Epilogue
This ride had been long in the making - an affair that involved not one, not two, not three but 6 aborts. The most prolific ones were planned by Gyan, but I had put a hex on him that unless I was involved or I had initiated the ride plans, it would not materialise. Call it a working hex, but this is what exactly happened. The West Coast Ride/Arabian Coast Ride plan woke up from dormancy in my mind after I got my hands on my KTM Duke 390 aka the “Supertramp Wanderlust” in December 2013. I floated the idea to Kenny and Gyan, and both lapped it up in no time. Gyan all the more since this was his chance at redemption from his earlier aborted attempts. On second thoughts, Kenny and I wanted Gyan to be part of this ride as much as he did himself!
The mail chains started from December 2013 itself. Plots were charted on Google maps, sheets prepared and floated for inputs. Nishant Jha, who had done this trip before, gave more inputs. In between we came across some articles from scoopwhoop.com and then again we had some changes to include lesser known places in Kerala. The planning sure added to the excitement of the impending trip. But as the planned dates approached, there were few takers for the ride. Mrinal Doley, the “I’m-too-busy-to-even-die-now” guy backed out, so did Bhaskar and Gyan’s recent transfer from Panipat to Barauni made things dicey for him. Payeng Da’s transfer to NCR posed similar problems. Eventually Kenny floated the idea to the BoP group and from thereon there was a healthy response with two immediate confirmations from Ashok Rana and Zaheer. Rohit sir wanted to be a part desperately but was kept on hold till he made a surprise entry at the last moment. This resulted in a tally of 6 riders from NCR, Barauni and Pune.
To add to the numbers, 5 riders from Bulls On Parade, Bangalore sent their confirmations to join us at Wayanad till Kanyakumari. This raised the tally to an impressive 11 riders, but in the last moment, 2 of them backed out. Nonetheless the trip had 9 members at the highest strength.
The route was also shared among the group for inputs and changes. Thanks to Google Drive! The final itinerary looked something like this:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agnj1sQghu1mdGxTQUFnaUYzSFYwcG9OdnB0ZWdNRVE&usp=sharing
The deliberations on the bike transport started with gusto some 3 months before the trip. Mrinal Doley was approached, railway inquiries made, packers and movers were contacted. Even the option of the guys from NCR riding all the way to Mumbai wasn’t left unconsidered. Finally Kenny was able to hook up the bikes from NCR on a Honda logistics carrier from Gurgaon to Mumbai for a shockingly low price of 1k each! Gyan resorted to Railways parcel after much debate for a very very reasonable 1.3k. The riders had kept substantial buffer this time to avoid any gaffes like we faced during the Bhutanchal trip. To everyone’s relief, all the bikes arrived undamaged. Gyan’s CBR had to be taken to the service center for some minor tweaks though.
The riders from Mumbai/Pune were:
Ashok , RE Electra 5S
Gyan, Honda CBR 250R
Kenny, RE Electra 4S
Rohit Sir, RE Electra 5S
Zaheer, RE Electra 5S
and yours truly on KTM Duke 390
The riders from Bangalore were:
BK, RE Electra Twinspark
Doegar, RE Thunderbird
Satish, RE Thunderbird, New Gen
The Trip
Day 1
November 8, Saturday : Mumbai to Pune, ~165 km
Kenny and Rohit Sir has taken the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani on Friday evening and they duly arrived in Mumbai the next morning. Ashok and Zaheer had taken an early morning flight as their waitlisted train tickets were showing no signs of approaching confirmation. The bikes had already arrived a few days before and were there for the guys to pick up from a warehouse location. The only hitch was to locate the warehouse and after landing up at a wrong location the guys finally managed to start off towards Pune by 1330 hours.
Gyan would be landing later at night on a Go Air from Patna. The airlines also had given all of us jitters as they cancelled the scheduled flight and we were all on the job of trying to find an alternative for Gyan. Finally, Gyan managed to get himself allocated on another flight to Pune.
I had asked Kenny to keep on the old highway and would be waiting for them at the point where the expressway meets the old highway. But half an hour later from the suggested time and no sign of the riders, I called them up only to find they had taken the road towards Pimpri Chinchwad and into the city. The first mis-navigation of the trip.
I asked them to stop at a landmark - the Alfa Laval factory - and raced to them to bring them to my place. Rohit sir and the others also had the intention of visiting Lavasa, but the distance and the paucity of time meant they needed to cool their heels at my place for the evening.
Gyan was yet to arrive- he was on a Go-Air flight from Patna. But he would be staying with his brother, who had received his bike and had it serviced. Gyan was already missed by us.
The BBB session started early since we were planning to retire early for the night. Kenny’s buddies Amardeep and Satish arrived sometime later to join in and so did Ajit, another BoP member. It was in this session that I found out that Rohit sir has abandoned his penchant for tea and now indulges on pure, unadulterated coffee. He also carries a portable coffee maker that became a highly coveted object in Kerala. More on that later.
The evening wore on with me taking care of kitchen duties and the guys , barring Rohit sir and Zaheer, ‘taking care’ of old monk and coke, the manna for the evening. Wanting to wake up early, Ashok, Zaheer and Rohit sir called it a day at around 2230 hours, while Kenny and I tucked in at about 0030 hours. The plan was to start around 0530 hours from Pune and try to reach Goa early evening. I had been able to reach Goa at 1430 hours after a start from Pune at 0630 hours, so I knew it was possible. But the large number of riders meant we had to account for longer riding hours and longer and more breaks. Alarms were kept for 0400 hours.
Day 2
November 9, Sunday: Pune to Goa, ~460 km
We duly woke up at 0400 hours and were up and ready by 0530. In between we made a couple of calls to wake up Gyan and guided him to my place. Luggage and riding gears in place we assembled at the gate of my apartment society. We pushed the bikes to the gates in order to avoid the ruckus of 4 REs and a KTM early morning and incurring the wrath of the sleeping people on a Sunday morning! Amardeep had also come to join us for sometime into the ride. Gyan finally arrived and after stuffing his luggage into the Viaterra Claw from my place onto his bike, we were all ready to hit the highway at around 630 AM. After the BoP war cry we revved into the wee hours of the morning and headed towards the Mumbai-Bangalore highway.
We meandered through the roads of Pune until we hit the highway and gunned our engines. There was little traffic on the Sunday morning and I was relieved since Pune can present you with traffic anywhere, anytime, inexplicably.
After about 25 kilometers into the ride, we had our first stop as Zaheer’s front disc started acting up. Starting from this stop we started to garner attention with our bikes, from people assessing the ‘foreign Delhi-wala’ Enfields to gawking at the outlandish orangy KTM. We started off soon after and made good pace on the 4 lane highway. We stopped for breakfast after crossing Satara at an empty dhaba. Soon after that there was a buzz of activity in the dhaba as more and more cars and vans started stopping at the same dhaba and I suspect its because of our bikes standing there in full morning glory.
A curious set of people were having a serious discussion standing and observing the KTM and when we were about to leave, they came to me and asked “Yeh Yamaha ka hai kya?”.
Muffled laughter came from the guys as I gave a “I give up” look and told them “No, its a KTM”. I bet they are still trying to figure out what the heck a KTM is. Gyan quipped that they probably think its a Yamaha imported from China! The term “Chinese Yamaha” stuck on through the entire trip thereon.
At Kolhapur we spotted a Honda service station and stopped for a while as Gyan needed to have the pivot screw for the clutch lever replaced. The screw had come off on one of the speed runs on the inviting highways. But being a Sunday, the service station was closed and Gyan had to continue with a makeshift arrangement for the screw. I did a personal best of 148 kmph on that highway, kept in check by the saddle bags and the DSLR bag flying behind me. Gyan and I did smoke a rider on a FZ though. Not because we wanted to show off but because the guy was acting funny when we tried to show HIS bike off when he came alongside us, like he had the look on his face (yeah, he was without a helmet!) “ I can do better than you”. We smoked him so bad 2-3 times that he didn’t bother to overtake us even when we slowed down to 65 kmph! He just kept behind us obediently. We also had our tanks refilled at a fuel station just outside of Kolhapur. I was running low on fuel, thanks to my 10.5 litre tank (this was going to be another picking point for the guys for the trip!). Rohit sir treated us to some oranges and custard apples in the meantime at the fuel station!
Zaheer missed us completely and shot ahead at Kolhapur and after some calls and navigation checks, we found him waiting a good 20 km after the Maharashtra-Karnataka border. We reached Nipani and there we were to decide on the next route for Goa. Ajit had suggested taking the route via Belgaum, but upon enquiring we found that route would be 80 km longer. We decided against it and headed towards Amboli ghats and Sawantwadi.
The roads were good and we didn’t have any slowdowns, except for the beer hunting by Kenny and Gyan. Just after Azara, we came across one Lion’s bar and restaurant at around 1340 hours and decided to break for lunch, and some refreshments. Kenny, Gyan and Ashok indulged in some beer while the rest of us settled for some snacks and lunch thereafter.
Amboli ghats was next and we had to make some lost time now. Gyan wanted to ride my KTM and I obliged. He had good fun with it on the twisties and through the forest reserves, while I followed him on his CBR. I could hear him revving the KTM and it was good to hear the growl of a KTM when not riding on it. Approaching Sawantwadi, the last town at the Maharashtra border, we swapped our bikes again and now joined the main highway that comes from Ratnagiri to Goa. We stopped for a tea break. It was sunset time and we decided to take off once again.
Goa roads are, as usual, smooth and relatively traffic free on the highways and soon we came across Mapusa. We took directions from locals there and I even gave a short lift to one of the school kids who was full of questions on the KTM and our trip.
