkar route to reach Wardha. As I moved ahead towards Jalna I realized that I was just at the exterior of the city of Aurangabad. After getting past the morning city traffic I was on the highway. After Jalna the road become two lane.











Malegaon ka Superman just 23 kms away. Bad luck that I did not get into any kind of trouble and no Superman to the rescue.







My plan was to reach Wardha but it went dark very soon. Was not able to ride with the tinted visor on and without them those numerous insects hitting my face was really frustrating. My speed had come down and even at that low a speed the insets hitting my face was real bad.



It was 7:00 pm and quite dark and Wardha still more than 60 kms away. With the speed that I was riding I was not sure whether I would be able to reach Wardha even by 9:00 pm. I decided to ride till 8:00 pm and see if I could make it till Wardha. It was very difficult to ride as the insects were hitting my face like bullets. I had put the goggles to save my eyes but still it was quite a task to continue riding till Wardha.

By 8:00 pm I was near Pulgaon, with Wardha still 30 kms ahead. In those conditions 30 kms was no less than few hundreds. I decided to stay at Pulgaon. I was wondering how often do tourist visit to this town and if I would find a decent lodge or hotel here. Saw government rest house and went to inquire they said 400 rupees which was not and issue but just felt it was not safe as everyone around seemed to be drunk. The person told about Shankar lodge as it was a Government rest house and I was not a Government employee. So went to Shankar lodge. Saw the room it was very basic and dormitory sort of. The person showed me a double bed room which did not had a bathroom and I had to use a common bathroom. He said 70 rupees for single room and 120 for double room. I have a friend's friend who is a local but as he was not in town he did not recommended me to stay at Shankar lodge as I was alone and new to this place. He asked me to go to Atithi lodge. So finally went to Atithi lodge and the room was not that bad and it was a matter of one night so decided to stay for 100 rupees. It is being run by a family who stays on the first floor itself. I found them quite helpful and they really treated me as "Atithi". After checking in went straight for dinner as I was not sure whether restaurants would be open till late in this town.



Came back to room by 10 pm to find the fan was not working. Went to the owners home on first floor but his efforts was in vain so he arranged my bed in his clinic as an workaround for my stay. And this is how my Day 2 finished as I went to sleep on a bed where normally patients sleep.



Total distance covered today : 373 kms
Total distance covered till now : 775 kms

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Very nice pics, heard about Biwi Ka Maqbara but seeing your photos its really as beatufiul as Taj. I guess not much of tourists.
Also liked the Windmill shot (Dry land, bush trees, gigantic windmills) before the Nagpur-Aurangabad road pic. Which place is it?

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Superb pics Neeteesh and brilliant feat riding solo!
Don't stop, keep the pictures and log coming

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Thank you RiderMan!! Yes even I was surprised not to find much tourist at Biwi ka Maqbara, maybe they come in the evening as it remains open till 10:00 PM. The windmill shots are from Sinnar, en route Mumbai-Aurangabad. Its around 60 kms before Shirdi.


Thanks Sachin !! Thanks a lot !! Yes started with day 3 and will post it soon.

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Rated - 5 star in your respect... 'Experience of a lifetime... a Ride to remember"

Glad to be ridden with you in past ... Neteesh, till the time from when I saw your FB status stating "43 xxxxxxxxxx back home " (don't want to reveal everything) I was dumbstruck... Its surely a Lifetime Remembering Ride mahn... don't stop just let it come mahn... An inspiration & motivation to Ride more ... \m/

#Respect, You Earned it.

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Thanks a lot Shabby!! So obliged with every word you said.

You getting leh'd this year and that would give me inspiration to most probably ride there next year. Wish you good luck for your ride.

Ride safe and be safe !!

