Hot Tips For Riding In Rajasthan India

 

HOLY COW BATMAN... I mean literally! Gau Mata. Means holy mother. Cows give life and mothers milk, and are considered holy. Cattle have right of way. In fact they pretty much have the right to be anywhere in India. And they seem to know it. What I love about Indian livestock is that the cattle, goats, dogs, monkeys and sheep are conditioned to humanity and heavy traffic. They will casually pull out in front of any truck, bus, bike or car and cross the road at will. It is up to the driver to ebb and flow, or duck and weave, between any animal in front of you.

 

INDICATORS ARE OPTIONAL. Cars, bikes, trucks and buses will simply pull into any gap without so much as a wave or the use of a blinker. Sure, they will blast the horn, but so is everybody else. Vehicles will take a diagonal across a busy four lane road to get from one side to another. In fact you will often encounter oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road as another driver is passing you. Vehicles four abreast will share a two lane road and the traffic flow is organic. Cars, buses and Tuk-Tuks will all happily use a Southbound lane heading North if the Northbound lane is too busy. In India and Rajasthan, it is give and take… mostly it is take.

 

THE LEGAL LIMIT FOR MOTORCYCLES is between 40 and 60kms per hour, even on highways. This is because India is yet to get its head around motorcycles that can ride along as fast as a car can drive. A Royal Enfield 450 is one of the most powerful bikes in the country with a cruising speed of between 90-110kms per hour. But don’t worry. Most of the highway patrol, or “Interceptors”, are in cars and simply could not carry on a pursuit in the busy traffic. If you do get stopped. A 500 INR note (AUD $9.50) goes a long way to smooth any ruffled feathers.

 

SPEEDBUMPS & POTHOLES. Some roads are in great condition. However you can usually expect a speed bump or two outside a temple, or entering a village. These are mostly unmarked. Even on the best of roads you can expect the unexpected pothole that will swallow your bike whole. In some cases whole roads had been dug up and we actually got our ADV on!

 

OVERTAKING REQUIRES RESOLVE and fearlessness. You soon get the hang of overtaking into oncoming traffic and usually something gives. A car or bus will edge aside to avoid what at first seems the inevitable collision. They will honk their horn then wave and smile. No one loses their shit unless panels get dinged. We saw a dog take out three moped riders. The dog took off, and everyone simply jumped up smiling, and the commotion was over in minutes.

 

MONKEYS, CAMELS, DOGS AND GOATS. Usually roam in packs and sometimes together. Livestock will be sauntering up the on-ramp of a newly built freeway and traffic simply moves around and life on the road goes on. Cattle can often be standing in the middle of any road, both in the country and cities, chewing cud or sleeping in the centre lane. The Hindu culture is all about Dharma, and very much live and let live. It is considered the oldest religion in the world. A Hindu views the entire universe as God’s and everything in it is God, including you, me and all the animals on the road. Namaste!

 

THE MIGHTY HORN (Beep Beep) Often referred to as the most common language in all of India. But no one gets upset or offended when it is used, which is constantly. Get used to using your horn to let the driver next to you know that you are here and mean business. It is rarely used In anger. Even most truck horns have a beautiful melody, so as not to upset, startle or offend.

 

IN TRAFFIC, BE PUSHY, NOT ANGRY. There is an ebb and flow In city traffic but everyone pushes their way until it is obvious that another driver is pushier than you. You Blink you Lose... So never look another driver directly in the eye if you are head to head in an intersection or crossing and trying to make way, or they will think you are giving them the right of way and use this to take the advantage. Get used to using your peripheral vision and have faith when forging your way through the chaos. You will see some pedestrians simply walk out into busy traffic, hold their hand up at oncoming drivers, and blindly walk across the road. One of the many hundreds of Hindu gods will be looking out for them.

 

THERE IS MORE LUXURY and more poverty, all so close together and seemingly in harmony, than any country I have ever visited. With close to 1.4 Billion people, there are more millionaires and billionaires than you will find people living in Australia. Also more middle class than the population of the United States, and probably close to a billion souls living in relative poverty. Lots of smiles though.

