Day 4 - Kodaikanal - Theni - Thekkady - Allpuzha - Ernakulam - Pune

Day 4 - Theni - Thekkady - Allepy - Kochi 

I started early morning from Theni.another 70 kms and i reached Periyar Tiger Reserve..crossing cumbum and Kumily.

From Kumily one has to take a diversion from the main road to reach the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Tea Gardens 

Day 3 - Munnar - Station Top - Kodaikanal - Theni

Couldn’t sleep well tonight due the pathetic stink coming from Washroom. All the clothes were still wet, so I had no other option to dress up with the clothes which were less wet and start my journey.
I thanked the owner for letting me stay in his office room and started for Top-station. It was bright sunny day which brought me hope and a good start. 

Day 2 - Chamrajnagar - Coimbatore - Pollachi - Udumalaipettai - Munnar

08 AM and I was all set to hit the highway again. Paid a quick visit to the nearby Shiva temple at Chamrajnagar.

Day 1 - Pune - Tumkur - Kunigal - Kollegal - BR Hills - Chamrajnagar

Odo Read - 1100 Kms approx

To escape from the sweltering summer heat, I started my ride on the Thursday night. Friday 22 April was Good Friday and I had taken comp off on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday was a planned sick leave .My initial plan was to hit Pondicherry and explore East Coast till Kanyakumari but changed the plan at the last moment to escape from the immense heat and ended up exploring God Owns Country - Kerala for 06 days.
Tea-Parle G break



Few Kms before Haveri


Riding on NH4 is a quite boring part, I rode for whole night and made it to 
Tumkur in the morning. 

Day 2 - Diveagar - Poladpur - Pratapgadh - Mahabaleshwar - Pune

Odo Reading - 290 Kms

So we had plenty of rest yesterday and today we start the return journey to our Den’s. But one full day is more than enough for the return journey from Diveagar to Pune.Me and Kashif discussed about a little detour via Mahabaleshwar.Kashif nodded his head with words.."Chalo chalte he"
And we started for Poladpur.Shrivardhan is quite close to Divegar,last time when I traveled in the Shrivardhan - divegar route it was in very bad shape. So I said lets check it out Now.

To my surprise the same road is in butter smooth condition now with pretty awesome view. The road and amazing view makes you feel like you are in some Foreign territory :P

Day 1 - Pune - Murud Janjira - Diveagar

Me and Kashif went for a 2 days trip to Murud Janjira,Divegar,Shrivardhan and Pratapgadh.
This was another unplanned trip which happened last month.I know i am bit late..but ki farq painda he

The idea of the ride started with the lazy attitude." Ki chalo divegar jayenge..Beach pe aaram Pharmayenge..Sunrise aur Sunset dekhenge..Feeling ke liye thodi bahut Madira grahan kar lenge aur Sunday shaam muh utha ke wapis aa jayenge"

So me and Kashif discussed that we will start bit late as Diveagar is just a half day ride from Pune.Kashif was about to meet me at Magarpatta City main gate,I reached bit early there.So for time pass I had one tea..10 mins already and no sign of Kashif.

Meanwhile I saw the chaiwala has prepared Garama Garam POHA,damn being a big fan of Poha Jalebi I couldn’t control myself. One bite of Poha and it was such a relief, in sometime Kashif arrived and we had few more plates of Poha Jalebi and Tea. So all in all We were done with our Morning Lunch. We started from there around 8:00 AM.I took the lead because I knew shortcut from Magarpatta to Chandni Chowk,it was long one though :P
We took the shortest route between Pune and Diveagar,which is Pune - Mulshi - Nizampur - Managaon - Mhasala - Diveagar.

Rode non stop till Mulshi Lake, and it was time for a photo break. Calm Water of Mulshi Lake surrounded by the mystic sahyadri ranges. The sight was very beautiful

Day 7 - UDR Ride - 16 July - AGRA - GWALIOR - JHANSI - ORCHHA

Finally the day has come when i will get to see the One of the Seven Wonders of the World..Very much excited,I reached at the one of the entry gate of Taj Mahal at 07:00 AM.Taj Mahal is open for tourists from 06 am to 07:00 Pm and yeah Its closed on Friday .

