Author: John Mathew

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Kabbala Durga Trek


Well, lot of them speak about living in the present. Yes we should live in the present but how about the interpretation that we give to that advice? We should live in the present to make the best out of the moments, to unhook ourselves from the past, to look forward to future, to find new reasons. But it never means that you should live ignorant, careless, or think about shortcuts, momentarily pleasures and happiness that won’t last long.
We planned our Independence Day ride to Kabbaladurga which turned out as an awesome trekking experience. However I wouldn’t want to write anything about the seasonal patriotism that rouse us for two days in a year and make us throw the national flag on the road sides the next day. This page is just about some crazy decisions which eventually gifted us with the some of the fun filled moments in our life.
Apart from the riding experience, this story tells about our decision to climb the hill from the wrong side :p . We had parked our bike on a place, which we thought to be the starting of the trekking route, and started walking only to realize that we were not on the right path. However, we had this crazy idea to find a new route and go up even though there was a huge protest from Vindhya and Reuben. They followed us while me, KV, Sandeep and our new guy Nirmal went ahead looking for possible trails. There was cutting of bushes, climbing rocks, crawling on knees through tunnels made by bushes and all possible crazy stuff on our event list.
 To be frank, the result was a dead-lock point where there was no going ahead (the bush was twice my height by then), scars and blood on hands, Nirmal’s jacket spoilt by thorns and shouting from the two lame people who were playing spoil sport right from the beginning :p 😀 . But there was a lot more to the trek than the disappointment. A lot of adventure, lot of craziness, lot of fun and a lot of memories.
Now you might wonder why I talked about living in the present and momentarily pleasures. Yes, I am coming to that.  Living in the present was just about our decision to go for the trek and the options to choose momentarily pleasures were many, which we didn’t. We could have directly gone to the regular trek trail and climbed the hill instead of wasting all our energy and emptying the only bottle of water we had, exploring a useless route. We didn’t have to take the pains of scars from thorns and didn’t have to get our cloths spoilt. We could have climbed the hill up and down in half the time we actually spend in total.

But would I be able to see KV laughing hysterically like I have never seen before? Would I be able to see Sandeep all excited and full of energy? Would I collect the porcupine spine (my first treasure from all the trips and treks)? Would I be able to make such beautiful memories? Nope. Even though unknowingly, I preferred long term treasure over momentarily pleasure.

It would have given us a moment’s comfort if we had chosen to climb the hill through the regular trails but would have never compensated for what we were about to miss. Climbing the 1000 meter hill (will have to walk around 2kms to reach on top) without even a single drop of water and that too on empty stomach might seem stupid but the soothing ritual and the splash of theertha on your face by the temple priest in the end is invaluable.  My only regret would be that I lost my flag in the forest while we were trying to find the new route.
HOW TO GET THERE
  • 100Kms from Bangalore
  •  Ride to Channapatna through SH17 and take a left turn from Channapatna town
  • Another 25Kms after the left turn towards Kabbaladurga. Stick to the left side and take the deviation towards left when the first deviation comes.
  • Stick to the road and you will reach Kabbaladurga
 THINGS TO REMEMBER
 
  • Carry sufficient water while climbing
  • Food options are minimal. Therefore remember to keep some light food in your bag
  • Avoid heavy backpacks because the climb is long and tiring
 PICTURES
Kabbala Durga

Reuben rides pretentious Enfield When he is not riding a real Enfield

It was good to have Nirmal along with us
Vindhya was fed up of  ‘freaking paparazzi :p ‘
Reuben’s ‘Do i really have to do this bro?’ face :p
‘Oh my goddddd!!!! am doneeee 🙁 ‘
‘Oh wait.. they are clicking picture .. I should look pretty 😀 ‘

Beliefs and rituals
Kabbalamma Devasthana
The pond that quenched our thirst 🙂
The mystery hole :p
Sandeep was telling me his gost stories 😀
Nirmal just wanted some place to sleep. Reuben is yet to reach 😉
Some fort built by Tippu apparently

Photo courtsey : Wickedframes, Kiran Vasudev, Vindhya C ( you have really got some photography skills man )

More trip stories here 🙂

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Contradiction….

All of us have it inside us, 
Hidden, dormant, and waiting to come out if given a chance.
All that matters is how often do we let it out.
Differences are figured out based on that.
We are all good and we are all bad,
The choices are made by us,
And the choices vary from time to time,
Depending on situations and circumstances,
Sometimes it is not even by choice but by fate.
You are distinguished by the decisions that you make when you have options to choose,
Whether we truly understand the choices that we make or not.
We choose to wear the mask of humanity but carry out the evil hiding inside us.
We choose to instill peace by professing violence,
Our guns speak justice and missiles speak freedom,
Yes. We are a contradiction to ourselves,
Our actions speak against the reasons that we vouch for.
This contradiction is there everywhere.
Sometimes the mask might seem evil but there will be virtue hiding behind it.
The people that you think to be the toughest might be the kindest.
The orphans of the enemies can be seen under the shelter of their parents’ killer,
Being shown the light of hope which they must have thought to not exist,
Being taught to prefer reason over emotion.
We are all contradiction to ourselves.
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Wet trails……The cloud hunt :)


You don’t ride unless you ride in the rain and you don’t ride in the rain unless you get your balls soaked :p . Yeah I have rode in the rain a lot but this time I felt like it was for the first time. Maybe because I was little disturbed for random reasons or maybe because I got a full free road with heavy raining and elegant curves for a little long time. I just got to enjoy every bit of the ride and once more it was just the road, me and my baby. If you would ask me what was that one thing I loved in this ride, I would tell you without thinking much that it was the rattling of the rain drops on my helmet visor that blew me off today.

