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**kirosh_03** · 06-15-2010, 05:45 PM

Superb! Some of the beautiful places on earth!

I flapped by hands to show ‘chicken’ and also showed horns with both my index fingers to show ‘bull’, but no luck. Finally she smiled & said yes, but I somehow thought there is a new challenge coming. Then a guy in broken English explained she was referring to rabbit.... I decided immediately that for my next trip I am carrying pictures of a chicken, bull & fish to make it easier to express myself!

On a lighter note... may be you could have tried some mimicry: Maaaaawwwww (beef), Cokookk ckuuu (chicken), Maeeaeae Maeaeae (mutton).

**silver_falcon_46** · 06-15-2010, 05:55 PM

Originally posted by Haroon View Post

Dear Silver_falcon- Here in KSA, I do 250-300kms in about 3-4 hours, whereas in Kerala, the same distance would be....

Not very active on facebook. But do give me your mob.

The RT was absolutely amazing. Thats were it belongs and you really appreciate that bike when you do this kind of touring. In all the 1300kms we travelled, neither me nor wife faced any body fatigue or discomfort. The wind protection was fantastic. A full tank will easily take you 350-400kms and thats why I decided on the RT as against the K1300GT which has a fuel range of about 250 odd kms and is heavier & would be more work on all the tight hairpin bends. Esp while on hairpin bends climbing up a pass, handling almost 450kgs of bike, rider, passenger and luggage needs some amount of technical skill so as not to stall the bike and negotiate the curve slowly. And when wet, its a bigger challenge. But I was very comfortable with the RT.

We have shot about 60-70 videos. I will try and put it all on a DVD and perhaps give you on my next trip to blr in a couple of months. In the meanwhile I will try & see to upload few on youtube also. But that will take time...

Yeah, it should take you about 8hours out here.

Wonder why they would name a bike Grand Tourismo and have lesser range than the RT. Also wonder what difference the extra 100cc would make to a tourer. Yes, looking forward to those videos either on Youtube or DVD. They should be really interesting with a better "feel" of everything. Will send across the mobile no.

Slovenia! Man, beautiful. Enjoying the report to the fullest! Some pictures have failed to upload on my end, wonder if its something only from my side. Anyways, looking forward to the rest.

**strider** · 06-15-2010, 06:54 PM

Fantastic roads, stunning locales, a wonderful riding partner, a sensible Beemer and offcourse the yummy food...can it get any better...
Wish I could just get into the comp screen and ride the Alps on my R1...

Haroon sir,indeed you are blessed and so are we to hear all your experiences..keep them coming...

PS-looking forward to the BMW factory/museum visit...

**Haroon** · 06-16-2010, 01:56 AM

Yeah sunny, english is fine in cities but could be a problem in the interiors.

Thanks kirosh. The mimicry would have got them further confused

I am glad Arjun, so many of you are enjoying the report.

Thanks strider. I am also equally enjoying sharing the whole action with you all. Stay tuned. BTW, the BMW factory visit has to be booked many months in advance so I only went to the BMW welt & museum opposite the 4-cylinder shaped HQ & factory

**Haroon** · 06-16-2010, 06:02 PM

Day 4 (Kranjska Gora to Hallstatt)

The day started with our spirits dampened by the shocking news from back home of the tragic Air India plane crash that killed more than 150 people. A few of my wife’s distant relatives & some known people were among the dead. Nothing much we could do from here but pray the departed souls RIP.

After staying in one of the best accommodations of the trip and probably one of the most beautiful towns, it was time to do the daily packing ritual, loading the cases ritual and hit the road. As usual we were treated to a wonderful breakfast by Mr. Lubo and we take the road to Villach.

The daily charging ritual- Camera battery, mobile, video cam & Intercom

The roads signs & directions are all very well marked in Slovenia. The route from Slovenia is a slow & steep climb over the mountain, but once you cross over into
Austria on the mountain top (again no border control guards there), it is an almost straight & crazy sudden descent down and in no time you are already in Villach.

