Royale Rajasthan | 2012

Royale Rajasthan

Well it was the morning of a busy mid-March Monday. With the winter gone leaving any traces of the cool weather, I find myself sweating in the scorching heat at the roof top. Well the electricity has been out for a while and I had made my way to the top in hopes help high for some breeze. Well, I was out of luck. As I make my way down, I am struck by the most vague and punishing idea to make my way into Rajasthan’s heat. As the day progressed, I try to shake off the idea but seems its taken a hold of me. The Monday goes bustling busy and into the mayhem of conferences and meetings. Seemed like the single day itself has taken the most of me and sooner than I knew, I was once again dying to get back on the road.

Before I could gather my wits, I had already done half the packing and had already called in to my partner that I would be going out of town for some “serious personal business”.  I could tell even he faintly knew what I was upto.

It was early Tuesday Morning and the sky was still dark. I walked into the parking where the bike was nearly welcoming me. The engine roared to life with a single try. The new Taiwanese free flow exhaust without the db killer killed all the silence that was around. Was going to do a long distance ride with a really loud and bassy  exhaust for the first time. It had even put a 2008 GSXR’s Akrapovic to shame a few days back.

Within minutes I was on the road, cutting through the cool morning wind, through the old Pune-Mumbai highway with the deafening roar of the bike. The 220Fi’s fairing has been of great use to me, it tires me a lot less.

It was 6AM and I had already reached Mumbai. I din’t want to get caught with the loud exhaust as I made my way to a place called Manor. I was totally starving and made my first stop at Hotel Navjivan. Lots of trucks, mostly Gujrat bound, were parked there. I was already low on fuel and soon needed to stop for fuel once again.

Soon enough post fueling I get into the dusty and empty roads of Gurjat. The long straights and empty roads were fun for sometime. With speeds in triple digits, I cruised into Surat at around 1PM. A board stating Vadodara is only 145kms. Next stop Vadodara for lunch. By 3 I was well settled in a restaurant in vadodara for some munchies. You won’t get non-veg anywhere here. I settled for a paneer makhni and 2 rotis.

I was back on road darting towards Ahmedabad. The heat was now taking a toll as weariness began to creep in. I nearly missed the turn to NH8 and went a few kms ahead before turning around.  The straight road leads to the Express Way where bikes are not allowed and a fine of a thousand bucks is waiting to be imposed. I had a quite tough time figuring out the NH8 by asking the locals. They hardly understood Hindi. At around 6:30, I had bypassed Ahmedabad and stopped at a local dhaba to freshen up.  I had been riding almost 700kms today and by far one of the most tiresome stretch ever.

It was already dark and I was on the Ring Road of Ahmedabad. It was utterly confusing and finally after struggling for around an hour I found a way out to Himmatnagar. Stayed at a local hotel named Jayasri. Upon enquiring I was directed to a local non-veg restaurant “Mamu-Fry”. One of the funniest names for the evening I had come across. I could see Gujjus having Chicken tandoors there. Having ridden 850 odd kms, it was time to rest for the night and have some Biriyani.

It was morning again and today I will be heading to Mt. Abu, a hill station in the Aravalli Range, an oasis in the desert. The roads were pretty good. The twisties of the region was bringing back the fun in the game.  At around 12, I reached Mt. Abu.

The first sight here was of Gujjus quenching their thirst for liquor. Some sight seeing included Nakki Lake, Toad point, Sunset Point, Museum, Achalgarh fort, Trevor tank of Crocks etc. Water here even at 2PM seems icy cold.

Maharana Pratap of Mewar at Mt.Abu

Temple

The Trevor Tal

Nakki Lake

Sunbathing croc at Trevor Tal

After 5 days of sight seeing and fooding and drinking, I am going to Udaipur tomorrow. Have met a few bikers at Mt. Abu yesterday.  I will be riding down straight to Jaisalmer via Jodhpur from there.

Its been a hard ride yesterday. Some roads in Rajasthan are under construction. There is hardly anyone on the roads here. Its all deserted. The scenery around is nice but it keeps on growing thinner and thinner as I reach Jaisalmer. Its truly a city on the edge of the Great Indian Desert. The screaming exhaust on this barren scape is sort of echoing.

Its 2 days past here at Jaisalmer and its really hot and dry. The places I have been here around are the Gadhsisar Lake, Badha Bagh, Salim Singh ki Haveli, Khaba fort, Kuldhaara, Jaisalmer Fort and Patwon ki Haveli.

Gadhsisar Lake

Kuldhara

A house which was rebuilt at Kuldhara

Patwon ki Haveli

Ruins of Kuldhara

The next travel was entirely barren empty beaten path. Both sides were covered with arid vegetation and occasional sand. Maneuvering was getting difficult. The temperature was around 40degrees. I had permits to go till the border village of Ghotadoo, Rajasthan. The border from here is hardly a days walk. I parked my bike with a localite, who happened to be a friend’s distant relative. The village is hardly populated and there are 20-30 houses only. I roamed around here and left for the return journey.

After crossing Bandha it was still around 130kms till Jaisalmer when the bike started giving problems. Finally after 70kms more the bike stopped dead in its tracks and the time was around 4PM. The heat was still breaking m down. I had not seen a single person or animal on these roads. It was like into a different dimension. The tank was half empty and the bike wont start.

After some of R&D I found it of no use. The fuse was intact even the starter was working. Checked the plugs, which were okay. I had no freaking idea of what was going on and to top that up, there was no cell phone range.  After hopping atop the nearby bulbous grounds and dunes in hopes of catching a tower I walked a bit far from the road where I happened to come across some tracks which seemed to me like those of a dog but bigger. I got scared and got back to the bike.

The golden sun setting in while I am stuck with my bike. Around 55kms from Jaisalmer

It was sunset. The golden sun was setting in. The eeriness was getting on my nerves. I started pushing the bike. With every step, the bike and myself seemed as sinking into the warm sand, bit by bit. It soon became dark and the weather was close to chilly now. I knew I needed to start a fire admidst of absolutely nowhere. I managed to scavenge some dry thorny bushes along with a few semi green ones in the darkened dusk. Although it took some time to start the fire, It managed to keep me alive throughout the night. When the fire was nearly dying and some movement behind me broke me light slumber. Could see 2 desert foxes (I guess) little far away distinctly, after staring into the darkness for sometime. It was horrible time for me.

It was dawn soon. The first light broke the chilliness around and brought warmth. Upon looking around I could find tracks that were hardly 10 meters from the spot where I was camping. It seemed like they were circling me.

It took me the entire day to walk back half the distance. Admidst I got a single tower for a short period of time and tried calling up my mechanic who dint answer the phone. Was lucky to find a localite who helped me get the bike to the outskirts of Jaisalmer. The bike being a P220 Fi, no one around was ready to touch the bike. Finally after much struggles, I loaded the bike into a truck who helped me get it across till Pune for 8 grand. I took a train from Chittorgarh to Kalyan and then to Pune. Thus ended my Royal Rajasthan trip. A few good memories of the trip are camel milk tea, meeting the localite while pushing the bike all afternoon and then getting to know I am still alive.