Week 1 – Jan 8th to 15th – Bhuj & Nakhatrana

I was looking forward to do a tour of Gujarat and Rajasthan and end my trip at RM 2015, at Kikar Lodge, organised by the Chandigarh Road Survivors.

This was my first BOBMC Ridermania (RM) on the Bullet 500 UCE I had just bought, having done 3 previous RMs on the Cast Iron Electra 5s.

Over 2500 kms in 20 Days, with changing landscapes and some interesting incidents along the way!

Route Plan

8^th January – Arrival

I flew into Ahmedabad & Stayed with fellow biker Love Joshi and his family. Love was supposed to join me for the trip to Bhuj, but unfortunately, he had to cancel at the last minute.

9^th January – Retrieving the bike and Last Minute Checks

At the Railway Parcel office, found my bike roasting in the Ahmedabad heat on Platform 6.

None of the loaders looked too enthusiastic about getting an enfield back to the Parcel office. After a long wait, one Amit Bhai took some pity and asked me to follow him with the bike through Two Elevators and 1 walkway. I freed the bike from the confines of the Railway Authorities.

A 1-kilometre push to the nearest petrol pump gave me enough of an excuse to devour a tasty Gujarati thali at Toran Dining Hall in Ahmedabad.

Left home post siesta at 4 pm to complete last minute checks on the bike, and buy bungees, tyres tubes and most important snacks for the journey ahead!

A sumptuous dinner, and ice-cream with Love, Kiara and Tiana at Meltin. Caught up with an old friend of mine from EDI, and after a good session of ice-cream and conversation, headed back home by 10:30pm to begin my adventure!

10th January – Ride Begins
Love Joshi’s Dad woke me up early at 6:am , with chai and some bread. I bid adieu to this lovely family and headed towards Bhuj.

Had two more cups of tea near the Tata and Ford factory amidst curious onlookers

Tea, would be my “sutta” (cigarette) for this entire journey.

Weather was cool, but wind chill COLD!. Bad idea to be wearing DryFit Teeshirt!

115kms came up in a breeze, largely due to the good roads and very less traffic. Stopped for breakfast of Veg Cheese Grilled Sandwich, Orange Juice and finished the meal with “Special” Chai. 

Made good time and was in Bhuj by 3 pm(330kms). Met with Punit at Hotel Prince on Station road.

Had a quick-lunch of four Dabelis and then set off to Punits office.

Decided there, to visit CEDO (Centre For Desert And Ocean) at MotiVirani, and do a spot of birding at Banni Grasslands under the guidance of Noted naturalist Mr. Jugal Tiwari.

Mandvi was not viable as had very few places to stay, and I would most likely reach post sunset! Left for CEDO at 6.30pm. Overshot the location but was able to make it there by 8.30pm

Nice room. comfy bed. And 6 Plug points. happy to be able to charge batteries for the phone, the dslr, the power bank, the point&shoot and the iPod!!!

A hot bath, some rest and a simple vegetarian dinner, I was ready to sleep and then safari tomorrow . Mr Tiwari arrived by 10:30pm, and having met him, I was convinced to stay for 2 nights and do 2 safaris instead of one!

I decided to skip staying at the rann and cop a stay at dholavira instead. Will spend a day in Bhuj Monday.

As I was on a Budget, he suggested then that I take only the driver who’ll show me around the grassland and take me to the birding spots. I can take pictures and he could identify the birds on my return. Cost would be only for the driver

11th January – Birding in Nakhatrana ( Banni Grasslands)

Left early morning with Mr. Tiwari’s Son after regular tea , with a teaspoon of coffee!! Mostly I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

The morning safari was alright but I realised a naturalist is very much an important part of the deal. I wanted to know the how and why of the land and the history of what I saw was important to me.

I requested Mr. Tiwari for a naturalist for evening safari but no one was available. I took permission from another guest to “share” his naturalist.

He agreed on the condition that I will be willing to sit at the back of the qualis as he had two huge lenses and would like the middle row to himself.

.12th January – Return to Bhuj
The next day I left really early along with Vaibhav and Rajan who were headed to Mandvi for coastline bird photography.

The route was misty, with small hills on either side, but the bike was suddenly not pulling beyond 70 km/h . We stopped on seeing the Griffin vulture on an electric pole. We waited for the sun rise to hit them with light and Mr. Rajan got some good shots.

We parted ways here and I took to see the ship building area and wanted to see the palace as well. Saw both and was very unimpressed.

Reached Bhuj by 2 pm. Lunch was at Havmor with Punit. Pav bhaji and sev puri. Both not very good.

I had called Amit to Havmor to take a look at the bike . He suggested we take it to his mechanic Saif motors. We went and he checked the filter, the carburettor, there was some block in the bend pipe which he cleaned .

