Roadtrip Day 26: Palanpur to Pali & successfully leaving Hotel California [Sat Apr 4, 2021]
The day of riding under intense heat, sleeping in a abandoned roadside dhaba which was frequented by thieves
In my previous post, I had mentioned that I had woken up at 2 AM in the night feeling feverish. I had multiple thoughts & it did feel like end of my ride. I could imagine vivid face of my wife & my parents telling me to abandon ride & return midway due to Covid cases increasing. Even some of my friends like Anand & Raja Aggarwal had suggested me to cut the ride short because of Covid. I felt, maybe they were right & it was stupid on my part to still continue.
I tried going back to sleep & I guess I did it successfully. I was up at 6 AM in the morning & to my pleasant surprise, I was feeling ok. Yesterday’s Sev Tomato still seemed to do a few rounds in the stomach but it did not feel that bad. I did feel a bit low on energy but paying closer attention to my body, I figured that I should be able to ride. I could have taken the day off & would have decided to take a rest day, but I was not too comfortable in the dorm. Unlike the dorms at Bhuj & Surat, this one was fairly well populated & I could hear a few coughing noises, although very rarely.
I was ready by 7:30 AM, packed the bags on my bike & was ready to leave. Thanked my inner voice about not being paranoid about the dogs biting my bike seat again as the bike was all intact. I started the ride & soon realized I had forgotten my helmet at the hotel. As a single rider with so much of stuff, I soon started realizing how difficult it is to manage all your belongings, riding rituals & ever changing thoughts. Meditation does help in the situation. I realized the days that I happen to start with meditation, I am less forgetful & more present. I quickly returned, collected my helmet & resumed my ride.
The path Google map showed me took me inside a vegetable market & I was like - god, that is a bad start. Everyone around me thought that I had bought vegetables packed on my bike to sell. Some were curious, some were amused. But everyone pretty much made way for me without I needing to request them to. One thing I should tell about Gujarat is very adjusting & nice folks. I also had to adjust the route as Google Map suggested route was closed at some point. But I was able to find an alternative path & merge back to Google suggested route. I soon reached a railway crossing & it was first time seeing trains that were carrying 2 layers of containers. My first thought was - isnt this going to touch the electrical wire that runs on the top. But looks like there was enough space.
I realized I had ridden some 300+ kms the previous day & my bike had gone into reserve very close to reaching hotel Shashwat. So it is time to fill petrol. I looked up reliance petrol pump & saw one around 41 odd kms at Rajasthan border. I thought I will fill petrol for Rs 100 on the way to ensure I do not run out of petrol completely. But then, I decided to trust my instinct than trusting the math. Afterall, that was the point of doing this roadtrip - to get to know my instincts better. My instinct did not seem too worried about it.
At around 8:30 AM, I started seeing hills. The road was also pretty good & green. I later came to know that I am heading towards Mount Abu & one of these hills harbour the city.
One thing worth mentioning is that the train tracks that ran closer to the road, were much ‘wider’. There were at least 4 tracks running which I think is a rarity in India, specially for someone who has stayed in South India most of his life. At some point of time, the track to Bangalore from Hyderbad used to be single track & also the track from Bangalore to Mumbai is also single on various stretches. This was like 10 years back.
I entered Rajasthan at around 10 AM. There were checkposts but no manning at those posts. I was being told that Rajasthan has mandated covid report & I was prepared with some theories on how/why I do not have one, but then, nobody stopped me for anything. I happily passed those checkposts & the first thing I noticed were large restaurants & prominent hoardings of liquor shops & beer bars. Actually that is when I realized I have entered Rajasthan because there was no formal sign that mentioned leaving Gujarat / entering Rajasthan. I was relieved that finally, I was able to exit Gujarat. I had spent like 20 odd days in Gujarat & maybe I took ‘kuch din to bitaiye Gujarat main’ way too seriously :-).
I like to write a few words summarizing my Gujarat stay & my experience there. While Gujarat has its own language & people mostly conversed in it, which sometimes made the emotional connect with them difficult, they also are one of the nicest people to interact with. At no point, their responses were condescending or it felt like they are intending to cheat or had any ulterior motives. There was no fear of being an outsider. I am going to miss the majestic Gujarati cows - both the Gir ones & the Yamraj ones. Also, the chaas (buttermilk) that they serve alongside the thali. At the time of writing this message, I already started missing Gujarat tea. It was expensive but it used to be pretty good. Although, I would probably rate Maharashtra tea better. I will always have fond memories of Gujarat inspite of my bike breaking down often there. But at that moment, I was relieved to see that finally I am able to exit Gujarat :).
I reached Reliance Petrol pump & as soon as I saw Rs 99/ltr petrol cost, a feeling of sadness crept in. In Gujarat, it was Rs 87-88/ltr . I was thinking how shrewed Reliance folks are to strategically position this petrol pump right next to border … in Rajasthan. I said in my mind - ‘Mota bhai - very bad strategy che’. For a moment, it felt like I missed Gujarat & I was surprised that this feeling came in so early :-D. Anyway, I decided to fill tankful of petrol & continued on my journey.
Roads continued to stay great. I was riding at 40-50 kmph & the heat has started to become prominent. I noticed some school kids running on a ground & it seemed like they are prepping for some endurance sports. I got reminded of my days in Sainik School & the time I used to prepare for marathons. I took a pic of them (not sure if it came well though).
