Day 2: Aizawl

      Would you believe it if I told you that there’s a state in India that restricts honking to only if there’s an emergency?! Well, that’s Mizoram for you. Riding there was such a pleasure as the fellow riders, drivers and pedestrians are disciplined comparing to other states. We are so used to using our horns right from overtaking vehicles to acknowledging friends, cabbies stopping in the middle of the road or just to create attention. The feeling of not hearing the choirs of horns blazing in the streets was an awkward but peaceful feeling. More on that here: First Horn Free City in India

       I had to adhere to a very different meal time as compared to what it was back at home. Breakfast is simple tea that is served before 8 AM and at 8 AM, lunch would be served. Oh man! I just love the food here. Most of the dishes are boiled and a little bland but I enjoyed every dish I tried, which one of them was Boiled Snails. Dinner is served very early too at 6PM. Hruaitea’s mum makes excellent food!! 

       Day 2 was spent around Aizawl. My bike was covered in mud because of the landslide incident, so the first thing we did was took the bike to a Car Wash Center. The Car Wash was located at the foot of the hill and I was looking around in awe of a certain part of Aizawl city which was surrounding me. The houses are very close to each other and they look like toppings on a cake. 

 

                   Peter, the owner of the Car Wash and a track racer, got his boys to wash the bike to a sparkling clean. After which he refused to take money for it and instead offered us tea and snacks. I was taken aback by this kind gesture and it was a nice reminder that I was in Aizawl. 

Peter's mint condition Yamaya RX-Z 5 Speed

with Peter

         After the wash, Hruaitea took me to Johntea’s 2 Wheeler Workshop which he calls, ‘Office’, to get my bike checked and serviced. The main drive chain had dried up completely especially after the landslide incident and was making a lot of noise. Johntea serviced and checked my bike for which he didn’t allow me to pay no matter how much I insisted on it. These guys are just too kind! It was here that we met up with my friends from Aizawl. Johntea and Ben have their own Race Team in Mizoram named, ‘Mission Venthang Racing Team’ or MRT in short and their team seems to have won quite a number of races.

Johntea working on my bike

L-R: Johntea, John, DAvid, Solomon, Hruaitea, Andy and Ben

        The guys took me around Aizawl and also to visit a few of their Tuner/Mechanic friends. We met Totoma Toma from Fast Performance System and saw his beautifully modified Hero Impulse and also checked out his one-stop performance shop which had almost everything you would need, and also to make u crave for more.

Totoma's Impulse

 Racing slicks

We also met Rema Ralte, one of the more senior Tuner/Mechanic who is famously renown for his chai-rounds which I got a firsthand experience of. Rema also has a racing team called Aizawl Racing Club. He is al go for Motorsport and to uplift the budding racers from Mizoram. Apart from the professional line, he has been very helpful to me even after the ride and guiding me on how to go about with my bike. 

                  The guys here are crazy about bikes. Their technical knowledge and skills on bikes put them right at par with the guys from mainland India. Aizawl is the only city in the North Eastern States that host Motorcycle Track Racing. They have an abandoned airfield which they use as a track and they have an annual Championship Racing Season.

                   I also visited the Mission Venthang Church which has the highest seating capacity Church in Aizawl. It is a beautiful Church and once inside, one could really feel the peace and calmness.

          The rest of the day was spent riding around Aizawl and then out for a lovely dinner. We tried a couple of places for Mizo dishes but sadly all those places were packed, so we ended up at Peparin for some Chinese Dinner. After dinner we went to the outskirts of Aizawl to get a glimpse of how Aizawl city looked at night. The sight was just spectacular! It reminded me of Cold Play's 'Skyfull of Stars'. The hills around me were all lit up and it just looked amazing! I can't really describe how beautiful it looked, you need to see it with your own eyes. Hope the pictures below do some justice.

Mizoram Monsoon Sweep Ride

Mizoram Monsoon Sweep Ride

Day 1: Shillong to Aizawl

            So, after much planning, cancelling, planning again n then postponing, a group-turned-solo ride, I was finally off to Aizawl, 450kms away and the first leg of the Mizoram Monsoon Sweep Ride, on July 14^th at 7:30 AM from home.

            Okay, before I go ahead, I’d like to tell you that this ride was almost choked off even before it started. Like I mentioned above, this was supposed to be a group ride and that’s what I told my family too. But with everyone backing off as the dates got nearer, I didn’t dare tell my parents that I was going solo. So I told them that my dear good buddy, Anurag, was going along. I thought I will tell them the truth when I was about half way to Aizawl or something. But just when I was about to get on the bike to start off from home, I saw Anurag and Nikesh coming towards me with big smiles on their faces. The moment my mum saw Anurag, in shorts, she was even more shocked than I was. “Aren’t u going along?!!’ “No Aunty errr…ummm…. He’s going with some other friend…” and my mum got it that I was going alone. I could see that they felt proud for their friend who is going for this ride alone, but this was also the first time that I wanted to punch my dear harmless and always jolly buddy – Anurag, so hard ,for no fault of his whatsoever. But even more surprisingly, my mum said to me, “You should have told us you were going alone, we would have packed better and more snacks for you!”. Pheewwwww!! So before any more surprises crept up, I got on the bike, bid farewell to my family and friends (yes, we’re still friends even after the ride :P ) and started off for the ride.

