A Motorcycle Dairy of Desert-ed Thar

After a gap of 1 year I had my Motorcycle road trip. This time my mission was to explore The Thar desert, in Rajasthan with my best buddy Shanky. Everything was according to our plan, all the equipments and a necessary things was arranged and we were ready for our trip. We were supposed to sleep early but our friend Mr. Rahul Gambhir, who is very p-u-n-t-u-a-l and has been awarded many times for his punctuality in the form of swears and abuses, helped us to be up till 2 O Clock. Subsequently, we finished packing and chatting by around 2’o’clock and then slept till 6:30 am, as opposed to our plan of sleeping early and start the trip at 4 am. But, whatever happens…..happens for good. After dropping Rahul at Vasant Kunj Bus Stop, our journey started. Time 7’o’clock.

Our adrenaline was pumping up, as soon we crossed Gurgaon toll. Excitement was gushing as RPMs were rising.  Enroute Rewari and Ateli our first stop was at Narnaul,  around 150 kms, where we had our breakfast. Here we took a little more time as Shanky’s luggage was creating problem, so we had to reinstall it. In all my trips, the first halt that we take we rest for a good amount of time, whatever the reason may be, but after the first halt we got a good speed and consistency. After the breakfast we left for Jhunjunu, where in between Shanky took a wrong turn and we both went solo for a while. Due to the crowded Gol-Chakar (roundabout) at Singhana, Shanky crossed me and I couldn’t see it. I was driving slowly on the correct track when one of the locals asked me if I was looking for an Enfield wala….yahi se bhagate huay legaya hai . Just then Shanky called me and said he reached around 35 Kms further at Chidawa. I was surprised in just few minutes he rode 20 miles!!!! I didn’t waste my time started my bike and gave the accelerator to the end. The road was really amazingly clean straight road with very less traffic, and then I realized how he fired (after all it was a BULLET aswell) the 20 miles in few minutes. I wanted to stop for a while and explore the beauty of that beautiful road, with blossomed Sunflower both side of the road. The panorama of that particular stretch of road was simply incredible, but I couldn’t stop and took pics as I was in a hurry to catch-up Shanky at Chidwa.

When I reached Chidwa, Shanky was waiting at a tea stall, and he was chit chatting with localaties. Soon we resumed our journey, The road from Fatepur till Bikaner was amazingly beautiful and straight long stretch of around 200 Kms, One  can even close his eyes and ride as there will be very few vehicles’ in the road. But you will get some, (few) under construction road in between to make you slow down. The view of sunset while in a road trip is spectacular and that too if it is in a place where you never been before, made it more special for me. Now we realized that we are little late, so we decided not to stop anywhere, we made little more rush. But as the sun set, it became dark. Now the major problem was there were no streetlights, and also we were on NH 11 heading to Bikaner which was under construction. Due to the construction and the dust which affected our vision and since it was dark our visibility was very poor due to which our judgment to anticipate the oncoming traffic was crucially affected and made it a very difficult and risky task to reach our destination for the day. BIKANER

By around 7 PM, somehow we managed to reach Benisar. After the sun-set this was the only place we found a dhaba. We were very much tiered and hungry. We had our stuff parantha’s and soon after finished the dinner we left to Bikaner. By around 10 PM we reached Bikaner, where at the very starting itself we found one of our listed hotel which we already had chose : Vijay Camel Man Guest House, we entered and checked the rooms and after a slight negotiation we managed to get the AC Room for Rs.1ooo. Both of us were really tiered after finishing all formalities we checked into our room and dozed off ASAP.

