An awful week of work at office, digressed meal hours, a sleepy mind, a tiring body and a strong zeal to relax, all in all a perfect mood to travel. This is what I told myself on that friday night when our project got signed off for delivery and we had a weekend just to sit back and enjoy. After a long battle with the office management and amidst the heavy drizzle of rain, I had reached home by 10 pm for a quick visit to have dinner, take my backpack, camera and lie down for exactly 15 minutes before I start for MANALI. It was the weekend of Valentine's, Friday the 14th of Feb which I decided to spend with my THUNDERITA(Royal Enfield ThunderBird). A Traveler's first love is Road, a road which even he doesn't knows leads to where. Though for me the destination was known but the love for the Road was not a bit less. I started by 11 from my home, and had to cross through traffic jams due to rain. Touched the highway and had reached Murthal for my favorite drink during a journey, i.e. a glass of hot milk.
There a big shocker happened, I heard from truck drivers that since from the last 3 days it had been raining in Delhi and was snowing in Manali, the road from Mandi up is very dangerous and is almost closed. I got very disappointed after hearing this, but by that time I was pretty determined to go atleast somewhere. And then a huge geographic change happened in my destination. I had been planning to visit Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary since some time now, and decided that NOW is the best time to do anything. So hence from Haryana, the first state covered in the journey, I decided to turn back towards Bharatpur. At 1'o clock in the night I started my ride towards Yamuna Express Way. It was quite cold and continuously raining, but the zeal to travel got me going. I touched the Express Way by 2 30, and then set the Bird free. For the first time I touched 130+ speed on my Thunderbird. Riding at high speeds lets you forget that there is rain falling from sky above. Though there are very high charges even for 2 wheelers on the Express Way(100 Rs one way from G.Noida to Mathura) but it offers a road where you can time travel. I'm not a huge fan of high speed riding, I guess you would just miss a lot of details which require time to unveil. Coming out of a life where things rush, I like to take breaks where the only thing rushing is the blood along my veins. But alas, the only way you can be excited on the Yamuna Express Way is if you rush through it. There is nothing to look around, nor any scenic curves or places alongside. So in an hour I was at the turn to Mathura. The road from there takes you on a familiar highway, like what I'm used to. Lots of speed breakers, holes all along and paddy fields on both ends. I always feel that when I'm riding alone in dark, where the only light is the headlight of my bike, then that is the best time to make any decision, even as big as falling in love with someone. In the night it was hard to navigate through the unknown roads and with very little sign boards marking the way to Bharatpur. Somehow I was able to figure out and reached the Keoladeo National Park by 4 30 am. It has an artistic entrance madee by the paintings and statues of the birds living in. The park opens by 6 30 am, so I had good 2 hours to finally relax. At the entrance only you can find place to lie down, and lie down beneath the open sky as by that time rain had stopped and sky was clear. While in the cities it's just hard to believe that there are zillions of stars up there, but in places not hindered by artificial lights, the nature shows you it's true colors, and yes the picture is always magnificient.
I woke up by the noise of some people lined up for the tickets at the counter. It was 7'0clock and the weather was just perfect for a beautiful day ahead. Best thing about Bharatpur Bird sanctuary is that you can roam around the jungle on a bicycle. After leaving Bangalore, I had not even touched the cycle, so this was quite a refreshment. You get a bicycle at rs 40 for the next 6 hours. As soon as you enter inside, you will feel you are at a different place, different than the one's where we dwell. A thin stretch of road, domed by the trees, fresh breeze all over and guraded by a pristine silence.
The rickshaw drivers at Bharatpur are very good guides, they know the names of every bird inside the park and also know the places and specific times of spotting different species at the park. All you gotta do is follos one of the rickshaw, stop wherever it stops and listen to them pretty carefully. Beautiful birds like never seen before are all over the park, and they are quite camera obsessive too. I observed a lot of different species of birds mingling with each other, and as per the local rickshaw guides, most of them were our visitors from far off places. There are deers, swamp deers, bucks, jackals etc also to be spotted all along the roads.
