Hello all the tourers and rest of the human community :cool:....here comes another travelogue from one of the checked items on my bucket list "road trip to Rajasthan" which I did on our very own RE Classic 350 along with my BFF Varun and his beast RE Desert Storm 500, believe me, 4 of us make a special team which I can't describe in words. I was longing for this road trip for a long long time (thanks to the work pressure ..) and couldn't wait for the year end, which is supposedly the best time to visit Rajasthan. Both of us had doubts , whether it's the right decision to do this trip in Monsoons, well, I believe that when you have doubts, you should definitely try doing it, because if you do it successfully, you will have immense satisfaction and if at all you fail, you can justify your doubts.
In fact we were planning for leh-ladakh which is our dream destination but didnt get enough leaves so chose Rajasthan to escape the chaos. The tour was planned for 10 days starting 25 July 2015, below is the route and tour details..
Thane-Mt Abu-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Ajmer-Pushkar-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Thane
Day1, 25 July: Thane Mehsana(~ 600 Km)
We were excited, we were all prepared to ride in the rain with raincoats, gum boots, tarpaulins, saddle bags, waterproof covers for the bags, fog lights and non waterproof gloves(bad decision). The ride started pretty late, although we were planning to leave the city by 7 but somehow we were in Thane until 9 am and were hoping that we are lucky for the entire stretch if we want to reach Mt Abu the same day. We were quite aggressive throughout the day and were cruising at around 100 kmph as it wasnt raining and the weather was pleasant. We experienced first heavy showers of the day at Surat and it rained like hell, we had no choice but to slow down and continue at 70-80 kmph till Baroda. The work on old Baroda-Ahmedabad highway is complete and its now like any other Gujarat road, just awesome. We managed to reach Ahmedabad by 7 Pm and decided to continue the ride and reach Mehsana and halt as it was raining continuously from Ahmedabad onwards and it was impossible to reach Mt Abu. It was around 10 when we reached Mehsana and we were famished, we planned to eat at Subway and look for a hotel online. Got some help from the Subway guy and he helped us get a hotel room for 1200 bucks.Below are the details of our stay, road conditions etc .
Road condition(1-10, 1 being lowest): 8
Hotel : Hotel Amantran
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1200/ average, only for dumping.
Hotel Rating(1-10, 1 being lowest) : 5
Day2, 26 July: Mehsana-Mt Abu(150 Km)
Started early in the morning to reach Mt abu at around 11 am and dumped at the hotel and left to visit the Mount asap. Unfortunately 2nd day too was pouring heavily the entire day, but it was fun to ride. We went straight to Gurushikhar which is the highest point of the mount with a temple (I guess dutta temple). To prevent ourselves from the rain we didnt remove our helmets which seemed very amusing to a group of girls saying yaar achcha idea hai, hume bhi pehen lena chahiye tha. After visiting the temple it was the time for lunch and dal-bati-churma was our first meal of the day.
Next places that we visited were Dilwara Jain temple which has amazing architecture and rich history. Achalgarh Shiva temple which is a must visit, you would find all the avatars of Lord Shiva at this temple. Nakki Lake which was under dense fog, visibility was very low, probably 5 meters or so and at this point my bike started showing signs of blindness and both the head lamp and the fog lamps were flickering. I somehow managed as I was following Varun all the time. The small Nakki lake market is nice and it was a good exp to take a walk around. The overall exp was good as climate was awesome and riding was too much fun. The rain was such that it was difficult for us to maintain silencers above the water level. My knee length gum boots also surrendered to the heavy rains and it became my first exp on the tour to ride with wet feet
By 8 or so we were back @ the hotel, it was time to eat,sleep and dream of our next destination Jaisalmer. It was raining so heavily @ mount that after 2 days there was a landslide and the main road was blocked. We were lucky that we were not present when all this happened.
Road condition: 8
Hotel : Hotel Sigma, Abu road
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/300/ average, only for dumping, not for couples.
Hotel Rating: 3
Day3, 27 July: Mt Abu - Jaisalmer(Golden City) via Jodhpur (570 Km)
We were too excited about the day as Jaisalmer was one of our priority destinations. It rained heavily throughout the night so we enquired about all possible routes from the locals, and, fortunately we learnt that the road via Barmer might be flooded at some places as it crossed canals and tributaries which were full to the brim. So, we decided that we would take Sirohi-Pali-Jodhpur-Jaisalmer route as we would also get to see Bullet Baba temple on the way. The road from Mt abu to Pali is good, you would find some stretches which are really bad and if you are in car you would have to be really careful otherwise you would break the axle. We halted at a roadside dhaba near Sirohi and had first meal of the day Puri chole. As we geared up to hit the road again and were pulling the throttle, I heard a click sound under the fuel tank and that was it, my bike was not responding to the throttle pull, the accelerator wire got loose of the hook :( . This happened because the night before the trip I was adjusting the new handle bar that I got installed recently and while doing so, I had put too much pressure on the handle bar making throttle tube free as the support inside main switch casing had broken. It took us sometime to realize that we will have to uninstall the fuel tank and unfortunately we neither had experience and right set of tools to do so.The bikes tool kit doesnt have 14mm spanner so we had to hunt around to look for a spanner. I was running around to find if some truck guy would help us. After all the searching we got the 14mm spanner from the puncture shop next to the dhaba. We somehow managed to open the tank and re hook the cables with the help of a guy who was an ex bullet mechanic. After 2 hours of this technical halt, we were back on the road and were ready to stretch until next break. We reached Pali at around 1 and the road ahead was one of the best roads I ever rode on. We were cruising at 110-115 kmph for almost the entire stretch of ~80 Km. On the way was Bullet Baba temple, also known as Om Banna temple which is 20 Km from Pali. At first we didnt notice the temple on the way and reached Rohat instead which is 10 Km ahead of the temple, and had to return to see the famous temple and pray for the safe journey. The temple is in name of one Rajput Om Singh Rathore who died in a road accident on his Royal Enfield 350 CC. It is believed that when police took custody of the bike, it returned to the same spot before dawn multiple times, hearing this, locals started worshiping the bike and built a temple.You will find bullet standard 350 standing in middle of the temple with all garlands, tilak, threards etc around. Many people turn up each day to pray for safe journey. Its a must watch if you are on this road. This is definitely a place for all bullet lovers.
