A Biker's Dream Ride: Kashmir To Kanyakumari. An Adventure On 6 Wheels

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This was a long term wish waiting for the right time as we had to plan for our finances and work way in advance because we would be away from all this for 23 days. We began purchasing our tents, winter gear, tyres and other bike accessories and started planning our routes by the first week of July. We decided to start on July 23rd. The plan was for the 3 of us to go to Kanyakumari and ride till Ladakh on the NH 44 via Central India and return back via Western Coast.

The three members for this ride would be

1.Myself on my Duke 390 a.k.a Ryuk,
2.Ayyappan on his RC 390 a.k.a Assasino and
3.Jayganth on his Himalayan a.k.a Nanook.

With everything ready and packed, we decided to start from Ayyappan’s place. We all got together at his home, washed the bikes, polished, lubed and loaded the luggage into the bikes. The bikes were all set and ready.

Nanook would be the Fully loaded motorcycle with the panniers carrying our Electronics and other essentials. The tents and sleeping bags mounted on top of the panniers and a Rucksack to carry all of Jay’s clothes. Ryuk’s one saddle bag had all of the tools, lubes, oils and coolant that we would need for the trip. The other had my winter wears and a rucksack mounted on the rear seat had all my clothes. Assasino had a Tail Bag with Ayyappan’s clothes and a sleeping bag mounted on top of it. With everything ready, we tried to get as much sleep as possible. But as we all know, no rider can get a good night’s sleep before a ride. Call it Ride anxiety or happiness or anything. This was too big a dream for the three of us to sleep peacefully.

Day 1: Coimbatore to Kanyakumari
We woke up at 5 AM, got ready at around 6.30 and wore our gears. A dear friend of ours, Dhanush, came to send us off. He would Ride in his Duke 200 till the Eachanari Temple and part ways with us. We Stopped at the Ukkadam LOA BP petrol bunk and tanked up our Bikes. We parted our ways with Dhanush at the temple and continued our ride towards Kanyakumari.

Our destination was Tirunelveli. We were invited by our friend Jeyanth to camp in his office as they had a lot of open space surrounded by agricultural lands and wind mills.

We had our breakfast at Dindugal and reached Tirunelveli at around 3.30 PM. We first went to Jayanth’s home, had some refreshments and went out to have lunch. We went to a nice restaurant and had our lunch. We started to his factory which was around 20-30 kms outside Tirunelveli. He guided us in his Duke 390. After looking around the factory for sometime and admiring the windmills, we then started towards his office which was further 10-15 kms away. We reached there around 7 PM.

Day 2: Kanyakumari to Bengaluru
As we wanted to start the trip by watching sunrise at Kanyakumari, we got up at 4.30, got ready by 5.30 and left. Jayanth and his friend rode along with us in his Duke 390. We watched the sunrise from the spot that we came during the ECR ride. Its a much less crowded spot to watch the sunrise and to be honest it gives a much better view than the Tourist spot.

We then proceeded towards Banglore, quickly taking a pitstop in Jayanth’s office to take Bio Breaks. On the way Ryuk, just after leaving Tirunelveli, started giving some troubles. The bike would randomly switch off for a second and start again. We went to the KTM showroom which was on the highway just after Virudhunagar. There they had only KTM sales and only Bajaj bikes were serviced. So we then decided it would be waste of time going into Madurai and decided to get the bike serviced at Karur since the service centre was near Karur and our KTM mechanic in Coimbatore, Senthil Anna had already informed them about our arrival. They quickly got out the diagnostic tool and found the error and then cleared it. But even after that the bike still turned off and on again. We meanwhile met with our college friend Venkatesh and had lunch with him. We then proceeded to Bengaluru after wasting nearly 2 hours without getting any positive result as the diagnostic tool wasn’t showing any errors. We then stopped near Salem to have tea. It was around 4 PM.

