Journey to the West & Northwest India: A saga of 3 ADV bikes

After a hearty Gujarati breakfast, we headed towards Vadodara and then onto the old Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway.

BHPian TheVaas recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Journey to the West & Northwest India: A saga of 3 ADVs (Made in Japan, Germany and UK)

Disclaimer:

If you accidentally landed up here with no backstory, then I would like you to go through this post in my ownership thread- "Prep before a Ride" and bring yourself upto speed with this timeline! You can also go through my earlier ownership experience posts as well, if you liked what you read!

And if have already read my "Prepping for a road trip" post - which I ended on a cliffhanger - then please continue ahead!

Highly recommend you to continue further sipping your 'weapon of choice' beverage (non-alcoholic kind) for a smooth reading experience!

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"Alright, Alright, Alright!" - where were we?! Oh yes, in Mumbai traffic.

Amidst the incessant honking and swearing of fellow Mumbaikars in their vehicles around me, in dense traffic, Pawan’s voice kept echoing inside my well-insulated MT Helmet -

“Sir, I think we may need to re-think our upcoming trip! Will tell you the scene once you reach home!”

When you are touching 40 (years not kms), such voices only mean bad news (and/or sad news). And it also triggers your mind to overthink well beyond its normal RPM. I started to guilt-trip myself for being impatient with my ‘prepping for the ride’ service - when I could have still delayed it further, saved up money and lazed more - since now the trip is not happening, no? Anyway, as I said, managed to keep a cool mind by bringing down the ‘Overthinking RPMs’ and got home without any self harm.

Me: “What’s the scene? Don’t tell me you’re backing out?”

Pawan: “Backing out?! No way! In fact, I wanted to tell you that I’ve got a few more days off from my project. So now, instead of 2 days, I’ve got a week off!”

Me (feeling all the heavy weight leaving my body): “OH! So you are NOT backing out?”

Pawan (confused): “Where did I ever mention that I’m backing out?”

Me (opening his text message which mentioned that ‘…we may need to RE-THINK our trip…”): “I assumed…” (like I always do!)

Pawan: “So I’m thinking, since we’re anyway going to Kutch…Jaisalmer isn’t very far off…have you ever been that side?”

(Note for 80s kids: If you’ve ever seen ‘Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne’, from the good old Doordarshan days, the next sequence will 100% help you visualise my state of mind!)

Me the moment I heard 'Jaisalmer'

On hearing ‘Jaisalmer’, the movie poster of the film ‘BORDER’ flashed in front of my eyes, with ‘Sandese Aate Hai’ playing in the background. Dialogs and visuals filled my entire mindspace…Sunny Deol with the bazooka, Suneil Shetty walking towards the tank with a landmine in his hand, Jackie Shroff’s thumbs up from the cockpit of his fighter jet…

Pawan’s voice : “Hello? Hello?”

Me (still in Border land, wondering who is saying these dialogues?): “Yes?”

Pawan: “Sir, lagta hai aaj black coffee zyaada pee liya hai?” (Sir, looks like you’ve had a lot of black coffee today?)

Me (back to reality and channeling my inner Sunny Deol): "CHALO JAISALMER!"

And that’s how ‘manifestations’ work! Having mentioned in my previous post as to how the months of September and October were ride-free and probably a ride plan was ‘lurking’ around - I’m sure the Universe might have a soft corner for us ‘big ADV bikers’! But then, dear old Sir Issac Newton probably had figured the Universe better than anyone else because “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”; the reaction being Dominic and GC couldn’t join us for this ride because the dates were clashing with some prior commitments they had. So that was a bummer!

Before you folks can say “Zindagi ho toh aisi!” (What a life to lead!)- a few factors played in our favour to agree to this trip.

1. With Prerana and me being freelancers in the entertainment industry, post Diwali is a snooze time for us with absolutely zero work in the offing.
2. Western Rajasthan with its famed long highways, vast desert, proximity to the ‘border’ (no pun intended) and Marwar architecture on display was always on our wish-list
3. Honestly, we were missing the feeling of being on the road especially on our AT!
4. A reason to defy our supportive families and well-wishers when they go “Just buy a car and travel comfortably!”

Since we had approximately a week to go (Diwali was round the corner), a quick-fire itinerary called “Jashn-e-Kutch Jaisalmer" was made for Nov 2 to Nov 9. Quick-fire because we had been to Kutch in 2021, so this time decided to include places that we missed out on that trip and Pawan had been to Jaisalmer on numerous occasions (never on 2 wheels though) - so he added the ‘must see spots’ in that side of the country.