In no time we reached Jodhpur, thanks to the awesome 4 lane Pali-Jodhpur road. We took a halt for Lunch at a dhaba on the bypass road to Jaisalmer. It was around 4 Pm when we started for Jaisalmer and had to cover another 290 Kms. The road from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is good but most of it is 2 lane. We had covered around 160 km before our next tea and biological break. We wanted to cover as much as we could before dark as my bikes headlight and fog lamp were playing hide and seek. If headlamp worked, fog lamp would stop and the other way round and sometime only indicators would work. I sometimes felt as if some ghost is controlling my bikes wiring.It was crazy.
The experience of the next 130 Kms was one which I would remember for long. It was dark when we started to cover this stretch and I was still leading as I felt that bike wouldnt give much trouble as the road was smooth. But I was wrong, and it went blind at a speed of 90~100 kmph and I felt as if I am gonna crash.I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I had to slow down and bend to put my hand inside bikes head wiring to give it a jolt, sometimes this technique worked and sometimes I wasnt lucky and had to stop. Despite all this, we were maintaining a speed of 80 or so. It was barren land all around and only 2 of us on the road, its a different feeling which cant be expressed in words. The sound of bullet keeps you in sync with it and I felt as if I was doing meditation. Thats the reason whenever I feel upset or restless or frustrated or any other emotions that a man can go through, I take out my bike for a ride. She is my true companion.
When I am on road and I see a railway crossing, I always wish that its closed so that I can see the train cross by. I have loved this since childhood and continue to do so :) and this time it was a crossing in the middle of nowhere, it was only us and a car waiting to let the train cross. I just love it.
Once we saw a herd of deer crossing the road just metres away from us and I was like, done, this is the last moment for me! But they disappeared in flash of a second and we survived. After the railway crossing, I was leading as I was sure that the lights are fine now and pulling the throttle as much as I could. We couldnt continue the same way for long as we had to take a grinding halt and the reason was a river like stream flowing on the road. We had absolutely no idea how deep it was or even if there was road under it or it was the dead end. There was no network on this road so couldnt even check on google maps.We were struck and were waiting for a truck/suv etc to cross as one car was also waiting with us to confirm the same(the car guy was afraid too...). Soon we saw a truck approaching us and we were glad to find that the water level was ok for us to cross. This was one of the thrilling experiences we had. In another 1 hour we reached Jaisalmer which was water logged as it had rained heavily like never before in last 5 years. The hotel that we had booked was awesome and it brought a smile on our face after the hectic long ride. It was cheap and more than worth the money we paid to book it. It was time to hit the bed and do an F5 for the next day.
Before the sleep we thought of watching news and were shocked by the demise of great Late APJ Abdul Kalam. RIP sir, you were a true nationalist and a great human. You would be an inspiration to many many generations.
Road condition: overall 8 ( 10/10 for Pali-Jodhpur road)
Hotel : Hotel shahi palace
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/215/ Awesome rooms, the hotel is worth your money. The prices might shoot up in peak season.
Hotel Rating: 8
Day4, 28 July: Around Jaisalmer(Tanot temple, Longewala, Gadisar lake,Sam dunes)(~400 KM)
We woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel rooftop from where you get this beautiful view of the Jaisalmer fort. Plan was to visit Tanot mata temple first and then go to Longewala battlefield and finally the famous sam sand dunes. The landscape on the entire trip was amazing and undoubtedly one of the best. On the way to Tanot , you would find windmill farms, beautiful hills and if you are lucky you wouldnt see anybody for many hours. I felt like riding those roads forever and never return to the chaotic city life, I wish I could do that one day. If you are on a bike, take a mountable camera to record your ride, its something that you would cherish for long. We reached Tanot at around 11 in the morning and were amazed by the beauty of this place. Its said that Tanot mata temple was bombed by Pakistan during 1965 war and none of the bombs exploded. The mini museum inside the temple has a collection of some of these unexploded bombs and evidences of the outstanding gallantry during the war. We relaxed there for a while and were back on the road to reach Longewala post which is around 60 kms from Tanot. The ride experience was awesome and there was absolutely no one on the entire stretch apart from both of us. We were not prepared for a flat tyre, but we were lucky that we didnt get one, but if you are on these roads, make sure that you have arrangements. There is no telephone network on these roads. It give you a different feeling altogether. In todays world where you are always surrounded by gadgets, people,technology etc, such places can make you think and even plan for an alternate life.
Longewala is a nice small place manned by BSF just like Tanot. We were welcomed by BSF guys by an insult as we had just parked our bikes and started to move towards the destroyed pakistani tank. He said Koi zimmedari banti hai ki nahi aapki? we were like, whattt??
We then presented our ID proofs and entered our details in the visitors register and proceeded to explore the place. Some of the BSF guys were friendly and told us about the war gallantry, especially the story of how the border post pillar 638 was pushed back to its original place after pakistan lost the war of 1971. You would find the mata temple where Sunil shetty prayed in the movie Border. The well, which was poisoned by Pakistanis during the war is now home for thousands of bats.After visiting this place, you would realize how tough it is to man the borders and how hard it is to keep our motherland safe from the notorious neighbours. We salute the indian armed forces for their courage and selfless duty towards our motherland.
From longewala we headed towards Ramgarh and then to Jaisalmer. On these deserted roads you can find beautiful visual effects of the sand flowing on them. Sometimes you would be surrounded dust storms and would surely get goosebumps by the sheer size of it.
We had our lunch at the only hotel in Ramgarh and the food was awesome. Some tips when you are taking tour of this part of the country. Do a tank up in Jaisalmer and keep some backup as well, also the only hotel after Jaisalmer is in Ramgarh, so, do keep enough food/snacks.
We reached Jaisalmer at around 4 pm and immediately left for Ghadisar lake where we spent not more than 10 mins and then to sam sand dunes. The ride experience to sam was amazing. If you want some thrill in the dunes, go for a jeep safari and I am sure you would love it. You would enjoy the adrenaline rush when jeep falls on an almost 90 degree dune which is almost 3-4 storey high. If you are on a powerful bike like bullet , do try out a ride on the dunes. A camel safari is also worth doing.
