Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Gujarat tourism approved!

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Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

24 hours is going to over soon. You better maintain your timing of your show. Otherwise your TRP will fall.

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

24th Dec, 2015: Left office(Pune) by 5 pm. Gave a heavy dose of Shell V-Power to the beast(19 litres). Rode straight to Aunty's house in Malad, Mumbai, it being close to the NH8. Had a light dinner with aunty and family. Good night....


25th Dec, 2015: I had 3 cell-phones alarm set to 3 am. I didnt need them to wake me up though. I was up by 2:50 am. I could'nt sleep properly due to sheer excitement. On the outside I had a poker face, but deep within the child within me was jumping with joy Tollywood style.
Mittal had already reached Ahmedabad by now. I texted him that I am leaving by 3:30 am.
By 3:45 am I reached NH8.


Ready, set, go...........


Mumbai-Valsad(172 kms- 3:45 am to 6 am - 2 hours 15 minutes - avg speed: 77 kmph)


Non-stop drive till Valsad. Awesome roads, no one to interfere except a few trucks. All dark and cold. Was crusing most of the time at around 100-130 kmph non-stop. The only time I had to slow down was at Toll Plaza.
I reached Valsad at 6 am. I halted near the Sadar Masjid to offer my morning namaaz. My hands were very cold despite the leather glove. I tried to get warmth from the engine. For 5-6 seconds could not feel the engine heat. It was then that I felt the warmth and felt really really really good. I took a chai. And then another chai. Feeling much better, Left the mosque at 6:40 am. My plan included a 30 min halt for namaaz so I was on schedule. Reached Surat at 7:45 am.


Valsad-Surat (97 kms- 6:40 am to 7:45 am - 1 hour 5 minutes - avg speed: 90 kmph)


Reached Golden Bridge by 8:20 am. I had to take diversion from the NH8 with fingers crossed. And what happy I was. No traffic on the bridge. It was a sheer privilege and pleasure to ride on this bridge. You have to see it to believe it to see how narrow it is.


(Courtesy: Google) My - Oh - My... Thats it...

However, average speed got down to 20-30 kmph for about 20 minutes in all . After connecting back to NH8, I could see a big queue of trucks before the Sardar Patel Bridge(Bharuch-Ankaleshwar/ Vadodara to Mumbai side). I wonder if there was a jam on the other side(Ankaleshwar-Bharuch side) or not, but I guess yes there was. As the traffic flow on the other side(Ankaleshwar to Bharuch) was very less than the one I witnessed before leaving NH8. Maybe the traffic was stuck somewhere before the bridge. Also, there was this Highway Patrol Police Van which continued on NH8 while I took the diversion and which caught up with me way after(may be 10-15 mins later) I rejoined the NH8. Meaning I had made a wise decision. Nevertheless, I made out of it in scheduled time.


Surat-Vadodara (132 kms - 7:45 am to 9:30 am - 1 hour 45 minutes - avg speed: 75 kmph)


Reached Vadodara by 9:30 am. By research, I knew that I should not take express Highway and continue on old NH8 which is in pathetic condition and would take 2.5 to 3 hours drive to Ahmedabad. My research stood incorrect. What came now kept me completely dumbfound. The section of the NH8 for bikes/cars which connects Vadodara to Ahmedabad is called the NH48(not talking about NE1 which is not for bikes), which itself is a collection of multiple highways. Now this NH48 is a 3/4 lane broad and straight road, better than the Express Highway I must say. Fresh Tarmac, proper signs, dividers, railings, everything a biker wants to not get distracted by pedetrians and wrong traffic flow. Awesome road. I went crazy. If I had known the road is awesome, I would not have gone crazy. But I had known first hand that this road is pathetic and it turned out to be a mile muncher.
Reached Sardar Patel Ring Road near Ahmedabad by 10:45 am. Thats how super the quality of the road was.


