very Nice photographs lovely article/thread!

lots and lots of pics and still counting......btw,I remember rocky and mayur(anyone who watches HOMP on NDTV good times ll know)praising food in the "7th july" or a similiar sounding hotel near the fort.Had a try?...

Thanks man

Anup is your hotel man, he was grabbing the hotel info and I was grabbing the landscape info.... Didnt hear anything like that.... You sure it was at jaisalmer...!

i think im sure.it was in rajasthan n near d fort only... anyway,chuck it.being a foodie,dat's one thing that hit me first.....continue with d topic...

Hi MG/Sunny/Aryan,

I guess we have crossed the limit on uploading photos etc on the 1st page where we generally update the thread,
request for a solution

@Satyen: can we post links on the 1st page so that readers can click and read the updates: if so let me know...i will reach jodhpur tomorrow

Lets start linking... and what Jodhpur :P I though you are attending the Amby Valley ride tomorrow

@ satyen - This has got to be one of the most entertaining travelogues that i've come across here. the way you guys put it across made me feel like am watching a travel show rather than reading a log. the pics were good, the content crisp and devoid of any overzealousness which is so often exhibited by members here. Luved the fact that more importance was given to the journey and destination than overtly displaying biking passion afterall there's more to life than just biking.

PS- Dude u've got a rocking sense of humour, would love to see you on my next trip to pune.

Well i thought i said very clearly that i wouldn't be attending any G2G...mumbai thread was dying and surprisingly its awake and awake throughout the night..thats all that i needed..
P.S: Some entertainment

Well thanks anhil8tr: This is the only reason i stopped writing
thanks for the compliments on the triplog; we had decided that we would make sure that we enjoy the place and we didnt allow money to be a constraint or did we allow ourselves to indulge in luxuries although we decided to stay at the TAJ Udaipur which we later on changed to a budget accomodation

Continuing with the triplog here are some pictures from my end to end the Jaisalmer story

the Oh so elusive man..and Satyen thought only he outwitted him...well i am not far behind...i had to take at least 7-8 photographs and only this one came out well...


birds of similar feather flock together....Sonar Killa is infested by the pigeons and some kites and eagles


File photo...eeerrrr.......statue of the princess likes/kinds


By lanes and the foot path shopping centers...the prices have to be bargained as your mother/wife does at a vegetable shop.... e.g.
You: how much for that potrait?
Vendor: Sir, 500Rs
You: OMG! Not more that 150 Rs dude i aint a foreigner and i know you can give me at Rs. 150/-
Vendor: Sob stories...poor family, hand made, no margin etc etc...
You: Sob Stories...bike ride from Mumbai..no money...some souvenir or family wont accept back...Last Rs. 200/-
Vendor: Ok sir, you are my first customer (at 2:00pm ) so i give it to you at 200rs.
You: Sly smile on the face and pay them



Satyen going to do excatly the same as mentioned above


A very nice gentleman took out his time and tried to teach our very talented Satyen some music lessons


Satyen trying his hand at it again..was soothing in the beginning but later on was getting on everybody's nerves..


Finally i got bugged and asked Satyen to quit it and asked the man himself to play it...we heard music for a while and then bid him goodbye...we did tip him though for being kind enough to teach how to use the instrument


After the Sonar Killa was over it was almost 3:30 pm with some walking on the by lanes and probably the last evening in Rajasthan..we decided to make the most of it and the only thing that we still missing was the Sand Dunes...rest we all we saw till now was barren land with sand on it...not the really heard about THAR desert, as Satyen says above we had two options
and we choose for Sam Sand Dunes, a deal was struck at Rs. 1200/- per head which included the Mud House accommodation, Unlimited Rajasthani food, Desert Safari & Folk dance and Songs show in the evening. We were all set as we knew nothing but all excited to know that it was a deal well done..

Soon after Sonar Killa, we choose to give our bikes some pampering and a well deserved drink of Oil (Castrol to our rescue) and some tweaking of the engine, tightening of the now rattling nuts on the bike. RTR had some sounds coming, later on to figure out that there was some nut loose on the front end of the tank and that was making these sound....got all these fixed and by 5:00 pm we were all set to do a 45 km run to Sam Sand Dunes

SAM SAND DUNES:

Ok as the name says its a part of Thar Desert quite popular among tourists.