As you move along there are very nice tracks to cycle/walk on all around the park, where in going towards the L block is the best route. The track is surrounded by lakes on both ends and hence it has a serene look all over. Birds crowd the whole lake and the shredded trees create a poster like look. I kept following the road leading into the deeper parts of the jungle. The road kept getting thinner, the jungle denser with the voice of my pedalling disturbing the ecology of the place. After riding for like 1 mile inside I stopped and suddenly realized that there is no one talking. Yes, that was the first time that I experienced the pin drop silence my teachers pleaded to maintain during the classes. Perfect time, moment and place to lie down and sleep off. I think I had a nap for about 2 hours there, before being waken up by a monkey. It was more like a movie when the moment I opened my eyes I saw a monkey sitting next to me, staring at me and probably wondering "WTF". I got up and realized, that according to the local guides the time to spot famous pelicans had come. I rushed towards the last spot on the road that is the Keoladeo temple from where you can spot the Pelicans. Professional photographers with their huge lenses and expensive equipements were all lined up all over the place. Everybody just waiting for one of the pelican to spread it's wing and tempt to fly. Some lucky shots:
After cycling for like another half an hour I turned back and decided to move towards Mathura. So that was the second state in the journey, Rajasthan, and the the city of birds Bharatpur marked a great experience and photography exercise. I left Bharatpur by 1 pm and in the afternoon it took me another 1 30 hours to reach Mathura. First thing I did after reaching there was Brunch, though a bit late in the day, but guess this is how it had to happen. Next spot was the Krishna JanmaBhoomi in Mathura. You cannot take any electronic item inside the temple, and there is a cloak room where you can submit them for 2 rs. Inside the temple the main spot is the jail room where Lord Krishna is said to be born. The sound of "Om Krishnaya Namah" will soothe you all over. For the first time I enjoyed meditation in my 30 minutes stay inside the chamber, though I remember falling in sleep for the 15 amongst them. I went on it's roof, and the most crucial detail of the place was discovered. The chamber shares walls with a mosque just behind it. I am not a strong believer in the concept of GOD as explained in mythology, as there are lot of them and all claim that their GOD created this very single instance of the world we live in. If the world is one then so must be it's creator. That place made me realize that all the concept of GOD comes to a single point of origin, like this one, two completely different religions converging to pray at the same spot, just one had a statue to bow down to and the other did not. And how can you forget about the famous "Mathura ke pede", bought 2 kgs of them, had some super quality rabri(must have). I left from the temple towards Kans Quila whose location was known to very few localites. When I reached the place it looked in a great shape to have survived from such a long time, but I was not able to get even close to the fort because of a huge traffic jam. I decided not to waste time and started moving towards Vrindavan. The road to Vrindavan from Mathura has lot of temples alongside. The one to be noted is "Pagal Baba ka Mandir", a 9 floor marble temple with every floor decreasing in area from the lower one. Nice and calm place to relax for some time.
Moving towards the city would take you along the private builders societies about to be developed in Vrindavan, and the beautiful mustard fields about to be destroyed for the same. Got a chance to click a selfie with my Valentine, though it made the local people left wondering with, "Why would someone click the photo of a bike that too by risking his camera".
It was around 5pm when I reached Vrindavan, so I decided to visit the Kesi Ghat for Sunset. On the way to Kesi ghat I spotted 2 unusual things about that place. One a temple named Jaipur temple and a camel cart, both making it Rajasthan again. Jaipur Temple was built by then king of Jaipur in 1900's, for which all the stone was brought from Jaipur and a special railway track was built for the same. The railway track can still be seen at backyard of the temple. The architecture also hints a typical rajasthani fort. The temple has a complex where temple staff and some senior officials of Vrindavan live. I met with some kids who were playing there. All of them were so excited to see my camera and they started posing one by one. I enjoyed their company and played Ice-Pice with them for a while. Got to drink water and had some cookies from their home in return :D.
After this small refreshment I reached Kesi ghat. It's a clean Yamuna bank where a one way floating bridge is the only means to cross the river. I settled on one end and waited eagerly for the colour transitions which were about to happen for the sunset. Lied down at a nearby boat next to a dog, who ended up sharing my pack of Good Day.
