DAY 1 - The long ride out of Bombay
Route: Bombay - Navsari - Bharuch - Jambusar - Bamangam - Bagodra
Distance: 569 km
Trip: 569 km
Night: Government guest house, Bagodra Jassi and I had been planning a ride in Kutch for a bit. Our initial plan to was to load the bike in a train in Bombay and take it to Okha Port. Ride it in Saurashtra and Kutch. Load it again in Bhuj and bring it to Bombay. We booked the train tickets. But like all well made plans, we cancelled the tickets a day before departure and decided to ride all the way from Bombay to Saurashtra to Kutch and back. Before the ride, I prepped up my bike - got it serviced, changed the chain, fitted it with a 'Ladakh Carrier' for luggage and bought elastic fasteners. We started riding at 6 am on a Saturday. It was dark when we hit the JVLR and Western Express Highway out of Bombay and the sun would not come up for another 60 mins. We stopped for breakfast with 80 kms on the odo and Jassi took over the riding. The next stretch between Dahisar and Talasari was a beautiful 6 lane road twisting through the hills. The sun was coming up and hills lit up in a pink glow of morning light. We had a long ride ahead of us and we wanted to clock in as many kilometers as possible on the first day. The road remained 6 six lane. Crusing at 80 kmph was easy. But the scenery in the Vapi-Valsad-Navsari stretch, with industries and towns lining both sides of the highway, was at best mundane. We took the Surat bypass and stopped for lunch on a highway-side dhaba (Cashew curry was a first for me!). Outside the dhaba, we checked directions with a shopkeeper selling auto spares. He asked us to branch off at Bharuch and ride through Jambusar, Bamamgam, Borsad, Vataman to Rajkot. The smaller roads were much more fun and interesting than the six lane we left behind. Jambusar was dotted with many newly built Islamic schools and orphanages. At Bamamgam, the terrain changed from flat to loose sand hills. We rode through a beautiful dusk in the Borsad-Vataman stretch that seemed a remote land of nothing. I think we were done riding for the day with 500 km on the odo. But had to ride another 70 km in dark to get to Bagodra to get any possible acco. Bagodra was on the intersection of two highways and had a couple of "guest houses". A boy showed me a room in the first guest house. I asked him if the sheets were clean. "New bedsheets," he said. "Then what is this?" I asked him pointing to bird shit on bedsheet. "So which room do you want? 103 or 104?" he asked me brushing aside the minor aberration. The next guest house was equally disgusting. The previous guest had stashed his underwear beneath the pillow and forgotten to grab it in his hurried checkout. By now, Jassi was ready to pitch the tent we were carrying on the next level patch of ground he found. A chaiwala told us about a government guest house near the Bagodra bus station. It was a building you could easily miss. A single ground storey inside a large dusty courtyard. Outside the entrance door was a board: WATCHMAN KOTTER
RING THE BELL Even before I could ring the bell, a guy emerged from the quarter who liked the Daddu of Namak Halal. "We want a room," I told him. "No room," he said in a way that did not mean a no. "I am sure you have one," I coaxed him a bit. "Yes, but that is for government officers. Are you a government officer?" It was 10 pm and it didn't seem like anybody was going to check in. "Well, er .." "Where are you from?" he continued. "Bombay," "Family or couple?" "Two guys," "Good. Couple not possible." When I finally thought I had the room, he asked, "What vehicle do you have?" "A bike," "No, no. No room for poeple with bikes." Again I had to persuade him how we were a couple of guys riding from Bombay to Somnath and it was our own bike and not a stolen one. "Three hundred rupees," he said. I said okay in a heartbeat. It was a large room with an attached bathroom. Two single beds with clean sheets, pillows and blankets. The peeling plywood paneling inside the room reminded me of movies when Vinod Mehra was still in vogue. Daddu gave us a coil heater for hot water. Clean sheets, no wild animals or thieves, and hot water. What else do you need to classify it as luxury?
