En el camino a México

It so happens that trips with friends from IITK (we'll assume Ankit is from IITK) leave me in a trance - an overwhelming feeling of close friendship, carefree happiness and reluctance to get back to work - a feeling which I have to face whenever I come back from visiting my huge joint family in India. I also noticed that the last blog I wrote here was from my December 2005 trip to Vegas and Yosemite with Ikks, Nikux, Yash and Ankit. Lots of fun even though I was always in the back seat. Later, in the summer of 2007, I went on some nice trips with Roti when he was in NYC and then we had an IITK reunion in NYC in October 2008 (Roti, Ul, Nikux and me). I was busy (or so I thought) and didn't pen those lovely and unforgettable moments down.

Last week, over Spring break, I went to San Diego (March 23rd-30th) to meet up with friends and head over to Mexico. This trip was being planned for some time since we need VISAs for Mexico and I had to buy gear since we would be riding motorcycles (yes!!!). The plan was to take two motorcycles (Yamaha yzf600R and Suzuki gs500) and there we would be three people - Nikux/Baba, Ankit and me. When I reached SD, I was informed that Anshu would be joining us on his Suzuki gsxr600. So we set out on Wednesday morning (25th) on our five-day trip to Guerrero Negro (which means the black warrior) and back. What we did not know was that it would be more eventful than we could imagine and would change everyone's lives in some way or the other (or so I think).


Two hours into the trip, we were standing at the place above in the picture complaining about literal pain in the ass. I was told that the first day on motorcycles is bad and things become easier gradually. Within two minutes of starting from this random spot on the highway, Anshu realized that his backpack was not on his back anymore and so he turned back to go and find it. When he didn't come back after 10 minutes, Ankit went after him and then me and Baba. The bag was gone with no sight of the pick-up truck which took off with it. The backpack contained Anshu's SLR, 2G iPhone, passport and I-20. When the news sunk in, it was decided to head to the nearest comisaría de policía and file a report. We ended up in a small town called El Porvenir (which means the future) and sure, the town was going to decide the future of our trip. What we would later remember about this town was the park in front of the police station where people were enjoying a warm summer day on a weekday and the little treats we bought from a stall (literally "thela").

The night was spent in Ensenada where we had awesome fruit-chaat, churros and a lavish Mexican dinner. The next day we headed back to Tijuana to leave Anshu on the Tijuana airport from where he would take his flight to Ciudad de México. What I will always remember about that journey is the first half hour of when I sat behind Ankit and he raced his motorcycle at 100 mph on curves on hills. I do not remember being able to enjoy the natural beauty of hills on one side and the sea on the other. I thought that if I knew that this was what I was signing up for, I would never have volunteered, but since I was stuck on to the back seat strongly clutching onto the bars on the sides, why not enjoy the roller coaster ride while I can. I can tell you it was one of the best I have ever been on :)

It was decided that we would go back to San Diego, leave Anshuman's bike and then head off on our next trip. And I got to drive Nikux' bike from Tijuana to San Diego. It was my first time on US highways without any prior practice but I did just fine :)
On Mar 27th, we started for Calexico from where we would get to San Felipe through Mexicali. We had nice Chinese food at Mexicali and after a long day of driving, we reaching San Felipe just before it got dark. The first night was spent exploring the restaurants and we found two nice ones - 'Rice and Beans' and the ice-cream shop which became Nikux' favourite.



Next day, we started off for Puertecitos. This was a small beach town with privately owned resorts and miles of coast where no one had set foot. We stopped on the way to this place near some beach houses and went towards the sea. it became progressively hard to drive the bikes on sand and the final leg where we used planks to get the bikes on the beach was fun. After that followed a few hours of extreme fun, given that I love water. Later we went to Puertecitos and saw the hot springs there. The evening that day in San Felipe was the best - we had nothing to do but stroll by the beach. Later, we got Ankit drunk on a margarita and that was fun too. We spent the next morning lazily discussing a range of topics from the Indian caste system to Ramcharitmanas. Reminded me of bulla in IITK.

Finally, we started back towards San Diego so I could catch my flight next day on time. This last leg was as eventful as it could be. First we stopped on the way to see the sand dunes on the way to Mexicali and we saw ATVs being raced in the desert. Then I drove the suzuki gs500 from Mexicali towards Calexico and I gained all the experience I needed. There were strong winds (10-20 mph?) and it was VERY hard keeping the bike steady. I relinquished the bike to Nikux as we entered the Cleveland National Park which was hilly, windy and cold. By the time we went up to 4000 feet and came down, we were chilled :)



Finally, its interesting how traveling (which I have been doing a lot over the past few months) and a particular trip in general can decide so many things for you:
1. I want to move out of midwest to warmer climes where I can use my motorcycle the year round.
2. Cars are good (I missed my Mustang in the high wind area).
3. Cruisers are also good for long drives through harsh weather.

And so the list of things I have to buy once I get a job:
1. Dodge challenger
2. Jeep Renegade
3. A pickup truck (Ford)
4. A bigger sports bike
5. A cruiser