We arrived at Calangute shortly around 1930 hours and after a few calls for directions, landed up at Fun Holidays Goa, a serviced apartment resort just a kilometer away from the beach. Its a better deal against staying at hotels we felt. Nice rooms, good amenities - washing machine, kitchen with utensils and a living room! The formalities of checking in and breakfast arrangements for the next morning over, we showered and refreshed and were ready to hit the beach!
We walked towards Calangute beach, picked up some beers from one of the many alcohol outlets and bagged them. We sat near the waves and enjoyed the cool night breeze. The night was young and the beach was crowded. Tourist season was picking up and prices at the shacks and restaurants were hitting the roof, the saving grace being booze was still priced the same at the outlets. One thing worth mentioning is that drinking on the beach is not allowed, one is permitted to “sit at a shack” and booze, but not carry his own beer/booze to the beach. Funny rule. But we complied nevertheless and headed back to the mainland. Kenny had forgotten his swimming trunks and along with Zaheer, he was looking for one at the Calangute market. The resort had two swimming pools and we intended to have an early morning dip the next day.
We headed to one David’s Restaurant for dinner. I had tried the food there earlier and had found the food and prices decent. The spread was a blend of goan and northern- fish vindaloo, rotis , dal, pork- but the season prices meant the bill was hefty. This was the reason we decided to cook in the kitchen at the apartment for the next day.
We didn’t loiter around much after dinner and headed back to the apartments to hit the beds.
Day 3
November 10, Monday : Goa Local
This day was a lazy one and started on similar notes, atleast for me. Ashok and Zaheer had gone for an early morning walk on the beach. We confirmed our breakfasts around 9 AM, courtesy the apartment service and headed for the pool. Kenny was barred after some time as he was not wearing proper swimwear (he hadn’t found any decent swim wear the previous evening). The breakfast arrived and we all headed upstairs and wolfed down the mix of toasts, omlettes, parathas and poori-bhajis. Now we decided to head towards Fort Aguada and nearby beaches. We decided to skip South Goa and concentrate on North itself, it would be too much of a ride to and fro.
Cutting through the narrow roads of Goa we reached the fort and spent an hour or so there before decided to hit Sinquerim beach for some water sports/activities. The haggling over the rates started as soon as we approached the beach, which wasn’t too far from the fort. The prices were extremely exorbitant- blame it on the season, but nevertheless we decided to go for parasailing and banana rides. Except for Gyan and I, the rest went ahead for parasailing. I decided to pass time by getting a foot massage from one of the many masseuse available at the beach. Ashok followed suit and Gyan opted for a shoulder massage.
Once the guys had had a taste of the parasailing and landed ashore, we went in for the banana ride. But it seems only 5 guys, excluding the mandatory life guard, are allowed on one boat or else there isn’t going to be a ride at all. We were returned our money and somewhat dejected, we made way to the parking lot where our bikes stood.
Stung by the prohibitive bills the previous night, we looked for cheaper options on the way back to Calangute and homed in on a restaurant serving fish thali for 90 bucks a thali. 6 thalis were not enough to satiate our hunger, so we ordered 3 more and only then we were square with our hungry stomachs.
Once back at Calangute, we started to get ready for shopping for the night. We had two fully equipped kitchens, but we had to get groceries and spices. Fortunately the market was adjacent to the resort and we had hooked up the necessary spices, salt from the bar, chicken and prawns and oil. There were also pomfrets at “throwaway” prices considering the figures at any decent sea food menu these days, but since we had loads of chicken and prawns, we figured the pomfrets would be an overkill. Also I wasn’t sure on how to cook them.
Once done with the shopping the session started for the evening over some beer battered prawns and fried chicken, followed by dinner and a relatively early tuck-in. We had to traverse some 380 odd kilometers to Mangalore the next day and there was Gokarna to be touched on the way and that required an early start in the morning for us to reach Surathkal before dusk.
Day 4
November 11, Tuesday: Goa to Mangalore, 385 Km
We woke up with the first calls of our alarms and after getting ready,settling our bills, we were eventually ready to ride by 0600 hours. We made our way out after getting directions from locals and stopped at a fuel station to top up our bikes. Petrol in Goa is cheap at 55 bucks to the litre and a tankful cost me 400 rupees, giving me a deep sense of contentment!
We made good pace exiting Goa, the border being just 100 km from North Goa. There is a forest reserve-Cotigao Wildlife Sanctaury- that provided some twists and turns to stimulate us! The first pit stop was at this forest reserve where Kenny used the wine opener to open some juice packs! Not wasting too much time, we rallied on, straight into the coastal town of Canacona which provided us some extremely well laid roads and ghats. The Konkan railway track dances with the highway on this route.
It was on this road that Gyan and I ripped open our throttles and eased the bikes onto the corners with almost gay abandon! The ride was delicious and the KTM being a hoot to ride on the 3rd and 4th cog on those bends. Rarely did I feel at unease on those turns, but when I saw the speedo reading 90 kmph coming out of those turns, basic instinct made me apply slight pressure on the rear brakes.
I topped up again at the border of Goa along with Rohit sir to take the advantage of cheaper petrol prices and gunned towards Karnataka. We didn’t get stopped by any RTO, but I did warn Gyan to get his PUC certificate- his had expired some days back. Gyan’s casual approach to this was going to cause him some heartburn and some silly grins to us later on in the ride!
Karwar was the next major town we approached and there was a beach that we thought would provide a good backdrop for a photo shoot. I was on a clicking frenzy with the Canon DSLR in my hands, courtesy Mitali and I wanted a poster for the trip as well. Here we also came across another group of riders on superbikes - a Hayabusa, a Gixxer, a Harley and probably one R1 among a couple more. Gyan went for a recce of the beach and after his frantic approval we all rode in to the beach, our tyres getting stuck in the loose sand and our wheels throwing up sand behind us in a frenzy, but eventually we lined up the bikes along the shoreline. The sand was wet and loose and our stands went in like hot knives through butter with the first casualty being Gyan’s CBR. This was the first bike fall, with or without the rider on it, but fortunately for Gyan no damage was apparent. Even the turn indicators were intact, a surprise since the first hit of a ride in the previous trips had been the turn indicators on Gyan’s bikes. We were dejected! 
We, or rather our bikes and the unfamiliar registrations managed to amass quite a pack of curious onlookers with their incessant queries on the bikes, our trip, destinations, route et all! We were getting hungry now and the prospect of chilling at Maravanthe beach and Sadanand at Surathkal made us pack up from Karwar beach and hit NH17 again. Once we found the fork for Gokarna and Om Beach, we hastily turned towards it and drove in about 15 km before arriving at the temple village of Gokarna. We got stopped at the entry by a home guard who was bent on checking our bags for “drugs”. Rohit sir’s chat with the chap somehow managed to ease his apprehensions and we were let off soon.
Once we approached the village it was evident why the guard was insisting on checking our luggage- this place is like a miniature Goa! Foreigners, flea markets, hippies abounded this place! The roads were twisting around temples, gigantic chariots, houses and shops before finally ending at the beach. It was a hot day by any measure and our riding jackets weren’t easing anything. To our dismay we found that this beach wasn’t anywhere close to the fabled Om Beach, but we nevertheless tried to quench our thirst with water, soda, Hangyo ice creams, whatever cold we could lay our hands on! Not wanting to give Om Beach a miss, we hurried away from Gokarna and climbed upwards towards the fabled beach. Some hills and valleys and some 10 km later, we landed up at a cliff that had a simple sign - Om Beach. There were steps leading down to the beach, but except for Kenny, Ashok and Zaheer, we stayed back in the shade. It was bloody hot and sultry, I tell you! We slurped on oranges while waiting for the guys to return. It was already well into the afternoon and I was kind of getting impatient to resume the ride- I was in a hurry to reach Surathkal AND I was getting terribly hungry.
Fortunately, the guys didn’t spend too much time frolicking on Om Beach and we were able to ride towards NH 17. It was a good 15 odd kilometer away and the road wasn’t smooth tarmac either. The entire detour to Gokarna and Om Beach had eaten up a massive 2.5 hours and now we were up against time to reach Surathkal before dark. But there was another break awaiting us - the break for lunch. Our stomachs were running on empty and demanding we stop right from Gokarna itself. Luck smiled as we found a roadside resort with a yummy looking menu. Fish thalis were ordered for 5 of us, Kenny settled in for a chicken thali, with pomfret fries on the fly to boot. By the time we were done with lunch it was already 1530 hours and we still had a lot of riding to do. We booted up again and hit the highway, with good roads greeting us for some time and then the smooth tarmac gave way to a potholed and a bit narrow road. The roads effectively slowed us down and it was almost sunset when we reached Maravanthe, near Kundapur. We had heard a lot about this place and I had a chance to see this place twice in my life before, once being in the recent past. This is the place where the Souparnika river almost touches the Arabian Sea and at its narrowest point , its just around 18 m away from the Sea, separated only by the thin highway!
Image:
Our throats were parched and the sun was settling down. So we decided to catch the sunset at Maravanthe itself, parked our bikes near a dhaba and ordered coconut water. We have no idea why in a place like Karnataka where coconuts are in abundance should they be so overpriced. They were costing us about 30 rupees apiece! Its cheaper to have a coconut drink where there aren’t so many coconut trees at all!
