The World of Columbus

Bannerghatta Forest Loop Ride

2011-12-30T11:07:00.001-08:00

This is just a half day bicycle ride and passes through Bannerghatta national park, once after taking the diversion from Kanakapura road the traffic is virtually nil. Its overall a peaceful and somewhat challenging ride (only if you set any time barrier to reach the destination).

Below is the GPX trace captured using my Garmin device, visualized using everytrail.com. Batteries on my GPS drained at the last moment when I reached Bannerghatta road, near the Zoo, so its missing the trail which is just in the city, so no need to worry anyway! Bottom picture shows the elevation profile plotted by Garmin, that looks somewhat different from the everytrial.com version..

Elevation profile from Garmin Vista Hcx

Nandhi Hills and Bigbanyan Tree Ride

2011-12-30T02:42:00.000-08:00

I am just documenting some of the cycle trip experiences here, let someone interested can use these in future..

Mr.Rao (GoGreen Initiator) organized a long bicycle trip after too many boring city rides. Plan is to reach Nandhi hills and comeback on the same day. We were around 70, started from Cubbon park in the early morning, and decided to take MG Road->New Airport route. Traffic was way less then expected, and the wind is neither favoring nor disturbing our ride. Reached Nandhi base around 10.30AM. Three of us myself, Praveen(the Bournvita Kid), started climbing top after having breakfast at some hotel in the downhill. Had few breaks in the middle, I never thought I would make it to the top..but together we achieved. It was really a difficult ride, this is the first day I shifted down my front gear :-) we maintained an average speed of 20Kms/Hr. Climbing down was smooth as butter, more precisely its like Rajinikanth fighting with a poor villion, so easy!! Then started the real struggle, we were already exhausted, headwinds were so heavy, many thought of jumping to an oncoming bus or an auto .. lunch was around 3PM at Bagini, on the way there was a downpour .. Really speaking physical part me had given up on that day, but the mental strength played a vital role and carried me back home..total odo reading is around 130Kms. some photos here ..

All set ready to trip, at Cubbon Park

Middle of climbing Nandhi

Wow, we are on top!!

Lets go home!!

Group of 40 people rode to Big-Banyan tree, it was a nice break from the city life.

Rao was so happy about the pump, and taking photos just to show other GGI members.

Thattae Idlis, smile comes when the tummy is full !!

Bilikal Rangaswamy Betta Trek

2011-01-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

Guess I was on a long break, after marriage didn't go for any treks at all. Wife's not home, these guys desperately needed a trek and Param is pushing me to make one ... looks like his Adrenalin levels have gone up after his everyday jogging or just because he might wanted a break from his baby sitting, Juan too :-), and a fresh soul from our team Rohit, poor guy he agreed or believed to whatever we said :-), he kind of replaced our scape goat Vikram in this trek ... he he.

We started off from Bangalore around 5.40 AM from my house at JP Nagar, on the way had a break for tea (and jet fuel too!!!). Reached Harohalli which is actually a second big town towards Kanakapura from Bangalore, around ~30 Kms away from Banashankari junction. At Harohalli took a left and reached Maralavadi village, might be another 10/12Km away. We reached the bus stand and there are some hotels, hot idly is ready by 6.40 AM. After pushing some of the tasty idlies, we took a path towards the village near the hillock, which is another 4Kms away from this place. Just we needed to ask for the route when there is a canal, at where we had to take the road towards left. Another 4Kms took us to a small village (really still its a very village), Param was so worried about someone taking away his car tyres, and leaving a bull operated Maruti swift car :-). We parked near the village temple, where it seemed very safe, and asked house owner nearby to have a look on it. They warned us of parking it near the base of the trek route, which really was very correct.