Vadodara-Ahmedabad (109 kms - 9:30 am to 10:45 am - 1 hour 15 minutes - avg speed: 87 kmph)


The only snack I was having so far was the power snack(Parle-G, Amla Candy, Salted Pistachio and Kaju). I had this twice from Mumbai to Ahmedabad with breaks no longer than 5 minutes. Due to cold, I didnt feel thristy much. Pee break came somewhere before Ahmedabad. So now was the time to go Gujju. Worth mentioning is this Moongdaal Wada wala near the exit to BHUJ. INR 20, he offered me unlimited wada deal seeing I am riding bike from Mumbai. When I told him I am actually from Pune, he threw unlimited Kadi Deal as well. "Sir, aap ke liye kadi bhi unlimited", he said. So, in INR 20, I ate about 15 moongdaal wadi and 3-4 small bowls of Kadi. Then I burrpppeeddddddddd. Awesome. Then, I was fascinated by the way they serve chai. They give you a saucer. And pour tea in it. INR 5. Like pani poori, he kept serving chai and I kept drinking it.. suuuurrrrr..suuurrrrr. About 5-6 of it. But he also charged me less, INR 20. So it turns out, if you travel on motorbike, you get discount by default. Super Awesome.




The first chai was in this steel cup. Rest all Paani-poori style...


For the first time in my history of motorbike touring, someone asked "Isme aur splendor me kya farak hai"(Whats the difference between your bike and splendor?). I told the guy that splendor does 90-100 kmph while Pulsar 220F does upto 150kmph. So his next question was on mileage. He said that splendor gives 70-80 kmpl. How much does Pulsar gives? I said 38-44 kmpl depending on riding. He was like "Then whats the use"? I told him "Tagda aadmi zyaada khaata hai, patla aadmi kam khata hai"(Wrestler has to eat more, Size zero eats less). He got the point. I carried on.





Ahmedabad-Anjar (300 kms - 11:15 am to 2:55 pm - 3 hours 40 minutes - avg speed : 81 kmph)


Roads from Shantapura to Anjar are arrow straight and bbbbbooooorrrriiiinnnggggggg. I mean one may get into halucination type of boring. The only interesting thing I saw was the windmill farm near Maliya. Windmills till infinity and beyond for a whole 15 kms of it. When I managed to ride at about 40 kmph, the rotational speed of the windmill blades got synchronised and I could feel as if the windmill blades were pushing me further and further the same way dad used to push the swing when I was a kid.



So I kept riding and riding till infinity. It was afternoon by now and the sun was at its best. But the slightly cool air kept things straight. Even at speeds of 140+, the road was never ending. The famous cow herds walking like fashion show parade on the roads came twice or thrice. You can notice them from a distance, so you cant just bang into them.


So finally reached Anjar Railway Station by 3 pm. Nokia Here Maps Navigation was required as there were lots of lefts and rights to reach the station. I could not believe what I saw. I mean it was the first time I was seeing a railway station that ends right after it starts. No shed, no nothing. Just 2-3 benches, one platform and done. Ok. Lets get over with it. Mittal had spend a good 4 hours sleeping on those benches after a small sight seeing in Anjar. He had already brought his LS2 Helmet with him. I am sure people in train must be thinking "Why is this guy carrying a helmet?". Little must they be aware of the adventure he was gonna have. So now the beast was in his hands. And we reached Mandvi by 4:30 pm.


Anjar-Mandvi (102 kms - 3:05 pm to 4:30 pm - 1 hour 25 minutes - avg speed: 70 kmph)


All roads are awesome. Offered my namaaz at a nearby mosque. Then headed towards the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Palace aka Vijay Vilas Palace. Google said that the palace closes by 5 pm. But due to Rann Utsav and Christmas Holiday, it was open till 6 pm. Bang on. Did a good sight seeing. Didnt spent too much time at the beach though as it was almost dark.


The Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Lobby.... @vijay Vilas Palace.


My Pillar.. I wont let go.....


(Thanks to Mittal for leaning out of the adjacent window like crazy as in one more inch and he would fall out of it... my human selfie stick...)

