Ride to NoWhere (6th Sept, 2009)

A ride without any destination. We knew we will go on the Kanakapura Road and then take some deviation. There are lots of beautiful places with 100 km from Bangalore. Small hills - lush green, ponds - with small birds skimming over it, streams - languidly flowing and huge fields - gently rolling away, perfect stress busters.

After breakfast at Kanakapura, we took a deviation towards Bheemeshwari fishing camp. We found a small trail leading away from the main-road and we took it just to see where it leads.



This abandoned shed belong to the a electric supply company lay by the side of the trail.



After a while the trail brought us back to the main road. Reached Bheemeshwari. The fishing camp is a resort so we did not spend time there. Our aim was to find a secluded spot by the side of the Cauvery. We found this spot just beside the resort.





This bird was drying its wings. Cormorant it is called.







We then headed towards a deer sanctuary near a place called Muthati about 4 km from where we were. Later we came to know that we need to go on a 2 hour trek for the sanctuary. Motorcycle shoes are not very good for trekking :). At Muthati there is a temple and near that a picnic spot, where some groups were beginning to cook lunch. We found a spot near the river and after a few snaps we went ahead.





To go to Bheemeshwari from Kanakapura road, we had to take a left deviation from a place called Halagur. We came back to Halagur and continued straight on i.e. right deviation from Kanakapura road (when coming from Bangalore). This road should take us to Channapatna and the Mysore-Bangalore highway which is parallel to Kanakapura road.

There are so many enticing roads leading away form this road and each of them a bikers delight. However it was too crowded for our tastes us e took one such deviation from this Halagur-Channapatna road and found ourselves at the foothills of this gorgeous hillock.



From where we stood there was some cultivated land between us and the hill. Some locals told us the way to go to the hill.



We managed to find this trail. It was a gravel road winding up to the top. Some parts the gravel became small rocks which were quite loose and reminded me of my earlier off-roading trip. The going up is easy. The coming down is always tricky in such places. I had a fall in my earlier off-roading stint. And it plays on your mind. Anyway this time, while coming down I was very careful - no touching the front disk brake, clutch if absolutely necessary, engine to control speed so put bike in 1st gear and the rear brake to be used in case I needed braking. It worked. :) Renewed confidence :).



This is a place I am sure to return. There are too many small trails remaining unexplored.

Tamil Nadu (15-21 August, 2009)

This was a trip I had been contemplating for some time now. I wanted to see Kanya Kumari and the Brihadeshwara temple. KanyaKumari is the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula. Brihadeshwara temple I have heard and read about from childhood in our history books. It is one of the finest examples of engineering and architecture in ancient India.

This blog will be more of a photo-log. Will improve it later when time permits. :)

The route taken: Bangalore - Madurai - Thirunelveli - Kanyakumari - Tirunelveli - Madurai - Pudukottai - Thanjavur - GangaikondaCholapuram - Pondichery - Gingee - Bangalore, with halts at Madurai, Kanyakumari, Thanjavur and Pondichery.

At Madurai I halted for one night. Actually I halted at Madurai as I thought the 700 km to KK from Bangalore will be too much to be dont in one day. However I found out that it can be easily done in about 12 hours, maintaining decent speeds and including stops. The roads are fantastic. In India in my experiance 2 states have the best roads - Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Even small village roads are generally without potholes. One difference between Tamil Nadu and other Southern Indian states I noted was that people in villages were up and about, as early as 6. Other places till 8 the village roads are totally empty. :)

Took this picture of the famous Meenakshi Temple from outside. I have been to the temple earlier and so did not go inside this time.



This photo was taken on the Madurai-Kanyakumari highway (NH-7).



Reached KK at about noon time. Glimpse of the sea from the hotel room at KanyaKumari. The watch-tower where one can supposedly see the 3 seas meet - Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.



The shoreline at KanyaKumari.



The temple and the statue. Marks the end of the Indian Peninsula. The temple or Vivekananda Memorial stands on the rock where the Indian philosopher and social reformer Vivekananda is supposed to have meditated. The statue is of the great Indian poet Thiruvalluvar who hailed from Tamil Nadu state.



The vivekanda memorial.



The statue of Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvar dominates the shoreline.



To get to the statue and the memorial one has to take a ferry. This photo I liked. The rope actually tied our ferry to the jetty. It stretched and strained as the ferry was buffeted by the sea.



The shoreline at land's end.