After riding for an hour, we reached Krishnagiri, where it suddenly started pouring out of nowhere. We Stopped in a small shed to cover our bags. We asked our friend in Bengaluru if it was raining. He said it hasn’t been raining, so we decided not to wear our rain gears. We waited some 10 -15 mins in the shed and then continued our journey. We reached Electronic City around 8 PM and met with our friend. We had initially planned to stay somewhere here and then wake up early and proceed towards Hyderabad. But then we decided we would ride till Hyderabad since we were very fresh. Thats when Bengaluru traffic showed us its true colours. It took us 3 hours to reach Yeshwantpur. By the time we reached Yeshwanthpur, it was 12 PM, hungry as hell, and Bengaluru traffic drained all of our energy. We had some food at a restaurant and booked an OYO room nearby. We have successfully crossed our 1st State.

Day 3: Bengaluru to Hyderabad
The stay was amazingly cheap for the size, cleanliness and quality. We woke up quiet late had complimentary breakfast, lubed our bikes and proceeded towards Hyderabad. Surprisingly my bike didn’t give any troubles. We stopped anywhere and everywhere to take pictures, get in the vibes, take bio breaks. We knew the roads were great and we could cover the distance pretty easily.

On the way, we saw the newly opened KIA factory. It seemed like a never ending campus. It was so long. We stopped somewhere before Anantpur to have lunch. We had some amazing Lunch.

We proceeded to Hyderabad. Somewhere near Kurnool, we stopped for Tea. It was at this moment my bike screwed us up. After having tea, when I switched on the bike it was showing Low Battery. After One crank, the bike suddenly switched off. The error code JG. 1.7.3 which was for battery dead was displayed. It amazed us because we have been riding for such a long time. We then Jump started my bike using Assasino and rode. Then the bike again kept switching on and off randomly. After Sunset, it started drizzling. We suspected it to rain heavily. So we stopped and wore our rain gears. After some time it stated raining heavily and some time later my bike suddenly stopped and refused to start at all. At this moment my friends were some distance away from me. This was when I missed buying an Intercom device. Somehow after 5 mins my bike started and I rode as hard as I could to catch up with them. Luckily they were waiting near a shelter nearby and were about to call me. Then we rode to Hyderabad, where our friend Manikandan had booked a Room for us. We were struck in Hyderabad’s traffic too. I keep wondering why some expressways don’t allow bikes. It wasted a solid 2 hours for us to come to the other end of the city, drenched in rain, luckily our rain gear withstood the rains. We reached our room and Mani had bought us food to eat. It was so relaxing after a hectic day. 2 states done.

 

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Day 4: Hyderabad to Nagpur
Woke up at around 8 PM. The room service was pretty poor. There was no water in the washroom. Somehow we got water and got ready. I went to the KTM Service centre and told about my issues and they connected the diagnostic tool and couldn’t find any fault. They even checked the battery and the battery was fine and it was also charging properly. We were confused, anxious as to what the problem was because we didn’t want to get stranded in LEH. But with nothing to do, we proceeded to Nagpur. We bought a tarpaulin to cover the sleeping bags and tent as they were not waterproof. It was raining cats and dogs as soon as we proceeded to Nagpur. We quickly changed into our rain gears and started riding in the pouring rain. It was one of the most memorable rides of the trip.

We stopped in a dhaba for lunch. We ordered our all time favourite combo of Roti and Bindi Masala. As usual, our loaded bikes started getting attraction. People started asking about our rides and with my broken Hindi, somehow conveyed the message. They were friendly nevertheless. After riding some more, my bike showed Low battery again. This time we decided to swap the Battery as we suspected that the alternator was at fault and it wasn’t charging the battery. When we tried to remove the terminals, My friend was shocked to see that the terminals were not at all tightened. The wires were loose. I could understand from their looks what they were about to tell to me. I had connected the Bolt mobile charger and forgot to tighten the terminals. So whenever the wires didn’t touch the battery, the bike switched off. It was such a big relief. We tightened the battery and then proceeded towards Nagpur.