 

 

 
I just took random lefts and rights and kept on riding until I reached the Machanabele dam (I wasn’t expecting to reach here). I had little too much time to reflect on lots of things during the ride and all thanks to the clouds that were generous enough.


Of everything that I saw today, it was those tiny little rain drops, which didn’t stay on the visor for more than a second that caught all my attention and won all my love. Does it signify anything? It might. Maybe not. It all depends on how we look at things. Everything is just a matter of time. The same ‘you’ who was there a second before and the ‘you’ who is there in the current second might be two contradicting entities if seen that way. The influence of time is something that is definitely beyond the reach of our imagination but it is seemingly immense.

 

A rain drop that was there on your helmet visor made you fall in love with it. Had it stayed there for a few more seconds to divert your attention enough, it might have taken your life too along with it. We all want to jump a signal light hoping to save a few seconds but none of us think about the price that we might have to pay with precious hours and days for that one second where everything went wrong. We cut in a lane traffic to save a few seconds only to realize that it cost us a lot more minutes instead. We reach on judgment about people based on one wrong second where they went totally against us and we easily forget the multitudes of days they spent making us smile. Everything is just a matter of time.

All of us are in a rush but none of us really know where we are heading to. None of us want to think that it is just a matter of a few seconds and it will pass. If we had the ability to believe that the times are meant to pass and pages anew are waiting for us unopened, we would have definitely lived a better life. A life that is meaningful and a life that is worth. We wouldn’t snatch what we don’t deserve and we would have fought for what we love.  

 

I wish to start over. I am just going to erase out of my memory everything that can get me hooked to the past. I am just forgiving everyone who have hurt me directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally. Because I know that that too was a matter of time. Things would have been different if I had waited for the moments to pass. And I apologize everyone whom I have hurt. I just want to experiment if peace can prevail. Because if I cannot nurture it inside myself, I am sure that I can’t vouch for it anywhere else. Now on I will try to keep my calm and think to understand why a few seconds are bad in my life and I would try to find a way out of it. Because when I let anger take over my mind I know that I am just losing my battle against life. Do what seems impossible and bringing peace is one among them. Let me not get over-attached with things and people because even the happiness, I suppose, is momentarily. They too might pass and if you had developed your happy life around a few things and a few people, you will be shattered when they are not around anymore.

Let me see if I can keep my calm at those people who cut lanes without indicators, who expose their true genetic traits while they are behind the wheels. Because if I succeed, I will be proving myself that I am capable of much better things in my life.

Just like the rains that wash away the dirt from the roads even if they are meant to get dirty again. Just like the rains that quench the thirst of men who pollute the clouds that bear them. Just like the rains that can be a soothing touch on your face in this second and transform to a destructive power in the coming few. Just like the rains that do the most difficult things, I just need to teach myself to do things that once I never thought about.

PICTURES FROM THE RIDE

 

 

I thougt that this road would take me to the top of the hill in the picture…… It didn’t…

 

 



A different view of Machanabele dam. I went for a mini trek :p . Climbed the hill close to it.
 



 Why not a selfie?? 😉

 
 


“The tough conditions doesn’t stop me from being myself…” workers on commute..






let them embrace the earth with bare feet..
let them know the pleasure given by the roughness of the sands..
let them know how earth smells..
let them play, fall and scrape their skin on it and let them share their blood with it..
For it is from the sand we came and for it is to the sand we return..
let them love it so that they won’t harm it when they grow up..




one, the energy that drives me….
one, the reason that drives me…

Photo Courtsey: WickedFrames

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Price of happiness? One indicator and a few scratches :p …. The off-road insanity at Kanva

 

Someone with brains once said that life is all about ups and downs and you can’t call it life if it is smooth like a straight line. Obviously this is a thought to ponder upon and I am trying to relate this to a few things that came to my mind. There won’t be even a single kid who learnt to walk without falling down and scraping their skin and I do think that it is a law of nature. And obviously we may not find a parent who wouldn’t let their kids to try walking on their own for the fear that they might fall down. They know that the fall is inevitable and they let it happen because they have seen a lot more people doing it, they have seen people practicing a practice and that practice becoming quite common among general society. And in my perception that is the problem with our community.

