Dinesh Upreti's Blog

This is how it started.....

This is the reason plan got changed.....
After some searches Chakrata came as a winner. After reading some blogs this sounds like a descent option.

Final list of riders:
Joshi(Referred as Nitin above.. On his RE Machismo)
Ankit(On his RE Machismo)
Mehta(On his RE Thunderbird)
Narendra(On his RE Thunderbird)
Amrendar(Praji.... On his RE Machismo)
n Me ( On my Bajaj Avenger)

Route:
Route from Delhi NH1 to Pipli via Panipat and Karnal; state highway to Bata Pul via Ladwa, Yamunanagar and Khizrabad; NH72 to Herbertpur via Paonta Saheb; NH123 to Kalsi via Vikasnagar; state road to Chakrata via Sahiya

Note: Road from Kalsi to chakrata is hell bad of a road. Rather there is a alternate route after reaching kalsi when you go towards chakrata there is a diversion towards Yumnotri. You can take this route this is a better route in terms of road and scenery.

Day 1 (17th May 08)
-----------------------------
We all decided to meet at Karnal bypass at 4:20 am. I was supposed to meet Narendra at Shahdra border. As decided we both met there at 3:45AM and started off for Karnal bypass. On the way we met Ankit near ISBT. Joshi came along with Praji n Mehta. As decided we all met at sharp 4:20 AM at Karnal bypass. We had a small introduction session. Got to know there are few issues with Praji's bike. Anyhow we decided to move on. Intention was to cover as much distance possible early morning. I had to struggle a bit initially as my bike was not going above 80. I was not using my bike regularly from last 6 months. So I decided not to push her hard initially.

Initial few kms were with narrow road and heavy truck traffic. As we moved ahead 6 lane highway started. Drive was pleasure here. We have to take a very early halt as praji found a mechanic to investigate the bike. But it was a unsuccessful attempt. In the mean time we had chai break.

We started again and crossed Karnal and had to wait for sync up with the group. We crossed Karnal and pipli was just 30 KMS from there. From Pipli we were supposed to take a right turn off the main highway. Praji found a mechanic but he could not resolve the problem. After unsuccessful attempt he gave reference of a Enfield mechanic and let a boy go with Praji to his shop. We had to wait 2 hrs or more before Praji came back but this was another unsuccessful attempt. We could not take this bike along with us so we finally decided to park the bike at bus stand. Praji has to sit as a pilion with Mehta.

After this we hardly stop any where. Crossed yamunanagar and start heading towards ponta sahib. After reaching tajewala came a road in between the jungle towards herbartpur. I can say only one thing... wow.. what a drive that was, road with almost zero traffic and we all were just enjoying it. Reached herbartpur/ponta sahib and finally reached Kalsi.

We stopped at Kalsi for hardly 5-10 mins to collect the permit to stay at forest resort at Deoban. If anyone planning to stay at deoban then you need to take permit from Kalsi. From Kalsi we headed towards Chakrata. After driving a few kms started a patch of bad road. The road was so pathetic that few of us didn't want to continue. There was no other option but to continue the ride.

Started again and after few kms the better road started and even the scenery. Everyone was enjoying the ride and we didn't stop anywhere. Finally reached chakrata and you can feel the difference in temperature. Had a tea break. Some of us were quite tired and thought of staying at Chakrata itself. But hard luck none of the hotel has rooms available.

We had no other choice but to go to deoban(Dev-Van.. Gods own Jungle). We were aware of the fact the if we have to go to deoban we need to carry our own cooking stuff. Went to Chakrata market and Praji was the one who was taking the lead for all the shopping. He had to as he didn't even had breakfast. We did breakfast when he went for bike repair. As soon as shopping was done we headed towards deoban. After around 5-6 kms from Chakrata there is a kuccha road which take you off the main road toward deoban. This was not a road just kuchha road.

Finally reached deoban what a place that was. If you are looking for a peaceful place this is the one. Every one was so tired here Praji's josh survived us. Since he was hungry his josh was up to cook the food. We first had maggie and eggs. Praji made chicken as well.

For us it was difficult to survive here another day. As there was a shortage of water supply and I don't think we had enough energies to cook food next day as well. So next morning we decided to move back to chakrata.