We stopped a lot to take in the views, click some more pictures. On the outskirts of Nagpur, we found a Punjabi Dhaba and had some delicious Butter Chicken, Paneer Butter Masala, Butter Rotis and some Dahi. We reached Nagpur at around 8, checked into the OYO room which we booked while having dinner. We got into the room which was a bit cramped for 3 ppl. But costed us only 1000 per night and It was Clean. 4 States done and we were in our 5th State. We came to know it was flooding through Central India, but that did not stop us from our plans. We were prepared for it.

Day 5 : Nagpur to Agra
Today we decided to stop at Jhansi as sagar was very near. We rode a s usual, stopping at many places to click photos. After a few kilometers as we left our hotel, we entered Pench National Park. We got some good quick photos and left. There was a Dhaba outside where we had our Breakfast. It was quiet a nice view and we took our time.

After having our breakfast, we started encountering the worst of of the roads. The roads were dug up for highway extension work and for 20 kms, it was full of slush and the traffic was heavy. We somehow managed to ease past it thanks to the wonderful Timsun tyres. This was the first time the tyre was tested to its potential in this trip. We became confident that it would not fail on us in LEH. At this point of time we decided that we wouldn’t wash our bikes until we reached home even if it costs our sprocket’s life.

Roads became better and we started enjoying the change of sceneries. It was getting greener and cows were our dear road companions as we were exiting Maharashtra(5th State) and entering Madhya Pradesh (6th State). We stopped at a lot of places took pictures, adjusted our bike chains in the middle of nowhere and reached Jhansi at around 8 PM. We decided to proceed to Agra as we were not too tired and it was 300 something kms odd only.

After having our dinner at a Dhaba, we proceeded towards Agra without knowing the state of Roads there. The roads were horrible. It was pouring heavily and roads were dug up for Highway extension work and cars, trucks and busses were full on with their high beams. We somehow managed to get into Agra around 5 AM the next day with our bodies to the limit. We felt It was the worst decision we have ever taken. We checked into the OYO room, crashed into our Beds.6 states done and we were in our 7th State.

Day 6 : Agra
Since we reached early in the morning, we woke up around noon and ordered food from Dominos to satisfy our pizza cravings after having only roti for a couple of days. We went around the city in search of GUM BOOTS in order to protect our feet from water crossings. We couldn’t get one. We went to Taj Mahal at around 4 in the evening, got tickets and explored the place. We had some hot Chole Bhatures and samosas. We came back to our room at around 8 and there seemed to be a procession or a festival of sorts and food was provided to everyone. We had Poori and Sabji. Meantime we managed to pack our stuff which we had kept for drying under the sun. It was noisy outside but somehow we were able to sleep.

 

[vijesh_360]

Day 7 : Agra to Chandigarh
We woke up at around 6 AM, got ready to ride the 180 KM Yamuna Expressway. Our first time entering an Expressway. We paid a hefty sum of 205 Rs per bike for the full stretch. The road was good but since there was speed limit we didn’t cross it. In fact we were riding at 100 Kmph mark only. We stopped at a food court to have Breakfast. We had some fan moments where a few people were amazed when they heard that we were riding from Tamil Nadu. We stopped near the Buddh International Circuit view point, took a couple of photos and left.

We left the Yamuna Expressway and continued our ride towards Chandigarh. It was peak Delhi traffic and we were riding with our bikes loaded. Somehow got out of all the mess and got out of the city. 7 States and 1 Union territory done. We were in our 8th state.

We reached Chandigarh a bit late than expected because there were some flyover works in the highway going on. We booked a room in Zirakpur which was a few kilometres away from Chandigarh. We booked a OYO Capital O room because we were staying for 2 nights in the room and planned to wash our clothes, get our bikes checked and stuff. We were also going out of lubes. So we decided to stock them too. We washed the clothes, planned for the next day and went to sleep. 9 States, 2 Union Territories done.

