It was time for the addicted rider to explore more of North East of India and he had 30 days to travel.
The original plan was to ride between October 12 to November 3rd. Another long weekend to Goa was planned from 5 to 8th October, with a group, but plans dropped in the last minute. There were 3 more days in between 8 and 12. I applied for those 3 days, Lo and Behold, they were approved. Now I had 30 days in all, spanning across 4 weeks, which included 17 days of approved holidays, 3 Public Holidays and 5 weekend days (Saturday and Sunday)
I was too excited to think of what it is going to be on the road for 30 days.
Day 1 - October 5 2019:
I was busy packing my bags and arranging things. It was past 2 AM when I went to bed on 5th morning. I was too restless for the ride to begin as it had been a few months since such a long ride had happened.
The ride began at 530AM and within a km of leaving home, I felt one bag falling off the motorcycle and trailing behind with the support of a bungee chord. I knew from there on, this trip was going to be special.
First click at Hosur:
The ride began at 530AM and within a km of leaving home, I felt one bag falling off the motorcycle and trailing behind with the support of a bungee chord. I knew from there on, this trip was going to be special.
First click at Hosur:
A good 3 hour ride and stopped for breakfast stop near Vellore. The real struggle started from there. Having had just a couple of hours sleep, riding became difficult due to drowsiness. I took a tea break at the Kanchipuram toll gate before heading towards Chennai outskirts. After Sriperumbudur, I had to stop for an engine oil check.
At the showroom, we realized that the rear wheel had lost substantial air due to a screw stuck in the rear tyre. The tube had to be replaced and 3 hours went in fixing that. Post the service, it was time to continue riding past Chennai. Halted at Nellore at 545PM as it was getting dark and the drowsiness and tiredness caught up.
Route - Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Vellore - Chennai - Nellore
Distance Travelled - 540 kms / 14 hours
Day 2 - October 6 2019:
Started the day at 530AM in order to cover more distance. Took a halt at around 80 kms as there was a nice sunrise.
Met Adithya Dusanage and Si Teja and had some travel conversation over some good chai. They were riding from Chennai to Rajahmundry. It was almost 8AM and it was time to continue the ride. Next stop was planned after Vijayawada, but the drowsiness caught up again had to halt before Guntur for some tea.
Post the tea break it was time to ride to Narsipatnam and meet school friend Dr. Lakshmikanth. One continuous ride till Rajahmundry made it easy to catch up on time.
Met Abhijit and Shivaranjan. Abhijit was riding Kolkata-Kanyakumari-Kolkata and was returning while Shivranjan was riding from Hyderabad to Vizag, his home town. This was near a coffee day before Tuni. I had to deviate from Tuni towards Narsipatnam, 40kms away from the National Highway.
Reached Narsipatnam at around 530PM and halted at the same hotel as last time. Met my school friend and doctor, Dr Lakshmikath. Took a small ride to a 3-star resort (Royal Park Resort). Being a long weekend, the resort was filled, otherwise that is where my stay would've been.
Had some beer with the doctor and a couple of his friends. Time for man and machine to rest.
Route - Nellore - Vijayawada - Rajahmundry - Narsipatnam
Distance Travelled - 640 kms / 11.5 hours
Day 3 - October 7 2019:
Had a long day to ride and munch more miles. Started the day at around 6AM and planned to cover at least 800kms as there was a delay of about 200kms due to the puncture on Day 1. The initial stretch past Vizag to Srikakulam was supposed to be a tough one as there were several road deviations.
Unlike in June when the golden Quadrilateral ride happened, the road deviations had improved and it was pretty fast.
First click of the day below:
Halted after Srikakulam for a quick breakfast. A long day of riding and that is the aerial view of the Chilika lake from 180kms before Bhubaneshwar.
Until Bhubaneshwar, the day was pleasant and the entire day was cloudy. At Bhubaneshwar, rain came down hard as I was riding through the city towards Cuttack. The rain lasted only 10 minutes but got fully drenched, though the ride did not stop. About 50kms after Cuttack, had to take tea break as it was really cold with the riding gear drenched. It was almost going to get dark and the next stop was planned at Balasore, but halted at Bhadrak.
Route - Narsipatnam - Vizag - Bubaneshwar - Bhadrak
Distance Travelled - 650 kms / 11 hours
Day 4 - October 8 2019:
It was time to cross Kolkata and continue towards Siliguri. First stop was at Kharagpur for breakfast.
Rode until Howrah toll gate and had plans to meet fellow biker Ramneek Singh and colleague Basu, however, being Vijayadashami festival, both were busy and I continued to ride past Burdwan towards Siliguri.