As it got darked I decided to move back for Delhi, and marking the end of visit to the 3rd state Uttar Pradesh. I touched the Yamuna Express Way by 7pm and it took me exactly 57 minutes to cross the 110km stretch till Greater Noida. Was at my bed by 8 30 pm. 130+ again, and this time just 2 cars were able to overtake me, one being an Audi and the other a hard working Swift. My cook took an unplanned leave and hence we got pizza for dinner. Around 10 30 I was watching news where in they reported about a Yoga festival to happen after 2 weeks in Haridwar and Rishikesh. Pics of Rishikesh were tempting enough to motivate me for another 240km trip to Rishikesh. So, with Sunday still being vacant, I decided lets take a dip in Ganges and Rishikesh has always moved me. Without even thinking twice, and despite of the shocking expressions of my room mate I was on my way to Rishikesh by 11 30 pm. The first 120 km of road till Muzaffarnagar is very nice and the toll not chargeable for Motorcycles. It was quite foggy, but I was able to maintain a brisk speed to reach Muzaffarnagar by 1pm. The road from Muzaffarnagar to Roorkee is where the horror starts. Rain had filled in the huge holes on the road which I believe would have been there even before India had won the World Cup(for the first time). The road is very dangerous and you just can't maintain a steady average on it. The road from Roorkee to Rishikesh is slightly better with some patches of good road in the middle. Finally I reached Rishikesh by 3 30am. I had read about the Swarg Ashram offering very cheap rooms, and pretty near to the Ram Jhula. I reached the place but at that early hour nothing was open. The engine noice of Enfield though disturbed a lot of people who were sleeping by the roadside. After realizing that nothing was open, I decided to sit for some time at the bank. Hoping for the "Ganga Aarti" to start by 4 am, I was eagerly waiting at doors of the temple, which did not open till 4 30. I heard enchants of Hare Rama, Hare Krishna from one ashram. As the doors were open I went in, and joined the disciples in the prayers, only ending up sleeping and snoring between them. I was woken up by a disciple after around half an hour, and with a highly embarassed face, I left the place. At around 5 am I found an ashram open which was offering rooms also. At Rs 150 I got a room as big as what I am staying in Noida, with a kitchen and a bathroom attached. Wasting not even a minute more I was off to sleep with an alarm set to 9 am.
The alarm rang from 9 am and I woke up at 11 30 am. Followed a goofy like walk to the bathroom for getting fresh and soon rushed to wards Ganges for a dip. It was drizzling and I was inside Ganges. Cold and very clean water, cold breeze, drizzling rain from above and with a slipping underwear, I had the next 15 minutes filled with only Revital like rejuvenation. After this i was on to the famous Chotiwala for Brunch. The food was ok, but the model who has to sit for the whole day was quite remarkable. I remember the faint memory of my childhood visit to the same restaurant when I had pulled choti of the model and got beaten up all over by my mom. Didn't repeat it this time though.
With a overfull stomach I decided to travel to a lonely side of the river where I could spend the whole day. Following on the trail to Laxman Jhula from Ram Jhula, you can find lots of beautiful Ashrams, Yoga centres, river beaches and secret idols.
I followed on the road ro Neelkanth, for some 15 km, stopping on the way for some shots of the beautiful landscapes, the place is made of. Rafting is like the most famous sport practised at this place and almost half of the riverside is full of camps which offer rafting and camping. They have chosen some beautiful locations with some even having facilities to play Volleyball along the river. I found a spot where there was enough sunlight, sweet music of river flow and great view. Trekked down to the base of the river and lied there for the next hour. No one was to be seen there apart from the ecstatic beauty and the clear blue sky. Sometimes with closed eyes, you see a lot. With the mind rushing through boring and monotonous life during the weekdays, treating it with a vacation like this opens it up for a lot more to be taken in. Lying down at the bank all I could have thought was, how good and relaxing it is to keep traveling. I was fancying the lives of primitive men, who just had to travel and do whatever they liked to. Though they might not have been Civilized as per our present definitions, but still I feel smoehow they would have been enjoying more. We all just focus on making the future better and in the spare time repenting on the past, thereby leaving the present unattended. If we only keep saving money for future or keep working to reach a big position in the future we will never be able to enjoy the future as these desires just know how to grow and never settlle down. With these philosophies well sorted out, a motivational speech to myself and a desire if I can just travel for the rest of my life, I decided to move back.
I had read about a famous German bakery in Rishikesh, and in a city with just one road it was not hard to locate. Had lemon cake, Honey nut cake and Cinamon Roll there of which only the first one was good and in fact quite different and a must try. The place is full of foreigners and luckily I shared table with a very pretty american girl Bridgette. She had been in India since December and calls India her second home now. Best part about her was her job, she runs a crafts shop in Vermontt and sells Indian art there. In fact she was all dressed up in Indian attires and had mehandi on her hands, all done by herself. Had a nice small chat with her and then we were both on our ways back. I roamed around for some more time and then found a very nice shelter in a boat at the bank. Lied down there for some time and decided to have Sex once with my future wife at that very spot. Romantically too good a place probably because of the silence and clear sky above.
I decided to fill my ever hungry stomach again with Makki ki roti and sarso ka saag, which turned out to be another disappointment at the Chotiwala. Packed my bag then and was on my way back by 10 30 pm. I was quite sleepy and tired but I didn't wanted it to end. All I was thinking of was to get a nice sleep and travel to another place the next day. The greatest discovery I made was a realization. A realization about the true company one can have, that is the Mother Nature. There have been times when in a city with around 2 million people I have felt alone, but not for a millisecond did I feel lonely in the last 48 hours. With this the 4th state Uttarakhand was over and my tale of 2 Days, 4 States too.
