Around Delhi and To Chandigarh

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Important Notice: While on the trip out of goodwill I had shared my pics with some of fellow travelers. It might well be possible that you might see my pictures that are shown here, posted somewhere else on the web too. It was not very wise of me to share my pics without proper attribution (watermarks) done, but if you do see such pictures please report it to me.

Day 1 - 4th July, Delhi:


I went to the parcel office  and as usual I had to wait so much to get it released. Eventually I got it released and while taking the bike out I saw another inspecting the bike and he found that his bike's battery is missing along with other stuff. It seems things had been taken out while it was parked in the store room.
Also one thing to note is that when the luggage reaches the destination, the owner has to get it released within the first 6 hours otherwise there is a charge of 10/- per hour from then on. The guy had come to take his bike after 6 days and he had to pay 6*24*10 = 1440/- which is well more than the amount he must have
paid for the transport plus he lost bike's battery and other stuff. Seeing all this I was just praying that my bike is intact. I took it out of the station paying 50/- yet again to the police guys who faked that he is checking the paper work for the bike. I opened the wrapping of the bike and the bike didn't have any damage whatsoever and I was so happy to see that unlike the last time when we were horrified with the condition of our bikes.
So by now I had already spent approximately 2500/- (including the usual shipping charges) for the bike to be transported till Delhi thanks to open and empty pockets of railway officials at every step.




Now that I got my bike out I had to get my luggage and for that I need to park my bike in a proper so that I can go get my luggage from the cloak room. Traveling alone has its disadvantages. How I wanted someone that I can leave the bike with and get my luggage. Anyways I had to figure an effective way to deal with it and I parked my bike in the railways parking and got my bags. I noticed that since I had not kept the bags properly on the bike while getting to the railway station in Bangalore, they were torn from the sides and next thing I had to do was search a cobbler who can fix it. This is where disadvantage of over-packing showed. It was very humid and I had to carry 4 bags all by myself and roam around the crowded place like Nizammudin station. Luckily I found a cobbler nearby and gave the bags for fixing. By this time I had drank 3 or 4 glasses of lemon-aerated water that is sold by guys around delhi roads costing 5/- a glass. It was so refreshing that I can't explain how I felt.
My bags getting tucked from inside so that it doesn't get torn again while touring

The bags were fixed and then I called up my college friend Nitin who stays in Delhi and asked about his plan. He asked me to come to his house before leaving for Chandigarh which was my initial plan i.e. as soon as I get the bike I'll push off for Chandigarh. I asked him about the route to his house and by 3 o clock I reached his house. Nitin and his mum welcomed me in the house. We had a nice lunch thanks to Nitin's mummy and then Nitin and I went out to buy some things that I couldn't buy before. Nitin had some work and I had to prepare to start for Chandigarh the same day. On the way to Nitin's house I called several people informing my whereabouts and told that I have reached safe and sound. The bike was running very heavy and was vibrating too much. I called my mechanic, Irshad Bhai, and asked him the reason for it because all this while the bike was running fine and suddenly this happened and the reason was beyond me. He immediately suggested me to remove the air restricter that I had again installed in Bangalore. 
While preparing for Chandigarh I removed the tank and removed the air restricter. I was putting everything back in the bike and I noticed and there was a huge leak from the petrol tank when I used to start the bike. I checked the leak and found out that the fuel pipe from the tank had got cut probably because of my mishandling while putting the tank back on the bike.
I thought this is not a great start for my trip as I was already late starting for Chandigarh and I didn't know if I can find a mechanic near by to fix the problem. I headed out to look for one and luckily I found one just beside a petrol bunk. He replaced the pipe and it looked good to go. I came back put my luggage on the bike fastened two of the bungee chords Sunil sir gave me so that the bags aren't moving much on the bike which previously caused the tear in the bags.
It was 5 o clock by that time and I still hadn't started for Chandigarh. I was worried that on the first day itself I'll have to ride in the night. But since the road to Chandigarh from Delhi is all the way a four lane highway and it was just 250 kms I hoped to reach Chandigarh in close to 4 hours.
Finally I started my road trip a little late but still I was hoping to make up time on the way. One more thing I didn't buy for the trip was a torch and I decided that I would buy it from Delhi itself. I bought one from a departmental store closeby and started towards Chandigarh.
After some asking from the local guys I got the road to Chandigarh which is called "GT Karnal" road. This road as I told is a 4 lane all the way and kind of boring. Since I already lost so much of time I decided to do this leg with minimal breaks possible. I took two breaks on the way and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on the way. I was just focused on reaching Chandigarh withing 9 o clock so that I can search for a decent place to stay, I didn't want to roam around with so much of luggage at midnight in Chandigarh.
July 4th and 5th was the day for Bharat Band against the ever increasing inflation which meant none of the shops were open on the way and so were hotels. This posed another question and that was finding a place to stay in Chandigarh if everything is closed. But then I couldn't have done other than carrying on to Chandigarh. The road was deserted which in one way helped me as I didn't have to worry about traffic and I could continue to ride fast (90-100kmph) all the way. By around 9:30pm I reached Chandigarh and started looking for Sector 22 which is where we stayed during our last trip, This sector has most number of hotels and also affordable. 
Chandigarh is the most planned city I have seen in India where you get to see proper sign boards giving directions to places. I reached sector 22 and after about 10 minutes of searching I spotted a Hotel by name "Hotel Chandigarh" how obvious name :D
I parked my bike and asked if rooms are available, the guy said yes and told me that AC rooms are 1200/- and non AC rooms are 1000/- bucks. I hesitated for a minute and the guy himself said that he'll give me an AC room for 1000/- with taxes inclusive. I agreed after some thought as it was getting late and I didn't want to go searching for another hotel. I got off the luggage from the bike and left the bungee chords on the bike for just 5 minutes. After putting the luggage in the room I came back for the chords and it was gone. Somebody must have flicked it while I was inside the hotel. I felt so bad, not because somebody stole it but because it was given by Sunil sir and they were the good ones of the bungee chords I had. Sunil Sir got it from Singapore and I lost it. But nothing can be done now I learned a valuable lesson of not leaving anything no matter how small it might be unattended...
Went to the room, took bath (after 3 days :D) and came out for dinner. Located a dhaba and ordered palak aloo and rotis. While having dinner informed my friends, family that I reached Chandigarh. Came back to my hotel room and crashed. Also planned to leave early from Chandigarh so that I can avoid the heat and reach Amritsar by noon or later.
So this is how my first day of the road trip went. Not very smoothly but who said everything would be smooth going :D. This is something you have to take into account on a road trip; things, bike going wrong, losing time, etc. If you ask me this is what makes the trip spicy :)


Route on the map:
Visit my flickr album for better quality pics (selected ones) : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumitplall/

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