In Praise of Indian Roads:
Indian roads suck, they are probably the worst I have ever been on and I hope I shall never drive on roads like these again unless my life depends on it.
Some sort of contrast there, I mean why would anybody want to praise such lousy roads? Because they get you there my friends, these lousy, potholed, avalanche covered, cow-filled, elephant-filled Tata-filled [for the uninitiated Tatas are the huge, colourful, overloaded Indian goods transporters that cross the country every which way and barrel down the roads at speeds upwards of 50 km per hour often reaching speeds of 60 or 70
and occasionally touching 75 or 80 - but they look a lot faster and a lot bigger and scary as hell as they take aim at your rather frail Enfield (Sorry Shlomi, but this is my motorbike tour)]. Roads take you everywhere in
India.
They take you across the flat lands and they take you along the long narrow valleys and up the high passes and into the mountains and for long as I have travelled here the roads have never let me down - even, for those of you have done it (or remember my mail on the road to Goa - NH4A or what is popularly known as the Londa road - if you need you may look it up on my site though there will not be a test). And if you do break down because of the shitty road and get stuck it is never for very long, you can always hitch a ride with one of them Tatas if you can't find a mechanic (not necessarily a competent one but we are talking about the Enfield).
I was warned before I came here and then again while driving in the relatively flat south that when I reached the north all that would change and that due to the roads I would probably break down constantly and that
the 350 cc would not be powerful enough to pull me up the hills. BULLSHIT! It's true the roads are bad, often worse than in the south (but not always) yet my bike has stood up to it all and I have managed to reach here with no trouble at all (Okay, okay - Touch wood). It's true that the inclines here are far steeper than you would ever find in the western world but the Enfield has carried me up them all, sometimes with another passenger and other times with extra baggage and it has always made the climb. And it's true that the hairpin bends here are hairier than anywhere else but they are always negociable (?) and so here I am in Srinagar to refute those unjust accusations. Of course the big test will be the road to Leh or should that be The Road To Leh next week - I will have to cross a pass of about 3500 meters and that aint bubbkes!
As I see it the roads will never become better, they will never be westernised, India simply does not have the recources, but as long as the traffic continues to get through, as long as nobody (very, very important) complains or demands or strikes, nothing will be done, as long as the vehicles can get through, and all vehicles in India seem to double as "off-road vehicles", nothing will change. Generations of future travellers will be able to experience the thrill of riding an Enfield through the crazy traffic on the lousy roads of India, how truly fortunate for them.
Indian roads suck, they are probably the worst I have ever been on and I hope I shall never drive on roads like these again unless my life depends on it.
Some sort of contrast there, I mean why would anybody want to praise such lousy roads? Because they get you there my friends, these lousy, potholed, avalanche covered, cow-filled, elephant-filled Tata-filled [for the uninitiated Tatas are the huge, colourful, overloaded Indian goods transporters that cross the country every which way and barrel down the roads at speeds upwards of 50 km per hour often reaching speeds of 60 or 70
and occasionally touching 75 or 80 - but they look a lot faster and a lot bigger and scary as hell as they take aim at your rather frail Enfield (Sorry Shlomi, but this is my motorbike tour)]. Roads take you everywhere in
India.
They take you across the flat lands and they take you along the long narrow valleys and up the high passes and into the mountains and for long as I have travelled here the roads have never let me down - even, for those of you have done it (or remember my mail on the road to Goa - NH4A or what is popularly known as the Londa road - if you need you may look it up on my site though there will not be a test). And if you do break down because of the shitty road and get stuck it is never for very long, you can always hitch a ride with one of them Tatas if you can't find a mechanic (not necessarily a competent one but we are talking about the Enfield).
I was warned before I came here and then again while driving in the relatively flat south that when I reached the north all that would change and that due to the roads I would probably break down constantly and that
the 350 cc would not be powerful enough to pull me up the hills. BULLSHIT! It's true the roads are bad, often worse than in the south (but not always) yet my bike has stood up to it all and I have managed to reach here with no trouble at all (Okay, okay - Touch wood). It's true that the inclines here are far steeper than you would ever find in the western world but the Enfield has carried me up them all, sometimes with another passenger and other times with extra baggage and it has always made the climb. And it's true that the hairpin bends here are hairier than anywhere else but they are always negociable (?) and so here I am in Srinagar to refute those unjust accusations. Of course the big test will be the road to Leh or should that be The Road To Leh next week - I will have to cross a pass of about 3500 meters and that aint bubbkes!
As I see it the roads will never become better, they will never be westernised, India simply does not have the recources, but as long as the traffic continues to get through, as long as nobody (very, very important) complains or demands or strikes, nothing will be done, as long as the vehicles can get through, and all vehicles in India seem to double as "off-road vehicles", nothing will change. Generations of future travellers will be able to experience the thrill of riding an Enfield through the crazy traffic on the lousy roads of India, how truly fortunate for them.
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