Day 6, 30th Dec. 2016 - From Tamil Nadu to Kerala

Just before the Sunrise

Kanyakumari is a place in India from where you can see the sunset as well as the sunrise. We wanted to see the sunrise from the Vivekanand Rock Memorial. But as the ferry was cancelled on the earlier day, there was a huge crowd already lined up to get the tickets. We finally decided to stick to our hotel terrace to see the Sunrise. Ours Hotel was the tallest building in that area and so we had the advantage too. The weather was cloudy, but we managed to get a glimpse of the rising Sun.

Sunrise riddled with clouds!

Immediately after the sunrise, we saddled up and headed back to the road. Today was one more long stretch. We were going to ride along the western coast in Kerala now.

We left Kanyakumari and halted for breakfast after an hour and a half. We had our usual share of dosa’s, uttappa’s , idli’s and some coffee. Some of us even had a nice stomach filling milkshake.

The terrain now was quite different from the flat lands of the eastern coast. There were huge granite mountains on one side and nice green fields and water bodies on the other. The roads started becoming comparatively smaller. We were bidding adieu to Tamil Nadu. From here on it was another terrain… another culture.

The state of Kerala, Gods own country, greeted us with a lush green groves of betel nut and coconut. Small curvy roads and the hot climate were making the ride slow. To add up to this, there was a lot of road repair work going on.

Today even google maps had decided to play games on us. We had a desire to follow the coastline and be as close to the sea as possible. Google took it a bit too seriously and guided us to supposedly coastal road. The already small highway started becoming smaller and smaller and the tarmac started vanishing. We could now see the clean green blue waters of the Arabian sea flanked with with white sands..actually we could also feel the same sand below our feet and tyres…The road which was present in google maps had vanished somewhere and we were stuck in the dry sand! We checked the map again and yes...we were bang on the road…the only difference was it was not a road at all…just lots of sand. Anyways, after a tiresome exersize of maneouvering our bikes carefully through the sand we entered a small gully. Now this gully was actually so small that only one of us could pass at a time. It had sharp 90 deg turns. It was a test of our skills and I am happy to announce here that all of us passed with flying colours (and lots of sand in our bikes, eyes, mouth, nose, clothes).

Riding in the heat was a difficult task, especially with all the safety equipment. Our first destination today was Kovalam beach. Taking a small detour from our main route, we reached the beach. It was an awesome sight. A small beach, with a few boats anchored on the sand. The main beach is flanked by hills on both the sides. The beaches in the entire southern region of India are clean. There were nice big waves…ideal for surfing. This was a much needed break from the tiring ride and all the episodes that had happened since morning. We hydrated ourselves with some refreshing coconut water and started to move ahead.

Kovalam Beach

It was hot and sweaty and the breakfast we had been consumed in the sand activity..hunger thirst and heat were driving us now. In kerala you are continuously passing through small villages, back to back. Picking up speed is impossible. Being afternoon time, most hotels and eateries were closed. Finally we found a small place which was serving limited menu. Chicken curry, Veg curry, egg curry, omlette and Parota. We had no choice but to eat here. Though the place was small, the food here was very tasty. To quench our hunger we slurped on a few bottles of Pepsi. We were finally done. We got our bill and were awestruck. The rates were simple. Rs. 10 for one portion of anything you take. After eating sumptuous amounts of food our bill was just around 200 bucks. By far this was the cheapest meal we had.

Now the roads were getting a bit better than the entry to Kerala. After the experiences we had since morning, we decided to stick to the main highway instead of following the coastal highway. We passed many beautiful rivers and backwaters.

Backwaters in Kerala

By late afternoon we had passed Trivandrum and then Kollam and were enroute Allapuzha.

The setting Sun brought a new freshness as the heat reduced. The road was also much better now. We were back on track with our speed and were eager to coverup the distance. But, again, the punctured bike started showing resistance. Just after crossing Allapuzha, I observed that the tyre was going flat. I informed Ganesh to slow down and went ahead in search of a Mechanic. Found one. But he did not have the equipment to repair the tyre. We filed in some air and started our journey. We decided to slow down a bit. The group was split. Few of us went ahead as we had to find the hotel and check in and me and Ganesh stayed back.