Day 2(18th May 08)
-----------------------------
I along with Joshi got up early at 5:30 AM. It was beautiful morning. Praji also waked up. We witnessed a beautiful sunrise. Ankit and Mehta took their own time to wake up. We had tea and a light breakfast and started our move back to chakrata. Reached chakrata and booked rooms at Snowview hotel. We didn't wasted further time and decided to go Tiger fall. We didn't expected much from this place. But it turned out to be a worth experienced, although walk back from tiger fall to main road was difficult for some of use. Had to struggle a bit and realized how much stamina we have loosed. While coming back from tiger fall rain started. What compliments rain is chai pakoda. We missed our lunch but 6 plates of pakodas were good enough to survive till dinner. We didn't wanted to stay at chakrata next day so were planning to go to massourie. Ankit and Mehta were in favor of going back to delhi. But majority wins.

Day 3(19th May08)
---------------------------
Whole night it was raining and even in the morning it was raining. Decided to move as soon as rain stops. Had breakfast and moved from chakrata as soon as rain stopped. This route was much better compare to Kalsi -> Chakrata and recommended as well. Reached Yamuna pul and found that there is a river rafting camp there. We thought this is a better option compared to massourie. Everyone was in mood for doing rafting. So decided to stay at this camp and do rafting. It was great fun to do rafting. Mehta/Narendra/Me were newbie as well as non-swimmer guys. Praji felt off the raft twice and said this after second time "Abb to Aadat Si ho gaye hai :))".... After reaching back had dinner along the side of Yamuna.

Day 4(20th May08)
---------------------------
Final day. We need to ride back to delhi. Luck was with us as we got to know a bit short route back as well as it was raining so no more riding under sun. My bike was giving problem as it was getting stop out of sudden. Faced this issue on day 3 as well. Bike was getting over so it was getting stop. After reaching pipli praji picked his bike and we started back on delhi-chandigarh highway. After crossing karnal my bike again stopped. Talked to a mechanic in motor garage he told me to go back 2-3KMS in karnal market and get bike checked at Bajaj service station. Narendra was with me and rest of the guys moved ahead. I went to the Service station and the mechanic fixed the problem. Joshi and Ankit were waiting for us while they asked Mehta and Praji to keep driving as Praji's bike was not driving too fast. Finally bike issue got resolved and we met Joshi and Ankit again. After this Delhi was some 102 KMS. We didn't had any break after this. Finally met Mehta and Praji just before entering Delhi. Since group was about to split from here had final words with each other.

After coming back from Pune this was the first ride I went for. I must say this was truly an amazing experience. 4 days with office out of mind and with so many thrilling experience it was worth an experience.

Trip Stats:
========
Distance Covered: 768 KMS
Highest speed clocked: 110 kmph
Trip cost: Around 3.5K (Includes stay,food,daru,petrol)

Some of the pics:


odo/trip meter before starting for ride


Josh on his Bull..


Resting after the pathetic drive from Kalsi


My bike...




Milestone ...




Trying our luck to get something cook at deoban. Praji's enthu saved us.


Sunrise at Deoban(Dev-Van)








This was road to deoban from chakrata


At tiger fall..
Me,Praji,Mehta,Narendra,Mehta(From Left to Right)


Tiger fall...

Bikes resting...



Ready to go for rafting....


Camp site at yamuna pul...


Praji...

It's long time since I posted some stuff here on my blog... After my last post "credit card fraud beware". Story didn't finish there.


First I got this comment on my blog after around 20-25 days of my post:

Milind pandhare said...

Hi Dinesh,
Can you call me on "985xxxxxxxxx" i have some information about your lost card.

After calling Milind I got to know someone has duped him/his friend at a restaurant called bamboo house near fc/mg road Pune using my card which got replaced at Rajwada on 24th Dec 2006. He was duped for Rs.50K/-.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After around a year or so I got this comment on my blog.

Ashutosh said...

Dear Dinesh,
I am the same Ashutosh, and I lost my card at HOTEL SHAMIYANA, Karve Rd, Pune. The Experience of the Hotel manager and others was horrible, and yes they robbed rs 30000 using my card in One single day.

=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=

So the chain so far is xxxxxxxxxxxxx -> Ashutosh -> Dinesh -> Milind/his friend.

Now if some has been hit before or after this chain do let me know. That can uncover the scale of the fraud.

Interestingly police got hold of a guy after Milind/his friend's complaint. I was supposed to confirm if he is the same guy, but when I met that guy I found he was not as far as I remembered the guy. I claimed the same to the police and came out.

Who knows how deep has been this chain of fraud so far.

Moral of the story so far: Always check the card once you get it back after paying bills. A small negligence can cause you to pay hefty amount to the banks.

Some tips:
1) If possible keep a alert on your credit card that can sms you each and every transaction you do.

Best is to pay in cash :) I guess even debit cards are risky.