There is a lighthouse which allowed people to climb to the top. Surprisingly very few people talk about it! Although almost everyone goes to the watch-tower however this is a much better place to see the seas :).



This is where the light comes from!



View from the lighthouse!



Panorama :)



Theres no beach anymore in Kanya Kumari, only this. Some elders had told me about a beach however I think it has eroded away. This is the beach road.



Went to Thanjavur from KK. This photo was taken somewhere before Pudukottai.



This is the magnificent Brihadeshwara Temple at Thanjavur, built by Raja Raja Chola.



Many birds made the Gopuram their home!



The "vimana" of the temple. Btw contrary to popular belief the stone on the top is not a monolith :).



These college students cleaning the temple premises reminded me of NSS at college, The compulsory social service, which without completing, we were not supposed to be given our degrees :).



At the temple complex of the temple I found that there was another similar temple also called the Brihadeshwara Temple exists at about 65 km from Thanjavur. I never knew there was another one. This one was 65 km from Thanjavur at a place called GangaikondaCholaPuram (a mouthful)! This temple was built by Rajendra Chola the son of Raja Raja Chola. And is supposed to be the female form of the earlier temple. The difference I could make out is the concave vimana or tower of the temple as opposed to the slightly bulging or convex one of the earlier and more famous one.



While returning I came back via Pondicherry, making the route a circular just so that I dont go back the same way. The sea at Pondicherry.



Pondi: Children having a rally in support of renewable energy usage.



Ginjee Fort on the way back to Bangalore.



Back to Bangalore after a nice lazy ride over 7 days.

Offroading (04/07/2009)

This was a ride with a new group. A friend decided that the destination will be a hillock about 70 km from Bangalore near Kanakapura. It had been a few weeks since the last ride and and I was actually not keeping well for the past few days. A good ride should do me good I thought and joined in.

We gathered near the Banshankari temple and started off at about 7 AM. We passed through some chaos of an early morning vegetable market before leaving the city and getting onto Kanakapura road. The weather was fantastic (have been pretty lucky off late), it was cloudy with no rain. This road was fresh laid tarmac for most of the way and as we went further from the city the traffic dwindled off and it was pleasant to ride to ride through the sleepy towns and villages. The early morning air was fresh and as we passed through some villages we could sometimes smell the scent of fresh bread being baked in some local bakery. There is something very nostalgic about this smell. It reminds me of my childhood, when in holidays I went to my grandfathers place. It was a small town at that time and it used to have this smell coming from many localities there, when I used to be taken by my uncles on their cycles to get fresh bread to be had with early morning tea. Lovely days.

We reached Kanakapura a small town where the main road ends and we are supposed to go off into a village road which will take us to our destination BillikalRanganaBetta. We had breakfast here and shortly after that we took off. As we left Kanakapura the road became very narrow and it winded through villages and farmlands. I lost the group after a point but had no problems in following their route as whenever I came to a turn or a junction on the road, friendly villagers signaled me the way the other bikers had gone. They must have wondered where such a big gang of bikers were headed (we were about 20 of us).

The way to the hill

Suddenly after a turn I found them. They were waiting for everyone to gather. After this point there was no roads, juts a mud path climbing up a hill. We were to go on this path. We went ahead on this road and slowly the mud path became a little tricky. It was now strewn with small rocks and ahead I could see hairpin bends. We braved it. There were two hairpins and then the rocks became boulders. We were still climbing and the n we came to a flat area where the path went over a big flat rock which was a sort of a table and then the path went up further. I decided to stop there and most of us did. The rocks were increasingly getting bigger and it certainly was not a path to take on the bike I had. Climbing will be easy, the hard part would be coming down.

The climb

The way down

I parked the bike there and spent some time enjoying the beautiful weather and the even more beautiful surroundings. From this place we had a great view of the surrounding hills. We spent an hour there in genearl getting to know each other and chatting up about our bikes and then decided to get down.

The view was superb

It was extremely dicey. The downward path as I saw it was divided into 3 parts. First I had to negotiate the path with the big boulders. Then the small rocks and the hairpin bends and then the mud path. The last mud path would be easy.

