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Hi Folks...
After seeing the response about my "Solo ride of Southern India" thread I thought I would also share an old one. I hope you will find this also interesting ... however, it is not as "senti" as my new one.
Apologies for it's length and sorry there is just one photo worth sharing -
Ever since I moved to Delhi from Bangalore, I was dying to go on yet another biking tour. I was in a mood of adventure and this would come from biking.
I wanted the fresh air hitting our face, the hot sun giving us sweat, our bodies saying no but we saying "go on", We wanted to experience what we usually don't, like, when you have to slow down to let a flock of cows cross the road,when you overtake a bullock cart laden with hay or firewood or families returning home after a long day in the fields, when you pass by small tea shops on the roadside where men are hunched over their hot cups of tea that's beenboiled to a sticky sweetness in a big alluminium container, when you see farmers, both men and women in one long, single line, bent forwards at the waist, when a flock of children playing by the roadside, raise their hand and smileto acknowledge your wave as you speed by on your bike one after the other. Thats what I like about the biking tours......its a complete change to your life.
This time we all decided to make it come true and started some serious planning and yes, one fine day we were off to Rishikesh.
Cast - Prashant, Rajat, Dhruv, Pranesh, Ankit.
Time - Took off 3:30 AM on Saturday Morning.
Mode of transport - 2 Honda Unicorns (Wing rider) and 2 Bajaj Pulsars (Definately male)
Route - gaziabad - meerut bypass - muzzarpur bypass - khatauli - roorkee - haridwar - rishikesh - shivpuri.
It was a mixed feeling, we all had butterflies in our stomach, though a little fear of risk taking was apparent.Getting up at 2 AM was not a real good idea but coming on road at 3 AM felt good.
On Friday night I tried to get a little sleep but could not close my eyes in excitement. We all got along and decided to start the journey from Rajat's home.
We decided to ride at constant 60kmph, as we felt the journey is more important than the destination. Robert Pirsig is right, when he says that, "on a motorcycle, you become part of the scenery".
It was dark when we started. By 5:45 we were able to see the road with our head lights switched off. We stopped at one place for "chai", clicked some snaps. Had to shout for a cup of chai as the hotel fellow brought just 4 cups, don't know why?
It felt good to see the sunrise on our right. The sky was orange and so were the road, it felt heavenly. Riding the bikes at this point of time was really lovely. Leaning the bike following only the white lines on the road was like meditation only motorcyclists can understand.
On our way we got everything from smiles, stares, middle fingers to flying kisses, I was used to it as I have been on trips earlier, I guess others had individual reactions for everything. Well, we all know a Bull is a crowd stopper, whether running or standing!
At 150 kilometers from home at about 7:30 AM, we needed a little rest and decided to stop at "The Cheetal Grand" for breakfast, but Dhruv and Rajat were so concentrated on riding, they didn't notice the Grand Cheetal pass by. We started to chase them and ask them to stop but by the time we caught up with them we were about 5 kms ahead of Cheetal Grand.
We now decided to park our bikes near a roadside "chai wala" for some tea again. I remember everyone saying "let's stop for some chai" but I could feel that we all needed to stop to get our butts out of those saddles of our bikes.
Here again we got just 4 cups of chai and had to shout for another cup, don't understand why the hotel guys again gave us 4 cups instead of 5.
Soon after the "chai wala khokka" we were into a small village.
We saw some interesting people here.Life looked very silent and slow here unlike what you see in Delhi. On the outskirts of this village there were small kids doing their early morning rituals (also known as Shit) in queues on roadside.
I must have noticed some 20 of them silently sitting there and occasionally passing us smiles as we passed by on our bikes. Their positions formed a strange "celestial" geometry, something similar to the night sky with stars.
Once out of this messy village we were on the main road again, Fresh air and the sight of green paddy fields was refreshing. Now was the time when we all were really enjoying the riding. I was constantly missing my girlfriend now. There was an unknown silense between us, I guess everyone was talking to themself at this time or may be like me they were missing someone.
Slowly we were getting close to Rishikesh.Soon we were at Haridwar and stopped near the ganges for a few clicks with our bikes. After a 15 minutes halt we were heading again towards Rishikesh.
A visual treat of river beaches, rocks, steep gorges and dense forests welcomed us. It was a lovely sight. I felt like stopping and letting my feet in the running water and it would have been so refreshing.
We met Amit and Swami (our organizors)and they were all set to take us to rafting. Their preparations were amazingly organised, I had untill now never experienced such a good coordination of things. Everything from our bike's parking, luggage space, safety equipment, rafting experts and rescuers was taken care of. We changed our clothes and reached the spot for starting our rafting.