It was 11:30 AM & the heat has become prominent. Plus the lack of night sleep had brought the drowsiness phase back. I got a call from Bhavik bhai of Gondal & I stopped at a tree shade (finding tree shade is rarity in Gujarat & Rajasthan) to call him back. Post the call, I saw an abandoned dhaba next to me & the thought of taking a quick nap there flashed my mind. I soon drove to it, parked my bike & lied down at a cement bed prepared next to the window.
After like 20 min, a person came on his bike. I realized he might be owner of the dhaba & I cooked up the story of stopping at the dhaba to have tea, but since I did not find anyone, I decided to take some rest. He was chill about it & said that he would fetch some water in the pots & put it for passing folks to have it. I asked him if the dhaba is operational & he said no. On asking reason - he said the place is infested with thieves & whoever runs this place, gets disturbed by the local thieves in the night. I was all alert by now. He then left to fetch water & I was thinking - what if he is going to get more people with him & he is a thief himself.
At this moment, I decided to use my instinct/soul not my mind. I asked myself if I feel safe (or not). While my mind was worried, I realized I did not get any negative vibe from the guy. I decided to take my chances & continued with my nap. The guy came back with water. He also offered to get tea for me from the shop nearby but I politely refused. We got into some conversation. He is from a nearby village Rechadi. He runs the stone carving work that happens behind the dhaba & his folks were off that day because of some mela that is going on in the nearby village. It was 12:45 & I was all fresh now, so I decided to resume my ride. The guy told me that there is a village named Sirohi ahead & there is famous restaurant named Baba Ramdev . I should not miss the food there. I looked up google map & found it. I thanked him for suggestion & both of us left the place (he left slightly earlier than me).
On the way to Sirohi, I crossed Veerwada & saw some interesting place which I am not sure what it was. I just clicked the pic & continued.
For reaching the restaurant, I had to get in the city. Considering that I had to kill time & getting into the city has become my favourite afternoon timepass, I did not mind doing that. I reached the restaurant & had dosa & lassi. I ensured that unlike the previous day, I dont stuff myself up else I would start feeling drowsy again. I forgot to click the pics of the restaurant but it seemed reasonably popular/packed with people.
I started my ride by 4 PM. By 5 PM or so, I entered Pali district. The weather has become much more pleasant after 5 PM.
At around 5:30, I saw a Gurudwara but I only clicked a pic. In the hindsight, I should have visited the place too.
I also saw this place at a distance which seemed like a religious site built on top of a hill but unfortunately there was no signboard about it. Also, there were some nice farm view on the way.
I realized that I have crossed 500 kms & I needed to change the oil (Rajkot to Palanpur was 300+ kms & Palanpur to Pali was 200+). I stopped at a roadside shop serving Kulhad tea & there are quite a few locals there.
After the oil change fiasco in Kutch, this time, I wanted to engage bullet experts to change the oil. After ordering tea, I looked up ‘bullet mechanics in Pali’ & saw A1 motors . I called up the guy who said that he usually leave by 7:30. It was 6:30 & I am yet to cover 30 odd kms. I told him I would take 45 min at least to reach there & he agreed to wait. Since I had less battery on my phone, I put my phone on airplane mode to conserve battery. Only later I came to know that he tried calling me while I was riding, could not connect, shut his shop & left the place by the time I reached there. I called him up & then he said he will come early next day to get the oil change done. I said ok & cut the call.
I went to a vehicle spares shop opposite A1 motors to enquire about any other places to get oil change for bullet. He suggested a shop in a gully nearby. I went there to find a thin guy named Chetan Maharaj. He seemed like a generic 2 wheeler mechanic & I asked him a few questions around bullet to ascertain his knowledge. I got the feeling that he can do it. Plus getting it done in the night will leave enough overnight time for me to know if something has gone wrong (like oil leakage from the nut), so that I can get it fixed before start of my ride in the morning. I decided to get the work done from him & went to purchase oil & filter from the shop which recommended me this mechanic.
Chetan ji was busy attending to another vehicle & it was 8 PM already. I told him that if he can do work on my bike, it would leave me some time to explore hotels & then checkin. He suggested to explore Lodha dharamshala which is nearby. He told me names of the people who manage the place. I went there & saw the rooms. They were ok for 200 bucks. I was concerned if it would get hot in the night but I decided to tackle the issue later. I decided to checkin. It is worth noting that I had spoken to a different hotel person in the morning & he had quoted 250-300 for a room with Air Cooler. That hotel was a bit far from the location I am getting my bike serviced. Plus it was going to be night curfew from 9 PM. So I decided in favour of the dharamshala.
The dharamshala folks let me park my vehicle inside the premise, which was a pleasant surprise for me.
After checking in, dropping my luggage, taking bath & eating something nearby, I went back to Chetan ji who eventually did the oil replacement. It was around 10 PM by then. I decided to catch some sleep as I had to start early the next day. I wanted to visit the Om Banna temple but it was on Pali Jodhpur highway while I needed to leave towards Jaipur as the next step. Rao ji, the manager at Lodha dharamshala suggested me to visit temple by leaving at 5 AM, come back, load the luggage & then leave towards Jaipur. I thought it was a fair plan & retired to bed, determined to wake up early the next day.
I am surprised that you have decided to skip all the Pakistan bordering cities of Rajasthan. Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer are one of the most beautiful cities of Rajasthan.