Motorcycle diaries - day1: the journey

It's been long since I went on a long motorbike ride...in fact, the longest that I've ever done is going to be less than half of what I am getting into. The plan is to ride to Hampi - a UNESCO world heritage site, about 400km from Hyderabad. 8 bikes and 10 riders - I briefly know 3 of them, who are from my office, rest are complete strangers to me. I prefer going on trips with unknown people - makes the trip more interesting. So there we were - 4 Royal Enfields, a Bajaj Avenger, a Yamaha Frazer, a Bajaj Pulsar and the most modest of them all - my Bajaj Discover :) As we pushed of and soon hit NH7, the wind chill got us - all of us! mannn - it was cold! Not cold when compared to some other cities of the world but by Hyderabad standards, it was cold! But post breakfast, as the sun rose further up and it started getting a little warm, we set all the horses under the hood on fire...we were just ripping the engines on the road...at one point, we had to leave the NH...and that's when speed gave in to the sheer pleasure of riding through the local terrain...it is amazing that in spite of being being just a few hundred meters apart, the local roads have so much of character and flavour of the place, unlike the the NH - which is pretty much monotonous and 'flat'...we rode, moving from one road to other, occasionally stopping for a cup of tea, take a picture or just to smell the air at that place...the scene and the colours on either side of the road themselves were telling stories about the the people who dwell in the area...the colours were changing with the crops - white cotton to yello sunflowers to light brownish paddy to green millet...these are the times when you wish life were not a mad race, rather a relaxed and lazy cruise

Hampi has a lot of historical importance in south India. During its prime, this place was the kingdom of one of the most significant dynasties, boasting of a lion's share in the history of South India. Today, what stands at this once-upon-a-time city are temples and ruins of an ancient civilization...as we were entering the outskirts of Hampi, I could feel the old stories alive even today in the rocks and hills of the place...the narrow road twisting in an attempt to dodge huge rocks and boulders clearly indicate that this place can be no other but Hampi...we arrived at our resort and were pleasantly surprised by the location and setup of the cottages...palm trees in the horizon, paddy fields at a stone's throw from our room and icing on the cake was this great "swing bed"...after a very late lunch, little bit of stroll in the area and a quick dinner, we all crashed on the bed...exploring begins tomorrow morning...

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