Learn from the Mistakes!

Chandigarh is a very well planned city. One can easily find places there and one can very well easily get lost too . Almost all the houses, streets and buildings have similar architecture and design. But the roads are very broad, well-maintained. Even inside the city, the roads have a feel of National Highways.

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No. 1: When in Rome, do as the Romans do! When you are in Chandigarh, follow traffic rules.
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It is a very calm place. Everyone minds their own business except when one tries to go in a “One way” (of course in the opposite direction ). We didn’t know that it was one way. Used to the Bangalore street conventions, we saw a service road and just took off in that. We got an earful from an elderly traffic cop. He didn’t give us an opportunity to open our mouth. But later realized that we were from ‘the South’ and cooled down. He felt very happy that we were on a mission and wished us luck too.

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No. 2: Carry minimal luggage, it’s not a photoshoot!
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As our team re-united, we tried to fit all our bags into the 6 bikes we had. Along with the clothes, we had some essentials like the Puncture kit, Rain Coats, tarpaulins etc packed in saddle bags that were tied to the side of the bikes. And unsurprisingly we couldn’t fit everything onto the bikes. We off-loaded some of the stuff in one of our friends place in Chandigarh. Some of us even had 7 pairs of clothing!!! And some dirty ones had only 2 pairs of undies

All this took lot of our time. According to our plan we had to reach Manali by the EOD (corporate style, eh!). Started off from Chandigarh soon after 2 and took a break in one of the dhabas along the way. It is the best meal one could ask for. Such a delicious authentic Punjabi recipe. The taste of Mutter Paneer still lingers in my mouth This was also the last good meal that we would have for the next 14 days.



The weather was good. It rained for a little while and was breezy throughout. The roads were muddy and a little slippery. We were speeding past lush greenery. It was a good ride till evening until we encountered the first hiccup. Back tire of Suhas’ bike had a puncture. It happened right in front of a repair shop so we didn’t have to test our skills .

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No. 3: NEVER ride after daybreak..
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We were very much behind our schedule. Reaching Manali by night was next to impossible. We didn’t have any other option either. If we couldn’t make it, we would have to cut short on some other part of the trip. Reluctantly we started riding in the dark. Though the road was motorable, it was a ghat section and there were many blind curves. Fatigue was slowly settling on me and Hanuma after being sleepless for more than 36 hours. I was riding pillion and at times dozed off too. Carrying a heavy backpack on my shoulder and sleeping seemed too risky. A sudden thought that who will support Mr. X's family when I'm gone got me worried (chammans you know what I’m talking right? ) . We had a small war of words regarding the situation, in the end we stopped at 2 AM at a regular guest house paying astronomical price. Manali was still 200 kms away.

Now why shouldn’t one ride after dark? Well, it’s not only because one would be tired, sleepy and be too risky. But you would miss the breathtaking landscape all along the route. After a fruitless plan to get up at 6 in the morning, all the lazy bums got up at 10 and just looked outside the window of the guesthouse. The view was mind-blasting!!! The guesthouse was built on the edge of a cliff. A perfect suicide point!! Pics speak more than words!!

Airborne

4th July 2008:

Bangalore -------------- Delhi (Flight at 1930 hrs)

Ever since childhood, I’ve always dreamt of flying a plane. Well, I will have to wait a little longer to fulfill my wish. Maybe I would buy a small Cessna one day!!! I dream a lot :) . At least for now, I had the opportunity to fly on a plane :)


This was my first flight and the only one till now. As any other normal guy, I was very excited and anxious. I wanted to sit in the window seat :p and watch the land below throughout the journey. I don’t know, I have always wanted to sit in the front row of a car by the window while traveling. I guess this is what they call male instinct :) . I remember innumerable fights I had with my cousins on who gets that treasured seat in my uncle’s Ambassador!! Back then, whoever could identify the most number of car models coming in the opposing direction was the winner. Now I can’t do that on a flight, can I? :D But I got lucky. I think the flight attendant noticed my curiosity and gave me the window seat!! YAY!!!!!!!!


Hanuma was sitting 2 rows behind me and was trying very hard to flirt with the airhostess. I seriously have no idea why else would anyone want to remove the jacket from the bag, put it back, remove it again and put back again over a short 2 hour journey (Bag was in the overhead luggage holder which only the airhostess could access during the flight, now you get an idea what I mean here :p ).


6 guys, who left by train reached Delhi safely, collected the bikes and proceeded towards Chandigarh. It is a very good stretch of road lined with dhabas on both the sides. The guys must’ve had fun riding this stretch. Worse road conditions were awaiting us. So maja maadodu maadkolli ille :)

Delhi ------- 200 kms ------ Ambala ------ 40 kms ----- Chandigarh

However, they couldn’t cover the entire stretch by nightfall and stayed at Ambala for the night.



