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**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-09-2015, 06:30 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by faizan.ali View Post

Can't wait any more. Please!! enough with the suspense

Haha

The suspense is out now Faizan

Originally posted by koolsantosh22 View Post

Simply superb....

Thanks a lot Santosh

Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

Just beautiful! One of the best places on earth to ride!

It is indeed one of the best places to ride

I had read most people who go to Alps end up going again and again and now I understand why

Also they are spread across such a large area and there are hundreds of mountain passes to ride.. what I have covered is only a small chunk of it!

**GP Racing** · 07-10-2015, 10:58 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

That's awesome ride mate, and those GoPro pic are simply great.

**chaosaddict** · 07-10-2015, 11:48 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Needless to say, it's utterly mesmerizing. 'couldn't believe I reached here late, man.
you're making me super jealous now, so please continue

**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-10-2015, 02:15 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by GP Racing View Post

That's awesome ride mate, and those GoPro pic are simply great.

Thanks man

Even I was surprised the pics came well because I was never sure if the gopro was at the correct angle and kept adjusting it all the time

Originally posted by chaosaddict View Post

Needless to say, it's utterly mesmerizing. 'couldn't believe I reached here late, man.
you're making me super jealous now, so please continue

What jealous sirjee, I dont even have a bike, have to rent one and that too from some other country, you guys can ride whenever you want I should be jealous!

Btw thanks for the compliments

The Alps are indeed an amazing place, more pics of mountains in next log

**amrit_neo** · 07-10-2015, 03:53 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Beautiful photographs man.

All these snow and trees reminds me of my Kashmir Trip. Mostly similar and gorgeous , except you will find lots of horses and Indian Toursists making the place dirty.

Originally posted by Adarsh_Bk View Post

Trains are filled with tourists but they have fantastic connectivity though

One of the roads of Switzerland.. this is what got me thinking, I should be riding here!

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Simply loved the showroom photographs, feel like view of Biker paradise with so many super and amazing machines over there.

And you got a nice bike man. It is one of my dream bike.

Good going.

Originally posted by Adarsh_Bk View Post

A pic of the showroom

**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-10-2015, 05:57 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by amrit_neo View Post

Beautiful photographs man.

All these snow and trees reminds me of my Kashmir Trip. Mostly similar and gorgeous , except you will find lots of horses and Indian Toursists making the place dirty.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Simply loved the showroom photographs, feel like view of Biker paradise with so many super and amazing machines over there.

And you got a nice bike man. It is one of my dream bike.

Good going.

Thanks a lot Amrit! I am sure Kashmir/Himalayas have equally amazing if not better landscapes. But the facilities and road connectivity is a lot better in Europe, simply because it was developed long time back. And yes, we Indians have a lot to learn about cleanliness

The showrooms here have huge collection of motorcycles, its fun just to look at all of them!
Btw were you referring to Ninja or Ktm Adv when you said dream bike? (Since you have quoted pics of KTM)

Because I was riding the Ninja 650 and yes it is a fantastic machine

**faizan.ali** · 07-10-2015, 06:38 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

I was suppose to join a meeting and reading your blog I forgot about it until I got a call from my boss!!!!! Awesome

**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-11-2015, 12:06 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by faizan.ali View Post

I was suppose to join a meeting and reading your blog I forgot about it until I got a call from my boss!!!!! Awesome

Haha

Hope you didnt get into trouble for that!

**Jon Niranjan Paul** · 07-11-2015, 01:35 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Hook, line and sinker! Glued to this thread! Dude, right now, i'm living through your eyes! So thank you for posting such a kickass tlog!

**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-13-2015, 03:12 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by Jon Niranjan Paul View Post

Hook, line and sinker! Glued to this thread! Dude, right now, i'm living through your eyes! So thank you for posting such a kickass tlog!

Thanks a lot for your appreciation Jon!

Hope you find the rest of the Tlog equally interesting, the next log should be ready in a day or two.