Day 8 : Chandigarh:
Myself and Ayyappan went to the KTM showroom to get Assasino serviced and Ryuk checked. Meanwhile Jay went to get Nanook serviced. After servicing our bikes, we went to have our Breakfast. Good Veg Thali and a Dhahi Puri later, we went to Decathlon to buy Gum Boots. I felt it was costly for the purpose, so I didn’t buy as I already had my waterproof Trekking shoes. Bought a few Bungee ropes, couple of Motul Chain Lube. We came to the room, ordered dinner from the room itself and completed the checkout process as we planned to leave early tomorrow.

Day 9 : Chandigarh to Udhampur
We started pretty early and took slight detour which we later found to be a Short Cut. It connected us to the NH 44 just around 100 kms before Jammu. We had our breakfast at a dhaba on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Just as we reached the Highway, it started pouring cats and dogs. We rode for some time and reached the state border which is a bridge which when you cross, you enter Jammu and Kashmir.

We rode for some time and found a dhaba. We ordered food and were planning our stop, whether to go all the way to Srinagar or stop at Udhampur. We decided that we’ll ride as far as we can and pitch a tent in an appropriate place. Next, we were on the hunt for a local SIM card as other state’s SIM doesn’t work here. We managed to get 2 Airtel SIM cards. We then took a right turn from the highway to bypass Jammu and go to Udhampur directly. Since there was a land slide in the Udhampur Srinagar stretch, we were unable to proceed for the day. So we began to look for an OYO room and slept for the night. 10 States and 2 Union Territories done.

 

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Day 10 : Udhampur to Sonamarg
We started pretty early and were a bit excited because we were finally about to enter the new Chenani Nashri Tunnel, One of the world’s longest and Safest tunnel. The road was very slushy as the land slides were cleared and it had rained the previous night. We somehow managed to ride past it. We entered the tunnel, took a couple of photos and exited it. There were a few restaurants on the exit, so we decided to have our breakfast here itself. Luckily there was an Army personnel who was from Tamil Nadu. We had nice talks with him for some time. He suggested us to have a taste of Parathas. They were delicious. He advised us to be extra careful as landslides were happening regularly for the past few days. We then bid farewell to him and then continued our ride.

We then rode some more and stopped at a view point which was breathtaking. We realised we were climbing the Himalayan Mountains finally. A dream of many years coming into realisation. We then continued riding, wearing our rain gear as we felt it would rain. After some time it started raining heavily and we couldn’t even see what’s in front of us. We were riding very very slowly. Finally we somehow managed to get past the rains and our clothes were slightly wet inside the rain gear. We managed to come to Srinagar, filled our bikes, bought some ropes, jerry cans and proceeded towards Sonamarg.

On our way to Sonamarg, we finally reached the end point of NH 44. We have covered the entire stretch of NH 44 which is India’s Longest Highway. We had lunch at a dhaba at around 5 PM as we were getting hungry. We reached Sonamarg, which was nothing short of what heaven looks like in the movies. We searched for camping spots. While climbing a steep slope, Ryuk ran out of traction and slipped. Ayyappan also tried to take my bike to the top but it somehow didn’t get enough traction. The other two bikes had no problem climbing the slope. Finally after searching few more spots, we pitched the tent at around 8. A military personnel told us that it was a safe spot so we pitched our tent but we didn’t know how the location was as it was pitch dark. We wore our full winter gear and slept. We were informed of unrest in J and K but there seemed none. We anyways decided to be careful as a precaution.

Day 11 : Sonamarg to Kargil
The plan for the day was to reach LEH. It was very much doable. When we wake up to certain views, we feel like not moving from the place. This was such an experience for us. Four sides surrounded by Snowcapped mountains with the river Sind flowing just a few metres from us. It was freezing cold even at 8 AM. We were very hesitant to move away from the place, but we had distance to cover. So we left as soon as possible. But just on the outskirts of Sonamarg, we were stopped by army personnel as there had been a rock slide in the Zojila Pass and BRO was clearing it. It was 10.30 AM and was getting hotter. We went in search of Gum Boots for me in the market and managed to find a very low quality one which would do a very reasonable job of keeping the water out. We met a few trekkers who were from Tamil Nadu and they were elated to see us on our bikes. They also planned to rent bikes in LEH and do some roaming in and around LEH.