In parallel, during a meme-exchange session on Insta DM, KK (a fellow ADVenger and owner of a well-kept 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XCA) randomly mentioned to me that he was going to be stationed in Ahmedabad for some work, right around the dates of this trip (Nov 2nd to 9th). He enquired if we were planning any rides and I sent him the itinerary. He had visited Kutch in 2024, so he decided to skip that portion and decided to join us for the Jaisalmer leg. The plan was he would impress his boss by winding up his Ahmedabad chapter earlier than expected and use the buffer days to travel to Jaisalmer. Now that’s what I call “Zindagi Ho Toh Aisi”

So before we embark on the new journey, sharing a few select moments from our previous “Kutch trip (Nov 2021)” (Will be used as a comparison reference later!)
(Note: This trip was done on our Triumph Tigers / Pawan on his 800XCx and we on our 800XRx)

Mandatory tourist pic (though we didn't stay here!)

Tigers at The White Rann (this is a full moon night picture!)

Same spot but in daylight!

Harappa-MohenjoDaro World Heritage Site

Tigers at FOSSIL PARK, Dholavira

Chipper's point, Dholavira

"Why should boys have all the fun? "

Vaanki village

NOT the Road to Heaven

ITINERARY: Or Something Like it!

Since KK was going to join us for the Jaisalmer leg, we decided to divide the itinerary into two phases:

PHASE ONE: KUTCH (November 2nd to 5th, 2024)

• DAY 1 - Nov 2: Mumbai - Vaanki
• DAY 2 - Nov 3: Vaanki - Temple Visit - Bhuj Museum - Khadiya Dro Canyon - Vaanki
• DAY 3 - Nov 4: Vaanki - Mundra (for shopping) - Bhuj - Road To Heaven - Vaanki 
• DAY 4 - Nov 5: Vaanki - Jaisalmer

PHASE TWO: JAISALMER (November 5th to 9th, 2024)

• DAY 1 - Nov 6: Jaisalmer - Ramdevra Temple - Jaisalmer War Museum - SAM Dunes
• DAY 2 - Nov 7: SAM Dunes - Tanot Mata Mandir + Indo-Pak Border - Longewala War Museum - SAM Dunes
• DAY 3 - Nov 8: SAM Dunes - Kuldhara Ghost Village - Jaisalmer Fort - Bada Bagh - Gadisar Lake - Jaisalmer
• DAY 4 - Nov 9: Jaisalmer - Ahmedabad (Pure riding days)
• DAY 5 - Nov 10: Ahmedabad - Mumbai (Pure riding days)

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PHASE ONE: KUTCH

(Note: Pawan had to visit the temple in his ancestral village of Vaanki. So we decided to make 'Vaanki' as our base (instead of Bhuj) and planned our itinerary accordingly. This would also help us save up on accommodation costs!)

DAY 1 / NOV 2, 2024: MUMBAI TO VAANKI
Place of stay: Vaanki Sanatorium

(860 kms approx / 16H40M)

Having done most of this stretch back in 2021 (we had gone towards Dholavira instead of Bhuj), the route didn’t seem daunting. What actually was stressing us out was the pathetic condition of the under-construction Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. We had a terrible experience back in June, when we were travelling to Zanskar - though on and off reports suggested that the conditions were better off by end October. But still, videos and reels of the massive 8-10 hour long traffic jams were making us rethink our route - whether to go via the longer and relatively ‘less stressful’ Nasik-Saputara route or just stick to the Mum-Ahd and pray for a divine miracle!

Anyway, decided to stick to the original plan and leave as early as possible, ie, 4 am. We loaded up our bikes the evening before and decided to call it a day early - so as to get enough sleep for the arduous journey waiting for us. Forward to 3:45 am and we are below Pawan’s building (affectionately called HQ - since that’s been the start and end point for all our rides till date).

All locked and loaded waiting for the Big Brother from Germany!

A quick check of our bikes and aux lights - all systems a go! To our surprise, Google maps showed a completely Green/Blue stretch all the way! No traffic on the notorious Ghodbunder Road and neither anything red/yellow on NH48 a well :/ Not to be fooled by the sorcery, we made up our minds to brave the storm ahead.

And then there were two! The German and Japanese fury!

AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT?! We actually were at the MH-GUJ border check post within 1.5 hours! I guess since it was the day right after Diwali (Lakshmi pooja), people were still in festive spirits and nobody ventured out. The highway was relatively empty with no trucks and barring a few diversions and rough, unpaved patches - it was a breeze literally. We had to actually stop at the border to just pinch ourselves whether this was a dream or reality! Whenever we take this route, our breakfast point is usually around 275km from Mumbai - the “Jalaram Kathyiwada Hotel” just before the Choriyasi toll (after bypassing Surat). This is because in the morning time we can cover distances pretty fast and also build up the hunger so that we can take a good 40-45 minutes halt for breakfast.

Our first pitstop at 8:30am

Post Surat, the roads were excellent and we covered a lot of distance quickly. After a hearty Gujarati breakfast, we headed towards Vadodara and then onto the old Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway. Again, good roads and relatively lesser traffic meant we reached the outskirts of the ring road pretty quickly at around 12:30. From here we take a left towards Sanand and then head towards Samakhyali / Bhuj via the Mundra Port Road. The morning temperatures were pretty chill at around 22-24 degree C, but by noon time, it rose upto about 32-34.

We decided to stop for a drinks break (Chaas/Lassi etc.) but somehow decided to just keep riding till we again build up our hunger. Soon, we reached the Samakhyali junction where there’s a huge HONEST food court. For those who don’t know, HONEST is a chain of restaurants that line almost all the highways in the state of Gujarat. It’s like their version of Kamath’s! Anyway, stopped at the food court but it was packed to the brim. Being asocial, I was feeling claustrophobic seeing so many people! Pawan pointed at my ODO and I realised the bike had crossed 50,000kms (read: 9,000kms in 7 months) Probably a proud moment for both me and the previous owner, I guess! Took a picture and signalled Pawan to stop at the next relatively less-crowded place.

On my previous Tiger 800, I had clocked 37k kms! So this was a welcome sight!

Pawan: "Sir there’s a superb thali place, but it’ll be around 40km from here. Not very fancy, but the food is excellent!"

Both Prerana and me nodded in unison and off we left for this elusive thali place! After a fuel stop, we reached the thali place. One of the things that we soon get used to is the ‘unwanted attention that these bikes and riders’ get from the people - so that’s something that needs to be taken into account. Anyway, after the usual “Where are you guys from? What are these bikes? What is top speed?” question session; the heat was getting to us, so we just kept our composure somehow and made our way to a less crowded area of the hotel.

Nothing better than a Thali to fuel you up - during such long, non-stop rides

After destroying the thali and spending some time just lazing about, it was time to wear our gears and get back on the road. Only 80kms more! Time was around 4:45pm! Again, we didn’t want to get involved in this ‘sorcery of time’ and decided to just ride to our rooms for the night. 80kms were done and dusted in no time and by 5:30 pm we were at our stay in Vaanki. Special mention to the roads in Gujarat - though the 2021 road conditions were top notch, this time around, the roads had given way in many places (probably due to the amount of trucks that ply up and down). Yet, that didn’t delay us in any way and having ADV bikes with good suspension and power - enables you to cruise effortlessly on such roads.

“Strange inconsistency in both our odo” (Top is the GSA / Bottom is the ATAS)

The bikes performed exceptionally well. No issues whatsoever!

Decided to chill for a while and then just walk about the village as the sun set in the distance!

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DAY TWO / NOV 3, 2024: VAANKI LOCAL TEMPLE - BHUJ - KHADIYA DRO (CANYON)
Place of stay: Vaanki Sanatorium

Vaanki Mahavir Jain Temple is one of the pilgrimage halts in Kutch for the Jain community. Throughout the day, buses filled with Jain pilgrims were moving in and out of the complex we were staying in - which housed the main temple as well.

A wide angle view of the temple entrance

Intricate carvings throughout the entire structure

The temple compound is massive!

Breakfast was served in the common mess at 8am itself - so we made a beeline for it before the food gets over. The plan today was to visit the local temple (not the main temple) and then head to Bhuj for lunch and then proceed to a place known as “Grand Canyon of Kutch” (aka Khadiya Dro in local lingo). As mentioned many times, the itinerary was shortened to only include places we hadn’t seen during our last visit, in order to maximise the Jaisalmer leg of the trip.

'Welcome to Vaanki'

You'll find a lot of such traditional architectural houses!

A quiet, calm life!

Parked the bikes at a similar spot that we had in 2021.

"I'm just a boy, standing in front of my motorcycle..."