**amrit_neo** · 07-13-2015, 04:11 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Originally posted by Adarsh_Bk View Post

Thanks a lot Amrit! I am sure Kashmir/Himalayas have equally amazing if not better landscapes. But the facilities and road connectivity is a lot better in Europe, simply because it was developed long time back. And yes, we Indians have a lot to learn about cleanliness

The showrooms here have huge collection of motorcycles, its fun just to look at all of them!
Btw were you referring to Ninja or Ktm Adv when you said dream bike? (Since you have quoted pics of KTM)

Because I was riding the Ninja 650 and yes it is a fantastic machine

yes that for sure, connectivity seems to be good. here at kashmir the conectivity issues remains through out the year sometime cause of snow, rain or landslides.

And I was talking about KTM ADV.

**Adarsh_Bk** · 07-15-2015, 04:42 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Day 2, Part 1 : To Alps!

I still had some more distance to cover in Black forest and it was just one corner after another! The bike was handling them effortlessly and unknowingly I did a knee down and it felt amazing. I was wondering why I never did a knee down till now, its so easy!

The bike being fully loaded wasnt an issue at all!

When you dont ride a bike for a long time you tend to have such dreams!

In fact I had forgotten all about that dream when I woke up and only remembered when I was approaching a corner later in the day, and no I didnt even try to a knee down! Its just silly to try all that on public roads anyway

Ok, back to reality!

After quite an eventful first day, there was nothing like waking up to a bright and sunny morning after a good night's sleep. After freshening up, went down for a typical European breakfast buffet.

This place was more of a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) type place and not exactly a hotel. These are usually large houses with lots of well maintained rooms which are converted to hotels and mostly are run and owned by a family. These work out much cheaper than regular hotels while being equally good (if not better) and are quite abundant everywhere and are also the preferred choice for travellers.

The breakfast usually consists of a wide variety of bread, croissants, few types of juices, various cheese, butter, jam, nutella (you get the idea! ). There will also be eggs, fresh cut fruits, yogurt, corn flakes, muesli (few types of them actually) and few types of meat slices (which I dont eat). All this being buffet meant I went out of that place with a full tummy, enough to skip lunch

It was a Sunday morning and the main road connecting to Switzerland was visible from the parking area and I could hear all sorts of exhaust notes of V twins, parallel twins, inline fours and what not

Today's plan was to cover some very interesting riding routes in Switzerland and then head towards the most awaited parts... The mountain passes of Alps.

I was planning to ride through Interlaken. It is one of the most famous tourist traps in Switzerland. It is in a convenient and beautiful location surrounded by some of the highest peaks of Alps, two lakes, greenery and fantastic rail connectivity to other parts of Switzerland. This is where we stayed during our previous rail trip in Swiss and it was filled with Indians/Chinese/Koreans and you rarely see Europeans

it was like an Asian city!
Since we had covered touristy stuff around that place, I only wanted to ride the good roads nearby.

Map of the place

Few pics before starting off for the day.

You see lots of people carrying cycles on their cars. Alps are quite famous for cycling as well.

Just after I left the B&B, I took a village route to Swiss and this is where it took me!

It was fantastic riding between the fields and after few mins I ended up on the Swiss Autobahns.

Here is a short video of the above ride.

Switzerland needs a vignette for highways which is nothing but a sticker (with unique code/barcode) which should be pasted on the vehicle. These are available on most petrol stations and it costs around 40 euros and valid for entire year. I had to get it even if it was just for few days. The border guard wasnt stopping anyone and I entered Swiss side of highway without sticker and was desperately looking for an exit and took one the moment I saw one. The fine for not having vignette is 250 euro + 40 euro (for vignette

) Searched for petrol station on GPS and there was one a km away. Tanked up, got the sticker and started off again. Here the currency is Swiss Francs (CHF) but Euro is accepted almost everywhere and their value is almost the same 1 Euro = 1.04 CHF

I was extremely careful in Swiss with my speed, the fines are outrageously high! In city limits, if you exceed speed by 1-5 kmph, you pay 40 CHF (Almost 2.7k INR!) and 6-10 kmph is 120 CHF (8k INR!!) See this link for more details https://www.ch.ch/en/driving-over-speed-limit/

I took the Autobahn for quite some distance as there were no scenic route alternatives for that stretch. Crossed Bern, the capital of Switzerland (No, its not Zurich or Geneva

) and arrived at the lake. It had the turquoise blue tint and with clear sky, it was looking majestic!

