[Sutripta]

Great travelogue. Painstakingly compiled.

Originally Posted by atul.ktm

Finally, thank you so much for this mega tlog!

Here are the videos from Day 1 to Day 6 which are already live on our YouTube channel:
...

I'll try and publish the remaining 21 videos ASAP.

Would you have GPS tracklogs of your travels?

Regards
Sutripta

[The Flash]

Simply WOW. Congrats to both of you on doing such a memorable trip of a lifetime. Beautifully narrated with pictures.

While reading the travelogue I felt like I was on the ride too the whole time. Got me into it. North East is indeed one of the most beautiful place to be visited which is on my cards too.

Tea cheers for the travelogue and to both of you!

[adityadeva]

This is a super awesome dream come true for any person. Thanks for efforts. One thing I miss is a few Drone shots of you two riding through winding hill tracts. Yes I know I am asking for too much, but I feel that it would be the ultimate memory you could cherish and a sight worth our eyes too. Thank you once more for the commendable ride and good heart for sharing it too.

[alphadog]

Nandita and Atul. Wow!. That was an epic journey and photos to match.

It seems like the north-east is being explored more and more going by the travelogues posted on various forums. The beauty and culture of the places you have shown us is just breath taking. Kudos to you both to do such a travel on bike that too. I particularly love the pictures of all the food you have had along the way.

The longest I have done on a bike is 600 odd kms, hence when thinking of a longer journey, I have a few questions pop up in my head regarding your travels.
1. Other than the punctures happening, did you have a contingency plan in case there was a mechanical /electronic issue with the bike and you couldn't fix it yourself. More so if stranded in these far flung areas.
2. How easy/ difficult was it to unload and load the bags on to the bikes at every step along the way.
3. Did you ever worry about the safety of yourselves and your bikes, first of all when traveling at night and secondly when parked at different places.
4. The motorcycle jacket you are wearing is very good, may I know which brand, I am thinking of getting one for my wife.

A few questions from an arm chair dreamer.

If you guys don't have a travel blog / instagram/ youtube channel, already you need to get one and publicize the travels. It is the stuff dreams are made of and it will inspire and provide information Im sure, for others who are planning on making similar epic journeys.

Keep traveling and thanks once again for sharing your experiences. Truly inspiring.

Cheerio!

[atul.ktm]

Here is the video for Day 7 when we ride from Guwahati to Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcoJECZRcNM&t=497s

[//M]

This travelogue is a masterpiece guys. Wonderful read, supported with brilliant pictures too.

I am an avid tourer myself and having done most parts of North-East India on motorcycles, I can totally relate to your experience. While the rider deserves his due credits on such a long roadtrip, major credit also goes to the pillion as most of us who ride motorcycles over long-distances know how uncomfortable an experience it can be for a pillion. I guess due credit also goes to the Versys 650 for having such a comfortable saddle and a beautiful suspension.

I am sure the experience would have been surreal, much beyond what can be described with mere words or story-telling. Wishing you both many such incredible roadtrips ahead. Thanks for inspiring us !

[nandita_bayan21]

Thank you everyone for all your inspiring comments, this is what motivates us to ride/drive and share our stories with all of you!

Originally Posted by Jignesh

If this happens do let me know if you are passing near Frankfurt, I would be wonderful to host you both and listen to your experiences.

Thanks Jignesh, we do have a plan to ride across Europe sometime in the future, will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by androdev

Just curious, where does the distinct change of landscape and culture begin on this route?

As soon as we crossed Siliguri, the feel of entering North East India kicks in with vast plains of tea estates surrounded by mountain ranges, colorful prayer flags and scenic landscapes!

Originally Posted by sandx

I do a yearly journey to my hometown where i have to take a ferry to reach Majuli and that specific section in your narrative made me nostalgic. I want to go home sooner now. I have been reading this since I boarded the cab for my office in the morning. The pictures took me on a virtual tour of the North East, some of which are familiar to me. As i would say in Assamese "Birat bhal lagil pohi"

Despite being from Guwahati, this was my first visit to Majuli and it really felt surreal, peaceful and comforting. "Dhonyobad travelogue porhar karone". Happy to meet a fellow Assamese here

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Just some of my random thoughts/observations:

1. The cleaning/washing of the saddlebags at the end of every ride
2. Did you have some sort of seat cover or gel seat for the pillion? Asking cause those straps can really start hurting otherwise
3. You mention so much of tea drinking! I've always carried Gatorade or something that will give back those lost salts.
4. What was the temperature at the coldest place?
5. Did the bags touch the tyre anytime? A pannier rack maybe?

