Delhi to Mount Abu (Rajasthan) road trip
2nd to 4th October 2020
During the covid time in 2020, everything around us stopped. It was the scariest time for all of us. After a couple of months of first lockdown, we somehow gathered the courage and planned a road trip (check: How to plan a road trip?) on our bikes from Delhi to Mount Abu in October 2020. We were nine riders in total, and frankly all of us had to convince our families to make this trip happen. We all planned this trip for the long weekend including 2nd October (Friday – Sun).
The total distance from Delhi to Mount Abu is approximately 770 km. Our planned route was Delhi – Jaipur – Ajmer – Beawar – Pali – Sirohi – Mount Abu. The Flag-off point was Dhaula Kuan metro station (Delhi). 770 Km is not a small distance to be covered on the same day in India. Once you have a group of like-minded people, you can easily gather courage to beat it.
We started at 5 AM in the morning from Dhaula Kuan. One of rider’s wife has packed some home-cooked Samosas and Puri-Sabzi. What a delight to have before you start your journey. In fact, this is the most traditional Indian food during any journey, whether in train or your own vehicle.
First stop – Jaipur:
Our first stop was Jaipur, which is approx. 275 Km from Delhi. One of the rider’s relatives was waiting for us in Jaipur with famous Kachoris (a local Jaipur delight). There we had an hour-long break at around 9 am. We had Kachoris and some sweet dishes (by that time I was not too resistant to such unhealthy but delicious food). The local host was there with his family, they all got lot of pics clicked with us, and our bikes. Everyone was happy. At around 10 AM we moved ahead with our journey.
Onward journey:
Although it was October month, the weather was still not pleasant, especially during the daytime that too in Rajasthan. We had a couple of hydration breaks, crossed Ajmer and Beawar at the planned time. From Beawar another route goes to Udaipur. Mount Abu can be reached via Udaipur too, but it will be a long de-tour. Normally people create longer trips and include Udaipur as well in their itinerary. This time Udaipur was not in our plan. We crossed Beawar, and that time we were cruising on little more than 100 Km/ hour, as the highway was very well maintained and almost empty. It is hard to get empty highways in India, but during covid time we have found it many times.
Now here comes Rajasthan police, with a speed gun, they have tracked our speed and brought it down to zero. At first, they were surprised that, how can a bike go that fast? We were all set to get a ticket for speeding. But somehow our friendly speeches and kindness of those nice police officers made the situation a little comfy. They have decided to let us go with a warning. From there onwards we didn’t overspeed.
It was soon lunch time. This highway doesn’t have any fancy restaurants. Anyhow it is not a big concern when you are travelling with good friends. We had our lunch around 2:30 pm, and we resumed our journey further. The route was throughout well maintained and 4-lanes. It was a beautiful scenic route with some hilly terrain as well. Mount Abu is a small hill station in Rajasthan.
Mount Abu:
We got the single road just before starting our climb to the Mount Abu hills. It was already dark by the time we started our ascent. All our bikes are fitted with good LED lights with extra auxiliary lights for such dark roads. We reached our hotel at Mount Abu by 9 in the evening. Mr Gulati has already ordered some beers and refreshments an hour in advance. After such a long journey such delight was waiting for us. All of us partied till 2 am, just wanted to enjoy every moment of it.
As I mentioned earlier, Mount Abu is a small hill station in Rajasthan. It is beautiful and not too cold. It has a small lake, and some hills, very apt for trekking. We hired a local guide and did an hour-long trek, which ended near the lake. It was just a few months since covid hit the world. But still there were so many people around, but everyone was following covid protocols. We also enjoyed boating on the lake. Here are some pics of the local sight-seeing and boating.
Party night and return journey:
Saturday night was the party night, again. Party mode was on, Mr Gulati, our famous rider, has arranged a wonderful dinner with drinks. We were enjoying our time, but at midnight, we found out that one of us had an emergency at his home. He changed his plan and was about to leave very early in the morning for the way back to his home. We didn’t want to let him ride on his own in such a situation, so we all decided to accompany him back. We called it a day and took a quick nap and showered early in the morning to come back to normal state. After checking out of the hotel we all left at 3:30 AM and rode continuously. We had our breakfast before Ajmer and a lunch break near Shahpura.
On our way, just before entering NCR, near Bawal, one of our bikes struck a bump, formed due to the melted tar on the middle of the road. Such melted tar forms so many bumps especially during summer season due to heavy overloaded trucks. And Jaipur–Delhi highway is full of them. Our bikes are low floor bikes, which is why it is more prone to hit such bumps. This particular bump was exactly in the middle of the road, and we couldn’t see it as such bumps are not marked. The bike’s oil sump (which is generally at the bottom) got broken, and all the engine oil leaked. All of us had to stop, except the one with the emergency at home.
Roadside assistance (RSA):
We had to call RSA (roadside assistance) in order to get the bike towed to the nearest service station. It took RSA one and a half hours to reach there.
Once the RSA took control of the bike, we adjusted the rider on one of our bikes, and we resumed our journey. From Manesar we took KMP towards Palwal – Greater Noida, as it was already evening, and we didn’t want to cross evening traffic of Gurgaon and Delhi. We took the Greater Noida exit and reached our homes in Noida by 9 in the evening. It was a fun filled trip. After so many months of isolation due to covid, it was a much-needed outing for all of us. We enjoyed it a lot. But also, we took care of covid precautions. In the end none of us got infected. All such enjoyments made this trip the most memorable bike trip I ever had.
If you have any question or suggestion regarding this post or Delhi to Mount Abu trip do let me know at [email protected]
