K2K Solo: 9000Km on a motorbike

[dichkaun]

Did you miss taking a snap at the famous suicide point spot at the cliff hanger road ?

I may have or probably the quality wasn't so great that I skipped posting it. I didn't really knew where it was.
There are suicide points all over Himachal and Uttarakhand. I remember one on road to Chitkul where a group of tourists were taking selfies on my Spiti ride. And there there are a couple in Nainital too.

Thanks for reading.

 

[dichkaun]

Day 9 (Kishtwar to Srinagar)
Oct 10th 2021
Day 9: 274Km

Leaving early in the morning, the route was beautiful. In a way it was a continuation of the scenery from the day before.

The road followed the Chenab river which flowed down in the valley. Once when I stopped to take some pictures, met a local man with a small kid. Had a quick chat and then surprisingly he invited me home for tea. Amazed by the hospitality of the locals.

Eventually the road descended to the level of the river. There were rope trolleys for crossing from the days when there were no bridges. The river beach down there was enticing. Once sun would come out, the sand gets warm and heavenly to lie on.

At many places, the tourism department has built these small structures with seating. These are clean and have excellent views. And the design is such that it blends well with the surroundings.

Stopped for breakfast at a place with panoramic view of the Chenab.

Decided to have a heavy breakfast with a view of skipping lunch and making it all the way till Sonmarg. But plans have a way to get discarded when rubber meets the road.


As soon as the road joined NH44 after Chenani tunnel, the traffic mess started. Thousands of trucks were stuck due to heavy traffic and road constructions. So crawled in and out between the vehicles and eventually made it to Banihal, after which the traffic eased.

While the traffic eased significantly and roads became excellent, another traffic bottle neck started.


A CRPF convoy was going and so every couple of Km the road was blocked for them to pass and maintain some distance.

On the side of the road, the crops were ready for harvesting. The busy farmers with the mountains in the backdrop was a sight to behold. By now I had decided to stay at Srinagar for the night. So took it slow, stopped a few times to enjoy the sight and just enjoy the moment.

At Srinagar took a houseboat. It was a basic room but the woodwork on the houseboat was exquisite, just like the old houses in Kumaon.

After changing took a boat ride on the lake. The entire ecosystem of the lake was fascinating. Boats, shops, vendors, vegetable market and even a small island growing vegetables. Enjoyed kebabs on the boat.

It was dark by the time I returned from the boat ride. The lights being reflected on the late were beautiful.

Took the boat across to the Boulevard Road for dinner. Asked around and then went to a place which had wazwan dishes. After a hearty dinner, another ride back to the houseboat. Sat on the balcony of the houseboat for a while watching the lights and boats passing by.

 

[dichkaun]

Day 10 (Srinagar)
Oct 11th 2021
Day 10: 50Km

At some point during the night, I woke up to hear the rain battering the roof of the houseboat. It was pretty dark outside. Hoping that rain would stop by the morning, I went back to sleep.

The morning was cold and rain had not stopped. Waited and waited for the rain to stop.

It only got worse. Meanwhile outside the houseboat life went on normally.

Vendors came and went selling stuff or ferrying guests to various houseboats.

It was well past noon when the rain slowed down and we were able to start towards Sonamarg. After riding a while, met a few rider from Mumbai coming from opposite direction. According to them Zozilla was closed and there was snowing going on at Sonamarg.


Turned around and took a room in Srinagar.


After the rain stopped spent the evening doing touristy stuff.

Walked around the Dal lake and visited the Shalimar Bagh. The gardens were quite nice.


Had dinner nearby and then returned to the room.


The question in front of me now was whether to proceed towards Sonamarg on the next day and wait for pass to open or do something else. I had already used three of my buffer days. My worry was if it snows again on the way back, I would have to take the flight back to Bangalore. So the choice now was go to Leh, then possibly fly back to Bangalore and ship the bike. Or rework the plan and make good use of the extra days on my hand. With this thought in mind I want to sleep.

 

[dichkaun]

Srinagar to Gurdaspur
Oct 12th 2021
Day 11: 384Km

By morning, I had made up my mind. Skip Leh and add Amritsar and Thar Desert to the itinerary. Now that’s the beauty of traveling solo without any fixed plans.

As usual left early. A little out of Srinagar, I completed 5000Km since starting on Oct 1st. Pulled a little off road to take some pictures.