On the way, near Moregram, the rain scare came back to haunt. It was that time of the year and I was well prepared for the rain this time. A continuous ride till Farakka and past the barrage, it began getting dark. On the outskirts of Malda, met bikers Yousuf Jama Darshan and Rishab from Kolkata, who were riding back. Halted at Mayaban resort on the right side of the highway, before entering Malda town. Picture of the resort below.
A few beers and some good food to finish the day.
Route - Bhadrak - Kolkata - Burdwan - Farakka-Malda
Distance Travelled - 640 kms / 13 hoursDay 5 - October 9 2019:
Day 5 started a little slow as the plan was to travel as far as possible towards Guwahati. First stop was at Raiganj for tea. This time, I decided to try the other route towards Dhantola from Raiganj. 65kms of "very small and narrow" stretched roads took over 2 hours towards Dhantola.
A small meal break after Dhantola and continued to ride towards Siliguri. The roads were not that great and speeds were moderate to low. It was almost 1P when exiting Siliguri towards the Guwahati highway. Instead of going inside city and deviating, I made the mistake of going via NJP (New Japaigudi). Road construction and expansion work added to the heat and I was literally eating dust.
After a halt at Dhupguri, the phone stopped charging and was almost dead. I stopped at a petrol bunk to fill fuel and took an hours break to charge the phone. The route was confusing and plans to go towards Guwahati was getting derailed by about 250kms, again due to the 1st day delay. Unlike other ride expeditions, Iwas going easy peasy on distance each day.
I started towards Hasimara and saw a beautiful 2-lane road and continued towards Nagarakata. It was much of relief for remaining part of the day after a long and tough afternoon of dusty and truck traffic filled highways near Siliguri-NJP.
Halt was planned at Alipurduar, but since the route was now via Hasimara towards Guwahati, I took a small break after Hasimara. It was already 430PM and I still wasn't sure how much distance could be covered by end of the day. I wasn't too comfortable doing night rides on this stretch, considering the highways on the North East region are not very good in condition.
A few selfie clicks when on the highway, an amazing sunset.
Sandhana Homestay - OYO 60869
Route - Malda - Raiganj - Dhantola - Siliguri - New Jalpaigudi - Hasimara - Damanpur
Distance Travelled - 430 kms / 12 hoursDay 6 - October 10 2019:
I had to start early on Day 6, and it was time to enter Meghalaya. 630AM the ride began towards Guwahati, for the first time on the road towards North East part of India.
These bikers had arrived late in the night I missed an opportunity to meet them due to time and distance constraints. Remember, I was lagging behind by roughly 250kms. I was supposed to have reached Guwahati on Day 5.
After the service at Saraighat Riders showroom, it was time to reach Shillong by evening and meet Richard Daimary (ourguestdiary). Richard had planned my itinerary around Mehalaya and was also going to ride with me across the state until my exit a week later.
A quick click of the Umiam Lake, 6 kms before Shillong city.
Halt at Silverbrook Hostel and Stay, Upper Shillong.
Route - Damanpur - Gossaigaon - Bongigaon - Guwahati - Shillong
Distance Travelled - 410 kms / 12 hoursDay 7 - October 11 2019:
After 6 days of toiling on the highways till Shillong, the state tour begins here. Richard was to join me at 9AM at Silver Brook Hostel.
The ride across Meghalaya has finally begun. Our first stop was for breakfast and this is what we had, smoked pork and rice with some veggies.
Mawphlang Sacred Grove was the first point to visit. This sacred grove/forest is maintained by the local Khasi tribe villagers. A guide is mandatory to be hired considering the fact that several people have lost their way inside the forest or have been bitten by insects.
Richard and I hired a guide and we decided to trek halfway into the sacred grove. The guide explained about the significance of the forest and the history of the tribes. The forest has been a place for animal sacrifice which is believed to be given to nature god for the well being of the tribal community.
Post the walk at the grove, we had some tea before heading out to the next destination. We met "Tourist" the dog at Mawphlang Sacred Grove parking. A few pics and a small video of me playing with him taken by Richard has been posted on my page "Addicted Rider" on facebook. This doggie was named "Tourist" by the locals and is a great fellow among the locals.
At Mawphlang my moto wouldn't start. Somehow we managed to start the vehicle with Richard helping me to push the motorcycle uphill and I riding it downward to start it with gears, and we decided to take it to Shillong. You know, it is typical of Royal Enfield to have issues like these, considering the fact that I have exceeded 1L kms on this moto.