We were short of time and couldnt visit Nabh Dungar and the abandoned haunted village of Kuldhara. The story of this village is interesting as the village was abandoned by the villagers overnight due to fear of the minister of the state who was a tyrant and was in love with the daughter of head of the village. He had warned villagers of grave consequences if he didnt get the girl. Villagers loved the head so much that rather than surrendering the girl to him they chose to vacate it overnight. It is believed that the village is haunted.
Road condition to Tanot/Longewala: 8
Road condition to sam: 9
Day5, 29 July: In Jaisalmer and then to Jodhpur (300 Km)
We started this day early as we had to cover Jaisalmer fort and had to reach Jodhpur by EOD. We had breakfast ( Kachauri, jalebi, tea) in one of the many shops in front of the fort. We hired a guide to know more about the fort(100 Bucks for the entire fort) and I think we covered it in 1 hour or so. Main attractions inside the fort are jain temples and their unique architecture. My personal favourite was the view from top of the fort, entire city looks as if its layered with gold. BY 11 am we were again on the road and were heading towards jodhpur, it was raining intermittently. I got my bikes wiring checked and repaired at some place near Pokhran, had lunch at a dhaba and were back on road again. We reached Jodhpur by 6:30 pm and were elated by seeing our hotel. It was a farm house turned hotel with a lush green garden in front. We dumped our luggage and headed straight to have Pyaaz ki kachauri and other famous snacks. For dinner dont know who had this idea of having chinese at a hotel nearby, trust me, it was the worst chinese food I have ever put my taste buds to. If chinese come to know about this, surely they would attack us :)
Road condition: 8
Hotel : The Marwar hotel and gardens
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1400 / Good hotel
Hotel Rating: 8
Day6, 30 July: Jodhpur sightseeing
We started our day with Pyaaz kachauri, mawa Kachauri and chai @ Om tea stall near station. Janta Sweet shop is a famous shop in Jodhpur to have kachauris, we couldnt go there as we were short of time. After breakfast, we went straight to Mehrangarh fort built by the Rathores which stands high on the hill called Bhaurcheeria( hill of birds). Its believed that when the fort was being built, one of the sole residents of the hill, a saint( lord of birds) was displaced by the king who in turn cursed mehrangarh/jodhpur for droughts and thats the reason why it still faces drought like situation. Mehrangarh fort is well maintained and clean. I recommend that you rent audio guides which are available in many languages. You would be amazed by the stories of Rathores and forts. Seeing such places brings pride in me and gives better realization of being a Rajput. The museum is filled with palanquins, armour , embroidery and paintings of the time. From top of the fort you can see the beautiful view of the city which looks blue, thus getting the name Blue city. Also, do not miss the cannon museum on the top.
Next in the list was Jaswant thada made in the memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh which is next to the fort, built with marble with beautiful design and architecture. In the middle of the fort and Jaswant thada is the statue of Maharaja Rao jodha sitting on a horse. I was awestruck by the sheer size of it.
From the area nearby fort, you can see another fort called Umaid Bhawan which is situated on a hill at a distance of around 6-7 Kms. Current Maharaja (Maharaja Gaj Singh) and his family stays in the part of this palace and part of it is converted to a luxury hotel. It was quite obvious that post lunch it would be our next destination.
Umaid bhawan palace is one of the most beautiful palaces and worlds largest private residences and one would not be able to keep his/her eye off it. The structure is around 70 years old and you would feel as if it was built yesterday. One thing that keeps me thinking is the concept of interlocking by which these structures were fit in, no mortar was used to glue them up together. We tried visiting Bal Samand lake but we came to know only after visiting there that its a palace/hotel so we returned to our hotel to have dinner.
usually when I am at such historical places I think about my youngest bro Ankit who loves history and the moment I used to call him to tell him where I was , he would tell you all about that place.
Day7, 31 July: Jodhpur-Ajmer-Pushkar-Chittorgarh(~450 Km)
Plan was to reach Ajmer and visit Ajmer sharif Dargah and then rush to Pushkar and then finally to Chittorgarh the same day. I had booked a tent house in chittorgarh which got automatically cancelled as the itinerary of the tent resort was not updated on the website, although it was closed and Goibibo was considerate enough to get an alternate upgraded hotel for us, thanks to goibibo. The road from jodhpur to Ajmer was not in a very good condition and it wouldnt score more than 5 on my rating.
We reached Ajmer at around 2 and went straight to Ajmer sharif through the narrow dense streets. We later came to know that there is another route which opens up at the rear side. The street was too dense as it was Friday and devotees had assembled to offer prayers and we were unlucky to learn that it would remain closed for another 2-2.5 hours. We had arranged for a parking in one of the extremely narrow streets where not even our handles were fitting in. We had no other option but to continue our journey to Pushkar and skip Ajmer as we were short of time. Road to Pushkar is not in very good condition and on top of it, the day was Guru Purnima ,so, there was huge traffic. We again had to pass through dense streets of Pushkar and our saddle bags were adding to the trouble.
We somehow reached the Pushkar Lake which is poorly managed and unappealing. We didnt want to unload the saddle bags as we were not to spend too much time there,so, we planned to keep bikes loaded and parked on the main road which seems to be full of thugs. As we stepped into the lake area, we were approached by many to buy garlands and other offerings to Lord Bramha. BTW pushkar is the only place in India which has Brahma temple. You wouldnt find his temple anywhere else. The experience at the lake was not very good as after leaving the place I realized that I had paid some 800 bucks to a Pujari for 5 mins of prayer and on top of that Varun had paid only 250 Rupees. I was feeling terrible. Our next destination was Brahma temple which was open for a short time as they close the premises for cleaning and prayers. We had to take turns to visit the temple, thanks to our loaded bikes. The temple was stormed by devotees and it was very difficult for me to focus elsewhere due to the continuous dhakka-mukki. The overall Pushkar experience was as it should be at any devotional place where you just pray that you wont die due to stampede.
At around 6, we were on the road again and without any delay headed towards Chittorgarh, which was around 220 Kms. The road condition was good but it had heavy traffic and due to this we reached at the hotel at around 11 Pm. It was a long day and the bed was calling us.
Road condition: 7
Hotel : Hotel Padmini
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1300 / Good hotel. From the inside, it looks more like a dharamshala. Overall, it was worth the money.
