Wow, what a week it must have been. Unpaved roads are usually rougher than how they appear in photos and your photos look plenty challenging already.
Look forward to more of your adventure.
Keep the rubber side down. Cheers!
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Wow, what a week it must have been. Unpaved roads are usually rougher than how they appear in photos and your photos look plenty challenging already.
Look forward to more of your adventure.
Keep the rubber side down. Cheers!
Day 08: We've enjoyed another "off the bike" filming day here in Amritsar, Punjab. It's been an exciting day as we visited the Golden Temple as well as the Wagah crossing on the India and Pakistan border. While this was far from a rest day, it did allow the team to get off the motorcycles and walk around and stretch out after an intense week of riding in the mountains. The Golden Temple, built in 1764, is a fantastic place to visit and learn about the Sikh faith. We spent hours there speaking with people about their faith and what kind of importance the Golden Temple plays in their lives. Many people travel from all corners of India to visit the Golden Temple in order to pray there and bath in the lagoon that surrounds the temple. Needless to say it was a stunning morning and more enlightening than any day on a motorcycle. This afternoon was incredibly different. After enjoying a morning learning about the Sikh faith and it's promotion of community, harmony and connectivity among all people, we visit the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan and learn about boot stomping nationalism, and the pride of India. It was a fantastic display of military might; the intensity of the soliders and their pride for their respective countries was a powerful experience, and it all existed in a strange carnival like atmosphere with a crowd of over 30,000 people.
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Day 09: While the morning flew by swimmingly, trouble did strike mid-afternoon when Ryan hit a large pothole in the road and managed to blow out his back tire. As he rolled the bike slowly to a halt, he was never in any danger, Colin quickly noticed that the back tire was completely flat. At this stage it's important to note that all of this happened at a point during a rain storm that could have easily been considered biblical. Colin and Ryan decided that the tire was flat but that it was raining too hard to fix the tire under the current weather conditions so they pumped up the tire and rode the bike slowly in to the next village about 5km away, named Doda. In Doda we were able to quickly find a tire repair man who assisted with the tire repair, by this time the rains had stopped, and the crew were back on the road and finished off their day just outside of Hanumangarth, Rajasthan. The team completed 323km today on what was their biggest day on the bikes since day 1 of the journey.
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Day 10: Today our team passed through beautifully raw and rugged desert landscapes, and while their day started off normally, on their arrival to Bikaner things began to get a little bit weird. Upon arriving to Bikaner the team proceed south to Deshnoke and visited the Karni Mata Temple, also known as "The Rat Temple". If you have a phobia of rats it's best that you stop reading this email now and move on with your other work, but if you are curious to see what one sect of Hinduism looks like, then please carry on. This sect of Hinduism believes that humans, when they die, are reincarnated in to rats, and vise versa. So hundreds of worshipers per day visit this temple and feed the rats, pray to the rats, and touch the rats. While we try our best not to judge, we must conclude that this was a very strange place indeed, that made for some excellent television.
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Day 11: After traveling about 152km from Bikaner south on Highway 89 our Mahindra vehicle stopped registering gears and was completely immobile by 1145am. Sure this was some bad news for our team, but the good news was we were just 10km outside of Nagaur and after making a few calls to our friends at Mahindra we had a truck come out and tow us within 60 minutes of making our initial call. After being picked up and towed in to town we were taken to the Mahindra dealership and they immediately had 8 people working on our car and had us back on the road in just under 3 hours. Within 5 hours of being stranded on the road The India Ride team was back on track with a new clutch and our spirits were very high.
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Day 12: After making quick repairs to our Mahindra yesterday we were back on the road today in spectacular fashion covering a massive 400km between Nagaur and Udaipur. The journey consisted of everything from one lane roads through farming villages to brand new expressways. It offered our team an exciting look at both new India and traditional India as we drifted between larger urban centres and traditional agricultural communities. We had to push hard today to make up lost time with our breakdown yesterday and we are very pleased to say that Udaipur is a stunning location and one of the more exciting stops on our journey.
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Day 13: After traveling over 2,500km in our first 12 days on the India Ride, our team took a much needed rest day today. Today was a chance to reflect on the amazing journey we've had until this point in our adventure; and today was a opportunity to refocus and re-energize on the challenges and rewards that lay ahead of us. I've attached a shot from one of most beautiful days of riding: We had just crossed over the Rohtang Pass and we were heading north, the landscape changed from high-altitude alpine rocks and slate and lush green mountains and lakes. India continues to pleasantly surprise our team on a daily basis, and after our brief rest, we are getting ourselves ready to begin the remaining portion of our adventure around India.