We were finally allowed to ride at 12.30 PM. We encountered our First water crossing of the trip. There was road construction going on at Zojila Pass. The pass was too crowded. So we did not stop there and decided to ride down. The tyres performed amazingly and we had 0 issues on these bad roads.There was never a moment of traction loosing on these surfaces which would have been impossible with my regular Metzellers. We entered the Kargil District. There was this huge group of Harley riders who were leisurely riding along the roads. We quickly overtook them. We believed we were riding in heaven. Every turn presented a new scenery. The roads were a mix of bad to awesome ones, with most of the bad roads being newly laid. We filled our details in the Kargil Checkpost and continued our ride.

We stopped for Lunch at Kargil around 5.30 PM. We then decided to stay the night in Kargil itself and not risk riding as it might get freezing cold. We found a good resort and stayed the night. We also meanwhile applied for our permits via Online. We had to go get the papers stamped before 2 PM. So we planned an early start the next day.

 

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Day 12 : Kargil to Leh

We started to Let around 7.30 AM. Myself and Ayyappan decided to go a bit faster, get the papers stamped and wait for Jay in the outskirts. We completely forgot that he didn’t have a SIM with him. Both the SIM cards were with us. We were maintaining a healthy speed, neither too fast nor too slow, taking in the breathtaking views. We stopped at the Magnetic Hill point, but we never experienced anything there. Finally we reached LEH at around 12 PM, got our papers stamped and were waiting in the outskirts for Jay to come. He came at around 1 PM. We booked a room via OYO.

We unpacked, and settled in the room. We ordered some tea and biscuits. After some time Ayyappan started getting AMS. It was very mild and not much. Myself and Jayganth went to the RE showroom to get Nanook’s brake pads changed. After that we went exploring the market for some souvenirs and found some pretty decent ones. We also bought Prayer flags as souvenirs. We then found a South Indian Restaurant and got some dosas for dinner. We were unable to find diamox for Ayyappan as most of the shops were closed while returning. So he had to cope up with it.

Day 14 : Lee to Nubra Valley
We started towards Nubra Valley around 7.30 AM. We couldn’t find petrol in a an Indian Oil Bunk and in the HP bunk there was too much of a crowd, people cutting the queues to fill their bikes. Somehow we managed to fill our bikes and proceeded. We experienced proper off roads for the first time in this trip. There were good number of water crossings too which our bikes eased past. We stopped at a view point a few kilometres away from Khardung La top. Little did we know that we wouldn’t be getting cellular connectivity for the next few days. We clicked some pictures in the view point, posted them in our social media and then proceeded towards Khardung La.

We then proceeded towards the top. On our way, we saw snow on the roads and so close to us for the first time in our life. We played with the snow for some time then rode further. After a few kilometres we reached Khardung La, claimed to be the world’s highest motorable road. At this point, AMS started kicking in severely for me, while it was moderate for Jay. Ayyappan had completely recovered and he got acclimatised. I didn’t want to move around too much as breathing was very difficult. We had some hot piping Maggi, hot chocolate, biscuits and loads of water. We spent some time clicking pictures in front of the famous board and then started our descend towards Nubra Valley.

The descend was mesmerising. The roads were newly laid and the sceneries were breath taking. We stopped at a tea shop to have some tea and then proceeded. We saw the new BS6 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 and Thunderbird 500 commercials being shot on the way to Hunder.

We decided to pitch our tents at Hunter Sand Dunes. We found an amazing spot with mountains surrounding the sand dunes with a small stream of water passing by near us. We pitched our tents, got some food and water bottles for the night. Recapped everything that had happened in the ride so far and the tales we would tell everyone back home. The AMS was gone and all three of us were perfectly fine.