After getting fresh up and having our tea, we checked out and geared-up for Karni Matha temple, around 25 Kms from Daislok. Usually this temple is isolated and very few people visits but due to the Dusshera time lots of devotees were visiting the famous Karni Matha Rat temple. I was eager to explore the Rat temple. As our luggage was tugged on our bikes, removing it and visiting the temple would’ve wasted a lot of time. So we decided that one of us will go inside the temple, if it is worth visiting then next one also will go. So I went to the famous Karni Matha rat temple. We have to remove our shoes to enter the temple. And for camera, they will charge 20 Rs. As soon as you enter the main gate you will start seeing rat running here and there. When I put my 4th step one rat passed through my feet and I jumped off, took a snap, and went back. It was enough for me; I didn’t have the go further.

Then we started our journey to Jaiselmer, for which we had to cross Bikaner again. Somewere near Kanji Ki Sird, we stopped for lunch. The foods prepared by the Rajasthani’s are amazing, initially I thought that the food won’t be as good as Punjab’s but I was wrong. Marwari cuisine was also great; here we had a Makki ki Roti, with amazing Dal fry, and Panner Burji. Here people don’t use much oil and ghee. Clean, healthy, natural food is what you get mostly. In the afternoon when sun is at its best, on top of our head, it was really hot, and also as we were all geared up with our armor and jackets we were more exhausted. While riding we don’t feel that hot, but as you stop you feel the heat with the gear and the jacket on.

In this trip, what we commonly found unusual was that the locals were so surprised to see us, as if we were some aliens; never seen before. Where ever we stopped, people came to us, asked us where we were going, where we came from, why we are going and checked out our armour and stuff…… so for us it was a bit like a celebrity kind of affair! We felt very proud as we were receiving so much attention; very different from my Ladakh trip where it was a common sight to see geared up bikers on trips. One thing I learned from my celebrity experience here is that these locals can eat a lot of your time while halting; which can mismanage your trip schedules. One simple solution; tell them that you’re a student, that cuts off a lot of questions.   

The NH15 is a highway which should be renamed or regarded as a “Runway”. Riding on it is like a heavenly experience. One can test his bike’s top speed very easily. With the road looking clear till the horizon and the excellent condition it is, I just fell in love riding on this road. But with the romance comes the ugly reality that one may fall asleep(less possible on 2 wheeler) easily. So we took frequent breaks to revitalize ourselves by having tang & glucose directly without H2O. By around 7 PM we reached Jaisalmer and as we were about to enter the city, we were chased by a lot of hotel touts chasing us as it was lean season. But we were not happy with their options and moved ahead for a while. After checking our hotel options list we reached Hotel Tokyo Palace; good enough and close to the Golden fort as we required. The hotel was absolutely worth staying for Rs.1200, AC room with twin bed and all modern amenities along with swimming pool facilities.

Early morning we got up and got ready for Jaisalmer sightseeing. At the street market we had some amazing snaky breakfast of Mirch Pakorda & Kachori; literally a mouthwatering experience, delicious hot Jalebi as sweet dish. Next, we visit the Mandhir Palace for which the entry cost Rs.60 and for Camera Rs.30; the entry fee was being used for the maintenance of the Palace and of the family and also was paid to the Government. The palace was not up to that mark; it’s a heritage palace which is still being preserved by the Maharaja’s family and the great grandson is taking care. Later we went to Golden Fort, i.e., Jaisalmer Fort. Inside the palace it was more like a citadel full of shops and guest houses. We were allowed to take our bike inside the fort and so we had our sightseeing in bike. Later we came back to the hotel and checked out from there and left for Sam Desert, enroute visited Kuldara Village.

At Sam you will find lots of Resorts and tents. We didn’t  make any booking in advance but enquired about the rate. When we reached there and after  a lot of bargaining we got one tent from Mehar adventure Camp for Rs.1000 Per head which included night stay dinner, Camel safari, breakfast and traditional Rajasthani cultural Show. At dinner we experienced the amazing Rajasthani thali which included Dal-Bhati, gate ki sabji, aaloo ki sabji, Kher Shangri, Rice, roti and at the end as desert Surma. The accommodation part was not that good as the tent had no fan and had a lot of mosquitoes singing around our ears and feasting on our blood. After the whole day’s ride we didn’t get a good sleep as the mosquito problem was getting worse; ; even Odomos didn’t stand a fight. Finally, I decided to take the mattress outside the tent and it was quite breezy and dozed off in no time. Early morning the Odomos and the dew started to feel quite sticky and I suddenly realized that I was sleeping outside the tent….in the desert. I started shivering and went inside the tent; remembered geography taught in school about desert type of climate, hot during day and cold at night!