Just want to share one of the fraud took place with me. Please spread this to your friends so that they can save themselves from this.

I went to one of the restaurant called RAJWADA located at Baner Road Pune for dinner. To pay my bill I used my XXXX credit card. The waiter returned me the credit card back. But I didn't noticed my name on the credit card handed over to me. I just saw its a XXXX gold credit card exactly the same looks as mine.

Next day I got a call from one XXXX call center agent that if I am doing transaction frequently on my card. Which I was not. I checked my card and found I have been given a credit card on the name of Mr. ASHUTOSH KULKARNI . I got my card blocked at that moment only.

I went back to restaurant thinking this card might have got mixed with Mr. Kulkarni's card during the billing. And he will also come to the restaurant to complain about this. To verify if Mr Kulkarni's card has been swiped there or not I went through the slips of bill payment in the restaurant through credit card. I found that from my card there were 3 transactions done same night my card was replaced. And one of those was signed by me for my dinner bill. But the remaining two were not signed by me.

At that moment only I realized that cards were not exchanged during billing this was an intentional move. And if my card would have been mixed while billing Mr Kulkarni must have paid his bill also. But I couldn't find any slip on his name. And the other two transactions which took place were after almost 3 hours after I went out of restaurant. So it was not a mistake.

After this I called the XXXX call center to know more about Mr Kulkarni's card. Call center confirmed me that the card which was handed over to me was reported as lost in June 2006 by Mr ASHUTOSH KULKARNI.

So it was all clear that card was replaced intentionally. And after my card was replaced. It was used to pay bill of two more customer. And the cash was kept by the guy whosoever replaced the card in the full chain from waiter to the cash counter. And even sign were not tried to copy from my signature on my card. This took me to surprise why merchant has not verified the signature on the card.

When I asked the restaurant authorities about the waiter who took my card for billing, they told me that the waiter work there on part time basis since last 2 nights and will come at night. But this guy didn't come back for his shift.

I was talking to the one of the restaurant authority yesterday and he told me similar incident happened in Kothurud also after incident took place with me. And 30K shopping is done on that card. I thought I was a bit lucky that bank called me. Even though amount he swapped on my card was not less. But considering my credit card limit 95K I feel I was lucky :( .

Please spread this word among your friends relatives. This can happen with anyone. Although it was my mistake at first level that I didn't check my name on card. But still someone else might miss it like me. And might get cheated like this.

Much more bigger credit card frauds are existing in market. Read this article "Kingfisher duped of Rs 17 cr in online fraud"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/869992.cms

A snip from this article:
"The card details are mostly obtained from some restaurant, petrol pump or shopping mall employees who swipe the card, an officer added. "

This was even simpler then mine. When you pay your phone bill, petrol bill... Guy who is swapping the card just have to notice your card expiry date and the cvv. These are the details one has to fetch during online transaction. And credit card no can be obtained from your counter slip. Note all banks machine don't hide your credit card no. Only a few just give the last four digit only.

Much organize crimes are prevailing there. What we can do is to make people aware about those. So that they can take precautionary measures for those.

If someone has some contacts in some of the news paper please help me to get this publish in news paper.

Kashid Beach-I


Kashid Beach-II


Its Mee... :)



Fisshhh......

Every one thirstyyyyyyyyyyyy...............


Some Dargaah near Murud Janjiraa


Some Dargaah near Murud Janjiraa


Muruddd Janjiraa fort..

Here come another great application for Symbian based phones called Fring. Its an application which work on 3G enable phones right now. Once you download and install fring on your phone you have access to the world of VOIP over your phone*. This application show your gTalk and Skype user list. And you can call them as you call from your desktop. So you can skype friends on the move. And if you have skype credit you can call any phone no as you call from skype. So talk to your friends without cost of your phone calls. Its more useful when people in you network also have 3G phones and using fring. Cool nee....

Here is my experienced so far using it on my Noika N70:
1) It shows gTalk(google talk) friend list quite fast.
2) Skype take more time than gTalk to show user list. May be skype login is talking time.
3) This even show you the mail or scrap alert which you get on gTalk.
4) Try calling one friend at tiwan. Voice clarity was pretty OK considering its on GPRS/EDGE not 3G network.
5) Application kind of getting crash at times but acceptable since its still in Beta. Looking forward for updates. Good work guys.

Overall its a good experience calling friend from phone but not paying for phone charges :)

*Need GPRS/EDGE

NIMC Forum's advertisement campaign is all set to go with this one. Rajeesh Rana's hard work produced this amazing poster out. Hats off to you man.