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A great typical Indian breakfast on Day 1 just North of Delhi.
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A shot from the top Rohtang Pass after a long 50km and 4 hours battling tough roads, traffic and weather.
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A shot from the other side of the Rohtang Pass. Some very happy riders to see this on the other side.
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The team road into Udaipur, HP after a very long day. They arrived just before sunset and the village was winding down the day all around them.
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A great scenic shot of the picturesque villages on the mountain in the Chamba Valley.
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An Indian border guard with a great mustache and sunglasses at the Wagah border. The border ceremony was amazing!!
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Some local kids checking us out as we stopped for a drink of water.
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As the team entered the desserts of Rajasthan, camels became a very common way for people and cargo to get around.
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The team try and figure out what to do with a burnt clutch in 38 degree heat.
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Some local school kids helped us pass the time while we waited to get our Mahindra support vehicle to be towed.
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I think the team found a future Bullet rider!!!
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The view just before the team jumped off a cliff in Manali.
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Some road construction on the side of a mountain on the way up the Saach pass.
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A great scenic view with some snow in the distance as the team climbed their way up the Saach pass.
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A man in traditional Sikh attire standing in front of the Golden Temple.
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The Wagah border crossing ceremony had a special spot for foreigners :)
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A shot of some intense border guards during the Wagah border ceremony.
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The lineup to pray int the main temple at the Karni Mata (Rat Temple)
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Our great Mahindra support vehicle cooking in the dessert sun while waiting for help on it's burnt clutch.
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The team recruited some kids to help push the car into shade while it waited for a tow. It was hot very hot.
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Thanks for the big upload of pictures! Fantastic stuff!
cheers
Day 15: After a much needed hiatus in Udaipur the India Ride Team is back on the road, where we belong. Today the team traveled an epic 380km on National Highway #8, heading straight south from Udaipur to Vadodara, Gujarat. The roads were wonderful in the early mornings coming out of Udaipur but they deteriorated later in the day as the traffic increased, the road quality decreased and the temperature went through the roof!!! Today was also notable because Colin managed to get food poisoning at some stage along the journey and today he was suffering for pretty much the entire day of riding. To be riding in India is one thing, to be riding with symptoms of food poisoning is something completely different. He is putting in a fantastic effort and we'll have to wait until morning to see how far we'll be able to aim for tomorrow. We've got plenty of meds and he just requires a bit of rest. We'll update on this situation tomorrow.
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Day 16: Today was a fantastic day. Colin fully recovered from his food poisoning and the team completed an incredibly arduous 401km over perfect modern highways and pothole covered dirt roads. In many ways today was a day of extremes, as we had some of the best roads that we've encountered on our journey, as well as some of the worst. Leaving Vadodara very early we headed south on National Highway #8 and completed some serious kilometers early in the day. And again, like most days, the moment we left the National Highway and took a secondary road the quality of road deteriorated and left everyone thinking we were back on day 4 on the Rohtang Pass. By late in the day, as the sun began to set, we finally rolled in to the Sula Vineyards just outside of Nashik. The destination was chosen because the vineyards are situated in the mountains and offered respite from the challenging heat of the last few days. That coupled with the fact that very few people, including both Colin and Ryan, had realized that India is producing some high quality wines.
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Day 17: Day seventeen of the India Ride was a day of extreme contrasts. We started our day waking up to birds chirping and cool winds blowing through a quiet vineyard. That's right, the India Ride Team spent the night at the Sula Vineyards just outside of Nashik in Western India. The India Ride team enjoyed some fine wines, grown just a few hours drive from Mumbai, but they also had a chance to rest and reconnect with nature after spending most of last week traveling through the bad lands of Rajasthan, were the scorched desert landscape offered little in the way of greenery. Colin and Ryan also completed a tour and learned about wine making general, but also why wine growing in India is particularly unique. It was a wonderful 24hrs of peace, serenity, and brilliant wines. And then the contrast...After lunch, our team headed out from Nashik to Mumbai and the 180km journey took a little over 5 hours as the team faced twisting roads, traffic and a torrential rain storm. Today was just another reminder that India will challenge you, and reward you, in completely different ways several times a day; and that is really why we are in India and doing this journey, because everyday is completely different from the last and there is so much still left to see.