Then..after a few kilometer we found our guardian angel..A tyre shop with a smart mechanic!! This was exactly what we were looking for. And he was smart and had al the necessary equipment including a hot patch. In a few minutes, the tyre was fixed and we were ready to go. At this point my bike decided to give up. I started it, switched on my extra set of Halogens and spatttt..off went the electricals. Luckily for me I had faced this earlier and knew the root cause of the problem. The switch for my extra set of lamps was broken and the wire came in contact with the bike body thus blowing off the fuse. I changed the fuse and did some Jugaad with the switch. We were back on the road and rolling again.

Finally we reached our resort in Kochi. Tired and worn out we were…and a chilled beer was exactly what was needed. Devesh, Amol and Tejas had checked in earlier and already taken care of that. After a few quick swigs and a small shower, we headed out for dinner. None of us was in a mood to eat south indian meals. We wanted a change..and Dominos came to our rescue. This was the first time after Pondy that we had a nice dinner with some choice of Menu.

Day 5, 29th Dec. 2016 - The day of visiting the lands end

The fifth day of our ride was the one we had longed for. Today we were going to the land’s end on the eastern coast of India, Dhanushkodi. Once a quaint village, Dhanushkodi was washed away by a cyclone in the mid 60’s and since then it has not been inhabited. Now, only a few local fisherman live there in makeshift cottages. The town is called Ghost town.

Dhanushkodi Panorama

Today, we were firstly supposed to rise early and visit the temple to have a look at the architecture, which none of us managed after the earlier days ride..But we all woke up in time so that we could see the sunrise from Dhanushkodi.

Our bags were already packed the earlier night and in a few minutes we loaded them on our bikes. And here came the first surprise..One of our bikes tyre was flat. Well, we had already equipped ourselves for such an emergency. We had a USB compressor and my bike had a charger fitted to it..The testing of this system was successful... so in a few minutes we were on the road towards Dhanushkodi. It was cloudy and had rained at a few places. The drive to Dhanushkodi was of roughly 20 kms.

Dhanushkodi is a narrow strip of land in between the sea and as such is very windy. We had to drive carefully as we were literally shifting due to the wind.

We reached the entry to the last strip of land only to find out that it was closed to tourists and special permission was needed to go to the farthest point. After a lot of convincing we got through and were finally riding on a road with sea waves crashing on both sides.

This patch of the road is awesome…7 kms of spotless, flat, straight tarmac as good as, or rather better than, any damn runway without any other vehicles. Blue sea on both sides…gushing wind and huge crashing waves. At  the farthest point an Ashoka Pillar has been recently constructed. The sight is just mesmerizing. 

Runway..is it?

Ashoka Pillar

From here Sri Lanka is just 20 kms away…we could actually manage to get signal of a cellular network in Sri Lanka.

The Convoy

We parked our bikes and walked the last few meters to the sea from the farthest drivable point on the southeastern coast of India. 

Sunrise from Dhanushkodi

Lands End

The sea here is clean…peaceful yet aggressive..Unluckily for us, there was a lot of cloud cover and we couldn’t see the Sunrise. We devoured the beauty of the moment and left for Rameswaram. 

Dhanushkodi...Done!! 

Once in Rameswaram, we had to get the punctured tyre fixed. But no one was ready to touch the Royal Enfield. Finally we got a young chap who was so skilled that he fixed the tyre in a few minutes. Half the team had gone ahead by then to search for some breakfast. And again, it started to rain. This time we stopped till the rain stopped..and then started our journey to Pamban. IN between we had some tea and snacks.

We had the last look at the Pamban bridge and finally entered the Indian Mainland. From here our road led us to Kanyakumari.

The initial road that we had decided was along the eastern coast. But with our earlier experience and the uncertainity of rains, we decided to go for a longer route. Though longer, this route was a national highway and thus we could catch up speed. We were driving like crazy now..402 kms to cover. We did fare well..By afternoon, we had covered a huge distance. We wanted to reach Kanyakumari before the sunset as this is the only place in India from where you can see the Sun rise as well as set in the Sea. We were going to be in Kanyakumari only for one night and so this was our only chance.

An expansive Wind Turbine Field guards the entry to Kanyakumari. It is an experience to watch this engineering marvel.

The day had started very early today and we had also kept our speed constant owing to which we reached Kanyakumari well in time. After some relaxed time in the comfort of the AC Room, we left to see the Vivekanand Rock, the confluence of the 3 seas and the Sunset.

