K2K-2012 - Day 4 to Day 9

Day 4

I woke up pretty early and was ready to leave by 4:30 that day. Mounting and un-mounting the luggage was taking lesser time when compared to the first day.

I take the Bangalore - Pune highway and my first stop is Chitradurga. Usually i do not stop for butt breaks, i stop once i need to tank up. The 650R does not have a great range - i'm always forced to slow down at approx 200 km and start looking out for a fuel station. Luckily the 650R drinks normal fuel so no searching for xtra premium or any other high octane fuel.

Pune has a good supply of quality dry fruits. I'm addicted to the anjeer, badam and dry grapes combination which i mix up in a box and sustain myself until i reach Pune. This has become a normal affair when ever i do a Bangalore - Pune or the other way round. Took the same recipe through out the K2K. Also i know where the fuel stations are so that is one uncertainty off the list for now.

I doze off while on the road at around 9 in the morning. All of a sudden i feel a jerk near my ankle that wakes me up. I curse myself and check if i really need to pull off the road. All ok and i keep moving on. Within the next kilometer i feel the same jerk at a higher magnitude than the previous one. So i slow down and bring the bike to a stop. Get down to inspect the reason and find my shoe lace torn at the tip. The other piece was still stuck to the chain. Lucky that it tore off rather than remaining on the shoe and yanking my foot and throwing me off balance. This gave me some time off from the riding and made sure i don't doze off again.

The 650R does not like drowsy riders.

Weather was pleasant and partially cloudy until Belgaum. Soon after that that it started get hot real quick as the afternoon sun started to beat down. By the time i was crossing Nippani i was again dozing off intermittently. At the next fuel stop - i request a chair to sit down for a quick half an hour nap.

Once awake, i was fresh all the way to Pune. I get lost in the Pune traffic while reaching home due to a road blockage while approaching the city and i take a wrong road which was never ending and i could not manage to find even a single U turn.

I make it home at 4:30 in the evening and call it a day. Wife is happy to see me since the original plan meant i would meet her only in Leh. The next day was Ganesh Chaturti and i was supposed to reach Mumbai.

K2K-2012 - Day 5

I wake up late which is definitely not a good thing on a trip. Till now i had always visited Mumbai on a bus or a train. So, this time reaching Mumbai via the express way was out of question. So i call up Kumar for directions, write down his meticulous instructions on a A4 sheet, put it into the tank bag to refer it as i ride. I reach Lonavala by 11 and had to stop for a photo of the landscape which always missed me while on the expressway.

Lonavala

I get lost as i get close to Mumbai and finally reach Mumbai by 1 in the afternoon.

Amit from our 650ROG wrapped up his work hurriedly and is waiting for me on the highway. I was relieved to meet him since Mumbai on a two wheeler is a real challenge. He then takes me to get something that is as good as the Kohinoor diamond for me. Without it, my trip would have had an abrupt and a regrettable end even before i reached Leh. 

Meet the bash plate.

Piran from our 650ROG was gracious enough to lend me his ingenious creation - the bash plate for the 650R. He had just come back from a trip to Leh. We visited his mechanic (Kamlesh) to get the bash plate removed from his bike to be put on mine. By the time we came back from lunch, the job was done and Kamlesh had also provided some additional shock damping for my customized digital console mount. After working on the bike for two hours all he wanted in return was a safe trip for me. He would not take a single penny even after repeated requests to do so. Now that's some heart!! Thanks Piran and Kamlesh 

Amit is all ready with his bike and luggage. I get to know that he too is going to join me on the journey to Leh! I have company! I'm relieved and elated to know this. This news actually made my day.

I take leave and call up Kumar for directions again. In some time i reach the "HQ" - Kumar's home in Mumbai. We have a long chat, share all the tentative plans for the journey to Leh and then he finds me a cozy and comfortable accommodation for the night.

Before hitting the bed, i chat up with Amit deciding on the meeting point the next morning.

