Last year, On my B’day.. MY “SO CALLED” friendsssss gave me Wishes encapsulated with BUMPS from specially carved WOODLAND shoes, Cricket bat, stumps, brooms and whatever they got!
So, this year, I was more eager to test myself and went for a 4 day RIDE ……….
And the outcome was…….
You already know what happened with me last year and the same day was about to come again this year. But this year, my friends were not so eager to give their wishes in same manner. I already told them that I am going to start my ride at 3AM. Still, they cut the cake at 12 and went to bed. Lovely friends who didn't kick me this time as they knows that this year I am testing it myself!! Before every ride Arun (My co-rider) has to kick start two things, one his bike and second ME. He kicked me out of those 3-3.5 hour short dreams at 3am. By 4am everything was set and we were ready to roar. At that moment, I thought of the moment when we were going to Kochi on our first ride. It was a similar cold morning. Only difference being we were bit more organized this time.
Initial reading on meter was 38270. and with this notation we headed towards hosur. It was quiote chilly so after a ride of around 1 hour , we find one CCD and went inside to see whether it's open or not. Scared by our outfits, the guy came outside to enquire and felt relaxed to know that we are not theives!!
I had a hot and full hard espresso while Arun ordered cappuccino. clicked some snaps as the basic testing!! and went back on tracks. roads were open, wide and asking us to move our wrists MORE and MORE and MORE.... . Next stop was a few kms after Krishnigiri when we saw sun coming out of the horizon. A perfect view where THE BIG DADDY (sun) was making space for him after removing the blankets of clouds.
it was a nice combination of so many colours in the sky..red, yellow, shades of blue and black! We took some snaps of road, our BEAST and Sun to mark these memories and started heading towards our goal. It was a nice experience when you hear the wind inside your helmet at the speed of 100 KMPH. At this moment I would like to share one phrase which says .."ONLY A BIKER CAN UNDERSTAND WHY DOGS POPPED THEIR HEAD OUT OF CAR'S WINDOW."
Soon we crossed Salem. The sun was coming out slowly. It is always wonderful to see how the first ray of light triumph over the darkness. We had breakfast from Perundurai. From there onwards the 4 lane highway gave way to single lane state highway. Nice scenery, but the roads were not in that good condition. After crossing Dharapuram, the climate started changing a bit. By the time we were in Udumalaipet. The climate was becoming cold. There was a forest check post, after which started the jungle ride. Then god started throwing water on us, people on the street started yelling.......... RAIN... damn!! We covered ourself with our raincoats as those BLACK clouds hide sun. It wasn't a concern that i don't like rain. I love that. But rain, pot holes and cold weather is a very bad combination. From there onwards it rained till we reached Munnar. Once we were in Munnar the sun came out laughing at us. There after it didn’t rain... :-(
I called up Alok, who had reserved room there for us also. So how did Alok reach there before us? Is that what you are thinking? He was on a solo 2 week bike trip and had reached Munnar by the time we reached there. We rejoined him in Munnar and had planned to ride to Kochi-Athirapally waterfalls-Ooty together. Once in the room, we changed the wet clothes and went out for lunch. Came back to the room and I slept. Got up in the evening, it was raining again. Switched on the TV, get under the cozy blanket and finished 2 movies. At around 9-:30, we went out to eat again. Most of the places are closed, finished our dinner and came back to our room to sleep. The day was over like that.
DAY 2:
Next day the plan was to roam around in Munnar and head towards Kochi by evening. Munnar is famous for its climate, spices, its flora and fauna like the Nilgiri tahr, Kurinji flowers and her breath taking beauty.
Like Cinderella’s rags to princess story, once in every 12 year, Munnar gets her chance to play a Cinderella. This is the time when kurinji flowers blooms, painting the valley with a hue of blue! She sheds her old dress to don the new gown. With the regality of a princess, the lady in the blue waits for her prince charming. Here it is the Mother Nature who cast her spells on this even otherwise beautiful place to make it even more stunning.
The entire place is so beautiful that one can just ride around and enjoy. We decided to go towards the Devikulam area. The lake there is closed for general public. It can be visited once you get a prior permission from Tata’s Office. As we didn’t have that we went to a waterfall in that route. Lockhart view point was also en route. I need to especially mention about the roads. With the magnificent beauty all round, these roads takes you one step closer to heaven. And with the curves and curls, my bike was performing a perfect waltz all along the way. She swirled, she twirled like a ballet dancer extraordinaire. We took some amazing snaps. This is when Alok informed us that he doesn’t want to come any further and want to go back to Bangalore as he was too tired of roaming around. So there were changes in the initial plan. Finally it was decided that Alok will head towards home and we will proceed to Kochi. What are we going to do in Kochi that was not yet decided. As Me and Arun have already been to Athirapally waterfalls, we didn’t wanted to go there again.
