Day 13, 14 :: To Kallamb (my Mom's home-town) && Day 15 :: To Pune

After a warm hospitality it was not easy for me to say goodbye to my family in Manmad but I have to sooo I just moved on.. changed the Oil of my bike since it is required to be changed after every 3000km and then following were my stops which I was visualising -
Manmad -> Aurangabad -> Jalna -> Manmad (a night stay there) -> Kallamb

First spot I saw was - Thumbs-up hill :P Yes it is called like that among the locals .. :)

Big whole-sale market of Onionssss - pretty impressive to see how it came in Lorries to these market and then they are packaged in Silos and finally sold and distributed across everywhere.. :)

Herd of Sheeps jamming the street and they were countless.. :)

Endelig (Finally) I reached Aurangabad and got my Enfield Serviced and had company of my cousin and his friends.. :)

Then I reached Jalna, where my Aunt was waiting for me and has prepared CHEESE Sandwich .. wow! I liked it alotttt... :)

And then I reached Ambad and spent night there at my another family home.. welllll we in India have big families and we have people almost everywhere - atleast I have it something like that.. :) So I spent my night there with them and then left early morning to see my Mom and family :)

Famous temple among the locals and they wanted me to visit so I did.. :)

 The below sign means - Work in Progress - Please drive Slowly... Trust me - it was just a waste of sign-board..

A beautiful natural Entrance :)

School boys playing Kho Kho - popular game among the kids and much more in rurals :)

And I was just 20 meters away from my Uncle's home and I was just Shocked Surprised and Glad to see GRAND celebration for my visit .. they called all my relatives there at same place, they called for band of music, and as per Hindu traditions they gave me blessings and took my Aarti :) Oh I was just stunned.. :)

My cousins and nephews.. :)

And my adorable Mom :)

My entire went by meeting relatives, talking to their friends and answering couple of common questions -
1. Why I am doing this?
2. When will it all end?
3. Whats next?
4. Are you Stupid?

I actually don't know clearly about any question so I said clearly to all of them that - I don't know :) :)

Whatever I really was happy and next day I chose to leave and go to Pune.. :)

There I was at my friend Neeti and Vivek's place and they also invited Gopal a very interesting man - we had good food, drinks and lots and lots of gossip.. and again above 4 questions... :)

It was really nice and the journey to Pune was also memorable since I take many stops and keep on watching things amusing me.. :)

Street hawkers waiting for vehicles to come Toll Place and as it stops for a min - that is the time they use in selling fruits and other stuff.. :)

And I really dont like coming to cities unless I really choose to make up my self.. Unlimited traffic, Honking all around and worst is - Smoke you smell in your every breathe..

So that night I stayed at my friend's place and next day I destined to go to Mumbai - main focus was just to meet my buddies from Norway to keep my promise and see them responding to CHANGE.. :)

Day 11 : Bhavnagar to Silvassa && Day 12 : Leaving Gujarat & Entering Maharastra (Manmad city)

Bhavnagar is a place they say is famous for actually nothing but when I have been there but it is been said as cultural capital of Saurashtra region of Gujarat.. And when I asked them about something really special about this place then I got to know about ALANG. Alang is a place which is world's largest ship breaking yard - unbelievable and it was 50km away from there but I skipped it since I was getting late to reach "Dadra  & Nagar Haveli" but I was really thinking of going there but its my trip and I chose to skip it :-P - that's it ..

So I started my journey from Bhavnagar and first destination was to reach Vadodara then Surat then Vapi and finally to Dadra & Nagar Haveli and that all collate to be around 280km :-) All set to cruise..

Found an interesting advertisement -

I really observed that the bridges are getting old and since the frequency of cars are soooo much that it really shakes when you just stop and observe every car movement.. Sad and Bad :-(

On my way when I was sipping tea with locals they referred this place called Pataliya which is famous for unlimited hot water showers everytime which comes 'HOW' is reasoned as Godly ;-)

Also, Bhavnagar is among the biggest producer of Salt and hence on my way I was seeing alot of lands like that..