 
We are, unfortunately, capable of doing only those things which others do or the things which we are allowed to do or others show us to do. We take up engineering or medicine or some other main stream degree because we have seen thousands doing it before us. We do things because our society asked us to do it.  We don’t do things for the fear what the society might think. We let others see the world through our eyes or, to put it in a different way, we see what the society wants us to see. We are afraid of pursuing a degree or career that we were passionate about, we are afraid of being with the people whom we love, we don’t have the confidence to point at someone and declare that he/she is mine for the fear of what society might say, we wear dress that society approves of and we live a life that they are happy about. But, in the end, what have we got? What did we live for? What was our purpose? 
 
To join the crowd is always easy but it takes courage to stand out. It does make a difference. It is not about whether you should join the crowd or stand out; it is just about doing the things you love in your life. Living a life that others ask you to live is just like taking photos using automatic and manual mode. Automatic is always easy to manage and satisfactory photos are always guaranteed. No one will ever complain about the lighting or color but it also means that no one will ever say a ‘wow’ looking at the picture you took. On the other hand taking pictures in manual mode is always adventurous as you have to take care of all settings to get the picture proper. Sometimes you might be left with useless pictures that will make you a laughing stock in front of others but once you get the hang of it, you will be making spectacular pictures with your machine.
Life is very similar to this. You can live your life with predefined default settings and live a life that was quite satisfactory without inviting any negative attention from anyone. But, how about a choice that will let you take the steps that you planned, for your happiness, and let you live the life you wanted? Obviously you will hear lot of criticisms and murmurs from all sides but once you make it to the other end of the road, you have done everything you wanted with your life. If death comes and knocks at your door then, you will welcome it with a smile.
 
 
 
I had my first official accident in our last trip 😉 , which was to Kanva reservoir and Sholay hills near Ramanagara, and if the above written blah blah sounds like a justification for that crash I just want to let you know that I am not trying to do it. Of course it is not a glorious thing to fall from your bike at 75+ Kmph and to feel proud about it. Also nobody should be riding to say hello to tragedies. All I am saying is that the crash wasn’t unexpected and all of us were just extra cautious to keep our rides on track at 80s and 90s through the loosely packed off road mud track of the reservoir bed. But we were not ready to sacrifice our fun for the sake of safety (this will sound absurd but it doesn’t mean we were trying to put ourselves in danger. We were extra cautious and I fell down only because my front tire got trapped in a loose mud pit which seemed like a plane surface from distance and caved in as I rode inside) and the result was indeed sweet (except for the gone indicator and scratches on my fairing :p ). We just added one more memory to our best riding experiences and the jerks and vibrations from the uneven trails of reservoir bed is nothing that can be compensated by anything else.
 
Kanva reservoir
 
We were a little confused when we saw the reservoir because all we saw was cows grazing inside reservoir bed instead of water :p. We kept our hope and went to the other side of the reservoir expecting to find water but disappointment was the result. On further research on internet, I understood that the reservoir is an artificial lake fed by the Kanva River and there won’t be water all time of the year. So in case if you are coming here to enjoy the waters, better make sure that it is the right time to find water. We went in a rainy season only but we don’t know the apparent reason for why the lake was dry. 
 
 
However, this is a very good picnic spot and a great place for off road adventures. There are numerous trails inside the bed with very good visibility even for Kilometers but these roads are best suited for cars than bikes because of the loosely packed earth. Or else you should come here with proper bikes that can do offroading (it wasn’t a great idea to do that shit on an R15 here :p ).


 
 
 
 
·         How to get here
 
–          Kanva is around 60Kms from Bangalore and there is only one right turn to take from the Mysore express way
–          Travel around 8 or 10 more Kilometers from Ramanagara Kamath ( or 6 or 7 Kms fromTaj biriyani paradise) and you will find a temple with a banyan tree and a small ground in front on the right side of the road.
–          Next to the temple is a narrow road that goes inside towards Kanva reservoir. Just stick to the road and you will reach the reservoir straight
 
Sholay hills
 
Mesmerizing is the only word to explain Sholay hills where the epic movie was shot. The hills are simply as interesting as the movie and the best part is that you can reach the top most point without taking much of trouble (except getting tired as shit) because proper steps are made till the top (tourism department did a good job here J). You will be climbing nearly 400 steps ( yeah we counted :p I counted 386 and Vasu counted 389) till you reach the temple and then again you have to climb further up to reach the top. Climbing up the vertical steep just by trusting the rocking hand rail was little scary though. However, we realized that our effort got paid once we reached on top. The wind and the view were just mind-blowing. There is a small pond on the top of the rocky hill but it is not very clean to look at. 
 

 

 
·         How to get here
 
–          While coming back from Ramnagara, you will reach a small town before Bidadi and there is an exit to the left from Mysore road ( There is an arch at the beginning of the exit road)
–          Just go straight until you reach the checkpoint. Park your vehicle here, pay the fee and start climbing. ( better carry water with you because the climb up and down will take a few hours
 
PHOTOS
 



 

IF YOU WANT TO TORTURE THIS GUY, LEAVE HIM WHERE THERE IS NO NETWORK..