With dusk settling in rapidly, we switched on our headlights and started off towards Kundapur. The road was taking a heavy toll on the good pace we had set up in the morning and the darkness didn’t help either. We reached Kundapur and I stopped for a fuel top up, so did Rohit sir and Gyan. We were somewhat relieved to find out from the pump attendant that the roads would be better after Kundapur and that the construction work was unfinished in the stretch that we had just covered. We didn’t waste time and for a while we all rode together but the darkness and the small town traffic ensured we split into different groups. Gyan and I ripped off fast, trying to light the way for the other guys, but soon the diversions and the intermingling traffic separated us. Soon we entered Udupi and to this date Gyan and I have no idea how we left the highway and entered the city limits. After waiting for about half an hour for the others to catch and with no sign of them, we realised they had stuck to the highway and we got lost royally. The watch showed it was 1900 hours already. It took us some time to catch the highway again, helped by directions from people around and the light from the main highway as we approached it. Once on the highway, we gunned our engines and were doing really good time on the way-better roads. Clocking about 90-100 kmph on the one-way stretches we suddenly came across Bittu Dhaba, one of the old joints that we used to frequent during our college. Before I forget why we had settled on Surathkal instead of Mangalore for the stay, I should tell you that Gyan, Kenny and I had done our engineering from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, more fondly remembered as KREC, Surathkal and now you know why I was keen on making it to Surathkal ASAP. The old joints were beckoning us…….
With no sign of Kenny at Bittu Dhaba even after 15 minutes, Gyan and I hit the road again with vengeance, desperate to cover the remainder of the 20 kilometers or so in as little time as possible. Once again the duet started between Gyan and me and before we could gather our senses, the once familiar girl’s hostel gate came up out of nowhere in the dark, signalling we had arrived! Gyan was elated, we slowed down, savoured the view of the college from the highway, bowed in reverence and then slid off the highway onto the service road. Now there’s a huge flyover to skip Surathkal entirely and with the service road, one can enter the town limits. We headed for the Maharaja Hotel and found Kenny, Zaheer and Rohit sir waiting. They had arrived just about 5 minutes earlier, but Ashok was nowhere to be seen. Later we found out he had crossed Mangalore itself and had reached pumpwell circle!! Ashok had to find his way back after we dropped in our location on Whatsapp.
We checked into Maharaja Hotel, once the hallowed name in luxury in Surathkal, but clearly past its glory days today. We dumped our stuff and I went to freshen up with a bath. Kenny and Gyan settled for a face wash, impatient to go to Sadanand, another very very frequented place, right across the road. Along with Ashok I went in a bit later after my bath and found Gyan and Kenny already splurging on knock outs and bangda fry, the default combo of choice during our engineering days. They still dish out the complimentary green salad with the beers!
Rohit sir and Zaheer also joined in and we introduced them to the bangda fry of Sadanand or Sads, and they were hooked onto it! Repeats were ordered and our stomachs were finally relenting, but not our will. Familiar faces of the the waiters made us senti and quite a few of them recollected Gyan’s face, but all with comments “thoda bada ho gaya hai”, and Sads was filled with the all too familiar laughter of us having a chill out time. Remembrance can evoke very strong feelings, period.
Rohit sir and Zaheer ordered something for dinner, while the rest of us were feeling quite full with the side dishes of fish and chicken lollipop. We were intent on visiting the KREC/NITK beach at night and after bidding good byes to our old acquaintances at Sads we mounted our bikes and took the service road yet again towards the beach. The beach still felt the same with the old lighthouse sweeping its beam across the night sky. There were flashes of lightning on the dark horizon and we counted ships out at sea.Kenny had bought a couple of beers and all of us sipped on it at the otherwise serene and quiet beach. We sat down, with the lashing of the waves and the distant flashes in the sky for company. Gyan lied down on his back for a while I just lingered on with my thoughts, before catching up with the others on their conversation. I felt I could have just kept on sitting there by the beach, but it was getting late and people were sleepy. Gyan was on a high, I mean really high. He dropped his bike for a second time but fortunately Rohit sir helped him up in no time. Kenny wanted to ride my KTM and we made it back to Maharaja Hotel. The reception there had been waiting for us to get back and shutters were down once we were back into our rooms.
I slept like a log that night, content and nostalgia soaked.
Day 5
November 12, Wednesday: Surathkal-Mangalore Local
We had kept this day for local Mangalore and a visit to our college and before the others were ready, Kenny, Gyan and I rode to NITK around 0900 hours. We parked our bikes inside the gates and walked towards the main building - one of the few original buildings; there are many new buildings, hostels etc that have come up on the campus. We headed straight to the rooftop canteen, called Samudra Darshan Cafe now, but ironically the views of the Arabia Sea are now blocked by the new department buildings that have come up on the other side of the highway.
Coffee and poori bhaji, a walk on the rooftop of the main building later, we headed towards the SAC or the Student Activity Centre, probably my favourite place in the college. Its changed colors and the grass is concrete now, but it still has that charm. We walked up the concrete stage, the gallery , the music club , chemical engineering department and the old seating areas, recollecting the times of the movies and the music fests. The others caught up with us in the college and we proceeded to show them around too.
We proceeded to the grounds, met some old fellas there, who again recognised Gyan, to the canteens, disappointed to see the night canteen had been demolished, the hostels and the Nescafe outlets. The mess operator Shetty instantly recognised us and almost ordered us to have lunch and go. We nibbled on some food and regaled on the “five star” treatment meted to us at the mess. Kenny and Gyan pointed out to me that I was scaring the shit out of a first year student I was standing close to. I swear I had nothing naughty on my mind!!
A stroll through the campus done with, we headed to our bikes and I proceeded to lead them towards Mukka, where we had yet another joint - Sharath Bar. Mukka also provides a very secluded beach and some bunder area where waves lash out at rocks. We sat under the shade of some coconut trees, the sea breeze providing cool comfort in the sun, chatting up on arbit topics, clicking photos, watching the Coast Guard patrol the shoreline on a massive hovercraft (that was the first time I saw a hovercraft in real life) before proceeding back to our hotel rooms. We didn’t feel like lunch as our stomachs were full and so we dumped the schedule of lunching at the Maharaja Restaurant in Mangalore, a place famous for its crab ghee roast.
Towards the evening we started towards Mangalore, deciding that the crab ghee roast wasn’t to be missed. The guys were impressed with the cleanliness of the small town, the disciplined traffic and the polite locals- something sorely missed in many a cities,metros and towns today. I headed to the KTM service centre as I needed to have the chain tension checked and the chain cleaned while the rest headed to the Ideal’s Ice Cream parlour. While I got my bike chain cleaned and returned to Maharaj to wait for the rest, they were gorging on dollops and dollops of ice cream. In between the guys also had the time to visit the KTM showroom there and try on the RC 390 at display.Finally, at around 1830 hours they came back to Maharaja and we went in for the crab ghee roast. We ordered two plates, and beer for us, the cheerful waiters only happy to oblige and suggest their specialties. One look at the menu and the prices of otherwise exotic items in cities/metros, and one would be forced to have a re-think on the so called “fast and furious” lives we lead. Kenny had this experience during his visit to Assam as well. The crab turned out to be the dish of the trip, and I believe I speak for all the riders here. We would have liked to have our dinner as well here, but since Hao Ming was on the list of “to-go” places in Mangalore, we kept the crab as just starters even though we were very much tempted to go in for the full course. Hao Ming is another quaint chinese cuisine restaurant that used to serve enormous amounts of delicious food at extremely college-pocket friendly prices. We found that the prices had increased somewhat, but nonetheless way cheaper than many other pretentious restaurants that dot India today, and with good food to boot.
Now a trip to Surathkal/Mangalore isn’t quite the whole story unless one catches a ride on the notoriously fast express buses! To reminisce our old times and just for the heck of a joyride, we hopped onto one express bus to Surathkal. Seems the buses have toned down a bit or maybe it was just this bus, but it was almost a idyllic drive. We got down at Surathkal and immediately hopped onto a “non-express” city bus back to Mangalore. This bus seemed faster and there was music playing too! Rohit sir thoroughly enjoyed this trip, not only for the Kannada songs playing in it but also for a very excited local man, slightly inebriated, eager to exchange stories with us. Rohit sir kept him engaged throughout, so much so that he had missed his stop altogether! This same man mistook Gyan for a Chinese guy, the first in the trip, but not the last!!
We got down at Mangalore,hoofed it up to Hao Ming and ordered their special rice with a dish of squid for us and noodles for Zaheer but while we were at it, Gyan, Kenny and I totally forgot about the quantity of food that comes with each plate! We ended up with much more than we could possibly stuff our stomachs with and I felt bad to let such good food go untouched. Eventually, with our heavy stomachs we collected our bikes which were still parked at the Maharaja and rode towards Pabba’s, another famous ice cream joint- we were determined to lap up whatever we loved Mangalore for!
It was 2300 hours now and we decided to head back to Surathkal to call it a day. The ride yet again had me recalling the times a decade back and I slowed down at Idya, near Surathkal. Rohit sir, who was sitting behind me must have been wondering why the hell was I going a 25 kmph when the rest were zooming ahead of me and the road barely had any traffic! Sorry Rohit sir, old memories!!
I started to pack whatever I can in the night before hitting the bed, keeping only the toiletries to be packed in the morning. Sleep was once again peaceful.
Day 6
November 13, Thursday: Surathkal to Pulpally,Wayanad ~ 270 km
This was a day that we would really log into our trip diaries for a long time to come- a measly 260km distance traversed in over 12 bloody tiring hours!! We woke on time and were ready loading our bikes and all by 0600 hours. I bade a silent farewell to Surathkal and clicked some photos on my cell phone. We started off towards Mangalore, on the oh so familiar highway again, straight into pumpwell circle where we filled up our tanks before the journey into Kerala. On through the roads we went, crossing Ullal and barely an hour into the ride, we were in Kerala. The sign at the border welcoming us into God’s own country elated us all, but unfortunately that elation was very very short lived. I was vaguely aware of Kerala’s narrow roads and the infamous speeding buses. YouTube has zillions of videos on the roads of Kerala. But I wasn’t at all prepared for the kind of duress it would put us all in during the entire part of the trip within Kerala.
