[StallionAmit]

Lying on bed after a kidney stone operation and feeling worthless, helpless, I was thinking, wish I was healthy and had these leaves, I would have gone on another ride or a long- long drive.

[Riding my RE is one of the only thing which feels like a meditation to me. With the good cruising speeds and the continuous thump of the RE is like music to my soul. I would like to confess that whenever I feel troubled in my life, I just want to ride and ride and just ride to places I don’t know or with no destination but with the familiar thump of the exhaust and the quick passing of the roads in the vibrating rear view mirror of my RE. The bike riding is a great way to just forget everything in this mortal life and to be just lost in your own little world.]

Well since it was not the case and getting bored after reading some novels, I thought of doing which I had been postponing since long and that is to write the travelogue of the bike trip which I did with my group of ‘Guns on Wheels’.

A brief about ‘Guns on Wheels’, it’s an exclusive Royal Enfield owners group in Kolkata, the group has members from Teambhp as well. The group members regularly ride and ride with a sense of responsibility and safety. I had earlier rode with the group to Chandipur beach earlier too but had not written the travelogue so far.

[StallionAmit]

About the ride:

Termed as the winter ride of the group, the following is the summary of the ride
[Credits to Partha Surelia Da, teambhp handle ‘psurelia’ on already making such a wonderful video of the ride and on the short synopsis:
The Winter Ride 2016 of Guns On Wheels (

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhyL...ature=youtu.be

)

There were 11 riders who participated with their Royal Enfields of almost all variants namely Classic 350s, Bullet 500, Thunderbird 350s, Thunderbird 500 and Himalayan.
This was a 3 day and 1000 kms ride.]

Day 1 - Kolkata to Tulin.

We started pretty early in the morning at around 4 AM as the distance to be covered was ~400 kms and we also wanted to use the evening to visit some nearby places, but one of the members had a puncture and the group helped to change the tyre and got someone to mend it in the early hours of the morning. It’s great to see how everyone is eager to help their fellow riders during the rides.
We reached Tulin around 4:30 PM types.

Early morning pic getting started for the trip ~ 4AM:


Stopping for a break in-between:




That's me:

[StallionAmit]

About Tulin, Tulin a small town of Purulia District situated near the state of Jharkhand. Tulin is a Semi town, located in the western border of the Indian state of West Bengal (Source: Wikipedia).

We stayed in the farmhouse of one of our members ‘Saranya da’ in Tulin, the stay ltself was superb, and the property was ~ 150 years old. The place was very- very quiet, eerily quiet but calm.

With such a setting the evenings had to be fantastic with stories about rides, life, women/girls in our lives, love, songs and even ghost stories around a bon-fire with locally prepared food with drinks.

I believe since time immemorial the fire has always been a central object in a setting where people sit and talk in a natural setting, I guess it’s because of the natural human instincts to sit around a fire after a long day of hunting in the old times and it has been hard coded in the DNA since then.

Since it was December the nights were cold and the place itself gave such a feel that we felt like we were transported back in time.

Pictures of the house where we stayed:


Real stuff:

[StallionAmit]

Day 2 - Tulin -> Ayodhya Hills -> Jonha Falls -> Tulin

Ayodhya Hills is a hill located in the Purulia district of the state West Bengal, India. It is a part of the Dalma Hills and extended part of Eastern Ghats range.
According to Hindu mythology, Rama and Sita had come to Ajodhya Hills and stayed during their exile. Sita was thirsty and Ram pierced an arrow through the Earth's soil crust and through that water gushed out. Sita quenched her thirst. The place is known as Sita-kunda. During the full moon day in Baisakh every year tribals of nearby areas come and join in the game of hunting wild animals.

Near Ayodhya Hills, there is Turga Dam and the Lake, and the pleasant waterfall formed by the River Bamni. The site of the Turga Dam site is a perfect tourist spot, where the visitors can spend their day.

Situated at an edge of the Ranchi plateau, the Jonha Falls is an example of a hanging valley falls. One has to descend 722 steps to admire the surroundings. Water in the falls drops from a height of 43 metres (141 ft)
[Source of the above paragraphs: Wikipedia]

We got delayed while visiting the Jonha falls and being winters the night came quite quickly, while we were returning one of the member’s bike headlight malfunctioned, the culprit was a fuse, Partha da (psurelia) was carrying the fuses with him and the headlight issue was solved quickly.
While the activity was under-progress and it was quite dark already, 2 policemen came and asked us to move quickly from the area as it was quite deserted and there was a possibility of the presence of anti-social elements during the dark hours in that area. We took the advice and rode back to the farmhouse which was still a good 1 hour away.
Riding in the dark jungle route was majestic and beautiful in itself. The roar of the bikes, riding in a single file was both awesome and mesmerising. I close my eyes and I can still view that road in the jungle being illuminated by the lights from our vehicles.