Oh and a last concern - didn't you guys cut it very close by having to ride that far on the last day. And to go to office the next day!?

* We had a soft towel placed over the straps, will be getting an air cushion seat soon.
* Since tea is available everywhere in India and the cheapest way to refresh on a ride, we prefer it over any other drink. For hydrating we just drink normal water.
* -7 degree C, in Sela Pass, Arunachal Pradesh.
* We have a custom made saddle stay to prevent the bags from touching the tyre.
* I know doing 1200+ kms in a day is not child's play but we have done 1000+ kms in a day previously as well so this was kind of okay.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

One thing I am not able to visualise though is you sitting on the pillion with all the stuff Do you have any pictures of yours sitting in the rear?

Another request, if you can share more details about the kind of equipment you used for travel, like bags, biking wear & photography with the links to purchase it will be great for lazy guys like me.

I do not have a picture as such but the Versys seat is pretty spacious for a pillion to sit along with all the luggage.

Here are the details as requested:

Bags:

Rynox Optimus M Tank bag, Dirtsack Frogman Saddle bags, Viaterra Raptor Tail bag (Have got a Hepco Becker Top case replacing the Raptor) and an extra backpack from Decathlon.

Riding Gear:

Nandita - Dianese Air-Frame Tex Lady Jacket, TBG Street Gloves, Dianese Knee V E1 N Guards , Decathlon Waterproof Shoes and AGV K3 SV 5 Continents Helmet.

Atul - Alpinestars T-GP R Air Jacket, Joe Rocket Flexium Tx Gloves, Spartan/Aspida Odysseus Riding Pants, Alpinestars Corozal Adventure Boots and Bell RS-1 Hi-Viz Helmet.

Camera Equipment:

Nikon D750 with Nikon 50 mm, Nikon 70-300 mm, Nikon D5200 with Tokina 11-16 mm and GoPro Hero 5 Black.

Originally Posted by PraNeel

How do you manage two on board with so much luggage?

The Versys seat is pretty spacious for a pillion to sit along with all the luggage.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Ahem, that would be me .

You guys should have connected and I would not have taken much time. Any which way, I am thankful for you guys to come up with this gem of a travelogue, it is amazing. Pictures, road/hotel/food/geographical description, you people have covered it all.

We will be again taking that route and are planning for a stopover in Purnea, will keep you posted

Originally Posted by rst89

How did you manage to clean the saddle bags when all the trucks splashed them with mud? Were you allowed to take them in hotel rooms given a mess it will create in the room.

We just used a normal cleaning cloth with water, which cleaned most of the dust and mud. Fortunately all the hotels that we went were quite accommodating and understood our situation.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Would you have GPS tracklogs of your travels?

Not exactly a GPS tracklog as such but have the exact route map of all the roads we took.

Originally Posted by adityadeva

One thing I miss is a few Drone shots of you two riding through winding hill tracts. Yes I know I am asking for too much, but I feel that it would be the ultimate memory you could cherish and a sight worth our eyes too.

We don't have a drone yet but are planning to get one soon.

Originally Posted by alphadog

The longest I have done on a bike is 600 odd kms, hence when thinking of a longer journey, I have a few questions pop up in my head regarding your travels.
1. Other than the punctures happening, did you have a contingency plan in case there was a mechanical /electronic issue with the bike and you couldn't fix it yourself. More so if stranded in these far flung areas.
2. How easy/ difficult was it to unload and load the bags on to the bikes at every step along the way.
3. Did you ever worry about the safety of yourselves and your bikes, first of all when traveling at night and secondly when parked at different places.
4. The motorcycle jacket you are wearing is very good, may I know which brand, I am thinking of getting one for my wife.

A few questions from an arm chair dreamer.

If you guys don't have a travel blog / instagram/ Youtube channel, already you need to get one and publicize the travels. It is the stuff dreams are made of and it will inspire and provide information Im sure, for others who are planning on making similar epic journeys.
Cheerio!

1) Since the only Kawasaki service center in the east was in Kolkata so in case of any mechanical issue, we had to get it sorted wherever we were. In Versys, apart from FI and ABS, there are not much electronics so any issue which could've come would have been from the fuses or the battery. We had extra fuses and had already informed service center folks to guide us in case of any issues. Overall, Versys 650 is a quite reliable bike.
2) It was cumbersome but have to do it every day on a long ride.
3) We always try to maintain a low profile during our rides which keeps us way from unwanted attention and trouble. Luckily during our entire stay in the North East, we didn't face any issues. Coming to bike, we always used to keep the bike parked in front of our eyes when loaded with the luggage.
4) I wear a Dianese Air-Frame Tex Lady Riding Jacket.

