We took a Road trip riding around 1700 km on our bike in a span of 4 days and it was amazing. Bright daylight to non lit highways in the night; from smooth uninterrupted highway to bumpy town roads; from heavy rain to strong winds; we saw it all and rode through it all. We just got up an decided to take the trip but we did learn a few things on our way, which would have been helpful before we started.

Here are some such points you should keep in mind while planning for a bike road trip especially if you are the driver.

Planning is a important part of any activity. For biking, you should study the road & weather conditions and prepare accordingly. We used Navigator app for route/directions and it helped us a lot. For road conditions research on dedicated sites (if you are in India these would be Team-bhp, Indiamike, TheAutomotiveIndia) . Most sites have active forums and there are plenty of roadsters with fresh/latest info for your route. Plan time intervals for your stops/breaks based on your bike condition, experience and interests. If you love grasslands stop when you reach one and take your break instead of stopping at  a random tea shop along the road.

You might commute daily in the city on your bike but that is far from how highways will be. Some of the must haves are helmet, gloves, padded biking shorts, full body raincoat, anti glare glasses (not sunglasses) and cushioned seat cover. Also carry a basic tool kit, you may need it for unexpected things, we lost number plate screws from our bike which we tied with my seat cover string using a Swiss knife.

High beam glare is a serious issue faced by all drives. You need to be extra alert while driving at night. Use anti glare glasses to cut the glare from oncoming traffic. Clean your glasses and helmet visor frequently as dust or water droplet scatter the light way more than a clean class. Do not look directly into the light and focus on road markings and signs to get an idea of turns, lanes, etc. Placing yourself behind another bigger vehicle and remaining in its shadow is a good idea. Your speed might be compromised but it's better than an accident. I used all these tricks to dodge high beams with little effect on my average speed.

Its not always possible but having a driving partner is great. All of you will agree  on this. You get the pleasure of riding and also time to enjoy the beauty of your route. Double bonus

You wont save much time by high speeds and rash driving but you will increase chances of a mishap. Ride at a comfortable pace and take a few breaks here and there. You will end up tired and less focused by stretching your ride time without breaks which will make riding difficult. Keep in mind  that a driver should always be fresh and alert. We took 10 minutes break after every 50 minutes of drive.

Things can go completely wrong on the road without much warning. A flat tire, long traffic jams or upset stomach can eat a lot of time and your plan would be out of the window. Have an alternate plan so that you can act without wasting much time. We had backup plan or a initial plan for that matter. When we reached Kadapa at 9PM, we walked in 3 hotels before finally finding a room adding another 30 minutes before we could lie down and relax. We wanted to drive further but thankfully a day on the road taught us enough to stop and get on the road again the next day.

Let us know if these were of help and when you are planning to take your first road trip. In case you are a road trip veteran share with us your tips and tricks.


Ajay Saxena

Past few weeks have been very busy not just with office demanding a bigger share of our times but also with us deciding to change things up a bit on the blog and heading towards a business. 2014 has been a great year which took us from ad hoc freelancing travelers to travelers who are now working on something big. A lot of exciting things are in store from a email course to a weekend travel series, our subscribers will get a Longing Travel calendar and not just that there is something bigger than all of us which we are going to be a part of.

---

We went to Andaman& Nicobar for ten days, you would remember it from my last post. Now it is time for me to help you plan your trip to Andaman the way I helped you plan your trip to Diu.

Transport

Health Care

Language and culture

Food and Liquor

It is very cheap and very expensive

Very few people harass tourists

Tweet these tips or keep a PDF for your self.

So how is life going on? Mine has been fairly busy some changes a home and a lot of changes in and around work and general life. Travel had taken a back seat past month as we were working towards new goals and to be true things have been going really well. You will hear about it in the Travel digest for June. Yes I have just renamed my monthly travel and life update newsletter and you can definitely expect something new and updated.

Had I known that we will not find a place to sleep, and will be walking hungry in Bijapur I would have let Ajay book the hotel when he said lets book it. I had been influenced by the clever stories that float all around you. How you always find a room and at much cheaper prices when you book it after getting to a place. I am certain Ajay is cursing me at this very moment.

