Apologies!!

It has been a very exciting and busy 1 week!! I am forced to break the promise again (and no more promises). I am in Kotputli now. Just 160 kms from Delhi and finally the tour is ending tomorrow (I would have cycled close to 1850 kms by tomorrow). I have a dozen stories to share with you all (I got robbed, just 200Rs, my tire burst once, I fell from the bike, not even a scratch on my body, met a dozen people, visited dozen places… etc), but time is a major constraint. I do not want to do a shabby job by updating the blog for the heck of doing it. This tour has been very memorable so far and I want to cherish and share every moment of it. Hence I will update it on the day I reach Bangalore. Till then I have more than 100 pictures to share with you all. Pictures speak a lot than words!!

Click here for the Pics
Wish you all a happy new year and Bye for now ( and 2010 as well).

Day 7

As per my plan my destination for the day was Indore which is 130 kms from Julwania. I started the ride at 6.30 in the morning and it was chilling outside (probably 6C). Stopped for breakfast at 8.15. I was surprised to see Samosa, Sev, Jilabhi and mirchi bajji for breakfast, but it was just perfect for the climate. The owner of the hotel asked me if am I going to mandu, I told him I was going to Indore. I stop for teat at 10 in a Dhaba and they ask me the same question, if I am going to Mandu. I finally start thinking if I should change my plan and the chaiwala plays with my mind and says you will not get another chance to see Mandu and you are just 42 kms away. I agree with him and blindly change my plan and take a left towards Mandu. He never told me there were two very ghats to climb. The climb and the afternoon sun sucked all my energy and I was moving in snail’s pace. As this was not an highway, it had both pros and cons. Very few trucks on the way, lot of trees for shade, panoramic view etc. and the cons being lack of availability of hotels means no chai, water, food ..etc. The ghat climb was very killing and i kept singing and talking to myself loud (that would have made the people think that i was from a Lunatic Asylum) to divert my mind.

I reached Mandu at 5 in the evening and the very first sight of a huge fort between a valley told me that I had made the right decision. Mandu was the sub division of the Tarangagadh or Taranga kingdom . This fortress town on a rocky outcrop about 100 km (60 miles) from Indore is celebrated for its fine architecture. Mandu's was earlier known by the name of "Shadiabad" meaning the city of happiness (Anand Nagari), the name was given by then ruler Allauddin Khilji. I found a room for 200 in Hotel Maharaja which was decent. By 8 I came out for dinner and for a change tried noodles , it was not that good, but a lesson learnt, be a roman in rome. When I went back to the hotel I met Daneal and Selvia who had come from Germany to explore India and stayed in the room adjacent to mine . We kept discussing the places of interest and the route plan till 12.30 in the night. Daniel is 23 and wants to do his automobile engineering where as Selvia is a graduate in mathematics. They were surprised that being an Indian even I was carrying a map!! I had to explain them that Germany would be maximum as big as South india which is hardly 30% of our country. Daniel came down in November and has already seen Rajasthan and Delhi and was guiding me on the do’d and don’t’s. By 1 I was snoring in my little room covering myself with 2 blankets.

Day 4 to 6

Click on the link to view the pics of Day 1 to 7

Day 2 and 3 continued.

Hi all, so far I have rode ~ 900 kms and I am in Mandu, Madhyapradesh. Post crossing Osmanabad on Day 3 I met Mr Ritesh and his family who happened to come to the same dhaba where I was having my lunch. He is basically from Dhule and currently working in Hyderabad. He has two kids (twins) who have acted in a bunch of telivision ads (peter England, Good day biscuits..etc) and he was sharing those videos from his cell phone. He also asked me to give a call when I reach dhulia and also asked me to stay in his place. Post shooting few snaps of the kids I moved on to Gevrai.