 

 

 

COW’S GONNA POOP FACE FOR DUCK FACES ARE TOO MAINSTREAM 😀

 

 

COOL GUY SANDEEP B)

 

 

YOU CLICKIN ME BRAHHH??? I DON’T GIVE A RATS F*****G ASS BRAHH… B| …. BADASS SHREYAS (chumma kidding 😉 .. he is another cool guy i met in my life 🙂 )

 

 

IT’S KINDA AWKWARD TO HAVE SOME CUTENESS IN THE PICTURE 😛

 





 

 

 

LOOK AT THE TRAILS… IT IS SERIOUSLY SO LONG

 

 
I DIDN’T SAY MESMERIZING FOR NO REASON B|

 

 

FABID AND REUBEN ‘BROMANCNG’ 😛

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Read more trip stories here 🙂

PICTURE COURTESY: KIRAN VASUDEV, WickedFrames
CHUMMA COURTESY: ANSHU ROY (For ‘God only knows what’ reason….. just kidding… thanks moti for the unending bak bak 😉 :p ….)

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Die with regrets? Never… Go to Kodai ;)



You can die either with a contended heart and a smiling face or with regrets. The choice is yours. As we all know, it is always the things that we didn’t do that haunts us more than the things we did in our lives. None of us can deny the fact that we all have stood clueless at some point of time, looking back at the path through which we came, thinking about the things we didn’t do and flooding our mind with regrets. Most of the times, we were denying ourselves the minute pleasures with the motive of satisfying people around us( so called loved ones ). Even I have done way too many sacrifices like that and it took me some time to realize that the people who loves you truly would not want you to sacrifice anything that you love, for them. I am not trying to get philosophical here but the recent trip to Kodaikanal has got immense significance in my life.
 

This might be one of those trips where I have made compromises for the love of my friendship but it eventually turned out as of the best decisions I have made in my life. When I created this blog, I had the thought of dedicating it solely to bike rides but I can’t help but to write about the Kodai trip we made on two cars recently. I had bunked a full day class just to get my bike serviced for riding to Kodai the next day ( I would be left out as the lone rider with everyone else coming in car) only to change my mind and find myself a room in one of the cars next day. The change of decision happened overnight and it was definitely an outcome of various thoughts and considerations. I just wanted to enjoy every single seconds of the trip with these idiots even though I knew I would miss my bike so badly.
Normally people would have thought about the losing hours and declining attendance percentages ( especially when you are a Christite ) and about the huge sum of money that you have to spend when you are already broke before thinking about a sudden trip plan. One might call us stupid but that was a unanimous yes to the trip from everyone and all other thoughts came only afterwards. That was one trip where I was totally myself once more and the trip gave me back the things and fun I thought i had lost for ever. This trip proved to me that life is simpler than it looks like. Maybe it is because of the perspective through which we look at life. Maybe there will be a smoother and swifter path waiting for our attention only if we change our angle of view.
All I got to tell you after the trip is that, do everything that you are passionate about in your life. Never give room for regrets. Become what you wished to become in your life. Chase your dreams. Just make sure that you have got your own reasons behind the things you do because once you have chosen a road, you will definitely reach a point where there is no turning back. You should be obliged only to those people who deserve it. Your life is yours.
To speak about Kodai, this is one among the coolest hill stations in South India and the meaning of ‘Kodai’ in my mother tongue means fog and yes the name suits the charming hills perfectly. One must go to Kodai for its cool climate and that is something you won’t get to enjoy anywhere else. There are not many remarkable places that are worth to be added in a travelogue but the places to chill out are way too many. We were on a quick drive that included two days and one night and that time window was obviously too small for sight seeing. So we just had maximum fun in and around Kodai town and the lake.

The lake is indeed a magnificent one with a circumference of around 9kms and very spic and span environment. You won’t find any trace of thrash in the Kodai municipality and all the places are well maintained ( except for congestion). You can go for bicycle, tonga or horse rides around the lake at pretty reasonable rates and try some great falls like Anshu did :p ( you should learn to ride bicycles moti :p ). There are numerous shops around the lake that sell everything from handicrafts to home made chocolates. The Kodai home made chocolates are a must try and they are very cheap too unlike the Ooty ones. The Tibetan bazaar run by Tibetan refugees sell items like blankets and sweaters and you can find a good deal here also.

The streets of Kodai echoes the chants ‘Mushroom.. mushroom’ and it is totally up to you to decide on what to do with the tempting calls. By the time we finished roaming around the lake, it was late night and we had to settle a few things about the rooms and shrooms :p, so we had to head back.  To be frank, fooding in Kodai is not so cheap unless you find some good places at moderate prices. The Royal Tibet restaurant at the end of the vegetable market is one good option for great food at reasonable prices. Astoria Veg is a good breakfast place but bit pricey.

We had breakfast from Astoria Veg and headed to the park and played stupid games and clicked pictures till afternoon. All you can say when 20 year olds run around, falling and getting mud on their clothes, in the middle of a crowded park that is meant for kids, there is this freaking inner happiness that nothing else can buy you. We concluded the trip with a visit to he Bear falls where we couldn’t find water but  homo sapean feces :p. 