As it was the peak of the tourism season, we were greeted with hordes of people. The Ferry to Vivekanand Rock Memorial was cancelled due to uncertain weather conditions. So we were a bit demoralized. But we had a lot to see. We immediately left for the confluence of the three seas.

Vivekanad Rock

To stand at the tip of land and see 3 seas stretch into the vastness in front of you is a feeling that cannot be expressed in words. But as it happens, this feeling was dampened a bit due to the chaos of people at the Triveni Sangam point.

Triveni Sangam-Confluence of Bay of Bengal,
Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea

Strokes of clouds and the fluttering Jari Pattaka

Sunset from Triveni Sangam

We saw the sunset from here. Later after a brief stroll in the town, we went back to the hotel to rest before the next day’s journey..

Vivekanand Rock at Night

Day 4, 28th Dec. 2016: Pondy-Thanjavur-Pamban-Rameswaram

Ready to ride

We left Pondy early in the morning. The last thing that that we did in Pondy was that we saw the first Sunrise on the east coast of India. Many more were to come.

The very first Sunrise from the Rocky beach, Pondy

Now though the distances were not much, the area was totally unknown for us. Most of our initial road was the East Coast road.

A riders paradise as well as nightmare… The road is HUGE and traffic is sparse, but high speed. And anything can come across your path at any time…cattle, dogs, people, cars anything. You have to be super alert. We were lucky to have a nice cloud cover that day.

Awesome Breakfast

To leave early, we had skipped breakfast and were hungry now. We halted near in a small town called Vadalur. There is a small hotel here, just opposite the bus stand, Anandbhavan..This is a must try. Awesome breakfast, especially the medu vada’s. The food was so tasty that we kept ordering. To top it up, they served some hot, strong filter coffee..

Forced Pitstop due to rains

We had decided to visit Thanjavur, once the Maratha capital in South India. Passing major towns like Cuddalore, Neyvelli, Kumbakonam we were enroute our destination..and suddenly..without any warning, the the clouds that were keeping the sun away decided to pour down heavily..we were caught completely unaware. It was a pretty warm day so we had kept all our rainwear packed. We had a forced break. We geared up for the rains and started again.

The rains slowed our speed. By the time we reached near we were all drenched and also were getting late. We still had a huge distance of 250 kms to cover. Chances of rain were also possible. We decided to skip Thanjavur.

One thing which is common about the roads in this region is that its very windy.And the wind runs from the sea to the land. On the bike you can feel this every now and then. Being alert is the key.

The rains had stopped now and we had caught up some speed. We reached the long awaited Pamban Bridge just after the sunset. The twilight added to the beauty of the bridge. We were lucky enough to see a train crossing the bridge. The train bridge is a manmade marvel. I also respect the drivers and commuters of this train. It’s a daring thing.

Riding over the Pamban bridge was yet another experience due to the blowing wind. We could actually feel our bikes getting dragged in due to the flow.

At last, at around 8:00 PM we reached Rameswaram. Rameswaram is a small Island town. Like most of the towns, it is very crowded with small roads and chaotic traffic. Snaking through this traffic, we reached our resort.

I am always in awe of the huge temples that our forefathers have built. But then, are we actually maintaining them is a big question. Most of the big pilgrimage places in India are very untidy, unclean and mismanaged. Rameswaram is no exception.

We had just one night to stay here. So we quickly unloaded our bikes, had a nice warm bath and went for a stroll around the temple. The already filthy temple surroundings had worsened due to the rain. It was no point in exploring more.

We quickly found a place to have some meals. Idlis, dosas, utappas…we ate all.

One more thing that amazes me is the unnecessary policing that is done on photographing these temples..Its just hopeless. Anyways..

A newly built entrance of the Rameswaram temple

By the time we reached the temple had closed and was going to open at 3 AM. We were excited to wake up, see the temple and then leave for our next destination.

Day 3, 27th Dec. 2016: A Day's Rest!!

With 2 days of continuous riding, a day off was what was needed. Our day started quite late, we strolled leisurely in the lanes of Pondy, enjoyed some serene moments on the promenade. We had a nice English breakfast in a quaint restaurant.  

