Land of the Gods – Uttaranchal

¹A record 3 punctures in 2 days: i was clearly having a bad tyre day!! The 110 rear tyre, after 18 months of trouble free riding suddenly started acting up. All the punctures happened in the middle of nowhere: I had to remove the tyre, take a lift on a passing truck to the nearest town, which was between 15 to 20 kms away, get it fixed and then hitchhike back, fix the tyre back and ride on….Each time this happened, meant upto 3 hours!!

²Was originally planning to do delhi to Pithoragarh direct on Day 1 via Tanakpur . But by the time i left delhi it was past 12 pm. Enroute i took the call to head for Nainital instead from Pantnagar. Good call as it allowed me to stock up on some essentials that had been left behind in the hurried departure from Mumbai!

³The hill riding started just after the town of Haldwani, with the climb getting steeper as we crossed the military cantonment town of Kathgodam towards Nainital. Sharp 180 degree turns and steep steep roads requiring regular down-shifts to first gear! The scenery all around was fantastic! I deeply regret not stopping here to take photographs. It was past 6 by this time and as I was in a tearing hurry to get to Nainital before dark!

⁴Nainital is a great place to chill out for a few days if you are with someone special. Good weather, great landscapes and a great mall with skating rinks etc etc!

⁵The pithoragarh plan came about literally at the last minute. And God bless Ashwini for suggesting that change!! The ride from Nainital to Pithoragarh was possibly the best part of the ride!! Fantastic roads all the way. Some rough patches here and there, but otherwise superb roads for 90% of the way.