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Mumbai to Uttarakhand and back on a motorcycle!
Trip start date – Saturday, 24th December 2017, 0600 HRS
Trip end date – Thursday, 11th January 2018, 2200 HRS
Total distance covered – ~4800 kms
Route –
Mumbai – Godhra – Beawar – Agra – Ranikhet (via Nainital) – Sari – Chopta – Joshimat (Via Chamoli) – Auli – Neelkanth – Rishikesh – Dehradun – Mussorie – Shahjanpur (via Rewadi, Haryana) – Udaipur – Mumbai
Machines –
Honda CBR 650F ABS
Honda CBR 250R ABS
KTM RC390 ABS
Squad –
Nikunj + Mamta – two-up riding/CBR 650F
Harish + Kalpana – two-up riding/CBR 250R
Aldrich – Solo riding/RC 390
***PROLOGUE***
It was a rainy June evening and business as usual in the office. I was working on one of my projects and occasionally was fidgeting around on WhatsApp. I received a text from Harish – “Bhai free hai kya? Call karu?” I promptly replied with a Thumbs Up emo. The phone rang –
Me: “Bol bhai kaisa hai”
Harish: “Ekdum mast hoon bhai. Sun, roadtrip plan kar raha hoon.”
Me: “Kidhar jaara”
Hairsh: “Uttrakhand, December mein. Tu aayega?”
Me: “December? Thandi mein marega yede, main nahi aa raha”
Harish: “Draft plan banaya hai check your email”
Me: “Haan, check karta hoon. Lekin count me out. Bye”
I hung up and forgot about the conversation and went back to my work. The word ‘Uttarakhand’, for some strange reason, kept on ringing in my head. I decided to take a break and went down to have some chai with my colleague Brijesh. Brijesh had recently been to Uttarakhand so I asked him how his experience was. He only had good things to say about the Land of Gods. My curiosity increased and I finally checked my email and found a word document titled ‘UK Trip draft.doc’ sent by Harish. I went thru the document and was so impressed with the details – even in the draft version - that I had almost made up my mind to give it a go. Afterall, it was almost a year I was itching for a ride and the highways were frantically calling!
The main reason(s) I was excited for the trip were these of the many points Harish had made in the draft document –
1. Visit Taj Mahal – 27th December 2017
2. Paragliding activity (7000+ feet) in Ranikhet – 29th December 2017
3. Trek to Deoria Tal and camp under the stars – 31st December 2017
4. 5 km snow trek to Tunganath and Chandrashila – 1st January 2018
5. Ride in Asia’s longest cable car ropeway, Auli – 4th January 2018
6. River rafting in Ganga, Rishikesh – 6th January 2018
7. India’s highest bungee jumping in Rishikesh – 7th January 2018
The plan, even though draft, was extensive and the select points above were too tempting for me to say ‘NO’ to what would, in future, be the most epic road trip of my life so far.
Later that night I called up Harish and congratulated him on a plan very well made, asked him if he needed any help, asked him to ride safe in the hills and the usual BS. He understood that I am just fooling around and am IN for the ride.
The next few days, I was finding ways to break this news at home – getting permission was particularly difficult at this time coz it involved Mamta too. Yes, she was super excited for this trip and was supposed to ride pillion with me (we hadn’t been to Agra or Uttarakhand ever). Eventually, after a lot of promises to ride slow and safe the approval was stamped! DONE – mission one accomplished.
Mission two was to get the leaves approved in office – 26th December to 12th January. I called up my boss in the US and told him that I am going on a road trip up north and need almost 3 weeks leave. Knowing my boss, as cool as he is, asked about my plan, I told him all about it like an excited kid. I remember, he laughed a little and said he approves my leave. I dropped an email and got his approval on paper then applied leave in the system and DONE! Second major hurdle crossed. The road trip was still some 5 months away but my excitement rocketed thru the roof.