Got the moto fixed, and in the meanwhile, Shawn Dkhar spotted my Karnataka registered moto and we instantly became friends. We headed out to a small cafe recommended by Richard for some food and conversation over motos and rides. It was almost post 4PM and we decided to settle down for the day at Shillong.
Richard had arranged for a stay at his friends homestay. For a change, we dcided to have pork momos for dinner. Now that was filling. Time for more to ride around Meghalaya on Day 8 and onwards.
Day 8 - October 12 2019:
The previous day, I had bought a top box for my moto, thanks to Shawn Dkhar, but didn't have time to fit it. On Day 8, we went to Road Trip store and got the box fit at the garage beside it.
A few clicks from the day start:
Breakfast:
Trying out different modes in the phone camera:
Beer for the night.
Day 9 - October 13, 2019
After a day filled with visiting Weisawdong and Nohkalikhai waterfalls, it was time to "trek" to the double decker living root bridge and rainbow waterfalls. Nacho_on_a_bike also joined us.
Rickety bridge on the way to doube decker root bridge
Double Decker Living Root Bridge:
Maggi Noodles in the making:
Mini swimming pool along the route:
Day 10 - October 14, 2019
Richard had to head back to Shillong and Nacho continued on his way towards the Myanmar border. I had to ride along to the bamboo bridge at Mawrynkhang.
Path to the Mawrynkhang Bamboo Bridge Trek:
I didn't go any further here (scared of heights, sigh). One more step and I would've ___'d in my trousers.
met some locals, had a quick chat with them in my half-baked hindi and weirdo english combo:
Reached Shnongpdeng at 530PM after completing the bamboo bridge trek:
Umngot River, Shnongpdeng:
Day 11 - October 15, 2019
Day 11 started pretty late as Richard was going to join me at Jowai near Krang Shuri waterfall.
Krang Shuri Waterfall
after riding to Krang shuri waterfalls, Richard and I met near Jowai, from where we were to ride back to Shillong.
Day 12 - October 16, 2019
We had decided to go to Krempuri caves on Day 12, the last day before I left Meghalaya. We started pretty late in the morning. The route is a deviation on the way to the Mawphlan sacred forest.
We stopped at a nice place for breakfast, rest of the route was nice and misty.
We spotted these Fishing competition posters:
Krempuri Caves:
Unfortunate for us that no one was there to take us into the Krempuri caves. Considering the fact that only the locals take us in, we had to abandon when we got to know that the place was closed.
AS usual, on returning to Shillong, the welding for the top box broke:
We took a short ride to the Jakrem Hot Water Spring in the evening before heading back to Shillong.
Day 13 - October 17, 2019
It was time to bid adieu to Meghalaya. Wish I could've stayed longer. It was time for Bhutan and then to Sikkim in the forthcoming days.
One last glimpse of Umiam lake - bye-bye Meghalaya, until another time.
The top box had to be welded again, and I halted until morning to have it fixed. It was past 1pm when I left towards Guwahati. Met a fellow rider Bryan from Guwahati on the way. Was supposed to catch up with him for dinner, but it was too late as I had to visit the Kamakhya temple (Mom's request, can't deny)
Kamakhya Temple Guwahati
Prashanti Guest House, Assam Tourism - Great place with great views
Day 14 - October 18, 2019
It was time to head to Bhutan. The day started early as I had to reach Jaigaon to get paperwork and permits done before entering Bhutan.
The day started at 5AM and I had to rush to Jaigaon. One back to back ride took about 6 hours for 380kms to Jaigaon.
Upon entering Phuentsoling, the Bhutan side, I wasn't sure where to get the permits. One guy offered to help. I was getting the documents, photograph, vehicle papers ready, when he mentioned that an escort vehicle has to be hired and it was mandatory. That was going to cost INR 3000 per day for the vehicle.
That was over my travel budget. I had to skip the country of happiness. It was time for Sikkim.
By the time i decided to bid adieu to Bhutan, it was 130PM. I had roughly 240kms to travel and I was pretty sure of not making it to Gangtok before 7pm.
Entry to Sikkim at Rangpo:
Day 15 and Day 16 (October 19 and 20, 2019) - rest days.
It was over the weekend and i ensured to get enough rest before heading out to north sikkim. Permits would be issued only on monday the 21st.
100 petals hotel entrance
Day 17 - October 21, 2019
I started towards Mangan to obtain permits for Lachung-Zero Point and Lachen - Gurudongmar Lake.
Helping an army personnel with my foot pump to fix a puncture.