While walking back to our hotel, we found a car wash center and decided to get our bikes washed. One by one we cleaned the chain-sprockets of our bikes and then took them for a wash. We got a nice wholesale rate deal. The clean bikes were gleaming in the late morning sun. We took them back to the hotel. Now it was our time to wash ourselves and Relax again!

South Indian Rice Plate or Meal

Later in the day we found a nice typical South Indian tiffin restaurant and had tasty lunch. South Indian thali, chilly parota were the highlights!

Then we decided to explore the nearby area. It was getting a bit cloudy and was going to rain. We rushed to explore Paradise beach. It was a beautiful cloudy and breezy weather. The splashing sound of the waves and the expanse of the sea were fascinating.

Paradise Beach

Fishing Boat @ Paradise beach

We returned to spend some time on the Pondy Promenade. 

The Rocky Beach

The best thing to do here is to sit on the huge boulders which line up the sea and watch the waves crash on the boulders below..one can spend hours doing this. At a distance you can see a jetty going in the sea and on the other side the entire lit up promenade…this is just mesmerizing. The sea was also a bit rough and this was adding up to the drama of the place!

Our Abode- Ajantha Beach Resort

By evening, the promenade was alive with tourists and locals who had all come for an evening stroll. Being Christmas time, the church on the street was nicely decorated. The way the people have maintained the place is just amazing.

Pondy Promenade

Day 2, 26th Dec. 2016: Smooth tarmacs, Bhangda Pepsi and Pondy 26th Dec 2016

Ready to Ride

A relaxed nights rest at Bengaluru was a welcome after the endurance test of the first day. We woke up early the next day and were ready for the next stretch of our ride. We had a nice “SOUTH INDIAN” breakfast. Idli’s, sevai upma, sheera, Sambar-chutney and coffee…something which was going to be almost like a routine from here onwards.

Due to the sudden change in the location of our night halt, we had to recalibrate our route a bit. Of course we had Google maps to guide us.

The luggage was on the bikes now…we were all geared up and ready to ride. It was, I guess, a rare sight for the onlookers…Bikers from Maharashtra in Bangalore…going for a cross-state ride.

We started off a bit relaxed today. By 8:30 we were riding. The initial road was through many small villages. Small roads with many potholes, cycles, 2-wheelers..Ocassional four legged creatures crossing our paths…something which we had almost forgotten after the first days ride.

A small break

A very small patch of this road even went through a forest department plantation and was a surprise. Slowly we passed these small roads and were greeted by the Bangalore- Tirupati highway near Konadasapura. This was again bliss…smooth…big roads once again.

We were cruising comfortably around 100 kmph on this road. Moderate traffic was an added advantage. This road is lined with numerous flyovers, well planned.

Changing landscapes

The usual landscape here is agricultural…huge fields but as we approached Kolar this suddenly changed. We were driving amidst huge boulder hills on both sides. In the total ride on that day this patch was an experience…

Bhangda Pepsi

We halted at Hotel Royal Restaurant a few kms before Vellore. It’s a small but nice restaurant offering veg and non-veg food, juices and many other things. The first thing that the captain suggested us was BHANGDA Pepsi…we were thirsty no doubt and we went ahead. What came on the table was an awesome mélange of Pepsi, Jaljeera and Lemon...tasty and thirst quenching!

Kumbakonam Certified Kaapi

We were done with the meal and the Pepsi was long gone in the system… before starting for the rest of the journey some booster was required and bingo...Kumbakonam certified coffee stall was in front of us. Again this coffee too was delicious. But more interesting was the way in which it was prepared. The skill and precision of the person was impeccable.

We started our eastward journey again. Some part of the road went through Andhra Pradesh and just before Vellore, we turned south. Here we left the national highway and joined the state highway. The size of the road was considerably smaller now, but the drive was still pleasurable.

Gingee

On our way to Pondy, we were going to visit the Historic Maratha fort in Tamil Nadu, Gingee. We went through Vellore, Arani, Chetpet and reached Gingee. But we missed our window. We forgot to consider 2 things..one that we were on the eastern side of India, where the sun sets comparatively earlier and second, it was cloudy too. So by the time we reached the fort, it was dark and we couldn’t go in.

So we quickly saw the silhouttes of the fort walls and the temples at the base in the fading light of the day and got back on the road. We took a final stop before Pondy to replenish and rehydrate and off we zoomed. The road got much better after Tindivanam and by 7:30 PM we reached Pondy.