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Oh! How I miss this place. Amazing. Thanks for reviving those memories. Daulatabad fort is nothing but debris now. Grushneshvar Temple beside Ellora would have been a better bet. Anyways, waiting for rest of your log. Rated 5-star already.
And, that's why, sire, it is called "BIBI KA MAQBARA", not BIWI's :P

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Day 3 Pulgaon (Wardha) to Tadoba (Moharli)

16th March 2013

After spending the night in the dispensary on the make arranged bed in the company of mosquitoes my night was difficult and day was early. One more thing which was making hard for me to sleep was the fact that my ZMR was parked in the open beside the road outside the lodge. Couple of time I went out to have a look at my bike during the night. After getting ready went for a short walk in the town.


Municipal corporation office just opposite the lodge.


The Lodge where I stayed and the clinic where I spent the night.

After returning to the room did the packing and loaded the luggage on the bike. Went up to meet the owners of the lodge and say goodbye to the small kid Krishna who was so attracted to my bike that he kept coming to me and asking all sort of questions about my ZMR in his sweet and cute way the previous night. But was not able to meet both the owner, Madhu as he was taking bath and Krishna was sleeping. Handed over the keys to the Lady who opened the door and left from there by 9:00 AM.


Met these kids who were super excited to see the bike!!


Central Ammunition Depot Camp at Pulgaon.


The roads towards Wardha from Pulgaon.



Pulgaon is one of the world's biggest ammunition depots. CAD camp has a perimeter of around 150 km and is still expanding towards the villages behind it. It is becoming India's largest military-civil camp with almost all kinds of facilities and securities monitoring the area continuously.

I was on my way to Wardha city now. Some 30 kms from Pulgaon. As I entered the Wardha city I needed to ask the way to Gandhiji's Sevagram so stopped to ask couple of teenagers about the direction who were on their way to the College I guess. They helped me with the direction and as I was about to leave, seeing me all geared up, pop came the question... Are you racing?

I looked back and them and replied... didn't you see the 4 people who went ahead!! And as I shifted the gear up I heard one of them telling the other

I didn't saw them... did you?

And I was laughing under my helmet as I moved towards Sevagram.





Another funny incident happened at Sevagram. As I was clicking these pics few kids who were playing marbles nearby came and asked me whether I was going to play cricket. I guess this thought came to them after seeing my knee guard. I told them that I am not going to play cricket but I am actually Spiderman . I did not knew they were smart kids because they asked me to prove what I said by throwing some web. So I said, actually I am Batman!!

But as you know I was dealing with some smart kids, so I left from there as a cricketer






Bapu Kuti at Sevagram



It was 10:40 PM as I moved from Sevagram towards Tadoba (Moharli). Took the route via Hinganghat, Ghozi.







After crossing the railway crossing, which closed just in front of me, reached the NH7/AH43 riding just few kms. My eyes popped out to see smooth four lane road after a long time.



But soon the 4 lane highway ended as I turned right towards Warora on SH264.






In the process completed 27K kms with my companion.

By 1 in the afternoon I reached Anandwan circle. Took left from there to reach Moharli via Shegaon.






A very bad patch of road in between Shegaon and Moharli which ran a few kms.

And this is the place from where I was not getting any network on my Airtel number. Later I came to realize that only Reliance and Idea network is reliable in Moharli and surrounding villages.

Luckily I had called up Pankaj the Manager at Youth Hostel(MTDC) resort, at Anandwan circle, and had asked him to prepare lunch for me as it was only on order.

I reached the resort by 2:30 pm. There were few huts and a campus behind me so I stopped my ZMR and put my foot on the ground just to realize that the surface was uneven on that kachha raasta. My right foot was not able to make a proper grip on the gravels and the whole bike tilted towards right. Initially I tried to hold it and tried hard not to let it fall but as the bike was fully loaded with luggage it was even more difficult for me to hold it. Soon as the stress went to my back I let it go and jumped towards the right. It was then I met two young and pleasant people who came to help me in picking up the bike. I am so thankful to them because I was in no condition to pick up my bike as I was tired after all the riding and after the effort of keeping the bike from falling I had done some damage to my back.