After saying tata/bbye/sayonara/alvida to Alok, we started our ride towards Kochi, which was 126 Km from Munnar. Now the second round of pouring started. I was thinking why was the Rain's god making us to cry, by crying so much. Because of the rain and the narrow zigzag roads, we could ride very slowly only. After Adimaly the road was through proper jungle. It was raining so heavily and it feels like somebody
slapping you left and right continously on the face. Now to add to the adventure, bike stopped. We tried to start it again but it didn’t. Then Arun noticed that there was no power supply. Luckily there was a bus stop shed, till where we pushed the bike. Both of us waited there for the rain to stop. Arun took his mobile out to call mechanic and wow... there was no signal also. Plus the time was 5 pm and it was getting dark. I said to Arun, “Ok fine, I think we can sleep here in this shed. It looks good”. Arun was whole dark after hearing this and started working on machine. He opened the tool box to check the fuse. The fuse was intact, but still no power. Then he opened the battery box and there it was- it rained so heavily that water got into the battery box and short circuited the main wire. Luckily we were carrying the basic tools. Pushed the bike inside the shed, reconnected the wire and we were back on the track. I thanked God for pulling us out.
Once we entered Ernakulam the roads were in a mess. Big potholes filled with mud, water and bad traffic, specially KSRTC drivers( K stands for KERALA). Already my back started telling me that this 126 KM stretch was the worst stretch, i had ever been to. Finally we reached Kochi by 7:30pm. Called up Arun's cousin brother staying there and gave him our location so that he could come and pick us up. We were going to stay with him. Got fresh, went out to eat and called it a day.
DAY 3:
3rd day we got up bit late. Arun checked with his cousin, which all places we can visit near by to Kochi. He said Kumarakom is one option but there is noting much other than the back water. As there were no other plans we decided to go Kumarakom only.
It is at a distance of 60 km from Kochi. We started the ride without any high expectations as told to us. But the initial signs, when we started were so good that I started expecting more. I am happy that I was not wrong in expecting more. First it was the road. Then, there was a 4 lane highway in good condition till Chertala. While, I was on the back seat and my hands were FREE, I started stretching my arms and flapping it like wings. With closed EYES, i can feel the flight of a HAWK, so fast, so free.... It was fun!!! After Chertala, it was a single road but it was in good condition. Soon we begin to come across the flourishing paddy fields, swinging coconut grove and the slowly drifting backwater. Both of us were enjoying it. Went to the Kumarakom Boat Jetty, hired a boat to sail in the Vembanad Lake. That was a completely new experience.
Again took some amazing snaps. Driver of boat took us to other side of lake where we tasted one of the best FISHY meal of my life!! The place was so peaceful yet so vibrant. Once the boat ride was over we headed back to Kochi. On the way back, got bike washed. By 5pm we were back in Kochi. Took some rest before we went out to accomplish our second agenda of visiting Kochi, i.e. to eat and eat and eat as much local food we can. In the evening we roamed around eating from different restaurants and road side food joints. Food was amazing. I love Kochi for that reason. I was searching for KOCHI authentic tiger prawns, which we couldn’t find. Got one masala prawn at one shop and frankly speaking, IT WAS TONGUE AND MIND Blowing...... no words to illustrate the taste of that spicy.. sorry EXTRA spicy meal. It was raining from nose and eyes but the tongue was asking for MORE! During night it rained heavily again. I was praying for it to stop by morning as we had to start our ride back home. It was decided to start by 4am from Kochi so that we will be home early.
Next day morning, we were on the road by 4:30am. Before sunrise we had crossed Thrissur and were 20 km from Palakad. The roads and the scenery were stunning except for the occasional potholes. We stopped in between for photos, tea-coffee and lunch.
By 5:30pm we reached to my flat. One more trip completed, few more kilometers added to the odometer and planning for the next ride.
So in the end, what was this trip all about? Well, it was about the kappa, fish curry and karimeen fry from the local toddy shop, 2 hours of drifting in Vembanad lake, 500 plus shots which captured every slice of life which we wanted to treasure, reliving the moments when two rookies set out on their maiden trip and 1400 plus km.
In short a Sweet Ride !
