I got up early today, 730 am – early enough for me. Had a nice buffet breakfast and set out to my second last destination – Nellore. Wasn’t long before I hit the highway. I had 400 or so kms to cover today. All NH5 highway stretch.
It started raining again. But I wasn’t too bothered. I was all covered up, insulated from the rain. Only pain was all the muck sprays from trucks ahead of me. It continued to pour for the next 200 kms – until Vijayawada. I stopped over for some grub there. By the time I was done, it had stopped raining and by the time I reached the highway again, a beautiful mist / fog had taken over all around me.
Not bad for a highway. There were fields on one side, and mountains on the other. The icing on the cake was all the fog around the mountains, it was beautiful.
My breaks were more spaced out today, being highway and all. Mostly the breaks were to clean up my helmet visor. I’m so glad I’m not in my car. The tolls on this road are prohibitive. For bikes – zero charge.
On one of the tolls, my bike ‘hiccupped’ – and I thought what now ! Stopped over, and the chain was slightly loose again. Makes sense – it had been almost 2000 kms of hard riding since my last chain tightening. I slowed down a little, hearing for the same sound again. It did not happen. Later in the evening it happened again, and I slowed down one more time – this time for the rest of the ride. I wasn’t in any hurry anyway.
On the way, I found a highway surface, which was properly tarred but had ridges on it. The ridges were in patterns, and this was the case in many stretches. Now I dont know why they were added, but it’s possible that it could have been for better friction and traction. All that may be well and dandy for four wheelers, but when it comes to bikes, they can cause havoc to stability. Its like a guided rail track, and given the narrow wheelbase, it causes a lot of instability for bikers, and you have to slow down or change lanes immediatelt.
I did take a picture, in the late evening sometime, in case any of you knows what it is, and why.
Reached Nellore at 8, found my nice hotel, same pricing as in rajamundry, and checked in.
I think the hotels in India are going all out to get that edge. the smallest of places have WiFi, multi cuisine restaurants, 24 hour room service, housekeeping and the works. I guess it’s the competition in this space.
Anyhow, mine was a very good quality 3 star hotel. Came up to my room, freshened up, and ordered room service. Didn’t take me long to start feeling all sleepy.
Will get my last nights rest here. Headed back to Bangalore tomorrow morning – final leg of the trip.