Bad roads greeted us soon after and I gave Kerala the benefit of doubt as the monsoons had just subsided there, but better roads were hard to come by even after traversing quite some distance. An hour or so into the ride we came across the town where the road forks and one goes towards Bekal Fort. We quickly took that turn, amid some confusion over the road signs, which turned out to be a consistent affair throughout Kerala and caught on the half paved, half broken roads towards the beach side fort. Some slush was encountered too- it must have rained the previous night- and some construction activities also. I was fretting as my just-lubricated chain was getting a good splash of mud all over but some of that worry subsided as the road started skirting the sea shore. We passed small hamlets, villages, fishermen shacks as we made way towards the fort and after yet another query on the direction, we finally reached Bekal Fort. There is a huge parking spot and we could see signages of posh resorts, but being quite early in the morning there was no crowd and we could get entry tickets without having to wait in a queue. The entry to the fort is marked by an impressively maintained garden and well paved clean pathways. We walked towards the beach facing side of the fort and we could see a train snaking its way through the coconut groves near the shoreline. The Konkan Railway really does have a lot to offer in terms of scenic views.
We spent some time inside the fort and some viewing areas inside it, having our pictures taken in poses after poses, Gyan trying out panorama shots on his digicam, me trying my hands on Mitali’s DSLR and generally thinking that the rulers must have had a great time at this fort by the sea. We decided to hit the road after a while, but not before sampling the lime soda at a shack just outside the fort entrance. It may have been the humidity, it may have been the walks inside the fort or it just might have been the lime itself, but that lime soda was one of the best I have tasted in my life! Since we hadn’t yet had our breakfast, we quickly resumed our ride, thanking our stars that we didn’t have to ride back to the fork to get to the highway, but we could continue straight from the fort to catch the highway some point further down the road. We saved a lot of time I guess and soon we were on the main highway AND the traffic.
At a toll gate we found a dhaba that was serving breakfast and more importantly, the first toddy joint in the ride. Gyan, Kenny and Ashok went straight for the toddy joint, while the rest of us settled in the dhaba for some Kerala “porottas” and egg curry. The toddy revellers joined us after their stint at the watering hole and had some stories to tell about a fellow toddy drinker who was ready to shell out bundles of currency notes to us. Too bad Gyan, Kenny and Ashok were too sloshed out to accept that gentleman’s generous offer. Being the accountant for the trip, I reprimanded them for not thinking straight, telling them that a fat lot of good it would have done us for our trip.
Breakfast over, we once again hopped onto our bikes only to be stopped at a surprise check point of the Kerala police who had taken a fancy for Zaheer’s bike or rather the absence of rear view mirrors on his bike and the non standard font on our registration plates. But the calm Rohit sir managed to pacify them and we were let off, but we would encounter them once again later. We could also notice one mobile court for speedy processing of the challans. Nice. Probably a lot more needs to be done for Kerala’s reckless driving habits, but still, it’s a good start.
We were getting tired of riding on Kerala roads already. The narrow highway, the speeding buses, highway plying multi axle trucks, and the lack of overtaking space was sapping all the riding pleasure of our machines. Gyan and I were constantly on 3rd and 4th cogs and all we could do is tail some bus, waiting for an opportunity to overtake it. This was going to be the scene for the entire part of trip in Kerala.
Once we were off the national highway towards Wayanad district, things improved. We encountered some forest reserve area and vastly improved roads. Vehicles were few and far in between and overtaking them wasn’t a task like on the national highway. We also encountered rains in the afternoon, a welcome relief from the heat and dust of the highway. The riders donned their rain suits, while I used the rain covers on the Via Terra saddlebags. We munched up miles through the forest reserve and while we were about 30 km from Pulpally we stopped at a dhaba for lunch. Kenny and Gyan shot off immediately to look for toddy and they were lucky to find one nearby. They also happened to find pork being served at the toddy shop but conveniently forgot to call me to try some of the slow cooked pork.
Meanwhile at the dhaba we ordered fish thalis, which were served on banana leaves. Bangda/mackerel was also available here but I decided to try some other local fish. Kenny and Gyan joined a bit later. We once again resumed our journey towards Pulpally, the weather now cool and wet. It was all forest country, riddled with coffee plantations in between.
Many diversions, many queries for directions, many kilometres through forest reserves and villages and many forks on the roads later we finally reached a sign “Welcome to Pulpally”. We called up the holiday home for directions but ended up somewhere else in the small town. There was also a CPIM rally going on and it is only when once is in West Bengal or Kerala that one can really sense the presence of red. Finally after handing over the phone to a local guy to guide us on the exact location, we arrived at the Holidays Inn Wayanad, our pre-booked stay at Pulpally. We dumped our stuff in the rooms and lined in to get fresh. Meanwhile, the riders from Bangalore – Doegar, BK and Satish- arrived and there were warm hugs of a re-union. Our ride this day had taken over 12 hours to cover some 260 kilometer. A day that I will remember for quite some time, a day that sapped so much from us and our bikes and made us do a miserable average of 20 kmph.
Kenny and Gyan went off once again to gather toddy for the evening and came back loaded with snacks and “beverages”. There was merry laughter now from the dining room in the hotel, while Rohit sir made friends with the caretaker, Wilson. Wilson was so impressed with Rohit sir’s portable coffee maker that we was after it during the entire stay at Pulpally. Rohit sir and Zaheer went out to arrange dinner for the night. Pulpally is a small town and sleeps by 2130 hours, so it was imperative that we ordered the dinner well in time. Fortunately, one of the finer restaurants in town does home delivery and we had our dinners by 2300 hours.
Mosquitoes are in plenty there and I didn't go cheap on the mosquito repellent cream before calling it a day and hitting the sack. The next day was kept for the local sights Wayanad had to offer, particularly the Edakkal caves where there are ancient carvings and drawings.
Day 7
November 14, Friday: Pulpally, Kuruva Island, Edakkal Caves
We woke up quite early this day and after deliberations and directions, we decided to head towards Kuruva Island first and then Edakkal Caves and a waterfall. It was ride through forest area and we could also see electrified wires at the edge of the road - a firm indication of the presence of wild animals. We stopped for breakfast at a shack just before the entry point of the Kuruva Island. Somehow we were able to make conversation with the dhaba owner and get a hearty breakfast of bread omelets and tea. Rohit sir also introduced to us the local cookies and munchies and whatever the small shack had to offer.
Our tummies full now, we headed towards Kuruva Island and parked our bikes at the parking lot, bought tickets and made way to the pick up and drop points. Kuruva is probably a small river island but there were plenty of warning signs of rapid waters, alligators and accidental deaths. The drop to the island is by a raft of bamboo, pulled by two forest guards on ropes slung across the mainland and the island. The island itself is another forest land, but the forest department has managed to keep it clean and accessible. We walked across the pre determined paths but the inner areas had been cordoned off. Doegar went off on a nature shoot spree while some of us got their feet wet in the river. There was a huge group of school children out on a picnic probably that made quite a ruckus in the otherwise quiet of the forest.
A few photo shoots later, we started riding back, but not before getting caught in a torrential burst of the clouds. Most of us got wet to the skin as Kenny was the one carrying all the rain suits. We waited at a bus shelter till the rains subsided, but there were dark clouds all over the sky. Not wanting to get any more of our clothes wet, we thought it would be better if we hired a jeep to Edakkal caves and the waterfalls. We got one jeep arranged from the hotel itself and after some confusion on whether the jeep would be arriving or not, it finally arrived and we 9 guys somehow managed to squeeze inside the old Mahindra MM jeep (it was a 3 speed MM 540 I think).
There were no more rains and the roads were smooth and twisty. We were missing our bikes very much on these roads and the slow speed of the jeep was driving us crazy! I still remember the drive on that 3 speed jeep. The old bugger wouldn’t even care to change the gear unless the whole engine block would be vibrating its balls off.
After an hour or so for the 18 km drive later, we reached Edakkal caves or rather the start of the road to the caves. It was an uphill walk of a kilometer to the actual caves and it was taking a toll on the lesser fit among us. Finally, we arrived at the ticket gates and bought tickets for us all. We also had to buy “stickers” for the water bottle, a cleanliness initiative that we appreciated. The way to the caves is more impressive that the caves or caverns themselves I felt. There are actually two caves, one on the top of another. While the rock carvings and etchings on the upper cave are impressive, the caves themselves aren’t. But they have been kept clean and there is also a near perfect vertical split in one of the cave wall caused by an earthquake. The guide then narrated us the information on the engravings and the dwellers of the caves. The caves also receive a fair share of visits from foreigners as evident from a permanent English speaking guide.
On the way back, we came across a group of animated school children who mistook me and Gyan for a couple of Far Eastern tourists. Our conversation in Assamese probably helped to convince them on this. Some of the more excited ones approached us and I offered a handshake and “hello” with whatever fake accent I could manage. When asked what our names were, I promptly answered Nilu. It is an alien name down south anyway. For Gyan I drew a blank and muttered out “Chao”. The kids gave their byes to Nilu and “Chao”.
It was close to 1600 hours by the time we exited the caves and the driver informed us that the waterfalls close at 1630 hours. It didn’t take long to figure out that with our current mode of transport, we wouldn’t make it in time. Another option of visiting the museum was also explored but by then the museum had also closed. Furthermore our stomachs were getting hunger pangs and the guys wanted to munch on something soon. With no decent eateries on the road, we made it back to Pulpally and the guys immediately raided the restaurant from the previous night. I settled in for the fish and chicken leftovers from the previous evening. The drive back had given me a headache and I wasn’t in the mood for a heavy lunch.