 

[vijesh_360]

Day 15 : Nubra Valley to Pangong Tso
We didn’t want to leave this place. We told ourselves that we are coming here again for sure. We started riding to Pangong Lake. We filled our bikes at one of the Highest petrol pumps ever, withdrew cash from a nearby ATM and proceeded. The ride to Pangong lake was something we have never experienced. There were many water crossings, we were riding close to the river, where sometimes the water entered the road. The tarmac was one of the best we have ever ridden. We were able to maintain healthy speeds and our bikes performed brilliantly.

We then stopped at a small town called Tangste for our Lunch. We had some delicious food and asked for the Kind Shop owner to give us his phone so that we could inform our parents at home. After having our lunch, we proceeded towards Pangong Tso Lake. There were many army settlements as we were nearing the Chinese Border. The Pangong Lake was filled with too many tourists and we didn’t know that if we went further inside, we could pitch our own tents. We decided to rent a tent which was damn expensive. The night was damn cold as the tent didn’t have proper insulation and there were too many air vents. One good thing was that the washroom was clean.

Day 16 : Pangong Tso to Pang
We woke up at around 7 and and decided to head back. We stopped at the same restaurant in Tangste and proceeded towards Let via the Chang La. Ayyappan was in Lead while myself and Jay were following him. At around 20 kilometres from the Top, an army truck was punctured and it was a big traffic jam for about 15 mins. Ayyappan who was in the lead escaped the jam while we were stuck. After some time I also somehow got out of the jam. Soon after, the roads were completely broken and I was going at a snails pace. Jay had an easier ride as he was on an adventure motorcycle and we both reached the top at the same time. Ayyappan was waiting for us at the top.

After clicking some photos, we decided to descend. The roads were newly laid, wide and it was a joy to ride after all the tough roads we encountered. We stopped at a restaurant to have our Brunch. This was the first time in three days we got out network and our phones were filled with too many missed calls and whatsapp messages. Most of them were regarding a national issue which we were completely unaware of during the 3 days. Article 370 was abolished and everyone was concerned about our safety. There was Section-144 in Srinagar, Kargil and all other places in Jammu and Kashmir. Luckily Ladakh was peaceful. We decided to head back home as soon as possible and decided to have some change of plans as Ayyappan had some personal work to take care of. We also decided to ride back via the same route instead of going via the west coast as we had earlier planned because many of the western coastal places were flooded due to the monsoon. We rode through the famous Leh Manali Highway. We went through another High Altitude pass - The Tanglang La. We rode through More Plains and decided to stop at a small shop in the town of Pang. We rented 3 beds, 150 per bed for the night. The kind shopkeeper lady gave us some Hot Water. We decided not to pitch our tents as it was about to rain. We got comfortable blankets to sleep.

 

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Day 17: Pang to Kullu
We were very much exited to ride today as we would be riding through Rohtang Pass which is known as one of the dangerous routes. There were no roads for most part of the day. At one point where the road was narrow, I had to move just a bit to the edge of the road to allow a truck to pass. But unfortunately my front wheel went into the gravel and I dropped the Bike. I waited for Jay to come and help me pick up the bike. There was no damage done to the bike. In a water crossing Ayyappan dropped his bike when a stone hit the Underbelly of RC. Luckily no damage was done to the bike. We enjoyed the ride very much and it wasn’t as tiresome as we thought it would be. We rode past the biggest water crossings of our trip. We emptied the jerrycans at Keylong and gave the empty cans to the shop where we had our snacks It was fun riding the stretch and now we know why they say that every rider should experience the Leh Manali route at least once in their life time.

Soon after Keylong, the dry lands turned into greeneries. The roads got better and wider. And we were truly descending from the Ladakh region. We filled petrol at Tandi from a petrol bunk 375 kilometres from Karu which was the last bunk. We then made some entries in the check post and started our ascend into Rohtang la, which I guess is the last of the high passes. There were many road diversions and we were made to ride on some non existent roads that were temporarily made. Suddenly out of no where, we started riding into the clouds.Thats when we realised we had ascended steeply and were almost near the top. After few bends, we arrived at the Rohtang La.