The climb down

As I started down trying to go over the big rocks I had my first fall. It was not a fall exactly but the bike got tilted to one side with me standing with my legs on both sides trying to prevent the bike from lying on its side. I held onto it till some of my friends came to straighten it up and I managed to get negotiate the boulders without further problems. Then came the hairpins and this was scary with my tires, which are not really suited for these conditions slipping and skidding on the rocks as I tried to negotiate the curve. I had a fall this time. The bike lay completely on its side and I rolled away from it. I had my riding gear and the speed was too slow to do any damage to my body. I had a few dents to my ego though. I with the help of friends got the bike to stand up and this time I managed to negotiate the curve successfully. The footrest was bent and I could see that it prevented the gear lever to move and the only gear I could go to was the 1st gear. Well that was what I needed till I came on flat land. There I adjusted the foot-peg and all was well again.

We had a little snack on our way back at Kanakapura and then headed home. A day well spent, falls not withstanding.

Markonahalli (21/06/2009)

This was meant to be a group ride, however by saturday evening only 2 bikes were ready to start. This was also meant to be one of those unplanned rides, the plans made only during the stops and limited to the next stop. The only thing decided when we started was that we will take village routes for it. And we will head towards Mysore.

Going to Mysore meant that we could not avoid the highway completely and till Channapatna we were on the 4 laner. We had breakfast and decided to get off the 4 laner and head towards Markonahalli Dam. The idea was to ride leisurely and stop at whatever spots we found beautiful. The goal was not to reach the DAM but just to go in that direction and not to miss the beautiful spots along the way.

We turned right just before Maddur and about 2-3 kilometers into it we reached the small cozy little hamlet Hemanahalli. The centre point seemed this temple.




Just beside this temple was this lotus pond.


We started off after the brief stop and crossed Kestur village. There was beautiful scenery all round. The weather God was also kind on us and it was thankfully cloudy. We stopped a kilometer from Hiliyurdurga. The surrounding was lush green with a smallttering of big rocks jutting out. There was some small cultivatable land and a few villagers were busy tilling their land before the onset of the monsoon.


Most of India's daily supply of milk come from the water buffalo and in many places the milkman actualy bring the animal to your house and milk it in front of you.




After crossing Hiliyurdurga we reached Amrutur village and had to take a left turn towards the Dam. This route was all the more scenic with shady trees lining the road, which by now has become almost a one laner. But the road condition was very good and traffic was virtually non-existent and we ambled along.



Finally we reached the Dam. We climbed to the top of and found the reservoir on the other side. Although the sun was out there was a cool breeze blowing over the water.



One of the problems with India's huge population is that most touristy places are crowded. And with crowds come litter. However there were not so many people near here and we sat near the reservoir bank enjoying the cool breeze.

It seems a few years ago the monsoon failed and the locals use to walk across to those islands.



We had deposited our bags with this lady selling cucumbers. While going back we had some juicy cucumbers from her which she peeled and salted.

After this we headed back towards Bangalore but in a different route, we went to Kunigal and after crossing Kunigal we turned right onto Magadi road and from there to Bangalore. Before that we stopped to have some nice coconut water at one of the villages on the road. In most villages the bus stands are usually a big shady tree with a cement platform surrounding it for people to sit. Now the trees shade keeps the rock cool and usually is a great place to idle away your time. We spent half an hour sitting under one such tree savouring the coconut water and last glimpses of the open fields.

After a while it was time to head back to the concrete jungle.

Bylakupe (01/05/2009) [Backlog 1]

It was May Day and it was a three day weekend, and coupled with the fact that the next three day weekend will be in August, we had to ride. Every possible place which could provide a bit of succor from the May heat of India was booked. Desperately looking for a place we decided to take the advice of another rider friend of mine an decided to try out a Tibetan monastery at Bylakupe.

Tibetans fled from Tibet when the Chinese took over Tibet and along with their spiritual head the Dalai Lama, took shelter in India. The Indian government helped then to setup a few colonies and the Tibetan refugees thrive in these places. They are in general very peaceful people and their colonies have become bits of tourist attraction to knowledgeable people who go to see their huge and richly painted monasteries. Two of the largest such colonies are in Dharamshala in North India and Bylakupe in Southern India. Many people of Hindu faith (who incidentally consider the Buddha also as a God) come to these places to try out the Tibetan form of Buddhism and meditation. Well whatever helps. For us, apart from the spiritual aspect of life, there was the lure of satisfaction of the gastronomical aspect of life - the Tibetans make awesome "momo's" (dumplings).

Anyway we called up the night before and found that they had rooms in the monastery guest house. The rooms we later found to be clean, spacious and very economical. Also Bylakupe was near to Coorg (about 40km) and since we had 2 full days we can easily roam around Coorg valley which is famed for its green beauty.

