The morning was mellow. We did not have to leave for Chandigarh until later in the morning. After breakfast back in a side dining room at the Palace, Neil and I happened to walk out and round the upper grounds. There was a large lawn and a pavilion. The Palace is promoted for high-end weddings and has also been used for a number of films, television series and so on.
Front of the Palace
Nepalese Cedar
Lawn and Pavilion for Weddings, Events
On the way back to our barracks, several of us encountered two Rhesus Monkeys sitting along the path. I was a bit taken aback to see how big they were. My guess is that they were nearly 20 pounds in weight. The previous afternoon we'd been warned by staff to not leave our porch doors open and to keep the windows (heavily screened) latched. The beasts have been known to raid and ransack rooms, looking for food. One of our group stopped to take a photo and step a little closer to the monkeys. This triggered one of the Rhesus to bare it's impressive canine teeth and made a bluff charge. It felt a bit like being charged by a dog with it's teeth out. You could imagine being mugged by 3-4 of these to bad effect. We quickly moved on.
Rhesus Pair
Hair Up, Bluff Charge
I also stopped to take a few equipment photos. Previously I had wanted to get beneath our Mahindra Bolero Camper pickup truck and photograph the underside. Call me odd but I find these sorts of visual explorations interesting. I wanted to examine the chassis frame, the leaf springs, suspension linkages, tie-rods and shocks. Also, I wanted to see the power-steering mechanism, transfer case, skid plates and the clearance above the ground.
As I mentioned before, Mahindra originally started making "Jeeps" under license from Willys in 1947. They continued to make Jeep-like vehicles up thru the present. The story is HERE. I think the Bolero shares a lot of that evolved "DNA" from Mahindra's experience with the utility vehicle engineering.
Spending Time Under the Truck
Hero Splendor
Also, I saw a Hero Slender which is, in terms of numbers, the #1 Motorcycle manufactured in the world. I believe over a million Slenders are made each year. These are not fancy or particularly impressive. The engine size is only 100 cc's. (The Himalayan's engine is 411 cc's) . Originally, Hero-Honda Corporation was joint venture of Japan's Honda as well as a manufacturing business owned by the Indian Munjal family. Started in 1984, the joint venture went for over 30 years before the joint venture was ultimately dissolved. (they didn't see eye-to-eye on several issues). Hero kept making the Slendor and is the #1 motorcycle manufacturer with over 7 million different models being made each year. Honda-India continues to make their own machines and does over 5 million units a year. Honda's model, comparable to the Slender is the Shine. An entertaining music video promoting the Shine:
A Bollywood-Like Musical Promotion of a 100 cc Motorcycle
(I never saw empty roads in India like in the video. Nor anyone dancing and singing.....)
Chail to Chanigarh (Dropping Nearly 7000 Feet in Elevation)
From the Palace, the group headed down a long, circuitous route thru the pine forests. Many more of the usual hairpins turns and switchbacks. I didn't regret my choice to ride in the truck. Gradually, the temperatures started to heat up and the humidity rose as well.
Shiva Roadside Shrine
Traffic gradually became dense and we eventually were in slow moving urban traffic. Stop-and-Go became the norm and the heat became oppressive. Many times we were stuck, hardly moving. With the windows open, we nevertheless were sweltering. I was glad I wasn't in my motorcycle jacket, pants and helmet! Again, we became separated from the group. Eventually, Baloo and I entered Chandigarh proper and after being lost for a bit, we found the GK International Hotel. The motorcycles were all lined up along the parking lot curb. Our companions were already checked in but waiting in the lobby. We got their luggage unloaded and soon everyone was in their rooms.
Modi Era Infrastructure and Roads
In the late afternoon the transport truck arrived. The temperature was 105°. When I would step outdoors from the air-conditioned lobby, the heat and humidity hit like a sledgehammer. But I was fascinated with the truck and the process of loading. The truck was big enough to hold up to 18 motorcycles. Our 7 bikes were a small load. I watched the Sanjay and Baloo run the Himalayans from about 15 feet behind the truck, getting a running start before muscling them up the ramp and onto the truck bed. There the rest of the motorworks crew (another driver and helper) lashed and secured the motorcycles into place. The truck would not leave until after midnight. Although a straight frame truck, it was still too big to negotiate thru city traffic during the day. Only after midnight did traffic lighten enough that they could make it.
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