Lachung Entry.
Evening view of the mountains near Lachung
Some Tongba to end the day.
Dosas by the Indian Army:
Another selfie at the highest altitude lake
Clicks of the lake
Café 15000, highest altitude café in the world run by the indian army.
Day 18 - October 22, 2019
Day 18 started off early as I had to ride towards Gurudongmar lake and return to Gangtok by evening/night.
I started at around 5AM and reached Thangu Check post at 630AM. Unlike in 2017 December, half the route between Lachen and Thangu was well laid and there was no presence of black ice. I managed to reach the check post by 640AM.
After submitting the papers at the checkpost, the ride towards the lake continued. the plan was to get to teh lake, and retun as quickly as possible.
There was another check post where I had to stop to submit papers, 15kms before Gurudongmar lake. the entire route is occupied and controlled by the indian army. The route was off-road and took an hour to reach the second checkpost
Worlds highest Dosa point
Gurudongmar Lake, one of the highest altitudes in the world
It was getting cold and cloudy when returning from the Gurudongmar lake, and I was scared of getting stuck in snowfall. I quickly reached the checkpost, halted for a snack and bought a nice tee from the cafe.
Another selfie.
Salted Chai
Highest Altitude Shiva statue, enroute to Zuluk
Another Selfie
The valley ahead
The himalayan peaks
The old silk route, the road from Nathula towards Zuluk, 96 hairpin never ending bends
Another noodles and chai break due to bad roads and a tiring ride
some kids at Zuluk village who even took a 100 meter pillion ride
The Unesco heritage railway line at Darjeeling running along and across the road.
Steam Locomotive Engines
Darjeeling Railway Station
The Australasean Odyssey Girl, Candida Louis.
Lunch break with Candy and friends near Rangpo.
I reached Siliguri by evening and it was time to visit Pawan Agarwal.
It was time to ride back to Gangtok, and it was already 1130AM near Thangu. I rode until the dosa cafe, thangu checkpost. A villager asked for a lift and i obliged. The conversation was in half-hindi-english and I dropped him 5 kms after Thangu. Met anohter group and another guy rode pillion with me until Lachen. It was past 1230 when i reached Lachen and packed my bags.
The ride back to Gangtok was a long way and I offered to drop another guy until Mangan. I reached Mangan at around 430PM and had to get the welding done for the top box. As usual, the welding had broken.
Day 19 and 20 - October 23/24, 2019
No ride days,
Being a weekend, I halted at Karma Tenzing's hotel, 100 petals and stayed with Prasobh Prathapan. I got the motorcycle checked at a local mechanics and went towards the MG Marg. I met some riders who were from Sweden and exploring Sikkim with RideSikkim.
Day 21 - October 25, 2019
I managed to get permission for Zuluk and exit Sikkim via Rangpo and stayed back at Gangtok.
I started the day early and ended up riding in the wrong direction, and before i could reach the checkpost towards Zuluk/Nathula, it was late and I had to stay back to ride early the next day.
Day 22 - October 26, 2019
I started the day early and wanted to reach Darjeeling by evening. It was pretty cold and I had to halt at every 15kms for some noodles and chai.
Noodles break for breakfast
Finally, after reaching Rangpo at 4PM in the evening, I decided to ride up to Darjeeling via Kalimpong.
The mighty Kanchenjunga from Jore Bungalow, 6 kms before Darjeeling.
I searched for hotels and finally booked a nice hotel, but the walk up to the hotel was a tiring one. I had to jump across two walls to get into the hotel property. A couple of hotel staff helped me to carry the bags back and forth to the motorcycle.
As I stay halted at Darjeeling, I saw that Candida Louis had arrived at Siliguri on the same day. She was on a ride to Sikkim with some friends.
Day 23 - October 27, 2019
Day 23 started early at around 9am and the first thing to do was catch up with Candida before continuing the ride down south.
Another Welding break, sigh, too many in this ride.
Day 24 - October 28, 2019
I had to reach Kolkata by end of this day and decided to start the day at 5AM. It was a back to back ride until Burdwan. In spite of the roads being broken, I reached Dankuni by 4.
Found a hotel near the dum dum airport area and settled down. Time to meet colleague Basu and antoher rider friend.
Remember this guy from Day 2 of the ride between Nellore and Narsipatnam. He joined me and Basu for a couple of drinks and some food
Day 25 - October 29, 2019
I left Kolkata at arund 9AM towards Bhubaneshwar. I had a small halt near Howrah toll gate, hoping to meet Ramneek Singh (A fellow rider who holds a Limca record for proposing to his girfriend at the highest altitude lake).