I had reached and went to meet Pankaj, the resort manager. I found him very friendly and nice person.

I checked in and went for lunch by 3:00 pm. While having lunch had a small chat with the boy serving the food. Raju surprised me with all his tiger stories and how he has seen it just outside the resort campus. After the lunch thought of going to the Tadoba ATR gate to try my luck with the safari. As I was going I stopped near the lake to try my new telephoto lens.










Went to the safari gate to inquire about the next days safari booking and fees and all.

Info:
for morning safari gate opens from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm
for evening safari gate opens from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Entry fees : Rs. 1000/- (Weekend) Rs. 750/- (Weekdays)
Open gypsy : Rs. 1800/-
compulsory guide charges : Rs. 200/-

The person at the counter Arjun asked me to come by 8:00 pm as by that time they will get wireless message about the booking information for tomorrow from the booking office at Chandrapur.

I went near the tea stall where I was approached by Amol a local from Chandrapur, who had come with two friends. After knowing that I came from Mumbai all alone that too on a bike, he treated me with tea. That small gesture really brought smile on my face.










Went back to resort and met Puroshottam a canteen staff. Started a conversation and after some time he asked me if I would come with him for a small walk in the buffer zone. I was more than happy and readily agreed. We went inside the buffer zone ahead of the resort and he had his own whole set of tiger stories to tell.

I was so lost in the environment and those lovely stories that I had forgotten that I was out of network and I had to inform back home that I had reached safely and where. By 8 I went back to the counter to find that the message had not yet come. I asked if I could make a call from his number, he agreed but he just had a few rupees of balance I said if I could get a top up and make a call. I went to get an Idea top up. Moharli is a small village and I was surprised to find the people at the shop asking me if I got tomorrow's tickets. Rajendra and Alok local guide were there at the counter when I was doing the inquiry. They assured that as tomorrow its Monday I would get the tickets.

Went back and made call at home from Arjun's number from the counter. He was on air on the wireless getting the booking status and I was waiting patiently for the status to end. But one after the other he was registering the booking.

Limited vehicles are allowed in the park including private vehicles (only four wheeler) in addition to VIP quota. And as some Forest guard training group had come from Uttarakhand all the tickets for both morning and evening safari has been booked. That was a bad news for me as next day was Tuesday and the park is closed on Tuesday. He asked me to come early in the morning to try my luck and see if someone is willing to share with me. But all this depends on the next day.

So was I able to go to the safari? Was I able to find someone to share the safari with me? That's Day 4...
Coming soon....

Total distance covered today : 180 kms
Total distance covered till now : 955 kms

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Hey buddy....im paddy...shabby's riding partner from the RoadRunnerz......by the way dude.....its sooo damn exciting to find yet another TOURING WHITE ZMR......even i own the white pearl...but failed to see many ZMR in Mumbai that tour...!! Really happy that i got company:-)
and yeah its just a superb log till now..and im sure u got the safari:-) coz tourers are usually greeted warmly by people across the globe...:-)

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Thank you so much for liking this.

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Hi Paddy!! Thanks a lot!! Yes when I had brought home my ZMR I already had started dreaming of such a tour.

It would be great to catch up with you some day and go for a ride together !! Let's see how people would react when the two touring, white beauties meet on a road trip and a travelogue is posted here .

I am also quite happy to find you as a company.

Ride safe and be safe !!

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

so leess pic's of wildlife ... No Tiger or Lions in tadoba ? :O

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

@Neeteesh Singh This is just too awesome bro! Truly said, a journey of a lifetime!

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

No lions at Tadoba, its tiger land

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Superb trip Neeteesh, am enjoying every bit of it.

Re: Experience of lifetime... a Ride to remember !!

Ahem..Ahem...!!! Kya baat !! O G tussi to chaa gaye..!!

Nice Log indeed !!
Maza aa raha hai..!!

NHT Get Ready for next Big Tour

-Regards,
Rohan