Home · Day 2
Tags: India, Ride, Royal Enfield, Wildlife
Distance: 569 km
Trip: 569 km
Night: Government guest house, Bagodra Jassi and I had been planning a ride in Kutch for a bit. Our initial plan to was to load the bike in a train in Bombay and take it to Okha Port. Ride it in Saurashtra and Kutch. Load it again in Bhuj and bring it to Bombay. We booked the train tickets. But like all well made plans, we cancelled the tickets a day before departure and decided to ride all the way from Bombay to Saurashtra to Kutch and back. Before the ride, I prepped up my bike - got it serviced, changed the chain, fitted it with a 'Ladakh Carrier' for luggage and bought elastic fasteners. We started riding at 6 am on a Saturday. It was dark when we hit the JVLR and Western Express Highway out of Bombay and the sun would not come up for another 60 mins. We stopped for breakfast with 80 kms on the odo and Jassi took over the riding. The next stretch between Dahisar and Talasari was a beautiful 6 lane road twisting through the hills. The sun was coming up and hills lit up in a pink glow of morning light. We had a long ride ahead of us and we wanted to clock in as many kilometers as possible on the first day. The road remained 6 six lane. Crusing at 80 kmph was easy. But the scenery in the Vapi-Valsad-Navsari stretch, with industries and towns lining both sides of the highway, was at best mundane. We took the Surat bypass and stopped for lunch on a highway-side dhaba (Cashew curry was a first for me!). Outside the dhaba, we checked directions with a shopkeeper selling auto spares. He asked us to branch off at Bharuch and ride through Jambusar, Bamamgam, Borsad, Vataman to Rajkot. The smaller roads were much more fun and interesting than the six lane we left behind. Jambusar was dotted with many newly built Islamic schools and orphanages. At Bamamgam, the terrain changed from flat to loose sand hills. We rode through a beautiful dusk in the Borsad-Vataman stretch that seemed a remote land of nothing. I think we were done riding for the day with 500 km on the odo. But had to ride another 70 km in dark to get to Bagodra to get any possible acco. Bagodra was on the intersection of two highways and had a couple of "guest houses". A boy showed me a room in the first guest house. I asked him if the sheets were clean. "New bedsheets," he said. "Then what is this?" I asked him pointing to bird shit on bedsheet. "So which room do you want? 103 or 104?" he asked me brushing aside the minor aberration. The next guest house was equally disgusting. The previous guest had stashed his underwear beneath the pillow and forgotten to grab it in his hurried checkout. By now, Jassi was ready to pitch the tent we were carrying on the next level patch of ground he found. A chaiwala told us about a government guest house near the Bagodra bus station. It was a building you could easily miss. A single ground storey inside a large dusty courtyard. Outside the entrance door was a board: WATCHMAN KOTTER
RING THE BELL Even before I could ring the bell, a guy emerged from the quarter who liked the Daddu of Namak Halal. "We want a room," I told him. "No room," he said in a way that did not mean a no. "I am sure you have one," I coaxed him a bit. "Yes, but that is for government officers. Are you a government officer?" It was 10 pm and it didn't seem like anybody was going to check in. "Well, er .." "Where are you from?" he continued. "Bombay," "Family or couple?" "Two guys," "Good. Couple not possible." When I finally thought I had the room, he asked, "What vehicle do you have?" "A bike," "No, no. No room for poeple with bikes." Again I had to persuade him how we were a couple of guys riding from Bombay to Somnath and it was our own bike and not a stolen one. "Three hundred rupees," he said. I said okay in a heartbeat. It was a large room with an attached bathroom. Two single beds with clean sheets, pillows and blankets. The peeling plywood paneling inside the room reminded me of movies when Vinod Mehra was still in vogue. Daddu gave us a coil heater for hot water. Clean sheets, no wild animals or thieves, and hot water. What else do you need to classify it as luxury?
Home · Day 2
Tags: India, Ride, Royal Enfield, Wildlife