We took a left after the village and walked in the mud road(pic above) for about a Km and not sure where to take a right, to reach the base of the hillock. Confused and standing, we saw two school kids coming on our way and agreed to guide us to top, ofcourse for a fee. From our experience we learnt that guide is unnecessary if you able to spot the start of the trek point. On the mud road we did see a small temple, a structure barely with four walls which is actually the mark of the trek base. From there we did take a right towards the hillock. Had frequent rests along our way, to accommodate our new comer Rohith. After 2+ hours we reached top, where there is a small temple on a big boulder of rock, there he is, our Lord Rangaswamy waits to offer you his blessings, not just it .. prasadams too :-) Explored the top, and found the view on the other side of the temple is great. Temperature in top is not much cooler but the wind does carry some moisture so we felt good. Descend took us little more then an hour. Totally it was a good trek, that too its almost off season.

After sometime we headed to Mekedatu, hoped to have a nice river bath and to empty our jet fuels. This is the first time I am going to Mekedatu in a car, Param drove nicely..could see Rohit sleeping all the way :-) I made some friends at my last trip to Mekedatu, they remember my great walk from Kanakapura to here, and asked when will I come next. River full of chicken/mutton pieces and mono/poly saturated oils to add spice to that, lots of Johnnie walkers Old Monks poured in along with labels... wow what a heavenly place in earth to take a holy bath ... Please never visit this place on any holidays. We were able to find a decent place still and had a nice bath. Totally the trip was good and too refreshing, looking forward to more such nice trips with some company :-)

Gone Green - Trip to Thrissur, Munnar, SH17

2009-05-31T08:23:00.001-07:00

Now-a-days I talk too much about trips to my colleagues, this is a worthy indication that I desperately needed one. Plans, sure I can make 100s of them, but the million dollar question is who is going to accompany me ? Well, hmm, Everybody has their own critical rocket launching programs, believe me one friend of mine just said he wanted to wash his clothes, wonderful reason, I quite agree with him 100%, but I presented him the solution for his problem, wash your clothes not in your home, in a waterfall located somewhere after 400Kms .. he just said "Madness". Anyway this is not the first time I got an appreciation like this. Frankly they are not unexpected ones too.

So again (again & again multiplied by 100 times) me and my girl only. Planned for 4 days trip, it just covers the areas in Karnataka, Kerala & Tamilnadu. This time I made some interesting purchases after going through BCMT forums, tons of information is posted over there. Already rains have started, packaging should be done careful enough, don't want to stop in any place just because it is raining there. Biggest hurdle is how to carry my DSLR camera, always I felt that it is a liability in my trips. But the tarpaulin sheet I bought had come handy in saving all my things. I just followed the below route, Sulthan Bathery and Salem are not intended, its just the issue with map drawing in google maps.

View Larger Map

Thursday evening I came late from office, rain was just pouring in. It was 11.30 when I completed the packaging work. Alarm woke me up by 2.30AM, 3.30AM I started my way to a trip to nowhere. This time the usual departing ceremony is not proper, no dogs in the street. Two policemen stopped me near Banashankari junction, and asked where am I going, it was really a difficult question for me to answer. I stuck a few seconds and just said I am going to Munnar. They were really surprised and said "Are you going by this cycle?", I said, ya well yes!. They did not do any other usual checks, like license, insurance etc ... he wished me for good luck. After 30Kms my speedometer and odometer both have stopped, I was too unhappy about that. Around 9AM, reached Gundlupet and checked my Odo, a wire connected to the wheel had cut down. Replaced it with a new one, it seems fine afterward. 12Kms riding on a worst road from Gundlupet will take you to Bandipur reserve forest. Pugmark is a nice hotel with clean restrooms. I was riding inside the forests with the speed of just 30Kms/Hr. I could see all the car guys too enjoying the ride inside the forests by maintaining below 30Kms/Hr, except few tourist vehicles. Gudalur is the next town on the way, here I took a route towards Calicut. After 12Kms from Gudalur, there is a place we need to take a diversion to reach Nilambur, which is called Naadukani. I missed this one and went too far almost 20Kms in Calicut route. Had no other way then tracking back until Naadukani. Roads inside these stretch toll your backbones, really they are not evenly laid out.