We started at 6, had breakfast at Kamat and diverted towards Hunsur from Mysore road just before Srirangapatna. This part of the road, till it reached the Mysore-Coorg highway, is a 2 laner, was through the country side with very less traffic.


The last time I had gone to Coorg I remember the road condition was not very good. However this time the road was great all the way till Bylakupe. We reached in quicktime, a distance about 210 km. To reach the monastery (and Bylakupe) we had to take a left turn from the Mysore-Coorg highway, about 5 km before Kushalnagar which is the nearest town, and travel for about 6 km inside.

We checked into the guest house and this is the view of the monastery from outside our rooms.


We rested for a while after lunch and then went out on our bike to explore the surrounding area. Also if we were to roam aroun Coorg the next day we need to fill up my bike and the petrol station was on the highway.

As we were filling up we noticed that the sky has become dark and a thunderstorm was approaching. And suddenly it struck us that the weather has been extremely pleasant till now, in spite of it being May. The rains will only bring the temperature down further, which was happy news.



The beauty of rain and rain bearing clouds have always awed me.



We reached the monastery, parked our bike, and went to our rooms and it started to pour. We enjoyed the rain from the balcony in front of our room for some time and then got our umbrellas out and went out for a hot cup of tea, wading through the occasional small puddles on the road. Now walking in the rain (and ofcourse riding) in the rain gives almost a spiritual high. :). The romance of it I guess has been icon-ified by Gene Kelly.



The rain stopped and we walked into the Monastery. Brightly painted it was an impressive building. There was quite a crowd but in spite of it the place exuded an aura of calmness.





We came out of the monastery after buying some literature about the Tibetan settlement and its history.

Some distance away from the monastery there is a sacred lake. Nice place to just sit around and watch the fish when it came up for air.

By the time we reached back it was dark. This is a shot of the top of the monastery at night.




The hotel guest house has shops in the ground floor.



One thing about the momo's. You have to eat early as most of the eateries close by 6 PM. Luckily the guest house has a restaurant in the ground floor which is open till late and they also serve momo's.

Next day we headed to Coorg. We did not take the highway. Just after Kushalnagar there is a left turn from the highway towards Dubbare elephant camp. This road leads to Coorg through beautiful green coffee estates and country side. It is about 20 km extra for the common folk (which makes most cagers take the 4 lane highway) but for bikers it is pure unadulterated joy. And anyway as they say, never ask a biker for directions if you are in a hurry.

We stopped every now and then to soak in the surroundings and finally reached Madikeri, the capital of Coorg district, at about 11:00. We had a heavy breakfast of fish and parantha which was delicious and not only for the fact that we were extremely hungry.

There are lots of places to see in Madikeri however we wanted some place which is relatively unknown. I had asked a friend of mine who had grown up in Madikeri, the precious night and he had told me to take a trail leading through Stewart hill. The tar road ends and soon we were on mud track. Dense forest surrounded us and although I could see jeep tracks I did not see a single vehicle. We rode on this track for a long time stopping frequently to take photographs or simply because we did not want the track to end quickly. However the track did not end and it seemed to continue deep inside the forest. Finally we turned back as we knew about another nice road for bikers and wanted to ride there too. This was a tarred road and continued narrow and winding past the Mahindra resort through small vilages interspersed with dense forests.




It was time to turn back. We grabbed a quick lunch of the famous pork dishes of coorg and headed towards Bylakupe. Just as the previous evening the thunderclouds gathered and before long it started raining. However it was not as heavy as the previous evening and we continued riding in the rain. By the time we reached Bylakupe the rain had stopped.

We decided to explore the settlement by foot. We had a long walk through the settlement among the houses of the settlers and came across many smaller Buddhist places of worship around the place. Nice walk and by the time we reached back to the guest house we were pleasantly tired after the long day.

We had momo's and thukpa for dinner and went to bed, spiritually and gastronomically satisfied. :).



The next morning we woke early and headed back to Bangalore but not before taking this photograph of another Tibetan temple along the way.

Kemmangundi (27/03/2009) [Backlog 2]

The ride from Bangalore to Kemmangundi was through Tumkur Road. The road for the most part after Tumkur is a beautiful 2 lane road going through Tiptur, Arsikere, Kadur. From Birur we take a leave the state highway and start climbing the Sahayadri Hills towards Lingadahalli and finally reach the Horticulture guest house at Kemmangundi, where we were to spend the long weekend this 27th day of March.