The bike stopped sputtering but the pick-up was the same. He said he will have to change the coil. Since it was under warranty he suggested I take it to RE service at Gandhidham and get it sorted.

Went to see the Bhuj Prag Palace and the Hamirsar lake.

I was feeling a bit feverish, and after a short visit to Punit’s office, headed back to Krishna’s house and took a paracetamol, covered my self in warm clothes and snoozed.

Punit got some food home by 10pm but I had lost my appetite. Poor guy. I had two bites of a sandwich and few spoons of soup and I was done. I had to send him back home as I was half dead.

13th January – Sick Day
Woke up at 6 to Diarrhea!. Took eldoper and went back to sleep. Hope things are better today.
Prashant Kumar in bangalore suggested my problem would be with the plugs and not the coil. Will check the spark plugs before heading to Gandhidham. Slept the entire day, and recovered

14th January – Longest Bike Repair Day

Can’t check the plugs as the damn tool is not correct. Anyway can’t change them here so have to go visit the Royal Enfield Authorised Service Centre.
Left Bhuj by ten thirty. Tried checking the spark plug but realised I couldn’t do anything anyway as I had no fresh spark plugs. Reached Gandhidham by 11:30am and found NCP AUTO Enfield dealer, and then the ordeal began.

NCP Auto started work on the bike around 2pm after much cajoling and requesting. 2:30pm, the owner lent me his bike, which i took for lunch at Sankalp and an Ice Lemonade at the Coffee day next door.

Returned by 3:30pm, and they had found that the carburettor had a minuscule tear around the rubber seal. Initially refused to change it under warranty, but after calling some big guns at RE (Rohan P), who had a word with the dealer, who had a word with theTerritory Service Manager (TSM), who allowed the part to be changed under warranty, under one condition!

They needed a Testimonial of “Good Service” by the dealer for me to claim “warranty”. The dealer wanted me to submit this BEFORE the work began!!! I was provided a laptop for this activity and only after pressing the “SEND” button did they do the needful

Finally left Gandhidham at 6 pm and decided to meet the Neet brothers and Madbulls in Bhuj, instead of heading to Dholavira.

While giving the bike to service I had the petrol in “on”condition with enough fuel in the tank. When they returned it they put it in reserve but didn’t mention it to me. I was misdirected to another route by a “helpful” local, that took me to the newly laid 6-lane Mundra highway instead.

A superb 45 minutes full blast ride later nearing Chassra village, the bike jerked and came to a halt. And I was in the middle of nowhere with no petrol pump for 20 kms.

Two guys on a pulsar “offered” to get the petrol for me from the nearest town. One asked me to come with him while his Pillion would look after the bike.

Fat Chance!!

I requested him to get the 2 litres in a bottle if he could, and I’d wait right here with my bike! He left assuring me that he’d get me petrol but never returned!

So much for trying to con another Gujarati in Gujarat!

I started pushing towards the nearest town and presently a guy in a jeep spots me and comes to enquire about my predicament.

After listening to my trip details, he just called a guy to come from the village with one litre for the princely sum of 100 Rupees! Turned out he was the village tahsildar’s son. He arranged for petrol and was not willing to take money for it.. but I insisted and paid him. 

They suggested I take the inner village road to Bhuj . I was skeptical about riding village roads after dusk but I was glad that I did take their advice. I was escorted some distance by Altaf, who got me another litre just to be on the safe side!

Filled up the tank at a pump just as soon as i reached the highway. Amit was frantically calling, so i stopped to send him a message.

Then the bike died. And petrol was leaking all over the place. Frantic! . Pitch Dark, only farms on either side. No Light. and had millions of mosquitoes for company!!

A good samaritan on a splendor came by to help, but to no avail. Called Amit, and sent him my location. Then it dawned that the petrol was from the overflow pipe as the tank was filled for an extra litre by an enthusiastic petrol attendant!

Started the bike & briskly put on gear and raced out of there to Bhuj. Forgot to mention to Amit about not to come to the spot. Luckily they saw me on their way and took a u turn, We caught up and proceeded to Amit’s hotel. Hotel Anjali.

Checked into the room only to find it was occupied already!

Two pigeons roosting on the air con. Was good fun chasing them out.

Joined the mad bulls to dinner at Lucky (Yucky?) Restaurant. Apparently the best non veg in town. We ordered the tandoori chicken which was good. Then ordered “lucky special” and “lucky special today”. Both were all about quantity and no quality. Resolved to stick to vegetarian while in Gujarat.

We were told that the Border Security Force (BSF) will allow vehicles on the Rann from Dholavira but not from Khavda. Decided we’d head out early morning by 7 am to Dholavira and reach by lunch. Visit the Harrapan Site, ride the rann and leave early the day after to hit kumbalgarh by lunch.

Was a good plan …on paper!!