A few calls, and it was getting late, hence I continued riding down towards Bhubaneshwar.
Lunch break after Kharagpur.
It was getting dark and I decided to halt 30kms before Cuttack. Found this small hotel room via Oyo app for only INR600, in a sleepy town. (Don't remember the name of the place)
Day 26 - October 30, 2019
The route between Srikakulam to Jagdalpur was very scenic, yet the roads cutting across the eastern ghats was not that good.
It was getting late and Jagdalpur was no where in site. Due to rain, I decided to halt at Jeypore , which was 70kms before Jagdalpur.
A few clicks from the Eastern Ghats
Another Selfie
Day 27 - October 31, 2019
Chitrakoot Waterfalls - The Niagara of India
Another Selfie
Some clicks from the Heritage Jail Museum
Selfie Time
London Bell
Feel the jail barrack - one can stay here for a mere INR 500 to experience the convict life.
The Heritage Jail Museum Entrance
Hippie Island, other side of the river
Virupaksha Temple
Day 30 - Nov 3, 2019
I started from Jeypore towards the Chitrakoot waterfall (Niagra falls of India), and finish the day at Hyderabad. The day began at 630 and it took about 2 hours to reach Chitrakoot waterfalls, about 35kms after Jagdalpur. From Chitrakoot waterfalls, I checked the route to Hyderabad. One was the route via Bhadrachalam, which i had already covered in 2016 January.
I decided to take the route via Bastar towards Bhopalpatnam and Warangal. After visiting the waterfalls, the route was through some remote villages and forest patch. It was past 11 when i reached the Bastar-bhopalpatnam highway. Until Bhopalpatnam, the roads were winding and amazing, yet there were a lot fo CRPF personnel all along the route because that route was Naxal infested. I took a halt in between to have some nice dosa's before continuing.
It was about 130PM at Bhopalpatnam and I still had about 300kms towards Hyderabad, and I saw a left road with a sign board towards Warangal and Hyderabad. I took that gravel/stone filled road and went for about 20 kms. After 20 kms, there was a small water stream crossing and I was in no mood to take that. I decided to head back to Bhopalpatnam and continue on that highway.
After 2 hours, it was past 3PM and I decided to speed up, but the roads got worse until Kaleshwaram. I decided to take a small break, about 20 kms before Kaleshwaram and noticed that I was in a small village bordering Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Maharashtra wasn't even in the route and I ended up there.
After checking maps and asking locals, I found the route to warangal via Kaleshwaram and Bhulpally. The roads between Kaleshwaram and Bhulpally were pretty bad and under construction. With the rain gods opening the floodgates for some time, the ride got even tough.
I decided to reach hyderabad by late night and continued to ride. When i reached Warangal town, it was almost 10PM, and road construction work continued all the way to Hyderabad. AT around 11pm, I decided to halt at Jangaon.
Found a small hotel and settled down after having ridden 570kms and over 17 hours.
Early morning clicks
Day 28 - November 1, 2019
I had a long day and decided to start towards hyderabad, visit the jail museum and then head towards Hampi.
Reaching Hyderabad and crossing the city towards Medak took about 4 hours and I was at the heritage jail museum by 1PM. It was pretty hot, and I decided to run quickly through the museum and start as early as possible.
After an hour, I left Medak at around 2PM and started riding towards Kurnool, where I was to take a deviation to Hampi via Bellary town. It was past 5PM at Kurnool and it would get dark in an hours time. After a tea break, I managed to ride for about 40kms from Kurnool, after which the trafic and the oncoming vehicle headlights started getting the better of me. Hampi was going to be difficult by night and I decided to reach Bellary town and halt.
Day 29 - November 2, 2019
I rode from Bellary to Hampi and decided to halt at a homestay near the Virupaksha temple. A very short day with less kms travelled.
Tungabhadra River
I began the ride back to Bangalore at around 11AM and met a fellow rider on the way. Naveen Balakrishna (neo the nomad), a colleague and fellow rider was riding to Chitradurga to meet me. We decided to catch up for lunch and met at around 2PM.
After a good lunch, it was time to return home after a long 30-day road trip. Near Sira, my motorcycle started choking a bit and I was riding slowly until I reached home.
A selfie before bidding adieu to Naveen.
After reaching home in the evening
The entire trip lasted about 9190 kms, the longest ever till date. For more pics of the trip, visit my page Addicted Rider on facebook.
Stay tuned until I begin my next travel episode.
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