K2K-2012 - Day 6

No proper sleep again and the mobile buzzes at 2:30 in the morning. Get to know that Amit would not be able to make it due to his kids ill health. This kept me awake until dawn since the sense of relief due to the advantages of having company on the trip had vanished and even after consciously trying to block out negative thoughts about bad things that could happen over the trip, i found it tough to be positive. I some how drag myself out of the bed, get ready and look out the window to find that it is pouring! How bad could my day get!

I reach out for the additional rain gear to be worn above the existing touring setup. Call up Kumar and revise the days direction and probable end points. I also get to know that the fuel availability might be dicey due to the Bharat Bandh called to protest against the diesel price hike.

My mood had taken a proper beating by now, but i some how managed to muster some enthu and i happened to think about what i would do when i visit Khardung La... this was a magical medicine and by the time i was finished with what i wanted to do when i visit Khardung La i was cruising towards the outskirts of Mumbai. It was actually a brown smog created by a truck over a pool of muddy water that brought me back to my senses. This stretch was extremely muddy and the rain had made it impossible to pass it and get out clean. I was a brown bear with brown bike by then..... back to the beaten down mood.

Luckily for me the roads got better and the rains never stopped, so there was enough spray of fresh rain water to wash me down to an acceptable clean state 

Breakfast after crossing Mumbai.... Paratha? Fully fried?

Another first in my life, that day i had traveled three states. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Once into Gujarat i could not take the express way and hence had to take the route through Godhra and connect back to the normal highway towards Rajasthan (at Shamlaji). I vividly remember the 10 km long traffic jam in Baruch due to some flyover work.

Crossing over to Rajasthan it gets more greener when compared to the previous distance travelled. The roads through Udaipur felt very similar to Chikmagalur without the coffee estates - hilly, green and twisty turvy. 

At the end of the day Kumar is very happy that i over shot Udaipur and travelled further to Chittorgarh. The Udaipur bypass to Chittorgarh was chok a block but it was ok for a bike to make it through.

Checked into Hotel Meera (near the railway station, ph: 01472-240266).

K2K-2012 - Day 7

This by far was the most boring day. I wake up early get down to the parking to see that i could use a water hose. Bikers can never resist giving their bike a good wash - what say? Once done i'm happy looking at a shiny bike after all the dullness due to the dust and dirt i've travelled through so far. I also see that i do not have enough cash on me to pay up the hotel rent. So i take a walk to the nearby market at the railway station and all these factors again make me leave late. I leave at 10:30 which is insane by any bikers standards. On top of that i see a functional Reliance pump for the first time on the entire trip and don't know why did i ever decide to tank up there. Once i'm out of the fuel station i have this doubt with regards to fuel quality which played spoil sport with me all the way until my next tank up.

I start my travel in the direction of the Jaipur - Delhi highway. The heat was real bad and so was the traffic. Well i deserved this since i made a mistake of leaving way too late. Once i take the detour towards Ajmer i connect to the Bhatinda highway which lasts for 400 km. Here i over shot a fuel station and then had to slow down to save on fuel until i found another one, this wasted almost 45 minutes in the hot afternoon. The Bhatinda highway is extremely unpredictable, its littered with surprise pot holes and worse - unmarked and nasty surprises with speed breakers.

After a real boring ride i reach Hanumangarh. 

There are accommodation options but its worth a note that if you travel another 70 km, you cross over to Punjab and reach a place called Abohar. Rates are much lesser and its good to shave off as much distance as possible every day. But my parents and wife had already kicked up a big fuss when i had reached Chittorgarh a little late in the evening the previous day. So i did not want to test their patience again and decided to call it a day.

I ask people for directions to Hotel Rajdiv Palace and when i actually get there i am in two minds to enter it. By the looks of it, its a real palace and i was wondering what the cost of stay would be. Luckily it was not prohibitive, there were favourable slabs and again i get to wash my bike 

Hotel Rajdiv Palace in Hanumangarh (you don't need anything else to find it... just the name will do)

K2K-2012 - Day 8

I leave at 7:30 in the morning. Trying to correct my previous days mistake.

After yesterdays boring ride Punjab looks like heaven. Lush green fields with hues of dark brown. The morning sun makes it much spectacular. I want to stop but the planned destination forces me to keep moving on briskly - its destination Jammu that day.

