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Procrastination.... something whose avoidance should have formed a new year's resolution...but ended up being the first thing practiced in 2013. This account should have been written on 28th of December and should have been on air by the turn of the year but.....
Anyway, here it is now. My small trip to Jaipur and Keoladeo Sanctuary, Bharatpur. (But it didn't all go as the heading says! Read on.)
Dates : 24th to 27th Dec 2012.
People : Three families (Six adults and four kids).
Ride : A Honda Civic and my Honda City aka 'Whitelight' (Five people in each)
So, all the planning started in beginning of Dec when we decided to visit Jaipur during the winter break for kids. We were initially planning to route to Jaipur with a small breakfast break at Bharatpur, on the outskirts of the sanctuary. But then, I realised that this was the season for birds and soon, we modified the plan to give a day for visiting Keoladeo sanctuary. Got some help from fellow TAI member Smooth rider (Thanks a ton, pal!) while planning the trip. So, here's how it all went!
24th Dec (Monday) : Yes, Monday. An odd day to start holidays but some of the kids had some exams on Sunday, so the trip had to start on a Monday. Anyway, on 23rd, Delhi saw its first thick fog and the morning was completely fogged out. We had planned to set course in the morning at 0630h. In the night of 23 Dec, when I peeped out of the balcony, I could see the mist rolling in and I was pretty sure that 24th morning was going to be fogged out as well. Incidentally, the two ingredients to precipitate fog were all out there - Clear skies and light winds. So, we decided to keep things flexible with respect to the departure.
The morning of 24th was bitterly cold and as expected, completely fogged out. Sunrise was at 0650h, so I decided to start from my house to my friend's house (which is 5 minutes away) at 0645h. After dilly dallying for about half an hour, I convinced everyone that this blanket of fog is not going to lift off before 10 or 11 am and that we should just hit the road nevertheless. If the going gets too tough, we will get off the road and wait. So, we set course from Dhaula Kuan at about 0730h. Here's how it was, which was not very bad.
We could maintain a speed of 70 to 90 km/h. Crossing Gurgaon was a breeze at that time of the day. But then, soon our luck ran out and short of the place where NH-8 meets the Sohna Bhiwadi road, we ran smack into a huge jam. Actually, it was a not a Jam, just a huge mass of very slowly moving Trucks caused due to some partially constructed bridge/ something, with a path leading off the road through mud track.
We decided to take a break and went off the road. This is where I misjudged the height of the road shoulders and scrapped the cars bottom. It was pretty loud (I guess you hear it louder when the car is new!!) scrape but, as things proved later, no damage. Breakfast was on a vacant plot next to a petrol pump, all ten of us huddled under the sun shade of a yet-to-open shop! In half an hour, the jam seemed to have reduced ever so slightly and the vehicles were moving slightly faster than snails pace. The line of trucks was incessant. How much goods do people of Delhi (like us) consume, which these trucks bring, for God's sake? The fog began easing out after Bawal and by Neemrana, we were gliding along a smooth highway on a bright, sunny winter morning.
We were back to our comfort zone, doing 100 km/h with occasional spurts of 120 km/h on open desolate stretches. Took a lot of restraint, I may add, to keep her at these tame speeds! Saw an accident in which a Honda City (iDSI one), which just overtook us about five minutes back, had hit a cyclist (a vegetable vendor, perhaps, as there was veggies strewn all around). Its windshield had completely shattered. No idea what happened to the cyclist or to the City driver but within 15 to 20 minutes of crossing this, I remember giving way to a wailing ambulance. Hope no fatalities were involved. But the saving grace was that the ambulance had appeared quite quickly at the scene, which was indeed reassuring. Crossed Kotputli by 1100h and decided to take an extravagant coffee break of an hour at 1130h at a resort called Shakunth Resort.
Despite the caution from many sources (including the excellent guides by HVK), still managed to miss taking the Jaipur bypass flyover at Chandwaji. Later, closer to Jaipur, took the road leading in front of Amer....
...... and ended up in the heart of old Jaipur City - not a good place to be in a shiny new Honda City!!!
Took us one and a half hours to reach our place of stay (a friend's place near Hypercity Mall (Fun Cinemas)). Thanked my stars to make it through the melee without a scratch on Whitelight!
The beauty of a plush sedan is that despite relatively long drives (in terms of time), you remain fresh and ready to go. And so, we set course for Bapu Bazaar, much to the delight of the ladies and kids. Honda Civic and City don't gel with the Bapu Bazaar backdrop, so we decided to use the common man's vehicle of choice - the mighty autorickshaw! Precision driving, harsh non-ABS braking and turns with lots of body roll were on display by these drivers. Bapu Bazaar was colourful as can be expected from anything in Rajasthan and the ladies and the kids had a blast while we husbands sulked away in a corner! It was a Bargain hunter's paradise!
Bargained with the autorickshaw chaps! Bargained with every shopkeeper in Bapu Bazaar! Bargained with autorickshaw chaps again on the way back! The science of bargaining was refined to an art-form! God, I hope I never have to be in the shoes of a shopkeeper at the receiving end of a bargaining lady!
Thus ended day 1.
Total distance travelled - 275km.
Start at 6:30am, ended at 10:30pm! Whew!
