The Thar Thunderers

The Eighth Anniversary Ride

8 years have passed since the formation of Bulls on Parade. What a Ride it has been. Although we are on a decline, some stubborn riders refuse to give up and are keeping the flame of freedom still lit. The last remaining survivors have now taken the ante so high up that if any of the other riders were to join, they would not make it through. Records for longest stretches (with and without breaks) have grown manifold.

Our last longest single day stretch was in August 2013 with the Udaipur Upbeats Ride with a distance travelled of 680 kms in 16 hours. At that time the possibility of going longer was immediately rejected as the Ride had left us drained. But in the end of 2015 with our stamina growing higher, the possibility of another long haul started to emerge. As for the location, Jaisalmer was the obvious choice having covered Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Pushkar, Mandawa, Ranthambhore, Bundi already. Rajasthan has always been the destination for our club anniversaries. We adore the food, architecture and hospitality of the state and the crown jewel of Jaisalmer was an itch beyond control. The decision was made to boldly go in a single stroke to where none had been before, at least to my knowledge.

Invites were floated around with no acceptances as usual. It also turned out to be a blessing as the distances we would be covering would not have been possible in a larger group. On the designated day, only two of us were determined and eager enough to turn up.

Ankit Gupta - Royal Enfield Classic 350
Diptinder Singh Chhabra - Royal Enfield Electra 4S

I am ever so grateful to Ankit for not leaving me stranded on this Ride and without whom, we would not have covered such excellent places.

Day 1: Saturday
Starting point: Leisure Valley Park, Gurgaon
Finishing point ambitiously expected to be Jaisalmer.

Google Maps showed the distance to be covered to be 753 kms. What a farce!!! All this technology might and such a glaring mistake.

We met up at Leisure Valley Park at 4:40 AM and started our ride. It was cold but not bitterly cold. 3 months had passed since our last ride. Now, on the open road on my Bullet, I felt belonged again. We made good progress and crossed Dharuhera, Rewari and Narnaul with ease covering a good 120 kms. The going still did not stop as we entered Rajasthan. The roads are looked forward to prompting us to travel on and on. Finally, we stopped near Jhunjhunu after covering 240 kms. 

The sun was starting to provide warmth as we downed our breakfast. Behind our gladness of the happening of the Ride was also the concern of reaching the destination. We had miles to go. The BIG question mark had deterred us from making any advance booking.

The warmth of the sun was turning into heat now. Another 130 kms were covered when my motorcycle struck reserve. This was unexpected. I had left with a full tank and a range of 500 kms was expected. I hadn't also raced fast enough to provide such a measly mileage. It may be due to the new clutch plates or maybe the Enfield was in the need of another heart transplant, Zaheer would tell later. The pace had to be lowered now until the next petrol pump could be found. In these parts, pumps are few and far. Fortunately, we had to cover only 30 kms in this reduced pace and we fuelled up at Ratangarh. In a twisted state of mind, we were glad that another of our regular riders, Ranaji was not with us. Fuel stops would have been more frequent given the shorter tank on his Bullet. KTMs can forget taking this ride without anxiety on an hourly basis. The pace increased again. We were close to Bikaner now. Back in Dec 2009, we had covered this distance in about 16 hours and many breaks. This time we were in range in 7 hours and only one break. But then a nasty surprise hit us.

Jaisalmer was expected to be less than 300 kms now. The next milestone indicated it to be 497 kms. The number blew us out of our minds. We were in denial mode and hoped the mistake to be corrected in the next milestone. It didn't. The 753 kms had now metamorphosed into 860 kms.

Braving the odds, we crossed Bikaner guided through the city by helpful locals and touched the Jaisalmer road. We stopped for lunch at around 4 PM with 300+ kms still to go. But instead of being overwhelmed by the distance, we were in laughs. It is a splendidly good idea to laugh in the face of misery. For now, we enjoyed our Rajasthani cuisine of bajra roti, chana masala and gatta curry with chaach for digestion. We took our time at this stop and deservedly so.

The sun was now setting. As it grew dark, traffic was nearly non-existent. We had the road to ourselves and zoomed ahead. I have a theory that 200 kms is a threshold point. On one side is a feeling of lethargy and crushing. The other side is achievable and fills one with hope. As we neared Pokhran, the site of Operation Smiling Buddha, a feeling of supremacy started to emerge. I deliberately fuelled up in this village hoping to catch some nuclear fuel. No, there are no protective, warning signs here. 120 kms remained to the destination. With traces of this nuclear powered fuel, we reached our destination at around 9 PM. Surprisingly, we were not even that tired. We took refuge in Zostel at Helsinki House. Dorms were not available so we had to take up a room. At that time and having covered 860 kms (890 kms for Ankit) we were not in an arguing mood but in a celebratory one. James Hetfield didn't travel on this road when he sang "When you're riding 16 hours, there's nothing much to do". Our evening had just begun.

This was High#1.