There was a constant signal from my stomach remained me of lunch. Found a small hotel on the way, food was really nice, Kerala traditional meals with fish curry. The complete stretch from Bandipur to Nilambur is covered with dense forests. Density of the population increases from Nilambur, the rode I was driving is a highway, but every 100 meters there is a house. I am not able open my zip anywhere in this stretch. Need to end the day soon, my backbone was crying for rest. Finally settled in a lodge at Thrissur by 7PM, was really a long day. Had parotas and beef fry. Saturday morning by 6.30 started moving towards Angamaly, enroute you will never miss a turn towards Athirappilly water falls, almost 35 Kms you need to drive sideways from the NH. This time I am more interested in SH17, so better I will visit this by next time. From Angamaly the roads are excellent for another 60 Kms, full curvy roads. Needs a little more careful driving then usual. I was fortunate enough to avoid a major crash here, oncoming bike drivers negligence might had cost me heavy toll on my health and wealth. I just kept quiet, don't want to ruin my enthu by quarreling in an unknown place.

Reached Munnar for lunch, it is almost 150Kms from Thrissur, and 110 from Angamaly. There is a hotel called "Annapurana" which sounds like a south Indian restaurant, but actually ran by a North Indian group. I really don't like to experiment the south Indian food in a North Indian hotel. Asked for a decent hotel with native food and found one, take a route to Colony(a place), 500 meters sideways from the main road, ask for Guru hotel, here you will find typical Kerala food, and it is a non vegetarian too. After lunch started towards Eravikulam National park road, which is also called Northern outlet road, or Kerala state highway17 or Munnar-Udumalaippettai road. This is one of the best route in south India, I got the information from wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Highway_17_(Tamil_Nadu_-_Kerala,_India)
Around 1.15PM I started my ride in this route, plans were to spend atleast 5 hours in this road by maintaining 20Kms/Hr, the complete stretch is 85Kms. Slowly you will find the MSL towards positive, fog appears to get dense on the top. At one point I had no escape out then using my headlights. Suddenly it started drizzling, I asked a local guy about whether this is a rain or just the fog, he said it is just the fog. But within 20 mins I realized that it was a rain other side of the hill. All of a sudden the intensity of the rain increased I pulled my coat out and kept my bag inside it. I had my DSLR baby inside!!

Rains were so heavy, all over the rocks I was able to see new waterfalls crawling out. Flow of water just cuts the road down, a poor Innova guy stuck in a landslide. He is crying out for help, but without the help of any JCB kind of machines it is really an impossible task to save him. Nearby there is one more Ambassador-wala trying to adjust a 13'' bolt using bare hands, he desperately needed a 13'' spanner. I had it in my toolkit, and spared that to him. At last he was able to mount the engine in a proper position and started it successfully, I got a big Thankyou from that guy. Just think of getting trapped in these kind of areas where small help turns out to be a life saver at times. I had not taken any photos afterward until I reached the semi plains near Manupatti. I have not seen a bit of rains in plain. There is a forest checkpost in Chinnar, where they ask for the details of your visit, I had a hard time again saying where I am going :-)

After a while the rains seems completely stopped, and I was able to take some photos of a big monolithic structure (mountain!). From there a road which is of almost 3 Kms straight one, I could make top speeds in that. Because the visibility is 100% and no obstacles on the way. But if you go there please don't rush like me, that is the place where you can spot wildlife if you move slow. Near Chinnar checkpost there is a watch tower, you will get a guide as well. Take the chance and wait there for some time to spot some animals. Next village is Manupatti which is completely located in plain lands. Roads toward Udumalaippettai to Dharapuram is an excellent put up. Where you can reach 120Kms/Hr with out running into any accidents, though they accommodate double side traffic with out dividers. Just 5Kms before Dharapuram I got into a heavy rain, non-stop one for almost 2 Hours. Stayed in three bus shelters, and got great stories on the way by the localites who also pulled themselves over inside for shelter. One of the story is about Siruvani river water, "You just keep siruvani water and other water sideby in two containers, the one with siruvani water attract ants", is that really sweet ? There are some people, I could see their heads wagging for yes, and mouth murmuring "oh oh". They believe it very strong, I don't want to change their beliefs anyway, that is the foundation for all Dravidian parties here.

