-- From Old Goa to Bhopal
the road tracklog
from Old Goa to Pune
from 31/03 to 01/04/2007
The 31/03 was a driving day towards Pune. I had envisaged a stop after Belgaum predicting bad road conditions, moreover I intended to publish a new page of my website in Belgaum. I left Old Goa around 10:00. I lunched about 12:00 in Molem at the Dhudhsagar Resort. Then indeed the road became a dirt track very degraded up to Londa. I arrived around 16:00 in Belgaum where I looked for a Cybercafé to publish the pages of my website. Alas the connection with the local provider was cut until 17:00. Around 18:00 I drove again the road to leave the city and to have a stop for the night that I found in Sai Dhaba.
The target of this Sunday April 1 was to reach Pune and to find a parking for the night on the heights of the city to profit from freshness. I stopped on the carpark of the Hotel Benzy.
The 02/04 around 9:30 I arrived at the entry of the Force Motors company where the
offices of the Joint-venture Man-Force-Trucks are. I was accepted by Mr. A. Mukherjee
who dealt with my problem of leakage at the connection of a hose to
the compressor set up by Poomkudy Force in Kochi. With an employee of Force I
went to a specialist in the air conditioning, Arun & Company, who made controls and complement
of R134a refrigerant. To check the correct operation of the installation, he
called upon an engineer of Carrier who diagnosed a bad installation of the
Indian compressor which cannot be installed in a correct way to the location
envisaged by MAN. The specialist in Poomkudy would have to note that the part
was not appropriate. The Carrier specialist advised me to order a original
part by Man Germany. Moreover Mr. Mukherjee told to me that in INDIA,
Man-Force-Trucks guaranteed its work only for parts and installations carried
out at the factory of the JV. However the trucks built in India do not have
the air conditioning. Consequently work carries out by Poomkudy is not covered
by guarantee MAN. Mr. Ramesh de Poomkudy Force of Kochi had not informed me of
this essential point. Juridical in Europe it is a mistake with reparation.
On the other hand Mr. Rajesh Sumbaly of Arun &
Company did not make me pay the intervention for the leakage and the
complement of the refrigerant R134a.
I begun again the road towards 16:30 to Aurangabad. I stopped on a side-walk
in front of the Hotel Yash In.
The road tracklog
from Pune to Jalgaon
from 02/04 to 05/04/2007
The 03/04 was still a peaceful driving day on the SH60 to Aurangabad. It is at the beginning a four-lane then became a two-lane road sometimes degraded. Peaceful way of speaking, the outside temperature approached the 40°C. Fortunately the nights were fresh, all is relative, and the temperature went down to 26°C with wind. The road plan envisaged to be able to have the sunset on the caves. I arrived well around 17:45; alas the entry was closed due to holiday! The visit was given at the next morning.
Day 04/04 was devoted to the visit of the site of Ellora. The caves were excavated in a high
basalt cliff of approximately 200 meters high at the edge of old trade route
connecting the seaports of Oman with the inland. The execution of this immense
work of sculptures extends from 600 to 1000 AD. They are devoted to the three
great religions appeared in India, the caves from 1 to 12 to Buddhism, caves
13 to 29 to Brahmanism and caves 30 to 34 to Jainism. The masterpiece is
the cave n°16, the Kailasha Temple. This temple is dedicated to the Kailasha
Mount, centre of the universe and home of Shiva.
The day having been particularly hot, I decided to remain in Ellora.
Cave n°10
Ellora
the 04/04/2007
Temple Kailasha
Ellora
the 04/04/2007
The 05/04 around 13:30 I arrived on the carpark of the site of Ajanta. I was
accommodated by the salesmen of the shops who offered me the tea in the
hope to make a sale at the return of my visit. I was obliged to take the bus
to go there and back. With the entry ticket at 250 INR the total cost was 312
INR, approximately 5,4 euros. I visited the most remarkable caves which are
six on a total of 30. The site was occupied by Buddhist communities without
discontinuity from the 1st century BC until the 8th century. The caves n°1, 2
and 17 represent the top of the pictorial art of Ajanta. Lightings,
presentation and air-conditioning are a success in India. The visit was a
great moment more especially as external heat had made flee the tourists as
well local as Western. Thus, I could contemplate with leisure these wonders.
Pictures with flash are prohibited.
I left the site at the closing of 17:30 to find my truck on the carpark with a
temperature in the cabin of 50°C. I left to look for a halt for the night.
Alas for lack of imagination I did not find it and I should satisfy me around
20:30 with a stop at the service station in Neri.
Panoramic view
Ajanta
le 05/04/2007
Cave n°26
Ajanta
le 05/04/2007
The 06/04 was a driving day towards Mandu where I was to be on Saturday. I stopped in Jalgaon to consult my mailbox. Road NH6 up to Dhule is in good condition. On the other hand NH3 towards Indore, separately a short section with toll, is degraded. I found a halt for the night on the carpark of a restaurant for truck driver, dhaba.
The road tracklog
from Jalgaon to Amlaha
from 06/04 to 08/04/2007
At the end of a small mountain road I entered the 07/04 the strengthened city of Mandu. This ghost city was in 15th and 16th century the capital of a Moslem kingdom. Palaces, mosques and mausoleums are of indo-Moslem style. The ruins are planted in a landscape of a great beauty. The visit of the three groups of monuments was carried out in the afternoon by a temperature higher than 40°C. The site is occupied by a thin village of peasants. The carpark of Malwa Resort accommodated me for the night.
Jama Masjid
Mandu
the 07/04/2007
Hoshang's Tomb
Mandu
the 07/04/2007
The 08/04 was a driving day towards Sanchi in the North-East of Bhopal. The road is not in excellent condition. Moreover I filled the tank with diesel in Dhar and the full of water at a Reliance station towards Ashta. Some stations did not have any more water or the flow is too low to fill the tank. I didn't find a dhaba with a carpark, I was content with a service area.
