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North India bike trip – 1: Murphy’s law in action

North India Bike Ride Travelogue

Riding in the high mountains of Spiti valley amidst the cold flowing river and white snowy peaks, indeed a dream trip it would be. I had planned the trip in February, though it would be winter in Spiti and rarely people travel there due to rough conditions.

But I was determined. Planned my budget, decided halts, purchased necessary items. Everything was planned to the minutest level. Check out the toolkit and spares I carry on my long motorcycle rides.

1 – You are here..  2 – Shimla Narkanda  3 – Golden Temple  4 – Taj Mahal  5 – Mathura

But what has to go wrong goes wrong. A trip which was entirely planned in the mountains ran in the flat plains of North India. It doesn’t matter if the beginning is not well if the ending is great everything is compensated.

A few bad chapters doesn’t mean your story is over

Let’s begin with the actual itinerary

Day 1: Mumbai to Delhi flight. Picked the rented bike. Night halt near Delhi-Haryana Border.

Day 2: Delhi to Shimla

Day 3: Around Shimla, Kufri and Narkanda

Day 4: Shimla to Amritsar

Day 5: Amritsar ->Wagah Border -> Kurukshetra

Day 6: Kurukshetra to Agra

Day 7: Agra to Vrindavan and back to Delhi

Day 8: Around Delhi

Flight fiasco

My flight from Mumbai to Delhi was scheduled at 6:30 AM from Sahar airport. I left Bhayandar around 4:40 AM and reached Aiport around 6 AM. Later did I came to know the flight was scheduled from the domestic 1B terminal. It was my mistake. By the time I reached the domestic airport boarding was closed.

Only a person knows the feeling of missing his flight by few minutes.

I was marked as No Show. Hence, the refund was out of the question and only the taxes would be returned.

My dream has crashed just now.

The next flight was full and the only flight for the day and tomorrow was priced almost 3-4 times the original ticket price.

Traveling by train was losing a crucial day but who cares still I would make some part of the trip. Approached the ticket counter again and requested one more time, finally managed to get a ticket for today afternoon flight at thrice the price.

From Delhi airport or Indira Gandhi International Airport, I had to travel to Mansarovar metro station. This was the first time for me in Delhi.

Not aware of the transport here and misguided went to Dwarka Sector 21 instead of taking the Express metro. Just to give you an idea of what the metro route I should have taken.

metro map delhi

Had I taken the express line I could have saved 25 stations 😀

Reached Mansarovar Park and went to Stoneheadbikes to pick my rented Thunderbird 350cc. Received bike after some paperwork and left Mansarovar Park in the evening. By the time I could leave Delhi it was dark, rode some kilometres and ended the day close to Haryana Border.

Bad experience from Stoneheadbikes rental

I have heard that people renting from here had good experience but mine was super bad.

The bike was good on plains but just as I entered the hills, it literally crawled. I was so so frustrated and felt cheated. Showed to a local mechanic, he adjusted the Carburetor for more fuel. Still, the bike refused to move even 20 feets up the hill.

Roads where 125cc Splendor and Passion climbed, this 350cc Bullet could not roll for few feets. Called up the Stoneheadbike service center up but nothing helped. Unfortunately, I had to cancel our plan and re-plan the whole trip.

With this, I end the first post of the North India trip. Do share your thoughts for this post.

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Hello, I am Niraj. I define myself as an amateur photographer, biker and seeker. I like to connect with like-minded friends and share experiences and stories from the place, people and time. I believe life is an endless journey and our actions no matter how small affects this infinite universe in some way or another. So let's not stop and keep our work going.

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