Our Bus to Bijapur

The trip started on a really promising note. We managed to get to the bus boarding point by shared auto, bus and our legs no hired autos or taxis. Then it got better as the bus was a really deluxe one. Oh I still remember the awesome inclining seats that it had. Not that it changed anything for me. I did my usual topsy turning dance that I always do. I can only love a push-back for few minutes no matter how comfy it is.
Well it ended good too we were dropped right in front of the bus stand and all we had to do was catch the bus to Badami.
What many forget (at-least I do) is the daily rituals a human is forced to perform, stop you from boarding a bus straight away. These involve a private area and some source of water. To say that the area should be clean is not even required. It HAS to be. Sight of a public toilet was a relief and we made our separate ways to the one designated for our gender. I wish I did-not. I am still to see a toilet that is worse than that. It suffices to say that it was simply and utterly unusable. I am still not sure how the female who walked out a few minutes after I had abandoned the building, used it. That's never a good start to a day. It meant controlling the urges and walking through the streets of Badami.
We had our breakfast (yes I ate) and got on the bus to Kerur. It is a small town on the highway some 20 Km from Badami. The driver took his time and we were standing in the small bus stand of Kerur around two hours later. In a few minutes our connection to Badami came and we huddled in with the others. The bus drive till Badami is something I will always remember fondly. The bus would stop every time people had to get down. When I say stopped it meant the engines were cut. The driver waited patiently for a minute or ten, for people to get down fight with those who were trying to get in and then for those who were decent enough to let others get down. It was very normal for everyone. Nobody complained that they were getting late. I think the only people who wanted to reach our destinations soon were us.
To say that we stood the entire time would be incorrect we performed a strange dance. Aj had the backpack so every time people moved he would have to move and adjust himself till we found a place to keep the bag. I had to arrange myself among the group of children (I suspect they were siblings) who got in with a woman. Children were quite well behaved and the lady was micromanaging them the way all moms do.
Finally at the Badami bus stand it was time to catch Patadakal bound bus. I know what you are thinking-we sat in a  lot of buses. This one was similar to the Kerur-Badami ride but we had a seat to sit and the journey lasted a little over half and hour. Directed towards the temple complex we walked a few hundred meters to the gate.

Where we got down from the bus

This was a very different hawker experience than other monuments. Firstly we were the only outsiders everyone else was from the neighboring areas. There was nobody selling any souvenirs but there were a lot of women selling food. If you do get to Pattadakal do have the Johar roti and subji that a woman sells for 20/-(2013). Listen to the other lady next to her and buy the curd. The red powder you see on the roti here is fiery and you will find your nasal passages responding furiously.

Tasty fiery food

Ticket prices remain the same at 10/- for Indians and 250/- for foreigners. If you are interested in reading about the history and details of the temples this is what ASI says about it and this is Wikipedia. I am quite sure of my limited history writing capabilities and that is not the point of the post either. These are beautiful temples built over different periods and in different styles and I loved them. The thing I found most interesting was the number of smaller shrines with Shiv ling and a corresponding Nandi in front. Bigger the Shiv ling bigger the Nandi and so on. I did search the web for information on this but found nothing. If anyone of you know the story behind these share it with us here. These temples have really beautiful like this one of a lady with parrot.

Pattadakal Temples

The complex is not too big to tire you though it is a bit of walk. You can also rest on the resting areas made by the kings for their and civilian use. Or just sit on the stairs like we did.

Our co-passengers back to Badami

After satisfying ourselves we were back on our way to Badami. There is also a Jain temple some distance which I forgot about and realized that as our minibus/tempo was crossing the temple. We found the lady with piercings on this ride.

I had been seeing these vividly colored bottles at a few places on our way to Pattadakal and on our way back it struck me. These are what we lovingly call desi daaru. Ajay confirmed my suspicion and now I can say I have seen a desi daru ka theka.

Desi Daaru ka Theka (local wine shop)

Badami caves were our next stop. We had decided to skip Aihole due to time and transport issues. I thought we would have to stay a night at Badami to see both temples and caves but we were at the caves around 12. This meant we could go to Bijapur and stay. Bigger city means better chances of finding an accommodation. As we walked up the incline to Badami the kids around waved and called to us. We must have stood out with our sunglasses and probably the only people walking the distance.

(I will break my story to say that do not miss the sugarcane juice if you are in the city. It is far sweeter and the taste is very different from what I have tasted in other parts of India. )

The caves are beautiful and my sculpture loving self was really happy I just wish there were less stairs to get to the caves. Less stairs and less monkeys. These jumping monsters have a reputation of snatching things and you better keep your belongings safe. Also DONOT feed them.

We were back in the bus to Kerur around 2 our fingers crossed so that we can make the cutoff for Gol Gumbaj in Bijapur. The Journey went on and I found myself thinking about the Gulmohur that I have found in all Karnataka heritage sites and world heritage sites. someone in ASI sure loves them as much as I do they are beautiful trees and sit the Indian conditions really well. By the time we sat on the bus to Bijapur it was becoming more and more clear that Gol Gumbaj as not written in our fates for today. Our driver this time was a good guy and took his time at-least half and hour more than the morning one to get us to Bijapur. By then it was nearing 5:30 and we did not even bother to get to the monument.
Acutally that would not be the full truth we started walking in the direction with me insisting on walking. 'I saw it in the morning as we entered the city. It was not that far.' I was wrong. We never reached the boundary wall of the compound and turned back as I refused to walk any further. Being tired and not using the rest room since morning doesn't really leave you with much energy.
This is what I was talking about when I started the post. Walking and looking for a place to stay so that we can see the Gol Gumbaj  and return on our pre-booked bus day after. Bijapur wasn't taking any of it and we ended up without a room with a not so desirable option of spending the night sitting on steel chairs of the bus stand. Oh I forgot to add I finally found a bathroom at the place we sat down to eat. That was  big relief!

We had rejected the state run expensive executive bus to Hyderabad earlier and now there were no tickets. We finally were told that there is a much cheaper bus which leaves for Hyderabad a few hours after the expensive one.

