17 Feb to 07 Mar 2015
Hero Honda CBZ Extreme 150 cc
Sanjay V. Javalkar
Behind Mind
Mid February, somewhere in the
hills of the Western Ghats, we were enjoying winter at our Camp Third Eye. Travel
was our subject and adhering to it I expressed a thought of doing a long bike
tour - solo. Friends Siddu and Sangmesh and son Rishi complimented my thought. Within
minutes, a destination that was since long honking in my mind was finalised.
Now, it was about 10 pm of 15th Feb and I planned to kick start from
Belgaum at 5 am of 17th Feb. We planned, not of the journey, but of
managing the Camp in my absence. 
Effectively, I had full 30
hours and no preparations required. There was nothing much for me to prepare
for the ride. A rhythmically throbbing heart and a mind free from emotions were
already there - developed through decades of voluntarily torturing the physical
being during numerous previous weird ventures.
The check list of things to
carry, is always like an aura around me and it took only a couple hours to
gather things and pack them in my rucksack. As I was confident of my bike, I
didn’t even bother to pick the tool box or spare parts. Puncture is a matter of
bad luck which can happen to new tyres too and so I picked up a hand pump thinking
will buy the puncture kit enroute (which I never did during the whole tour) and
kept going with an attitude ‘will see to
it if it happens’.
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| Riding across central India |
The little I carried was all
packed in my rucksack (which I am still using since 2003) along with the
blessings of my parents, who by now know that ‘I return’. To them and my wife it’s become a way of life. Decades
ago they had objected my ventures, but then let go when they understood I
wouldn’t stop.
The Treacherous Ride through Central India
17 Feb, 05 am: Roping my bag on the bike, I geared up my CBZ on the cold morning at 5
am without waking up anyone. Obstacles like bye,
take care, keep calling had been exchanged the previous night. Out of home,
and I was a detached soul – no strings
attached. Just me and my bike finely blended in the nature.
The 210 kms ride in 3½ hours
was a good start, I thought over breakfast at Bijapur, and in that scale
thought of hitting Nagpur (900 kms from Belgaum) by night.
Owing to the bad roads in Maharashtra, I could
cut out only 650 kms staying back at a place Hadgaon.
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| In thick mist after Varanasi |
Continuing my ride over the
next day I reached Jabalpur (via Nagpur and Seoni). Methi Masala at a
dhaba near Nagpur was mind blowing. Enroute, I had stopped for a long time at
Pench National Park and Bhandar Range Forest to absorb the beauty of the
jungles. Other than this it wasn’t a happening this day.
The reconstructions of roads
from Jabalpur to Varanasi and dusty diversions were exhaustive and I reached
Varanasi in the evening in astonishment. Honking and terrific traffic seems to
have no sense in this region and I kept wondering why they honk. While everyone
is moving, their hands are still pressing the horn . . . . It left me smiling to
see this weird state of mind.
A hundred kilometres ride in
the mist with extremely low visibility, the following day from Varanasi to beyond Ghazipur shelled out over three hours of my day. Further none of
the places Ballia (UP) and Chapra (Bihar) have a ring road or a
bypass.
Stuck up in Chapra in four consecutive traffic jams,
gave me an insight of the Biharis,
who seeing an outsider were eager to help me to get out of the jam, while one
of them went to the extent of escorting me out of the city limits riding
practically through backyard alleys. Even at Muzaffarpur, where I settled for the night, the customers at the ‘Tapri’
type busy hotel were very much bothered to see that I get a timely and a better
service. This day I didn’t forget to miss the famous Bihari dish Litti Choka.
Today, 21st Feb, I
had decided to reach Bhutan
completing a total ride of 520 kms. Taking advantage of the four lane highway
(a part of the golden quad),
I flew my CBZ from Muzaffarpur to Araria a
distance of 250 kms in 3½ hours and further reached Siliguri at 3 pm.
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| River Tista at Sevoke Bridge |
In the Himalayan Lap
Today too was nothing different.