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Day 18: The India Ride team has finally made it to glamourous Mumbai, and we took the time to soak in some of the big city atmosphere as well as par-take in some of the finer elements of Mumbai living. Having struggled with the traffic last night while arriving into Mumbai the team took time today to work through our footage and get back on top of our long "to do" list. Enjoying lightening fast broadband internet access helped our cause significantly as connections over the last week or so had been very patchy making communications challenging. We would like to give a special thanks to the Westin Mumbai for being such gracious hosts on our quick Pit Stop in "The City of Dreams" and we were very humbled by the warm reception we received from the Westin Team - did you see the Arrival Images below on our page?
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That is a great picture. I did not recognize the name but googled it and found that it was previously known as Bombay.
India really is a big country.
Hopefully soon alot of KTM/Bajaj motorcycles will soon be coming to the US.
Day 19: Today was a quiet day for the India Ride Team. We made the very quick and painless 177km journey from Mumbai to Pune with relative ease. We've enjoyed climbing off the coast (where weather is hot and humid) and back in to the foothills, were we've been greeted by cooler air and much less traffic. The team is settling in for what will become a serious stretch of riding over the next few days. Once we complete an "off the bike" activity in Pune tomorrow, we'll begin our journey south to Cape Coromin - the southern tip of India. We can't wait to explore the southwestern coast of India.
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I'm loving the updates here, but I'm a little disappointed that the "The Bikes" section on theindiaride.com that was "coming soon" has been replaced with a "partners" page.
I want to know about these bikes they're riding - shoot we have more info on their sunglasses and the follow vehicle!
Day 20: Well, if it seems like we've been on the road traveling for a long time, you are correct. Can you believe we are only 1/3 of the way through our journey? The bodies are starting to ache and the mind is starting to get a little fuzzy. But today we enjoyed our 20th day on the road with a wonderful "Off The Bike" activity. Today our team visited one of the largest and most advanced car manufacturing plants in all of India, the Mahindra facility just north of Pune in Western India. When we started planning our journey almost one year ago, one of the key aspects of what Colin and Ryan wanted to accomplish with their show was to identify examples of both traditional India and modern India, and today was a leap forward in the modern India category. The Mahindra plant in Pune turns out some 300,000 automobiles a year, which is just a little over 700 per day - a staggering number by all accounts. Today the entire team got an in-depth look at how Mahindra produces its new XUV 500 model (an SUV) and we all learned how the vehicle starts as sheet metal and just hours later breaths its first breath and rolls off the production line. It was an exciting process for anyone who loves big machines, production lines, robotic arms and of course cars.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thedannywahl
Hey thanks for the feedback. We had some difficulty with Royal Enfield and let's leave it at that, and we didn't feel the need to overtly provide them with free advertisement :) Unfortunately our sponsor help make this possible and we don't like to give people too much of a free ride if they're not interested in helping us.
Saying that I'm happy to provide you with more information in this forum -
They have been surprisingly durable throughout this trip and for the price, and the ability of local Indians almost anywhere able to fix them, they have made for fantastic bikes for this adventure.
http://www.royalenfield.com/motorcyc...s.aspx?model=8
Any more info let me know -
enjoy the rest
The India Ride Team!!!
Day 21: After an exciting Off the Bike day yesterday, the India Ride team was back on the road today...but initially we didn't get very far. The team only made it about 20km south out of Pune before we had our first motorcycle mechancial breakdown of the journey; Ryan's motorcycle began continuously stalling, it was only 930am. Without really knowing what was wrong with the bike we managed to get the motorcycle back to Pune and after asking around we found a shop, "Azad Motors" that specialized in Royal Enfield repair and maintenance. It turned out that Ryan's bike was nearly completely out of oil, and that our bikes had been burning oil for several days as we were at least 1,500km past when we should have received our last oil change. Royal Enfields need far more regular oil changes than most western made motorcycles so Colin and Ryan were astonished by lack of oil in their bikes, and they were also grateful that the problem didn't lead to greater engine damage.
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Day 22: Long before we began this journey, our friends in India have been constantly asking us, "Are you going to go to Goa on your journey around India?" We've always answered yes. And the response has always been the same, "Oh, you'll have a great time!" We didn't know exactly what to think at the time, but we always wondered what exactly everyone meant. Well, today we finally realized why everyone loves Goa so much; it's stunning. The India Ride team traveled 280km from Kolhapur and arrived in sunny Goa. The weather is perfect, the temperature was desirable and the ocean was magical and the spicy seafood was fantastic. And, jumping in the ocean after an entire day of riding the motorcycles is the best way to cool off. Now, since we are in Goa, apparently we don't have to check in at work, we don't need to check out emails and we can just be relaxed and free. So that's all the update you will get from us tonight.