Aj found an empty seat to sleep

I can not even explain how relieved we both were when we sat in the bus. Ajay slept on a  seat meant for three passenger till Gulbarga and I sat balancing my mobile so that it would charge with the point being too high for the adapter. The late night dinner stop which served curries high in salt with tandoori roti was our savior. Fed and on our way home it was time to call the journey to an end.

If you want to visit these caves and temples read the practical information here.

If there is something you will hear from travelers in SriLanka is how costly visiting some of the sites are. Dreamy hotels and impressive heritage with and equally impressive(read expensive) price tag can intimidate the budget traveler. While there are some must visit sites in Srilanka like the cultural triangle and beautiful national parks you need to be cautious if you are on a tight budget.

We being cash strapped as always worked towards keeping our costs low. We looked around for free things to do in the country along with not so expensive ones. These are as awesome as the cultural triangle and let you experience the SriLankan way of life. For people who think SriLanka's attractions is too expensive for their pockets these should be high on your list.

Polhen Beach

1. Beaches

SriLanka has a huge coastline and beautiful beaches. The waters of the Indian Ocean are well suited for swimming and the quiet beaches are best to laze around. Many visit the famous beaches of Mount lavinia and Weligama studded with high end resorts. Costa can go a bit higher around these. Over past few years Mirissa has become a favorite. Do not restrict yourself within these few options try smaller and quieter beaches of Polhena and  Nilwella.
Buses are easily available all around the country and you will find direct buses to Matra and Tangalle from Colombo. Another option is to take a train to Matra and a bus or taxi to your beach.
There are wide choices of accommodation available from the pricey ones to dorm rooms. On our visit in February we found you can easily get a room after reaching the beach. If you like to plan book rooms at the hostel we stayed here or go through all the places here.

Tea Plantations near Hatton

2. The Tea plantations

Srilanka produces some really good tea. The hill country is covered with tea plantations and they open their doors to visitors. You can expect a tour of the estate covering the plantations, tea  processing techniques along with tea tasting. Most of these are free though you might be offered some paid refreshments.
You can take a train or bus to get to one of the towns. Most of these plantations will be around if you are in the hills. A few plantations can also be found near the coast. These produce spices, coconut and rubber along with tea. Most of the visits are usually day tours but you can ask for accommodation in the estate. These are quite expensive and may defeat the free purpose.

View from top of Sigiriya

3. The Alternate Sigiriya

Sigiriya or the lion mountian fascinates most of the travelers who come to srilanka. Entry priced at 3900 for foreigners (SAARC countries get 50% discount as of feb 2014) it is by no means cheap. Next to Sigiriya is the Pidurangala rock you can climb for- FREE. You might not have the bragging rights of Sigiriya but you will  have an equally stunning view and definitely better view of Sigiriya than those who climb it.
 The rock houses monks who used to occupy the area near Sigiriya. It has a temple and an impressive Budhdha statue.
Buses to sigiriya run at regular intervals from Dambull a which is then connected to Kandy through regular bus service. You can either stay at Dambulla or Sigiriya itself. In case you plan to climb both Sigiriya and Pidurangala rock it is better that you stay in Sigiriya.
We stayed at Kandy and visited Dambulla and Sigiriya in a day. If you are short on time you might want to do the same.

4. Walk around Galle fort

This is perhaps one of the well known free things that the country has to offer. Fort which is maintained in collaboration with The Netherlands is a delight to walk around. It is studded wit old houses and hotels along with small shops and museums. Though walking around the fort is free everything else can be quite expensive. We blew up 3500 LKR on a meal so think twice and ask for a menu before you sit down in one of those cute places.
There is a historical mansion museum which is free to visit. A collection by one man it is quite impressive. Though the entry is free you will be asked to have a look at their jewelry store. If you have been budget travelling for a while you should have no problem in walking out with a smile. We made Galle a day tour as we moved on to Colombo to catch our flight. It can be really humid so carry water along.

Adam's Peak shrouded in clouds

5. Climb Adam's Peak

Though we had awesome time every single day this was perhaps the most defining thing of the whole trip for me. Not just because of he 5500 odd steps we climbed that night but also for the aching legs which reminded me of them every step. The mountain is said to have a footprint which every religion attributes to someone according to their legends.
The climb is attempted by many during the pilgrimage season. The route is well lit and there is no chance you will miss the steps. During the monsoon the steps can get slippery and individual attempt is not recommended. If you plan on climbing the peak  get to Nalathaniya (Dalhousie) from Hatton by bus (1.5 hours) try to stay as close to the base as you can. Doubles can be find for 1000 LKR a night just be ready to negotiate. Even in the peak season we were able to get room easily without any bookings. I would not suggest staying anywhere else except Nalathaniya.

Did we do them all?

We actually managed most of these in our eight day trip. We climbed actual Sigiriya rock instead of Pidurangala. The most defining of all was the climb to Adam's peak. Though the most enjoyable were the beaches.


Srilanka is way more than just these five things but if you have a job it might be difficult for you to take four weeks off and travel. Sign up below to keep on receiving travel updates and tips.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google
• Pinterest
• RSS Feeds