The Space Between

It’s been a while since I posted my adventures in India. So I thought I’d share a lovely experience I had today. It was the most contradictory thing I've experienced thus far.

Motorcycle Adventure to Palolem

Combining a motorcycle ride to Palolem Beach, Goa India with a week stay on the beach was exhilarating and relaxing, and proved that these old bones have a lot of mileage left in them.

To The Falls on Two Wheels

Our little adventure began at 5:00AM – then again, waking up at 5:00 AM was more of a nightmare for me than an adventure, and we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. I had only fallen asleep at 4:30 AM. But I awoke, bathed, got dressed and met with others from our small motorcycle group out in front of the house. Rajeev emerged from the house last, big surprise, and we left by 6:00 AM.

We followed Rajeev-- the Kamikaze biker -- as we snaked our way through the back streets, shooting between and around the few cars and trucks we encountered, en route to the prearranged spot on Kanakputra Road where we would meet up with Kiran and Nishanth.

Mysore on Two Wheels

 

I felt tense; my mind racing, my adrenaline flowing. I was being assaulted by the rain as we streaked along the Bangalore-Mysore Highway at speeds up to 100-120 kilometers an hour, swerving in and out of traffic.  Our three motorcycles in a row (with two riders each), only feet apart, trailed the vehicles before us waiting for a crack of opportunity. Then without warning, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, one closely followed by the other shot through the sliver of opening as we raced towards Mysore. Had I lost my mind?  Welcome to yet another India experience.

Vagabonding - Rule #1

I had no expectations of India.  But I did have an agenda, and most importantly in doing so, forgot the first rule of travel:  never set a firm agenda.  From the moment I landed I was counting the days until I would depart. That was my first error.

Driving in India, well, sort of

In a country where they went from virtually no cars to more cars and bikes than the road infrastructure can handle, it happened so fast that they never really incorporated a general driving protocol.