After a while, the clouds started clearing and we started our descend with our next stop being either Manali or Kullu. If possible we planned to proceed to Chandigarh overnight. There were sever landslides and too much of traffic built up. It was scary as hell to ride as the roads were not meant for two cars to cross each other. Sometimes our bikes were too close to the edge of the road to allow cars pass by. BRO was working relentlessly to clear the roads ASAP. Finally somehow we managed to descend. The sceneries were beautiful. We decided to halt at Kullu since we got tired from all the traffic.

 

[vijesh_360]

Day 18: Kullu to Chandigarh
We started a bit early planning to reach Chandigarh early, take proper rest and start early the next day. We thought the roads would be good. But to our surprise, there was so much of road works going on and too much truck traffic. It was humid and hot as well. We somehow reached our hotel at around 6 PM. We decided to stay the night, start around evening the next day so that we would reach Delhi by midnight. We gave our clothes for Laundry and then ordered some food from the hotel and crashed for the day. The feeling of getting down from the Himalayas didn’t sink in yet. With the excitement of our return back home, we slept.

Day 19 : Chandigarh to Agra
We got up pretty late, packed our luggages, had some lunch and passed time. We started around 7.30 PM. We stopped at a dhaba for Dinner. We didn’t have heavy food as we would have to travel far. We maintain good speeds and reached Delhi at around 11 PM. We entered Yamuna Expressway and were riding at good speed. We reached Agra around 2 PM and decided to proceed further and ride as far as we could and halt in the nearby town when we would feel sleepy.

Day 20 : Agra to Sagar.
Since it was day time and no rain, we could cover the Agra-Gwalior stretch pretty easily. We didn’t have any problems. The only issue we were facing was our chain lube was almost over and so were the sprockets of both the KTMs. We stopped at many places to have refreshments and finally decided to stay at Sagar as we were getting too sleepy and it was risky to ride. We reached Sagar around 5 PM, got into a restaurant in the highway, booked a room there and crashed around 6 PM after getting refreshed.

Day 21 : Sagar to Hyderabad.
We woke up at 7 AM the next morning. We were so tired that we didn’t even have any dinner the previous night and our sleep was so deep that we didn’t even wake up at any point of time at night. We decided to push towards Hyderabad, somehow ride through the city traffic and go to the other end of the city so that we can leave little early. There wasn’t much happening except the boring highway and our occasional stops for refreshment and food. We stopped at the same Punjabhi Dhaba on the outskirts of Nagpur and had amazing food. We reached Hyderabad at around 8 PM and while crossing somewhere near Charminar, Asasino’s chain came off the sprocket. It was so loose and we adjusted the chain. There was almost no threads left in the adjustment screws. We couldn’t afford another day’s Layoff to get the sprocket changed but we knew it would last us till our home.

Day 22 : Hyderabad to Bengaluru
We knew we could easily do the entire stretch back home but we decided to rest at Bengaluru and head back freshy to home. So another uneventful ride while the only task was to find some Chain lube. We wouldn’t be able to go inside any city to get Motul Lube. So we were satisfied with any brand lube as long as it worked. After enquiring at few shops, we finally got a local lube. We bought 2 lubes and also got a bottle of 90w gear oil as a precaution because we didn’t know when the lube would get over. We reached the hotel around 7 PM, went out to get some food and crashed for the night.

Day 23: Bengaluru to Coimbatore.

We started around 5 AM from the hotel. We had completed our checkout formalities the previous night itself. We stopped somewhere on the outskirts of Krishnagiri to lube our chains, and the stopped next at a hotel on the outskirts of Salem. We literally ate South Indian food after 10 days of rotis and parathas. The food tasted like heaven. We proceeded further and met with our friend who was waiting for us at the entry to the highway from Erode. We spent some time having some tea and milk shakes. We were so happy to see a familiar face after 23 Days and the feeling of getting back home started sinking in. We decided to ride back home via the city instead of taking the By pass with would have lead to a shorter distance towards Ayyappan’s home. We filled our bikes for one last time in this trip and reached home around 12 PM. We then split each of our souvenirs, luggages, packed them and headed home. What a ride it was.