It was evening already and everyone wanted to tuck in early as we had to start early morning towards Alleppey. We were dreading the highways and we knew we would have to traverse a good part of the distance on the national highway.
I hit the bed at sharp 2200 hours after a light dinner. To get over Gyan’s famed snoring I resorted to my iPod this night and whenever Gyan made a claim of not snoring, I used to pull up my iPod and show it to the riders, quashing all of Gyan’s claims.
Day 8
November 15, Saturday : Wayanad to Alleppey, 385 km
We were all good to go by 0630 hours this morning. We bade goodbyes to Wilson and Ms Malinin. Wilson had already sent facebook requests to us and we wished him luck. We drew a crowd once again as we started our bikes and made way towards Sulthan Bathery. The early morning crispiness and cool was in the air and we before long we were doing some fantastic twisties on the hills. The roads were just perfect and the views alluring. I stopped along with Satish for quite a few times to click pictures of the valleys. We made a pit stop at one such view point and while were at the stop we got waves, stares and cheers from all the buses that passed by.
Once on the highway, the much dreaded Kerala traffic greeted us and that feeling of having a great ride started fading away again. There are signs at the rear of the buses warning drivers/riders not to overtake from the left. Good warning, but bloody give me space to overtake from the right, you buggers!! Buses, cars, trucks all hog the road, as if they are constantly poised to overtake some over vehicle! I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find and hear innumerable ambulances plying on Kerala roads. With such driving habits how can accidents be far behind? We also came across accident scenes that look straight out of some Hollywood movies - a corolla driving off the road and straight INTO a house, a van tucked in deep inside the belly of a tanker, some local riders in a fistfight with a government run bus driver. And the ambulances themselves dont ply; they fly on these roads. It looked like they have a habit of picking up some victims on the way to the hospital!!
The frustrating traffic and the directionless roads meant the riders split into sub groups. This is another bane for the uninitiated driver in Kerala - one has to ask for directions at practically every fork and turn. The signs are pathetically insufficient and practically next to none. There were multiple routes to Alleppey and one group took the road via Guruvayur. Doegar, BK and I took the one that bypassed Guruvayur. While Doegar and I were waiting at a town before Guruvayur for the others to catch up, we were approached by some local students who wanted to have their snaps taken with us and our bikes. We were given celebrity status!
In the meantime, Satish’s Thunderbird started making some noise that seemed to come from the tappet valves. Zaheer surmised that his engine oil level was running low and that he needed to top up. For the next few kilometers, we scoured the highway for some service centres, and finally Satish found one RE service centre. With a temporary fix done on his bike we were able to carry on. I wasn’t enjoying this ride at all. I was only keen on reaching the destination. Pity it had to be like this. The West Coast Ride was one of the most awaited ride of hours and we weren’t exactly enjoying it. The ride to the Himalayas is such a stark contrast in retrospective. The destination is the least on our minds in those rides and the ride itself had to offer so much that all apprehensions give way to gay abandon.
I don’t remember much of this day, I was just concentrating on avoiding as much traffic as I could and trying to make this journey end as soon as possible. Lunch was with Doegar, BK and Satish and I started off sooner to catch the expressway to Cochin. I was not in the mood of doing any more of God’s country roads. I left these guys a bit early to catch up with Gyan and Ashok, who had stopped at Edapally for lunch. I soon caught the expressway and never have I been so happy to ride on one! I was zipping past the innumerable cars and trucks but the 6 lane expressway here has many dividers in the medians instead of having service roads and underpasses. Therefore it meant I had to negotiate many red lights on the expressway - another first in my life!
I was making heady pace when I came across another 390 rider in similar attire- orange LS2 helmet, orange backpack, orange tinged riding jacket, and riding at similar speed too. I came alongside him at a red light and gave a thumbs up sign and we shook hands. From there on we rode together towards Alleppey until I heard a faint yell. I turned my head and saw Gyan and Ashok waiting by the side of the road and I slowed down. Poor me, I couldn’t even say a decent good bye to my riding partner! After some water we dropped our location to the other guys and kept moving towards Alleppey. It was already dark now; So much for getting there before dusk!
We had reservations at a Hotel Raiban, courtesy one of my clients. We were disappointed on reaching there. The hotel is well known, but probably because it is one of the oldest in Alleppey! The rooms were old and shabby and the dingy passageway surely looked more like something right out an old dilapidated fort than a hotel. Clearly the hotel has seen better days. The hotel took an amount much more than the room rent for the night, saying we would be refunded the balance amount in the morning. Strange ways! Kenny, Rohit sir and Zaheer arrived shortly after a while. We received a message from the Bangalore trio that Satish’s Thunderbird was acting up again and they would be staying at Edapally since it was late and would catch up with us early morning.
I had an ongoing project at Chingavanam, some 45 km away from Alleppey, and I wanted to check up on it. So I took off at around 2000 hours after a quick shower. The ride in the cool evening and by the waterways was a refreshing change from the horrid daytime affair. I remembered this road from one of my previous visits to this site. The night ride acted like some sort of an anti depressant! Even in the night I was doing 80 kmph constantly and only some kilometers before Chingavanam did I have to slow down because of the uneven tarmac. I had taken just about 45 minutes to cover this distance, something that would have been impossible otherwise in the daytime.
I met up with my team at site, had dinner with them and then ade goodbye. I was back on the same road and was really enjoying the night ride when I saw something black, like a small black saucer, on the road. Before I could really gather senses and steer away from it, the black “saucer” crawled forward and came right under my wheels. There was a sickening crunch as a I realised I had run over a turtle. Like I said, the road - more precisely the Alleppey-Changanassery road- runs alongside a waterway. The turtle must have been crawling to cross the road. I uttered a silent prayer and rode on, hoping that the turtle might have just pulled inside its shell before I rode over it.
It was midnight when I rolled back into RaIban. I just went up to the room and slumped into the bed.
Day 9
November 16, Sunday : Alleppey to Kanyakumari, 260 km
With a relatively smaller distance to cover this day, but still wary of the Kerala roads, we decided to spend some time in the much touted Alleppey backwaters before starting off towards Kanyakumari. The Bangalore trio arrived at sharp 0600 hours and we headed to the docks. Gyan decided to give it a miss, thanks to his upset stomach. We bargained for a 2 hour ride, but finally decided to go for a 3 hour ride when we found out 2 hours wouldn’t do justice to the boat ride.
We were slow in getting out of the waters into the open, but once in the open, it was clear why Kerala has this fame for its backwaters. The calm, lazy and cool environs are enough to lull anyone into “hibernation” mode. No wonder people still flock to those hundreds of crazily overpriced houseboats and even star names like Ramada have set up shop. But with the recent ban on bars without a 3 star rating and above I wonder what impact it would have on the tourism industry. Already surveys among foreigners and Indians alike have indicated a drop in travel plans to Kerala.
The boat coasted into the open lake and into some islands where we stopped for some snacks and water. It was time for us to turn back after the stop at the island shack.
We got back into the hotel and loaded our already packed bags onto the bikes. Gyan eased it with some ORS and we were finally riding towards Kanyakumari at 1100 hours. We were really looking forward to leaving Kerala roads, but yet again in the melee of the traffic, we got split into different groups.
We guys managed to group together at some point later on the highway. It was then that we got stopped again by the police. We all showed our papers and were let go, barring Gyan. He still didn’t have the PUC and had to cough up 100 bucks as fine. Kenny and I were snickering!!
Zaheer and Ashok shot ahead now. Gyan was nowhere to be seen. I was with the riders from Bangalore. Kenny and Rohit sir were riding together, but again in the traffic we got shuffled into different groups!! I was now with Rohit sir and Doegar, and Gyan came up from behind. We made a stop at a roadside biryani eatery just near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The aroma from the basmati was simply surreal and we ordered biryanis. Unfortunately the shop ran out of rice, but promised to have some made after about 30 minutes or so. Not wanting to miss the sunset at Kanyakumari we gave it a miss and settled for some chicken and chapatis. The chicken was also very well made and we wolfed it down in no time. It was already 1530 hours and we zipped off towards Kanyakumari in order to catch the sunset.
We guys managed to group together at some point later on the highway. It was then that we got stopped again by the police. We all showed our papers and were let go, barring Gyan. He still didn’t have the PUC and had to cough up 100 bucks as fine. Kenny and I were snickering!!
Zaheer and Ashok shot ahead now. Gyan was nowhere to be seen. I was with the riders from Bangalore. Kenny and Rohit sir were riding together, but again in the traffic we got shuffled into different groups!! I was now with Rohit sir and Doegar, and Gyan came up from behind. We made a stop at a roadside biryani eatery just near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The aroma from the basmati was simply surreal and we ordered biryanis. Unfortunately the shop ran out of rice, but promised to have some made after about 30 minutes or so. Not wanting to miss the sunset at Kanyakumari we gave it a miss and settled for some chicken and chapatis. The chicken was also very well made and we wolfed it down in no time. It was already 1530 hours and we zipped off towards Kanyakumari in order to catch the sunset.
It was ride against time; Gyan and I were eating up miles after miles. We found out Ashok and Zaheer had already reached. We passed towns after towns and glanced at the sun now and then. We reached the town just and asked directions for the sunset point, hoping that we were just in time. We rode through the melee of people and couldn’t see any trace of the settling sun; it was cloudy. The lights were just beginning to come on and we rode towards the end point. We had finally reached India’s southernmost point, or so we liked to believe!! Another tick on the chart!