Took a lodge in Dharapuram, stayed overnight. Switched on the fan in top speed to dry up my jacket and tarpaulin sheet. Well, in the morning all are good, except my mobile phone, it got socked in water by yesterday rains and the battery seems to be bulged out. Thereon its a simple ride towards hell, not much fun except the food I had in AAB. I had to change my sitting position every 3 mins, I realized that my Splendor+ seat is very narrow, and it just burnt out my butt. Bullets are having a nice seat. I was maintaining constant 60/70Kms/Hr, (just a wild guess, my speedo was not working!). Reached Bangalore by 4PM. Knees, ankles, butt, back and wrist .... pain pain pain ...... they were crying for rest. Had a warm bath, uploaded the photos to orkut and slept for almost 12 Hours !!

Overall I found the road to Munnar from Angamaly and Munnar to Manupatti to be excellent for a natural lovers and bikers. I missed covering Valparai, most probably next time ... hoping with friends and beers ....

Kollimalai (Kolli Hills) Trip

2009-04-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

Peak summer.. no nearby places are good to visit by now. Already visited Ooty and Kodaikanal, Places in Kerala, they are somewhat unique, so not interested really. Asked some of my friends, they are hesitant to go to anyplace, fearing that there won't be any good to see at this time. Might be they are right, but how that will soothe my itch :-) Google-ji show me mercy ..... all of a sudden I remembered the plan which I had thought last year to go to Puliancholai and Pachaimalai near Tiruchi. Aha, I found a blog about Kollimalai the other side of Pachaimalai, seems to have lot more attractions. Thats it ... I am in the game ..

Saturday morning 3.50 AM, as usual got a departing ceremony by my street dogs. Within 15 mins reached Silkboard junction, continued towards Hosur. This is one of the busy roads I ever saw. Infected by heavy vehicles, not at all good for two wheelers. I wonder how my friends are commuting to office daily through this road. Not only traffic, due to the fly over construction and dust, this place looks like Swargaloga (Heaven) always. After Hosur, roads are excellent, you don't need to go inside any towns on the way, all towns can be avoided by traveling over the bridges along the way. Just before Dharmapuri you will spot Adyar Anandha Bhavan(A2B) hotel in the right side of the road, this is the best place to have food. Reached Salem by 8.50AM, journey continues towards Rasipuram - Kalappanayakkan patti. After 8 Kms from KN Patti, you will reach downhills of Kollimalai. Have a break here under the mango trees, and cool down your engine too. Here starts the zig-zag journey.

Totally 70 hairpin bends, 1200/1300 meters above MSL. I have never seen 70 hairpin bends in any of my previous travels, but this one is not difficult to negotiate as well. When climbing up you will find a view point, where you can see the downhills very clearly. There is a small town on top of the hill called Chemmedu(Red mound, not Redmond .. ha ha) , for stay we need to go another 3 Kms. I don't want to repeat every details already available in internet here, please go through the following wiki page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolli_Hills.
I don't see much tourists, other then local gangs who just come there to spend their day and escape from their wives torture :-) This place is definitely not like Ooty or any other hill station, which are highly infected by tourists. Only problem here is finding a decent lodge with good service. There are some lodges but the service is totally worse. Nobody seems promoting the tourism good, things are happening just for sake. I met Manimaran, who seems really well understood the problem and now builds an accommodation there with all facilities. Hopefully it will be ready by this April end. There are numerous trekking routes, he planned to provide the tourists with all the guidance they need for trekking and site seeings.