Gliding smoothly over the curves of the Himalayan hills in the dark, I felt
more confident and more energetic than in the past 4½ days. Now, I wasn’t in a
hurry . . . . I was cruising at a relaxed pace, breathing the Himalayan air and
enjoying the now darker hills in the night. It the dark of the evening, I
slowed down, for more fun and thrill to ride across the Champarani Wildlife
Forest. It was past 8 when I reached the border between India (Jaigaon) and Bhutan (Phuntsholing) and preferred to stay
back in Jaigaon as a hotel was just
near the international border gate.
BHUTAN – The Land of the Thunder Dragon
I reported at the immigration
office at dawn to get permit for travelling in Bhutan. Formalities for Indians,
then, were much liberal as I required only a valid Govt. Identity Card, fill in
a form at the immigration office and your permit
is done in about 20 minutes –
at no cost J
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| Entrance gate of Bhutan at Phuntsholing |
But, in my case when the
concerned officer when understood that I was travelling alone on a bike, simply
denied to give me the permit reasoning it as at least two persons have to be
there. He also explained me that the whole country is mountainous, all roads
are with curves, the climate is cold and high altitudes problems and if
anything would happen to me the Government of Bhutan will have to look into the
matter. Little did he know that I am made for all this.
To all his explanation, I too
gave a big long justification of my riding experiences, adaptability to cold
climate and the high altitudes, the long way I had ridden now and showed him
some pictures of my previous travels. Understanding me, but still not willing
to risk of issuing me the permit by himself, he moved one step further and
said, “I will call me senior officer, come at 9 am”.
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| Entry Permit issued at Phuntsholing |
It was now just 7:30 am. After
getting the immigration clearance I still had to take the permit for my bike
from yet another department and then ride about 150 kms in the hills to Paro. In
the Himalayas, after noon, it is very much likely that the climate may become hostile.
Aware of all this I was a bit worried that I didn’t have a rain suit.
The senior office came sharp at
9 am and repeated the same thing what his junior had told. I too had no choice and
repeated the same thing – but this time with more adjectives and more
projection. Understanding me, he looked at me with a grim face and said, “write
an undertaking that if anything happens to you the Government of Bhutan will
not be responsible for it”.
I has happy, quickly came out
of his chamber and wrote the undertaking, filled up the required form and
within 15 minute was issued the permit to travel in Bhutan. This time, with
smiling faces, both the officers didn’t forget to say “take care and have a
safe journey”. Thanking them I geared up to the office from where I was to get
the Road Permit for my bike.
I just had to write a simple application
for this, attach copies of all bike documents (RC, DL, PUC and Insurance), copy
of my permit to travel in Bhutan and pay just Rs 70 (official) to get the bike permit.
This was a hassle free process and after filling up the tank (Petrol
surprisingly just Rs 50 per ltr) I actually left from Phuntsholling for Paro at
12 in the noon.
 |
| Lunch at Chukka |
Beware: The
formalities now are much different so please do not rely on the above info.
Paro from Phuntsholing
is about 150 kms which meant about 4½ hours ride including a short lunch break.
Gliding smoothly over the curves of the Bhutan Himalayas, while synchronising
my watch with the odometer I reached Paro
right at 4:30 pm. Luckily to me, although it was cloudy in the beginning, the
sky had later become clear as I neared Chukka for lunch. I kept it simple and
pocket friendly.
About Paro: The charming
town of Paro lies on the banks of the Paro Chu (Paro River), just a short
distance northwest of the imposing Paro Dzong. The main street, only built in
1985, is lined with colourfully painted wooden shop fronts and restaurants,
though these appear under threat as the town grows and multi-storey concrete
buildings continue to propagate. Now Paro
remains one of the best Bhutanese
towns to explore on foot and is worth an hour or two's stroll at the end of a
day of sightseeing. Streets
are clean and look neat, while vehicles are neatly parked on the main street.