Route taken: Gurgaon - Rewari - Narnaul - Bikaner - Jaisalmer

By the time we made it to the rooftop restaurant, it was nearly 11 PM. The Jaisalmer Fort was shining with all its glory right before us. I would agree with what one of my friends told me. While the Mehrangarh Fort is imposing, the Jaisalmer Fort is beautiful. The seating on the rooftop was amazing. The late hour had left the rooftop all to ourselves. 

Unfortunately, even the cook had left. Thanks to the standby guy Naseer, we were able to get some eggs and bread. We didn't mind at all. To truly celebrate the occasion I had brought along rum-soaked raisins. A million thanks to one of our earlier co-riders, Vikas for sharing this "recipe". Ankit had insisted that I bring them along for this ride. They had been preserved for nearly two years and now the rum was well and truly soaked inside the raisins blending into one colour. We cheered to our achievement. There is a time to be modest. Today just was not that day. We took great pride in our endurance. The previous single day stretch record had not only been broken, it had been shattered. Just so that our pride does not turn into arrogance, we would be facing several bouts of humbleness in the days to come.

The Bulls on Parade Bangalore Chapter had also been on a ride to Udupi and Gokarna to celebrate the anniversary. But it turned out to be a solo one with BK only able to make it. We had stayed in touch during the day updating each other about our progress. BK had also tried calling before drifting off to sleep, but I had not been able to attend the call at that time. Without caring for the time, I called him up now. BK woke up from his slumber but in no time was wide awake. He narrated the goof-ups of another co-rider, Satish the Storymaster which would be remembered for days to come. The great distance between us did not affect the BBB at all. Brotherhood was still strong.

We drank to our fill to whatever our somewhat tired bodies would allow and then crashed for the night. Our Bullets must have also been snoozing now. Our specialist Zaheer had prepared them well for this ride and they performed effortlessly.

Day 2: Sunday
Jaisalmer

Our agenda only included the local sightseeing within the "Golden City" premises today. Given the small size of the city, this did not seem much demanding. But first item on the agenda was breakfast. Rajasthan has a huge platter of dishes to be served. We were on the lookout for kadi-kachodi and poha. Asking around for the local sweet shop, we were directed towards Dhanraj Bhatia sweet shop. Kadi-kachodi was not available, but mirchi pakoda surely was. I bit into a very hot piece of chilli here then had to douse the fire with jalebi. Moving on, Ankit did manage to find one that served kadi-kachodi and we filled our stomachs with it. Sadly, the stall that served poha was closed.

We rode our Enfields into the fort and explored the territory with it. Being a Sunday, the viewpoints were crowded with tourists, mostly from Gujarat. We hired a guide, Vijay to take a tour inside the palace complex. There were way too many passages inside the palace and our guide took us through them with ease. Given our sense of navigation, we would have been easily lost inside the complex. The guides also share some very interesting stories, ones that may not even be in the historical books.

Vijay also led us to the Jain temple. This is a piece of architecture marvel. The stone engravings here are spell-binding. 

After seeing this magnificent structure, we skipped the Patwa haveli, one of the most recommended place in Jaisalmer. On a discrete note, the guide did ask Ankit, and notably Ankit only, if he would prefer some additional "arrangements". The reputation of Delhiwalas precede them.

The weather had grown quite warm now. It was time for a cold drink. We wandered around several restaurants where we could get beer and non-veg together but were disappointed. Having such a large tourist influx, this was not expected. We decided to head back to Zostel only. It offered both along with a splendid view of the Fort. The service was however less than satisfactory. The cook was not in a good mood as if our order was keeping him from some other task. But in reality I suspect the attitude of the staff towards Indian tourists. We were going to face more of it in the coming days in Jaisalmer. In fact not just the staff, I've seen this attitude with the foreign tourists themselves too. This is why I have stopped interacting with them. Bunch of snobs.

BK made contact again. He had reached Gokarna but was struggling to find a place to stay there. All the other tourists were foreigners. After a lot of hunting around carrying his saddle bags, he finally managed to find one. We leisured around planning on what to do next. The answer came in a nap. For dinner we had ordered Laal Maas along with instructions to make it extra hot. After a blissful nap, we headed towards the Gadisar lake on foot. Ankit was not feeling alright and we thought that a walk around would be good. We got lost along the way and made it to the lake, half a km away in just under an hour. Our navigation skills keep on surfacing now and then. We can ride miles on the highways but get easily lost in the city. We hung around the lake soaking in the cool air and observing the stars. I missed seeing a clear night sky here. It is impossible to see it clearly in NCR, but out here it is to be expected. That was another small disappointment for us. Making our way back to Zostel, the rest of the staff warned us about the Laal Maas. They themselves do not have it that hot. This spiked up our interest and we made our way to the rooftop yet again. But first, we had to layer the inside of our stomachs with some trusty Old Monk.

Our beacon of light among the cold, dark staff was Naseer. He gladly obliged to heat up the meat after we finished our drinks. One taste of the meat and we were disappointed. The cook had only added extra doses of chillis otherwise the taste was a little sweet. Ankit had heard stories of our exploits of delectable Laal Maas in our previous Rajasthan rides. The real good taste eluded him.

