Tragedy strilkes ..

Tragedy struck us on 4th september. It came in the form of an accident -- Das met with an accident on 4th afternoon near muzaffarnagar. He missed a speedbreaker -in fact couple of them , and lost control of the Gunner,and the skid across the road and fell.
Praveen seeing Das in a pool of blood took him to the nearest medical facility a few kms away with the help of a few local resident villagers. Das has a few fractures - on the left leg ankle, and another on the jaw bone. A plaster cast was put on the leg as an immediate treatment.
Das was then brought to Delhi and then to Trichur via Kochi. On 5th september, he was admitted in the hospital in Trichur. Two surgeries were performed on the jaw and the ankle

Das is now recovering in the hospital.

Praveen came back to Bangalore since he was the only guy left.

Thus, the whole himalaya trip came to a premature and unfortunate end.

The spirit is still alive. Time can help heal all the wounds.

The snaps from Praveen's Camera - http://picasaweb.google.com/praveen.unni/AnUnfortunateKashmirRide

Godspeed !
DKM

Off to the Hills

We are starting to the mountains today from the plains. Unfortunately, there are only two of us, since Deb's Legend broke down and he could not catch up with us.

We would go to Dehra Dun & then proceed to Simla. And, visit Hardwar and Rishikesh on the way to Dehra Dun. The days in Delhi were well spent, we could gather all the essential tents/sleeping bags etc.

Agra & Delhi

Spent close to a day in Agra. Since it was Friday, Taj was closed, hence we were denied a closer look. We visited Agra Fort and reached Delhi by late night. Saturday and Sunday were spent on fixing ladakh carriers on the bikes , servicing the bike etc

We are trying to get the tents and sleeping bags on rent from Delhi.We would start the journey to the hills by Tuesday ,mostly.

Maharajahs of India

The journey from Sagar to Jhansi was not very eventful. Except the minor incident , where a cow interrupted our way suddenly out of the blue. Praveen got his Enfield to a sudden halt and I (Das) had to maneuver myself to avoid hitting Praveen's bike. Our cramsters kissed each other and I managed to brush the cow. I went off the road and onto the mud and gravel for a while.

We ran into a few bikers coming back from Ladakh( they were from Nagpur) near Gwalior. They shared their experiences in Leh, (apparently, it seems it was very warm in leh!!) and we have videotaped them.

Moving on to Agra from the Gwalior , we were the only ones on the 4-lane highway. There were lots of crickets and other insects for company. There was a curfew declared in Agra, hence not many vehicles were being allowed. When we reached Agra, a police officer helped us to find us a hotel.

Agra, the land of Taj Mahal, the city where Mughals had built some magnificient architectural
marvels like Fatehpur sikri, was very silent due to a curfew.

When the going gets tough..

We woke up early morning and hoped to travel quite a distance from Nagpur today. But , after a few hours of travel, we were in for a shock. Lack of road .. Yes. There was hardly any road on the stretch to Sagar - NH 26 is only for the name. And there were plenty of cattle on the road

We reached Sagar late at night and quite tired too.

To the Center of India

We started from Nizamabad on Tuesday morning and crossed the Ghats. It was not a great ride since the road was bad and we had to slow down quite a bit.

We reached Nagpur by late evening and spent the night there.

Through Nizam's land

We begain the second day of our journey from Kurnool on August 27th when the sun's rays had started heating up the dry earth. We were on the highway to Hyderabad, and we were destined to be stuck in the messy traffic of Hyderabad. We missed the bypass exits, and found ourselves in the midst of heavy traffic of Nizam's city.

By late noon, we had travelled more than 600 kms and then the raingods blessed us. We had to stop for a while waiting for the rain to subside.

The long day ended when we reached Nizamabad and it was past 10 pm.

The Discovery Begins

The morning was cool, and we were ready for the ride. There was a small gathering at MG Road near Cubbon park. A few friends and relatives had come to wish us good luck and watch us embark on this historic ride. The media - the press and TV were there to catch the action live. The Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr. Reddy graced the occassion by 'waving the green Desvios flag' -- the discovery had begun. Cameras clicked and Engines roared. Not just the 3 bullets of ours, but more than 20 Motorcycle engines of our dear friends who accompanied us for a while.

Yet, luck played the spoilsport.. Debraj's Legend failed.. He stayed back to get the Legend back in action.

The two of us moved on to Kurnool --our first pit-stop

Countdown begins

Getting ready -- few hours left..

Last minute packing.. getting late..