Day 4

The entire scenario changed from day 4. I had to ride 85 km to reach Aurangabad, I am not sure if it was because of the good roads, I reached Aurangabad in just 4 hrs (20km / hr) and was feeling really fresh. Aurangabad is a very modern city like Bangalore. I reached Bai mahal (also called mini Taj mahal) by 12.30 and started my journey towards Ellora. I had my lunch (chicken Bhuna and paratha) in a restaurant called Rasoi Ghar and the taste was as usually good. On my way to Ellora, near Daulatabad I got to know that Ellora caves as closed on Tuesdays, which means I need to stay another day,. Without wasting time I visited Daulatabad fort and then realized it was a great decision. By 3.30 I was out of the fort and started towards Ellora and planned to see the caves the next day morning at 6. I stayed in Vrindhavan resorts and a young chap Armit Jain owns it and he offered me a room for just 180 Rs which sounded dead cheap. I spent the whole evening walking across the same rode (hardly 300 mts) more than 20 times and would have drank at least 10 tea. I had jeera rice for dinner and hit the bed at 10. Total distance for the day was close to 120..

Day 5

I wokeup at 5.30 and the temprature outside would have been close to 5C. I was the first to enter the caves, and the entry fee is Rs 10. There are totally 34 caves and we need close to 15 days to visit all the 34 caves and the distance between each cave is close to 3 km. I hired a auto rickshaw for 60 Rs ( as I had just 2 hrs) and he also acted like my guide and took me to the 7 most important caves. These excavations show they are as old as 600 or 800 AD. Its worth visiting and exploring the place.

In was out by 8.30 and started towards Dhulia post breakfast (onion Dosa). Most part of the ride was a downhill, but very narrow. With few breaks in between I managed to reach Dhulia by 5. I found a lodge nearby and called up Ritesh and he guided me to his house which was hardly 5 kms. He stays in a joint family and we chatted for an hour post introduction to all his family members. I told them bye and had my dinner by 9 and was fast asleep by 10.



Day 6.


Today my destination was Julwania. I knew today would be real cycling as I had to climb an uphill of over 1000 meters and 20 kms long. The ride was very smooth till lunch and the uphill started post lunch. I could see trucks finding it hard to move even and inch further but I over took them at a speed of 18 and they were all smiling looking at me. This show off was just for 3 kms and I slowly started to loose my energy and struggle to breath. I could feel the latic acid rush on my knees and I kept on pushing myself and when I had 8 more kms I shifted to granny’s gear. The later part was a reward for my climb, a 20 km downhill.

I have been observing a white power patches all over my wind jacket from day 1 and I thought it was dust. On day 6 I realized it was the dried salt that I have been loosing from my body as sweat. I immideatly opened a pactek of electrol and  had it with water. I reached julwania by 6 and found a pathetic lodge as usual and was asleep by 10.

Day1 to 3

Dear user,


I am extremely sorry for the delay in posting the updates, blame the unavailability of a cyber café (forget cyber café, getting my cell phone signal has become a luxury). Today will be my last day in maharashtra, I am in Dhule.



Day 0 – The departure,

Unlike my last trip, there was nothing to rush in the last hour. I went to SRS travels in the morning and asked them to load my bike in the bus I was traveling. Initially he demandd 400Rs, and finally I got it down to 150 Rs. Every thing was packed and I was all set to leave to the bus stop (just 10 mins drive from my place) at 8 (the bus was at 8.30). Half way through I realized that I had forgotten to take my camera, so had to come back and pick it up. The bus arrived on time and after few calls I set the alarm for 6 AM and slept.



Day 1

The Alarm woke me up at 6 and the bus was expected to reach bijapur by 6.30. After few minutes, the co passenger sitting next to me woke up and I asked him what time would Gol gumbaz open, he replied by the time the bus reaches Bijapur it will be open. Do they open as early as 6.30? he replied it would open by 10 and the bus was running late by 3 hrs.. A bad start! For the next 3 hrs he spoke about bijapur, places of intrest, agriculture.. etc and I just started to nid-nod for courtesy.