We had shifted into the dorm for the night for economic reasons. Other companions were a Bullet GT rider, Gaurav coming from Jodhpur and an American, who we ignored.

Day 3: Monday
Longewala, Tanot Mata temple, Sam sand dunes

With the dawn of the next day began the quest for breakfast. This time though the stall selling poha was open and we gulped it down. Another helping of kadi-kachodi was taken.

Longewala was one of the main highlights I was looking forward to on this Ride. The site of one of the most historic battles fought by India is a must-visit. The 110 kms to the BSF check point were covered in near-isolation. There were hardly any other travellers along the arrow straight road. Before departing, we had booked a non-tourist package to visit Sam (pronounced as "sum") sand dunes later in the day. We had to make it to Sam by 4 PM. By 1 PM, we reached the Longewala war memorial and made our entry in the BSF register.

Route taken: Jaisalmer - Ramgarh - Longewala

I always get overwhelmed when visiting such places specially when reading the lines "When you go home, tell them of us and say For their tomorrow, we gave our today" and "How better can a man die than facing fearful odds for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods". The valiant nature displayed by the Indian Armed Forces is too inspiring. Its also pitiful that the people these men are protecting are fighting over meaningless stuff amongst themselves. It is also these men that are being denied the right of One Rank One Pension.

Notable mentions on the memorial were of:

Maj Kuldip Singh Chandpuri
Lt. Dharam Vir
Sub Rattan Singh
Sep Mathura Dass
Sep Bishan Dass
Sep Jagjit Singh
Sep Bhagi Ram
Dfr Harbir Singh
LNk Bhairon Singh

This was High#2.

Unfortunately, we missed out on taking permits from Jaisalmer to visit the border check post 15 kms away. After paying our tributes, we made way for the Tanot Mata Temple. Initially, we were hesitant as we had to reach Sam in time, but then the BSF guard gave a surprise reaction as to how we could NOT visit the holy site having come all this way. The road was narrow but in great condition. The lack of rains helps in their conversation. All through the Ride, the song "Sandeshe aate hain" kept on playing in the minds of both of us. Its true that unless a movie is made about a historic event, it gets deleted from memory. We made it to the temple in good time and paid our tributes there too. It is said that during the shelling in the 1971 war, all of the village got destroyed save for the temple. This was a huge morale boost for the troops. We raised our morale too.

Now we started our return dash to Sam. We had been riding throughout on this day too but with the excellent roads, we didn't mind. All the tiredness of the first day was gone. Sam was reached just before sunset and we reached the sand dunes campsite before dark making a speed run on the camels and having witnessed the sunset over  the dunes on the way, Our guide Jumme Khan kept us entertained throughout.

Route taken: Longewala - Tanot - Ramgarh - Bhadasar - Damodara - Sam

Gaurav, the GT rider was there too along with another visitor, Zeeshan who had come from Bangalore. Another foreign tourist was supposed to come, but having learnt that we Indians would also be in the group, he had declined. Bloody snobs. All too well for us as now we had the place to ourselves. The non-tourist package is devoid of all facilities. One stays out in the open desert. There are no tents, no cots, nothing. The villagers accompanying us welcomed us with hot tea. We were in isolation with not a soul around for miles. Dinner would be prepared over wood fire, very basic and vegetarian.

As it grew dark, time was ripe to bring out the Old Monk and rum-soaked raisins, the only stuff that we were carrying. Gaurav took a taste of the raisins and was surprised at the combination. We're going to spread Vikas' recipe around the world. Another pleasant surprise came when a sack of beer was brought out. Gaurav helped himself as we were quite content with the Monk. Later, a bonfire was lit and we all huddled around it as it grown quite cold. The only thing missing was someone dancing to the tune of "Morni baaga ma bole". I encouraged Ankit to complete the scene but he was not in the mood.

As we finished our very basic but delicious dinner, one of the villagers laid around blankets to serve as beds. Meanwhile the bonfire had extinguished and it was freezing. Thankfully, the quilts were quite warm. We drifted to sleep under the spectacularly moonlit sky in our million star hotel.

This was High#3.

Day 4: Tuesday
Kuldhara, Khaba, Barmer

Sleep was in breaks. One woke up as soon the quilt slid and the face was exposed. It was quite chilly out there. I woke up first and went for a stroll. Next was Gaurav who went around clicking the sunrise from the top of every dune. By 7 AM everyone was up as the sun brightened. Jam toast and hot tea were served for breakfast. Then we started our return journey.

Gaurav wanted to explore the road further down from Sam. We thanked our hosts and started our return along with Zeeshan joining us and headed to Kuldhara, the ghost town. It is said to be haunted when all the inhabitants disappeared around 300 years ago. The location has been exploited as a tourist destination charging for entry of vehicles and personnel. Inside the abandoned village, many kids came along wanting to act as guides. We were not interested. We just wanted to roam around inside on our motorcycles and observe the spookiness of the place. But there wasn't any such feeling. Some structures even appeared made up. We explored a bit more, lit up a bonfire inside the baoli, looked at Irfan Khan shooting a movie scene in the distance and headed to the next place.