Apart from the scenery i will always remember Punjab for the absence of sign boards and if at all i find any, they were always in Punjabi. Also people will fall down laughing at you when you ask for places.... google says Abohar as in A-Bho-Har. But its A-Bhor in Punjabi. And trust me, this was the easiest of the places to pronounce.

The entire out skirts of Jalandhar is very very busy. Its easy to miss this detour to Pathankot which is around 30 km before the main city. Once you get to Pathankot you are relieved to find the roads improving but they too get worse due to road repairs. The best part is - for the first time you will see sign boards reading distances to Leh 

Reaching Jammu the traffic gets really bad and there are a few stretches of just boulders, round due to the traffic that has gone over it and these stretches are waiting to gobble up wheel rims. Found it very difficult to cross them. But the worse was still to come. I get stuck in an one-way traffic snarl, over shoot the JKTDC hotel to my left and then circle round half the city to get back to the same one-way traffic jam and finally into the hotel totally exhausted and dirty. For a change i was received at the reception by a sardar with a warm smile with a respect to a person who has come to Jammu from Kanyakumari. I had these K2K stickers on my luggage so he did not have to ask much about what i was up to. He quickly arranges for the room and i am settled in by 4 in the evening. That's a first again!

The dust and dirt was so bad and the heat was so much that i could see sweat marks on my touring jacket! Also i observe this at 4 in the evening with lots of time to spare. So off with the biker feel and on with a dhobi get up. Out comes the liquid detergent and the next hour was a back breaking exercise to clean up both the jacket and touring pant and all the anti sweat inner wear i had used up till this point after Mumbai. I knew it was impossible to get them dry by dawn the next day so i ask for another pair of the hotel towels and use them to absorb excess water. The coffee table rolled over  to one side acts as a hanger for all the washed laundry under the fan. The room really felt like a dhobi ghat that day 

K2K-2012 - Day 9

There is no check out in JKTDC. You pay the entire amount upfront the moment you check in. Its the responsibility of the house keeping guys to make sure all is ok when you leave the next day.

I call up Kumar early in the morning to decide the days route and am already trailing a local news reporter's taxi towards Srinagar as soon as i get out of JKTDC by 6:30 in the morning.

You invariably fall into a convoy after some time. The traffic and the hilly section is such that you come to a complete stop for half an hour to let the strech clear up and then proceed. This happened to me at least 5 times. The highlight of the morning was not the amazing scenery with roads looking down into a menacing river below, it was the super tasty Rajma Chaval and that the quantity given would have taken me three break fasts to finish it. The rajma chaval was recommended by Kumar before i started that day 

Though the traffic snarls and the heat make you sweat like a pig, so much so that you feel the sweat trickling down your back into your undies - the view is really gorgeous. Also the traffic disappears after Banihal. The previous flood of vehicles comes down to a trickle. Also the temperatures start to fall off providing a much deserved respite and you also get a lot of time to appreciate the nice scenery. By this time you are approaching the Jawahar Tunnel, the gate way to Kashmir so to speak. Bye bye Jammu!!

Some distance before the Jawahar Tunnel.

Pass through the Jawahar Tunnel and then you are invited by the Titanic view Point. Enough of refreshments you say? Yes... the chaos of Srinagar starts here. Very bad and dusty roads and a chaotic traffic all the way to Srinagar.

The Dal lake was uninspiring except for its size. You feel you have already encircled it twice and you got to ask people to make sure that you actually are viewing a new part of the lake and this is no deja vu. The Dal Lake is like the focal point for the entire city. Cross it and you've crossed Srinagar. 

Now comes another tough part of passing village roads for another 50 to 60 km. Then you get on to an high way sort of road all the way to Sonamarg.

Such is the magic of Sonamarg that i could not resist myself to get off the bike once ever 5 minutes! Also while approaching Sonamarg i see a snow capped mountain for the first time in my life. 

I reach Sonamarg at around 5:30 and check into Sonmarg Palace.

First time i see a snow capped mountain.

Super Sonamarg!

I shoot the above photo and then i look to my right and go expletive since these were so close than the one above!!