Three friends, each with a Harley Davidson motorbike, travel together for 16 days covering 7308 km- something like 700-800km per day-setting out from Thrissur and touring places including Nepal and Bhutan and getting to know the different cultures and experiences there! Meet Laiju from Viyyur, Subhash Chandran from Ayyanthol and A Ramesh from Cherur who are just back from a bike tour of these neighbouring countries.
The beginning
On 1st of June the three member gang started from Thrissur with Nellore in Andhra Pradesh as the first destination. They enter Bhutan via Visakhapatanam, Puri, West Bengal and Siliguri. They visit the famous places in Bhutan like Thimpu and Paro and return to Siliguri. Then they enter Nepal via the Bangladesh border and visit Kathmandu and Sonauli before returning to India. Thereafter they head back to Thrissur via Varanasi, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The friends of the threesome arranged a huge 'welcome-back' celebration for them near the tunnel at Kuthiran.
Long journeys, short rests
The journey was planned in such a way that the trio started off at around 0630 or 0730 each morning. But for the stoppages for breakfast and lunch, the bike ride is usually near-continuous. They take a short break every 150-200km. Between 06:30pm and 08:30pm, they stop the journey for the day. They plan the destinations and the route with reference to the Google maps. E P Jose from Chembukkavu, himself a travel enthusiast, assisted the trio with the routes through live-location.
Bhutan, a cut above the rest
The motorbike permit costs Rs 100 and Rs 120 per day in Bhutan and Nepal respectively. The climate in these countries was not very different from that in India. In social etiquette and courtesy, Bhutan is at a higher level than Nepal. Bhutan has better traffic sense with most people avoiding unnecessary overtaking and honking and most complying with the zebra lines for crossing. The air pollution is minimal. It is generally colder in Bhutan with the hills and the valleys closely packed together. The traffic situation in Nepal is more or less akin to that in the big cities in India.
The Singapore dream
The trio gained a lot of confidence touring these places. Before this adventure, they had only toured Bangalore and Goa. Now they are planning for further international tours.
Their dream tour now is Singapore, covering more than 8000km.