Surprisingly, in all these twisty, steep sections the speed limit is 100kmph and some of the local riders made sure they don’t disappoint the people who originally fixed those speed limits. Villach is a small city in Austria well known for its rich cultural variety.

From Villach we take road B100 towards Spittal. Fantastic piece of road with everything a biker would love on a ride.

Spittal is a large town with all the normal things that you would expect to see in a large town including an occasional red Ferrari!

Can you see a nice trike parked there

We then head on road B99 towards Katschberg. Here if you however opt for the E55 motorway, that goes straight thru the Katschberg tunnel, however, all thru this trip I avoided motorways (although it keeps running parallel and sometimes criss-crossing above/below our route) and stayed with secondary roads and hence we went the long way round over the Katschberg Pass on road B99, which is again a slow & winding climb upto the top of the pass. Temp at the top was about 4 deg C. From the top it is again one steep & fast descent into St. Matin. All along the route today we have mountain to our left & a nice little stream on the right twisting & turning with the road. The speed limit is 100kmph and hence I was having a blast, but on one particular sharp left curve, I went too close to the guard rail on the right, but somehow managed to tilt the bike further into the curve & get things under control. That was a close call!! The beautiful road continues till Mauterndorf.

On the top right corner is the E55 motorway that runs parallel to our B road

At Mauterndorf we stop for lunch at the Hotel Gasthof Weitgasse, where we enjoy an excellent meal of fried chicken with potato salad & Toglatelle with Salmon in cream sauce accompanied with delicious soup.

With the stomach refueled, we are back on the road passing Mauterndorf Castle on

our left and the following stretch from Mautendorf to Radstadt was a bikers delight. There was everything from lush green mountains to rolling fields to fast flowing streams to long sweeping curves and what not- absolute delight. In Obertauern we saw fresh snow on either side of the road and also ran into mild rain.

Ofcourse, half way thru this scenic route oncoming bikers were flashing their lights and gesturing to slow down- which meant big uncle was lying in wait somewhere with a speed camera. I was well within the speed limit of 100kmph as my Garmin GPS is programmed to continuously show the speed limits on all the roads we travel and here we come across the cops standing on the roadside with a speed gun. Well to my surprise, it was a pretty looking Austrian lady cop and I told my wife wow, that’s one hot looking cop. The next thing I get is a pinch on my lower back and a mild whisper on the intercom ‘please concentrate on the road’!! he he, these women…. By the way all thru the trip I stuck to the speed limits that is- 50kmph within village & town limits and 80 or 100 on the secondary highway roads that we used. Anyway after we pass the cops it was my turn to gesture to other oncoming bikers about whats waiting for them (biker brotherhood you see!).

From Radstadt, we turn left heading towards Annaberg on road B166 and from there onto Russbach, Gaschutt Pass, Gosaumuhle & finally passing thru the large & picturesque Hallstatt lake on our left side and going thru a tunnel that lands us directly into the final destination for the day- Halstatt., which is a small village that nestles beside the Halstatt Lake.

Hallstatt is famous for having the worlds oldest salt mine that dates back to 1400BC. There is a cog rail car that takes you up a steep mountain where you can visit the salt mine. Its about 3 hours for the whole visit and hence we didn’t have the time for the salt mine visit. We quickly started our search for the B&B and soon found a nice cozy place along a stream called Haus Holl Herta. Mrs. Holl who owns the place is a friendly but no-nonsense person and talks to the point. Reminded me of my old school teacher! Cost Euro 25 per person.

Our accommodation for the night

Some homes overlooking the Halstatt lake

These guys spend the day shifting between the lake & the streets….how nice a life!

Another mothership parked at a nearby B&B

In the background is the rail carriage that takes you up the mountain to the worlds oldest Salt Mine

Do I say- another room with a view?

There was slight drizzle, but we went for a stroll and found most places closed by 6pm. Settled for dinner at Brauhaus Lobisser pictured above. Nice food, but pricey.