Hotel Rating: 6.5
Day8, 1 Aug: Chittorgarh fort visit & then do Udaipur(~140 Km)
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. We were getting the feeling that we were the only ones occupying a room there. Plan for the day was to visit the Chittorgarh fort and then leave for Udaipur. We had reached the fort at around 9:30 am and first thing we did was hiring a guide. The guide was very talkative and I still remember his condition for the day, he requested Sir, we love this fort and its rich and heroic history, so its my humble request that when I speak of the fort and past events, please do not talk among yourself, we felt as if we were in a lecture and professor was asking us to turn off the mobiles and not to talk:) . He spoke so much and so fast that it was difficult to make anything out of the entire conversation. I had to take help of google sometimes. But, I liked the way he expressed himself and the intensity by which he spoke. Some of the stories of the fort gave goosebumps and reminded of the sacrifice done by the Rajputana to ensure freedom of the future generations. Stories of the Maharanas and how they stood for their family and people and never ever gave up to the Mughals. Stories of Johar(Ladies jumping in fire in huge numbers to prevent themselves from Mughals when Rajput kings lost battles) would keep you attached to the fort and recreate incidences in your mind(atleast I do that). You would be surprised by the architecture of Vijay Stambha and how it was designed some 550 years ago. The experience was awesome as you can see the fort in your own vehicle and view of the white city is fabulous from the top. The fort is so big that the circumference is around 13 KMs and around 5000 people stay inside the fort. If you are aware of the famous chittorgarh blankets, you can shop them up at the government shop inside the fort. You dont have to worry about carrying them as the shop would ship them for you without additional cost. I had shipped 6 blankets to Delhi.
The most monotonous and tiring job of the day was to load/unload the saddle bags + tarpaulins, we had lost almost all of the skin on our fingertips doing this. By the end of the second day of our trip I couldnt feel my fingers. Thanks to the new riding gloves which were supposed to be waterproof but werent and day in day out load/unload of our bags. On top of that my hands were swelling like anything and it was sometimes getting difficult for me to pull the throttle. On this entire trip we faced 2 major problems, one was with my Bike and another was with Varun There was one or the other problem with the bike, sometimes the wiring, sometimes accelerator cable and problem with Varun was that he was hurting himself almost everyday. The biggest injury was a tennis ball size kiss from by bikes burning silencer.
Carrying on to the journey, we were again burning the rubber to reach Udaipur. We wanted to reach before the sunset so that we can enjoy the evening at some sunset point. We had managed to reach the beautiful city by 6 pm. The city is cozy and very beautiful. The streets surrounding the Udaipur city palace are single lane and congested but not sure why I love to be at such places which have small streets. There were many souvenir shops, custom T shops, snacks shops, leather shops etc etc. The hotel where we checked in was located high on a street which was not more than 2 Metres broad and had a slope of more than 50 Degrees I guess. I wasnt sure that the bike would pull herself without a hitch, but I always give her a try and later I always realize that I was underestimating her. She is very responsive and does what her master demands.
Immediately after the checkin we were on the way to Sajjan Garh which is abandoned, not so big fort, located at one of the surrounding hills. Only thing that this fort offers is the mesmerizing view of the beautiful city below. There is nothing much to do here at the fort. One thing that catched ours and other tourists attention was this lady who was standing in the middle of one of the halls in the fort with earphones and singing very loud. She wasnt actually worried about the fact that she wasnt singing well .hehe. We heard her for quite sometime but we were not sure which song she was singing. That was simply crazy and we were amazed by this act of hers as she wasnt bothered by the people around. I go crazy when people are around and I have to perform.
After sajjangarh we went straight to Fatehsagar Lake which is one of the many beautiful lakes in Udaipur. If you want to enjoy this place, just take a walk along the lake and eat at the chaupati( Go for a kullad hot coffee and cold coffee with ice cream), other food items are also great. After sitting around the lake for hours and having multiple coffee it was time to sleep.
Road condition: 6.5
Hotel : Hotel Lake Paradise
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/900 / Worth money, really good + the guy at the reception is very helpful and friendly.
Hotel Rating: 7
Day9/10, 2/3 Aug: In and around Udaipur and then to Ahmedabad-Thane (~900 Km)
First thing we did was to have breakfast at this tiny local breakfast shop which was famous for its kachauris, samosas, poha and tea. We ordered a plate of each and it was really amazing. I dont remember the name of this shop though, its next to the City palace.
Our next destination was Eklingji(Nathdwara) temple, which is around 50 Kms from the city palace. The temple is very ancient and I do not have much to write about temples. The overall exp was good. With no further delay we went straight to the city place which is beautifully designed and gives a great view of the city and the lake behind. Best part was Maharana Pratap Section inside the mardana section of the fort, all the famous and legendary stories of Maharana and detailed out. I have always read and heard of his bravery and what he did for his people, he never gave up to the atrocities done by the Mughals One interesting thing about all the Rajput forts was 2 different sections , one for males called the Mardana section and the other for females called the Janana section. There were strict policies for both the genders to enter each others section. I was amazed by an exception to this in Mehrangarh Fort(Jodhpur), where there was a secret window inside the mardana section meeting hall where King used to arrange discussions with diplomats on internal and external matters and the Queens could attend this meeting without the knowledge of others. Infact the way to these secret window was also secret and only the royal family could know about them and use them. Watching all this created an imagery in my mind of the past and I could actually play them in my mind. I was getting a bit restless, as the trip was coming to an end and the days spent in Rajasthan were the ones which would remain in my memory for a long long time and I would long for such trips every now and then.
After completing the city palace it was time to leave for Ahmedabad and reach before dark. The roads are quite good and it doesnt hurt to push your bike to its limits. We reached Ahmedabad by 8 and dumped at our usual Adda Hotel Radhey Inn at HathiJan. Varuna and I are just fond of this hotel. Its cheap and more worth than what you paid for.
At around 9 or so we thought of having dinner and went to the restaurant one floor down in the same building. As soon as we entered the restaurant we felt as is we are in a fish market or a railway station or OTC floor etc etc, it was so chaotic and all the peace that we had gathered in last 9 days went off in that 1 hour. We felt more tired after the dinner than driving 3500 Km by now. What a place it was.
Day 10 was all about reaching Thane, so I do not have much to describe. The trip came to an end at 7 pm on 3rd Aug. We both hugged each other and felt great about the fact that we have completed one more milestone and had another great memorable road trip. At the same time we also agreed that 2016 should be focussed on planning the laddakh road trip.
