This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Sai Kumar, the man behind the handlebar of our most epic road trip so far. Sai grew up in the UAE before moving to India for his graduation. Sai later went on to do his masters in the UK before moving back to the UAE. Find out how Sai quit his job to follow his passion to travel India!

Today's destination: INDIA!

Sai's Ride - Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500cc

Prerequisities - preparation for the trip in terms of funding, crowdfunded, roughly cost about 1.3lakhs for the entire trip

Packing - Medicines, spares, travel accessories, tent, sleeping bag, rucksack (clothes, documents, camera, laptop, dry fruits), tripod, tent, saddle bags (bike spares, winter clothes, camera accessories, personal toiletteries), jerry can for spare fuel

Time of the year - July-October 2016

Length of the itinerary: 77 days and 11,124kms!!!

Itinerary Highlights:

• The journey was planned to cover the points of Saint Adishankaracharya's four vedic centers in the four corners of India.
• Coimbatore was the starting point of the journey, the place where Sai was based.
• First pitstop at Kannur, Kerala - stop for the night, enjoy the Theyyam form of dance/worship if you find time!
• Ride along the konkan coast with stops at Mangalore/Udupi for lunch and reach Murudeshwar before sunset. Enjoy the beautiful view of the enormous Shiva statue overlooking the beach. Rise early and ride towards Goa!
• Pitstop at a friend's house in Mapusa, visit the beaches like Anjuna that are close by. Spend the night in Goa and start riding towards Mumbai the next morning.
• ENjoy the beautiful coastal roads of the Konkan region, make stops at beautiful forts on the way.
• Break for a few days in Mumbai, hanging out with friends and recharging yourself for the journey ahead. Move towards Gujarat once you start from Mumbai
• Pitstop at Bhuj enroute to the Rann of Kutch!
• Enjoy the views around the Rann in offseason and literally no people around(spoiler alert - the Rann is flooded in off-season!)
• Relive the legend of the Kala Dungar temple and the jackals. Ride towards Jaisalmer the next day.
• Enjoy the Thar desert safari with Sharukh Khan and Salman Khan! No kidding!
• Next stop at at Jugaad - the hostel, in Amritsar! One of the best experiences during the trip, Sai spends close to a week exploring Amritsar and Punjab.
• Enjoy the various trips organized by the hostel!
• Food trips - food walks, eat all you can contest, visit the amazing Golden temple, offer prayers and serve food
• Wagah border trip - Hey Pakistan!
• Village trip - milking cows, farming, live the village life!
• After spending some great time in Punjab, it was time to head towards Kashmir. Unfortunately, the situation was tense in Kashmir and needed a change of plans - Sai had to ride through Manali, rather than Srinagar which was the original plan
• Find out what happens next in Part 2 of the Great Indian Road Trip only on The Musafir Stories next week.

Links:

Link to Sai's blog - www.planetsai.com Link to the photo story - http://imgur.com/a/aE9nR

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