Finish: 16.20 / 20,915km
Distance: 20,721 = (201km)
Route: Mumbai towards Goa – Thane / Panvel / Uran / Pen / Alibag
Accommodation; Raddisson Blue Resort
Completed notes for Sunday early in the morning and finished packing the panniers & ready to fit back onto the bikes. A great breakfast, then whilst Tony set up the GoPro & Sat Nav, I checked out / re-booked for the 4th & 5th December. The hotel was very helpful, allowing us to leave our excess items with concierge.
It was a nice touch, as there was a bit of a farewell from several of staff…. who knows what they were thinking……did they know something we didn’t ?
Left at 08.10 with the temperature already quite warm but, more importantly, dry. Tony led using the Satnav, onto airport road and we were on our way !!
It was extraordinary how every street appeared the similar. Tuc-tucs have this standard line on the rear of their vehicles ‘keep your distance’ (it must be a regulatory thing) because they continued to find extraordinary ways to find space to get to the front of the tuc-tuc, car or truck.
It did not take long for a general perception of what the driving in India was going to present, with a brief outline of the early observations…..
Potholes were everywhere, shallow ones, deep ones, narrow ones, wide ones, width of the road ones
There were regular speed humps that had a certain unpredictability as to where they were located, what was the rationale as to why they were at that point, there were low ones, high ones, single ones, multipl ones, a couple with signs, 95% without signs, one or two with white hatching, 99% devilishly disguised to blend in with the shiny smooth tarmac
The only times that traffic lights have any significance, is at major junctions (most of the time). Stop at a red light at your peril, cos the vehicles behind will not be expecting to !
Roads appear to have been laid in 2 sections with each lane done at different times, requiring a 400mm central strip to join the two together. This designates (loosely) the middle and should be used as a discretionary guide only & has gaps where each lane joins, that must be murderous in the wet
Driving is also designated to be ‘on the left’…..like Aus (sort-of)
The guidelines are that we are used to driving on the left side and oncoming traffic drives of the right side, which seems to work quite well in Australia & the UK. As we know, on the continent, this is reversed. India does not appear to have much money for roads, therefore road space is at a premium. To maximize this, the Indians have perfected there own amalgamation of the British and the Continental system. This ensures the maximum number of vehicles are occupying the minimum amount of space at any given time !!
This is routinely demonstrated ‘to us rookies’ when gaps on the left between you and the shops (there are no pavements) are the domain for scooters driving towards you, wishing to avoid the congestion of the right hand lane. This is also duplicated for scooters driving against the direction of traffic in the right hand lane.
As there are no footpaths, therefore the roadway width is defined by who is using the space between the building line and the space (if there is any) in front of the buildings, such as pedestrians, sleeping dogs, carts or ……
You then have tuc-tucs, vans & lorries all challenging for road space. So imagine a road with sufficient width for 2 lanes in each direction. However, the Indians have devised their own driving guidelines with 3 & sometimes 4 lines of vehicles in each direction – scooters then driving up the edge towards you (who’s going to give way first) this may then be further complicated when a 4th tuc-tuc forces itself into a temporary space with horns beeping (cos you left a space so I am coming through).
So driving is about understanding the ‘non-existent’ rules, taking ownership of your position on the road & being willing to challenge anyone who wants to take it …. It’s quite simple really !
They are not aggressive (generally) and the speeds range from 0 – 20kph. So imagine a game of chess, there several pieces (vehicles) that are available to fill a space (on the road). Unfortunately you do not know which piece (or vehicle) is going to fill it ! If you are one of the vehicles vying for this space, then you need to decisive, quick and committed, cos any hesitation and you are having to react to others, instead of controlling where you want to be. It is a sort of game, because if you occupy the space first, you have earned the right to it. However, there will be several vehicles all competing to fill the next opportunity, so it means you have to get your nose just ahead of the next guy and earn the right to be there, so he has to give way (even if you are moving from the left side to turn right, or the right side to turn left). How is this best described…..
There are ‘rules of engagement’ … know and drive by the ‘rules’ and you are ok. Otherwise, being timid, not being decisive in showing your intentions (and not following through) then you are inconveniencing other drivers & they get frustrated. They are impatient, skilled and want to get on.
Be decisive and they make adjustments and you are accommodated …. be indecisive or passive and you can get into difficulty. They show no compassion that you are a ‘gwailo’
Driving in Mumbai…… highways tuned into roadways, which turned into back roads, which turned into unsealed tracks which rejoined back into main roads…..quite bizarre
Hazards of pot holes & speed humps – sometimes replaced by trenches which had been gouged out by the hundreds of trucks uncovering shiny metal pipes where repairs had obviously been completed at some time
Sometimes the speed humps were hidden in the shade & the only indication was traffic in front suddenly stopping – however, often, this gave the opportunity to overtake the battered truck or bus who had been disgorging thick clouds of diesel enriched exhaust for the past 5 minutes, as you tried to get past!