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Day 23: As we turn our attention to the week ahead, our India Ride Team has begun a new and exciting phase of our journey: The Southwest Coast. Known for it's fertile soils, and plentiful oceans, the coastal journey offers our team a chance to connect not only with farming communities but also fishing communities as our journey continues towards the southern tip of India. After spending the last week cruising on the modern expressways that connect Nashiki-Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur, we've been struggling with the challenging road and traffic conditions on NH17 heading south from Goa. While sections of the road are in decent enough shape other sections have offered some of the worst conditions we've seen since our stint in the mountains nearly 2 weeks ago. Gravel and potholes coupled with fast moving trucks and passenger buses make for "interesting" riding. While the team completed a big 377km today from Goa to Mangalore, we were left mentally and physically shattered from the journey. We'll have a similar distance to cover tomorrow as we are aiming to be in Kerala by tomorrow late afternoon. Wish us luck.
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Day 24 + 25: These last two days of our journey have been the most challenging days of the India Ride. We've struggled both days on the National Highway 14 which runs south along the western coast of India. Colin and Ryan have now nicknamed this road: "The Road of Doom". The road in which we are talking about manages to twist and pass through almost every town along the coast brining in to play every bicycle, rickshaw, passenger bus and truck on route; we were lucky to maintain an average speed of 25km/hr, and that was when we were not stuck in road construction or intense traffic jams. Needless to say, beyond the traffic the scenery has been lovely, but we've been so focused on the road each day that the landscapes are being missed; and it's leaving our team exhausted and searching for those incredible Nashik, Mumbai, Pune expressways that we got so comfortable on last week. Ryan had a particularly rough day has he, "hit a wall" around 530pm and needed to have a nap on the side of the road before continuing on; as you'll see in picture #3. The roads in India are both physically and mentally challenging, and the traveling is taking its toll on the team. As our team nears the halfway point on our journey, the times are indeed challenging; but we have so much exciting traveling and adventures ahead of us that in many ways The India Ride has only just begun.
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Day 26 + Day 27: To say that our team has struggled through Kerala province would be an understatement. This has, without any doubt in our minds, been the toughest week of traveling for all of us. The journey south from Pune to Goa and then in to Kerala province has led us to one of India's most densely populated provinces - which means that there are more trucks, more tuk tuks and more crazy buses trying to run us down on the roads. The term "defensive riding" takes on a whole new meaning. But with all the challenge we've faced it's been incredible to see how Kerala mixes both a Communist provincial government and a mainly Muslim population; and how have the state feels more like something out of the Middle East, in a tropical setting, and offers just another example of India's brilliant diversity - no matter how tough the traffic is we'll be leaving Kerala with feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction from our journey here.
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A beautiful view in Udaipur, Rajasthan - also known as the city of lakes.
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The team has seen many full cars of passengers and even entire rooftops on busses full of people. However, this was an interesting way to hitch a ride on an expressway averaging about 60km/h.
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Ryan dealing with heat exhaustion and Colin dealing with his food poising. This little bit of shade was like an oasis in the moment for the brothers.
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A very busy bridge that was taking overflow traffic from an accident on the expressway. The less room might have actually made things better for the team as no passing was possible.
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A view of the lush green valleys near Nashik.
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Storm approaching, time to put on the revit rain suit.
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On the road into Sula vineyards in Nashik, a view of the beautiful lush green moutains.
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The Mahindra Bolero support vehicle taking in the sights and beautiful colors of Nashik.
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The excellent Cabernet at Sula!!
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Ryan and Colin taking in the view from the Wine Bar at Sula Vineyards.
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Ryan and Colin prefer their REV'IT rain suits, but this is also one way of dealing with the rain. I'm not sure if it's advisable or if it works but it's an effort that should be commended :)
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Some woman waiting for the bus in a heavy rain storm.
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A healthy reminder of the dangerous roads in india.
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Mumbai traffic - the start of a very long 2km.
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Mumbai
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Ryan getting scared by a dog in Mumbai. Bringing back some bad memories of their travels in China.
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a quick stop on the way out of Mumbai quickly turned into the thing to watch for the locals.
