Wednesday, 21 September 2016

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.