All the best Pankaj..!! good you made through the airport with a less headache..!

awesome dude awesome..i know its kind of sad that u had to go through so much mess at the airport but that kind of makes it memorable in your trip log..sure you would laugh through it when revisiting the trip logs...

waiting for the logs and the pics bro...put'em on..

What happend finally at the airport? which flight did you board? The low cost airlines create all the jimmicks to earn more. They remember rules and timings only when they can make more business.

By the way what is the outline of your tour for phase 2? will you be on the road for the entire quarter of the year with sizzling temperatures greeting you?

Will be uploaded soon pal..
Hahaha true dsids these little adventures are what keep us going, they act as an added spice to the journey



Rockrider I finally boarded the 9.15 flight and reached Delhi by midnight. I agree with you they have rules and regulations that suit themselves
I plan to do trans Himalaya in Phase 2, it is a bit hot here but Im sure it will get better as I reach higher altitudes of the Himalayas


Thank you Rachit

830 km ride after a last minute change of plan! Day one was a kick-start!


PHASE II Day 1
'
Delhi-Varanasi 830 km


It is the first day of Phase II of the Indi Motorcycle Diary. This morning I awoke at 7.30, feeling very relaxed and calm I packed my bags and was ready to go. I plan to leave for Orcha which is at 440 Km from Delhi or may go to Gwalior which is 300 Km away.

Different colors of Ganga blog coming soon.........

Widows in Varansi


She told me, she prays everyday to die

Pankaj, just awesome man..!! Varanasi should be ultra-beautiful ...
So you always have some or the other mishaps while commencing the journey. But thats what you call as a moment, isn't it.
And yeah, your friend has a beautiful kid man..! So how is the heat hitting on you, it must be just too worst as you move to North.
More pix of varanasi are most welcome..!! Please treat us with that. And all the best for the further journey, keep wheels rolling & engine roaring..!
Ride Safe...!

Hey Rachit....Varanasi is definately a beautiful place. The heat is killing, so I plan to head to the mountains soon...! Thanks pal

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Varanasi - The oldest inhabited city in the world




4:53 PM 0 comments Links to this post

lovely write up there pankaj. But i am appalled at hearing this that at the same place there can be the grief of death and beside it celebrations going on simultaneously! U r right India is one Crazy country!!!

Great, weird & highly religious city -- Varanasi..!!
Thanks for showing & having us also know about the places you travel Pankaj..

Hey Devil$ Lair.... thank you pal, India is one country that is so diverse and yet is so unique in every way! This is one of the many amuzing faces of our country and its culture.

Hey Rachit... it is the enthusiasm of readers like you all, that encourages me to share the experiences of travel to different places of our country

Friday, March 26, 2010

Different colours of Ganga

Waking up early, after getting barely a four hour sleep, was extremely difficult. I wanted to cover footage of the sunrise in Varanasi. It is said to be one of the best. Somehow after an initial struggle in opening my eyes, I was up and about ready to leave for Dasaswamedh Ghat where Guddu and I decided to meet at 5.30 in the morning. Walking down in the early hour before dawn, I waited for Guddu with no sign of him till I called him, to know that he just woke up then, saying he will be there in 10 minutes. Meanwhile I enjoyed warm tea in an eco-friendly Kullar(earthen cup). Soon Guddu arrived and we went to the Ghats.





I took a nap for a while and began packing my bag as Guddu suggested a better place assuring it had a better view and facility for fifty rupees. To my surprise it was not the case I was very disappointed looking at the state of a rundown guesthouse with four walls in the name of a room with no place to move and no view at all!! I was let down, sweaty and hot under my biking gear we went to five guest houses one after the other and saw one worse than the other. The place I liked had no rooms available. Now I was pissed with Guddu. I said, no more of this!!! And went back to the guest house I was living in fortunately the room was available. I was exhausted so I crashed!!


I was ready to go the Ghats, to cover the arti. On the way I met my boatman friend Babu. We had a cup of tea and went out for a good boatride to see the ghats from the river. I got a good footage and came back to the ghats in time for the aarti. Thousands of people were there for the aarti. But somehow I felt that it was more for the viewership of tourists that the aarti was performed, than for the sake of offering prayer to the holy river. Seven Pandits were performing the aarti more like an orchestra and the audience was watching. They had loudspeakers and halogen lights to illuminate the place.










Anyways lost in wonder about strange traditions and cultures of India, I went to the hotel and showered up, as that evening the hotel owner also invited me for a boat party. After watching the match for a while we went for the boat party. A different experience it was to see the boatmen cook on the boat a dish called Litti Chokha Roti Alu sabji and rice. They cooked in the boat, it was a wonderful experience of a boat party. They had beer and other drinks while I abstained from it as a mark of respect to the purity of this holy place. Post dinner and spending some time on the boats they were ready to go to the burning ghat to see the dance. I went along with them to see what it was all about. I was in a astonished and dumbfounded at what I saw. It was like an open air dance bar with girls showing off in vulgarity their bareback dressed up in fancy Ghaghra choli and plentiful makeup dancing away on the tunes of Bhojpuri tracks. It was describable as everything unholy, in a sacred place like this. The relatives of the cremated persons also watched the show going on a few feet away. I stood for five minutes watching this lunacy, wondering to myself how incredible really India is. A contrast of extremes like this can be witnessed and accepted with such ease only in a country as diverse as ours!


I walked out of the insanity in less than five minutes back to the hotel room I slept still mulling over the events of the day and the unbelievable culture that never ceases to leave me jaw dropped!

Some more scintillating pics of the ganga there, and not to mention another experience of the contrast in Indian traditions and culture. also do you see a large number of foreign tourists there?