• Somethings that we realized once we reach there is that this is the place you got to be at...once you enter Jaisalmer directly ride to the SAM Sand Dune...this is where all the fun is
  

• Directly make a booking its cheaper that way

• Desert does not belong to a travel agent and you can hire a camel and the person will make all arrangement for you to stay either in the Desert or at a Camp Site

We reached there practically late so much so that the last glimpse of the Sun is what we caught...although we were told that the Sun Set is a beautiful image to capture....it turns bright red by the time it reaches the horizon..we missed it but i guess i dont regret it as much as Satyen would

Anyway we thought of taking the Camel Safari to a longer distance, and hence we convinced the guy at 700Rs to take us deep inside the desert, he kept on blabbering on the movies that had been shot there...i was still trying to figure out how the hell am i going to stand up again ( Camel ride is tougher than we think it is...your balls get squeezed, your inner thighs pain after 10-15 minutes of a ride...back starts to hurt if you are not going in motion with the camel and if you stay stiff...
**photos posted by Satyen

Once we were done with the desert we had a cup of tea (i still think it was camel milk tea) we rode back to our camp site...

Folk dance and some sing song performance was on
couldn'tcapture them well due to bad light and we got the last row seats..as we were very late..although there are some bad once..try to figure them




The tented accommodation was a bliss from the mud huts (forgot to tell you"ll we got a free upgrade to a higher class
Photos:


Most important part of the accommodation you all should look for......a decent loo


Ok now that Sam Dunes party had come to an end it also called for the end of the journey for us...it was 30th December 2009 and the original plan said that we had to start riding from Jaisalmer to reach by late night or by morning of the 31st December 2009 to Mumbai...better halves at both ends were waiting for their valor's to return from their achievement....so be it was for us...
i called up Shruti to find out that she has to be at work on the 31st and also on the 1st so partying with her option was ruled out....One of my Xbhp friend with whom originally a plan was made, he made a big publicity of it and there were almost 23 strangers who opted to come to that party ( i am of the opinion that i would like to spend my new years with my friends and loved once not strangers) anyway i was disappointed and i was insisting on staying back in Rajasthan and see a bit more of this beautiful part of India. Satyen was a bit reluctant at the beginning and he spend some quality chilly late night outside the tent talking/fighting/convincing his girlfriend on how beautiful Rajasthan is and how he will not be riding back to this place again and how he wants to make most of it and what allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!! and i was snoring away......

30th December 2009:

ride back home was certain till 7:00 am and it was so chillly outside that i didnt bother to come out of my blanket till 8:00 am and the sun shining at the brightest
First glimpse of the morning on 30th Dec 2009




and finally the time had come to saddle up and ride back to the busy life in Mumbai..

and one more phone call by Satyen and i guess we had got an approval to stay back in Rajasthan....!!!! and we decided that we ride to some other destination and so was it....

more to come....

All is well!!! as 3 IDIOTS says, i said that way before the movie came out..lol and started making some more plans...plans plans..plans.....damn i think i hate the word PLAN now....

so the ride was on and as Satyen said previously the road that lead to SAM dunes had its own charm with some places people using the wind for parasailing and it seems to be a good thriving business out there...







Some ramdon shots taking on the highway








Kuldra Village
Its a deserted village, established by the Paliwal Bhramins. In 1291 AD the village was deserted. The construction of houses in Kuldra resembles the design of mordern township though it was establised several hundred years ago. The temples wells, buildings are attractive and represent the architectural abilities of the people then.
Here are a couple of photgraphs taken at Kuldra. (its a tourist destination today however its still not as famous as the other locations in Rajasthan










Soon by afternoon we were on our roads that lead to Pokhran and the ride was a smooth one considering that we had to do just about 250 kms that day we were very relaxed, by the time we left Kuldra it was almost noon so we choose to ride faster so that we dont reach Jodhpur by late night, having no clue about jodhpur we did not want to land up in any unknown place. Riding was fast, but gradually during the day the sun was shining bright and so it became pretty warm with my body wrapped in a thermal, t-shirt, jacket with liner it was pretty sweaty inside, stopping meant swetting and hence we took less breaks and were on the go throughout for 2 hrs by 3:00 pm we were at Pokhran, hungery stomach and warm weather riding was becoming difficult and jodhpur was still some 150 -170 kms ahead so we took a long break for lunch.
Long break for Lunch was not our plan was the plan for the hotel guys...they were so slow at their approch as if they are least interested in serving food; not only that even for giving us the bill they took ages so much so that we left the place close to about 4:30 -5:00 pm. Damn it! 2 hrs for eating one rice plate is somekind of a deal.