We entered Pondy from a busy market street..Just like Laxmi Road, Pune. Traffic, pedestrians..it was a different world!

We reached our abode for the next 2 days..Ajantha Beach Resort. All we needed now was a nice relaxing dinner with some chilled beer!

The windy Pondy Promenade was a soothing sight from the rooftop restaurant in our hotel. After a sumptuous meal and a chilled time..we retired to our room..The bed was welcoming after 2 days of hard riding, and we didn't have to wake up the next morning...wow..such a relief..

TGSIR: Day 1, 25th. Dec 2016: The Endurance Test

It was a chilling December morning… yet with all the saddling up done and the overall excitement of embarking on this ride was making me sweat.

We all assembled at Rajaram Bridge at 6:00 AM. My mom and dad had come to see us off…and guess what they had got hot tea for all of us…it was damn refreshing and encouraging.

The most testing ride, for us and our machines lay ahead of us.

At 6:30 we left Pune. The mission today was to reach the destination in minimum stops. We had to cover a mammoth distance. 3-4 halts was what we were thinking. We had to cover the road in Maharashtra as fast as possible, before the traffic slowed us down. By the time we reached Satara, the sun had started showing up and, surprisingly, the cold also started getting worse. At Satara, I finally had to stop and wear an extra jacket.

The first halt was for breakfast at Sai Inn just on the outskirts of Kolhapur. The adrenaline rush was such that we had covered this 4 hour drive (that would be the usual timing) in exactly 2 hrs. 15 minutes. It was just 8:45 when we reached there. Even we couldn’t believe it! We had just bought ourselves some extra time to rest before our next stretch. We had a hearty breakfast and were ready to hit the road again.

• Rajaram Bridge-Sai International food court: 194 kms
• Time required as per google maps: 3hr 10 mins
• Actual required time: 2 hrs. 15 mins

The Road In Karnataka

Around 9:30 we were riding again. The traffic had increased but soon we passed the Maharashtra border and were cruising on the Karnataka highway!

The difference in the roads in these two neighbouring states is immense. Karnataka offers you wide, smooth roads with proper service roads. This keeps the local traffic away from the main highway. Also there are separate bays with parking facility for vehicles and these bays are equipped with toilets, drinking water etc. With these facilities and the impeccable road quality, the drive naturally becomes safer.

Belgaum went by, then Dharwad, then Hubbali… it was already mid-day by the time we crossed Hubbali. The road between Dharwad and Hubbali is such that you don’t want to stop ever…huge lanes, moderate traffic and smooth as butter. But hungry we were and our bikes to needed some rest. We were almost cruising constantly over a 100 kmph (I never thought I would drive my beast at this speed constantly for 3-4 hours). The breakfast was long digested. One thing I noticed about the highways in Karnataka, though the roads in Karnataka are superb, they do lack the frequency of food joints that we have in Maharashtra. Most hotels/dhaba are in the vicinity of the bigger towns and we were going to bypass all of them…

We passed a small dhaba just a few Kms after Hubbali… a small dark place with many trucks parked… The number of trucks parked outside this small dhaba itself was a sign that they must be serving good food. We did a quick U-turn and reached for the service road.

It was hot now...the riding gear made it feel even hotter… Unfortunately, there was no power at the Dhaba. But we did get Ice cold water. Literally “Ice Cold”, for the water which was served to us was in its solid state. We ordered a very basic Dal tadka and Roti menu and it was served almost within a few minutes. Hot roti’s and tasty Dal… lip smacking delicious. There was a long silence now…everyone was busy in devouring the food. To top it up, we ordered some curds, which too was creamy and delicious.  With a little bit of sugar added it made a perfect dessert. That was a real dhaba experience after ages.

• Sai International food court - Kaveri Punjabi Dhaba: 243 kms (https://goo.gl/maps/GZahuaQd6eH2)
• Time required as per google maps: 3hr 33 mins
• Actual required time: 3hrs 30 mins approx.

With the meal done, bodies and machines rested enough, we started the last and final stretch of our day’s journey. We were already close to the maximum distance that anyone of us had ridden in a single day and that too in such a less “riding” time (around 440 kms in 5 hrs 45 mins). But today we felt no fatigue as the will and the road was in our favour.