The closest one was Khaba fort. The place turned out to be a dud. It was a disgrace in the name of a fort. Better avoid it. The ruins however at the base of the fort were a greater attraction. 

Since we had to reach Barmer today, we headed back to Jaisalmer to pick up our luggage at Zostel, dropping off Zeeshan along the way to the Fort. We only had 150 kms to cover to Barmer. Having covered 850 kms, it seemed like a neighbourhood ride. Even now we were making long hauls never stopping before covering 100 kms. We braked at a dhaba from where I called my KREC batchmate, Rajesh Agri who was in Barmer, or so I thought. It turned out that he had been recently transferred to Jaisalmer and was there the entire week. Still he promised to come to Barmer later in the evening and even got a room booked for us.

Having ridden on barren stretches till now the road to Barmer that goes on to Kandla port seemed too traffic heavy. Compared to Delhi-Jaipur stretch this was a country road. Then we entered the Barmer city, checked-in and waited for Agri. Meeting batchmates after 12 years is a wonderful experience. Appearances change but the way of speaking, the language, the attitude remains the same. One is taken back to the student life when we used to hang out together. He took us to a nearby bar which served non-veg too. I was rightly blamed for not contacting Agri before starting the ride. We would have had a whale of a time in Jaisalmer. 

Discussions moved to yesteryears. We tried our best that Ankit did not feel left out. The whole agenda of visiting Barmer had turned to meeting Agri as Barmer does not have a tourist attraction. Reuniting people is one of the most beneficial effects of Whatsapp. The chicken served here was better than whatever we had tasted in Jaisalmer. Now began the hunt for paan. We had to roam the entire town till we found it. The other stalls had ran out, strangely. Agri dropped us off at our rooms and told us to seek him out whenever we were in Rajasthan next. He could be found in any city at any time.

This was High#4.

Route taken: Jaisalmer - Barmer

Day 5: Wednesday
Barmer - Bera

Our fortunes were to take a giant leap from this day on. It's not as if we had faced misfortune till now but we were unprepared for the escalated highs to come. Bera was added to my wishlist after being introduced by my long term co-planner Nishant Jha. We had planned in the previous years to hold an Anniversary Ride to here, but the plan never materialized. Without missing on the opportunity now, Bera was quickly added to the week long itinerary. Even Agri hadn't heard of Bera despite his ancestral place situated quite close to it. But before leaving from Barmer, there was another critical issue to handle, Breakfast.

The market right opposite the railway station came recommended by Agri. Now started rounds of kachodis minus the kadi, some large papad served with dal and masala, aloo wadas ending with hot tea. Agri couldn't come to say goodbye as he had to leave for Jodhpur while we headed to Bera, 250 kms away. This time the road was a single narrow state highway surrounded by desert vegetation. Despite the narrow road there was dense population all the way. Another fault we discovered with Google Maps was that there was no sign of construction activity as shown by the app. We stopped at a roadside dhaba after covering 130 kms near Jalore, it comes easy now. The food served was simple, but delicious. Again, the great taste of veg food took us by surprise. We were starting to get turned off by non-veg food. A local Jeep driver recommended us to take a diversion on the road ahead from Takhatgarh to Sumerpur. Thanks to this advice, we saved around 20 kms. One can't get such advice from Google Maps. Local knowledge is unbeatable. This saving was extremely helpful as we navigated through the town of Sumerpur. Another unforgettable person at this place would be the person who told us we would be able to find a place to stay in Bera easily.

Maps showed their blunder again as it made us navigate through colony roads. The dwellers were taken aback by the two motorcyclists riding in heavy gear carrying loads through their neighbourhood. The Maps app was still not done as it navigated us through village roads across many railway tracks, but we managed to reach Bera before dark.

Route taken: Barmer - Chava - Jalore - Takhatgarh - Sumerpur - Bera

Online search only showed Castle Bera, a heritage hotel, as the place to stay. We roamed around in many circles in the almost deserted village but could not spot it. There were a number of houses but all were locked. This one resembled a ghost town more than Kuldhara. That spooky feeling was prevalent. Finally with some guidance we were able to locate Castle Bera run by Thakur Baljeet Singh and entered its gates. This place is a luxury hotel and the best price they could offer us was 12000, which included stay and Safari. We had already spent most of our money in Jaisalmer and simply could not afford to stay here. 

We prepared ourselves for night ride to Pali 100 kms away when the guard told us about another place, the Leopard's Lair resort located close by better known as Thakur Saab ka Bageecha. It was owned by the brother of Thakur Baljeet Singh, Thakur Devi Singh who we would later come to know as Datta. Legally, it was owned by the wife of Thakur Devi Singh.