Google also said that Hira Laxmi Craft Park is closed on Saturday and Sunday. So we tried to haste towards the park in a hope that we reach there before it closes by 8 pm. Dont know what struck me, but after reaching BHUJ, we just inquired from some localite about the park and he said that it will be open on saturday and sunday due to Rann Utsav and hence we decided that we go there the next day. Reached our guest house, got fresh and next mission was to have dinner, gujju style. I insisted we have some authentic gujju food. Whats the use of coming to Gujrat and eating Chinese or Punjabi cuisine.

Now, this was funny for me. I asked a localite "Where will I get Kadi?". He said "You will not get it here, you have to go to Gujrat for that". And I was like "What???". I have to go to Gujrat. So where the hell am I now. I pinched myself to make sure I aint dreaming. Travelled 1000 kms and didnt reach Gujrat!!!!! Then I discovered that I was in Saurashtra.Halelujah. For people there, Gujrat is different. Ok.... But we hunted for gujju thali and did get one place. Had an hearty unlimited gujju thali. The desert was a let down though. Well. End of day one. Had one combiflam and crocin and I spent almost 6 hours inspecting the inside of my eyelid. It was all dark though and liked it. The whole day reflected in my dreamland and it was wonderful.


26th Dec, 2015: Got up at 6 am. Offered Namaaz. Next destination was Tapkeshwari cave sunrise by 7 am. Got there by 6:30 am. Had to make it to the top to see the sun rays enter the cave. Mittal used his extraordinary trekking skills to determine how to reach to the top. I deserve a pat on my back for trekking 120 feet with full length riding boots. Trekking level is 3/5. And man what a sight it was! Some things we discovered in the cave was birthday cake carton, names of lovers written on its walls, baba elaichi packet, water bottle and what not. C'mon, "koi toh jagaah ko saaf suthra rehne do"(leave something clean please). The cave is small but marvelous. Nature clearly depicts how it can sculpt things its own way.







Got down by 9 am and headed towards Bhuj city for breakfast. We had the typical Jalebi, Phapda and Papaya Chutney combo along with dabeli in cone and dahi wada. Awesome. And then the famous saucer tea.



Cool. Then we headed towards the Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal. The crowd here reminded me of Dadar station at peak time. Somehow we got into the mahal and did the sight seeing. Those guys have done some serious architectural and artistic job in there. Nothing to describe much. You have to see it to believe it.


Prag Mahal(Mittal standing in bottom centre.) This is the very hall where Palace part of LAGAAN movie was shot.


@ Prag Mahal: LOVE CHAIR???


@Aina Mahal: Rajaji's Kaksh...


@outside Aina Mahal Art Market

It was about 12 pm. We decided to quickly have a solid lunch as our next destination was "THE RANN". We skipped Kalo dungar as it didnt excite me much and I was more interested in the RANN. Meanwhile, while Mittal was having a bath, I quickly went and visited the Hira Laxmi Craft Park. Good place if you are a fan of art. I found many interesting art work, clothes and other items. Didn't buy anything though.


@Hira Laxmi Craft Park...


@ Hira Laxmi: Got INR 25000/- ???????


@Hira Laxmi: Say Hello to Mr. Duck. While most of all were busy eating something on the ground, this one of the few held its head high...


I need one of these... Somewhere on my return from Hira Laxmi towards Bhuj.


Smile..You are in Kutch.....Excitement reloaded......

Came back and we started towards Dhordo by 2 pm. Reached the checkpost and got the passes within 15 minutes. Not much rush. I anticipated that the rush would be less on 26th Dec, 2015. Hence, I did not visit Rann on 25th Dec itself. On the way to Rann, we reached the TROPIC of CANCER. There was nothing to see but just the sign board. However, knowing what Tropic of cancer means, felt very proud and I took great privilege in explaining Mittal what was it all about.


Also observe the white shoulder bag I am wearing....

