The Golden Quadrilateral
The Golden Quadrilateral is the network of highways joining the four metros of India – Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.
I had planned to ride the Golden Quadrilateral on my Harley-Davidson Fat Boy even before I had bought the motorcycle. After some thought and planning I finally decided do it in January of 2015. I left my home in Goa on 15th Jan, got onto the Golden Quadrilateral at Belgaum and rode clockwise for 14 days straight, stopping for the night at cities along the way. I got off the Golden Quadrilateral on 28th Jan after riding a total of 6,500 kms, traveling through 14 states of India.
It’s been an amazing experience relishing the local food at highway dhabas and city hotels while spending time with complete strangers all across this beautiful and diverse country.
Some of the highlights of the ride include:
- Got kissed by a drunk cop in Haryana.
- Sat with ganja smoking farmers in Uttar Pradesh and somehow managed to resist the urge to get stoned.
- Got myself involved in a high speed chase with the Uttar Pradesh highway police.
- Rode through the freezing North India cold wave for three days with just my riding gear, no thermals.
- Rode the Yamuna Expressway at night in fog so thick you could cut it with a knife.
- Challenged by a dhaba owner in Bihar to eat a chilly. Managed to nibble on it and almost died of internal combustion.
- Rode through a Naxal infested jungle in Jharkhand at night and nearly got shot at.
- Learned an important life lesson from a crippled homeless midget in Odisha.
Here are some pictures I took as I rode around India. Click the images for larger views.