In the following days, the same rituals ensued whenever a group plan is made. A WhatsApp group was created and 5 members added in it. Harish, Kalpana (Hairsh’s better half), Mamta (My better half), Aldrich and I. The flurry of GM, GN messages and a truck load of off topic conversations started flowing in. Except Harish, who used to send useful information and pictures of the places in UK we were supposed to visit, for all of us it was just another group to spam forwarded messages. Promises to meet up at Hairsh’s place to discuss further on the trip route and activities were made and kept but most meets ended up in guzzling beers and hogging burgers from West Coast, watching MTV Beats - with zero discussions about the trip.
Eventually, things settled down and conversations about the trip started to happen. The WhatsApp group finally started making sense, it started serving its purpose for existence. The shopping list (mostly warm clothes) was finally jotted down, motorcycle saddle bags finalized and route brainstorming between the 3 gents from the group took place regularly…we were heading in the right direction.
Cut to December 3rd Week – t minus 7 days
All of us were a little nervous now. Also a little excited since the road trip was getting closer and closer. The Whatsapp conversations transformed into teleconference calls for serious discussions and status updates on shopping and packing. This time the meetings at Harish’s place were fruitful and our UK TRIP document went thru some major version changes frequently. All of us memorized the route details and day to day activities planned. The 3 motorcycles were serviced in due time and were ready to go. The next couple of days were spent in final shopping and packing bags also checking on each other’s excitement levels. The work week got busiers since all of us were busy completing any pending work and preparing handover documents for the work to be carried out in our absence – none of it was exciting coz all we had in our mind was the beautiful Uttrakhand, calling us.
Finally, the day had arrived. The moment of truth. It was just around 24 hours remaining before our lives were going to change for better. We were all set to experience the major awesomeness Uttarakhand had to offer. The land of PanchPrayag, the DevBhumi, the Holy Waters of Ganga and the snow clad Hills were calling – and we had to go!
Teasers:
FURYs first encounter with Black Ice
Tunganath - Highest Shiva Temple in the world
Himalayan sunsets
Extremely beautiful Deoria Tal lake
View from our hotel in Sari Village
Coming up:
Day 1 –
Mumbai to Godhra
Distance – 500 KM
Route – NH8
Mumbai – Bharuch – Vapi – Vadodra – Halol – Vejalpur - Godhra
Trip start date – Saturday, 24th December 2017, 0600 HRS
Trip end date – Thursday, 11th January 2018, 2200 HRS
Total distance covered – ~4800 kms
Route –
Mumbai – Godhra – Beawar – Agra – Ranikhet (via Nainital) – Sari – Chopta – Joshimat (Via Chamoli) – Auli – Neelkanth – Rishikesh – Dehradun – Mussorie – Shahjanpur (via Rewadi, Haryana) – Udaipur – Mumbai
Machines –
Honda CBR 650F ABS
Honda CBR 250R ABS
KTM RC390 ABS
Squad –
Nikunj + Mamta – two-up riding/CBR 650F
Harish + Kalpana – two-up riding/CBR 250R
Aldrich – Solo riding/RC 390
***PROLOGUE***
It was a rainy June evening and business as usual in the office. I was working on one of my projects and occasionally was fidgeting around on WhatsApp. I received a text from Harish – “Bhai free hai kya? Call karu?” I promptly replied with a Thumbs Up emo. The phone rang –
Me: “Bol bhai kaisa hai”
Harish: “Ekdum mast hoon bhai. Sun, roadtrip plan kar raha hoon.”
Me: “Kidhar jaara”
Hairsh: “Uttrakhand, December mein. Tu aayega?”
Me: “December? Thandi mein marega yede, main nahi aa raha”
Harish: “Draft plan banaya hai check your email”
Me: “Haan, check karta hoon. Lekin count me out. Bye”
I hung up and forgot about the conversation and went back to my work. The word ‘Uttarakhand’, for some strange reason, kept on ringing in my head. I decided to take a break and went down to have some chai with my colleague Brijesh. Brijesh had recently been to Uttarakhand so I asked him how his experience was. He only had good things to say about the Land of Gods. My curiosity increased and I finally checked my email and found a word document titled ‘UK Trip draft.doc’ sent by Harish. I went thru the document and was so impressed with the details – even in the draft version - that I had almost made up my mind to give it a go. Afterall, it was almost a year I was itching for a ride and the highways were frantically calling!