To remember

– 90 percentage of the road to Kodai is express way ( only around 80Kms two lane and curves), and therefore you should think twice about taking your bike there. You will get bored unless riding is there in your blood.

– Climbing up to Kodai is through narrow curved roads and you have to be very careful about oncoming vehicles.

– Plan your trip for a few days at least so that you can enjoy Kodaikanal to the fullest, peacefully.

– Carry enough clothes that can keep you warm ( it is really very cold :p ).

Places to see in Koda


Pictures

Vandana after her marathon puking :p
 
Jackie bro showing off his skills :p
Fresh fruits – another great thing about Kodai
No comments :p
Kodai valley
Partners in crime

 

Bryant Park
Cijin and Azaan being pensive and shit :p

 

Ananth going all national geographic about it
They were playing ‘touch the tree’ along with 10 year olds in the park :p
That is our walking to Bear shola falls
On the other side of the stream is forest and that is the glimpse of a Bison
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Devarayana Durga


Devarayanadurga hills or DD hills, as we prefer to call with all our love, is a perfectly crafted out rocky hill that is rightly placed at a peaceful location free from all the disturbances and nuisance of Bangalore city. It may not be really a courteous thing to associate DD hills to Bangalore since it is located in the Tumkur neighborhoods and around 60Kms away from Bangalore. Okay people, let the credit of the location go to anyone as you wish, all I want to do is just brag about another amazing experience we guys had on our toys.
We made it even with seven bikes and seven riders this time with no pillions and that was the best thing we could do to make the ride awesome. It would have been a 6 by 6 ratio if Fabid hadn’t changed his mind and joined the ride with his handicapped duke 200 in the last minute :p ( just kidding bitch 😀 ). But then, again, it wouldn’t be so much fun if we had missed you out. Let us put all that aside and get into the business.

You can go to DD hills for three reasons:
  • You are a devoted and spiritual person : you wouldn’t find another temple anywhere that is so quiet and peaceful and is placed at a beautiful location
  • You are an admirer of the nature: the view from the top most point of the hill is just mesmerizing and you wouldn’t want to miss something like this ( trust me on this )
  •  You are a rider and you are totally screwed up there in your brain: Well, this cannot be explained in a sentence. Let us get into more details.

Sweet facts

There is only one word to describe the ride till the exit towards DD hills, on Hyderabad expressway, from Bangalore – “BORING” . However, this is highly a relative opinion and definitions will definitely change depending on people and the way you ride. For those like minded and responsible gangs who can do some insane show offs ( safely and responsibly) on the roads, the three lane roads are highly welcoming but if you are thinking about riding steady and slow, you will have to count the sheep till you say bye to the expressway. The story takes a new turn as you take the exit towards DD hills and let me warn you that there is a high chance that you might miss this exit out most probably. A landmark to identify this exit is the first toll booth after the one in Bangalore city limits. You will find a toll booth with numerous tea vendors next to it. You should take the right turn from the next circle you reach and then it won’t be much difficult to navigate to DD hills.

I would suggest you to go here on an Impulse or any off roader bike because this place is best suited for off road adventures. Even though there are numerous curves and sufficient hairpin bends en route, the roads are uneven and may not be as exciting as it would be on an off road bike, for other bikes. Apart from the hills, you have access to a rocky hill while coming back from DD hills. You will find a mud road on the right side right after you finish the descend from DD hills. You can ride till the top of the hill and there won’t be anything more thrilling than this experience in DD hills. You have to be a bit careful while going up and extremely careful while coming down. We wouldn’t might if you would call us insane for racing up the hill because nothing can replace that feeling we had then.

Not so sweet facts
We don’t have to hesitate to admit the fact that us Indians can easily sell our conscience for some quick bucks and the ,at least, 3 days old dead body of the monkey exhibited for collecting donations was a disgusting scene to witness. You can expect this quite frequently since there are numerous monkeys hanging around the hill and temple premises. However, you can ignore these things and find the peace you were searching for at the Yoganarasimha temple on the top of the hill. This centuries old temple was apparently built by the king of Mysore. There is a hill top cottage where Dr. Salim Ali once camped during one of his many bird watching endeavours.
Riding tips
  • ·         Start off early from Bangalore but not so early since the temple will open only by around 9:30 ( yes we had to wait a little while)
  • ·         Go with bikes that can do better on off road terrains ( the R15 and CBR were not the best options for this ride, however it didn’t stop me and nidhin from doing crazy shit :p )
  • ·         No great place to eat nearby and therefore you need to go prepared.
  • ·         The hill roads are narrow and vicinity is very less. Be extremely cautious at the curves.
  • ·         You have to climb on the top of the hill ( go further beyond the temple and upwards) if you need to click the pictures of the hairpin bends from top ( these are the favorite pictures of DD hills on the net)
  • ·         You will find a small pond on the plains and the road is quite free and nice. You can do some stunts or photo shoots as you may prefer
WE KNOW THAT WE ARE JUST ROOKIES AND WE AINT NO STUNTERS.. BUT WE ARE NOT ATTENTION SEEKERS EITHER.. WE DID THIS JUST BECAUSE WE FELT GOOD AND YOU CAN SAVE YOUR “THIS CAN’T BE CALLED STUNT” COMMENTS FOR A BETTER CAUSE 😛 😀 (FOR THOSE WHO WERE GOING TO GO WITH THEM 🙂 ). THANK YOU
Time for more pics 😉