 

THE ADVENTURE IS IN THE TOTAL EXPERIENCE. It is in the cultural immersion, the history, the chaos. You will be challenged enough by the roads, traffic and livestock. So riding in Rajasthan is technically a simple adventure, mostly on road. But with wow factor. At the end of every day you end up in an oasis, most often an old fort or palace, which after a few centuries, has been converted into luxury accommodation, maybe a Maharaja’s palace. Feel the history!

 

ARRIVE IN INDIA 2-3 days before your tour and hire a driver. This allows you to become climatized to the chaos of Indian traffic and road conditions.  We drove from Delhi to Agra and onto Jaipur. Taking in the famous Taj Mahal and Red Fort. It was worth the experience and definitely worth the acclimatization.

 

DON’T DRINK THE WATER. Lol. And think twice about ice in your drink. Although most top class hotels and palaces have a water filtration system. I recommend using bottled water. You see lots of English tourists only drinking tonic water. Hey, at least bottled water is cheap here, like the equivalent of 10-20 cents a bottle. Unlike Australia where it often as not is more expensive than petrol.

 

GET READY FOR RUBBISH. Plastic is the enemy of India. When I was travelling here over forty years ago, I cannot remember seeing so much litter on the ground. However, now, pretty much in any built up area we saw piles and piles of plastic water bottles and bags. My understanding is India is undergoing a massive education program “Clean up India” (Swatch Bharat). Maybe in another twenty years’ time they will have things under control.

 

DON’T FORGET YOUR MEDS. Bring your Gastro-stop and Imodium tablets. It’s likely you will have a touch of Delhi Belly. Some recommend taking a course of pre/pro-biotics before and while you travel. While we did not experience anything worse than a brief run of the trots, we were ready for the worst. We also were happy we had purchased some hand sanitiser and wipes to use during pit stops.

 

MONEY MONEY MONEY. We found that the cash exchange in India was better than offered from Australia. You will need to carry small notes, like 10, 20, 50, & 100 Rupee notes for tipping and incidentals. Often a merchant does not want to change a 500 Rupee note.

 

VISA REQUIRED. You will need a visa for India. It is easy to obtain as long as you are prepared to tell your life story. It was also recommended that we bring an “International” Drivers Licence, to ensure we were covered in case of incident. These we obtained online through NRMA in Australia.

 

BYO HELMET, OR BUY ONE WHEN YOU LAND. One trick, if you want to travel light, is to buy a helmet in India. This will most likely set you back less than $20-$30 AUD. If you are using flights internally, you are only allowed 15kgs luggage. So think about what you need to bring. If your tour has lay days, it is cheap and easy to get your laundry done. India does have fast rail between most major cities. Jen and I chose not to fly internally. It was easier to hire a driver and car to get us back from Jaipur to Delhi, although Jaipur does have a decent enough airport.

 

IT’S HOT, DAMNED HOT! And I am not talking about the weather. Don’t come to India if you can’t handle a curry. There is simply no avoiding quality Indian food in India and especially Lal Maas, which means “red meat” and is mutton or goat. This is a Rajasthan specialty and we had it with virtually every meal, along with the best Dhal, Naan bread and Roti. Oh… Forget what you think is a Butter Chicken. You haven’t had a Butter Chicken until you have had one in India.

 

THINGS I WISH I HAD THOUGHT TO BRING. When I head back to India for another road trip, I will definitely bring a few gizmo’s. Most notably I will bring an Air Hawk for my saddle, hey, I can even use it on the plane ride over. Oh... and a throttle Rocker for a light cruise control.

 

PACK LIGHT. As per usual, Jen and I overpacked. Luckily our luggage was transported each day, but we only needed half of what we thought we would. You can get your undies and other kit washed, especially on the layover days built into this amazing tour.

 

FINALLY... Expect the unexpected. India is a land of surprises. The people, the history, the culture. Immerse yourself and simply enjoy the ride. Enjoy the Adventure. INDIA is one of those places that will get under your skin, into your head. If you are anything like me... You “WILL” want to go back.

 

 

We’re teaming up with Roaming Horizons for three incredible tours this year: a Himalayan expedition in August, a Rajasthan ride in October and South India at the end of the year.

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