Motorcycle Ride to Mount Abu

This is more of a Personal journey that I wanted to make for quite some time but the time was not right for some reason till now. When we were young we would on an instance notice head out to Mount Abu, we have atleast made this same type of journey in the past with our friends but not since a long time now. I messaged a friend of mine if he would like to accompany me on the journey; this was going to be a 2 night 3 day weekend get away on bikes to Mount Abu, he instantly agreed to it, the day was Friday 14th of March.

Day – 1

We decide to meet at a predefined spot at the wee hours of the morning, it was exactly 3:15 am and my friend calls, I was in the process of taking a shower and getting ready, we wanted to leave Ahmedabad early and get to Mount Abu before 11 as previously it took about 7 hours with adequate halts to rest the bike and our aching bottoms and fill hour ever hungry stomachs with good delicious food enroute. So I hurriedly got ready and checked my bag which I had readied with the basic essentials 1 jeans, 3 tees, toilet kit, first aid kit, TOILET PAPER for those on road emergencies...ha ha ha. The Registration book of the bike is very important as there r police checks and they demand the papers and yr driving license so double checked those, tied my bag to the saree guard of the bike with bungee cords so that it does not fall or slip out. I had got the bike serviced and checked a day prior, the brakes and the engine oil and the petrol. Kick start the bike and meet my fried at out spot, his nephew was also joining us on the journey. Good we had another driver to shuffle between the bikes if we got tired. Discussed the halts we would take and I put my IPod on, nice mellow rock music and began, we were taking the route via Kalol, Mehsana, Unjha, Sidhpur, Palanpur, Abu Road & Mount Abu, this road was very much known to us as we have done this journey en number of times in the car and previously years back on the bike. This road is very good it is 2 lanes divided and is a toll road so is very nicely maintained. We decide on an average speed of 60 klms as it would be safe and easy to manage.

Our 1st stop is for tea and khari biscuits about 55 klms from Ahmedabad we rest the bike, refuel our selves with tea and head on we take another halt when the milometer showed 168 klms for breakfast at Palanpur this famous hotel called WAY WAIT, the food here is good and fresh. We head out again after stuffing ourselves silly with Dosa, Menduvada and A jumbo grill sandwich with tea and cold drinks. We then enter Rajasthan and the road goes from good to worst, bumps and diversions for the 38 klms run to Abu Road, they r in the process of building the road here so some patches are very good and some are backbreaking bad. We some how pulled on and entered Abu road and our excitement was out of bounds as now our end destination mount Abu was just 27 klms away but this was a difficult hill climb with winding roads and tight turns and oncoming traffic which compromises of our of control bus drivers who think the road is their property and run up and down these mountains with phenomenal speed.

We start our climb slow and steady by this time it is already bright and sunny so the road is very much visible to us. We honk and we climb slow and steady the milestones count down to our end destination and just after the 6 klms mark comes a temple of HANUMAN JI which I carry immense faith in so we stop park our bikes and say our prayers, this was the personal reason I wanted to make this journey was to visit this temple and say thanks for some of the things which have been fulfilled in my life. Faith is faith and cannot be contained. We our prayers said with the blessings and Prasad in our tummy we head out again to Abu. We reach Abu’s toll collecting plaza which is compulsory to pay this is a tourist tax and had to be paid about 10 bucks a person and is lasting for the entire time u stay in mount Abu. We head to the hotel I had booked on the net and to which I had confirmed the directions before we got there, also requested for a early check in as we were going to reach early. This hotel was called UDAIGARH and is very well placed on a top of a hill and gives commanding views of mount Abu, I have already given the hotel a review and written all my grievances in the hotel review section so will not go on about it here. We reach the hotel safely and check in to our room.