Day 2 Morning:



Ayodhya Hills and the dam:





Jonha Waterfalls:




On the way, saw some shops selling in-house produced masks:

[StallionAmit]

Day 3 - Tulin to Kolkata

Breakfast in Tulin and then return to Kolkata was the thing which we did most of the day.
In the end I want to share that riding an RE is a great expression in itself and the bike commands respect on the road. While riding we get aspirational looks from passer-by’s and I could relate to those feelings when I didn’t had the RE with me.
Riding with the group ‘Guns on Wheels’ is also a great thing, since there is a feeling of camaraderie and feeling of well-being and safety. Although riding solo has its own fun but the riding in the group is also a great feeling, the moment 10-11 bikes are on a signal or a halt and are sweet sound from the exhausts pauses everyone and halts the time and everyone just admires these awesome machines.

Return pictures:

Partha da with his mighty RE Thunderbird 500.


Here is me, with my RE classic 350.


Before signing off, I would like to share one quote which i saw sometime back:
"I was born in a middle class family but my Royal Enfield made me Royal".

[psurelia]

Lovely write up. It brought back the memories of the ride. This ride made me feel like travelling back in time. The places we visited are so away from modern day mad rush, the farmhouse we stayed in is 150+ years old and the hills and the falls are older than history. Add to that the timeless thumps of the Royal Enfields. It was quite an experience. Thanks for putting it down.

Readers interested to know more about Guns On Wheels may please visit the following link.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/GunsOnWheels/

[Omkar]

Lovely travelogue!

Being a part of a rider club makes owning a ride special. The bond of brotherhood is strengthened. Good to know that you have some BHPians aboard as well.

Originally Posted by StallionAmit

About the ride:

[Credits to Partha Surelia Da, teambhp handle ‘psurelia’ on already making such a wonderful video of the ride and on the short synopsis:
The Winter Ride 2016 of Guns On Wheels (https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=lhyL...ature=Youtu.be)

Great video compilation as well. It's always fun to listen to some of the stories related to some of the old estates. And there are always one too many stories which make the place much more interesting.

All in all, a wonderful travelogue.

Being part of a rider group must be fun!

Listing down some of the perks of being part of a rider group. Please do add from your experiences.

• Instant help available in case of emergency
• Spreads awareness regarding safety among the people who watch the group
• Safe riding (Since the lead rider always lets you know of the road conditions ahead)
• Fun stops during the ride
• You can always get a feel of the other rides in the group (in case you thinking of an upgrade)
• Planned trips make the ride much more enjoyable for the majority of the crowd
• Bike talks can last for ages! You learn new things everyday about different bikes!

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Listing down some of the perks of being part of a rider group. Please do add from your experiences.

Omkar, thanks for your compliments on the video. You captured rightly all the benefits of Group Rides. Below are my thoughts about pros and cons of group ride.

Pros

1. It is always safer to ride in group than going solo since you have your mates to watch your back.
2. Breakdown management is much faster with the help of your buddies. This hugely increases the chances of successful completion of your trip.
3. More enjoyable because you have like minded friends to have fun with during the ride.

Cons

1. Progress is slower.
2. Requires discipline.
3. You need to devote time to build the brotherhood within the group.
4. 99% of the time "swing your leg over the saddle and go" kind of trips are not possible. You need to plan with the group for the convenience of the majority.

[Sayata]

Lovely travelougue !
I was planning for ayodha hill trip coming march. I planned to stay at purulia town but after reading this thread ,changing my mind to stay at tulin. Any suggestion regarding stay at tulin will be helpfull.

[StallionAmit]

Originally Posted by Sayata

Lovely travelougue !
I was planning for ayodha hill trip coming march. I planned to stay at purulia town but after reading this thread ,changing my mind to stay at tulin. Any suggestion regarding stay at tulin will be helpfull.

Hi Sayata, to reply to your query, we stayed at a friend's farmhouse, however there is a lodge in Tulin, named Sanyasi Lodge, its not too great, its kind of a guest house but I don't have further information on the lodge.

[rch_vijayant]

Originally Posted by Sayata

Lovely travelougue !
I was planning for ayodha hill trip coming march. I planned to stay at purulia town but after reading this thread ,changing my mind to stay at tulin. Any suggestion regarding stay at tulin will be helpfull.

You can stay at Jhalda which is nearby to Tulin (Approx 20 Kms) and having a resort namely Hill View Resort. It is very spacious with facilities of pool too. You google it and will get all details. https://www.yatra.com/hotels/hotels-...otel-hill-view