The other riders too caught up with us and we lined up for some photo shoots before riding back to the town to a Hotel Kanya. It was no luxury hotel, but a tad better than Raiban. We got fresh and now the decision to be made was how to celebrate this milestone- whether to go out to a bar or to get some beer into our rooms. We first scouted for a wine shop, but it stocked only a pitiful choice for whiskey and had no beer. So we decided to hit a bar instead.
Turned out , the sole bar staff was very polite, could understand Hindi properly, and was very courteous. I never thought I could witness something like this in Tamil Nadu and not Kerala. Kerala had us wanting for so much more and here it seemed like hospitality was being dished out on a golden platter!
After the stint at the bar, we honed in on one of the many roadside restaurants and misjudging our hunger, ordered more than we could handle. We made it back to the hotel with bloating stomachs, at least I did! I didn’t waste any time in sleeping off. The plan for the next day was to catch the sunrise and shoot a few pics of the Vivekananda rock memorial.
Day 10
November 17, Monday: Kanyakumari to Rameshwaram, 320 km
I woke up with a hangover of sorts this day. Blame it on the whiskey from the previous night and my recent intolerance to alcohol in copious quantities. But I managed to pack it all and shift my baggage downstairs where Gyan was waiting. The rest of the guys had already reached the sunrise point and we tried to make a dash for it, but lack of parking space ate up time.
We managed to find the rest of the gang well before time though and we waited patiently for the sun to rise. Ashok was posing for Doegar and I tried to catch some of the poses from a different angle! It was cloudy today too and we were having doubts on whether we would be actually getting to see the sunrise, but lady luck seemed to smile on us as the sun peeked out of the clouds for some brief minutes. There was a flurry of our camera shutters as various angles and shots were tried. Doegar made some adjustments to my SLR settings and I was able to get some better shots after that. I was still a newbie when it comes to SLRs you see, just learning a few tricks to get started. There was a considerable number of people at the viewpoint, some tourists, some worshippers, some Sabrimala devotees, some wanderlusts like us. It was indeed a moment to live for.
Another thing is that I have always thought that the gigantic statue at Kanyakumari was that of Buddha. Turns out, after realising it’s not and after ‘researching’ on the net, its of a Tamil poet and philosopher, Thiruvalluvar. Fat lot of good my history lessons did to me!
With our appetite whetted by the views of the sunrise, we rode to some vantage points for photo shoots with our bikes. What followed was Doegar’s test of photography skills with us egging him to better himself and the elements somewhat against him too! At one point his SLR got knocked down by the wind too, causing all of us to skip a beat!
I wasn’t exactly in my peppiest bit, my head still heavy and groggy. But we once on the road and the cool morning wind helped to tide this. We were heading towards Madurai and then to Rameshwaram, and the Bangalore riders would head towards Bangalore. The Tamil Nadu roads are very much rideable, no wayward drivers, no hogging the road and very much acceptable stretches of tarmac. More so when we arrived at the four lane highway towards Madurai. The smooth and almost deserted highway was like a welcome change from the congested roads that we have been riding all this while. Usually such roads are a turn off for me, but this was looking absolutely smashing!!
We had planned to ride along the coastal roads towards Rameshwaram, some 300 km of roads, but with inputs from Doegar and some locals, we decided to take this expressway instead. This would be some 470 km but by this time all of us were getting used to the habit of waking up early and gearing up for a 300 km plus ride for the day!! Zaheer’s early morning dialogue was “Aaj kitna kilometer karna hai, 400 ya 500?”!!
The first, or rather the second, thing that stuck us on this highway is the presence of innumerable wind turbines greeting us. The first thing is of course the utterly placid 4 lane expressway! There were so many turbines and so close to the road -every type, many brands, two bladed, 3 bladed, Vestas, Suzlon.. whatever things one can associate with wind turbines, it was there!! The presence of wind turbines also meant a lot of crosswind, and I was struggling to keep the KTM in a straight line below 60 kmph - the wind was blowing right across the road. Gyan and I were tailing behind on this road, but the inviting tarmac coaxed us into touching triple digit speeds pretty soon and before long, we were leading the pack.
Apart from the local scenery and the pleasant cloudy weather, there wasn’t much that this highway had to offer us. We ate up miles after miles and soon crossed the 100 km mark. Time for us to look for a place for breakfast and pit stop then, but there were hardly any places that were offering breakfast. BK wanted to go to an eatery on the other side of the road but it meant having to take a U-Turn and nobody was in the mood to head backwards and so we chugged on. I think it was close to 1030 hours that we came across a shack that was serving a “proper” breakfast of dosa. We parked our bikes and waited for the rest to catch up. I was still not in the mood for heavy food, so I settled on some bottled milk. The sun was now getting a tad warm and the chilled milk felt fresh to the touch and taste.
Post breakfast, we raced on the seemingly endless highway. We came across a stretch which looked very familiar with a scene from the movie "Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi". Gyan and I were riding fairly slowly to stick to the pack but it became difficult at times because of the crosswinds. The weather was still somewhat cloudy and the crosswinds were still very much there. Up ahead we saw Satish signalling us to stop and in a somewhat sombre tone told us that his duffel bag was missing! Costly affair, since it contained his DSLR and bike papers and everything precious packed for this trip! He had no idea whether he had left it at the shack or whether it had fallen off from his bike. Satish decided to head backwards in the hope of locating the bag, while Doegar, I and Gyan decided to wait it out.
Post breakfast, we raced on the seemingly endless highway. We came across a stretch which looked very familiar with a scene from the movie "Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi". Gyan and I were riding fairly slowly to stick to the pack but it became difficult at times because of the crosswinds. The weather was still somewhat cloudy and the crosswinds were still very much there. Up ahead we saw Satish signalling us to stop and in a somewhat sombre tone told us that his duffel bag was missing! Costly affair, since it contained his DSLR and bike papers and everything precious packed for this trip! He had no idea whether he had left it at the shack or whether it had fallen off from his bike. Satish decided to head backwards in the hope of locating the bag, while Doegar, I and Gyan decided to wait it out.
A thing I noticed is the growing presence of KTM showrooms down south. Kerala had a lot of KTM showrooms and even in this lonely stretch we came across a KTM dealer at an almost non-descript town. Aggressive expansion I must say, but I wonder what it will do to the ‘exclusivity’ factor of a KTM once the sales numbers start to grow and there are more KTMs on the roads.
I was feeling sleepy now. Looked like the ritual of getting up dead in the night every morning was taking its toll finally! With no ‘sleepable’ place nearby I had no option but to sit it off. Considerable time had passed before Satish made it back - Kenny had found his bag and was carrying it with him. A good samaritan at the shack had seen us leave the bag behind and chased us with a motorcycle till he caught up with Kenny and Rohit sir. Tamil Nadu continued to surprise us still more. Pleasantly.
Funny thing was Satish had seen Kenny and Rohit pass by from the other side of the road but when we took an U-Turn and headed back towards Madurai, he was the first to reach us! Till date I bet no one of us has any idea on how he managed to miss them on the way back!
The sun was beating down on us now, the cloud cover blown away by the strong winds. We were feeling the intensity of the Tamil sun and it was just a mad dash to Madurai now. Our riding jackets were making matters worse, even with the water resistant lining off. Just before Madurai, we reached a bypass to Rameshwaram that would avoid the city and it was here that all 9 riders grouped up before we went on different directions. The Bangalore riders would be riding towards Madurai and ahead towards Bangalore and we would be riding on towards Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. High fives and group photos later, we parted ways. The road suddenly narrowed into a two way road down from the four/six lane expressway, but nowhere as chaotic and utterly disdainful Kerala roads. People give way, listen to honks and most importantly, drive on the left side of the road.
It was on this road that we found the directions a bit lacking for the first time in TN, but this was soon sorted out after talking to some truck drivers and locals cab drivers. We were soon roaring towards Rameshwaram.
It was around 1500 hours when we were about 125 km from Rameshwaram. Our,or rather the guys’ stomachs were growling and I also needed to make a fuel stop. We chanced upon a local dhaba serving fish, chicken and mutton thalis. I decided to skip lunch too, I still wasn’t feeling upto it but the food spread on banana leaves looked very appetizing. Nonetheless I settled for some amazing filter coffee in the same dhaba. There was a guy serving coffee right outside the door of this dhaba and he had a boiling water contraption that looked something straight out of a small distillery! All the more exotic stuff!
Our bikes were also drawing a lot of attention here. It was getting a norm by now. People would gather around us and our bikes and throw all sorts of questions which get very tedious to answer to. Not too many understand the concept of touring in India.
Once done with lunch and the awesome coffee, we started for the remainder of our trip to Rameshwaram. I was egging the others to ride a bit faster. I was getting tired of clocking more than 12 hours of riding every day and that too for petty distances. Ashok and Zaheer seemed to be sharing the same sentiments as they roared off ahead. They would be seen only in Rameshwaram next. I kept Rohit sir ahead of us and tagged behind him. Gyan once again asked to swap bikes and I rode his CBR till the next pit stop.
In between Rohit sir stopped at a small town to get his chain guard, which had come off from the mounting points a couple of days earlier, repaired. Here too we garnered attention from school children and grown-ups alike. After the repairs we still kept behind Rohit sir. The roads were nothing to complain about. Tamil Nadu continued its streak of impressive surprises.
Suddenly Kenny had some animalistic urge and gunned ahead of Rohit sir. His bike had also been giving problems earlier - he was not able to do more than 70 kmph. Not to be outdone, Gyan and I downshifted and twisted out throttles wide open! The was almost dusk but we were doing 80-90 kmph constantly. The roads were that good.