Standing there on the bank of Ganges you can hear the 'gentle' roar ahead till you go a little further and it transforms into a thunderous one. You can see the water foam, swirl, make whirlpools and rise to form sheer walls. After clicking a few snaps we were into the water with our coach and Amit.
You can never even come close to imagining the power of the river. Yup, for a starter, imagine being a pair of Levi's in a washing machine set at top speed!
The waves crash into each other in their pristine fury as if they are trying to drown each other. This sport is not for everyone. This is for the bravehearts who enjoy the high of negotiating with risks. This is for those who like to be in control. For those with guts of steel.
Floating into the froth you can truly appreciate your senses tuned to the slightest sound from your guide, the slightest movement of the raft, and the numbness of bone chilling water sprayed on your skin.I can tell you, the river wants you more than you want it.
We climbed a wave crest and were held there for a trifle longer than required, enough to make everyone scream out of sheer adrenalin-laced thrill.
There were a few rapids where we jumped into the water for body surfing. This was really amazing, bone chiiling water at top speed and you are swimming in one of the most respected rivers of India. Once into the holy ganga I was thinking if the Ganga is such a holy river, isn't it disrespectful for thrill-seeking people like us to raft on it?
Just before we were about to finish the 22 kms of rafting we reached a point where we were supposed to "Cliff Jump". This was one of the craziest stuff I have ever done. We had to take ten to twenty minutes to get our heads together before we went.
Though the cliff appeared to be very small from the river, once on the cliff, my legs were shivering.
I did five of them, count them FIVE...Cliff Jumps....and loved each and every one...well, perhaps not the second one. My experience was that the first was a great thrill...the second scared the hell out of me because I'd done this once already and having survived that what the hell was I doing?? Cheating death again....The third thru fifth were an absolute blast!!!! Oh - did I mention it was fun?
Once the rafting was over we went up the hill to Rishikesh and Amit had arranged some really good Lunch for us. The restraunt was lovely. There was a small stream flowing just outside it. We had our lunch and found a room to stay in Rishikesh.
We managed to get 2 very good rooms with TV for just Rs.450 in total.
Next day we were off to a river side beach where some foreigners visit on a daily basis. after staying there for some 2-3 hours we were back on road on our way to Delhi and of course this time we had our dinner at "The Cheetal Grand".All in all it was an awesome trip. Completely satisfied and already dying to go again.
After seeing the response about my "Solo ride of Southern India" thread I thought I would also share an old one. I hope you will find this also interesting ... however, it is not as "senti" as my new one.
Apologies for it's length and sorry there is just one photo worth sharing -
Ever since I moved to Delhi from Bangalore, I was dying to go on yet another biking tour. I was in a mood of adventure and this would come from biking.
I wanted the fresh air hitting our face, the hot sun giving us sweat, our bodies saying no but we saying "go on", We wanted to experience what we usually don't, like, when you have to slow down to let a flock of cows cross the road,when you overtake a bullock cart laden with hay or firewood or families returning home after a long day in the fields, when you pass by small tea shops on the roadside where men are hunched over their hot cups of tea that's beenboiled to a sticky sweetness in a big alluminium container, when you see farmers, both men and women in one long, single line, bent forwards at the waist, when a flock of children playing by the roadside, raise their hand and smileto acknowledge your wave as you speed by on your bike one after the other. Thats what I like about the biking tours......its a complete change to your life.
This time we all decided to make it come true and started some serious planning and yes, one fine day we were off to Rishikesh.
Cast - Prashant, Rajat, Dhruv, Pranesh, Ankit.
Time - Took off 3:30 AM on Saturday Morning.
Mode of transport - 2 Honda Unicorns (Wing rider) and 2 Bajaj Pulsars (Definately male)
Route - gaziabad - meerut bypass - muzzarpur bypass - khatauli - roorkee - haridwar - rishikesh - shivpuri.
It was a mixed feeling, we all had butterflies in our stomach, though a little fear of risk taking was apparent.Getting up at 2 AM was not a real good idea but coming on road at 3 AM felt good.
On Friday night I tried to get a little sleep but could not close my eyes in excitement. We all got along and decided to start the journey from Rajat's home.
We decided to ride at constant 60kmph, as we felt the journey is more important than the destination. Robert Pirsig is right, when he says that, "on a motorcycle, you become part of the scenery".
It was dark when we started. By 5:45 we were able to see the road with our head lights switched off. We stopped at one place for "chai", clicked some snaps. Had to shout for a cup of chai as the hotel fellow brought just 4 cups, don't know why?
It felt good to see the sunrise on our right. The sky was orange and so were the road, it felt heavenly. Riding the bikes at this point of time was really lovely. Leaning the bike following only the white lines on the road was like meditation only motorcyclists can understand.