Early morning we got ready and had our breakfast. Later we left Sam and drove towards Jodhpur. Enroute we stopped near Pokran at a dhaba to recharge ourselves. While having chach we were chatting with the Dhaba owner and some others about a very distinctive observation that we 2 bachelors from Delhi observed; we couldn’t find much girls outside and most of them were not quite beautiful (no offence to anyone; just a personal thought) as compared to Delhi, but they argued that there are lots of beautiful girls as well but they don’t get out of home, or if they get out they cover their faces. Later we drove and stopped somewhere 50 Kms before Jodhpur, where we experienced delicious Sev tamatar Ki sabji with Roti, and around 6’Oclock we reached Jodhpur.

After searching for hotels we got at last a guest house near to clock tower. Sarvar Guest house which was an average guest house with homely atmosphere. Normally Jodhpur hotels are expensive, so the convenient place to stay is at a good guest house which will be economical as well hospitable. And if the guest house is located in the main city then you can experience the culture and lifestyle of Jodhur very closely.

Early morning we visited Mehrangarh fort then Mandore garden, enroute had some juice and after checking out from the guest house drove towards Ajmer by around 2’o’clock; enroute we crossed a village named Bar, where we saw the beautiful sunset from the highway; it was really panoramic. From Bar to Ajmer, the road was awesome, like heavenly experience but due to the sunset and darkness we were not able to explore the place very well. After reaching Ajmer, I decided not to stay here rather head towards Pushkar as Ajmer didn’t have much to see. So we moved ahead, enroute we searched for typical Ajmeri dhaba where we could have good non vegetarian dinner, but we were not able to spot any. So we decided to have dinner in Pushkar itself and by around 9:30 PM we reach and got a room at Hotel Sun-Set. The Hotel was average, but its restaurant was at an amazing location facing the lake side and they had some very good collection of music’s which added more peace to the ambience. After check in we had our dinner at the lake side restaurant with the music playing behind us and the lake in front, clear twinkling sky above, cool breezy climate as it was a valley; both of us were appreciating the fact that we didn’t plan to stay in Ajmer for the night! I didn’t know Pushkar was so amazingggg!

 

Next day morning we had our Pushkar city visit and temple tour. We decided to have street food as breakfast so we had chai with Pava & Dal Pakwan which cost just 50 bucks for two. It was delicious aswell as cheap. After some shopping we checked-out from the hotel and left to Jaipur. In between at Dudu we stopped for have our lunch and around 3 O clock we reached Jaipur. We checked in at a Boutique hotel named Chitra Khata, for which we were charged Rs.600. After freshened up we got ready for our Jaipur sightseeing but by that time the forts were closed so we went to Chowki Dhani to have our dinner. When we reached found huge crowd there, among some people like us were thinking weather to go in or not. Yes, one will think twice before entering it to have thali which starts from Rs.500. We were like OMG when saw the price. So we had no option rather choosing at least that basic thali of 500 and get into that complex. Inside it’s like a mela in a village; there are lots of things like small games, handicrafts, theme parks, etc. but we first concentrated on our Rs. 500 thali and had as much as we can so as to get the worth of the price. No doubt the Thali was amazing and so was the hospitality of the waiters who were serving.