We already have a YouTube channel featuring all our trips, below is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/c/nb21vlogs

Also, my Instagram handle is @nanditainsta

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

Not exactly a GPS tracklog as such but have the exact route map of all the roads we took.

Thanks.
At one time I used to consider Google Maps for NE India to be entertaining works of fiction. Though much improved now, I still don't fully trust it. Which is why it needs to be validated by individual GPS trackplots. Esp. on these roads less traveled.

And unless you want to monetise it in some way, it should be uploaded to open source sites (like OpenStreetMaps) otherwise someone else WILL monetise it without so much as a by your leave.

Regards
Sutripta

[atul.ktm]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Atul, How do you pack so much into the bike. I think you should definitely put a video log, showing how to pack during a long bike trip. I find this aspect pretty tough in all my bike travels.

Will put a video about it soon

Originally Posted by rk_sans

I cherished each and every writeup here since it reminded me of our trip in 2016 https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...torcycles.html (Exploring the magnificent 7 States of North-East India on motorcycles)

Your thread was indeed very helpful in our ride planning

Originally Posted by rk_sans

So Atul how did the tires perform on the super fine talcum powder like mud/sand of North east specially Nagaland and Manipur region.

I had changed the set to Pirelli MT60RS, they were fabulous in every terrain, just the life is on the lower side thus resulting in so many punctures at the last leg of the ride.

[ARAY]

Beautiful blog. I have already spent 2+ years exploring the NE but from Hyderabad. The diversity up there is awe inspiring. Although I had done the route on a Duster AWD but at few places took the inner state routes as suggested by local friends in the region and those proved to be more beautiful. Locals are calm and helpful most of the time. With more people going to NE and using Google maps , its learning and would be very helpful to future travellers. Versys is a tremendous tourer.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences with us, sharing a picture from our last NE trip. (Somewhere at Sela Pass)


I would request you guys to start collecting GPS data as gpx file with any smart phone if possible. The data can be rendered in 3D at a later stage and would always be fun to share with others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WDO5pzMAk8&t=

Keep travelling and sharing your experiences !

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by ARAY

I would request you guys to start collecting GPS data as gpx file with any smart phone if possible. The data can be rendered in 3D at a later stage and would always be fun to share with others.

Keep travelling and sharing your experiences !

That was nice. How did you do it?

[neil.jericho]

Goodness gracious me, what an adventure and what a detailed travelogue! I love the fact that you have shared so many trip details and photos from your marvellous bike trip. Hats off to you two on all fronts, I have fowarded this thread to many people and I hopefully will be able to do a road trip to the wonderful North Eastern states of our country. This is probably my favourite thread on Team BHP and equals the Coast to Coast (and back?) with an Italian Supermodel thread over on the ADV Rider as my top all time travelogue reads.

[gtonsing]

WOW! I just finished reading this thread and I am amazed (don't have any other word to come even close to describe my feeling while reading this) Amazing t-log and even greater photos. Being cooped inside cubicles and having originated from the NE (Manipur to be specific) I can share some of the "free" feeling that you get when you set foot in the North East. That too, to do it as a husband-wife team, and on a motorcycle is what dreams are made of. Keep riding and keep writing! You share your world and your experiences for desktop/arm chair guys.
I have mentioned it in another t-log, I am at cross roads on travelling to the NE should be encouraged. While the beauty and lovely people definitely makes for a very good tourist destination, I am iffy about exploitation by tourists. You mentioned it in the mawlynnong village. I am sure it is pretty much the same "unwanted" development in many of the more touristy places in almost all the states you have been to.
I feel the state governments, along with the tourism ministry need to have a master plan for sustainable tourism. Otherwise, we will lose this beautiful part of this awesome country to exploitation and unchecked development and turned into a messy and sad place.
Wonderful trip and Amazing photos. Looking forward to more from you both.

[atul.ktm]

Here is the video for Day 8 when we encounter snow in Sela Pass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwh_9T0rHms

[R-Six]

Wow!!! What a travelogue!! Take a bow, both of you!

Such an epic trip and a blog to match the adventure and the fun you had. No clue how I missed this one until yesterday. Your travelogues have always been a visual treat and clubbed it with so much information that would make the experience of reading the story to a completely new level. You have raised the bar even further.

If team-bhp ever started official reviews of destinations, you both would be a good fit.

Ride safe,
R-Six