Suddenly we arrived at the approach to the Pamban bridge and we were simply awestruck! You have the Indian Ocean on the right and the Bay of Bengal on the left and a cool sea breeze blowing across the bridge. This bridge serves as the link to Rameshwaram and onwards towards Dhanuskodi. It’s like the Indian subcontinent is extended by a bit by this bridge. To add to the already overwhelming awe, you have this railway track to the left, rising just a few feet above the lashing waves! Oh! what a feeling it would be to cross this bridge by train! River bridges are well off from the waters and this is the mighty ocean we are talking about here!
So impressive this scene was that I immediately stopped my bike after crossing the bridge. Kenny and Gyan followed suit, with Rohit sir catching up with us just as the lights on the bridge were coming on. This was another scene! The lights on the bridge formed a lazy curve over the waters and the sound of the waves are enough to lull anyone for a long long time. We gave in to the allure of that moment and place and stayed there for half an hour. I don’t have a daytime pic of that bridge, but one can find some pictures here:
After soaking in whatever we could in those 30 minutes or so, we proceeded ahead towards Rameshwaram, another 12 km away. We found Ashok and Zaheer waiting for us at the start of the small town. We went farther ahead to look for budget accommodation and came across one Hotel Ramajeyan. Ashok went in to survey the rooms and at about 400 bucks per ahead and decent rooms it looked inviting to us.
The guys went in to look for booze for the night while I stayed indoors and tried to sort out my luggage and clean some clothes. Dhanushkodi was on the itinerary for the next day and we intended to do it in the first half before leaving for Munnar. I passed the offers for booze and slept early.
Day 11
November 18, Tuesday: Rameshwaram-Dhanushkodi Local
So far we had stuck to our travel plans and made it to each destination as scheduled. But this day had many surprises in store for us! We were up early to catch the sunrise at Dhanushkodi and we left the hotel on our bikes while it was still dark. There were a lot of insects in the morning air and they stuck flat on my helmet visor and headlamp. It was just about 0600 hours when we reached the end of the road and Dhanushkodi was another 5-6 km from that point though just sandy beaches. We had the intention of riding all the way to the tip, the point where “Ram Setu” starts. Gyan and Zaheer tried it out for about 50 metre but they got bogged down in the semi wet sand. It was possible to do it but at that point of time 6 km of pushing and struggling to free our bikes from the sand seemed too much. We parked our bikes, took some shots and started to bargain with 4x4 Mahindra minivan drivers. The asking price of 2000 bucks was too steep for us when we knew that a trip to Dhanushkodi wasn’t more than 100-150 bucks each. So we waited for other tourists to arrive. Bad idea! or rather bad luck! It was on this day that there was this huge contingent of about a 1000 Ram Bhakts coming for a special puja at Dhanushkodi. All the RTVs were booked and there wasn’t any RTV left for us. We were literally wasting our time and so we moved out of that place towards another charismatic place we observed on the way to Dhanushkodi.
This is a little temple with mythological value and the road leading leading to it is another sight to behold. There is the sea on both sides of the little road, with thousands of fishing ships on the near horizon making their way back into India after their overnight fishing trip. They looked like a caravan on a road from that point.
The road ends at the temple which is surrounded by sea on its sides, but the sea is shallow here and we could see people crossing the waters to a strait in the direction of the ships. No wonder smuggling is relatively easy as people can literally walk over! Another interesting point here is that this place was teeming with butterflies, all the way from Rameshwaram!
We had no luck with the vans and after wasting about 2 hours we went back to Rameshwaram to look for some alternate arrangements. But the second surprise of the day was the torrential rains that greeted us just as we were reaching Rameshwaram. We were soaked to the skin and I was really worried about my phone and the DSLR, even though it was wrapped in a polythene inside my backpack. The streets were gushing with rain water and in this melee Zaheer’s bike stalled. Utterly wet and frustrated we clambered into our parking lot and headed to our rooms to change. I decided to wear my Speedo instead this time. Turns out October to December is monsoon season here.
We went out looking for jeeps, as they were the only means of transport available now. The vans refused saying that the rains had made the road worse and they wouldn’t take chances. We had to take two jeeps since one jeep wouldn’t have been able to take the weight of 7 guys in that slushy terrain now. Another thing is that we didn’t have to bargain much as the jeep and van operators stick to fixed rates. Even the hotel staff from different hotels quoted the same rates. Another point where Tamil Nadu trumped Kerala. We hired two jeeps for 2500 bucks.
Finally, in the two jeeps we proceeded towards hallowed Dhanushkodi, the ghost town that had all of us, except maybe Rohit sir, enamored. Once on the sandy road we realised that it was wise decision we didn’t try our luck and bring our bikes. The Indian Ocean was on the right of us and the driver acted as a guide too. Sea gulls were aplenty and the dark, cloudy skies made for an amazing contrast with the white plumage of the gulls. The ocean was literally black at the horizon and I tried to capture them as best as I could on Mitali’s SLR.
Five - six km into the drive we came across the first ruins of the ghost town- the lighthouse. Further ruins loomed up ahead. Gyan, Ashok and Zaheer were already there and exploring. The drivers dropped us at the ruins and gave us 30 mins to explore. We told them it wasn’t enough and we would take longer, especially when they refused to take us further down to the “tip” of the strait.
Dhanushkodi is one place that overwhelms one to the soul. I was really really glad I didn’t skip this place inspite of the odds. Rohit sir carried a face of contentment too now. You have the Indian Ocean on the right and the Bay of Bengal on the left. The cloudy skies and the gloomy weather made the spectacle even more awesome! No amount of clicking photos could satiate my want to capture everything on film! The fact that there’s lot of history and mythology attached to this place adds to the charisma. It is this place where the legendary Ram Setu starts, it is this place where Lord Ram supposedly built his bridge to Sri Lanka, it is this place that is nearest to Sri Lanka at only 15 km at its shortest distance, it is this place that is considered a sacred confluence of the mighty oceans, it is at this place that the 1964 cyclonic storm wiped out an entire town and an entire train filled with 105 passengers, it is this place that is mystical and wonderful and scary at the same time. Dhanushkodi alone gets my vote for being the epitome of this trip.
We were walking towards the end of the strait but that seemed to be perennially elusive. At the naval tower towards the tip of the mainland we found that the actual “end” was another 3 km farther into the sea. With ominous clouds and little time on our hands we turned back, reluctantly and dejectedly. It would have been quite a feat to have been standing at the “end”, to have been witnessing the two seas merging and witnessing the path that was supposedly taken by Lord Ram to Lanka.
God seemed to be keen on making sure we had showers all through the day. Rains started beating down on us as we were walking back and we had to sprint to the shelter of the few shacks there. My clothes were once again wet and I was wondering if I would have any dry clothes left to wear to Munnar! The drivers were agitated that we had taken this long to come back, probably they lost another trip’s worth of money, but we snapped back at them saying that we had been promised a drop at the tip and not at the town. They calmed down and went about showing us the other points of interest- the town temple, the floating rock and the start of the Ram Setu.
We headed back towards Rameshwaram but it was already around 1430 hours by the time we were back in town. The weather was still gloomy and we decided to stay back at Rameshwaram that day instead of making a break for Munnar. We would start for Munnar early morning and hope to reach Munnar before dusk.
Some of the guys went to the Rameshwaram temple while some stayed back at the hotel. In the evening we decided to try some fish again and headed to one Chola Hotel. We gorged on the fish thalis and prawns and pomfret to our heart’s content.
We slept off relatively early keeping our clothes spread out in every inch of available space in the room for them to dry overnight.
Day 12
November 19, Wednesday: Rameshwaram to Munnar, 340 km
We had no idea that this day would also start on a wet note when we were packing our stuff. It was only when we proceeded downstairs to our bikes that we saw that it was drizzling. It was still dark, partly because of the early hours and partly because of the clouds. We didn’t wait for the drizzle to subside and started off from Rameshwaram at an unearthly 0520 hours. Hardly 5 km into the ride and it started raining cats and dogs. I was glad I was donning the speedo and not my jeans, but was still wary of the electronics in my backpack. We took shelter under a banyan tree and waited for the rains to tone down a bit. After a while we started riding again.
Pamban bridge was still encountered in the dark, the lights were still on and rains were lashing now. There went my hopes of getting some shots of the bridge in the light! First it was dusk and now, dawn. Nevertheless we pushed on, the vibe from that place enough to compensate for the lack of shooting options.
It was really pouring now but the guys in the REs pushed on, their rain suits on. But Gyan and I stopped at a bus shelter. We were wearing our riding jackets which were water resistant at best and I was really concerned for the DSLR in my backpack. But we made up for lost time after the rains slowed a bit as we were making brisk pace towards the same dhaba where we had lunch on the way to Rameshwaram. I was really able to muster confidence on the Metzelers shod on my KTM and even the wet turns couldn’t slow me down!
We all made it at the same time to the dhaba and the owner was happily surprised to see us stop at his dhaba again. We ordered our breakfast but were appalled to learn that the dhaba would serve only veg food from the next day onwards! Too bad -that place did serve good non veg! We didn’t miss the fabulous coffee and had two cups each again.
The weather had cleared out now and the sun was beginning to sneak up behind the disappearing clouds. Our clothes were drying now in the wind. We were entering Madurai and this place looked so much like Agra to me. The streets are chaotic and there were Rajnikant posters. Rohit sir stopped at the bus terminus where there was a cluster of Rajnikant posters to admire at them! We had to ask for directions towards our destination inside the city, but we never faced any language problem. The police were all the more happy to guide us out, checking out our bikes in the process too. At one junction a female police officer even got shy when one of us asked for directions!