Next day morning we had our Jaipur sightseeing of Amber Fort, Naragarh fort, Junagarh fort, Pana meena ka kund and by afternoon we had checked out and had our lunch on the highway itself. By around 4 O clock we left Jaipur and as we were getting closer to Delhi our excitement started degrading as thoughts of going to office, getting back to routine, same old crowded roads, crawled into our minds. The week long amazing trip was going to end, as we were getting close to Gurgaon; traffic was increasing and as we crossed the Gurgaon toll by around 11’o’clock I don’t know from where, but fireworks lit up the sky like a grand welcome. As it was late and we were starving, we thought of having dinner so went to KFC at Priya, but Only McD was opeded so had some burger and went to home. Reach home by around 12!  And the beautiful trip came to an END.

Hilarious Bike Trip To Amritsar

ding ding ding ding ding ding ding
ding ding ding ding ding
thodisi dhuul meri dharti ki mere watan ki
thodisi Khushbuu baurai se mast pavan ki
thodisi dhondhane waali dhak-dhak dhak-dhak dhak-dhak saansein
jin mein ho junoon junoon voh boonde laal lahuu ki
yeh sab tuu mila mila le phir rang tuu khila khila le
aur mohe tuu rang de basanti yaara
mohe tuu rang de basanti
mohe mohe tuu rang de basanti
oh mohe rang de basanti basanti rang de basanti...

I don’t know why when I touch the roads of Punjab or when I think about Punjab, the song of Rang de Basanti gets into my mind. It may be just because Rang de basanti is one of my favorite movies in many scenes they have shown wonderful picturesque of Punjab. Punjab has its own culture and taste, which we can’t find in any other state of India. The beats of the music, the delicious makke de roti with sarson da saag, lip licking lassi and the natural beauty all really has always attracted me to visit again and again to this wonderland.

6/10/2010 was the most tremendous and exciting day of my entire life, because I went for a motorcycle trip to Amritsar with my best friend Shanky. As Shanky was preparing for civils, his coaching class was starting from 11th so we decided to go on the 1st week of October. As we were doing job in a travel agency we were waiting for our salary and after getting salary we fix the date on 6th. For this trip I had struggled a lot because my parents were not allowing me to go in a bike I know that they will be standing on fire till we are back home.

One thing I don’t understand is why people don’t try something different? When I said my parents that we are going to Punjab by bike, first they refuse and then mom was saying that why don’t you go by train? Bike ride is totally different experience and enjoyable ride than train. Dad was saying that am not much experienced to have a long drive, if we travel in bus or train only how can we gain experience? At last they allowed me to go to the trip, and after having a long prayer by mom i left to shanky’s house.
As every thing was according our plan I serviced my pulsar-180 yesterday itself. Shanky’s house is at Delhi University, I reached over there around 10:00 pm and after packing our clothes and important equipments we slept. As alarm rung at 3 o’clock we woke up with full excitement. Suddenly we got ready and after having a cup of tea aunty had a prayer for us and at sharp 4 o’clock we get into our bike and started our journey. The moment we entered NH1 was really exciting one, we were waiting for this particular moment for a long time. The road till Panipat was really good but after Panipat the road was not good, thee were construction going on. At karnal we stop for having tea. We reached Karnal by 6 o’clock, till Karnal Shanky was riding the bike and I was carrying the bag, which was really huge one around 10-20 kg and bigger than me. Due to carrying that bag I got a sexy shoulder. After having our tea we left from dhabha and now I was riding the bike and we move to Ambala. Time was around 8; 30 and we were hungry so stop the bike at a dhaba in rajpura, from were actually Punjab starts. There we had aaloo and onion paratas, panner paratas and dahi which was really delicious. After having our breakfast we were exploring beauty of nature, the dhabha was located just near to railway track and train was coming in every minute.
Around 9:30 we left from Rajpura and from there we moved to Ludhiana. We had to go through the bypass but the road over Ludhiana was congested and confusing we took city route and the traffic over there was horrible, it was like the traffic at Delhi. By connecting Jalandhar we reached Amritsar around 2:30 but we didn’t stop over there because we have to see the parade at Wagha border. The road to Wagha from Amritsar was quite and lonely one. Even it was heat we were so much exited because we at last reach our destination.
We had our lunch in a dhabha at Attari border. While talking with the people over there they were astonished while we said that we are coming from Delhi. As the gate of Wagha border was opened for the visitors we also stand in the queue for parade, after parking our bike. As the bags were not allowed inside we kept that in a cloak room of a hotel near Wagha itself. The parade was really good. The whole ambiance and atmosphere of Wagha was really great. The Wagah border closing 'lowering of the flags' ceremony is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security force) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) follow. The Wagha border is also called as “Berlin wall” of Asia. The ceremony started with a perfectly coordinated parade by the soldiers from both the sides and ended by lowering of the flags. One Jawan was standing attention at the gate on each side. As the sun sets, the Iron Gate at the border was opened and the flags were lowered. After flag is folded the ceremony ends. Really a feeling of patronizing raises when we are watching the parade.


