u doing a commendable job bro... keep up the good work....

You are busy minting money Yes u shud definately go for some small ride...or while returning u can meet me on the way

Ya man it was a nightmare...while trying to control the bike...i was thinking if i fall n go unconscious, there are good chances my equipment which is worth lakhs will be gone by the time gain consciousness
Anyways aal is well that ends well

For south i have another plan in my mind...i wont be going south in this trip but after this is over i am thinking on a full fleged detailed south touring

Thank you kashif


Thanks surojit

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Day 16 Unmusical Night?

woah.. 16 days over so fast..!! great going mate

Great going buddy..Whats the plan for the next day ??..!!

Day 17 - Riding on the Dunes

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Day 18 - Desert Delights!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Day 18 Desert Delights -- Part two


In the evening I camped at the dunes. The bike was loaded with all the essentials for the night stay. Packed in was a sleeping bag, a tent, utensils, clothes, food packets --maggi, soup and a carry mat. Pitiching the tent securely, I chose a location that was safe from winds, surrounded by dunes to protect it from being directly hit by the gusty desert winds.

I went for a facinating solitary walk in the sun kissed desert on a dusky evening enjoying the blissful sight in the orange skies.

Walking down a little further, I met a group of touring Koreans camping in the desert. Inviting me over for a cup of tea they showed a friendly gesture. Having a cup of tea I continued to walk by my self. This solitary walk got me into a philosophycal mood. I pondered over many things of higher reality, What is it that bonds me with the people I meet that they are willing to provide things for free? What is the common link that connects the human race? Wondering about all this and more I returned to the camp site where the Koreans pithed tents for the night.

This time the camel guides invited me over for dinner. I have a frenzy for village food. So, I decided to share a meal with them. Choosing to eat rice chapati and potato vegetable than the roasted potatoes cooked over a campfire. They were curious about knowing why I was without any woman. Bombarding me with personal questions of sorts, they seemed more like a liability than good company.

Maintaining patience I continued to feed their curiosity. They thought I was like a fakir going on a bike from place to place without a woman with me. They showed concern worrieng about my bike being stolen at night. I assured them that even if it was stolen, nothing would not stop me from traveling. The simplicity and affection shown by these desert dwellers deeply touched me.

Post dinner all the camel guides, except one left for their respected homes. On asking the reason of him being left behind, Romi humbly replied that he was unmarried and did not have a reason to go back. I was like him too no reason to go back home! I am happy traveling and sleeping in the desert just as he is with nothing to worry about!

Talking to him for a while got me intersted in knowing more about his lifestyle. I found out he was the oldest of five siblings, supporting his aging parents, he was the sole bread winner earning a measly sum of fifteen hundred rupees a month by walking camels being a guide to many tourists. In twenty one years he had not been to Jaisalmer. The forty kilometre surrounding area was the world for him.

A lady from UK was traveling alone and Rumi accompanied her as a guide, she fell in love with him and offered to take him along to U.K. promising to give him a lot of money. He rejected the offer despite liking her, saying he wanted to be the care giver to the family. He said no to MADAM -- what use is money when I cant help my brothers, sisters and old parents. No thank you!

Wondering why he did not go to Jaisalmer for work,I asked him. The answer was a bitter truth. The employer threathened him of taking away the camel from him forever, depriving him of the only opportunity he had to work and earn his living. In fear of this threat, he chose not to dare leave the vicinity of forty kilometres.
Disheartened listening to this sad story, I was left wondering how helpless innocent people are exploited. With a sad heart I left from there, facing the harsh reality of life I retired for the day in my tent at the end of day eighteen.

Your are a true traveller.
I envy you.

Thanks kashif I took a quick look through your blog/site 10-15 days back You too are doing an awesome job bro

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Day 19 - Tanot Temple




Spending the morning on data transfer , I decided to leave for Tanot temple located at a distance of 160 km from Sam, and 140 Km from Jaisalmer. Enjoying the ride on the desert land, for about 25 km, I saw the most amazing landscape. The colors I saw all around left me spell-bound. The sand appeared to glow in multiple shades of magenta. It was a captivating sight seeing such an astoundingly and mesmerizing palette of colour painted across the desert sands. I was tempted to explore more of this treasured gift of nature and decided to offroad on the sandy terrain. This ride was a true pleasure. The landscape -- rolling hillocks of vividly coloured sands -- was a picturesque sight indeed.

Moving farther on I offroading on the way to Tanot, I came to some Chattris (monuments built on tombs of the Maharajas). Riding on the roads was thrilling, touching high speeds of 100 plus on free roads was a sheer pleasure.