Some known facts and learnings
1) There is no point in honking or giving dipper to a cow. She won't move or even bother to....
2) When they want to cross the road, they can, you can't.
3) If the road is completely blocked by them, don't get down to request them to give side, it won't work.
4) Holy cow.
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In fact we were planning for leh-ladakh which is our dream destination but didnt get enough leaves so chose Rajasthan to escape the chaos. The tour was planned for 10 days starting 25 July 2015, below is the route and tour details..
Thane-Mt Abu-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Ajmer-Pushkar-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Thane
Day1, 25 July: Thane Mehsana(~ 600 Km)
We were excited, we were all prepared to ride in the rain with raincoats, gum boots, tarpaulins, saddle bags, waterproof covers for the bags, fog lights and non waterproof gloves(bad decision). The ride started pretty late, although we were planning to leave the city by 7 but somehow we were in Thane until 9 am and were hoping that we are lucky for the entire stretch if we want to reach Mt Abu the same day. We were quite aggressive throughout the day and were cruising at around 100 kmph as it wasnt raining and the weather was pleasant. We experienced first heavy showers of the day at Surat and it rained like hell, we had no choice but to slow down and continue at 70-80 kmph till Baroda. The work on old Baroda-Ahmedabad highway is complete and its now like any other Gujarat road, just awesome. We managed to reach Ahmedabad by 7 Pm and decided to continue the ride and reach Mehsana and halt as it was raining continuously from Ahmedabad onwards and it was impossible to reach Mt Abu. It was around 10 when we reached Mehsana and we were famished, we planned to eat at Subway and look for a hotel online. Got some help from the Subway guy and he helped us get a hotel room for 1200 bucks.Below are the details of our stay, road conditions etc .
Road condition(1-10, 1 being lowest): 8
Hotel : Hotel Amantran
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1200/ average, only for dumping.
Hotel Rating(1-10, 1 being lowest) : 5
Day2, 26 July: Mehsana-Mt Abu(150 Km)
Started early in the morning to reach Mt abu at around 11 am and dumped at the hotel and left to visit the Mount asap. Unfortunately 2nd day too was pouring heavily the entire day, but it was fun to ride. We went straight to Gurushikhar which is the highest point of the mount with a temple (I guess dutta temple). To prevent ourselves from the rain we didnt remove our helmets which seemed very amusing to a group of girls saying yaar achcha idea hai, hume bhi pehen lena chahiye tha. After visiting the temple it was the time for lunch and dal-bati-churma was our first meal of the day.
Next places that we visited were Dilwara Jain temple which has amazing architecture and rich history. Achalgarh Shiva temple which is a must visit, you would find all the avatars of Lord Shiva at this temple. Nakki Lake which was under dense fog, visibility was very low, probably 5 meters or so and at this point my bike started showing signs of blindness and both the head lamp and the fog lamps were flickering. I somehow managed as I was following Varun all the time. The small Nakki lake market is nice and it was a good exp to take a walk around. The overall exp was good as climate was awesome and riding was too much fun. The rain was such that it was difficult for us to maintain silencers above the water level. My knee length gum boots also surrendered to the heavy rains and it became my first exp on the tour to ride with wet feet
By 8 or so we were back @ the hotel, it was time to eat,sleep and dream of our next destination Jaisalmer. It was raining so heavily @ mount that after 2 days there was a landslide and the main road was blocked. We were lucky that we were not present when all this happened.
Road condition: 8
Hotel : Hotel Sigma, Abu road
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/300/ average, only for dumping, not for couples.
Hotel Rating: 3
Day3, 27 July: Mt Abu - Jaisalmer(Golden City) via Jodhpur (570 Km)
We were too excited about the day as Jaisalmer was one of our priority destinations. It rained heavily throughout the night so we enquired about all possible routes from the locals, and, fortunately we learnt that the road via Barmer might be flooded at some places as it crossed canals and tributaries which were full to the brim. So, we decided that we would take Sirohi-Pali-Jodhpur-Jaisalmer route as we would also get to see Bullet Baba temple on the way. The road from Mt abu to Pali is good, you would find some stretches which are really bad and if you are in car you would have to be really careful otherwise you would break the axle. We halted at a roadside dhaba near Sirohi and had first meal of the day Puri chole. As we geared up to hit the road again and were pulling the throttle, I heard a click sound under the fuel tank and that was it, my bike was not responding to the throttle pull, the accelerator wire got loose of the hook :( . This happened because the night before the trip I was adjusting the new handle bar that I got installed recently and while doing so, I had put too much pressure on the handle bar making throttle tube free as the support inside main switch casing had broken. It took us sometime to realize that we will have to uninstall the fuel tank and unfortunately we neither had experience and right set of tools to do so.The bikes tool kit doesnt have 14mm spanner so we had to hunt around to look for a spanner. I was running around to find if some truck guy would help us. After all the searching we got the 14mm spanner from the puncture shop next to the dhaba. We somehow managed to open the tank and re hook the cables with the help of a guy who was an ex bullet mechanic. After 2 hours of this technical halt, we were back on the road and were ready to stretch until next break. We reached Pali at around 1 and the road ahead was one of the best roads I ever rode on. We were cruising at 110-115 kmph for almost the entire stretch of ~80 Km. On the way was Bullet Baba temple, also known as Om Banna temple which is 20 Km from Pali. At first we didnt notice the temple on the way and reached Rohat instead which is 10 Km ahead of the temple, and had to return to see the famous temple and pray for the safe journey. The temple is in name of one Rajput Om Singh Rathore who died in a road accident on his Royal Enfield 350 CC. It is believed that when police took custody of the bike, it returned to the same spot before dawn multiple times, hearing this, locals started worshiping the bike and built a temple.You will find bullet standard 350 standing in middle of the temple with all garlands, tilak, threards etc around. Many people turn up each day to pray for safe journey. Its a must watch if you are on this road. This is definitely a place for all bullet lovers.
In no time we reached Jodhpur, thanks to the awesome 4 lane Pali-Jodhpur road. We took a halt for Lunch at a dhaba on the bypass road to Jaisalmer. It was around 4 Pm when we started for Jaisalmer and had to cover another 290 Kms. The road from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is good but most of it is 2 lane. We had covered around 160 km before our next tea and biological break. We wanted to cover as much as we could before dark as my bikes headlight and fog lamp were playing hide and seek. If headlamp worked, fog lamp would stop and the other way round and sometime only indicators would work. I sometimes felt as if some ghost is controlling my bikes wiring.It was crazy.