The parade ended at 6:30, then we suddenly went to Amritsar, our plan was to stay at golden temple but when I check, there was no room available all was full. There were lots of hotels but we want our bike also to be kept safe, so we were keep roaming and at last got one hotel which was having parking facility. The pam hotel for which the manager asked us Rs 500, but we managed to have the deal for Rs 350. After having a bath we were fresh and then went to dominos for having our dinner and we ordered a large Mexican green wave pizza and pasta italiano with coke.

After having our dinner we went to golden temple, which was looking great at night. The ambience and surrounding were cam and quite. A feeling of divinity was there. Golden temple is also called as the Harmandir Sahib. This temple is considered holy by Sikhs because the eternal Guru of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is always present inside in it and its construction was mainly intended to build a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religion to come and worship God equally. We must have leave our shoes at the facility near the entrance, as everyone has to cover their head we bought a bandana and by washing our feet in the shallow pool we entered inside the temple. We were roaming inside the temple till around 11:30 and walking inside the temple was raising feeling of divinity. And after exploring golden temple we went back to our room and go to sleep.
Next day we woke late around 8, and the morning was so pleasant by the great view of gurudwara from our room and that song “ik onkaar sat naam kartaa purakh nirbh-a-o nirvair akaal moorat ajoonee saibhn gur parsaad jap”, I can still hear that song in my ears. After getting ready and packing our bags we went to Jallianwala bagh. Jallia wala bagh is also a must visit place at Amritsar. As every Indian knows why Jallianwalla bagh is famous for amritsar massacre. We can see the exact spot from were the people were fired by General Dyer. And we can still see the holes which were the marks of bullet. The museum at the garden tells the entire story of the massacre.

After visiting Jallianwalla bagh we again went to golden temple, to see what the ambiance is at morning. Despite its great sacred status, the Golden Temple is open to visitors, like all Sikh temples. The only restrictions are that visitors must not drink alcohol, eat meat or smoke in the shrine. And unlike many other Indian temples, visitors to the Harmandir Sahib are made to feel truly welcome and not pressured to buy anything. The information office left of the main gate gives helpful advice and information, as well as booklets on Sikhism. After leaving our shoes at the facility near the entrance, and covering our head with bandana and by washing our feet in the shallow pool we get into the temple. We saw the museum of golden temple which was also good and it resembles the sacrifices and contribution of many Sikh people to there state as well as country. There were lots of photos of the eminent people who fight for their pind (community) against Islam. Weapons, coins, etc also were exhibited at that museum, which were really good to explore.

While going back to our room we had a cup of lassi which was really delicious. Having a single cup only our stomach was full, but even Shanky had one more glass. Then we went back to our room and took our bags and we checkout from room.