We decide to get ready quickly and head out to our favorite spot, we have nicknamed AAMIR KHAN Spot as there is this story that the local guides tell the movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak with Aamir Khan had some scenes shot here so after the movie was shot and became a hit to draw in the crowds the tourism department has now made those places into permanent gazebos where u can just sit, relax, unwind and njoy yr drinks and snackies and spend time here just lazying around, this is hard to describe but falls enroute to Gurushikhar towards the right of the road u see these very easily, 1 is near the road and the other 1 is slightly challenging and needs 1 to park their bikes and walk to it. Simply an amazing place. We have been to Mount Abu so many times that we do not like to go to the touristy places and u can search the site or any other travel related site which will give u more precise info on the tourist places in Abu better than I can give it. So with booze and snacks in hand which we picked up from the market that set us back about Rs.200 we head out to this place, lay out our spread, put on some favorite music on the IPod and powered speakers I was carrying and just relax sipping our drinks and soaking in the scenery letting the camera go wild clicking many pics of the surroundings and ourselves. After spending about 3 hours here with our snacks and drinks running out we decide to head into town and do some eating. When in Abu 1 has to sit around the Nakki Lake which draws most of the crowd, the shopping destination is also near by. We go to this restaurant which we have frequented earlier and order Pav Bhaji, A club sandwich and A Italian pizza which turned out to be like a salad and not a pizza, but with hunger on our minds we gobble it down without complaints. Not more than Rs.130 for this and we get into a discussion to carry more booze up to the hotel as we would need it in the night when we sit out in the garden of the hotel and look at the commanding views it offers of Abu in all directions, but as soon as we start I make a suggestion that we have a softy and then go anywhere else, if u come to mount Abu u have to have softy, lots of available I have the 3 in 1 and others have the chocolate crunch and chocolate vanilla mix another Rs.60 paid here and we head directly to the booze shop to pick up our stock for the night, we pick up the usual as I am a big time whiskey fan and so is my friend, we also pick up some vodka for his nephew, headed to the room and crashed, we sleep till about 8 in the night and then get up all refreshed and ready for a night out in the garden of the hotel. We decide to call in for pizza there is this famous pizza joint called US PIZZA we call in for a free delivery which they have and order pizzas which are delivered to us promptly and we feast with pizzas and booze, we sit out for quite some time and then every1’s fuse start to dim as we were tired from all day so we head to our room and call it a night.

DAY – 2

This begins with my friends morning calls we get up lazily at around 9 and I and his nephew to into town in our night clothes to this famous tea shop called LUCKY on the edge of Nakki Lake to have our morning fill we eat Batata Poha and samosas and a must at lucky is Hot Bourn vita, makes it like no1 else. We head back to find my friend still lazying around the bed watching TV we get ready and decide on the days activities, all votes in we again decide to head to our spot but not before saying our prayers at the Hanumanji temple as it was Saturday today. We do that and just time for a few photos posing with the bikes and the nature and head str8 to our favorite spot. Same thing again lay our selves out, put on some music and relax with drinks I opted out for whiskey this time got my self a nice chilled beer instead and we again spend long hours here, we decide to get up and go by this time it is evening and we r again hungry we stop this time at the only CAFÉ COFFEE DAY to feast on sandwiches and coffee cost Rs.250, heading out to the hotel this being the last night wanted to drink away to glory so carried our stock of booze back to the hotel caught up on some sleep and then sat out in the garden order our pizzas again from US PIZZA and feasted like there was no tomorrow, drinks flowed like water, we downed about half a bottle each and then with tomorrows morning deadline of leaving for Ahmedabad loomed ahead went to the room jacked up the IPod with the TV and watched pretty women, half way every1 was snoring so got up and switched off the TV and slept with the morning alarm of 7 which I was sure we r not going to keep…this trip would look like we r here for just 3 things, going to Aamir khan spot, drinking and eating, we have seen so much of Mount Abu so many times that it does not feel like anything new and exciting, we would rather relax and unwind than go to these places where 1 has to mingle with the crowd of honeymooners and families who always request us to click a photo of all of them together.

DAY – 3

Got up at 8 after putting off the alarm in snooze mode many times, got ready and headed back to Ahmedabad but stop enroute to say our prayers and promising to visit again to ask for blessings, the journey back was very tiring as we realized the summer is here and if this trip was just 20 days after it would have been a scorcher, we got tanned I realized that when I was taking a shower after we got back. The journey back was hot; we stopped every 30-40 klms for water and to refresh our wet towels we had tied on our heads. We entered Ahmedabad exactly at 16:15, hugs and good byes all around. Got back home thanked my baby (my bike) for an uneventful ride and company. She was very well behaved and well mannered, promised to take good care of her always.

We covered 568 klms in 3 days most of it was on the highways…this was a journey of a lifetime with time and age I wonder when we would do something like this again.