On our way we got everything from smiles, stares, middle fingers to flying kisses, I was used to it as I have been on trips earlier, I guess others had individual reactions for everything. Well, we all know a Bull is a crowd stopper, whether running or standing!
At 150 kilometers from home at about 7:30 AM, we needed a little rest and decided to stop at "The Cheetal Grand" for breakfast, but Dhruv and Rajat were so concentrated on riding, they didn't notice the Grand Cheetal pass by. We started to chase them and ask them to stop but by the time we caught up with them we were about 5 kms ahead of Cheetal Grand.
We now decided to park our bikes near a roadside "chai wala" for some tea again. I remember everyone saying "let's stop for some chai" but I could feel that we all needed to stop to get our butts out of those saddles of our bikes.
Here again we got just 4 cups of chai and had to shout for another cup, don't understand why the hotel guys again gave us 4 cups instead of 5.
Soon after the "chai wala khokka" we were into a small village.
We saw some interesting people here.Life looked very silent and slow here unlike what you see in Delhi. On the outskirts of this village there were small kids doing their early morning rituals (also known as Shit) in queues on roadside.
I must have noticed some 20 of them silently sitting there and occasionally passing us smiles as we passed by on our bikes. Their positions formed a strange "celestial" geometry, something similar to the night sky with stars.
Once out of this messy village we were on the main road again, Fresh air and the sight of green paddy fields was refreshing. Now was the time when we all were really enjoying the riding. I was constantly missing my girlfriend now. There was an unknown silense between us, I guess everyone was talking to themself at this time or may be like me they were missing someone.
Slowly we were getting close to Rishikesh.Soon we were at Haridwar and stopped near the ganges for a few clicks with our bikes. After a 15 minutes halt we were heading again towards Rishikesh.
A visual treat of river beaches, rocks, steep gorges and dense forests welcomed us. It was a lovely sight. I felt like stopping and letting my feet in the running water and it would have been so refreshing.
We met Amit and Swami (our organizors)and they were all set to take us to rafting. Their preparations were amazingly organised, I had untill now never experienced such a good coordination of things. Everything from our bike's parking, luggage space, safety equipment, rafting experts and rescuers was taken care of. We changed our clothes and reached the spot for starting our rafting.
Standing there on the bank of Ganges you can hear the 'gentle' roar ahead till you go a little further and it transforms into a thunderous one. You can see the water foam, swirl, make whirlpools and rise to form sheer walls. After clicking a few snaps we were into the water with our coach and Amit.
You can never even come close to imagining the power of the river. Yup, for a starter, imagine being a pair of Levi's in a washing machine set at top speed!
The waves crash into each other in their pristine fury as if they are trying to drown each other. This sport is not for everyone. This is for the bravehearts who enjoy the high of negotiating with risks. This is for those who like to be in control. For those with guts of steel.
Floating into the froth you can truly appreciate your senses tuned to the slightest sound from your guide, the slightest movement of the raft, and the numbness of bone chilling water sprayed on your skin.I can tell you, the river wants you more than you want it.
We climbed a wave crest and were held there for a trifle longer than required, enough to make everyone scream out of sheer adrenalin-laced thrill.
There were a few rapids where we jumped into the water for body surfing. This was really amazing, bone chiiling water at top speed and you are swimming in one of the most respected rivers of India. Once into the holy ganga I was thinking if the Ganga is such a holy river, isn't it disrespectful for thrill-seeking people like us to raft on it?
Just before we were about to finish the 22 kms of rafting we reached a point where we were supposed to "Cliff Jump". This was one of the craziest stuff I have ever done. We had to take ten to twenty minutes to get our heads together before we went.
Though the cliff appeared to be very small from the river, once on the cliff, my legs were shivering.
I did five of them, count them FIVE...Cliff Jumps....and loved each and every one...well, perhaps not the second one. My experience was that the first was a great thrill...the second scared the hell out of me because I'd done this once already and having survived that what the hell was I doing?? Cheating death again....The third thru fifth were an absolute blast!!!! Oh - did I mention it was fun?
Once the rafting was over we went up the hill to Rishikesh and Amit had arranged some really good Lunch for us. The restraunt was lovely. There was a small stream flowing just outside it. We had our lunch and found a room to stay in Rishikesh.
We managed to get 2 very good rooms with TV for just Rs.450 in total.
Next day we were off to a river side beach where some foreigners visit on a daily basis. after staying there for some 2-3 hours we were back on road on our way to Delhi and of course this time we had our dinner at "The Cheetal Grand".All in all it was an awesome trip. Completely satisfied and already dying to go again.
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