The bus hit the bus stop at sharp 10 and my bike was in a good shape. I went to a lodge opposite to the bus stand and asked him if i can get a room to freshenup for 30 mins, he didn’t have any rooms available but he asked me to use the bathroom!! Awesome, that was all I needed. I took bath and was ready to hit the road in 15 mins. I went to a nearby restorent for breakfast and it was very lousey.

My first start point was Gol gumbaz, which was 8 km’s away and iu reached in 10 mins. It is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah built in 1649. The dome is the second largest one in the world which is unsupported by any pillar (1st one is in Rome). The acoustics of the enclosed place make it a whispering gallery where even the smallest sound is heard across the other side of the Gumbaz. At the periphery of the dome is a circular balcony where visitors can witness the astounding whispering gallery. Any whisper, clap or sound gets echoed around 7 times. By 11 I was on my waay to ibharim Rauza, the tomb of adil shal 2. The design of Ibharim Rauza served as an inspiration for Taj mahal. By 12, it was time for me to say good to Bijapur and very soon to karnataka and was on my way to Solapur. Note - Do not expect cleanliness in Bijapur, the entire city is very dirty.

Now starts the real ride, I need to cover 107 kms in 6 hrs. There is nothing much to talk about the ride as it was a bit boring and I had my lunch (Alu Palak , roti and tea) in a Dabha on the way. The place is very dry without any trees for shade and the people look like xerophytics. After few more tea breaks (The tea tastes excellent) and chit chat with the people on the way I reached Solapur and found a decent room for 200. After shopping few oranges I hit the bed at 10.



Day 2 and 3

I am clubbing Day 2 and 3 together as I do not have much to talk about. Firstly, google map is 99% accurate and I fell in the 1% category. It showed a town called terkhed on the way to Aurangabad (where I planned to stay on day 2) which happened to be a very small village with 2 huts  . It was already 7, pitch dark and getting colder every min. Luckily I found a Dhaba on the way and spent the night there (it was fun though, truck drivers singing and dancing all night).

Day 3 I rode 130 kms and stayed in a place called Gevrai. The lodge I stayed was probably the dirtiest lodge in india. I do not intend to explain more about it (People intrested to know more can mail me ).

Overall, its been close to 360 kms ride and people tend to ask the same questions

First – where am I from and where am I heading to? – Bijapur to Delhi

Second – Where do I work? - bangalore

Third – Government job or a private Job (they will not respect you if you are in a private job) – Private (I disappoint them)

Fourth – How much do I earn? – never ask a guys salary nor a girls age

Fifth – 10,000? – Bit more than that

They all start laughing for them selves telling being truck drivers we earn more than you, studying is of no use - But I spend at least half a day with my family and I can be more healthier when I gt old (I tell this to myself). The region is too backward in literacy and

so are the peoples thinking. I got to see how entire india would have been in 1950’s in these 3 days. But, food and tea are the only two things that really impressed me so far. They cook with passion. In a day I am having 5 cups of tea. I will post the Pics soon as this cyber parlor owner is scared that my camera has virus!!

Tour de North - Season 2

I just have a day left for my second tour! This winter I have planned to start my second tour (all the stories of my 1st tour are in the same blog) on Dec18th to vanquish Bijapur to Delhi, approximately covering 2000 km in 14 days. The initial plan was to start my tour from Goa (where I ended my last tour), but the route from Goa to Bijapur seemed to be pretty dry and it would be just boring 3 days ride covering ~ 300km for nothing. I do not want to kick start my tour in such a way and instead invest the same time exploring Rajasthan. Hence I decided to start the tour in front of Golgumbuz in Bijapur and I am hoping to end it in front of “India gate” in Delhi on 1st of Jan. I have booked the onward journey to Bijapur by a private bus (350 Rs) which will leave Bangalore at 8.30 PM and I should reach Bijapur max by 7 AM. The return ticket is booked as well from Delhi to Bangalore by Samparkranthi Express costing 576 Rs.

