Day 4 - Shirpur to Mumbai

A foggy morning leaving Shirpur. There's some sort of onion gathering happening on the outskirts of Nasik. The hiway around here is the most fun to ride - long and winding, rising and falling roads. Stopped at a dhaba run by Hoshiarpur residents with a truck yard. They said the whole section of the road has people from their village and they party every night as truckers stop by. Hit Mumbai by late afternoon and Colaba was a straight drive "crossing all flyovers".

Day 3 - Guna to Shirpur

An early morning start from Guna took me across Bioawara and Indore, reaching Shirpur by evening. Started with a snap of the two chowkidar/caretakers at guna and told them they would be famous on the internet soon. A bright orange sunrise slowly lit up the sky on the left. It was still chilly so stopped for chai at a village snack bar. I think I began to enjoy the sun so much that I took the wrong turn at Bioawra - towards Bhopal instead of Indore - and found myself riding into the sunrise. The two shepherds in the photo guided me in the right direction. An oasis-like lake materialised outside of Indore. The rocky ghats started later in the afternoon.

Day 2 - Agra to Guna

Paid props to the Taj before leaving Agra. Skidded by Gwalior (quite literally) - bike wheel glanced off a strange narrow-gaugeish track crossing the road at a most devious angle. A helpful cop, also a bullet enthusiast, recommended a local repair shop to tighten the chain and guard. Shivpuri is a beautiful national park with a huge lake and all manner of animals except the tiger. They might also allow a bike into the jungle with a guide, the officials at the Sailing Club said - that's something I'll have to come back for later. This should make a good long-weekend program (appr. 450 km from Delhi). There were some cows on the road ahead and I stopped to photograph them. The kids stopped to look at me - they probably hadn't seen anything weirder than a city case stopping to click cows - so I took a pic of them as well. As I was heading west there was the feeling of riding into the sunset. Reached Guna after dark and took up residence in a 'yatri vishram grah' from the time of the angrez. Was advised to park motorcycle inside the room for security reasons.

Day 1 - Delhi to Agra

Left Delhi by noon, and after a few minor hitches with the bike's clutch plates at Faridabad, arrived Agra by sunset.

Paused at Mathura rest-stop to pick up a couple McDonald's burgers and dipped into the brown paper bag for a few quick bites walking back to the parking place. Rode onward to Agra without delay and finished dinner there.

 

Took up quarters for the night at a hotel on the Taj / Red Fort road, the bike parked like a faithful steed right under the window for a quick start early next day.

A trip down south

This is a blog about a motorcycle journey from Delhi to the south of India. Am writing this from my first long stop, Mumbai. The entries will be brief for now but will update as time permits. Do have a look and feel free to comment.

Thanks for stopping by, or, should I say, coming along!