This happened on Sept. 3 this year- the longest I had driven before in one night was when I, along with a few teammates, had gone to Panipat (which is not more than 120kms or so from Noida). It was a Friday evening on which I and (a rather reluctant) Sardar decided to go somewhere on the Bullet. Ankit also joined us and it was about 11pm when we left for Jaipur.
Jaipur is not one of those cool drive destinations about which you can brag in front of your friends or on your blog- it just another metro with nothing to do for people like me who go there at least once a year. But there’s another angle to our trip- It had begun raining when we reached Jaipur on Saturday morning and from that point on, it was only when we returned to Gurgaon did we see the rains stop. The best part of the trip, then obviously, was the 300 kilometre odd return drive which began at about 11 on Sunday morning and was done in non-stop rains between the two endpoints! It was a one of its kind experience and I loved every bit of it!
We stayed in Jaipur for a day (on Saturday) during which we didn’t do a lot: we visited Nahargarh fort, roamed about a little in the city and had a traditional dal-baati-churma dinner. Nahargarh fort (which became very popular after a scene from Rang de Basanti was shot there) is a beautiful place on the edge of Aravalli hills. It was (obviously) raining when we reached the fort which made the drive to and from the top (on a road which was VERY steep) not only difficult, but also memorable!
The first time you leave for a road trip on a bike is always a tough one- you don’t know whether you have it in you to finish it! The same was the case for me- it was only after I returned from Jaipur did I actually start dreaming about a bike trip to Leh.