The morning was somewhat cold. It took me a while to find a tea shop. Finding one, I had some local snacks too. Coming fresh off the kadhai, they tasted awesome.

A little while later, I started seeing apple sellers on the side of the road. Pulled over to buy one or two apples, but the minimum they were selling was an entire box. After stopping at 3-4 shops, one agreed to sell me three apples. That was to be my lunch.
Another vendor was selling shawls. Picked up two for home.
Soon I crossed the tunnel at Banihal and the traffic ordeal started. Long lines of trucks waiting to move. Again made slow progress making way in between the vehicles.

Crossing the Chenani tunnel I thought things will get better. That was a disappointment. Traffic was worse after the tunnel.
Few Km before Udhampur stopped for a glass of lassi. Driving through that traffic was tiring.

At Udhampur, took the Samba bypass. The road was narrow but without any traffic. Enjoyed driving after the mess of NH44.

Enjoying the route I missed a turn and ended up on the road to Dhar. The road was great and rode through some pines, my favorite kind of forest.
After a while, I realized that I had missed a turn. Instead of turning round, I veered down a path shown on google maps.

Narrow road over the hills with lots of cattle jams. The going was slow and my hopes of reaching Amritsar faded away.

I did stop a few times to enjoy the route. The fun I was having, reminded me of why I ride solo.

Once I reached NH44, it was a straight ride to Gurdaspur. Amritsar would have to wait for the next day. I was the only one staying at the hotel I booked. So decided to head out to the city for food.
Roamed around the main street and had some chaat.

Finally ended the day with dinner at a dhabha.

 

[dichkaun]

Gurdaspur to Amritsar
Oct 13th 2021
Day 12: 103Km

I had a short ride planned for the day. Woke up easy and had a somewhat lazy morning before leaving for Amritsar.

The morning sun was beautiful. Stopped by the fields to take a few clicks before reaching Amritsar. Went to the hotel near the Bajaj showroom on Court road.
After check-in, went to the service center and dropped the bike for service. Then took an auto to Golden Temple.

The temple though crowded was peaceful. Sat for a while on the cold marble. Decided to visit the sanctum in the evening when crowd would be less.

Went to have the langar and then visited Jallianwala Bagh.

It was starting to get hot. So went back to the service center. Bike was ready. After picking up the bike, returned to the hotel.
I realized that I did not have adequate clothing for going to Rajasthan. Having seen Decathalon on the way, went there and picked up some T-Shirts.
I was planning to go to Wagah border to see the ceremony, but felt too lazy and dozed off.

Once it fell dark, went back to the Golden Temple. At night it is beautiful. If one can go only once, then it should be at night.
For a long time sat on the cold marble by the water. When the crowd subsided a little, went to the inner sanctum which was nice.

Stepping out, I looked for a place to have the famous chole-kulche-lassi of Amritsar.

Post dinner, another auto ride back to the hotel. Had a long next day planned. So went to sleep as soon as I reached the hotel.

 

[dichkaun]

Amritsar to Bikaner
Oct 14th 2021
Day 13: 530Km

Left earlier then usual. I wanted to catch the rising sun on the road.

It was a beautiful sunrise over the fog and the fields. Leaving early also gave me more time to rest on the way.

The day of rest at Amritsar seemed to have made me more tired than rested.

Somewhere after Taran Taran, I lost my way. The road was blocked due to construction and google maps first took me to a dirt track between the fields. Then it wanted to take me back where the road construction was going on.


Gave up on technology and asked for directions. I was guided through some local road to eventually join the highway.

The google maps gaffe aside, it was fun riding though the country side.

After Firozpur, stopped for a food break. Hot milk tea with a couple of bun were nice to tuck away in my stomach.
Looking at the map, I decided to follow the border to Fazilka.

Somewhere around Jalalabad, I took a wrong turn. Not trusting google maps, I stopped at a shop for directions.
The juice vendor was quite interested in talking to me. Karnataka bike, large saddle bags and an all geared up rider probably makes a person interesting. We talked a while about the trip. Then surprisingly he offered me a glass of sugarcane juice which I happily accepted. And later he refused to take payment. I guess I will pay it ahead some day.

Undivided highway flanked by trees is a road I love to drive on.

I had started feeling tired. So stopped by a bench to take a nap. It was a busy road and the sounds of tractors plying didn’t let me sleep. But the rest was well appreciated by my body.