Here is a pic,

It started becoming too sunny and it was hot! I can see the snow in the far mountains but I am sweating inside the riding gear as if I was in India

which was quite surprising! Infact, next few days were also like this, hot and sunny. Later came to know there was a heat wave in Europe and most countries recorded highest temperatures ever!!

After crossing the first lake, I went towards Lauterbrunnen. It is a fantastic place nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges and some waterfalls as well! During peak rains, one can see lots of waterfalls along the way but I could only see the main one.

One the way towards Lauterbrunnen.. I waited for a pic of the train but it never came

Ninja, eager to go!

The waterfall.. It was narrower than I expected but still it was good to park almost below it

This parking was for the nearby camping ground and restaurant so I decided to have some food there. It was a nice break from the hot sun. The pizza was great and also had two glasses of Rivella (which was the recommendation of waitress) and it was fantastic. Sitting in shade, eating the large pizza made me extremely sleepy

I continued on this road and wanted to see how far it goes. After about 15 min of riding I came to the end and the road ahead was private property. Met couple of bikers there and I confirmed from them that this was indeed the last point on road. I was about to go back and one of them got the map from his tank bag to show me some interesting routes to head back (which turned out to be similar to what I had in mind) but was really happy that they were being so helpful for a stranger!

Few pics after crossing Lauterbrunnen, towards the end of the road.

Sat on that bench for sometime, just admiring the views and peace of the place

What a place for paragliding, I should try this once!

This was the guy who showed me the route on the map! It was a ZX9R.

Ninja taking a break.

Timer pic! The sun rays adding extra effect

Later I was back at the lake! It was simply great to ride the winding road next to the lake and I didnt want to stop

There were lot of cyclists as well.

Here is a short video of one of the sections near Lake Brienz.

While continuing on this road towards Meiringen, I had heard of a place called Aareschlucht, a narrow gorge through which a river flows. This is not a major tourist spot but its a good place to visit. There were only 4 bikes in parking lot but I couldnt spot the riders. I was the only one walking around in riding gear in this ridiculous heat

A brief description of the place.

Walking towards Aareschlucht.

The tunnel leading inside.

There were such boards around providing some details about the place.

This is it!

Went a little ahead and there was a small waterfall.

Some details about it.

Time to go back.

This is where the bike was waiting

Soon after crossing this region, you can feel the mountains calling. The roads become more and more curvier and the snow capped peaks on the horizons keep coming closer and closer! I simply didnt want to break my riding rhythm by stopping for pics but later the photographer in me overcame the biker and out comes the camera

Pic while heading to the above place.

After a short break here with snickers and a quick update about my whereabouts to back home in India, I was back in the rhythm again

There were mountains, lakes, greenery and awesome curvy roads.. What more can a biker ask? I was nearing the Grimsel pass now, my first ever mountain pass of the Alps!

There was a lake/dam on the way. So a pic stop was mandatory.

Water seemed to be mixed with mud/limestone or something like that.

Selfie with a dslr!

Also a timer pic!

What a fantastic exhaust note that bike had, it was echoing all around from the mountains! (Ducati 899 Panigale if I am not wrong).

After climbing a few hairpins, stopped again for pics

Even though it was quite sunny here, temperature was quite low as I had climbed quite a bit of altitude. Met a couple on R1200GS here. They stopped to wear thermal liners. Had a quick chat with them and then they were on their way. I spent sometime clicking.

Bikers.. There were lots and lots them here! And that friendly gesture (of extending your arm and holding fingers in V shape) was good and you never feel like a solo biker. But after some point, I was afraid my two fingers of left hand would permanently get stuck in V shape

Some more landscape shots

An attempt at HDR!

Finally! Riding beside snow

To be continued...

**krishna77** · 07-15-2015, 10:34 AM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Simply awesome!

**Haroon** · 07-15-2015, 06:01 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Brilliant riding Adarsh. The pictures are very lively.
This is exactly how the ride in the Alps must be.
Waiting for more pics

**MUSTANG 27** · 07-16-2015, 02:04 PM

Re: Mission Alps : Accomplished!

Breathtaking pics, simply superb, after seeing the video and pics my son says its just the place in the game he plays (euro trucks)....

Waiting for more.

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