Forty kilometres before Tanot was a dazzling landscape of dunes. This is a marvelous place where I saw nothing but sand as far as my vision could extend.

Twenty kilometres before Tanot is the village of Ranau. The village has raw homes made of locally available indegenous materials, constructed without the use of any modern materials. All the people here are shephards, and rearing sheep is their sole means of earning a living. This was a glimpse into the unexplored facet of life in rural India




On the way to Ranau I passed an Indo-Pak war memorial. Back in 1965-71, the war with Pakistan took place here. In 1971 Pakistan launched missles at India. The entire company around the temple survided, as the missles remained unexploded. The photographs of the scenes from that time are on display all over this place. The belief of people in the power of the temple strengthened even more after this event. Now this is a huge temple attracting quite a number of devotees.
On the way back I met some army personnel, riding all the way from Poonch in the north heading towards Devlali. They were twelve men on six bikes accompanied by one army truck. Traveling every five years over the same route, they visited all the war memorials enroute, paying tributes to the martyrs who laid thier life for our motherland. Having conversations with other bikers is always a pleasure. It was fun chatting with them, not over tea or coffee, but gol-gappa and bananas and made the experience more interesing.
Riding in a group has its own pros and cons. I rode with them as a group for a while, realizing why they were unable to cover greater distances in a given number of riding hours, simply because if one of the group members has to make a halt, then the entire group must wait. The equation is basic... the greater the number of bikers, the greater number of halts, and so more time is taken to cover any targeted distance.

I decided to keep up to the pace I am used to, saying goodbye I moved my way, zipping past the armymen. Riding 320 kilometres I was as fresh as ever, not tired at all!! I enjoyed ride back. In that hour of the evening, the sun was setting down for the day, while the moon made its appearance on the opposite horizon. It was nice seeing both these sharing the skies in an unusual sky scape, albeit for a limited time. After the sun had made its exit, I enjoyed the moonlit ambience of the desert on the way back to the camp site.

My calm and composed mood continued as I connected to a higher reality, hearing the soothing soulful Sufi music played by Savan Khan at the Prince Desert Camp.
This was day nineteen, reported to you, from the Indi Motorcycle Diary!
p.s. I see that you are awaiting more pictures, but I'm afraid I'm unable to load any just now as the internet connectivity is very slow. I promise to do so as soon as I have better connectivity. Cheers !!

Incredible Journey..

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Day 22 -- Rest Day





Undamaged for the day

Today is a rest day for me!! No blogging, no work, no touring, no riding! Only sleep sleep amd more sleep!!







Day 21 - Prince Desert Camp




Undamaged for the day
Today, I worked on filming to create a documentary on the Prince Desert Camp. The hard work and long hours put in, showed its worth, when the eyes who saw it twinkled with joy. It was loved by all, at the camp. They highly appreciated the outcome. It was well worth all the efforts!



Posted by Pankaj Trivedi at 10:29 AM 0 comments Links to this post




Day 20 - Kalodra -- The abandoned village


Damage for the day:
Rs 60 entry for two and vehicle'
Rare tyre MRF Rs 1550,
servicing of bike free, Punjab auto works jaisalmer,
Sandwich Rs 40,
Three glasses of carrot juice Rs 30,

The desert festival of Jaisalmer hosting the Mela, is cancelled due to an Ex- cabinet Ministers death. It is ridiculous to know that the event was called off at the last minute. The man who passed away was over ninety years of age. People from all over the world have come here to attend this occasion. Its a natural death, was it really necessary to cancel the entire event; disappointing so many tourists at the last minute?

This turn off event resulted in a change of venue for me, I was now heading to a deserted village of Kalodra. Wondering how this place is left vacant for several hundred years... found that the story goes like this...

The minister, to the King who then was only eleven years of age, was an exremely powerful man. The prevailing caste system was very rigid during those times. Falling in love with a man or woman belonging to another caste was unacceptable in the society. The minister fell in love with a brahmin girl residing in this village of Kalodra. This was objectionable and unacceptable to the community, resulting in a tussel between the Minister and the villagers. The solution was shocking, the villagers were asked to vacate the place and migrate to some other faraway place. Ever since then, the raw homes in this village remain abandoned.
Gathering the outline to the story of Kalodra, I was all set to explore it. Describing the scene around.... the entrance was a BIG gate, watched over by an old bearded man selling tickets, collecting entry fees. A few kids having fun riding a donkey and My bike riding through the dirt roads, with me watching the abandoned mud structures on both sides of the path.