Just before Sri Ganganagar, I entered Rajasthan and took the bypass to Suratgarh.

Feeling tired, I stopped at a dabha. Took a nap and then had lunch. Gatte ke sabzi – as recommended by the dabha owner. It was good and spicy.

From there it was a straight stretch to Bikaner. Stopped a few times in between for butt break and sips of water. The heat was tiring.

First glimpse of the desert.

At Bikaner, checked in and rested in the room. It was hot outside and a/c room was comforting. Once it fell dark, I stepped out into the city. The market was nearby and I walked to it.

The walk was nice and it was good to see the roundabouts well lit. The roads were also quite wide.

An interesting thing I noticed is these shops selling nothing except eggs and all sorts of dishes made of eggs. If I did not have dal-bati in mind for dinner, I would have eaten here.

Roamed around the market for a while. Then took an auto to the railway station where I found a crowded restaurant to eat dal-bati.
To go back, I took an auto halfway and walked the rest.

 

[dichkaun]

Bikaner to SAM [Jaisalmer]
Oct 15th 2021
Day 14: 387Km

Jaisalmer isn’t very far from Bikaner. So had a relaxed morning and left around 0800.

First stop was the fort, which was closed as expected.

I did get to walk around the premises. It’s more like a palace than a fort.

Selfie at the doors.

Asking for breakfast recommendations, I got directed to a local chat guy. Hot bread pakoras and kachoris eaten with the bike seat as the table.

After that it was an uninterrupted ride to Jaisalmer. Only two interesting things on the way and one stop. First a camel who jumped out of nowhere on the road and I had to stop in a hurry.

Second was the city of Pokharan. I remember closely following the developments post the nuclear tests in 1998. So stopped to take a picture at the signboard.


In between I stopped at a dabha for tea and a long nap.

At Jaisalmer, found out that the sand dunes are at a place called SAM, 45Km from the main city and there were tent accommodation available there. So headed in that direction.


Midway, met a jeep person who offered a tented accommodation package with jeep safari, camel ride and dinner.


It looked ok to me. So I followed him to where his tents were. While the tent was ok, similar to a 2 star hotel, the area was a disappointment. There were literally tens of tented sites with hundreds of tents put up on sides of road.

Took a shower and headed out to the dunes in a jeep. It wasn’t a busy season, so got an entire jeep to myself. The dunes were ok, like proper dunes but nothing like a desert wilderness. I would say a curated desert experience.

Walked around in the sand taking pictures. Declined to ride the camel. Walking on the sand wasn’t easy or fun.

Unfortunately the place was dirty with broken glass bottle and litter all over.

As the sun set, it became more beautiful. The garbage hidden in the dark and horizon pretty orange.

Far off on a flat piece of land there was para gliding going one – all to cater to the tourists.

Back at the camp, a bar was setup selling liquor at 4X the price. There were some cultural events also going on to give the “authentic” Rajasthan experience which was disappointing.

The veg buffet dinner was good. Post that I retired to the tent which was quite spacious.

So the sand dunes of Jaisalmer were off my check list now.

 

[dichkaun]

SAM[Jaisalmer] to Udaipur
Oct 16th 2021
Day 15: 581Km

At night, for a long time there was noise from outside. The cultural fest went on and on and the tents do a poor job at isolating the noise. It must have been quite late when I fell asleep.

I wanted to capture the sunrise in the desert. It was still dark when I left the camp. Not a soul was awake. After driving in the dark for a while, the orange glow appeared off to the east.

Stopped many times to take the pictures. In the seemingly silence of the morning, the desert was beautiful.

Sat down on the side of the road to watch the sun side. The cool sand was so pleasant to lie down on. Later in the morning I realized that the sand had a way to get into your clothes, all the way to the underwear. But that irritant was for later.

Before Jaisalmer, I found one dabha just about to open. Asked for a cup of tea. As the father/son due got busy making tea, I stuck up a conversation. It was a new dabha, which the father had opened for his son to get him settled in life. I felt the son wasn’t too happy about it. He was more interested in other things of life. Classic conflict, we fathers’ will have to face one day.