There are ‘rules of engagement’ … know and drive by the ‘rules’ and you are ok. Otherwise, being timid, not being decisive in showing your intentions (and not following through) then you are inconveniencing other drivers & they get frustrated. They are impatient, skilled and want to get on.
Be decisive and they make adjustments and you are accommodated …. be indecisive or passive and you can get into difficulty. They show no compassion that you are a ‘gwailo’
Driving in Mumbai…… highways tuned into roadways, which turned into back roads, which turned into unsealed tracks which rejoined back into main roads…..quite bizarre
Hazards of pot holes & speed humps – sometimes replaced by trenches which had been gouged out by the hundreds of trucks uncovering shiny metal pipes where repairs had obviously been completed at some time
Sometimes the speed humps were hidden in the shade & the only indication was traffic in front suddenly stopping – however, often, this gave the opportunity to overtake the battered truck or bus who had been disgorging thick clouds of diesel enriched exhaust for the past 5 minutes, as you tried to get past!
After over an hour of riding through all types of challenging traffic, we were still riding ‘north’ when we needed to be going SE. (the sun had come out) Checked & turned back …. The satnav was not working correctly
It took around 4 hours to complete 100km and reach the main port area of Mumbai, a distance of around 50km from where we started.
It was now hot, we were becoming a tad frustrated, but the sun was out and stopping to refer to the ‘new found’ technology (a map) & conversing with locals by way of pointing a finger at a spot on the map, we started to make progress.
The main concerns were:
The lack of progress
The lack of any accommodation that looked anything like safe to bunker down
The scarcity of road numbers / direction signs / town / village signs / the inability to know whether we were on a short-cut, back road, side road, main road or highway !!
An early message was sent driving down a steep hill with double whitelines & I hesitated, due to the oncoming traffic, so a car brushed by me as he overtook whilst I was thinking about it …
An early message was sent driving down a steep hill with double whitelines & I hesitated, due to the oncoming traffic, so a car brushed by me as he overtook whilst I was thinking about it …
The side road (shortcut) outside a chemical factory where apart from the air filled with chemical fumes, there were a line of heavy trucks lined for parked waiting for their loads for probably a km. This restricted the width for the remaining traffic with 2 lines of trucks, cars, bikes moving in opposite directions with space for 1.5 lanes …. A chaotic gridlock. This was further compromised by the rich fragrance of sewerage from a broken pipe that was creating something akin to a water crossing. So with vehicles regularly grid-locking, you had to use narrow banks to time your thrust to get past, without stopping & having to put your feet down in the foul smelling concoction of water, mud, sewerage & fumes – especially as I was riding in ankle height Chelsea boots & not riding boots …… do not
slide off the banks or stop …. It would be an unpleasant ‘end’ !
slide off the banks or stop …. It would be an unpleasant ‘end’ !
Thought we were on Highway 17 but had actually made the minor coast road …. but no coast was evident. Stopped around 15.00 for drinks and identified where we were, then looking closer at the map, the coast road we were on going south was not continuous. There were estuaries, there were no bridges & only one with a ferry. So do we backtrack (not enthusiastic to give up) our ‘hard fought’ mileage, or continue down to a town of any size called Albag, where we might find some accommodation. So, we continued on & then out of the blue, half hidden in the tree line was a sign ‘Radisson Spa & Resort’ 1.5km on right…...’you beauty’ !! Could this be utopia compared to what we had been preparing ourselves for the night !!....... it was
On arrival, stopped at huge 6m security gates & eventually allowed to enter ….. two tired, sore & dirty bikers, entering a stylish resort.
Reception first said no vacancies, then a second request brought a bloke (a biker) called Mahindra into the conversation … a delightful helpful bloke who was very empathetic … found us a twin room (a huge bonus)
The priorities:
No1, a beer from the fridge….
No2, a fantastic shower
No3, clean dry clothes
No4, out to the pool & buffet area for the next beers & an endless supply of crisps & nuts
As dusk fell, off to the Indian restaurant
A good meal + a glass of very ‘ordinary’ Indian shiraz….. but needed to be tried
By 09.00 to bed
In some sort of perverse way, it was a satisfying introduction to driving in India. Challenging, but we survived and we were on our way!! It puts ‘progressive driving’ to a new level!!
Headings describing the day’s ride:
Heat ….. sweaty
Frustration … identifying where we were
Dust …lots of it, just hanging in the air
Roads …. Sealed some of the time
Signage ….. unreadable, to ambiguous to non existent
Navigation …. The Satnav was also unused to India !!
We had ridden 200km to travel 100km from Mumbai to Alibag. Every time it lost a signal it would reset & take us on a different route … obviously the need for a rethink for tomorrow
100 km achieved in actual distance covered but 200km driving, which had taken around nearly 8hrs of riding….. speeds from 0km/hr to 40km/hr. We had worked very hard to attain an average of around 25km/hr
Only 1,600 to go to Kerala !!....... Oh of course ….. and then back again!
No comments:
Post a Comment