The experience of the next 130 Kms was one which I would remember for long. It was dark when we started to cover this stretch and I was still leading as I felt that bike wouldnt give much trouble as the road was smooth. But I was wrong, and it went blind at a speed of 90~100 kmph and I felt as if I am gonna crash.I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I had to slow down and bend to put my hand inside bikes head wiring to give it a jolt, sometimes this technique worked and sometimes I wasnt lucky and had to stop. Despite all this, we were maintaining a speed of 80 or so. It was barren land all around and only 2 of us on the road, its a different feeling which cant be expressed in words. The sound of bullet keeps you in sync with it and I felt as if I was doing meditation. Thats the reason whenever I feel upset or restless or frustrated or any other emotions that a man can go through, I take out my bike for a ride. She is my true companion.
When I am on road and I see a railway crossing, I always wish that its closed so that I can see the train cross by. I have loved this since childhood and continue to do so :) and this time it was a crossing in the middle of nowhere, it was only us and a car waiting to let the train cross. I just love it.
Once we saw a herd of deer crossing the road just metres away from us and I was like, done, this is the last moment for me! But they disappeared in flash of a second and we survived. After the railway crossing, I was leading as I was sure that the lights are fine now and pulling the throttle as much as I could. We couldnt continue the same way for long as we had to take a grinding halt and the reason was a river like stream flowing on the road. We had absolutely no idea how deep it was or even if there was road under it or it was the dead end. There was no network on this road so couldnt even check on google maps.We were struck and were waiting for a truck/suv etc to cross as one car was also waiting with us to confirm the same(the car guy was afraid too...). Soon we saw a truck approaching us and we were glad to find that the water level was ok for us to cross. This was one of the thrilling experiences we had. In another 1 hour we reached Jaisalmer which was water logged as it had rained heavily like never before in last 5 years. The hotel that we had booked was awesome and it brought a smile on our face after the hectic long ride. It was cheap and more than worth the money we paid to book it. It was time to hit the bed and do an F5 for the next day.
Before the sleep we thought of watching news and were shocked by the demise of great Late APJ Abdul Kalam. RIP sir, you were a true nationalist and a great human. You would be an inspiration to many many generations.
Road condition: overall 8 ( 10/10 for Pali-Jodhpur road)
Hotel : Hotel shahi palace
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/215/ Awesome rooms, the hotel is worth your money. The prices might shoot up in peak season.
Hotel Rating: 8
Day4, 28 July: Around Jaisalmer(Tanot temple, Longewala, Gadisar lake,Sam dunes)(~400 KM)
We woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel rooftop from where you get this beautiful view of the Jaisalmer fort. Plan was to visit Tanot mata temple first and then go to Longewala battlefield and finally the famous sam sand dunes. The landscape on the entire trip was amazing and undoubtedly one of the best. On the way to Tanot , you would find windmill farms, beautiful hills and if you are lucky you wouldnt see anybody for many hours. I felt like riding those roads forever and never return to the chaotic city life, I wish I could do that one day. If you are on a bike, take a mountable camera to record your ride, its something that you would cherish for long. We reached Tanot at around 11 in the morning and were amazed by the beauty of this place. Its said that Tanot mata temple was bombed by Pakistan during 1965 war and none of the bombs exploded. The mini museum inside the temple has a collection of some of these unexploded bombs and evidences of the outstanding gallantry during the war. We relaxed there for a while and were back on the road to reach Longewala post which is around 60 kms from Tanot. The ride experience was awesome and there was absolutely no one on the entire stretch apart from both of us. We were not prepared for a flat tyre, but we were lucky that we didnt get one, but if you are on these roads, make sure that you have arrangements. There is no telephone network on these roads. It give you a different feeling altogether. In todays world where you are always surrounded by gadgets, people,technology etc, such places can make you think and even plan for an alternate life.
Longewala is a nice small place manned by BSF just like Tanot. We were welcomed by BSF guys by an insult as we had just parked our bikes and started to move towards the destroyed pakistani tank. He said Koi zimmedari banti hai ki nahi aapki? we were like, whattt??
We then presented our ID proofs and entered our details in the visitors register and proceeded to explore the place. Some of the BSF guys were friendly and told us about the war gallantry, especially the story of how the border post pillar 638 was pushed back to its original place after pakistan lost the war of 1971. You would find the mata temple where Sunil shetty prayed in the movie Border. The well, which was poisoned by Pakistanis during the war is now home for thousands of bats.After visiting this place, you would realize how tough it is to man the borders and how hard it is to keep our motherland safe from the notorious neighbours. We salute the indian armed forces for their courage and selfless duty towards our motherland.
From longewala we headed towards Ramgarh and then to Jaisalmer. On these deserted roads you can find beautiful visual effects of the sand flowing on them. Sometimes you would be surrounded dust storms and would surely get goosebumps by the sheer size of it.
We had our lunch at the only hotel in Ramgarh and the food was awesome. Some tips when you are taking tour of this part of the country. Do a tank up in Jaisalmer and keep some backup as well, also the only hotel after Jaisalmer is in Ramgarh, so, do keep enough food/snacks.
We reached Jaisalmer at around 4 pm and immediately left for Ghadisar lake where we spent not more than 10 mins and then to sam sand dunes. The ride experience to sam was amazing. If you want some thrill in the dunes, go for a jeep safari and I am sure you would love it. You would enjoy the adrenaline rush when jeep falls on an almost 90 degree dune which is almost 3-4 storey high. If you are on a powerful bike like bullet , do try out a ride on the dunes. A camel safari is also worth doing.
We were short of time and couldnt visit Nabh Dungar and the abandoned haunted village of Kuldhara. The story of this village is interesting as the village was abandoned by the villagers overnight due to fear of the minister of the state who was a tyrant and was in love with the daughter of head of the village. He had warned villagers of grave consequences if he didnt get the girl. Villagers loved the head so much that rather than surrendering the girl to him they chose to vacate it overnight. It is believed that the village is haunted.