The roads in Rajasthan were excellent and I covered a lot of distance in short time.
Soon the lack of sleep at night caught up with me and I had to find a tea shop after Barmer. Good thing is that even the smallest of tea shops had a cot put out in a shaded area for weary travelers like me to rest.
While resting, I met a teacher in the local school who, in addition to teaching, was preparing for state civil services. Over our talk, I could see he had little respect for his students or the teaching system. I wondered what kind of teaching he would be doing.
Between Jalore and Sirohi, I got lost. Fortunately another school teacher wanted a lift. So I gave him a ride and in return he directed me in the right direction.

Before Udaipur came a stretch of hills. I never thought Rajasthan has any stretch of hills other than Mount Abu. Guess I was wrong. There was even a tunnel with entrance build like an fort entrance.

Reaching Udaipur, Google maps again took me through the back roads to the city. Really need an option in Google maps to tell it to stick it to highways.
Settled down at a hotel near the lake. Unfortunately all roads to the lake were blocked by private entrances which were closed due to some reason. I felt as if the lake was monopolized by private entities.

I had heard of the famous Lal Mas of Udaipur. Googled for a restaurant which was well recommended. Reaching there, found a large crowd. Fortunately table for one was easily available.

Had a non veg thali which included the Lal Mas. The food was quite good and for anyone waiting outside, the wait was worth it. In addition there was a cultural activity going on for the diners to enjoy.
Personally, I felt that the tourism industry was overdoing this whole Rajasthani song and dance stuff.

 

[dichkaun]

Udaipur to Ujjain
Oct 17th 2021
Day 16: 350Km

Starting off from the hotel, I thought I would make one more attempt to get to the lake shores.

But once again the roads were blocked. They were to open after 9AM.
On the highway, I made good time. The roads were excellent like rest of Rajasthan I covered so far.

But I guess the surprise was yet to come. As soon as I turned from Nimbahera towards Pratapgarh, the roads became bad. And to add insult to injury, these undivided potholes ridden roads were toll roads.

M.P. brought good roads with it. Nice divided highway with little traffic.

Around 1000, I stopped for breakfast and a quick nap.

Covered a good distance after that and my next stop was at Chambal river to take a few pics from the bridge.

Ujjain wasn’t far from there and I took a room quite near the Mahakaleshwar temple. Reaching the hotel, I had a late lunch there and took a nap.

In the evening walked to the temple.

I wanted to just see the temple from outside, but got in the wrong queue which was one way. Ended up going all the way inside the temple just to get back to the place where I had left my chappals.

As I entered it started raining. So hung around at a sheltered place inside the temple for the rain to slow down. When the rain stopped, I stepped outside. The streets around the temple were dirty and crowded. Only thing good was the food stalls.
As I returned to the hotel, it started raining again.

Stepped out again for dinner and went for a special thali of local food which was quite good.

To end the meal, had Kulhal Kesaria Milk and a large pan.

 

[dichkaun]

Ujjain to Aurangabad
Oct 18th 2021
Day 17: 501Km

Leaving Ujjain early, I was soon at Indore.

Had to try the famous Poha. So had Poha and Kachori for breakfast.

After Indore, google maps again took me on some back roads and it was all messed up. Took me a while to navigate the backroads and get on the highway.

Made my usual breakfast and nap stop at a dabha. While the place wasn’t very clean, the food was excellent. It also was a quite place. So I had a good undisturbed nap.

Crossed the Narmada river and then into Maharashtra. Less said about Maharashtra roads, the better. Easily the worst roads in all the states I encountered.
At Dhule, turned towards Aurangabad. After Chalisgaon, there were board that the road ahead was closed. Checking with a pertol pump guy, he said the road was open. I proceeded with a bit of apprehension.

It was a ghat road washed off at many places. Fortunately two wheeler were passing easily. The recent rains has washed the hills clean. Stopped at the top to admire the scenery

Getting down on the other side, the road was great. So was the terrain. Nearing Aurangabad, I took a diversion to Daulatabad fort.

Years ago in 1987, I had made a road trip that started my love for being on the road. For two weeks, I traversed the country from Chandigarh to central India, sitting in the back of a truck filled with hill lemons (Galgal) and its peels. Daulatabad and Aurangabad were the southern edge of that trip.

The fort walls and the minaret was how I remembered it. The outside has completely changes – shops, parking lot and what not.

Early evening I was in Aurangabad. Decided to go to Bibi Ka Maqbara in the morning.

Avoided taking a hotel inside the city. At night stepped out for dinner. Drove to the main city area for food. Again a delicious thali of Maharashtrian nonveg cuisine.