As we entered the property, caretakers came out and asked us to wait till Datta returned from the evening safari with his other guests. The resort was a great location amid lush greenery and we were not expecting a cheap price here too. I was prepared to come here for some future ride where Bera would be the sole destination. Lady Luck shone brightly in the guise of Datta. He offered us a good package and we moved into one of the rooms as tea was ordered. Maybe he was also pleased by our sense of adventure having arrived at his doorstep on motorcycles or maybe he just took pity.

When we rejoined the other guests had returned from their evening Safari. Chairs were laid out for all of us. The other guests included Mr. Salim Ali, a naturalist from Ranthambhore, Robin, an avid photographer and Karen, a regular German tourist. Datta has the voice and personality of a retired officer. He has been a naturalist for 25 years and has done intensive study of Bera leopards. A projector was setup where Datta played the scenes captured from the day's safari. All this was happening as the guests were enjoying their whiskey while we were having our pre-ordered tea. As the evening progressed, Datta narrated one story after another from his huge stockpile of engrossing tales. As much as we were enjoying the stories, our throats were parched to have a taste of whiskey. We were feeling too shy to ask having already got a good discount on the rates. It was like a form of medieval torture. Our stock had also run out so it wasn't that we could retire and have a drink in our rooms. To add to our misery a bonfire was lit up escalating our thirst. We gave the fire enough attention to divert our minds from the whiskey. It didn't help. The whiskey bottle was playing striptease right in front of us and we were shying away despite being very aroused.

When Ankit couldn't handle it any more he went off taking a phone call. Finally, I had had enough and begged for a drink trying to sound as calm as possible. Datta was very gracious and asked the caretaker to bring out a whole bottle. When Ankit came back a while later, Datta asked him, "Your friend has asked for a drink. Would you like one too?". With great suppressed enthusiasm Ankit gave a mellow "Yes". The leashes were off. What followed now were unforgettable tales from both Datta and Salim with Robin giving his witty remarks in between. Narrated instances spoke of egoistic travellers who pissed in their pants when encountering the big cats. Salim informed us that at Castle Bera, Thakur Baljeet Singh does not interact with guests regularly like Thakur Devi Singh does. It is also not often that Datta gets into the mood for narrating his tales. Today he was in the right mood. We were in the company of experienced naturalists and enjoying every bit of it. Even more now that we had whiskey. From the tales we learnt that Datta was responsible for the preservation of these leopards here despite the area not being under a wildlife sanctuary and not even being declared as forest land. He had himself compensated from his own pocket the losses to the families surrounding this area. Another big news we learnt from Salim was that the prized tiger of Ranthambhore, Machhli, was still alive squashing the rumours of her death.

This was High#5.

When the bonfire started extinguishing, we headed to the dining hall for dinner with Datta taking the head chair. A platter of dishes was laid out. I concentrated only on the chicken. A thick red chilli sauce was also present which Salim described as "dimaag-roshan" translated to mind-enlightenment. It made sense because when your stomach is clean the next morning, the mind is also fresh. Ankit helped himself to palak-paneer describing it as the best he had ever tasted.

We had to wake up early the next morning for the safari at 6 AM. So everyone said goodbyes as Datta also left for his home.

Day 6: Thursday
Bera, Om Banna Temple, Jodhpur

We got up in time and reached the Gypsy at 6 AM sharp. Robin was waiting. Salim and Karen arrived and we were off with the scout, Prakash. We had seen big camera lenses before and made fun of the photographers of our club carrying the bazooka lenses. But Salim was carrying a Bofors. Prakash picked up some tea and mud cups from a nearby dhaba and we reached the spot besides the rocks containing the lair of one of the most frequently sighted leopard, Neelam.

Now began an anxious wait as it started to dawn. We were thankful for the cushions Prakash had brought along as sitting on those rocks for long is painful. This had been a hilarious topic last night. 15 minutes into the stillness, a cub appeared at the base of the rocks and swiftly went behind them. Few minutes later, another came and disappeared. Then Neelam gave a brief sighting and disappeared too. The family had returned from their night hunt. We had learnt last night that leopard sightings are rarer than tiger sightings. Having seen 3 in such a short time and on our first safari, we were feeling quite accomplished. This was the next high. The escalated high was coming.

As the sun started to shine on the rocks, we had some tea to warm ourselves. Then suddenly, a large male appeared and in full view with the sun shining on its coat, descended the rocks from above and strolled towards the lair. Rapid bursts were being shot all around as the photographers' prize moment had arrived. The 'charger', as it was called in wildlife terminology, was also aware of our presence and looked straight at us while strolling providing ultimate shots for the photo seekers. Our scout Prakash got some great shots at this moment. The charger then went inside the lair.