Now something interesting. Seeing us taking photographs with the sign board, a sumo stopped by. A whole family got down(I mean all, ladies, gents, old, young, brothers, sisters, everyone sans driver.... it was a tourist vehicle). And these guys started taking photographs with the sign board as in it was Taj Mahal or something. Now one of the ladies looks at my shoulder bag, goes into a diabetic coma, recovers from it and exclaims "Wow, bhaiyya aapka kitna accha bag hai. Mujhe ise pehenke photo lena hai"(Wow, thats a nice bag, I want to take a photo wearing it). I said OK and before I could react, she started taking off the bag as if it was hers and I was stealing it and running away. It was just a normal brandless shoulder bag. Mittal was in shock and surprise too. In the meanwhile, an elderly uncle and his clan completely took the ownership of the Pulsar 220F and took photos in different poses as if it was their bike. I was not offended so far, but when one of this uncle(80-100 kg) sat on my bike with side stand, I just lost it. Before I could mumble anything, their photo session was over, the lady handed me the bag saying "Yeh bag dubai se laye ho naa. mai toh dubai jaati hi rehti hoon. Aaj kal sab log dubai ka hi toh maal waparte hai"(You bought this bag from dubai? I too go to dubai frequently. everyone nowadays is using items from dubai). I managed to take a photo as witness with the lady wearing the bag. One of them exclaimed "Yaha toh dekhne ke liye kuch hai hi nahi. Chalo aage badhte hai" (there is nothing to see here, lets move) and then they disappeared as in nothing happened. We too carried on.Reached RANN by 4 pm.





Now, this is a sight to see. I didnt expect the RANN to be this beautiful though I had seen photos of it before. One has to see it to believe it. Theres nothing like it. White and salt everywhere. We spend a good time observing sunset, moon rise, photography and watching the Rann. It was a little wet(1 cm deep water layer still there. Goes away by summer).




Mind it...


Facing Pakistan...... Feeling Indian.....


Feel the Magic in the air..... Thanks to the riding boots, landing was painful to the feet.. But Khisyaani Billi always Khamba Noche....


Yours Truly..


Sun Set : Technically...its the earth rotating.


Moon Rise....


Worth mentioning is the reaction of people when the moon rose. It was about 7:15 pm. No sign of moon yet. Everyone was waiting, so were we. Then slowly the clouds started to lit up due to the moon rays(reflected sun light as we know it). And then a golden dot appeared in the sky and the whole crowd went "Wow". It was better than a cricket stadium crowd cheering for a six. And in seconds the dot grew into an arc and into a whole moon. It was 99% full moon that night, so I was pretty cool. By 8:30 pm the moon was in its full glory and the Rann complimented it beautifully. There were times on the Rann when my brain could not process where I am standing. I once felt as if I am standing on the clouds. Cool.


We left Rann by 9:30 pm and visited the RANN utsav. Though the Rann utsav was very interesting with many artisans displaying their various products, the food section was utter disappointment. I mean, the food section was just to lootofy people. We were expecting authentic Kutch cuisine somewhere, but all they had to offer was chinese, punjabi and fast food. ??????? Why the hell I wanna eat all that? I got over with it and we went ahead for Chola Batura cause we were hungry. I had walked for more that 4 kms in riding boots, so you can understand how tired I must be. My feet were constantly telling me "Bhai, bus ho gaya"(Lets stop now).


We left the Rann and reached our guest house happy, content and with memory I wish must last forever. The RANN is must see place. The RANN gave me a feeling of how Indian I actually am(100% of course) when I was standing and somewhere in front of me was Pakistan. Felt really proud to be an Indian. The white dessert was still echoing in my dreams. Awesome.


27th Dec, 2015: My plan was to carry on towards Dholovira and then Mt. Abu while Mittal had to go to Ahmedabad. He took the 6:30 am bus from Bhuj to Ahmedabad. Bid him farewell. As it is we had to meet on the other side. I started off towards Dholovira for its famous Harappan escavation. I knew first hand its all soil, dust and stones, but that I have come here, it was worth the try.