It was drizzling the whole morning and by the time I got off the busy main roads I was in the outskirts by 8AM. I had hoped and prayed that at least when I leave for the ride, it would be a sunny morning but it turned out otherwise, and in a good way too. With the wet roads I was taking it easy and it calmed me down to take my time on the road rather than rushing to get to my destination.

            With all the unfolding events in the morning, I was already hungry even before I reached Jowai, which was just around 62 kms away. So I stopped by the road side and took out the snacks which my sister had lovingly prepared for me. I finally understood what Mojo Walle Bhai meant when he said: you feel so lonely and emotional when you eat by the roadside, on your own, so far away from home. I was very near from my home, but the thought of being away from my loved ones and on my own kind of struck me at that time. Or maybe I had been reading too any travel stories. 

               Anyway, so for the next 110kms approx I was riding in the drizzle and rain until I reached Umkiang Bridge in East Jaintia Hills. I had always wanted to see the Lukha River which is Blue in color but sadly because of the monsoon, it was running red with fury. I took a break before the Sonapur Tunnel to fuel up my tummy again and to absorb the surroundings – the river, the bridge, the hills, the truck drivers waving and smiling at me; Man! The feeling was overwhelming, not just because of the sights but also the gravity of the ride finally hit me. My first solo ride was finally underway.

                                                                           

            After some snacks, the sky cleared up and I was back on the road. The Rynox Tornado Pro Jacket did its job very well in keeping me dry in the rain but like any rain gear would do, it also made it very humid inside the jacket with the rain liner on. I took off my rain gear, rain liner and the cool breeze circulating through the vents of the jacket made for a refreshing ride. But boy was I in for a surprise!! This 75 kms stretch from Sonapur to Silchar was like an all you can eat buffet, but not in a good way. Mud, Slush, gravel, sand, potholes, craters… you name it and it’s there. 


         

     There was one stretch which passed through beautiful tea plantations on both sides of the road. Sadly, the deplorable road condition drew away all the beauty of the plantations. 






        


     I was advised to take the Kalain short cut to Silchar as it was shorter and the roads were far better. I kept riding through the crater filled short cut wondering when the good road will start when I realized I had already reached Silchar.

           





 Dildar met me in a Junction at the end of the short cut and showed me a little bit of Silchar where we met Raj too. I got my bike checked for some electrical glitches after which Dildar took me to his Helmet Shop. He’s got some really cool helmets.  It was dry and humid when I entered Silchar and it was a nice break to sit in his shop with the AC running. I could cool off for a while before I got back on the road.

            Saying farewell to Dildar, I pushed off to Vairengte where I was supposed to meet Hruaitea at the interstate border. I had been using the phone to view my route and the Rynox 5.5” Croc Mobile Mount worked excellently! No drop of rain or any dust particle got inside the case. I rode for about 20 kms from Silchar and met Hruaitea at Bhaga, who had already acquainted himself with another biker, Riki Jackers, on the road. Riki insisted we stopped at Bhaga Market for a cuppa chai n cold drinks before we hit the road again.

           
    Hruaitea is the ‘my-brother-from-another-mother’ friend. We have been Facebook friends for quite some time now but I met him just last year when he came to Shillong. Being driven by the same passion for offroading, the online discussions and interactions we had made us closer buddies. He started the offroad revolution in Mizoram with his offroading club – Free Tracks Moto Mizoram. They go for rides exploring the interior reaches of Mizoram and often take the road less travelled :D He goes by the name Hruaitea Imp 65 on Facebook.

           




 We then headed for Aizawl, another 140kms away. After riding in the Barak Valley and Cachar Hills’ flat wide roads, it was back to corner carving on the Aizawl Highway. On reaching Vairengte, there are check posts for checking/issuing ILP and also a Customs Checkgate which we passed through without any problems. Non – tribal Travelers though, will need to get an ILP for entering Mizoram.

         

   I thought I was quite good at riding in the hills as being from a hill station, all we have ever rode on were hills. But man, Mizoram is much hillier than what I had been used to riding on. The turns were hairpins at almost every turn and they take a toll on you if you’re rushing through them while doing long distance touring. 5kms felt like you had been riding for 15kms. But the good thing about Mizoram is that the roads are well maintained and you can actually enjoy the turns without riding into a crater in the middle of the road.

            We stopped at Bilkhawthir for some refreshments and we got back on the road right away. It was a nice ride with the moon shining bright and two Impulses whizzing on the road. There was a massive landslide 2kms before entering Aizawl. They were clearing it and we had to wait there for a while. When they allowed us go, I followed Hruaitea through the slush but since my bike was loaded with luggage, it got bogged down and the rear wheel was a good half buried in the slush. It came out after a little struggle and we headed straight to Hruaitea’s place where I put up for my stay in Aizawl.

            After unloading the luggage, a good hot bath and some good food, I called it a night. It has been a good ride and I couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. I was finally in Aizawl on my own bike!! You just can’t explain that awesome feeling when something that you have been dreaming for so long actually becomes a reality. But if u asked me how my first day of the ride really went, I’d say, it’s not as easy as it looked on GoogleMaps. :P