This day was all about riding across the rest of Gujarat, from Baroda to Dadra. Last night she had not let me head back to the largest dandiya in the world and I was miffed! But then, a good session of Counter Strike(?) with some of the local kids had been fun and a good stress reliever while Kavitha slept off. To each her (or his) own, I guess.
We left Baroda, straight onto the highway. We saw this curious little 3 wheeler down the road. When I see these kinds of bikes, it’s the luggage space and sleeping space that comes to mind. It would be fun to camp out and travel on a decent three-wheeler me thinks. Agree?
Before we get better snaps however, we had to stop for this board since the name of this place is so unique in a Hinglish kind of way.
Now back to our trike, it was a Royal Enfield with a diesel engine, converted as a people mover. Top speed of around 60 kmph, he was heading to the bus stand to pick up passengers. Hard to tell how many hours it would take to reach 60kmph once he had 3 or 4 people plus their luggage at the back.
Having overtaken him we continued riding through Gujarat. It was the most polluted ride on this trip. Some of the chemical factories around the Surat area made it extremely hard for me to breathe. Kavitha seemed to handle it better than me. I just wanted get out of the entire stretch, but it just kept getting worse. To add to it, the clutch felt like it was beginning to let go. I thought it was a cable fraying and that it would get us through the day till we decided to halt. I would change it then. But no, it gave way almost completely and I found a relatively empty bus stop where I could fix the clutch cable.
But, once I removed the cable I realised that the problem was not really with the cable! Damn. I just went ahead and changed the cable anyways, since the unstretched cable would give me some extra time till I could diagnose this better. Inexperience in this area of fixing the motorcycle, shining through.
By the time this was relatively good to go, the air had also cleared up. We were far away from the smog of Surat heading steadily from Baroda to Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It had been steadily getting gloomier in terms of weather. But, it was a welcome change, from the heat of Rajasthan.
One of the highlights of this mornings ride was finding this place. Well, we did not have the time to visit it since it seemed a way off to route from Baroda to Dadra, but we didn’t go ahead before clicking a few shots.
We were riding at good clip and by the time I saw the sign on the board we’d overshot it. Had to back track a little, which is why we are on the wrong direction in the image right at the top.
We continued riding for the rest of the day and finally completed the Baroda to Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) stretch. It was getting a little dark since speeds had dropped, while I was nursing the clutch.
Being a union territory, DNH seems to cater to the drinking crowds from the dry state of Gujarat. Skipped a few hotels since they seemed really shady and “Marriage certificate dikhao” types. Soon, found a half decent resort.
Took the picture below while exiting DNH the next morning actually. But, I think it’s better off with this set since it’s a “Welcoming” board.