Today our plan was to go to Bhakra Nangal dam. So we started our journey around 11:30 and went Phathankot. Till Phathankot the road was not that good and also buses and trucks were driving madly. After Phathankot the traffic was really less and road was four lane. We reach Phathankot.at around 3:30 and from there we had our lunch and from there only we filled petrol as petrol was 4 Rs less than Delhi. Now our journey was through a hill and the way was awesome, there was 4 lane way at the hill and the view of the road was also great. While traveling Shanky stoped the bike and said " hey, Wilson, it whould be better if we wont go to Bhakra Nangal" and i said lets move to Chandigargh. We changed our plan because if we reach Bhakra Nangal we don’t know how the place could be, definitely it may be some Porsche area, so we decided to go to Chandigarh. Around 9:30 we reached Ropar and from a dhabha named Satnam dhabha we had our dinner, and the dinner was really awesome. We suddenly left to Chandigarh because it was late, One of our friend Rahul’s mosaji was staying at Chandigarh and he booked room for us. If uncle was not there we would be really in a great trouble, because everywhere rooms were not available due to the common wealth games at Delhi, tourist visiting Delhi were visiting Chandigarh and they have booked the room earlier itself.

We reached Chandigarh by 10:30 and we suddenly call Jugdish uncle (Rahul’s mausaji) and he told us to reach sector 45, there he has arranged a room for us at hotel Surya. We reached hotel and after parking the bike we get into our room. The hotel was really good, it was a/c room and we were charged Rs500 only, because Jugdish uncle had already talked to them. After having some chit chats we go to sleep.

Next day was really a fine energetic fresh day as I woke up at 8 o’clock and had a good bath. Then I began write my dairy. Shanky was sleeping till 9:15 and after he woke up we had our tea and ordered stuffed paratas and dahi as our breakfast and then I went to atm after reaching back we checkout from our room and left to jugdish uncle’s house which was at sector 7 and it was around 4 kms from our hotel. The people of Chandigarh was friendly and very helpful. When we ask some people where 7A-1887(house no) is, they took us there, really they were so helpful.

Around 12 o’clock we reached there house and jugdish uncle was so friendly and so was aunty also. We left our bag over there and after having a cup of tea we went to Sukhana Lake. Sukhana Lake is located at the foothills of the Himalayas, the Shivalik hills. Sukhna is a sanctuary for many exotic migratory birds like the Siberian duck, Storks and Cranes. Here we explore the scenic beauty of the setting sun, and heavily clouded monsoon sky, the boats floating through the lake adds tranquility of the lake. After spending sometime at Sukhana Lake we left to rock garden, rock garden was really a unique garden. Rock Garden is a Sculpture garden also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of forty-acres (160,000 m); it is completely built of industrial & home waste and thrown-away items like bottles, glasses, bangles, tiles, ceramic pots, sinks, electrical waste, tube lights, etc which are placed in walled paths. The waterfall adds more beauty to this garden.
After that we went sector17 were there was a huge shopping complex, which was just near to rose garden. The amazing part of this place is that the parking fees are really less. We were charged just Rs 2 for parking our bike. We had chicken hotdog and lime soda which was really tasty. We thought of buying souvenirs form here but there was nothing special so we left to Jugdish uncle’s house, after reaching their house we tell our experience to them and after having tea we left to Delhi. We started our journey around 6:30 via Ambala then we reached Kurushetra. As we reached Kurushetra we taught of buying some sweets to home so we bought some sweets which was famous over there like panni, malai barfi, pedda, etc.

From a dhabha at Kurushetra itself we had our dinner and via Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat we reached Delhi, just as we entered Delhi there started traffic jam and so I took wrong side and for around 2 kms I was driving wrong side. Around 12 o’clock we reached Shanky’s house, were we started our journey.

This journey was really a great experience to both of us. It took 1261 Kms to cover Delhi – Wagha border – Amritsar – Phatankot – Chadigarh – Delhi. And 2 days 20 hours to reach back home. We have really enjoyed our whole journey. Everyone was saying that we guys will become tiered but we were not at all, this may be because of our first ride or may be because we were having young blood. I will suggest to everyone to go at least once a year to a long drive, it will really rejuvenate you and it will make your mind refresh. I, Wilson tom will never gona forget this trilling bike ride for ever.