Bangalore Ooty Bike trip [ Nov 2007 ]

Same south indian thali, same work, travel the same road everyday, same traffic constable asking 300 every time, same salary every month(no change at all, change only in papers). What a boring life! Wanted to break from the day to day activities. Many thoughts what to do, where to go !! Juan my colleague often says about his Kodaikanal bike trip, I was impressed with that story. So decided to try one like that. How ??? I never liked going by bus, until its necessary. My splender+ odometer shows 4000+ kms, almost all free services are over. Its time to take that to the limits. I have a college mate in Kothagiri, so decided to go to Ooty and stay with him for couple of days. Googled for maps & road distance details, all are perfect, many blogs with enough road details and travel experiences. Some guys tried using Bajaj scooter :-) . But my only concern is to cross Bandipur forest, it is a Tiger reserve forest. If you are lucky(?) enough you might spot a Tiger.

I had an alternate plan going to Pachaimalai near Tiruchi, but due to the distance I doubted that will drag my plans to 1 or 2 days more. I was too semi-minded, thought too much about Tigers, they came in my dream too :-) But anyway made all purchases, serviced the vehicle, things are perfect! Went to bed around 11PM, hardly I could sleep, heart beats little higher then normal due to the fact that I had exited too much. Don't know when did I sleep, .. woke-up at 4, exactly at 4.45 I was on my Jet !! Zooooooom..... got the Banashankari road, on the way I found a guy on the road, stopped my vehicle and asked him to take a snap, I owed him one, with out his help I wouldn't be able to share this photo here !!

8.30 AM I was crossing Mysore, took the outer road, Got the Nanjangud route. Stopped for breakfast, time was around 11AM, luckily I got idlies & dosa left in that hotel. After 10 kms I can't see a good patch of road, full of potholes, some places there were no sign of existence of tar roads. But the air is too fresh, I don't much bother about my back bone, I hope it is strong enough to absorb this kind of shock ! I saw a lake and stopped a while for resting, took some snaps. Asked the locals about the distance where the Bandipur forest starts, it seems another 3 kms, the forest boundary starts. After 3kms I saw the board with Tiger picture, which says "No parking, no camping inside the Reserve". There were 100 monkeys gave me a warm welcome to the forest, now I am inside the forest. I saw a mini bus coming behind me, there is a hope now.
The forest is silent, so cool and ride was so pleasant, good roads inside added some more pleasure. Suddenly I saw an elephant on the road after 500 meters, I stopped my vehicle, waited for that to cross the road, it seems not moving anywhere. After 30 seconds though of going back some distance until it crosses the road. Luckily the mini bus was behind me, so just I followed it. That guy stopped the bus to show the elephant to the tourists, people inside were shouting a lot, don't know whether the elephant liked it or not :-) I felt I made a wrong decision following this bus, it would have been better if I cross the elephant quiet. I heard that Tuskers are very aggressive in nature.

Now I overtook the bus confidently. There were sign boards saying "speed limit 40kms", but due to the steep downs, vehicle is going freely until 70-75kms/hour. I rode with clutch, what a madness, if an elephant or deer comes in the middle you will not be able to stop!! I saw some spotted deer groups on the way as well as some bores(pigs). End of the forest there is a check-post, called Thallavadi, I am very much familiar with that name. When I was a kid in one of the tamil dailies named Dinamalar had an news about "Veerappan's hideout". Most of the time he seems fought against the police in this place. So a "War memorial" :-) Paid 5 rupees as an entry fees and proceeded towards Cudallore, stopped there, had some drinks. From this place you can choose Masinagui or the regular route to go to Ooty. Former is full of "Hair bin bends" as well only power steering vehicles can make the travel, also that will be closed at 6pm. But the other road is a great example for potholes, don't choose the second road if you are able to proceed through Masinagudi route. Also many people said you can spot Cheetah there, isn't it fascinating!!

After 15 bends, stopped for rest under a tree. Its a valley where there is a view point, you can see Bison's grassing if you are lucky enough. My bike engine was like a boiler, stopped there for 30 mins to cool it down. But it seems not getting cooled down, so started climbing up. I could not move to 3rd gear, all 25kms I was climbing like a snail, good experience. The wind was so chill, too much moisture in the air, I just removed my helmet to enjoy the fresh air. Road side mile stones have the details about how much height that place is from the MSL. Near Ooty roads are very bad, it might be due to the vehicle population. I did not stop in Ooty for any purpose, moved towards Kothagiri road. From Ooty to Kothagiri it is down hills, so cautious driving is needed. One place I could not control my bike and hit the side wall of the road which is nothing but a rock :-) Luckily brakes and tyres are in a good condition, so I avoided breaking my skull or ribs. Except that the drive was so enjoyable, local drivers are moving rash. I was careful enough avoide them. Reached safely to Kothagiri at 3PM.

Next day I went to Kodanad view point, on the way you will see dense tea plantation both the sides. Also you can see former TN chief minister Jayalalitha's estate in Kodanad. There are many hairpin bends on the way, this is one of the best scenic road then what you find it in Ooty. From view point you can see Chamrajnagar if the sky is clear with out much fog. It was a foggy day, so I could not make out much from view point. I tried the same place by next day with my friend and his gang. It was a sunny day and the sky was clear too. It was a fantastic view, we climbed down towards a waterfall which is under trees and not visible clearly from the view point. Had our lunch there and chatted for an hour. From top you will see a village called "Thengumarada" which is surrounded 3 sides by a river called "Mayar". Its a good trekking spot too, I saw it in some blogs. But we need DFO(North) permission to trek inside the forest. Kept this place in mind .... One day I will be back here.

I planned to leave by next day morning around 8am. But it was a foggy day, nothing was visible. There was a rain too, my friend suggested not to start the travel at that time. So I waited another 2 hours, somehow the weather completely reversed. It was like a sunny day :-)
My friend bought 'Varukki roti", (Kind of biscuit) and Salt biscuits both are very famous in Kothagiri. My back bag is full again !! This time I got down the other side, that is towards Mettupalayam. The route is through Sirumugai - Bhavani - Bannari - Thimbam - Satyamangalam - Chamrajnagar - Kollegal - Mallavalli - Bangalore. This is one of the very scenic stretch of road I have seen in Tamilnadu border, nicely put roads until CH Nagar. Good for bike rides. I reached Bangalore in the late evening 9.40PM. It was a long memorable day packed with full of joy!!