Reached Dholovira by 11:30 am. The roads are okay okay. Some section sare real scarry as in the road is broken and fallen down and some sections full of potholes and some sections real kutcha road. Little did I know that I will rendevous with the Rann again. Somewhere before Dholovira is a straight road where the Rann gets extended and one can see white salt for a good 4 kms of it. Put life in me back again. Dholovira was a painstaking sight seeing. Just stones, heat, soil and dust. No greenary. By 1 pm I had had enough but was worth it. Time to move on.


Somewhere on the way to Dholovira...


Near Dholovira... Again a see it to believe it sight.


Now while going to Dholovira, I noticed group of 3-4 small local boys(8-10 years old) waving at me as in want a lift. I ignored them. I saw another group not very far after that. They too were waiving at me. I slowed down a little to just observe what were they upto. I passed them and realised that they were extending their hand and expecting me to give them a clap. Ok. Didnt get anyone on the way to Harappa. while coming back, almost having forgotten that these boys were expecting a clap, I saw these boys again. Slowed down to 30-40 kmph and these boys had already extended their hands out. There were 4 of them. They were hesitating to extend their hand a little bit more with the fear of getting knocked down. I managed to touch one of them. I could see in my RVM how happy that guy was and mocking at others that I didnt touch their hand, only this boy's hand. Celebrity feeling man, celebrity feeling.... AWESOME. I was smiling within my helmet and it lasted for quite a sometime.
Had a power snack, water and headed towards Mt. Abu. My target was to reach Guru Shikhar before 6 pm so that I can see sunset and then see Mt abu before I return to my guest house in Mehsana. The roads from Rapar to Adesar is okay okay.

Worth mentioning is this idiot who in the middle of a dusty road, somewhere in Rapar, was searching for something in a moving car (10 kmph). even I was around 10 kmph behind him, thats dead slow. I was in no hurry so didnt bother to overtake him. I should have. regardless, this guy all of sudden just brakes to dead standstill. I was like WHAAAATTTT? I slightly applied the front break and by the time I could apply the rear brake, the front tyre locked and skid. The bike skid controllably and I could have avoided the fall, but my legs were too tired to do that and I let go off the bike. Nothing much happened. I didnt fell down in the first place nor anything happened to the bike. Just the side guard bent a little due to the sheer weight of the bike and the right indicator light broke as hit a stone on the road. And this moron just fled away after a brief look in the rear view mirror. The only thing concerned about me was a dog who kept barking and barking as in telling people to atleast lift the bike. No scratches thanks to the soil below. All people(just 6-8 of them, small village you know)were looking at me as if I was an alien. Got the bike up, recovered myself as in Road rash game and moved on.

From Adesar to Palanpur is a 4 lane awesome highway. I wanted to skip the lunch as had to make it to Mt.Abu but I was pretty hungry. So had some snack at a hotel nearby. It was about 4 pm when I reached Radhanpur. Now I did the maths again. It would take me atleast 2 hours to reach Mt. Abu and another 30 minutes to reach Guru Shikhar. Also my body was aching like hell due to the great roads of Dholovira. As long as I was doing 100+, no problem. But the moment I was doing 40-50 kmph, my body was not in the game. Stood at the junction and thought what to do. I reasoned myself and decided to drop Mt. Abu plan and carry on towards Mehsana where I could spend a night and leave early morning for Pune. I decided to have tea at the radhanpur junction.