After taking the blessings of the local deity, we headed towards Bhuj which was around 40km from where we were at. The plan was to have lunch at a famous Kutchi thali place called “UMIYAJI”, though we soon realised that being a sunday the place might be packed to the brim. So we delayed our departure (and lunch pangs) from Vanki by half an hour so as to reach just in time when the main crowd starts dispersing.

Before the destruction...

Post lunch we decided to just check with the owner if he knew the way to this Canyon place. We had done our research via IG Reels and asking a few friends who had earlier been to this place - but each one had chartered their own paths and stumbled upon the place on their own. Funnily, even the owner and few other locals had never heard of this ‘KADIYA DRO’. Anyway, we decided to just google map it and found a ‘KADIYA DRO CAFE’ (one of the reels had mentioned that this is the place where you can park your vehicles). It was approximately 40kms from where we were and time shown was 1 hour. Decided to anyway check out the place since that was the only thing in our itinerary. We wanted to check out the Cenotaphs of Bhuj and Bhuj Museum as well - but since we had delayed our start, these things had to be missed. Well, its always good to leave something for next time I guess!

Google map from 'Umiyaji to Kadiya Dro Canyon Cafe'

Anyway, long journey short - we reached the ‘Kadiya Dro Cafe’ - which was nothing but a wood and straw hut with one person manning the ‘outpost’. There was already a family sitting there and soon we figured that the way to reach this ‘CANYON site’ was via a BOLERO CAMPER. The outpost owner was encouraging us to take our bikes and go - but somewhere we figured that riding two 250kg bike with a pillion on dry, rocky river beds would be a bad idea. The bolero pickup arrived and all three of us hopped onto the rear - holding the grab rails tight while the family made its way into the seating cabin. A minute into the drive and we realised what a great call to NOT take our bikes because we were instantly met with a 90 degree descent into deep sand and then onwards onto a 45 degree ascent onto big stones and boulders. It was a desert safari in itself - monster truck level!

(OK OK I exagerrated a bit. There were youngsters on their splendors and FZs who were also following us - so an ideal trail ride if one was mentally prepared for it. Which we were not!)

The route was through very remote, low vegetation desert lands. If you’ve ever been to the Kutch side - you’ll realise that it has a very similar terrain to Western Rajasthan (I got to know this later on!) and most of it is a dry, arid land. The terrain after a point starts looking like a different planet only and you’ll have to pinch yourself to keep reminding oneself that you are in INDIA! (This same feeling I got when I had first visited Ladakh in 2019 and Kashmir in 2023). After a good 45 minutes of adventure and spirited drive through sand, stones, river beds and rock formations - we finally reached the famous CANYON POINT! And man, what a sight to behold!

Oasis in the desert!

"I'm just a girl, staring at my reflection..."

"The friendly neighbourhood boys - you can take home!"

In case you plan to visit, you can take your SUVs provided it is 4x4. But my recommendation would be to park your vehicles and go via the Bolero route to actually experience some thrills and chills! There’s a small outpost at the canyon point where you get Maggi, Tea/Coffee, water and soft drinks. We were given a cut off time of 1 hour (so as to avoid the darkness post sun-set). Walked around, clicked pictures and sat silently for a while and it was time to head back. Our bikes were waiting for us - had parked them under a tree and boy it felt so good to be back on the motorcycle after the whole 4W adventure.

This entire route (Bhuj to Canyon) is devoid of any petrol pumps or food joints - barring the roadside stalls selling chips. My reserve light had already come up during out inward journey and a mental calculation meant that I may fall short before reaching Bhuj. Reason being - though Google maps showed 40 odd kms for this place, in reality, it was touching somewhere around 60-65kms. My mental calculations were based on the 40 kms mark, so this new development was a bit concerning. In my earlier posts I had mentioned how the ATAS fuel range of 27kms remaining is actually equivalent to “0 kms”. So even though it was showing me a range of 40kms (20 kms into our return journey to Bhuj), I didn’t want to take any chances.

Luckily, Pawan enquired with a local and we found that some of these roadside stalls do sell petrol for around 120 rupees for a litre; guess they also figured this would be a good side business apart from selling tea and chips. Reached one of the designated stalls and filled 2L of petrol - just to be safe.

Rode back to Bhuj, fuelled up properly and found a quaint pizza place for dinner. After a nice gossip session, we headed back to Vaanki and thus ended an eventful day two of the Kutch phase.

Continue reading on BHPian TheVass' bike road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.