An urge to be different is what sets apart Arunabh Majumdar who recently rode 6, 786 km from Bangalore to Bankok on an 110cc bike. The IIT Bombay graduate biked across the recently opened tri-nation highway connecting Indian with Myanmar and Thailand on a bike.
“Unlike seasoned riders who love exploring Ladakh on a bullet, I wanted to travel a less talked about road on a normal commuter bike,” says the 28-year-old who quit his well-paying job in Cognizant ahead of the arduous journey. “I knew once I came back I would not be able to do my regular coding job,” he quips.
“I did not prepare much, at least physically nothing. I just learnt how to assemble my bike from scratch,” says Arunabh.
Arunabh has been on various biking expeditions before. Once, he rode a scooter from IIT Bombay to his house in Bengaluru along the Konkan coast. The current trip was sponsored by TVS, which also provided him with a bike. There’s a specific reason he chooses to go solo. “I’m not much of a team player. I’m an average rider who enjoys riding alone,” he says.
On a journey that took about 25 days, the Bengaluru techie rode through Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Konark, Kolkata, Guwahati, Silchar, Imphal and Moreh to reach Bangkok, his final destination. “Though I planned my routes on a daily basis, I never quite followed them,” he said.
Arunabh in Myanmar
However, the journey was not all pleasant and nice. “I had my share of ugly encounters when I met with an accident near Darjeeling. However, a bikers group called Riders per mountain was quick to provide timely help,” Arunabh says, acknowledging the help extended by unknown fellow travellers during his solo ride.
The youngster was also smitten by Myanmar, the land of Buddhas, pagodas and according to Arunabh good food. “I transited through the country for nine days and was impressed by the amazing roads that I rode on in that nation. Strangely, they also have stringent custom rules that also made things difficult for me,” says Arunabh who had two agents from the Burmese Tourism department escorting him throughout his ride in Mynanmar.
“The hot-air balloon ride during sunset in Bagan is a must when you’re in Myanmar. The sights are mesmerizing,” says Arunabh, adding that it was the best experience of his trip. Ask him about the worst and he says: “It has to be riding across the dusty roads between Guwahati to Silchar on NH53. Even in the afternoon, I had to have my bike headlights on. I fell off my bike many times due to poor visibility.
Ask him for his idea of an ideal way to travel, and Arunabh gets poetic: “You can’t plan travel too much. Just pick a place and leave. The rest will fall in place. You just need to have the courage to escape the vicious cycle of house, job, family etc… Money matters are also not much of a concern. If you have the will, there are many ways to do it”