Day 5 (Gwalior-Sonepat)

Day 5 (Gwalior-Sonepat)

Sorry for the late post. I was busy for the past week on a bike trip and events here.

You can click on the pictures below for a better view.

Our bodies felt tired while waking up, but we had to and be excited about because we were going to see Taj Mahal.

Who would ever imagine riding a bike for 14 hours on bad roads. Not to mention risking our lives among the lorries in the middle of nowhere under the constant of their insane and unforgiving high beams.

We started the day a little late at 8 a.m. Gave tips for the hotel's fine service then we head of to Panipat, Haryana 100 km north of New Delhi, Delhi. The distance to cover was 385 km.

Our first stop is Agra, the place where Shah Jahan made his unimaginable marble mausoleum of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, The Taj Mahal.

Good news, NH3 has just resume its service from Gwalior. Thank god otherwise it will be a long ride to Agra.

Never I have thought that I would travel with my own motorcycle to Agra.

We reached Agra at 11 a.m. Took our tickets. 750 rupees for foreigners, 20 rupees for Indian nationals. God, the discrimination. Hehe. Taj Mahal is always full of people. So we can’t decide when is the right time to visit.

Are you kidding me? but for the the welfare of the workers and the effort of making it a heritage, its a fair price.

One tip if you arrived at Taj Mahal, never ride the rickshaws. Take the electric cars or buses to the gate of Taj Mahal. Its just 600 meters from the parking site. Its free for foreigners. Also you get a free water bottle.

I just can’t imagine the number of people there. A long queue to pass the security check then a long walk from the gate to Taj Mahal. Its October and the weather is so warm and dry. I finished my bottle of water half way walking there. Can’t imagine during the summer months.

Shoes must be clean. Do not smudge the white marbles of Taj Mahal.

Yamuna River

After spending 30 minutes walking in the compound. I decide there was no point of queuing  to see the tomb in Taj Mahal because of the long line and the heat in the mausoleum. So we went off and search for a place to eat. This is Kesar restaurant opposite to McDonald’s at Agra. 

Then we head to New Delhi. A 6 hour ride from Agra. 4 hours by car. We entered Yamuna highway, to me the most expensive highway in India because motorcycles had to pay 150 rupees. This is our first paying at a toll plaza. A four or three lane highway. Owned by multibillion rupees company Jaypee which they owned almost everything on this highway including the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida south to New Delhi.

The road was too straight, wide and empty that I slept while riding. I know it was dangerous and I promise I will not do that again. We had to stop at the emergency lane because the R&R was 3 hours apart. The heat reflected on the tarmac was unbearable almost the same at Madhya Pradesh and the same situation, no freaking water in our  water bottles after the first stop.

Getting frustrated

Finally at resting area

We reached Delhi at 8 p.m. One massive city. I would say a metropolis. Multiple times the size of Kuala Lumpur. I would say the traffic was good regarding to the size of the city.  Rode along with high powered bikes at the highways in New Delhi. Also a heaven for Harley Davidson fans.

Met Shrikanth’s cousin at Khan Market for some guides and tips. A beautiful shopping district. So alive at night. Repacked our bags there to reduce our weights for our ascend to Shimla and Manali and left it at a hotel we are going to stay after the trip to Manali.

Then we head to Sonepat, we took 1 hour figuring out to reach the outskirts of the city and finally we reached National Highway (NH) 1/ Asian Highway(AH) 1. By that time my clock was at 10 p.m. 

Shrikanth was already sleeping at the pillion. All of us were tired and we need rest. We stopped by the roadside to google map nearby hotels when the police truck pull beside us with their interrogating head lamp. 

We explained we do not do anything wrong and we wanted to rest at a nearby hotel. Thanks to their help, we decided we will stop at Panipat. We arrived Panipat by 12 p.m. noticing a large dhaba(roadside R&R or restaurant) named Gulshan Dhaba with their parking and eating area flocked with people. Its rare to see shops open 24 hours and full of people in India. 

Its India's famous dhaba along NH 1. We will come first thing in the morning.

In Mangalore, even the clubs had to end their music at 11 p.m. No night life in Mangalore.

So we went into our slumber to be fresh the following day because we are ascending to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

Sorry guys no pictures at night because my cameras does not have high ISO to capture the moments in the dark. Maybe need an upgrade.