Now Kemmangundi is a quaint hill station mostly frequented by day travellers coming up to this place from the nearby town of Chikmaglur and going back after spending an hour or two. The place is best enjoyed however if you have time on hands. We had 2 days.

This place sits in the middle of stunning landscapes. The road that we came by crosses Kemmangundi and winds its way through pristine hills covered with dense forests in some places and beautiful grasslands in others and finally reaches Chikmaglur some 60 kms away. I say the road but for the most part there is none. What there is, is the skeleton of a road long deceased, covered with rocks and mud and occasional puddles and slush caused by the short but frequent showers.

But this is a boon. For most of the tourists who come to this place come in large cars or buses, blaring loud music, and in general does not have any idea how to appreciate the beauty of such a place. Their idea of a holiday is coming in large groups, creating as much noise as possible and in general creating a nuisance. Why they have to do such things in these beautiful places is beyond my comprehension. However the non-existant roads must be keeping such crowds to a minimum. End of rant.

When we settled down in our rooms, we thought of taking a nap before venturing out to explore. I was awakened suddenly by the pitter-patter of rain drops on the roof of our guest house. I looked out and it was raining heavily. The surrounding forest had become misty green. There were lots of dogs around the place and all of them were pretty friendly. This guy curled up in our porch sheltered from the rain.






The rain was short and seemed to make the surrounding trees sparkling clean. The guest house was divided into 2 sets of rooms. One set was set a little higher up the hill that the rest. The restaurant, which is very basic and had only a limited menu, was on the top. Our rooms were down. We went out for a walk to find the restaurant to have a cup of tea and found this small temple on our way.

The road as we walked up was wet and shiny.

The hills misty and green.

Going a little further up, after the restaurant there is a clearing and we can see one of the points which is loved by trekkers called "Zed point". The photo shows why it is called "Zed".


We walked around a little and by the time we decided to come back it was getting dark and we decided to stay back for a while and return to our rooms after having dinner. We came back and sat in front of our rooms under our the porch and reminisced about our rides together and sundry other things while watching the dogs play around.

The next morning after breakfast we decided to ride up to a hill called "Baba Budangiri". This ride was one of the best rides I have had. The road was bad however the scenery made up for it and how! The grasslands rolled over the hills.


At many places we parked our bikes and walked across the grass to smaller peaks. In some cases we actually left the road and rode over the flat grasslands on top of the hills.


The road crossed many hills in the range and twisted and turned towards Baba Budangiri. This is a view point which overlooks the sahayadri range. The place has some religious significance and both Hindu's and Muslims come to pray here. The scenery here is mind blowing.

We spent the entire morning and afternoon riding around these hills.

After coming back we walked up the hill where our guest house was to a summer palace of a king now converted to a hotel. This place was also quite high up and we spent the evening walking around the gardens. We walked back as the sun set had a light dinner and retired, dreaming of the magical hills. The next day we have to be back in Bangalore.

B.R. Hills (21/02/2009)

Long time since I have written my last blog. The riding too has been less. Work pressure and other sundry happenings in life had made my rides less frequent. I have ridden to Yercaud and Ooty (for Rider Mania) in between but somehow never managed to blog about it.

Interesting things happened. I have got myself a new Royal Enfield AVL500 this december and was busy running it in. After the B.R.Hills it has completed 2 services.

I have had a surgery to remove a wisdom tooth. The lesser said about it the better. I guess I now know why it is called the 'wisdom' tooth.

Then we went to B.R.Hills (http://www.wildindia.org/wiki/BR_hills). I have been there before, it is a small village, set in the middle of the forest, whose only attraction for people I guess is a temple. There are a few guest houses and the only restaurant which has fixed timings, dishes out a simple vegetarian fare, served by very enthusiastic and ever smiling waiters.

We went on a saturday. Till Maddur the road was ofcourse good, it being the mysore highway. We started at 5:30 and was at Maddur by 7. We turned towards Kollegala at Maddur after our breakfast. From Kollegala we started towards Yellandur, and was soon onto obscure village roads. After asking for directions we realised we have missed a turn and to get onto the yellandur road, we can take a village road. The road was narrow (one laner) however obviously no one was there. It was great actually; half the time we were offroading past farm lands with only occasional herds of buffalo or sheep to slow us down.



We reached Yellandur and another friend was waiting for us there and we continued our climb to BR Hills. Soon we crossed the forest checkpost and was into the forest road. It was 10:00 by then and we could not see any animals (plenty of elephant dung though!).

