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TRACK THE RIDE
A delayed start at 7.30.
We ride out of Gir towards Junagarh. The roads are similar
to ones we took while reaching Sasan, good surface rolling
up and down through the forest.
2 hours on, we pass through Junagarh, a former princely state,
and stop for breakfast and also send the data to dean for
upload. We cruise further towards Gondal, another princely
state. A minor mishap when we reach Gondal at 12.30. A rogue
kid hurls a stone at Vaibhav and smashes his headlight. The
helmet visor prevents any injury to eyes from the shattered
glass, lesson learnt. Thanks offered to divinity.
The palace at Gondal is not a very distinguished structure
in its size or detail, but houses two beautiful things the
guys get hooked on to.
One is the personal railway coach of the Maharaja. Teak panelled,
a siting room, dining, bedroom with 4 berths, 2 toilets and
a small kitchen with a wood burning stove and old brass toggle
switches. The coach is no longer in active use and parked
next to a strip of mock platform, complete with benches and
a board announcing the station of GONDAL. Everybody clicks
snaps here waving out of the door like a bollywood hero. LOL
 
The other is the collection of about 70 cars from the vintage
era to the modern. Its nice to know the passion of the royal
families for the automobile. It would have been great had
they been bitten by the motorcycle bug too. The oldest car
dated to 1907, Gondal's first car, aptly named "GONDAL
1", giving it company were cars from all the greatest
marquees the Rolls, Daimler, Cadillac, Jaguar, Oldsmobile,
Corvette, Ford, etc.
By the time we finish ogling its time for a quick lunch and
hitting the road again. The target for guys headed bombay
via. baroda for the day. Satish and Anand start for bangalore
and Hyderabad before lunch to cover up the longer distance.
By 4.00 we are cruising on the NH8B again, a beautiful four
lane highway with moderate traffic, towards Bagodra, where
the Bombay and Ahmedabad guys split.
But due to mechanical problems, we manage Bagodra only by
8 and its too dark to ride further on. Aviral drops off Farida
to Ahmedabad railway station (60 kms away), she makes it in
time to catch her train at 10.00.
Amol and Tejas decide to hang on at Bagodra with the Bombay
guys rather than leave for Ahmedabad. Spend the night at a
dhaba.
Smit has a wonderful birthday, on the road...
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