Picture courtsey:- Wickedframes, Kiran Vasudev

See more exciting trip stories here 🙂 

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The Ghat ride – The ride through the Western Ghats and Western Coasts ;)

These pages are on account of the first step I took towards the accomplishment of my dream, the dream of visiting the nooks and corners of this country on a bike. A souvenir of the first longest solo ride I executed. The 1200 Km (approx.) ride included parts of Western Ghats like Nilgiris, Palghat gap, and Idukki, and the beautiful backwaters of Alappey.

To Ooty

Ooty is at around 150Kms from my hometown and wasn’t a tiring ride. People coming from northern sides of Kerala should reach Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad district before deviating to the Ooty highway. The NH 212 will have diversions after Bathery town towards Mysore on the left and Ooty on the right. There are no diversions till Gudalur once you have taken this road from Bathery.

Early morning is the best time to ride this road and I travelled this road around 7am. With considerably less number of vehicles and mild fog at this time, the curvy roads will greet you with an awesome ride. Even though you won’t be able to enjoy much of the forest roads (as one might expect while crossing the border through Wayand), the natural beauty of the villages are incredible. Soon after entering Tamil Nadu, you will find beautiful tea estates on both sides and this is one awesome road to go for picnic drives.

Gudalur is a small town with shops and lodges and you can consider having breakfast from around Gudalur because trying to find a place to eat in Ooty is not good idea (Ooty is highly crowded with tourists and restaurants will also experience the same rush. Besides, roaming around inside Ooty on vehicles, in search of restaurants will be the worst thing to do). I had had my breakfast from Wayanad itself and I didn’t stop in Gudalur for that reason. Ascend towards Ooty begins right after Gudalur town but the fun of the hairpin roads are spoiled by the potholes on the roads. The Gudalur road is badly maintained and is very uneven. However, you can enjoy the beauty of the Eucalyptus trees on either sides of the road and the striped sunlight coming through the woods is a beautiful scene to remember.


Needle rock viewpoint

The first thing to see before entering Ooty is the needle rock viewpoint which is located at around 40Kms before Ooty on the Gudalur – Ooty main road. The view point is around 700mts far from the main road and you have to reach there by walking. The viewpoint is controlled and maintained by tourism department and entry is through paid tickets at Rs.5. One shouldn’t miss the breathtaking view from the viewpoint during an Ooty trip.

That is needle rock view point at the distance

Pykara lake

Pykara Lake is right before you enter Ooty town and is another beautiful experience that you shouldn’t miss. There is boating facility and you can roam around the reservoir area in different types of boats.

Pedal Boat prices

2 seater – Rs.60
6 seater – Rs.325
8 seater – Rs.400
Power boat price – around 600 for a half an hour trip

St. Stephens church



This is almost a two hundred years old historical church located on a beautiful spot. The church and the nearby cemetery is of great archaeological importance and is worth a visit if you are interested in historical buildings. The view of Ooty town from the church is also wonderful.

I was on a fast run to complete the first phase of my ride and couldn’t spend much time in this heavenly place and I truly wish if I could stay there for some time. However, the best part of Ooty was that I got to meet Kiran Vasudev and eat a chicken burger at his favourite cafe. The trip wouldn’t be so much fun if I hadn’t met you bro 🙂 . It was KV who suggested the Kotagiri – Metupalayam road to Coimbatore and I truly owe him for that suggestion. This was the best part of my ride and I truly enjoyed the curvy roads to the maximum. Be a bit alert and cautious about oncoming vehicles and you can throttle up on the curves with full confidence if you do so.

Here is a picture of the only memento I collected during the entire trip. to you KV 🙂
 
 

A few more pictures

Nothing like the early morning rides through Wayanad

 

I lost the picture of the initial reading this was taken after around 60 or 70Kms
Tea shop inside the forest
Ooty here I come 😉

This grassland is a beautiful place and you can have a mind-blowing experience if you are on fourwheeler. This is near Pykara lake.

The last view of Ooty before entering the Kotagiri road



Doddabetta – Kotagiri – Metupalayam – Coimbatore – Palghat

The weather change when you reach the plains is intolerable and it is better to keep riding until your body get accustomed to the heat. There are road side fruit salad sellers on the Metupalayam – Coimbatore road and the tender coconut water and watermelon from those guys is indeed refreshing. There is nothing much to talk about the desert like places I saw for the rest of the ride. The ride from Coimbatore to Palghat is really boring due to the congestion and construction works going on in the road.

Kava, Malampuzha

If you are someone who likes to get your toy little dirty, you should definitely go to Kava. This is a plain grassland beside the Malampuzha reservoir with tightly packed sand. This plain is free of stones and you can do off-road adventures on the tightly packed sand with full confidence. Apart from that, you can have a short photo session as well in this place.