The main reason(s) I was excited for the trip were these of the many points Harish had made in the draft document –
1. Visit Taj Mahal – 27th December 2017
2. Paragliding activity (7000+ feet) in Ranikhet – 29th December 2017
3. Trek to Deoria Tal and camp under the stars – 31st December 2017
4. 5 km snow trek to Tunganath and Chandrashila – 1st January 2018
5. Ride in Asia’s longest cable car ropeway, Auli – 4th January 2018
6. River rafting in Ganga, Rishikesh – 6th January 2018
7. India’s highest bungee jumping in Rishikesh – 7th January 2018
The plan, even though draft, was extensive and the select points above were too tempting for me to say ‘NO’ to what would, in future, be the most epic road trip of my life so far.
Later that night I called up Harish and congratulated him on a plan very well made, asked him if he needed any help, asked him to ride safe in the hills and the usual BS. He understood that I am just fooling around and am IN for the ride.
The next few days, I was finding ways to break this news at home – getting permission was particularly difficult at this time coz it involved Mamta too. Yes, she was super excited for this trip and was supposed to ride pillion with me (we hadn’t been to Agra or Uttarakhand ever). Eventually, after a lot of promises to ride slow and safe the approval was stamped! DONE – mission one accomplished.
Mission two was to get the leaves approved in office – 26th December to 12th January. I called up my boss in the US and told him that I am going on a road trip up north and need almost 3 weeks leave. Knowing my boss, as cool as he is, asked about my plan, I told him all about it like an excited kid. I remember, he laughed a little and said he approves my leave. I dropped an email and got his approval on paper then applied leave in the system and DONE! Second major hurdle crossed. The road trip was still some 5 months away but my excitement rocketed thru the roof.
In the following days, the same rituals ensued whenever a group plan is made. A WhatsApp group was created and 5 members added in it. Harish, Kalpana (Hairsh’s better half), Mamta (My better half), Aldrich and I. The flurry of GM, GN messages and a truck load of off topic conversations started flowing in. Except Harish, who used to send useful information and pictures of the places in UK we were supposed to visit, for all of us it was just another group to spam forwarded messages. Promises to meet up at Hairsh’s place to discuss further on the trip route and activities were made and kept but most meets ended up in guzzling beers and hogging burgers from West Coast, watching MTV Beats - with zero discussions about the trip.
Eventually, things settled down and conversations about the trip started to happen. The WhatsApp group finally started making sense, it started serving its purpose for existence. The shopping list (mostly warm clothes) was finally jotted down, motorcycle saddle bags finalized and route brainstorming between the 3 gents from the group took place regularly…we were heading in the right direction.
Cut to December 3rd Week – t minus 7 days
All of us were a little nervous now. Also a little excited since the road trip was getting closer and closer. The Whatsapp conversations transformed into teleconference calls for serious discussions and status updates on shopping and packing. This time the meetings at Harish’s place were fruitful and our UK TRIP document went thru some major version changes frequently. All of us memorized the route details and day to day activities planned. The 3 motorcycles were serviced in due time and were ready to go. The next couple of days were spent in final shopping and packing bags also checking on each other’s excitement levels. The work week got busiers since all of us were busy completing any pending work and preparing handover documents for the work to be carried out in our absence – none of it was exciting coz all we had in our mind was the beautiful Uttrakhand, calling us.
Finally, the day had arrived. The moment of truth. It was just around 24 hours remaining before our lives were going to change for better. We were all set to experience the major awesomeness Uttarakhand had to offer. The land of PanchPrayag, the DevBhumi, the Holy Waters of Ganga and the snow clad Hills were calling – and we had to go!
Teasers:
FURYs first encounter with Black Ice
Tunganath - Highest Shiva Temple in the world
Himalayan sunsets
Extremely beautiful Deoria Tal lake
View from our hotel in Sari Village
Coming up:
Day 1 –
Mumbai to Godhra
Distance – 500 KM
Route – NH8
Mumbai – Bharuch – Vapi – Vadodra – Halol – Vejalpur - Godhra
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