Anyway, our plans to reach Jodhpur during daylight was shunned, so we thought we might as well just relax and ride slow and reach whenever (as if we had some major plans)

As we left the hotel at Pokhran we rode just some minutes and we located this beatuiful looking structure...

Photos will be uploaded in some time

Woah Thank you! Our intention was indeed to make the most of the journey and the destination!
Well if you are hinting about camel riding being 'more to life than just biking' then I guess chance are that its true, because when Anup sat (I mean his attempt to 'mount' on the camels 'hump') (do not interchange words there)... He did plead God for life!


It was a fun ride man... just back... HUGE turnout and *cough* some n00b crashes but all in all one good turnout!


BREAKING NEWS: Why did Anup stopped writing!
lol


Ah! there is a restaurant at jaisalmer, very shabby to look but awesome food.... one of the fe Non Veg restaurants.... but its name is definitely not that! Anup do you remember the name!


Look who is talking! I know 'someone' who bought a zillion stuff from jodphur and bargained like hell and then didnt buy anything ...'Someone'

Trip log is getting updated time and again...keep a track

More updates: Anup the first Page has become Super Heavy man!



Ok! Thanks Anup for putting that in such a mellow fashion!

The night at the desert camp was eventful, I was talking to my girl and realised that all our small house party plans were thrashed for silly reasons.... and so I popped out this question that if there is no plan then I might as well stay here for a bit more....
Just a question...Have you ever heard a Atomic explosion on the phone.... well I just did it then.... Suddenly, the desert didn't seem so quite. I was hopelessly lost! I know I erred in timing the question and probably sugar coating it as well! After a long conversation, she finally said "ok" (for the first time that night..) and said she will call back as she was reaching home...

All it took was 10 minutes for me and Anup to 'plan' the road ahead.... we were already gung ho about continuing to Kuldhra-Jodhpur-Udaipur-Ajmer...

And then she called back.... and I had to ask Anup to hang on the plans.... Your guess of what happened is as good as mine

After a lot of healthy discussion (*cough*) it was decided.... that canned or not, we are heading back home......

So there it was, after a chilly discussion in the desert, we were back to the insanity of riding for long... reaching a place, 'exploring' only that place and heading back.... A mad touch and go dash as seems the trend for Mumbai tourers!

To make the matters worse, we met an uncle in the next tent, who was probably a dinosaur in his last life... Snoring to glory in a manner that would put the bullets thump to shame!.... I somehow managed to sleep!

Then finally it was time to wake up and go for the Sunrise camel ride... for a change I woke up first went out to catch a glimpse of early twilight and it was as cold as probably walking on an ice slab wearing wet frozen clothes.... ! Super Cold! (and no I am not talking about the messages that i got from my girl )

So without wasting much time, I digged myself back in the bed... deep enough to make myself warm! and I carried on with my sleep!

Anup woke up and with my reputation of liking my sleep, he was blissfully unaware about what had happened in the night... so he gave his update to his girl that we are riding back and all...


Then in the morning, the Dinosaur uncle announced (I think to the entire camp) that there is hot water available in the tent! and I also over heard a Hindi+Gujrati squeal of a tiny dinosaur explaining why he doesn't need a bath...!
Time to rise and shine.... and then finally... there came a SMS, which allowed me to go if I wish... (I hate diplomatically correct messages) and the rest is history..... and I will leave that for your sly imagination.

Anup had to again confuse Shruti with the latest plans and turns of event!

So we packed up and went out for some nice tea (NO IT WASNT CAMEL MILK ANUP! IT WAS POWDER MILK MIXED WITH 'SANDY'+'SALINE' WATER!)

We asked the Dinosaur uncle about the places to see and all, and he was more amused about our trip and the roads we took and all then probably he could have helped!
We decided we would go to Kuldhra and then again to jaisalmer!

The Road to Kuldhra:
That small speck on the screen is Anup landing from the sky and hitting the tarmac


That tiny speck is Anup in a bright fuzzy day!

Clicking a pic on a RTR while riding it is not so easy

Offroading paradise to your left and right!


All this while I was listening a famous Corrs number, no prize to guess which one...


I came, I saw, and I conquered


Kuldhra is a city where you can go crazy using filters or taking greyscale\sepia pics! I mean the back drop of the well planned ruins suits it perfectly. Which is why you will see a lot of crazy pics here...

PS: There is an entry fee to enter the ruins about 20RS per person and 50RS per vehicle... we convinced them that we cant leave the bike outside.... so they allowed us to ride inside with the bike for 50Rs...