We reached the temple guest house and saw that we had company. Some local politician was there with his entourage. However luckily he did not seem to be a rowdy type, and after paying homage at the temple (election time you see!) he and his family went off.

We had a little rest and went out in the evening, first to the temple and then for some local riding around in the forest roads. We did a lot of off-roading and some places were precarious.





In the evening we went see a friend of one of us. Now this was an interesting person. He lives alone in BR Hills. He is about 65 years young and has a multitude of diverse hobbies like astronomy, bee keeping, HAM radio. I had been to his place once earlier and he had shown me a huge poster covering an entire wall. It was a map of the galaxy. It was pretty interesting. As night fell we sat around chatting and trying to identify stars. Now I know nothing of stars. However I always remember that as a child when I read that the milky way is visible in the sky, I used to try to see it. Never could. This time he showed me. It was awesome.

Anyway we had to leave, as the sole food place at this place closes by 8:30 PM. We reached and had a hearty dinner served on plantain leaves, buffet but served. The waiters were really enthusiastic people and kept on serving us more helpings with occasional reprimands that no-one in the city will serve food like this, its mostly self service. Thankfully I was not forced much after I told them of my tooth surgery.

After coming back to the guest house, we spent some time on the terrace before going off to our rooms for a nice rest. We started early next morning but still could not see any animals on the road. We had breakfast at Maddur again before heading off to Bangalore.

Cardamom House, Athur Village (15-17 August, 2008)

61st year of our independence and it was a friday. So off we went to a village called Athur near the town of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. This time we were eight of us on 3 bikes and 1 car.

We started at about 4:30 AM and it was raining. Because of this doc decided to come in his car, along with his friend. At that hour too the exit out of Bangalore via Hosur road was full of traffic. And add to that bad roads due to the construction of the flyover. Anyway we managed to get out of Bangalore and crossed Hosur when dawn broke. We took a break at a roadside eatery which was just opening up and had only tea and coffee.

The roads were good and at that time of the morning was empty. We reached Dharmapuri at about 8 and found some amazing 'puri's being prepared in a road side stall. We stopped and had a hearty breakfast. Somehow food in these roadside stalls always taste better than a proper hotel :).


While waiting we were joined by a few RTMC riders who were going the same way as ours but they would continue further to Rameshwaram. One friend was riding his 1955 350cc bullet. He kept the bike running while we were having breakfast. When asked why, he said he was not sure of the valves and they may get stuck :). But still he was riding. Cheers to that.

When we ride in a group we generally stop every 100 kilometers, which would be anything between 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on roads and traffic condition. Given our roads and traffic an overall or average speed of 50 km per hour is good for a distance of about 400 kilometers. The roads overall were quite good, although there were lots of diversions. The problem was the oncoming buses, which overtake each other while coming onto your side of the road, knowing fully well that we bikers have to get out of the way somehow.

It was a ride of about 370 kilometers and we made good time and reached the place around 2:30 PM. The place is called Cardamom house and the last 10 kilometers were through narrow village roads and out of that the last 5 were totally off-roading as there is no tar at all.

Cardamom house is a nice place at the foothills of the Nilgiris. One side opens out onto a beautiful lake, while the other side is protected by a rocky hill. A beautiful setting. The place is owned by a British national - a very nice host, although a bit on the talkative side. I mean its okay when you realize that he is trying to make you as comfortable as possible :). They serve amazing food and fruits and juices are fresh. The bread also is home made and it was great.

The day was our independence day and guess what, we got it from the British, an irony of sorts :). Anyway we had a good laugh about it and then were led to our rooms. I was not keeping well for the last few days and I had terrible headache by that time. However after lunch and after a shower somehow the headache vanished. I walked around a little to check out the place. There were some lovely birds and one of them even had a nest in a small shrub under our porch.

And there were 2 diesel bullets, used by the employees of the house. They needed maintenance and was spewing black smoke, but man, those bikes have torque! It is supposed to give 70 km to a liter of diesel which is like running on water. Its 350 cc engine cranks out a meager 8 bhp and can reach top speeds of about 80 km per hour. According to one of the employees it reaches 100, but I doubt that. Also it is reputed to vibrate like a truck and the heat of the engine from underneath your legs was supposed to have kept the the population of southern India in check. It is not produced anymore of course. But you can still see them in the villages of southern India where it was used more. Some villagers have even modified it so that they ride it to their fields, put the bike on a stand, fit a belt to its rear wheel to turn a water pump, start the bike, put it to first gear, and pump water to their fields. When done they simply disengage the pump and ride home. I took a test ride and yes it can pull like a tractor. I could not do any speeds of course because the road in front of the house was broken and I did not want to take it out for a longer spin.