Road condition to Tanot/Longewala: 8
Road condition to sam: 9
Day5, 29 July: In Jaisalmer and then to Jodhpur (300 Km)
We started this day early as we had to cover Jaisalmer fort and had to reach Jodhpur by EOD. We had breakfast ( Kachauri, jalebi, tea) in one of the many shops in front of the fort. We hired a guide to know more about the fort(100 Bucks for the entire fort) and I think we covered it in 1 hour or so. Main attractions inside the fort are jain temples and their unique architecture. My personal favourite was the view from top of the fort, entire city looks as if its layered with gold. BY 11 am we were again on the road and were heading towards jodhpur, it was raining intermittently. I got my bikes wiring checked and repaired at some place near Pokhran, had lunch at a dhaba and were back on road again. We reached Jodhpur by 6:30 pm and were elated by seeing our hotel. It was a farm house turned hotel with a lush green garden in front. We dumped our luggage and headed straight to have Pyaaz ki kachauri and other famous snacks. For dinner dont know who had this idea of having chinese at a hotel nearby, trust me, it was the worst chinese food I have ever put my taste buds to. If chinese come to know about this, surely they would attack us :)
Road condition: 8
Hotel : The Marwar hotel and gardens
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1400 / Good hotel
Hotel Rating: 8
Day6, 30 July: Jodhpur sightseeing
We started our day with Pyaaz kachauri, mawa Kachauri and chai @ Om tea stall near station. Janta Sweet shop is a famous shop in Jodhpur to have kachauris, we couldnt go there as we were short of time. After breakfast, we went straight to Mehrangarh fort built by the Rathores which stands high on the hill called Bhaurcheeria( hill of birds). Its believed that when the fort was being built, one of the sole residents of the hill, a saint( lord of birds) was displaced by the king who in turn cursed mehrangarh/jodhpur for droughts and thats the reason why it still faces drought like situation. Mehrangarh fort is well maintained and clean. I recommend that you rent audio guides which are available in many languages. You would be amazed by the stories of Rathores and forts. Seeing such places brings pride in me and gives better realization of being a Rajput. The museum is filled with palanquins, armour , embroidery and paintings of the time. From top of the fort you can see the beautiful view of the city which looks blue, thus getting the name Blue city. Also, do not miss the cannon museum on the top.
Next in the list was Jaswant thada made in the memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh which is next to the fort, built with marble with beautiful design and architecture. In the middle of the fort and Jaswant thada is the statue of Maharaja Rao jodha sitting on a horse. I was awestruck by the sheer size of it.
From the area nearby fort, you can see another fort called Umaid Bhawan which is situated on a hill at a distance of around 6-7 Kms. Current Maharaja (Maharaja Gaj Singh) and his family stays in the part of this palace and part of it is converted to a luxury hotel. It was quite obvious that post lunch it would be our next destination.
Umaid bhawan palace is one of the most beautiful palaces and worlds largest private residences and one would not be able to keep his/her eye off it. The structure is around 70 years old and you would feel as if it was built yesterday. One thing that keeps me thinking is the concept of interlocking by which these structures were fit in, no mortar was used to glue them up together. We tried visiting Bal Samand lake but we came to know only after visiting there that its a palace/hotel so we returned to our hotel to have dinner.
usually when I am at such historical places I think about my youngest bro Ankit who loves history and the moment I used to call him to tell him where I was , he would tell you all about that place.
Day7, 31 July: Jodhpur-Ajmer-Pushkar-Chittorgarh(~450 Km)
Plan was to reach Ajmer and visit Ajmer sharif Dargah and then rush to Pushkar and then finally to Chittorgarh the same day. I had booked a tent house in chittorgarh which got automatically cancelled as the itinerary of the tent resort was not updated on the website, although it was closed and Goibibo was considerate enough to get an alternate upgraded hotel for us, thanks to goibibo. The road from jodhpur to Ajmer was not in a very good condition and it wouldnt score more than 5 on my rating.
We reached Ajmer at around 2 and went straight to Ajmer sharif through the narrow dense streets. We later came to know that there is another route which opens up at the rear side. The street was too dense as it was Friday and devotees had assembled to offer prayers and we were unlucky to learn that it would remain closed for another 2-2.5 hours. We had arranged for a parking in one of the extremely narrow streets where not even our handles were fitting in. We had no other option but to continue our journey to Pushkar and skip Ajmer as we were short of time. Road to Pushkar is not in very good condition and on top of it, the day was Guru Purnima ,so, there was huge traffic. We again had to pass through dense streets of Pushkar and our saddle bags were adding to the trouble.
We somehow reached the Pushkar Lake which is poorly managed and unappealing. We didnt want to unload the saddle bags as we were not to spend too much time there,so, we planned to keep bikes loaded and parked on the main road which seems to be full of thugs. As we stepped into the lake area, we were approached by many to buy garlands and other offerings to Lord Bramha. BTW pushkar is the only place in India which has Brahma temple. You wouldnt find his temple anywhere else. The experience at the lake was not very good as after leaving the place I realized that I had paid some 800 bucks to a Pujari for 5 mins of prayer and on top of that Varun had paid only 250 Rupees. I was feeling terrible. Our next destination was Brahma temple which was open for a short time as they close the premises for cleaning and prayers. We had to take turns to visit the temple, thanks to our loaded bikes. The temple was stormed by devotees and it was very difficult for me to focus elsewhere due to the continuous dhakka-mukki. The overall Pushkar experience was as it should be at any devotional place where you just pray that you wont die due to stampede.
At around 6, we were on the road again and without any delay headed towards Chittorgarh, which was around 220 Kms. The road condition was good but it had heavy traffic and due to this we reached at the hotel at around 11 Pm. It was a long day and the bed was calling us.
Road condition: 7
Hotel : Hotel Padmini
Room/price/standard : Ac room/1300 / Good hotel. From the inside, it looks more like a dharamshala. Overall, it was worth the money.