Once past the city and onto the road towards the border I started looking for a roadside mechanic. The KTM’s leg guard was rattling since the service guys at Kannur forgot to put in a washer during the reassembly. I didn’t spot a KTM service station in the route that we took inside the city but I knew that there was one in Madurai. We came across a small mechanic on the highway and I got the washer installed for 20 bucks. That effectively sorted out the rattling of the leg guard. The RE riders also made use of the stop by having their chain tensions checked and chains lubed. Interestingly and laughably for us, the mechanic oiled all of their chains with his bare hands.
We lumbered on towards the Kerala border on the still good TN roads. The sun was high now and so was the temperature. Gyan spotted a theka by the side of the road just near the border. Must be one of the innumerable thekas that have come up after the recent prohibition in Kerala. This was going to be one of the most memorable pit stops in this trip. Beers were ordered, MAX 10000. It surely lived up to its name! Gyan was almost like on a dope spiked stuff. The waiters and ‘managers’ were friendly and the chakna was great. They even had pork for chakna! After the pit stop Gyan was full on with his antics - revving up his bike, doing a rear wheel spin and throwing dirt on all of us, making a mess of my rear view mirror and just playing the fool! This is why Kenny and I were bent on making sure Gyan was part of this trip!!
We were concerned on how he would ride now especially when there were hills coming up ahead, so we let Ashok trail Gyan or rather lead him. I wasn’t too keen on flying now, esp after a beer and was happy to be trundling behind Rohit sir. The only hitch was the higher fuel consumption on riding too slow, but since we were at the fag end of the ride and I had to make sure the tank was empty at Ernakulam, I threw those concerns to the wind.
We came up on the hills that ascend to Munnar and the air turned cold suddenly. The roads on this side of Tamil Nadu were butter smooth and I couldn’t help but open my throttle and embrace those curves! There were landslides in between where we had to wait for some time till the excavators cleared the way. Come Kerala and the hilly road suddenly turned into a hue of green as this was another forest reserve road. It was chilly and surprisingly I was feeling more cold in my jacketed area than in my legs covered by the Speedo trunks.
Up ahead at a view point, Zaheer discovered a puncture in his rear tyre and went ahead to a repair shop some 4 km ahead. The rest of us had some maggi and hot coffee at that pit stop. Lunch was taken care of. The humble maggi never fails to impress us at high altitudes.
The road to Munnar is straddled by tea gardens and at some parts the steep fall to the leeward was scary, made worse by the narrow road and Kerala drivers. There are a lot of interesting stops on this road and one point offered a fantastic view of a big lake below. I don’t remember the name of the lake but it surely must be on the tourist’s map. There was a couple from Nashik at this point too and they were dumbstruck to learn about our trip. The wife was excited and the hubby wanted to have a snap taken with us, our celebrity statuses were intact!
Munnar is like a little Shimla, but fortunately the North-India commercialism still hasn’t caught up yet. We went up the silent valley road to a little known resort- Eden Valley, courtesy a guide and an agent we found at the town. We haggled on the rates till we found one that suited us. Unfortunately there was no hot water then and I went to the owner’s side house for a warm bath. I can’t do without a bath after the ride at the end of the day.
We then went to the market to scour for alcohol and dinner. Gyan had a long shopping list from his ‘madam’ and we were laughing when his bill came up to 5000 bucks! Gyan threatened to send a photo of his shopping bag to Mitali and that effectively quieted me down, but not the rest of the gang.
Rapsy restaurant was recommended by Rocky and Mayur of HOMP fame and we headed there. The place was teeming with foreigners and some gave a thumbs up sign for the food. We ordered some soup at the place while we waited for our dinner to be packed. Kenny picked up some rum and I got some tapioca chips and cola. We headed back to our rooms, our bags fully loaded with spices, chocolates, food, rum, cola and chakna. The spread was done and we opened up the rum and the chakna. The food from Rapsy wasn’t exemplary and the portions also weren’t too generous; at least I felt that way. I have no idea why it was so hyped.
I was done with dinner earlier and headed back to my bed while Kenny and the others finished off the rest. There were mosquitoes around and we complained to the caretaker, who in absolute disbelief, counter-argued that there weren’t any! It was when we showed a fat mosquito on the wall that he was silenced. Service was extremely poor there and we had to make a lot of ups and downs to get extra blankets and pillows. Request the guys to leave their reviews on tripadvisor please.
Day 13
November 20, Thursday: Munnar to Ernakulam , 156 Km
We started off early again this day, our bikes yet again impressing the few visitors to the hotel. We filled up our tanks after calculating our consumption till Cochin. On the downhill we could see some luxury and small resorts, probably good homestays, catering to foreigners. There are a number of small villages on the way to Aluva and once down to mean sea level we started looking for a place to have our breakfast.
Unfortunately for us we stopped at a place that looked grand and clean from the outside, but served cold and tasteless dosas and limp chutneys. Boy, “never judge a book by its cover” indeed holds true!
After the breakfast it was back to negotiating the horrible Kerala roads. Dumpers and trucks blocked ways and we crawled behind them, the road directions disappeared and we started asking for directions at every goddamn turn, yet again. I could recognize a road that we had taken on our way in some 8 days back. Cochin came up around noon and with it came utter chaos. Traffic jams, sweltering heat, no directions to the railway station, construction dust, diversions and the heat from the KTM engine made me curse every time I braked. I hate to say, but it surely looked liked God has left for some other place than Kerala. Time for them to remove the tagline “God’s own country” and probably catch on to something like “ Welcome to the jungle”.
Another thing with directions to the railway station was that our trains were leaving from Ernakulam Junction, but nobody, including the traffic police, knew where that was. All signs were either to “railway station north” or “railway station south”. Bloody hell! We took a shot and headed towards “railway station south”. Kenny got lost in the mind numbing traffic, while we waited at one turn for him. Gyan lost his balance and his bike fell on him. One good passerby helped me in getting his CBR back on the stand.
Without waiting any more for Kenny, we continued towards “railway station south” and to our relief, it turned out to be Ernakulam Junction. Kerala Government - Please do something about your road signs and your language barrier. The state with the country’s highest literacy level deserves much more. I wonder how they manage to converse with foreigners when they don’t talk in anything other than Malayalam or maybe they have a differential treatment policy for Indians and foreigners.
Gyan and my trains scheduled for early next morning, we went about looking for a place to put up for the night and freshen up before heading to the parcel office. We had to make sure we booked our bikes before the counter closed at 1700 hours. After a quick shower Gyan and I headed to the parcel office. We got our bikes packed and booked but it had taken 3 full hours and bombed our wallets. I ended up shelling out 3400 bucks for the parcel. Gyan paid even more. Cochin was hurting like hell!!
The other guys decided to book their bikes the next morning which meant they had their bikes free to roam around in Cochin. Rohit sir and Kenny suggested going to Fort Kochi but I had had enough of the Kerala Chaos. I stayed put in the hotel room and waited for Shyne, a Bullet Buddha member and Mitali’s friend from college. Gyan, Shyne and I headed out to a 4 star restaurant - Avenue Regent- for a beer, the only places serving liquor now. Rohit sir and the rest joined us there after their visit to Fort Kochi and some other places. Rohit sir also got to live his dream of being the “Swades” hero - travelling in a ferry with the bike loaded beside him!! Unfortunately, he also had to pay a fine for not wearing a helmet!
During the time with Shyne we found out that the Bullet Buddhas avoid daytime riding in Kerala because of this very issue of horrid traffic. They usually start off their rides at around midnight and by early morning they are out of Kerala. Had we known this before we could have probably done something about it.
I bade goodbye to Shyne after he had dropped me at our hotel - Cochin Tourist Home and I soon slept off after bidding farewell to the riders. I had an early morning train to catch. It had been one ride that had been on our sights for a long long time and now that we were done with, I had that familiar bluesy feeling.
Day 14
November 21, Friday: Train from Ernakulam to Pune/NCR
Gyan and I went out together at 0430 hours. My train was at 0500 hours and Gyan had a 0730 hours flight to catch. I bade goodbye to a sleeping Kenny and shook hands with Gyan at the railway station. Time to board the train now. It was going to be one long and lonely 24 hour journey from Ernakulam to Pune. I immediately slept off once the train started moving. In between the train passed familiar routes, through Mangalore in the afternoon and through Goa in the evening.
I arrived at Pune at the scheduled arrival time of 0530 hours and after about an hour at the station I managed to get my bike out of the station. Had to pay an “entry fee” of 100 bucks to the Police at the exit gate though. The new rules of emptying out tanks totally is a welcome step forward for the safety of all, man and material, but it sure does add to the task of pushing your laden bike to the nearest petrol pump. And if there is no petrol pump nearby, you have had it!
Luckily for me, there was one HP petrol pump nearby and I was able to ride back home - wearing my orange jacket and LS2 helmet and equally contrasting Speedo shorts and orange slippers!! I must have been a sight!! Was damn glad it was early morning and traffic was sparse!!
The trip had ended. I felt blue. If only we all had known what Kerala had to offer us, we could have probably ended the trip somewhere else, maybe Dhanushkodi, maybe someplace else. The only regret was having to come to dreaded Cochin for the end of the trip. Maybe with this info other riders can be prepared for the jungle out there in Kerala.
As for the KTM, it can take on whatever avatar you want it to take. It can patter around at 70 kmph all day, it can cruise at 120 kmph without breaking into a sweat, it can turn into a cat ripping open the mountain roads screaming at 8k rpm at 4th cog or it can just sit at the roadside drawing stares from passer bys. I was glad that I didn’t have broken cables or anything that would have marred the KTM experience.
Now looking forward to the next trip on my KTM. Hope that day comes soon!
Photos from the trip:
Another account of this trip :
Reviews of the hotels and restaurants:
Published on Tripadvisor
