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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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..
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| 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..
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| 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.
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