The tea session was also interesting. I was ordering tea. My helmet was still on. So obviously my beard is not visible. 2-3 guys sitting on a bench asked where was I from. Pune I said. They getting surprised didnt surpise me. And they tried pulling my leg asking whether my girlfriend is also there. By this time I had removed my helmet and one of the guys exclaimed "Arey...Bhaijaan". I mean we dont know each other, but I guessed he was a muslim too. This guy took authority of the situation and told the other guys to treat me with respect. He turned out to be a muslim. He greeted me and had a decent mature chat. No leg pulling here after, only respect, honor and dignity. He himself bought me chai in saucer and I had 4-5 of it. Then I bid him farewell. I had kept my riding gloves on the tank. The bike was some 2-3 meters away. The gloves were gone. I was like WHAT????? And before I could react this childishly behaving rickshawwala type bhaiyya came to me(not in an offenive way but quite cheerfully) and he was wearing the gloves, super excited. He was thinking they were boxing gloves or something. I reacted with a huge laughter and some 2-3 other uncle type people made a celebrity. One of them was completely freaked out and started touching each and every riding apparel I was wearing and went "Yeh toh badhiya hai"(This is great stuff). Had another 5 minutes chit chat and answered all their questions "Where are you coming from", "OMG, from Pune", "Dont you feel hot wearing all this", "This bikes must be worth lakhs", etc... Then bid them farewell. They were really happy and excited.




Having all the time in hand , Radhanpur to Mehsana was the only ride that I did at 50-60 kmph, slow and steady. I realised how nice it is to cruise like that if you have the time. Reached Mehsana by 7 pm. Had a hot water bath. Felt real good. Then had my dinner. Nothing to see out there, I went to sleep and it came sooner than I thought.


Meanwhile, happiness delivered virtually....

28th Dec, 2015: Got up by 6:30 am. Got myself and the bike ready. checked out. Had tea. Had yet another tea. It was around 7:45 am when I started from Mehsana, destination PUNE. Cool awesome roads. Dont know what struck me but I thought to just pass through Ahmedabad city. Traffic Signals, and Police are of no use there. People drive the way they want to and they give equal chance to each other regardless of the status of the signals. Chaos free, trafic jam free roads, but full of traffic. After 4-5 kms, I thought its better to touch highway than ride at 30-40 kmph. everything went as planned and I was bang on schedule. I halted at Kamrej near Surat for Namaaz and snacks.

Then there came this clink clink sound. As expected, chain had a slack. Got it fixed in 5 minutes at a local mechanic INR 10. Carried on. Being afternoon, there was scarse traffic on the sardar patel bridge at Bharuch-ankaleshwar. I was doing well and if I continued this way I could reach Pune by 10 pm. It was about 5 pm. Then came Vasai. And then came Mumbai traffic and its chaos. And then all the fun and joy of riding came to standstill. I reached Vashi at 9 pm. OMG. 4 hours just from Vasai to Vashi.

I mustered all the strength I had and carried on. Reached Lonavala by 11 pm. Had a tea and sandwich. Good for me I wasnt feeling sleepy yet. Tired, but not sleepy. Ride from Lonaval to home was a breeeze. Followed an XUV who was driving at a good pace. Reached home by 12 am. In all the bike consumed about 75 litres of Petrol. End of story. End of tour. My thrist for more carries on... Will I go to the RANN again..Hell yeah.. But not for the next 5 years or so.....Many an unvisited places calling me soon...


The beast hits it Silver Jubilee as well.

Regards.

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Thanks for your humble interest...

regards.

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Nice!

Couple of captions had me rolling. What is that mobile app (in various pics) BTW?

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

This also helped a lot...

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Treat to eyes. Really nice captures there. Totally enjoyed the log.

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Well done. Thanks for including road feedback

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye


Brothers in Arms.... @ PRAG MAHAL.... Mittal and Yours Truly.... Though Mittal hasnt joined XBHP yet, he sends his sincere regards to all.....


TEA......Thats how its drunk people.....

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

What a beautiful T-log...Bhaijaan. Keep it coming.

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

The captions were added using mspaint........

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Some more Gujrati stuff we had.........

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Really nice captures. The place equally good as what I thought in my mind

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Another funny thought I recalled.

The sign board: TROPIC OF CANCER IS PASSING FROM HERE

ME: Toh maine kab bola ke nahi pass ho raha. .. ROFL.. (SO WHEN DID I SAY IT ISN'T)

Re: "Kutch" din toh gujaro Gujrat me........ Guzaar Diye

Awesome Pervez bhai!