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| A quite street in Paro |
After checking in a local
hotel, I hurried out to stroll in the quite town witnessing the Bhutanese
culture. Of the many people I met during my stay in Bhutan, practically
everyone spoke Hindi and English. A local kind of bar (the kind I always prefer
where I can mingle with the locals) grabbed my attention for dinner where I pampered
myself over a beer and three large ;)
Checking out of the hotel at 7
am, I proceeded to visit the famous ‘Tiger Nest Monastery (Taktsang Goemba)’. From the parking the Taktsang Monastery can be
seen high up on the hill and hiking a continuous ascent, for a normally fit
person, may require a little over two hours. I was a little faster (1 hrs 45
minutes) to my age 49 and weight 95 kgs ;) It’s a wonderful sight of the
monastery being constructed on a high cliff and keeps one wondering of it.
Like
most other Gompas (monastery) with colourful idols of Buddha and other Buddhist
deities, Taktsang also has a very serene
atmosphere.
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| Trekking path to Taktsang (Tiger Nest) Monastery |
It was 2 pm by the time I
trekked down and returned back to Paro. By this time my stomach was already
roaring for food as I had not eaten anything since morning – not even a gulp of
water. Complimenting myself for doing the climb with ease I didn’t forget to
gift myself a bottle of chilled beer along with chicken and brown rice.
With a now happily singing
stomach I rode to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, which is a little more crowded
having a few main roads. It was 5 pm when I found accommodation on Norzim Lam 2
(Norzim Lane) and soon stepped out to venture in the streets. Evening was cool
and Narzim lam seemed to be more happening – many young and old Bhutanese
shopping in the malls and market.
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| The famous Taktsang (Tiger Nest) Monastery |
SIKKIM
It was now time to proceed to Gangtok
the capital of Sikkim. It was to be long mountainous journey and hence I made
sure that my rucksack was well braced to the rear seat of my bike. I left Thimphu
at 8 am and reached Phuntsholing, the border town, by 12 noon. After clearing
the immigration formalities, I was back in Jaigaon (India) and without any pause
continued to Sevoke. After a break over tea and snacks, I proceeded to Gangtok
along the rivers Tista and Ranikhola.
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| Kuensel Phodrang (Buddha Point) in Thimphu |
Now again it was a crucial task
to get permits to travel solo on a bike to North Sikkim and Nathula Pass at the
Indo-China border. Next day, at sharp 8 am I went to the Tourism Department
Office to get the required permits only to discover that this procedure is
completely ruled by the so-called AUTHORISED Travel Agents who charge very high
together for the permits and the taxi (for those who travel in them).
As I was travelling on a bike
(left with no choice), I too approached a supposed to be most active agent to
get done the permits and who simply wasted my time
till noon. He didn’t
actually work on it and reasoning that the Department will not permit a single
person on a motorbike at the high altitudes in winter, said he cannot do it.
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| Bird's Eye view of Thimphu Valley |
From somewhere I got a clue
that if I could get a recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs of
Sikkim then it could be possible that the related Police and the Tourism Departments
will issue me the permit to travel on bike. But this was not going to be so
easy.
In the noon, I rushed to the special
cell at the Home Affairs Ministry where a very cooperative lady officer, after
being convinced of my abilities, guided me on the applications and official
formalities that I had to complete and immediately started working on my case.
As I sat with fingers crossed
at the visitor lobby I heard thunderstorms. Peeping out of the main entrance,
indeed it was raining heavy a clear sign that the road connecting to
north
Sikkim would be in more atrocious condition. On my mind I started listing the
add-on things to shop in Gangtok for the adventure that was to begin from
tomorrow. Rain wear and plastic waterproofing for my rucksack were at priority.
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| Special permits issued by Home Affairs Gangtok to travel in north Sikkim on bike |
Just then, I was called in the
Secretary’s cabin and after some briefing was handed over five sets of permission
letters addressed to various Departments and Check Posts enroute. As a matter
of concern since I was a solo rider in peak winter, the lady officer, who
seemed to know north Sikkim well, gave me many tips without forgetting to
mention ‘take care’. Expressing all the gratitude I left from her cabin only to
see it was still raining heavy.
I well knew what it demands to
ride in the cold Himalayan rains and I rushed to the market to buy a rain suit,
for without proper waterproofing it would be impossible to continue further.