We all took a break now and were in full praise of what we had just witnessed. Robin told us that we were really lucky to have such sightings on our first safari itself. Coming from him we were now even more grateful to Datta for having allowed us to stay. A while later Ankit spotted another leopard making its way stealthily towards the lair. Attention was back on the subject. It was the cub from the morning. It was moving forwards very slowly wary of the presence of the charger. Later it was deduced that the charger had taken refuge inside Neelam's family lair and now the cubs were getting restless in broad daylight. Separated from each other they could not even make catcalls to regroup. Robin later told us that this cub is aptly named as Deepak Kumar given the shape of spots above its eyes. The cub waited for a long time moving up and down the slope careful not to disturb the charger and not daring to get too close. This was greatly appreciated by us and the cameras were clicking to no end. Ankit had acquired some spotting skills, after all. Finally the cub gave up and moved towards the back of the rocks.

While all of this was happening, normal village life was in full progress just meters away from the rocks. Occasional villagers strolled past. These leopards have become quite used to human presence. Their main source of food are the farm animals. Even then there hasn't been a single case reported of an attack on humans.

Another 15 mins passed but no sighting. Prakash gathered all of us up and took the Gypsy to the other side of the rocks. He immediately spotted the same cub resting beneath a cliff shade besides some cacti. The shutterbugs were at it again. Deepak Kumar then grew wary of our presence and moved to another place as we started to make our way back.

 Yes, there is one. The close-up below would show the position

This was High #6. An Escalated one.

We returned to the lodge to find Datta waiting for us. The early morning's events were shared by everybody. Datta was pleased to have offered us a lifetime experience. Ankit rightfully remarked that Bera would be one of those rare places we would be revisiting. That's saying a lot because we always preach that India is too large to repeat holiday destinations.

While I went to pack my stuff, the others discussed on other places to stay around. Castle Bera was one. The other was the Jawai Luxury Camps. Hearing the rates charged by them, even Castle Bera looked like a bargain. ₹ 51000 for tented accommodation and ₹ 92000 for the tent suite. Moreover, the safari they took visitors to followed the path set by Datta. Others were mimicking him and making tons of money. Despite this knowledge, Datta had kept his charges so reasonable. Such is the humble lesson one gets from Nature Lovers. Robin jokingly requested us to stay for the evening safari given the sightings we had been able to see.

After breakfast and overtly thanking Datta, we continued our journey. Datta even sent a driver along to escort us on our way out. We had got much more than what we had expected at Bera. The next stop was Om Banna Temple on the road between Pali and Jodhpur, better known as Bullet Baba. This spot had been on the wishlist ever since I had heard of it. But first, we visited Jawai dam too. All through the 5 kms to the dam, we were looking at the surrounding rocks in the vague hope that a leopard would be spotted.

We parked our motorcycles at the gates of the dam and strolled to the top of the walls. The reservoir was huge. We found some shade at a locked gate and cheered to our morning experience with the rum-raisins. 

Looking at the cliffs rising randomly in the reservoir, I wondered if all this area would have been the habitat of the Bera leopards before the dam was built. There is a large presence of fishes in the reservoir which we tested by throwing in some raisins. While Ankit was in a relaxed state, I was getting anxious to get going and visit the shrine of Bullet Baba. Prakash from the resort had guided us with directions to the shrine. I pushed Ankit and we were on our way to Pali.

The 75 kms to Pali were covered in no time with the excellent expressway and we took the turn towards Jodhpur. Now we lowered our pace so as not to miss the site. We were on the lookout of the name of Om Banna Temple. Every dhaba we crossed had the name of Om Banna. The popularity of this place is huge. Legend has it that 26 years ago, Om Banna the head of the nearby village died in an accident on his Bullet at this spot. Many times the Bullet was taken to the nearby police station, but the next day it was again found at the accident site. This bond between Man and Machine is what led to the establishment of this temple. The Bullet was placed in a glass case right behind the statue of Om Banna. To many, this story will sound funny, but Bulleteers see this as no joke as they also share similar bond with their Bullets. To us, its nothing short of a pilgrimage.

However we came to know the full extent of Om Banna's following when we reached the place. We were expecting a small crowd. But we found a village fete in progress. We were astounded on witnessing this. Hundreds of devotees had gathered. The shrine wasn't even visible even though Om Banna's statue is placed on a pedestal. Our aim was to park our Bullets in full view of Om Banna's Bullet so that the machines could pay their homage too. That's when Chandni Chowk experience of Ankit came to use as he twisted and turned around the crowd and made his way forward. I just clung to him right behind. We circled our way past all and then came to rest right behind the glass case of Om Banna's Bullet. The huge ground behind us was full of people as if a holy festival was in progress. Meals were being served, hundreds of devotees were thronging the temple offering whiskey as prasad to Om Banna, then circled the Bullet 7773 to complete their darshan.

As we just stood there in amazement staring at the Bullet 7773, one of the devotees came and invited us to have prasad and the nearby pandal. We followed him a while later. We asked him if it was a regular affair for devotees to come in such large scale to this place. He replied that today was the 27th death anniversary of Shri Om Banna. We couldn't believe our luck. To have made our pilgrimage to this place that too on the very day, made us believe in other powers at play. We were called here by Shri Om Banna himself. A young man came and sat with us as we were having our meal. He asked about our trip and also told us that last week some other Bullet clubs had also arrived here. We confirmed from him that today, only the two of us had come on Bullets. The devotee who had invited us earlier than introduced us to this young man. He was the son of Shri Om Banna. Ankit and I just stared at each other. We forgot to eat, or even breathe for some time.  I don't have the words to describe my feeling. By this time, the son had wandered off meeting the locals. Many elders were seen blessing him.

