The north-east of India loves its bikes and its bevy of bikers. So when Kalki Koechlin, an actor (theatre and Bollywood) and bikerni from Bengaluru decided to go on an ultimate journey on a motorcycle to scale 4,000 kilometres with her dad, Joel Koechlin, we dialed her number to get a first hand account of all the adventures of their great escape. Joel who lives in Bengaluru is a legendary biker and renowned photographer. Kalki couldn’t ask for a better travel partner than her father, who she says is also her real-life travel inspiration.
If you’ve read the book Jupiter’s Travels that recounts the travels of Ted Simon who rode around the world on a motorcycle and wrote this best travel book ever, then you’ll know the thrill that encompasses a bike journey. “My passion for bikes started when I was a teenager, but in those days I was on the back of my dad’s bike and later rode on my own in Goa and Pondicherry.
I’ve been caught up with my career and was missing spending time with my dad, so we planned a bike trip to the Northeast to explore the Seven Sister States.
This trip helped us bond by singing old songs, playing football, chatting about books, movies and differences between rural and city life. We wanted it to be recorded for posterity, so we approached Fox Life to cover it in a raw and spontaneous style. Kalki’s Great Escape will go on air on September 17,” shares Kalki on how the motorbike adventure through unspoiled landscapes of the Northeast, battling adverse weather conditions and rocky terrains was planned.
Talking of her experience, Kalki shares, “I was nervous when we left Guwahati and it wasn’t easy, as I had to keep pace with my dad, an avid biker. There were potholes, slush, mud and even snow and soon I wondered what I had got myself into. We covered the entire 4,000-km-belt of the Northeast, including the beautiful states of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Our starting point was Guwahati in Assam. Then we moved to Sangti village, Sela Pass and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. We rode back to Majuli Islands in Assam. Our journey continued to Dawki. Lynkrydem and Shillong and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. Our bodies were under a lot of physical strain, but it was a certain adrenaline rush that kept us going. Since my dad is a photographer and an avid biker, he would reach all the places ahead of me, while I was trailing behind and would be capturing the beauty of the region and its people in full glory on his camera. He has shot some of the most beautiful photographs of rivers in Meghalaya and top of mountain in Tarang Town and of a famous monastery there. I’m not a selfie person, but I clicked photos for my Instagram posts at many scenic locales, but at most places it was tough to get good network.”
Sharing an interesting incident, Kalki says, “We went to Sela Pass, which is on the top of Arunachal Pradesh at 13,700 ft high. There was a heavy hailstorm there, so we stopped and had some Maggi noodles and waited for the hailstorm to subside, but it kept getting heavier and soon the road was covered in snow. Although I was wearing my riding boots, but they were not waterproof and soon my feet were frozen with ice in them. It was an intense experience. We rode really long hours every day as we had to cover long distances. Most days, we would ride 12 hours with chai and lunch breaks. There were days when we got only six hours of sleep at night. I loved the innocence of the people in Arunachal Pradesh. Even though they realised I was a celebrity, they didn’t act any different and would order me around. Also, one thing we all need to imbibe from them is how they take care of their land, which is ingrained in them. We also tried a lot of adventurous Assamese food with spicy bamboo shoots and fiery chillies. We even tasted snails, eels, silkworms and some other crazy creepy crawlies. We went fishing in the rain and saw strawberries growing wild on the way. Although, I didn’t like these slimy creatures but I was daring and tried them all. We also went kayaking in Meghalaya, but the best part of the trip was interacting with the locals in Sangti.”