Sun was about to set and I was still 2 hours away from my destination..

 Endelig (Finally) reached Dadra & Nagar Haveli - it is not a State and not a city but a Union Territory in India and its capital is Silvassa and earlier it was a territory of Portuguese.. It is a landlock between Gujarat and Maharastra states..

I had a great hospitality by Parkhi family and I stayed at their home that night as guest :) Next day after having my morning tea, it was time to say good-bye to this humble and beautiful family.. :) Aunty was all ready to go to her job and I couldnt resist taking her picture since I must keep this as a token of my memory ..

So this is Day 11, going to be my last day in this love-at-first-sight state - Gujarat :-) and I have covered 1 State and 2 Union Territories till now.. I am heading towards Manmad via Nashik - a place where I know my family members and I promised them to visit.. :)

And ofcorse many interesting places - I checked with locals and they asked me to go through this hilly tribal area which is full of slopes and Yes pretty cultural aswell.. :)

I stopped on the mid-way seeing this Goat fight - three on three.. :-P Non stop entertainment for 10 min and I got to see it for FREEEEE .. what a sadist I am :-D

Beautiful roads - narrow but enough for vehicles to pass-by ..

Twist and turnssss..

 This was interesting part - this kind of fields are for terrestrial farming & the concept is the water falls from top to down across the valley and this way all the fields can be used as farms without assuming it to be done only on flat lands.. :)

Anddddd lotssss of Hens aswell and being a vegetarian I really don't feel like eating them but enjoying the baby Hens following the mother all the way.. ;)

And this group of people are collectively called "Padyatri" - they are walking from Daman to Shirdi (place of a very famous Saint called Saibaba) and this is very pious.. few Padyatris chose to be bare-footed and they were excited for their journey the same way I am but only difference - it will take them 9 days to travel the place which I could cover in a day or two..

Scenic views ....

Beautiful huts decorated with plants all around serving as boundaries to their homes.. :)

 And this is the border crossing from the state Gujarat to Maharashtra :-) I nailed it finallllyyyy.. 3200 Km in total in ten and a half days.. :-)

One Momma Hen and Baby Hen on troll for food.. :)

 And the beauty goes on ....

This is a interesting of storing Hays and the only benefit that I was seeing majorly was to save it from domestic animals so that they do not finish it all in one go.. :)

And what will I do if I dont have a bike or car with gearssss... :) :) and Yes I was driving safely..

Time for street Piggy family and trust me seeing their condition in India my dear Pork eaters might stop eating it forever.. :)

And my Enfield has crossed one valley and now ready for next.. :)

On the valley now..

Village women taking long bamboos (looked like that) which is used for constructions at many places in India..

And a strange formation of mountains on my way..

Below is very famous Hindu God - Lord Hanuman .. and on my way I found this place Anjaneri which is his birth place as per Hindu mythology so why not pay my respect to him.. :)

Then first city that comes on my way was - Nashik and there I called my school buddy Jatin and had a cup of tea and also some chit chat with him and his colleague.. :) time to move on to next and final destination Manmad where I stayed at my long family home and spend good time eating yummy home-made Indian food.. :)

It was around 120km away or more and I was having company of my cousin with me who knew that I was coming and so he wished to join me on my bike - so I just changed the position of my baggage and then we were all set to go through rurals of Maharastra..

Firstly I got to know some facts - the villages on my way are having farms that grows crops and fruits that are not only exported inside country to different states but also abroad .. I saw farms of Grapes, Sugarcane, Onions, Tomotoes, Cauliflower and few more which I couldnt recognise.. :)

This factory makes Sugar aswell as local alcohol :) Unlucky me - can not convince the people there to give me my dream visit.. :-( but no regrets I was still enjoyinggg

And this wayyy - I finished my day travelling across states and relaxed in peace lately..

Next day - I thought of travelling to visit the place called Kallamb - my mother's birth place and there she visited all just to see her spoiled and beloved son.. :) Oh - I couldnt resist that moment.. :)

Wait for the next blog.. :)