After finishing our meal, Ankit went around in search of the son. There was no going away till we clicked a photo with him. It took a good amount of time till we finally traced him. We thanked him profoundly for the meal and requested for a pic. He was not in the mood but reluctantly agreed after some time. Understandably so, as it was not a happy day for him. We clicked one quickly, thanked him and then left quickly.

This was High#7. An Escalated one.

Jodhpur was 60 kms away. We had three days of vacation left. I had been there years back and was reluctant to repeat the destination. Even Ankit had been there years back but was adamant to ride his Bullet up to Mehrangarh. On my last visit even I missed having my Bullet while making the ascent to the grandest fort in Rajasthan, in my opinion. Now there was an opportunity to fill that void. Having enough time on our hands, we decided to head to Jodhpur. Today, the first high had come from leopard spotting, the next one from Bullet Baba temple. Mehrangarh offered us a chance to complete the hatrick.

I covered the distance in numb state, still overwhelmed by the happenings at Om Banna temple. We rode non-stop through the heart of a crowded Jodhpur city. The funny part was that whomever we asked the directions towards the Fort would say, "Court? It would be closed by now". Somehow we made it to Mehrangarh. We reached the Fort parking at 5:30 pm, half an hour late. The gates were shut. If only the security would allow motorcycles through the gates. We decided to visit the fort in the morning. In the meantime, we started to look for places to stay in the vicinity. After some room hunting and riding through the bylanes, we settled in Hotel Haveli right besides a baoli and struck a good deal on the price. The place offered a great view of the Fort lit up in the night.

Route taken: Bera - Sumerpur - Pali - Om Banna temple - Jodhpur

We had been drinking light in the past few days. So today to celebrate the day's highs we decided to get sloshed. Baggage was dumped in the room and supplies were sought. We then headed towards the rooftop where the restaurant was yet to be open, selected a good spot and cheered to our day. The whiskey was like golden nectar prefect to finish off a remarkable day. It was as if Shri Om Banna was also cheering with us. We discussed on the next day's destination. The Mehrangarh Fort would be covered in the day. It would be good to head towards Delhi and stay at a transit point that would not exhaust us and also leave Sunday as a rest day. The Sambhar Salt Flats seemed a likely choice. The Rann of Kachh was on my to-do list. The Sambhar Salt Flats would provide a good training ground.

Amid all the planning, we got late and the kitchen closed. We had to order from outside and ask for room delivery. Laal Maas was again ordered and yet again the non-veg experience was ruined. Well drunk, we drifted off to sleep.

Day 7: Friday
Mehrangarh, Sambhar

When in Rajasthan our morning ritual always began with the hunt for kachodi. Today, in the bylanes of Jodhpur also we wolfed down freshly made kachodi and mirchi pakoda on our way to Mehrangarh. We were inside the gates of the most majestic fort at around 10 AM. As we made our way forward a poster of Zipline attracted us and we headed to that section. Two tourists were just returning and they described the adventure as awesome. I had done valley crossing earlier at Mukteswar, but ziplining would be a new experience. We both signed up the waiver forms and waited for our instructors.

I read somewhere, and totally agreed that Mankind has now conquered almost all the known earlier fears. These were epidemics, sickness, mishaps, etc. But the human body needs to get that absent feeling of fear too in order to feel whole. That is why we have turned to adventure sports. Now we pay to get afraid. After a quick tutorial we were led to the first of six lines. It was quite an adrenaline rush as one steps of the ramp and leaves his life in the hands of few clamps and ropes rather than his own feet high above the ground.

An hour passed as we zipped across the lines swayed by the winds. On the last line I got stuck in the middle of the line myself. Then I had to turn around and pull myself commando style to the end, all adding to Ankit's delight. To my dismay, Ankit did not get stuck.

This was High#8. 

We cheered to our lives at the end of the tour with the raisins offering some to the crew also. They were quite pleased with the taste. We are going to make Vikas bhai's recipe world famous.

Another hour passed touring the grand fort. Sadly, the bastions are now closed to visitors. We could no longer go to the cannons. But Ankit had other ideas. He took me to other sections where we saw a baoli, a cannon and walls with a view no other visitor was having. We had our brief moment of solitude here. We were quite relaxed and at the same time getting slightly depressed as we were nearing the end of our vacation.

As Ankit finished his cigarette, we congratulated each other on making the diversion to Jodhpur. The Zipline crew told us about the same setup of their company at Neemrana and that would be our next target. We returned to Hotel Haveli, packed up our bags and started our return journey. During the packing a local came along and asked whether we were the ones doing the world tour. I would be glad to meet them too and wondered when we would make the time, and money to go on a world tour.

