Travelogue Part 4

July 31st : Mukerian, Punjab -- Ramban, Doda, Jammu & Kashmir :: ~240KMs.

We surprised ourselves today by leaving our hotel at Mukerian on time, at 7:00AM. We were driving at good speed as this early in the morning there were not many trucks or other vehicles on the road. Before we realised, we crossed over in to Jammu and Kashmir. We drove on till about 10:00AM when we stopped for breakfast at a Dhaba. Our plan was to take a diversion from Samba on NH1A, avoid Jammu and go to Udhampur, where we would join NH1A again and continue our journey to Srinagar.





[We take a break for breakfast (L), On NH1A, 15KMs from Samba(R)]


Once we diverted from NH1A at Samba, the road till Udhampur was a nightmare. There is tarmac on the road but there are also pot-holes, mud and water. There is equal amounts of all this every inch of the road and I was confused whether to slow down or go over these high at speed. But in the end all of us decided to just put the 200 odd Kgs of our bike and its reputation as a very stable bike to test and just went over the holes on the road at a good speed.




I was driving with a pillion on my bike. Just about 20 odd kilometers before Udhampur, the bike suddenly stopped; the engine was running, the revs sounded right, it responded to the throttle, but the wheels were just not moving. It turned out that my pillion had used a brand new Nike jacket to cushion his seat and this jacket has fallen down and found its way into the rear wheel of my bike. Lucky there was no other vehicle comming behind us. There was no way the jacket would come out from where it was entwined between the chain and sporket. The only option was to cut the jacket into small pieces. This was the first jinx for the day.

After a short tea break, we continued on this nasty road and reached Udhampur. Here we joined NH1A and continued to Srinagar. The serious mountain roads start from Udhampur. But just outside Udhampur, I started hearing strange sound from the bike whenever I opened the throttle at low speeds. After quiet some thought, I was convinced that there was something happening in the front wheel assembly. I was not sure if it was a serious enough problem to stop everybody and take a look at this. So I decided to press on atleast until we stopped for a very late luch. But because I was on a mountain road, I was at low speeds and low gear most of the time and opening, closing throttle happened a lot. Whatever the problem was, it was only getting more serious and the noise louder. My bike has started wobbling too.


At about 3:00PM in the evening, we stopped by the roadside to take a break and look at the bike. First, we removed the front wheel, checked everything, added oil to the break shoe assembly to smoothen it and happily put things back together thinking we have solved the problem. A test drive later, we found that the problem was still there. Then all of a sudden we realised that whenever the throttle is opened, the two wheels and the chasis stayed where there were but the bulky 350cc engine alone jerked ahead by a couple of inches. We tipped the bike on its side and discovered that the bolt and nut assembly that kept engine connected to the chasis was missing both the nuts. As the magnitude of problem became apparent, we realised that we could not dirve to Srinagar without fixing this problem.


[After discovering the problem, we discuss what to with the bike]. Luckily, there was a rudimentary lorry spare parts shop nearby. We were told that we could find a mechanic at Batote, some 28KMs away. So we decided to drive the faulty bike at very low speed and reach Batote. At Batote, we did find a mechanic, but he faltly refused to even look at the bike, let alone fix it. So we filled our tanks at a petrol station and decided to reach Ramban to find a mechanic. By the time we reached Ramban, it was about 7:00PM in the evening and shops were closing. Two guys went in search of a mechanic, while the rest of us waited in front of the temple square. As it got late and the sun went down, we started getting a little jittery, all around us, shops were shutting down, people were retiring for the night. Soon it was just us, our bikes on the middle of the road and the army sentry. We discovered that the only mechanic in the village was one Shaukat Aziz. Jomy and Vinod reached his workshop when he was about to shut shop. Initially he refused to help us. So, we just got a few nuts and bolts from him hoping to repair it on our own. But, on his way home, he saw us all in the middle of the road, standing with our bikes and luggages like fish out of water, not knowing what to do. He changed his mind and decided to fix the bike for us. We took the bike to his workshop, which he opened for us again and for the next hour and half, he personally machined a nut-bolt assembly and fixed the problem.

While jomy and Vinod were at the workshop getting the bike fixed, I had the opportunity to talk to an army Major and Seargent. They offered to help us find a mechanic to fix our bike. So myself and Roop walked with them for about a half a kilometer to the town market to talk to locals. All along the way, the army sentry was in full swing. These guys were on one of their night patrol of that stretch of highway. It was quiet scary, walking with the Major, in the middle of the patrol formation, all jawans in battle gear. It was a very strange feeling, seeing the people living in the midst of so much secuirty and uncertainty. It also made me realise, how we take basic things like security, for granted while in the same country, some body else has to constantly worry about it.

Back at the town square, with the bike fixed and in good shape to ride, it was time to find a place to stay. There was the temple, that had a large hall with mat on the floor and common toilets and bath. For Rs. 20/- per head, it came highly recommended by the army Major who vouched for the place's security. The second was a hotel just outside the town, but it charged about 250 - 300/- per room. The thrid was Mr. Sharma, the shop owner's house, just opposite to the temple. Sweet talking, mild-mannered Mr. Sharma has a general store with a few spacious rooms behind his shop that he rents out for travellers. He offered us 3 rooms for 400/-, a good deal.

After bathing in cold water and having a very late dinner, we slept, with the Jhelum in spate roaring in the background.

As for the scenary, there was noting remarkable to write about. I did not see anything different from what I had seen at Ooty or Coorg. May be it is the altitude; As we go higher and deeper into Kashmir, I think the scenary would improve. Also, the Indian Army presence is a permanent fixture in the scenary. I saw more convoys, more army sentry and more security forces partolling the highway. But we (or any other vehicle for that matter), were not stopped, there was no checking of any kind.