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Traffic in Mumbai
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The statue for an India festival being taking to a celebration.
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Ryan and Colin getting shown around the new amazing Mahindra factory just outside of Pune.
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Chad trying to get a good shot of Ryan and Colin being amazed at the level of logistics and technology involved in a modern car factory.
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A local mechanic completely taking apart an Enfield.
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Colin watching attentively to try and learn more about the Enfield as a local mechanic in Pune works on his bike.
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A short cut turns into a dirt trail in the forest. Short cuts are never easy but at least this one offered some enjoyment and great scenery for the brothers.
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Chad going to all extremes to get the best shot of Ryan and Colin cruising through some beautiful scenery
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just had a look at your live tracking can see you are at the most south part of india thats cool keep up the good work and i am wacthing you .......
Quote:
Originally Posted by prince666
We love the live tracking site - the technology is going to put in our helmets down the road and if you crash emergency response are notified of your location. The southern most tip of India was incredible and a beautiful spot.
thanks for following!!!
Day 28: Today marks the HALFWAY point in our motorcycle expedition and television production known as: The India Ride. When you embark on a long and challenging adventure, it's important to set smaller attainable goals along the way. These smaller targets will help build confidence amongst your team and instill a sense of achievement along the way, and keep that ever-important feeling of forward momentum. With reaching our halfway point today, we've accomplished a huge milestone in our journey. We hope you all have enjoyed the first half of our adventure. Today our India Ride Team rolled in to Kenyakumari, also known as the Cape of Coromin, which marks the southern most point of India. Today, we arrived with just enough time to watch the sunset on the Arabian Sea (to the west). And tomorrow morning, we'll wake up facing the Indian Ocean (to the south) and tomorrow afternoon we'll begin riding north for the first time along the Bay of Bengal (to the east). Needless to say, to be surrounded by three immense bodies of water is something very special and arriving here today has been very uplifting for our team after what has been a very challenging week.
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Day 29: You might be asking yourself, how did we spent the first day of the second half of our India Ride? The answer is: we woke up early, got through a fantastic breakfast, and then crushed a quick and easy 253km from the Cape Coromin to Madurai on what is easily one of India's best roads - National Highway #7; which has now been re-named by Colin and Ryan, and is now to be referred to as: "The Pride of India". We think, and we are biased, that countries should take great pride in the quality of their roads; and NH#4 from Pune and Bangalore (last week) and NH#7 from the Cape of Coromin to Bangalore (this week) are stunning and make for effective and safe passage. And since clearly all good roads lead to Bangalore, that's also where we are headed, but not after a quick stop to visit the Shi Meenakshi Temple in Madurai tomorrow morning. As our India Ride team moves from the lush jungles of Kerala province, we've now entered the desert badlands of western Tamil Nadu province and during that process we've gone from wet and sticky 33C to burning hot and dry 36C all in the space of about 24hrs. Once again, the contrast of physical landscapes and temperatures that a traveler can encounter in India are staggering, and the main reason why Colin and Ryan choose to ride motorcycles on these adventures is because only on a motorcycle can you truly feel and appreciate all of these nuances and changes in your immediate environment and surroundings. Only at that moment can you truly appreciate the beauty, and the harshness, of what you are encountering.
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Day 30: Today the India Ride Team spent their 30th day on the road with an "off the bike" visit to the Shi Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. It was the second Hindu temple we've included in our visit and it was an incredibly impressive temple with immaculate sculptures, pillars and two very unique temple halls. Our team were amazed with the crowds as nearly 15,000 to 20,000 people visit per day, and the faithful line up for hours in to order to visit the main temple halls. And with this temple visit our team marks a shift in our adventure in India. We are going to be putting the cultural visits on the back burner and begin looking at "modern" India again as our team is set to visit Bangalore and Pudducherry over the next 4 days. Be sure to watch this space tomorrow for an update on our Bangalore visit locations. We hope you'll be able to publicize those dates and locations in a hope that we can bring out as many adventurers and friends as possible.
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Day 31: The India Ride team is moving, and I mean really moving! Today we covered the 440km from Madurai to Bangalore in a breeze thanks to the fantastic National Highway #7 - What A Road! The Team was just reminiscing that just a few days ago we were stuck in Kerala province averaging about 20km an hour in grinding traffic and stuck in small villages, but today we really flew (averaging about 80km/hr) on a brilliant modern expressway. We even had enough time to stop for some coconut juice at one stage.
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