The next best thing in Palghat is Fabid’s mom’s cooking magic and I am sorry for those people who won’t get to enjoy it 😉 . I was done with the first day’s ride and slept at Fabid’s place.

Palghat – Alappey

I wasn’t alone on the second day of the ride and Fabid, Suraj and Edwin had joined on the second day (still a solo ride for me because those three were on car and I was on my bike :p ). Let me get straight into the Alappey business because there is nothing exciting about the second day’s ride.

We had made arrangements for a houseboat trip and, let me tell you, it was AWESOMEEE. The title ‘Venice of the east’ is perfect for Alappey and it was a totally new experience for us for the next two days. A lifestyle that is truly developed around waters is something that we had never experienced before. Let the pictures do the speaking.

That is our gang inside the house boat
Water transport is one of the major means of transport in Alappey
So you said you have a car infront of your house ha? That’s cute, we have boats parked in front 🙂
The dining area inside the boat
The corridor inside the boat
Lunch (included in the package)
It rained and it was beautiful
The bedroom inside the house boat

Houseboats are available at different rates depending on the number of rooms and number of people. Standard hiring prices of house boats per day based on number of rooms are as follows(including food):

Single room- 6000 – 8000
Double room – 9000 – 12000
Triple room – 13000 – 16000
There is even a ten bed room house boat available at the rental charge of one lakh per day.

The boats are well maintained and clean. Each bedroom has air conditioners and attached toilets.
Another beautiful place to visit in Alappey is the Marari beach. This is a clean and beautiful beach but not very safe for swimming.

Aleppey was the last major stop in my ride and I was heading to my grandparent’s place in Idukki. I will share the experiences in Idukki in detail on a different post.

This was my route

 

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Madikeri – the memoir of a glorious past

If you are looking for a place that can help you to forget everything and be yourself for some time, Madikeri is the right place to go. I am saying this from one of the most beautiful riding experiences of my life. We had been planning a trip to Madikeri for a very long time and finally we fixed the date and time well in advance. There were around 12 people and 7 or 8 bikes when we planned it and only 3 bikes and four of us actually went for the trip. However, whoever didn’t turn up for the ride just missed something so amazing.
Madikeri is at around 250 Kms from Bangalore and Mysore is about at the middle of route and gives you a flexibility of roaming around the historic city as well. However, we didn’t spend much time at Mysore except for the breakfast. This place called ‘Ramya hotel’ serves awesome dosas and we went there particularly to try it. The hotel is on Hunsur main road but it is a bit difficult to find them but the search is totally worth it.
We headed straight towards Madikeri and our next target was Kushalnagar, the Tibetan settlement in India. The Hunsur highway is a beautiful, well maintained two lane road and won’t disappoint you. If you carefully look out for the humps in between, trust me, the ride will be freaking awesome on this road. If you are riding in a group, you can try a safe racing also because the road is wide and has a great visibility range and is safe for fast rides.
There are numerous locations on the road that are perfect for photo sessions and memorable pictures are guaranteed while riding on this road.
Kushalnagar is a beautiful and peaceful place filled with Tibetan refugees. As Indians, we can feel little proud that our country has become the reason for survival of a few people at least. The settlement definitely showed the ray of hope to those people who were stuck in the middle of nowhere at some point of time. Let the blessings of such virtues fall over the coming generations of our country. The major attraction of Kushalnagar is the golden temple and the glorious temple stands high with all the elegance. There are so many beautiful handicraft products for you to buy as well.
We headed towards Madikeri after giving a short visit to the golden temple. I can credit the calmness of Kushalnagar to the Tibetan monasteries but I am really confused about the reason behind the soothing atmosphere of Madikeri. We didn’t feel the roughness, nuisance or frustration of a town in this place and the feeling was really soothing. To add more flavour to our visit, mild drizzling started and you shouldn’t miss drinking the Coorg coffee in such weather.
I really regret not knowing the name of an awesome hill that we went accidently. We were looking for a place that we saw on map and in between we lost our way. However we decided to explore further and we found an ascending road. We rode till the road ended and it was a great experience. The road was little rough and gave the feeling of riding in off road conditions. Despite the engines getting heated up, we revved till the top and the view was mesmerizing.
Places like Raja’s seat, abbey falls, and Madikeri fort are quite around Madikeri town and these places are most suitable for a quick tour. You have grand things to do in Madikeri if interested such as river rafting, quad biking, elephant safari etc. We went for a short trip and didn’t have time for everything. After all we went to have fun riding and for that purpose the ride was an incredible one.
View from Rajas’s seat madikeri 
Abbey falls Madikeri
Madikeri fort ruins
Madikeri fort compound
Golden temple Madikeri
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Hogenakkal falls – Niagra of India

The Hogenakkal ride still remains one of my favourite trips so far. It wasn’t the beauty of the places that won my love in this trip but the beauty of the roads. We didn’t take the expressway (we will never consider four lane roads if we have alternative two lane roads to any place because riding is not fun on expressways) and instead we took the Kanakapura road for experimenting. We didn’t have to regret the choice and it turned out as one of the best riding decisions to choose the curvy beauty road for our trip. I have got nothing much to speak about the place we visited because we were so overwhelmed by the road and the ride. So let me brag about the riding experience 😉 .