Bought ticket for 20 Rs and Taj Mahal was all mine .It was Saturday and the place was expected to be crowded,so it was.

Thorough checking is done at the entry gates,You are not allowed to take any kind of eatables or drinakble'ss inside the Taj Mahal campus.Encountered one incident while cheking-in.There was one lady from Chennai who didn't knew Hindi,guards didn't allowed her inside with the Indian National Entry ticket. ..They asked her to buy the foreign national ticket as she failed to show any National ID as well.Fair Enough :P

Day 6 - UDR Ride - 15 July - AGRA - MATHURA - VRINDAVAN - AGRA

Friday 16-07-2010, I fell short on the Luck part. Every Friday Taj Mahal is closed and I came to know about it today morning when I was all ready to visit Taj and suddenly the Hotel gatekeeper asked


"Sir,kaha nikal liye itni subah subah".
I replied "TAJ dekhne ki barson ki tamanna ko poora karne".
But then he replied "Aaj toh taj band rehta he"
I said "Kyun"
Gatekeeper "sirji aap Taj dekhne aaye aapko itna bhi maloom nai,ki har Friday maintenance aur Namaz ke liye Taj band rehta he"

I said to myself Grrrr..Subah Subah dimag ki #&*#&@# gayi.

So that means either I have to wait for next day OR else I can move ahead without visiting the TAJJ !!
I still had half day in my hand to decide about it.
To wait or to move ahead..These thoughts were coming in my mind again and again and again. I took a walk to visit Agra Fort which was very close to the hotel I was staying.

Agra Fort

The fort is similar in layout to the Red Fort in Delhi, but comparatively in better preserved condition. As most part of the Delhi Fort was razed by the British after the Mutiny. Main attraction of this fort is its defensive structure and beautiful  red sandstone construction. This fort is also called as Red Fort of AGRA.

Day 5 - UDR Ride - 14 July - Shri Dungargadh - Jaipur - Fatehpur sikri - Agra

Woke up at 8 o clock in the morning, it was time to move my lazy arse to the next unknown destination. Plan was to hit Agra via  Jaipur.Jaipur was still 270 kms.That too single lane road with average traffic.Had an heavy breakfast at the hotel where i stayed. Started for Jaipur around 8:40.Did a 200 Km nonstop stretch, took a small but break and again zoomed ahead for Jaipur.
Initially my plan was to re-visit some places in Jaipur, but then after reaching Jaipur i decided to skip it and move ahead.

From Jaipur till Agra it was smooth-wide 4 lane, so i was riding at good speed-pace. But then i encountered some super heavy rains nearby Dausa.Wore the rain suite but no use, got completely drenched for second time in this trip. In these 4 days..Encountered heavy rains in the start till Gujrat,Deadly heat in Rajasthan and now again rains..Don’t know what is ahead :| ...
It rained for approx 30 mins..Removed the rain suite and opened up the jacket chain, so that while riding everything will get quickly dried up. Reached Fathehpur Sikri by evening. Visited JAMI MASJID and the nearby fort of Akbar,Jodha and Co's.

Jami Masjid of Fatehpur Sikri is also known as Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosque in India. It was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1571, with the supervision of the Sufi saint, Sheikh Salim Chishti and his descendants.


Poser Shot :D :D

Day 4 - UDR Ride - 13 July - JAISALMER - BIKANER - Shri Dungargadh

Today was the day to discover the beautiful Jaisalmer havelis and enjoy the ancient architectural brilliance. Different patterns carved and pierced incredibly into sandstone,
I enquired with the locals about the Haveli's and everyone turned up with the same answer "Only Patwon ki Haveli is worth visiting..Other Haveli's have been converted to private hotels or they are not properly maintained".
So I started for Patwon ki Haveli...after little bit of enquiry and struggle I found myself running in narrow street lanes...and then stone pathways and there I was at the Patwon ki Haveli.

These Havelis belongs to the Wealthy Jain merchants of that time. There was a nominal entry fee of 10 rs for PATWON ki haveli

Patwon ki Haveli - Patwon ki Haveli is the largest haveli in Jaisalmer. This is five-storied building and it was built by Guman Chand Patwa and his five sons whose gold and silver embroiding business was stretch between Afghanistan and China. Wow man !!...they must have been super rich :D :D