Fortunately for me, although I couldn’t get a waterproof trouser, I could bargain
on a very good waterproof jacket which also had fleece from within. Happy with
my success story of getting the permits I had a solo party again.
My food habits, feel it very
much necessary to mention in here, during all my trekking or riding expeditions
is very simple. It’s a smaller meal or
breakfast (most times some local fruit or a double omlet or momo or thupka)
anytime between 11 am to 2 pm and then a small
dinner (mostly consisting of some boiled or roasted non-veg with just a couple
spoons of rice) around 8 pm over a couple large off drinks and strongly avoid
on wheat and maida. Plenty of water all the day.
A bike journey to north Sikkim
is very treacherous as at most distances there roads are extremely bad and swampy.
Rains in the Himalayas are very unpredictable and even a small shower will
worsen the roads. It gets colder as you go further north and it
was still
winter increasing the possibilities of snowing. Landslides are a very common
affair.
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| Pork Chilly with off drink |
There was nothing much left to
do in the morning – I had packed my baggage the previous evening and had only
to wear my jacket and helmet. It was 8 am I reported at office of the
Superintendent of Police with a copy of the permit I had got from the Home
Affairs. More endorsements were made and my details were registered there. The
concerned clerk gave me yet another permit which was to be produced at all check
posts.
I left Gangtok at about 10 am,
well aware that it would be a long (120 kms) rough ride before I could reach my
next destination Lachen. Also,
usually at the high altitudes, the climate goes bad (cloudy and rainy) and so I
throttled finding my way through the rough, bumpy and marshy roads.
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| On the way to north Sikkim |
I had my first meal of the day
(half portion of veg chowmein) at about 1 am while the weather, as expected,
had already started getting cloudy. Lachen was still about 40 kms away, meaning
a ride of two more hours. Yah, the average distance covered per hour was about
20 kms including pauses for documentation and photography. As calculated I
reached Lachen at 3 pm.
Lachen is a small village (named
after the river) overlooking the river Lachen. Being peak winter, with an
exception of a small group of 5 or 6 boys in a Sumo, there were practically no
tourists. There is just one main road with colourful hotels on both sides which
were all closed for winter. To me the first impression was like that old
Western type movie – a small hamlet, a muted
road with no one on the street and
in some corner a lady running a small bar busy weaving. Lachen, then, is nothing
different.
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| Out of the Cow Boy movie - Lachen |
I managed getting a room in
the home converted hotel of a Bhutiya chachi who offered me dal rice, veg and
omlet for dinner. I also had the liberty of drinking the locally homemade Aarak
made from rice, wheat and corn which was given to me by a friend in village Tingchin today morning. It was one of the rarest times that I went
to bed at 8 pm. The night was very cold and I had to leave from Lachen at 4 am
the next day.
My next destination was to
reach Lake Gurudongmar (17800 feet, 70 kms, about 6 hours) and return to Lachen
or ride back as further as possible. Leaving my rucksack at Lachen, even the
pump, and carrying only a day bag with water, some snacks and crape bandages I
left Lachen at 4.30 am.
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| Proceeding to Gurudongmar |
As the bike slipped and skid, I
rode slow and further, in the now narrowing swamp as heaps of snow encroached. With
the rising sun the snowy peaks glittered like gold making it irresistible for
me to continue without capturing the panorama.
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| Thangu Village enroute Gurudongmar |
With snow dominating on the
path I was now riding more in it. The skill was to ride on softer and brittle
patches of snow and avoid verglas. I kept riding further in deeper snow towards
Gurudongmar crossing over the ‘15000 feet Cafe’ which was closed. It
was tough and the chances of falling over was continuously increasing until
finally I was nailed just 8 kms before the lake on a thick and long distance of
verglas.
Cautiously, getting off the
bike I walked about a kilometre further, to check for the slightest possibility
of being able to ride. But noooh! It was past 10 when I finally decided to
return. A short halt at village Thangu I had hot momos and
lemon tea. Sun shone
bright and I had a pleasant ride back to Lachen. Taking advantage of the time,
although it was noon, I decided to ride back to Gangtok this same day.