There are a few diversions before you enter the Hogenakkal road and I warn you that the roads are not so great until then (not the quality, the roads are of real good quality with less or no potholes at all ). The Kanakapura road is little congested with considerable traffic, but the road is wide enough and won’t give you much of a headache. This road will give you a warm up with not so bad curves and the real game begins when you take the exit towards Hogenakkal road. You will be left with a very narrow pocket road with literally zero vehicles. The Road is of amazing quality and you can ride confidently through the deserted farm lands. There are not many villages in between and hardly any towns in between. We didn’t see any four wheelers in the entire stretch. With a Duke 200, NS200 and an R15, our blood started pumping up. We revved up through the curves and the ride till Hogenakkal was a mind-blowing experience that nothing can match. The best part of the ride was that there was mild drizzling throughout and while coming back it became a little more intense (which added more fun).

Attractions

  • The falls are really beautiful
  • You can go for a coracle boat trip if interested but you have to go during dry season for this
  • Massage services are nice if chosen carefully
Warnings

  • The road is too deserted. You can’t expect help in any case of emergency. Make sure that your bike is in good condition if you are planning to take this road (fill up the tanks, check the cables, curb your hunger etc.) or consider the expressway
  • Watch out for dogs and cattle on the road (not much of a trouble but for the safety sake, prevention is always better)
  • Since these are village roads, I can’t guarantee anything about the conditions because I am not sure about the maintenance of roads. When I travelled, it was in the best condition. Consider the opinion of people who travelled this road recently
  • Once you reach Hogenakkal falls, be careful about touts and frauds. There are high chances of scams. People offer you massage and stuff and the reliability and safety of these services are doubtful.Be very careful on the rocks because they are too slippery and don’t do adventures on the water because life is really precious :p
Let the pictures do the speaking 😉
 
 
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The nandi day

Just like anyone new to Bangalore, our trip stories also begin from Nandi hills. There is nothing such as a bad trip because any trip has got greatness in itself but the reason to choose the Nandi hills trip for the first blog post is that it was our first organized trip to anywhere. The ride to the ‘mist’ical hill was a properly executed one and was a kick-start to the chain of rides to the same place by other college-mates later. We are, indeed, proud that we gave birth to the riding legacy of CUFE.
 
 
The trip was even before I got my own bike and the team consisted of six bikes out of which two were rented (Impulse, apache), six riders and six pillions (666 a coincidence? 😉 :p ). As the planners of the trip, we (me and Fabid) were quite uncertain about lot of things because it was our first trip of that kind and we also didn’t know about the riding styles and attitudes of most of our friends. We were worried about the safety of everyone also but we had determined to enjoy the trip to the fullest. The trip proved to us that our worries were all unnecessary and it was concluded safe and sound.
Nandi
The explanation of the name of the hill will vary from people to people. Well, Nandi can be anything such as Nandi the bull, or the hill of yoga Nandishwara, Anandagiri the hill of happiness, or even the Boga Nandishwara temple because there are several theories related to the evolution of the name of this hill. Hold on to the theory that is most convincing for you and focus on the beauty and essence of this place rather. The history of the hill can be traced down to centuries back with the 1300-year-old Nandi temple being one of the attractions of the hill. There are numerous historical things to grab your attention in the hill if you are someone interested in history and archaeology but what caught me most was the mist, the fog and the breeze of the hill.
There will be nothing that can beat the experience of ascending the heights through the beautiful mist and fog on curvy roads. Nandi is indeed a place of delight for any rider and you have to make your trip during the early hours of the day if you want to enjoy the elegance of the hill to the fullest. I will definitely go to this place again.
The roads
The roads won’t be interesting until you exit from the Hyderabad expressway when you are coming from Bangalore side. But once you are in the two way traffic roads, the ride will get life. The curvy roads begin as you get close to the hills and the ascending roads are simply superb with perfectly balanced curves, hairpin bends, and straight stretches. One good thing about these roads is that nothing is in excess. Some places have too much of curves or too much of hairpin bends or straight stretches.
·         Going from Bangalore
–          Reach Hebbal circle
–          Turn towards Hyderabad express way ( towards left when you are coming from Yeshwantpur side, towards right when you are coming from Silk Board side, straight when you are coming from Golf course or city side).
–          You have to take one more left towards the state highway 104, from the express way. You will see direction boards on the express way for this.
–          Then it is just one straight road towards the hills
Things to see in Nandi
–          Sunrise if you are lucky enough (it won’t be visible every day due to fog and cloud and you have to reach very early)
–          The historical temple, the pond, fort, summer palace (not open to public but you can see outside of it), the cliff of death
–          The view from the view point will be a delight for your eyes and this is definitely something that you don’t want to miss