Another thing i noticed was that one of the employees who looked like a native of those parts spoke english with a big British accent. And he spoke fluent english. I assumed he was educated. However in the afternoon I found him sitting in the corner and reading books that children read in school in standard 1 and 2. He was reading them aloud just like we did when doing our homework in school. Then I realized that he must have learnt spoken english from his contact with so many foreigners and was actually just learning to read and write. But hats off to that guy and his persistence and zeal to learn.

Most of the guests were foreigners. People from Spain, US, England. We were the only natives. In the evening dinner was Indian fare in celebration of our independence day. At night we sat around in the porch of our cottage with some 'Passpport' and 'Romanov' and had a nice time with our ride stories.

The next day morning after breakfast we went for a walk along the lake. There was a lot of farmland and even a greenhouse inside the property of Cardamom House, where fresh vegetables were grown.

We went around these areas and this opened out onto the lakeside. Lots of birds were around the area looking for fish.



While going to the lake we crossed a small hut made of dry leaves, where a family stayed. They had a lot of goats, horses, hens and a few dogs. The hens and dogs were all roaming around while the goats were inside a fence surrounding the hut. There was a sturdy rooster guarding his 'harem'.

It was a fine specimen of his species. (I am not quite fond of roosters as, as a kid I have been chased, felled and pecked by one till some neighbours in our village came to my rescue. It was a long time ago and I was a toddler then, but a few memories stick to you. And since then I am always wary of these guys). The horses were tied up to trees. While on our stroll we found that the goats and horses were let out for grazing.

We again went in the evening to take a hike along the mud path we came to Cardamom House, the first morning and after a kilometer and half found a small shrine by the side of the road.

There was a walkway just near it and this too led to the lake. We followed it and reached the lake and then followed the bank till we came to the path leading to the lake in front of our cottage. A nice hike of about 3 kilometers. And as we returned it was dusk and we saw the goats being herded back to the hut and the 'kids' bleating from inside the fence eagerly awaiting their mothers. It was quite cute to see the 'kids' poking their noses out from the fence and calling out to their mothers. It always amazes me to see that the behavior of mothers and offspring of all species including humans are so similar.

In the evening it started to rain and sitting on our veranda and watching the rain pour down and drench the hills was intoxicating.

That night too after dinner we again spent time under our porch. There was a full moon and as night fell it caste a warm glow on all the surrounding trees and pathways. Full moon in a forest atmosphere is mesmerizing and we shut off the electric lights to enjoy the dull white light of the moon. On the hills in the distance we could see some faint lights of a few vehicles climbing up towards Kodaikanal.

We woke up the next day to get ready to leave. A superb full moon was visible, setting behind the mountains. Slowly it set as we looked on. Dawn broke and after our breakfast we started our ride back.

We had decided that we would have lunch at Dharmapuri. However just before Dharmapuri I took a detour and came to a road which bypassed Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri and reached Hosur directly. I could not find my way back to Dharmapuri and decided to continue on this road, thinking we would have lunch somewhere else and catch up with the guys at Hosur. Now the road from Dharmapuri to Hosur via Krishnagiri is a 4 laner, boring highway. This was a beautiful road winding through small villages and occasional small towns.

We stopped and tried calling the others and realized all of us had taken the same detour and were on the same road. The rest of the riders were waiting for us a little distance ahead. The road ultimately led us to Hosur and from there to we took the route to Sarjapur, via Attibele and entered Bangalore, and avoided the horrors of Hosur Road traffic at that time.

The moment I enter Bangalore after my rides I feel miserable because it takes at least 2 hours of bad traffic and bad roads to reach my house from the outskirts of Bangalore. However this route was absolutely a dream. No traffic halts and although we traveled a little more distance we reached mush faster and in a much more relaxed state of mind.

The route while going: Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Karur - Dindigul - Athur Village.
The route while coming back: Athur Village - Dindigul - Karur - Salem - Pallakode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Attibele - Sarjapur - Bangalore

Masinagudi (Aug, 2008)

This time we rode to a cozy little place in the middle of the mudumalai forest, just at the foothills of Ooty. The forest is actually divided into 2 by the state borders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On the Karnataka side it is called Bandipore and on the Tamil Nadu side it is the Mudumalai.

