Some great pics there. You have earned the envy of many people, I am sure. Austria is a really beautiful country, and cheap too. I travelled through south austria a few years back using an EU rail pass, and I was awed. I can only imagine how it was on a KTM.

Sigh.

Oh, and I gotta point this out: Vienna is the capital of Austria. Salzburg is where they shot the sound of music

Thanks pal

yeah, those mountain views were really really scenic



Thanks!

There is more to come..

Agree on that - Austria and Italy (for that matter other countries in that area) are super clean
Thanks..


Thanks..working on more..

More to come..

Damn.. this isnt the first time i m doing this mistake.. i donno y Salzburg always feels like the capital to me! thanks for correcting..

Wonderful set of pics Bunny bro, specially i like that Rolle pass pic where you have shoot..couple of biker's passing by,,,what a curve's ..what a lovely wheather

READ DAY3 HERE - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/304071-post35.html

DAY 4 : Corvara – Grodner pass / Passo Gardena – Passo Sella – Passo Costalunga – Bozen / Bolzano – Passo Mendola – Cles – Passo di Tonale – Passo di Gavia – Bormio – Passo Foscagno – Passo Eira - Livigno

Here is a link on GOOGLE MAPS - Corvara BZ, Italy to Livigno SO, Italy - Google Maps

After a good night’s sleep, I was all fresh for another day ahead, a day of sorts. The first thing I did was fill up the bike, from a pump just a few meters from the hotel. Two Harley riders had just filled up before me, gearing up for their ride ahead. It is places like these where the full potential of bikes like the Harley lies. I filled up 14.92litres of petrol for 20 Euros (yes, that’s like 1200 rupees!) and carried on for the first pass of the day, Grodner or Gardena, just nine kilometers away.

The place where I stayed - La Baita


The ‘Bikers welcome’ sign outside my hotel


Gardena pass


The pass had nothing to offer so I continued ahead for Sella pass. Suddenly I was in the sun shadow area and it became quite chilly. I loved riding on the narrow road with a huge mountain on the left and a drop on the right.


The final few kilometers to Sella saw me riding in a lot of traffic.


After taking snaps of the board, I parked my bike on the right. Two more bikers joined and as usual talks started about the SMT and me riding in this part of the world. The views from where we were standing were awesome, however with lot of traffic I decided to ride ahead.



Costalunga came and went with nothing much to offer.



I was now riding downhill to the big town of Bozen or Bolzano. Temperatures started rising and once in the city, in slow moving traffic, I was almost sweating inside. Add to it that it took me a while finding the right road to Mendola pass meant I started getting irritated. I had to ride a lot inside the city in start stop traffic and trust me, it was quite warm. However once on the right road to Mendola, I started ripping. The good thing in these areas is that there are hardly any cops around for a check on speeding. What you have instead are big signs which show what speeds you are doing. The guilt within makes you slow down. Perfect.
I was thirsty but didn’t want to stop until I was back in the hills. And once there, I stopped for these views




A little pass, Mendola, at 1363 came but was in the middle of a small city. I decided to take the pic from a distance and carried on.


Finally bypassing little sleepy towns, I was in the middle of fruit farms like these




Tonale pass at 1884 was much better with good views


However it was the Gavia that I was looking forward to ride to. Traffic became as I was nearing the pass – good for me!


Remember this car on Day3?


This was the reason why there were far less bikers and cars on the road today.




The road to Gavia is quite narrow with numerous hair pin bends, blind curves etc. Europeans aren’t really used to such roads and many a times I had bikers coming my way, riding almost in my lane for fear of going off in to the deep valley on the other side! However, being used to such roads in India meant I was cool with riding here. Plus as the altitude went up, the hills around, with less vegetation started reminding me of the Himalayas! Infact, this was also the only stretch I came across with less than perfect roads – little potholes in abundance.

Stopping off the road for some views


A few kilometers before Gavia pass, I saw this lake on the left side, down in the valley. It involved riding off the road for a km. Now, how could I resist this. Off I went, riding on the pegs. Once there, I saw a KTM off-roader parked on the side, next to a huge stone. And then I saw them – a couple lay there, in each other’s arms! Great! I acted as if I didn’t see them, parked my bike next to the lake, took a few shots and carried on back to the road.






Enroute Gavia, there were numerous old styled tunnels with no lights. Infact, these were pretty cold and gave an indication of the high altitude.

Gavia pass at 2652 meters was well worth it.


While riding to Gavia, I had overtaken these two beauties, which were driven all the way from Britain. Thumps up!


A small lake, meters from the Gavia pass.


From here, I rode non-stop to just before Foscagno for these views.




The pass, two km from the previous stop


Another little pass


Finally I was at my destination – Livigno. This city, on the border of Italy and Switzerland is known for its zero taxes. Yes, that means fuel is cheaper, so are items like chocolates / perfumes / Booze! I filled up 16.65 litres of fuel for just 15 Euros - thats 0.90 Euros cents per litre as against 1.34 i payed in the morning! The place seemed very cute and it took me just ten minutes to find a decent place for the night for 40 Euros. Another reason why I choose this hotel was the owner’s bike


Later in the evening I went around shopping, getting gifts for people back home and ofcourse myself. The best perfume I have used till date – Issey Miyake for men . Infact there was some kind of scheme running wherein shopping for 150 Euros entitled you to a free ten Euro coupon. Damn, these credit cards really tempt u – it did happen!
Dinner was a big Pizza I got packed from the market for 6.5 Euros.

Spotted this during my evening walk

Absolutely beautiful stuff, Bunny. I am darn sure, it was a trip of a lifetime! You ARE lucky.

Wow.Awesome stuff.What a lovely place.Surely a biker's delight and the Katoom looks hawtt!!

@ Bunny. I was searching this thread for a particular reason and out of the blue I see it popping up after a long break on XBHP & ADV.

Very nice pics indeed.

^While you say that, I think our man is on his way to the next big trip on the KaTooM!

Awesome trip sir, photos are really superb, feel like am becoming a fan of SMT