23 days, 8500 odd kilometres and we never once washed our bikes. We brought Himalayas’ holy soil to our home. We have our own pressure washers and so we would easily deep clean our bikes.
From here

To

Total Trip Distance : 8737 Kms

My trip Expense:

Petrol :22335
Food accommodation and other common expenses :19745
Tyres :9900
Bike service before and after the trip :11,613
(including the fork oil replacement,sprocket
replacement and also I needed a handle bar change
because the handle was slightly bent during
the drop which was evident during City rides)

Total :63,593

 

[Chandranath]

That was some superb pictures and a great adventure. Will take out time to read it in more details.

One of the best adventures I have known.

 

[vijesh_360]

That was some superb pictures and a great adventure. Will take out time to read it in more details.

One of the best adventures I have known.

Thanks a lot. We would have been adventuring west or east this year too if not for this COVID '19 situation.

 

[AppU]

Awesome CBE guys..

Looks like you guys had a blast. each and every pics are just awesome.. Keep rocking..

 

[vijesh_360]

Yes. I was an experience of a life time. Don't know when time will permit for us to go on such long trips again as everyone has got into our career building process. Meanwhile we have to be satisfied with 3-4 days trips once this pandemic is over.

 

[Amruth]

Hi,
Congratulations for completing this fantastic ride from top to bottom of country. This is life time achievement. Kudos to you all for this achievement and wish many more such trips happens in future.
Please update the road condition also.

 

[vijesh_360]

Congratulations for completing this fantastic ride from top to bottom of country. This is life time achievement. Kudos to you all for this achievement and wish many more such trips happens in future.

Thank you for your kind words.

Please update the road condition also.

The roads were excellent two lanes from Coimbatore to Dindugul, Excellent four lane till Kanyakumari and same highway till Bengaluru. The traffic in Bengaluru was hell as it took 3 hours from E-City to Yeshwantpur at 9 PM. Bengaluru to Hyderabad was also good. 2-wheelers aren't allowed in the expressway, so traffic all the way. Again till Nagpur Excellent. After Nagpur, there is road expansion work going on for around 40-50 kms. It'll be completed by 2021 I guess. After that till Jhansi it is good 4 Lanes, but we have to be careful with Cattles. Jhansi to few hundred Kms before Agra was Hell. Again Road expansion works going on but without any proper diversion marks. Agra to Delhi - Yamuna Expressway is good, but will get bored easily. Delhi Traffic again as we can't enter the Expressway. Delhi to Chandigarh, too many flyover construction works were going on. Till the diversion to Udhampur, it is the same 4 lane in good condition. We took a diversion to Udhampur to bypass Jammu. The road was not bad. Udhampur to Srinagar is where the true ride started. Roads are dangerous because of frequent landslides. But generally in good condition. Srinagar to Sonamarg is good. But Sonamarg to Zojilla, roads were being constructed. After entering Kargil District, the roads are comparable to the highways till LEH, with occasional landslides that are regularly cleared by BRO. LEH to Khardung La, roadwork is going on. But the descend has been completed and it was good till Hunder, where we went. From Hunder to Pangong Lake also was good. But the climb to Chang La the last 20 kms was horrible. But there will be roads in the next riding season. From there again till Pang the roads are good. After that lies the true experience of the trip till Keylong. After that roads get better, but as soon as you start climbing Rohtang La, it gets worse. It Is one of the DEADLIEST ROADS just because of the traffic. Manali to Chandigarh is also hell. Too many trucks, too much dust, too much traffic. After that we took the same route back home. I guess within 5 years, the roads will be in excellent conditions.

 

[Karthickprabhu k]

Hi, you have taken us into your dreams through this narrative thread. I'm interested in ladakh trip by road in near future and need your guidance.

Thanks and best of luck