5th July 2008:

Delhi --------- Chandigarh (Journey by train)

Me and Hanuma landed at Delhi a little after 10 in the night. Until then I had the impression that Mangalore is the hottest city in India. The moment I landed, this perception changed. Next time if I hear anyone complaining about weather in Bangalore/Mangalore, I will surely bash him up :p . I guess the temperature was around 40 degrees. We had to catch a train to Chandigarh at 4 AM. So we decided to roam around Delhi. (Rather the taxi driver persuaded us to roam around in his AC fitted WagonR - finally relief from temperature)


He took us to the usual places – Parliament, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Birla Mandir, India Gate etc. and so many other places. Since it was late at night, we were zooming past entire Delhi. To be honest, I don’t remember most of the places he took us. We were just glad to sit in that AC Car – heaven at that moment :) . At connaught place, we drank ½ litre milkshake from a ‘world famous in Delhi’ bakery. Yes, ½ litre milkshake!!!! This is the standard quantity they serve. There were some guys gulping up 3 servings in one go!!! Hey Subbu, can you beat that? :)


Delhi darshan took shorter time than we expected. He kicked us out of his car at around 1 AM at the Railway Station. We were back in hell :(

Ours wasn’t an AC reservation seat, so couldn’t get into the AC waiting room :( . Phew, I can’t even imagine how we spent next 2 hours or so in the general waiting room. Finally after a lot of negotiation with the gate keeper (or whatever) and a little bribe (of course this works most of the times), we entered the AC room!!! Wooohoooo….


The scheduled departure time of the train was 4 AM. But as usual, it got delayed by 30 mins. Ah nice, only 30 mins to go. Little did we know that loooooooooooong wait was imminent. As the time passed, it was very hard to sit there. There was no proper place to sleep. However we managed to sit awkwardly and have a small nap. In between every 20 mins or so we would check whether the train had arrived. This could very well be one of the longest nights I ever had.


Even at 7 AM, there was no sign of the train – a delay of more than 3 hrs. Finally, we decided enough is enough with this bloody train. Thankfully there was a new ‘Shatabdi Express’ which had been introduced some days back. Since this is an AC train, the tickets were really expensive. The departure time was at 0745. This is a special train which has proper seats and no berths as such. It even has plug-points, wi-fi etc etc. They provide everyone with Breakfast, Newspaper, Tea, snacks…. what not??? Royal treatment!! Lalu-ji ki jai!! We showed our ‘chathri buddi’ there too :p . We both took 2 newspapers each :) and ordered for extra butter, extra sugar etc.


At last we had good sleep in the train. We would reach Chandigarh by noon, by then other 6 chammans would also reach the railway station and our journey would resume from there.

This day, 7 months ago!

2nd July 2008:

D-Day had arrived. After months of planning, strategies and convincing people, it was time to set out on the journey of the lifetime. Plan was clear on all our minds “8 guys, 6 bikes, 18 days… 1 destination: LADAKH!!!!!!!!!!”

The troop consisted of different ‘characters’ in their own way. In alphabetical order:

Karthik R - Hanuma
Prashanth Pereira – angry young man
Punith Lokur – Mr. Rajkumar
Sharath Y N – or is it KN :p , chamman No 2, Deadbody, list is endless….
Shreyas Heranjal – Chamman No 1, Koli
Suhas Suvarna – suzi
Vasanth Kumar – that’s me :)
Vinay N S – Ambani

We even made ourselves custom made sweatshirts with the map of the places we intended to visit embedded on the back – thanks to Ambani for putting together an awesome quote and the design of the shirt (Later during the trip we realized how important the embedded map was. Without it, it was very tough to remember the tongue twisting names of the places :) )

After getting all the necessary servicing done for the bikes: Two Bullets, Two Pulsars, One Apache and one Unicorn, they were handed over to the goods carrier guy at the Yeshwanthpur Railway station on 1st of July, a day ahead so that we won’t have to wait for them at Delhi. Couple of us even got hands on training on repairing the bikes, puncture work etc. :)

The plan was for 6 guys to go by train on 2nd night to Delhi. I had my GRE the next day on the 3rd of July. Karthik couldn't convince his manager for leave and we both decided to fly out to Delhi on 4th evening. So 6 guys armed with tons of luggage (which proved costly :( later in the trip) set out by train on 2nd night from Yeshwanthpur. Even though I had the test which could decide my future the next day, the excitement of the trip couldn't hold me back. I picked up Shreyas from his place and dropped him to the railway station a good 30 kms far. This was the kind of re-union with all the stakeholders meeting up at one place before committing the crime!!




Once the train left, I returned home worrying about the GRE next day. The journey has begun. More to follow……