Stay tuned for day 2 - a lesson in history and ...what else, more bargaining!!
Anyway, here it is now. My small trip to Jaipur and Keoladeo Sanctuary, Bharatpur. (But it didn't all go as the heading says! Read on.)
Dates : 24th to 27th Dec 2012.
People : Three families (Six adults and four kids).
Ride : A Honda Civic and my Honda City aka 'Whitelight' (Five people in each)
So, all the planning started in beginning of Dec when we decided to visit Jaipur during the winter break for kids. We were initially planning to route to Jaipur with a small breakfast break at Bharatpur, on the outskirts of the sanctuary. But then, I realised that this was the season for birds and soon, we modified the plan to give a day for visiting Keoladeo sanctuary. Got some help from fellow TAI member Smooth rider (Thanks a ton, pal!) while planning the trip. So, here's how it all went!
24th Dec (Monday) : Yes, Monday. An odd day to start holidays but some of the kids had some exams on Sunday, so the trip had to start on a Monday. Anyway, on 23rd, Delhi saw its first thick fog and the morning was completely fogged out. We had planned to set course in the morning at 0630h. In the night of 23 Dec, when I peeped out of the balcony, I could see the mist rolling in and I was pretty sure that 24th morning was going to be fogged out as well. Incidentally, the two ingredients to precipitate fog were all out there - Clear skies and light winds. So, we decided to keep things flexible with respect to the departure.
The morning of 24th was bitterly cold and as expected, completely fogged out. Sunrise was at 0650h, so I decided to start from my house to my friend's house (which is 5 minutes away) at 0645h. After dilly dallying for about half an hour, I convinced everyone that this blanket of fog is not going to lift off before 10 or 11 am and that we should just hit the road nevertheless. If the going gets too tough, we will get off the road and wait. So, we set course from Dhaula Kuan at about 0730h. Here's how it was, which was not very bad.
We could maintain a speed of 70 to 90 km/h. Crossing Gurgaon was a breeze at that time of the day. But then, soon our luck ran out and short of the place where NH-8 meets the Sohna Bhiwadi road, we ran smack into a huge jam. Actually, it was a not a Jam, just a huge mass of very slowly moving Trucks caused due to some partially constructed bridge/ something, with a path leading off the road through mud track.
We decided to take a break and went off the road. This is where I misjudged the height of the road shoulders and scrapped the cars bottom. It was pretty loud (I guess you hear it louder when the car is new!!) scrape but, as things proved later, no damage. Breakfast was on a vacant plot next to a petrol pump, all ten of us huddled under the sun shade of a yet-to-open shop! In half an hour, the jam seemed to have reduced ever so slightly and the vehicles were moving slightly faster than snails pace. The line of trucks was incessant. How much goods do people of Delhi (like us) consume, which these trucks bring, for God's sake? The fog began easing out after Bawal and by Neemrana, we were gliding along a smooth highway on a bright, sunny winter morning.
We were back to our comfort zone, doing 100 km/h with occasional spurts of 120 km/h on open desolate stretches. Took a lot of restraint, I may add, to keep her at these tame speeds! Saw an accident in which a Honda City (iDSI one), which just overtook us about five minutes back, had hit a cyclist (a vegetable vendor, perhaps, as there was veggies strewn all around). Its windshield had completely shattered. No idea what happened to the cyclist or to the City driver but within 15 to 20 minutes of crossing this, I remember giving way to a wailing ambulance. Hope no fatalities were involved. But the saving grace was that the ambulance had appeared quite quickly at the scene, which was indeed reassuring. Crossed Kotputli by 1100h and decided to take an extravagant coffee break of an hour at 1130h at a resort called Shakunth Resort.
Despite the caution from many sources (including the excellent guides by HVK), still managed to miss taking the Jaipur bypass flyover at Chandwaji. Later, closer to Jaipur, took the road leading in front of Amer....
...... and ended up in the heart of old Jaipur City - not a good place to be in a shiny new Honda City!!!
Took us one and a half hours to reach our place of stay (a friend's place near Hypercity Mall (Fun Cinemas)). Thanked my stars to make it through the melee without a scratch on Whitelight!
The beauty of a plush sedan is that despite relatively long drives (in terms of time), you remain fresh and ready to go. And so, we set course for Bapu Bazaar, much to the delight of the ladies and kids. Honda Civic and City don't gel with the Bapu Bazaar backdrop, so we decided to use the common man's vehicle of choice - the mighty autorickshaw! Precision driving, harsh non-ABS braking and turns with lots of body roll were on display by these drivers. Bapu Bazaar was colourful as can be expected from anything in Rajasthan and the ladies and the kids had a blast while we husbands sulked away in a corner! It was a Bargain hunter's paradise!
Bargained with the autorickshaw chaps! Bargained with every shopkeeper in Bapu Bazaar! Bargained with autorickshaw chaps again on the way back! The science of bargaining was refined to an art-form! God, I hope I never have to be in the shoes of a shopkeeper at the receiving end of a bargaining lady!
Thus ended day 1.
Total distance travelled - 275km.
Start at 6:30am, ended at 10:30pm! Whew!
Stay tuned for day 2 - a lesson in history and ...what else, more bargaining!!