The whole village of Halstatt can be toured on foot in 10 minutes, but you can immerse yourself into the tranquility of this place for hours & hours by simply sitting and admiring the pristine lake, its surroundings, the gorgeous mountains all around, the sound of the rapidly flowing stream that goes into the lake etc. Very beautiful place. Total distance traveled for the day 221 kms.

**Sunny** · 06-16-2010, 06:08 PM

Prima! Sehr Gut! More more!

**Haroon** · 06-16-2010, 06:26 PM

Originally posted by Sunny View Post

Prima! Sehr Gut! More more!

Hey Sunny, what language is that? Does it mean "Yeh dil maange more"!

**Sunny** · 06-16-2010, 06:28 PM

Its German, means Super, very good!

**kernel32** · 06-16-2010, 07:54 PM

Way to go "Biker at Heart" - Haroon.

Page by page, pic by Pic the Journey is getting better.

I should really appreciate your effort put in making this Trip and writing this log in detail.
At office im showing this to my colleagues and inspiring them too.. become a biker...

All the pics have come out good.. waiting to see the rest of the pics & the videos on your projector at your home..

**Sudhi P200** · 06-17-2010, 03:09 AM

Wow Truely Awesome , Enjoyed going through ur triplog

**suvo** · 06-17-2010, 05:22 AM

Great going Haroon...Awesome places...kudos to your better-half for enduring through it all...
And ya, the chicken incident was kinda funny

Waiting for more updates...

**ravi@17bhp** · 06-17-2010, 05:42 AM

Awesome trip. The places are truly paradise.

**Mightisright** · 06-17-2010, 01:56 PM

250cc / 150cc bikes not allowed ?

Hi Haroon,

Woderful writeup of a fabulous trip! And many thanks for sharing all those beautiful picutres !

I was just wondering, what does the sign in picture below mean ? Does it indicate that 150 / 250 cc ie generally lower capacity bikes not allowed on the given raod ??

[QUOTE=Haroon;443100]Day 3 (Arabba to Kranjska Gora)

**Haroon** · 06-17-2010, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by kernel32 View Post

Way to go "Biker at Heart" - Haroon.

Page by page, pic by Pic the Journey is getting better.

I should really appreciate your effort put in making this Trip and writing this log in detail.
At office im showing this to my colleagues and inspiring them too.. become a biker...

All the pics have come out good.. waiting to see the rest of the pics & the videos on your projector at your home..

Thanks Ajay. So more wiproites will be on two-wheels now. Sure once DVD is ready, we can see it on my projector.

Originally posted by Sudhi P200 View Post

Wow Truely Awesome , Enjoyed going through ur triplog

Thanks Sudhi P200

Originally posted by suvo View Post

Great going Haroon...Awesome places...kudos to your better-half for enduring through it all...
And ya, the chicken incident was kinda funny

Waiting for more updates...

Thanks suvo. Yeah, myself & wife had a great time. Actually, it was not funny when I was hungry and desperate to eat something. But later, we were laughing thru our helmets about the incident.

Originally posted by ravi@17bhp View Post

Awesome trip. The places are truly paradise.

Thanks ravi@17bhp

[QUOTE=Mightisright;444224]Hi Haroon,

Woderful writeup of a fabulous trip! And many thanks for sharing all those beautiful picutres !

I was just wondering, what does the sign in picture below mean ? Does it indicate that 150 / 250 cc ie generally lower capacity bikes not allowed on the given raod ??

Originally posted by Haroon View Post

Day 3 (Arabba to Kranjska Gora)

When we reached that point before the Slovenian border, my wife also pointed out this. I looked at it & said- hell with whatever that means, I have 1200cc under me and I am just going ahead. I think it is something to do with the A23 motorway, which we did not touch anyway. Any Italian knowledgeable people here could translate it for us I hope.

**born2lead** · 06-17-2010, 02:49 PM

wow, it just gets better and better...

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FOUR countries, SEVEN days, 1300kms & ONE Spectacular Ride in the Alps

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