• The Route


The tentative route I have decided to take is Bijapur – Aurangabad – Indore – Jaipur - Delhi. I will be crossing 6 states, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Some of the challenges that I am expecting in this tour are

1. Climate – I am expecting the max temperature to be close to 30 C and the minimum to be 6 C. I might have a trouble to vacillate between warm and cold temperatures.

2. Practice – For this tour, my practice has been close to Nil!! I am just relying on my past experience.

3. Distance – on an average I need to cover 130 km a day for 14 days without a break.

4. Language – The most important factor, I need to manage with my broken Hindi for 2 weeks.

Other than these there can be few exogenous factors as well that can make my condition better or worse, I would categorize them to fall under Murphy’s Law and ignore.



• The Bike


It’s the same bike I used on my previous tour, Decathlon – Rockrider – 5.2, but have made very minute changes. Need is the mother of all inventions, hence I could tap my left brain and get the half baked engineer out and came out with some small innovations.

1. On my last tour, whenever I came across a panoramic view, I did not have patience to stop the bike and take a snap as I use to loose out on the cadence (rhythm). To over come this issue, I took two clamps from a broken door and fixed it to the centre of the handle bar and adjusted them in such in such a way that the camera focuses the road. Now I can mount my camera on this and shoot as many pics I need without stopping my bike.

2. Absence of a rear view mirror can be really dangerous, a lesson learnt from the previous tour and I was not too keen on placing the mirror on the handle bar as its already messed up with the odometer, headlamp, camera and bell. Hence I took a broken headset that was lying at home and fixed one end of the mouthpiece to my helmet and I have fixed a very small mirror which is hardly 2 inchs weighing few grams to the other end. It works absolutely fine and it’s adjustable too.

3. Last time I carried a big backpack and tied it with strings, and it was hell of a task to keep it intact. I will not be facing this problem as I have got pannier bags, though they are small I think I can manage all my stuff in that and planning to carry another small bag if necessary.

4. Lastly Baba of RR cycles serviced my bike and I am satisfied with his work. It looks like a brand new one and hoping to have zero defects (to talk in Six Sigma terms).



• What will I carry?


1. cycling shorts – 3

2. Normal Shorts – 1

3. Jeans (for sight seeing) – 1

4. T-shirts – 3

5. Jacket (it weighs a lot and occupies maximum space in my bag) - 1

6. Sandals – 1

7. Gloves – 1

8. Towel

9. batteries

10. Mobile charger

11. Camera

12. Strings to carry any extra bag

13. Soap, brush and paste

14. Puncture kit, tool kit, hand pump and an extra tube.

15. Socks – 3 pairs

16. Sunglasses

17. Monkey cap

18. Cotton to stuff it in my ear

19. my e-ticket

20. hard copy of the maps

21. Blanket (Not sure if the lodges I plan to stay will have one, and I do not intend to pay for the blanket)

22. Electoral (5 packets)

23. and lastly %$#% rs.



• The fun


Some of the places I have decided to explore as of now are Ujjain, Indore, Kota, Jaipur, Agra ..etc and these places carry historic monuments which date back to few centuries, for example, Ajanta and ellora caves, Golgumbaz, Hawa mahal, Jal mahal and even taj. So culture and heritage is never a limit to explore in this trip. If I am bored of exploring forts and palaces, not a problem, I can start exploring food in Indore, Jaipur and Delhi. If that bores me as well, I can shop in rajasthan and Delhi (I have already got a list to shop from my friends and relatives, probably they are forgetting that I am touring on my bike). So, my plate is full and there is a very bleak chance for me to get bored. I am sure I have much more fun and adventure in store for me, will update you through my blog as and when I come across one.

• The blog


I will not do the same mistake that I did last time by promising to update the blog every day, but I can vouchsafe to update it once in 4 days in the worst case (I will try to update it every day). As this is a heuristic approach, anything that happens will be a discovery, so watch this space for more!! Right now i am finalising on much needed packing. I have changed the comments setting in my blog, so there is no need to become a member to post a comment (but please do reveal your identity on the comments you post) which would make life much simpler.