Survived a day on Indian roads, plus a bit of dirt as that is just everywhere.

Nandi Hills is about 75 km out of Bangalore - which is in India - and has a temple and derelict summer palace up there. Nandi means "cow" so this is a centre of cow worship.  The main roads out of Bangalore were pretty quiet as we left about 7:30 a.m. Was a bit surprised when my travel partner jumped on the back of my bike, as I thought he had a bike. He did, but it was not a machine up to the awesomeness of the Royal Enfield "Machismo" 500 Bullet. Pretty brave to jump on the back considering it was my first time riding in Bangalore.

So we head out on the main road, getting vague directions on where to go. No idea what the speed limit was but again the mighty Enfield took care of that as it had two speeds, slow and slightly faster. This was surprising given it had a 15 speed box, though most were neutrals. At least I had one with a disc brake so it would stop, sort of.

After a while we turned left and hit a more local road, which means traffic from all directions on both sides of the road. The rules seem to be "I'm bigger so get out of the way" and that is it. There are road rules, but they are just taken as general guidelines. Bit like lane markings, where they have them. 3 lanes wide and no lanes marked "go where you fit"

Just before the Nandi Hills climb stopped and had a drink. There was a crowd of blokes stopping every car or bike and putting coupons in front of their faces. Didn't look official, turned out it was for a shrine of some sort "so they said", I respectfully declined. Then it was up the Nandi Hills road, where the signs saying "no overtaking" were again just advisory. Lots of traffic both ways, and in the middle as well. On the sides too. Going all directions.

The road up is quite nice and in fairly good shape. It goes up one side of a valley and then switches back to make the climb up to the hill station. From here it starts to get interesting with a few hairpins, which just means use the horn when overtaking in case something is coming the other way. I was taking it steady and only going past a few cars and the slower bikes, while some of the locals thought it was GP time. Must of worked as no bodies seen. Unless they went right off.

Near the top there was a bit of a jam, which looked like a bus stuck going around a hairpin. Lots of people coming down and some going up just could not fit both ways so the uphill traffic got backed up, somehow, and then it was a whole lot of downhill traffic. Eventually the coast was clear and I could get around on the bike. Turns out the bus was not stuck, just parked.

Spent some time looking around at the top, avoiding beggars after money and monkeys after snacks, before returning to the bike for the return journey. The Enfield started with one kick and we got going. Still lots of people going up, and plenty still going down. Didn't stop drivers trying to overtake and saw one in the rear view mirror quite close. Let them past and 10 k later they were at least 50m ahead of me. It was a leisurely cruise down, as this was no time to test if the bike suffered brake fade, and then a cruise back along the main roads to the hotel. Must of looked a bit of a sight coming in to the  lobby all sweaty, but at least I had a smile on.  Now, where to tomorrow?

Thanks Mat, lot's of memories flooding back, take care and don't hit any animals, and if you do, and you can, just get going quick we were told.