It was a scorching afternoon, the cold weather we had experienced in the morning was long gone. The road still was as good as it was and it helped us maintain the speed. Now the target was to cover the maximum distance before nightfall and reach closest to the destination by 7:30 PM.

Steadily we were getting closer. Our next halt was at Tumakuru. It was a short halt… just to rest a little bit and have some cold drinks to quench our thirst. It was already around 7:00 PM when we reached Tumakuru and now we all were getting a bit restless to reach the destination.

• Kaveri Punjabi Dhaba-Toll junction after Tumakuru: 335 kms (https://goo.gl/maps/CRNGFenyk4A2)
• Time required as per google maps: 4hr 22 mins
• Actual required time: 4 hrs 30 mins approx.

It was a quick but refreshing break. Now reaching the destination ASAP was the primary goal as we also had to travel the next day. Having a satisfying meal and some nice sound sleep was very important to keep the energy up.

We called the hotel that we had booked and things just started getting difficult. The hotel desk replied that we had been shifted to another location. And we had no idea where it was and how it was going to affect our distance and the forward journey…after some telephonic exchanges, we got the address and location of the new place. And we started off...delays had started to seep in a day which was kept tight. That too at the end…

And so we entered our destination city, Bengaluru! The suburbs of this city are so widespread that we started experiencing the famous Bengaluru traffic almost some 30-35 kms before we actually reached the city. Once inside the city, keeping with each other started getting harder as there were many signals and endless traffic. Still we were managing to keep pace with each other. For me my greatest savior was the Patch of light that Tejas had put on the rear side of his helmet. It was an easy and unique sign to follow!

Going round and round through the city we finally reached our destination, Treebo Ample premium suite, around 9:30 PM.

We checked in the room and relaxed…The first thing was a nice warm shower and then food. This hotel is a bit isolated place and their kitchen closes early. But the staff here was very cooperative and they arranged a fine dinner.

Thus the first and the most testing day came to an end with a relaxed sleep.

• Toll junction, Tumakuru-Treebo Ample Premium Suites: 70 kms (https://goo.gl/maps/JWD47NMCqes)
• Time required as per google maps: 1 hr 20 mins
• Actual required time: almost 2 hours

Total Distance covered in the day: 841 Kms.

Total time taken with halts: 16 hrs, (riding time 13 hrs. + halt time approx. 3 hours)

Route: https://goo.gl/maps/SteQFXekZNw

Day 1: Route

TGSIR: Prologue

A big dream always starts with a small idea…and so it started for us. A common passion drove us...MOTORBIKES and Travel. It all started with a wild ride to Koynanagar and few years back. Then we kept on riding. The thrill and endurance going up with every ride. Koynanagar, Diveagar, Alibaug, Tapola, Goa, Amba, Vijaydurg, the list goes on. With so many big and small rides done we decided to do something big now…something we had never attempted.

It all started in September 2016… 5 riders, ready to test their limits, decided to set out on a dream route. The die was cast…the pieces started rolling. And thus “The Grand South India Ride” was born.  Here I would like to say one thing, though we actually set on the road in December, the ride started for us long before that...right from the planning.

Planning a ride has 3-4 main aspects:

1. Exploring for interesting and thrilling routes and debating on which will be the best. And later finalizing the routes
2. Once the routes are finalized, we then need to explore the area for places to stay and to visit during the stay. Google maps has made these tasks so easy…sitting at your desk you can explore the world, find places of interest, thrilling routes and with the satellite imagery you can actually get the feel of what you may experience
3. Parallely we also need to gear up for the ride. Every kind of ride calls in for some special requirements. We have to check the Medi-kits, the bike repair kits etc etc.
4.  Also the bike needs to be maintained and made fit for the ride

The maximum distance that we had traveled in a day, so far, was around 450 kms., mostly within Maharashtra, or at the most Goa. Usually with the kind of roads we have here, it took us nearly 12 to 16 hours for this distance. Now we had a mammoth distance in front of us..almost 5000 kms. and limited time, just 9 riding days...550 kms each day. As per our plan…day 1 was going to be the most testing day..

We all were thrilled and equally skeptical about the above calculations. But then we also had a strong resolve to do it. ‘Attempt and Achieve’ was what we decided.

All things were in place now. And the day finally dawned…