The tourism department has restored two homes for the visiting tourists. The sand stone structures, carvings, and the intact structure of Shiva temple, give a fair idea of the prevailing culture and lifestyle of the historic times. Almost eight hundred abandoned homes lay here, untouched for several hundred years. The only people seen here now, are the tourist guides with groups of visitors visiting the place.

A typical home interior would consist of an entrance door, open area, terrace, kitchen, verandah, sleeping chamber, a courtyard, grain storage area and a visitors room mostly at the entrance. This was probably made to maintain the privacy of the home. I also visited a dried up step well with stone carvings, locally it is known as a bawdi.
Having visited this abandoned village, I was on my way back to Jaisalmer. Seven kilometres before Jaisalmer the rear tyre was flat. Gajendra, the desert camp owner had accompanied me. We rode six out of the seven kilometres with a flat tyre heading to the same tyre repair shop I visited the last time. Riding on full load with a flat tyre, in the last kilometre the it gave up completely and I reqested Gajendra to taxi on 11 (walk down) to the tyre shop. He walked down the road carrying my tripod. The puncture shop was closed, so we called for a car from the camp, transfered the luggage in it. I rode to Jaisalmer sitting on the tank this time to keep minimum weight on the punctured rear tyre.

To avoid this situation over and over again, the tyres were changed at a cost of Rs.1500. It was a good choice, as I am offroading on the dunes. The bike needed to be prepared for another long ride, it needed servicing. I was not too happy with the speed the bike gave, thought the filter must be choked. I use a K & N filter, once cleaned the pick up shot up after the servicing was done. The synthetic oil needed to be topped up by 400 ml. This place did not have the oil I use for the bike, so we made do topping it up with the regular oil. Now the bike was gliding, with the servicing done. It was a pleasure to ride with new tyres.

Thats seriously great Pankaj. It was thrilling to know about the abandoned village, Kalodra. Cant believe such empty sand surrounded villages exist in our country.
We are seeing really, unseen & unheard places of India.. Good job mate..!
Good to know about your bike too bro, it started doing well..!! Thats a trusty machine..
Btw, which tyre did you put on the bike..

Day 23 Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Sirohi


The morning was full of emotional and sentimental moments. I was about to leave from the camp when the staff and owners of Prince desert camp greeted me, showing concern, love, & affection, they wanted me to stay there longer. Despite being in the flow of emotions, I had to move on... life is a journey!

With a heavy heart, I started from there at 10.00 in the morning. Handing over the video CD of the camp site, as a token of gratitude and appreciation I was on my way to Sirohi. After riding for about 45 km I stopped for fuel. The roads were fantastic. I loved the pick up the bike had after servicing. Crusing at speeds of 100-110, I was enjoying every bit of the ride. Occasionaly stopping at milestones for gathering footage, I reached Jodhpur early enough covering a distance of 300 km since I left Jaisalmer.

Riding from Jodhpur to Pali was a nightmare. The poor road conditions and oncoming traffic made riding a very challenging experience. Dodging the bike from oncoming vehicles and the lack of traffic sense amongst motorists, needed me to be extra alert to be safe . I found myself flashing back in the past, when riding was a challenge on narrow roads that were full of bumps and potholes, with traffic moving hap-hazard in both directions. At such times being extra cautious is of utmost importance. I realised I faced the same situation as in yester years. Riding on for 15 km I stopped for lunch- Chana masala and roti Yumm!! It was a delicious lunch and my first meal for the day!


Regaining energy from a scrumptious meal I moved further on towards Sirohi enroute Pali. The poor conditions of riding still continued....it was now getting worse! The traffic was horrendous!! People had no sense of traffic rules and certainly no respect for two wheelers. I think small vehicles earn no respect on Indian roads. They are absolutlely insignificant due to their small size. Trucks are the dangerous monsters on roads in the literal sense. They overtake another heavy vehicle from the wrong side on a single road despite seeing the two wheeler passing by, and the only way to save yourself is to offroad. It was, numerous times in a short duration that the same situation repeated itself. Just a little before Sirohi, I had a narrow escape, nearly losing balance, I offroaded.. avoiding a moment that could have turned fatal.


After reaching Sirohi, I was now heading towards Kalindri to meet my friend Kalpesh's cousin, Chandu. He then guided me to the village of Falvadi. It was 6.00 in the evening when we reached there. The warm welcome of his family members will always be a special moment for me. It was a pleasure to see them again after three months. Our last visit here was during the Pushkar fair. Having yummy simple home made food was an absolute treat for a vagabond like me! I relished every bit of it. This time I had a room to myself! I did not have to share it with anyone. Im happy Kalpesh was not there!!! Otherwise I would have a room partner!