Ruins as far as you can see:






The centre of the city being rebuilt (has a temple there as well)

Wear Sunscreen...




Finally Jaisalmer, and spending close to an hour outside a super slow SBI ATM we managed to get some more vitamin M for the ride ahead!
The worst part is that, people here would actually stand next to you staring at what you type and all on the ATM keypad while you are withdrawing cash! No one and more emphasis on NO ONE, waits outside the door!

I got royally annoyed with this, and I requested them to wait out and when they didnt... I simply said I am not doing this and will waste your time too is you dont step out.... a small exchange of good pleasantries ensured they went out and I could proceed with the transaction! (Phew! 2 days to salary)

We also went to the German Bakery, this time fully loaded with the bike and all!



There we also saw this:


After a nice breakfast we moved towards Pokhran... The roads were nice.... except for the carcasses of animal every now and then and also that of a fully grown camel!

We saw some army camps here and there.... some nice armoury installations and all... then a long fleet of Battle tanks mounted on Army vehicles! Wow! that was a real goosebump moment!

Finally we stopped somewhere close to Pokhran for eating something... here we saw a calf which was probably a rider in its last life (planning to send this to Raaz pechle Janam ka)

The calf had a special liking to Anups gear and then Anups bike...

It stood there, just like the ZMA for a good 10 minutes!!!


We had some nice food there and moved on towards Pokhran.... at a certain place we saw something neat near the horizon.... I looked at Anup and he looked at me, and without saying a word we took a detour and road towards that place!

Enroute to the 'place'








We took some snaps, but unfortunately we would have had to park our bikes there with the luggage to possibly go there and take a closer look as there was a railway line between the road and that place... and there wasnt any way that the bike could reach there!

Anup went ahead, While I stood waiting for him to do a quick check about the place.... and he was chatting with locals asking them about the place...

Finally there came an Auto wallah as well... with a family.... the Auto wallah started a small conversation... and the best part is that he said, "Saheb daro mat, yeh rajasthan hain... Gujrat ya MP nahi... be fikrr ho kar jaiye"

I would really agree to him, people @ Rajasthan are much more friendly in this context!

I still took a picture to ensure I had his number plate on the pic!


Closer look:






The locals said that this is where the queens who volunteered for sati had their royal bath here...


The legend has it that if anyone counts the number of pillars in this structure, they will die an unnatural death soon!




We have had enough of incidents, and ofcourse we are bad with numbers too... so we didnt want to prove them wrong...

Check where the bikes were parked


Some inscription:


Anybody understands what is it written here?

Finally, we moved on.... spotting some more Army camps and vehicles and began our cat and mouse journey..... at some place I lost the nut for the side fairing of the RTR... and the fairing kept popping out (thanks to the vibrations ) I tried sticking a twig to it to keep it in place, but the RTR was too good for it....it just threw it away in 5 meters.....

By now Anup was no where to be seen, and I had to ride slower meaning that Anup could pile on a lot of KMs ahead of me....
then finally I managed to reach a village without losing the fairing and tried at a couple of shops for a proper sized nuts.... the ones that i got were either too long or too fat....finally a couple of shops later I got one that was a perfect fit!

Time to let it roll... and catch up.... I took a good 35 minutes break in fixing all this, which obviously meant I would have to rip ahead to catch Anup....luckily the roads grew better .... and then finally I saw a diversion a shortcut and a normal road to jodhpur.... I took the highway thinking that even if Anup took the shortcut, I would still meet up somewhere in the city....

Anup meanwhile stopped for a glass of tea, he used the time to update his girl and family about his whereabouts and so I could catch up with him soon...

The rest of the ride was fun, we reached Jodhpur.... the new city.... and were disappointed....cause so far we were used to see the desert feel of Rajasthan, and here we were in a place which looks like early mumbai with crazy traffic and all....

We roamed around and asked a auto driver about places to stay and all.... and he promptly suggested one place near the old city... near the clock tower!... Ghanta Ghar... to be precise!

We found our way, settled at this nice place owned by one Mr. Sunny... pretty fundoo chap... a decent place to live, more on the hotel bit from Anup...

We explored a nice place just outside the Jodhpur railway station which has some awesome food! Had our food.... finally back to hotel and settled down at the hotel to take some rest!

Next day, exploring Jodhpur!

awesome trip log man voted you....

EK NUMBER satyen.....5 stars all the way for you & anup....

Awesome triplog-s and pictures, Satyen and Anup.

I am all glued to this thread!!