Hotel Rating: 6.5
Day8, 1 Aug: Chittorgarh fort visit & then do Udaipur(~140 Km)
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. We were getting the feeling that we were the only ones occupying a room there. Plan for the day was to visit the Chittorgarh fort and then leave for Udaipur. We had reached the fort at around 9:30 am and first thing we did was hiring a guide. The guide was very talkative and I still remember his condition for the day, he requested Sir, we love this fort and its rich and heroic history, so its my humble request that when I speak of the fort and past events, please do not talk among yourself, we felt as if we were in a lecture and professor was asking us to turn off the mobiles and not to talk:) . He spoke so much and so fast that it was difficult to make anything out of the entire conversation. I had to take help of google sometimes. But, I liked the way he expressed himself and the intensity by which he spoke. Some of the stories of the fort gave goosebumps and reminded of the sacrifice done by the Rajputana to ensure freedom of the future generations. Stories of the Maharanas and how they stood for their family and people and never ever gave up to the Mughals. Stories of Johar(Ladies jumping in fire in huge numbers to prevent themselves from Mughals when Rajput kings lost battles) would keep you attached to the fort and recreate incidences in your mind(atleast I do that). You would be surprised by the architecture of Vijay Stambha and how it was designed some 550 years ago. The experience was awesome as you can see the fort in your own vehicle and view of the white city is fabulous from the top. The fort is so big that the circumference is around 13 KMs and around 5000 people stay inside the fort. If you are aware of the famous chittorgarh blankets, you can shop them up at the government shop inside the fort. You dont have to worry about carrying them as the shop would ship them for you without additional cost. I had shipped 6 blankets to Delhi.
The most monotonous and tiring job of the day was to load/unload the saddle bags + tarpaulins, we had lost almost all of the skin on our fingertips doing this. By the end of the second day of our trip I couldnt feel my fingers. Thanks to the new riding gloves which were supposed to be waterproof but werent and day in day out load/unload of our bags. On top of that my hands were swelling like anything and it was sometimes getting difficult for me to pull the throttle. On this entire trip we faced 2 major problems, one was with my Bike and another was with Varun There was one or the other problem with the bike, sometimes the wiring, sometimes accelerator cable and problem with Varun was that he was hurting himself almost everyday. The biggest injury was a tennis ball size kiss from by bikes burning silencer.
Carrying on to the journey, we were again burning the rubber to reach Udaipur. We wanted to reach before the sunset so that we can enjoy the evening at some sunset point. We had managed to reach the beautiful city by 6 pm. The city is cozy and very beautiful. The streets surrounding the Udaipur city palace are single lane and congested but not sure why I love to be at such places which have small streets. There were many souvenir shops, custom T shops, snacks shops, leather shops etc etc. The hotel where we checked in was located high on a street which was not more than 2 Metres broad and had a slope of more than 50 Degrees I guess. I wasnt sure that the bike would pull herself without a hitch, but I always give her a try and later I always realize that I was underestimating her. She is very responsive and does what her master demands.
Immediately after the checkin we were on the way to Sajjan Garh which is abandoned, not so big fort, located at one of the surrounding hills. Only thing that this fort offers is the mesmerizing view of the beautiful city below. There is nothing much to do here at the fort. One thing that catched ours and other tourists attention was this lady who was standing in the middle of one of the halls in the fort with earphones and singing very loud. She wasnt actually worried about the fact that she wasnt singing well .hehe. We heard her for quite sometime but we were not sure which song she was singing. That was simply crazy and we were amazed by this act of hers as she wasnt bothered by the people around. I go crazy when people are around and I have to perform.
After sajjangarh we went straight to Fatehsagar Lake which is one of the many beautiful lakes in Udaipur. If you want to enjoy this place, just take a walk along the lake and eat at the chaupati( Go for a kullad hot coffee and cold coffee with ice cream), other food items are also great. After sitting around the lake for hours and having multiple coffee it was time to sleep.
Road condition: 6.5
Hotel : Hotel Lake Paradise
Room/price/standard : Non Ac room/900 / Worth money, really good + the guy at the reception is very helpful and friendly.
Hotel Rating: 7
Day9/10, 2/3 Aug: In and around Udaipur and then to Ahmedabad-Thane (~900 Km)
First thing we did was to have breakfast at this tiny local breakfast shop which was famous for its kachauris, samosas, poha and tea. We ordered a plate of each and it was really amazing. I dont remember the name of this shop though, its next to the City palace.
Our next destination was Eklingji(Nathdwara) temple, which is around 50 Kms from the city palace. The temple is very ancient and I do not have much to write about temples. The overall exp was good. With no further delay we went straight to the city place which is beautifully designed and gives a great view of the city and the lake behind. Best part was Maharana Pratap Section inside the mardana section of the fort, all the famous and legendary stories of Maharana and detailed out. I have always read and heard of his bravery and what he did for his people, he never gave up to the atrocities done by the Mughals One interesting thing about all the Rajput forts was 2 different sections , one for males called the Mardana section and the other for females called the Janana section. There were strict policies for both the genders to enter each others section. I was amazed by an exception to this in Mehrangarh Fort(Jodhpur), where there was a secret window inside the mardana section meeting hall where King used to arrange discussions with diplomats on internal and external matters and the Queens could attend this meeting without the knowledge of others. Infact the way to these secret window was also secret and only the royal family could know about them and use them. Watching all this created an imagery in my mind of the past and I could actually play them in my mind. I was getting a bit restless, as the trip was coming to an end and the days spent in Rajasthan were the ones which would remain in my memory for a long long time and I would long for such trips every now and then.
After completing the city palace it was time to leave for Ahmedabad and reach before dark. The roads are quite good and it doesnt hurt to push your bike to its limits. We reached Ahmedabad by 8 and dumped at our usual Adda Hotel Radhey Inn at HathiJan. Varuna and I are just fond of this hotel. Its cheap and more worth than what you paid for.
At around 9 or so we thought of having dinner and went to the restaurant one floor down in the same building. As soon as we entered the restaurant we felt as is we are in a fish market or a railway station or OTC floor etc etc, it was so chaotic and all the peace that we had gathered in last 9 days went off in that 1 hour. We felt more tired after the dinner than driving 3500 Km by now. What a place it was.
Day 10 was all about reaching Thane, so I do not have much to describe. The trip came to an end at 7 pm on 3rd Aug. We both hugged each other and felt great about the fact that we have completed one more milestone and had another great memorable road trip. At the same time we also agreed that 2016 should be focussed on planning the laddakh road trip.
Some known facts and learnings
1) There is no point in honking or giving dipper to a cow. She won't move or even bother to....
2) When they want to cross the road, they can, you can't.
3) If the road is completely blocked by them, don't get down to request them to give side, it won't work.
4) Holy cow.