The road back to Delhi led through a town called as Bar, but not pronounced the way we expected. We stopped at a dhaba after crossing this town, covering more than 100 kms. It was 4 PM and one guy came out piss-drunk. Given our non-veg experience till now, we ordered veg this time. Sev-bhaji and gatta curry turned out to be fantastic, although they burnt our tongues.

A short distance later the expressway started. Even though the road was superb, we were missing the long barren stretches of Rajasthan. Progress was swift till we stopped for tea after reaching Kishangarh. Sambhar was only 70 kms away. We were not sure whether we would find a place to stay there. Meanwhile, Agri called and invited us to his home at Jaipur. This guy really travels throughout the state. If we hadn't set our sights on Sambhar Salt Flats, we would have relaxed at his place. But coverage was more important and we turned off the NH-8 from Duddu.

Now the road turned single and barren again. It also grew quite cold. We crossed many railway crossings and made it to Sambhar by 8 PM.

Route taken: Jodhpur - Beawar - Kishangarh - Duddu - Sambhar

Now began the hunt for a place to stay. A person suggested the Dharamshala. He was in drunk state. But giving him the benefit of doubt, we reached the place only to find a wedding in progress. Loud music was blaring in the small town and we arrived like total misfits, all covered in dirt collected from a week of riding. We sought out the caretaker from the crowd and requested for a room. He showed us into a small one. We didn't have the energy now to travel all the way back to NH-8 and just agreed to whatever was offered.

Now we had to arrange for food and were quickly back on the road to the nearest dhaba and got veg food packed. The night would be spent mostly indoors as outside were all the wedding guests. We hoped for the music to die down soon and it did around midnight allowing us to sleep.

Day 8: Saturday
Sambhar - Delhi

Today was the last day of our ride. But first task was to have kadi-kachodis. I would be hunting for this dish in NCR now. Next we headed of in the direction of Shakambhari temple. Along the way many vehicles were bringing in salt from the flats. Even a train was seen with its carriages full of salt. Ankit had already marked a point in the map he wanted to reach. We went around a long path circumnavigating the salt flats. Already we could see the white plains of the salt farms. We passed through small villages until we reached the Shakambhari temple. A viewpoint was noticed on a small hillock behind the temple and we immediately made way for it.

The view from the top was amazing. All around us was a wide open expanse of flat land. The lake had dried up for a long time. But the most important part was that one can ride the motorcycle here. One can take any direction from the temple and travel for miles. I'm sure that if enough vehicles travel, we would have our own Bonneville Salt Plains and build speed records.

We started in no particular direction. After a brief spell of slithering in the soft dirt, the land grew hard and we could travel at speed now. It was the Bullet's playground. Not a soul was present in these barren lands. It's like the Mini Rann. I can only imagine what the Greater Rann in Gujarat would be like. It's on my wishlist.

This was High#9.

Our minds were now running high on imagination. We dreamt of what all we could do at this place. It's not that far from Delhi, so the idea of a camping trip seemed likely. It would be great fun to bring in a whole group and spend the night here. Collecting such group would be the challenge though as now there are so few takers for the 8th Anniversary Ride only. It's also pitiful that we miss our past co-riders so much whenever on a ride while they do not bother at all.

Fooling around for a bit longer, we decided to hit the road by taking a long way round. A few neelgais caught our attention though and we made our way towards them as they scampered away. This was a cowboy moment. Having hit softer ground again, we did not turn around but kept moving forward till we hit the road. The return journey had started.

From Sambhar, we decided to take a different route to Delhi. Instead of joining the NH-8 at Duddu, we took the state highways through Jobner and joined the Jaipur bypass. This road was also good although not that great. But on the way we noticed the Jobner Fort. Perhaps another Rajasthan Ride is on the cards.

After hitting NH-8 and a light veg lunch, it was an easy run all the way back to Delhi. Traffic was encountered only at Gurgaon. For the final cheer, we called in Ranaji to celebrate the finish with us. He gladly obliged. He became the first person to hear the accounts of our Ride. I'm sure he would have also joined for the Ride had it not been for some unavoidable reasons and we would still have made it in the same time. Once Ranaji starts going, he doesn't stop until someone asks him to.

So ended the 8th BoP Anniversary. It was filled with Highs, some of them unimaginable on the timing. With the steady decline, a Ninth Anniversary Ride seems highly unlikely. But I'll try with all my might to make it possible. Rajasthan is almost done and dusted. So the ninth anniversary could take us to a far location. Ankit is already pushing to do an Iron Butt Challenge having accomplished this Ride successfully. Whether it would be possible on our old and weary Bullets is another matter, but it is certain that the roads must be the ones that we covered on this Ride. Another amazing aspect to note upon the completion of this Ride was that we hadn't faced any breakdowns, not even a puncture on a 2700 km circuit.

This was High#10. The farewell one.

Until the next one,

JAI BoP!!!