This forest is supposed to be home of tigers although in all the times I have crossed the reserve I have only seen elephants. Not surprising because most animals stay clear of the road, a state highway passing bang through the center of the forest.

The ride through the forest is ofcourse beautiful. The highway has sparse traffic and as the road winds its way, the air is fresh and the surroundings green, which is always a much needed relief for us city folks.

As we started from Bangalore after a while I could smell petrol and realized that a leak in my petrol tank has resurfaced. It did not surface in the city because the bike was never heated up much.

On the highway after a run of about 100 kilometers the engine heated up and it in turn heated the tank and the leak expanded and petrol was dripping on to my exhaust. Luckily some of our friends were in a car and i bought a 10 liter can and filled it with petrol and kept it in the car just in case the drip causes me to lose too much petrol. Nothing of that sort happened and we reached Masinagudi without any mishaps.

We stayed in a family maintained farmhouse in a village called Masinagudi. From here the hill station of Ooty is only about 60 kilometers of uphill climb. This place, called Bamboo Banks, is owned by a parsi family and is one of the oldest farm houses in that area.



As we reached the entrance we saw a sign asking us to pull a rope and keep it pulled till the gate opens. Later we came to know, that as we pulled the rope , it opened a valve whitch fed water into a container, which was attached to one end of the gate, and when it became heavy with enough water the gate swung up. And as it went up the container emptied its water and became lighter again and the gate swung down and closed. Interesting stuff.



My friend and I spent the entire afternoon fixing the tank on my bike, first scraping of the paint and some paste put there by my mechanic to stop the leak. Then we applied a resin based gum and when that dried we applied super glue on top of it. Finally we covered that patch with duct tape and let it dry. It has not leaked since. :).

At the farm we found that the owners father was a jolly old man, who rides around the farm using either horses or a yamaha trike and is always followed around by his two dogs.


In the evening we visited a small hill with a temple on the hill top. This temple and the surrounding areas is owned by a famous film actor, Mithun Chakraborty.

It was a picturesque place and we spent some time practising our photography skills.

Somehow we were very tired and by the time we came back and had dinner we were just ready to plop into our beds.

Next morning we started late at about 11 AM and reached bangalore by nightfall.

Some Random thoughts...

Motorcycle and Freedom. The classic answer to why one rides - Freedom. And this is obviously emphasized by the Hollywood movies, where bikers ride without a care in the world. If anyone asks me, why I ride, I hesitate to put freedom first. Yes it is freedom from the daily cares of our lives, may be freedom from the binds of a city life. But when I don my leathers, put on a full face helmet, put on my riding boots and my gloves, I wonder whether all this is actually taking away some of the sense of riding carefree.

My first solo long ride was a ride where I can say I was free. I had no plans, only 4 days of leave. I had no destination, only a direction. I had a rudimentary open face helmet. No gloves. Not even a jacket, only a wind cheater. I had absolutely no tools to work on the bike if it broke down, not even a spanner to open my wheels on case of a puncture. I guess i did not even think what would happen if the bike broke down. I just picked up my bike and rode for 4 days.

Then as time went by, I kept on riding and slowly I started carrying spares for the bike. Got myself a good leather jacket and gloves. I even wear a knee guard. I keep a rain coat. Fully loaded. But I wonder am I missing the essence of a ride.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trying in anyway to promote riding without proper gear. I have taken falls, and have seen people take falls and have realized the value of proper riding gear. I am just wondering...

Another thing I wonder about is the power of the mind. Once while riding I felt that my cable was not feeling right and I was constantly worrying that the cable will break. And it did. In the middle of a forest. I rode some 15 kilometers to the nearest forest check-post, changing gears without the clutch, before I risked stopping and replacing the cable. Many times in a similar situation, if I am preoccupied with some other thoughts and ignore the bikes condition, nothing happens and the bike behaves perfectly.

I also came across a friends blog, where she has described a motorcycle as a magic carpet, taking us from wonder to wonder. I just loved the description. It was so apt. It seems ages ago when, as a wide eyed kid, I used to listen to all these fantasy stories told by my grandmothers and aunts, about magic carpets with princes flying around in the desert. Later read Arabian nights and adventures of Alladin (I think), always wondering if only i get a chance to fly around like that! And reading this line, somehow it all connected - flying carpet, Alladin, deserts, motorcycle. Threading my life from my childhood to my present. Okay I think my thoughts are getting weirder by the minute. Its pretty late, I should go to sleep.