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| Golden peaks during first rays of the Sun |
In the valley it got dark by 5:30 and I reached Gangtok by 8 pm. This day I had done 240 kms for extreme off road riding over a plate of momos and a glass of lemon tea. A good dinner, pork chilly with brown rice and a double drink was very much essential.
Today too, as most other days,
was unplanned when I started my journey early to Tsomgo Lake (Changu), Nathula
and Baba Mandir. While most conventional tourist starts from Gangtok by 10 am
after getting the permits, I hit the road by 8 as I already had the permit. This
road leading to Nathula is pretty good. Much before Tsomgo lake, just after one
of the many innumerable U-turns, there was a landslide which had blocked the
complete road. There was no possibility
even for a bike to crossover and that
attempt would be dangerous as rocks were still falling from above.
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| Snow encroaching on the road |
Riding back I called a BRO JCB
and got the path cleared. I had the privilege of enjoying the beauty of the Tsomgo
lake without any disturbance or clutter of other tourist. After absorbing it to
the brim, I proceeded to Nathula. There already was lot of snow on the road
which did not bother me much. A couple kilometres, at a V-section, the sentry
told me not to take any pictures, for national security reasons, further till
Nathula Pass - the Indo China Border.
Coming back to the V-section and
proceeding further, downhill to Baba Harbhajan
Shrine, the road was very good and picturesque. A well metalled tar road,
like a giant black serpent, coiled through miles of snow field. Riding slowly
at an easy pace I grabbed all the pleasure of riding in this scenic region and
reached the shrine in 5 kms. Please refer the photos for more info about this
place.
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| Baba Harbhajan Singh Shrine near Nathula Pass |
Spending some good time here
and after a slow pleasure ride I returned to Gangtok by 1 pm. Again taking
advantage of time, like yesterday, I decided not stay at Gangtok and resume my
return journey. For this night, I stayed at Namchi where I reached by a very weird route, with very few
by-passers. The hills were lush green and there was fragrance in the air. Now
too, I wasn’t in a hurry and was taking pleasure of the surrounding beauty.
As if nature showered its
blessing on my success, about 15 kms before Namchi it started raining. I
preferred to get wet in the cold Himalayan rains and continued to cruise
downhill towards Namchi. By the time I could check in, I was fully drenched –
which I was enjoying. After a warm shower and changing to dry clothes I went
out for my first meal of the day – dinner. All day I had not eaten anything.
Nature seemed to have quenched my hunger.
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| Landslide before reaching Tsomgo lake |
Before leaving Namchi, I
visited the famous Serdup Choling
Monastery and with ease reached New Jalpaiguri Railway Station. At
priority, I booked a sleeper class wait listed railway ticket to Mumbai and
also checked the formalities to be completed to parcel my bike along with me.
My clothes and shoes were
completely dry by now. Packing them all tight in two layers of plastic I dumped
it at the bottom of my rucksack and, after fifteen days, changed to a fresh
set. As God would have it, I got a berth in 3 AC after paying the actual
difference. What more, after picking my bike from LTT in Mumbai I
headed
straight to Umesh’s home. After an extra day of pampering myself in Mumbai I
rode back to Belgaum.
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| At Tsomgo lake |
Taxing the physical being, in
exhausting circumstances raised by nature, to gain a more stable heart and a
mind still more free from thoughts and emotions is the chief motive of my
journeys. Journey to me and as it was to our sages, is a means of
self-realisation (rather than just sightseeing) and the act of doing it solo in
strange conditions gives a perfect platform.
Click Here to View Map on Google
Click Here to View Map on Google
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| Route Map followed by me |
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| Partially frozen Tsomgo lake |
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| Reflections in Tsomgo lake |
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| Frozen Tsomgo lake |
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| Road from Nathula to Baba Harbhajan Shrine |
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| Road from Gangtok to Namchi |
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| Packed by bike - parcel in railway from New Jalpaiguri to Mumbai |
Awesome...
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