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..