Reached the lodge by 1 PM. Have got no time, just started with my guide Elango. We planned to go to the waterfall first, it is 11 Kms from Chemmedu, you need to stop the vehicle in Arapaleeswarar temple, this is lord Siva temple, built by king Valvil Ori. After climbing down 1300+ steps you will reach the waterfall, it is called Aaagaya Gangai (Ganga from the sky), looking at the top of the fall I concluded that the name is a perfect match. Water is so cool, if you want to bath you need to swim across the poll which is of 7 Meters minimum, there is one more way in which you need to jump across rocks, monsoon time there is no way to reach the fall. We need to just stay away and see the majestic view!! I believe it is falling from the height of 90+ meters. People who does not know swimming can bath in the pool with caution, just stay in the start of the pool. Even if you use mugs for bathing you will feel the same as the bath in fall. Really the water was so refreshing.

We started climbing up, after 100 steps, you will find a way in the left side, jump across the side wall and get inside the forests. There is a trekking trial with yellow & red arrow marks which leads to Pampatti Siddhar Kugai(The cave in which Snake charming Sage stayed). 30 Mins of trek you will reach a rock, in white paint they have written the name in Tamil, opposite to that writeup you will find the cave, in which only one can go inside at a time, beware of bats. Just to satisfy our curiosity we trekked further down another 30 mins, and the route does not end there, people said it leads further down to another cave called Agasthiar Kugai. Sun is almost about to leave, so we planned to return back, return journey until the concrete steps took us another 50 mins or so. Actually we were climbing fast, this trek is not recommended for people who are not physically fit. After reaching top we had bath one more time in another fall which is near to the temple. The temple is too old and structures are not changed a bit. We had a soup there called Aatukal Soup which is made up from a root of some tree, it does 100% resembles the Goat leg soup. You can get bananas(some unique variety), Pineapple, Guava and honey here.

There are some temples on the way, as we had no time we rushed back to lodge. Night was with moderate temperature and heavy winds whooping around. Manimaran asked me to stay near the lake with a camp fire, I said no, because I had no one to talk, thought it would be boring. There is a local guy who prepared Chicken biriyani (an excellent preparation) for dinner. After dinner I moved to lodge and slept at around 11.50 PM. Next day morning my guide Elango came to room around 9AM, we first visited an artificial lake made for boating, it is not impressive anyway. Botanical garden, which is not opened for tourists yet. Inside the garden there is route getting ready for a view point, dont miss it when you go. Its really worth to see. We comeback to another place called Seekuparai, there is a view point and fire watch tower. It is an excellent view point. But these view points are not really thrilling, because it is reachable by road. Unless you trek and see it you won't realize the beauty of it.

After having lunch in my friends house, I parted my guide. Now I joined with Manimaran and Selvam who is a local guy done his MA in Psychology and now a farmer, we started climbing down at around 1.30PM. Bought some rice over there which is called Type2 (Bran is not removed), Pineapples and Honey. In the middle I stopped in A2B, at 10.45PM reached home safe by 10.45 PM. It was just two days, I can't believe it. I know I had missed lots of places, by next time I will plan for 4/5 days, so that I can explore Kolli hills better.

Route & Distance chart:

Trekking Routes:

There are numerous trekking trails are available, but most of them does need a guide. Please contact me (rajarajangs@gmail.com) if you need a guide.

Some interesting facts in Kolli:

If you stand under the Jack fruit tree, you will feel the drizzles .. it is actually an insect which extracts the water from the tree and spits :-) People cultivate pepper under these trees, they grow better then the one cultivated in other places due to the constant spraying of water.

Seeni Kolli (Killer of sweetness) is just part of a plant, once consumed will disable your taste buds which senses the sugar temporarily.

Mekedattu the Destination

2009-04-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed the amount of smoke exhausted from auto rickshaws in Bangalore ? Probably you are! I had never seen that much amount of smoke in Heavy trucks and JCBs on the way to Hosur road. Emission test norms are only for poor motor cyclists. To delay cardiopulmonary diseases like pneumonia and to increase your blood oxygen level is to visit Mekedattu, a place filled with fresh air. I really lost the counts of how many times I had visited this place, but it is not less then ten times for sure. Had visited this place in all seasons, have seen almost all faces of Mekedattu. For me this is one of the ideal place for any one to spend his day in peace and happiness.

Roughly eighty Kms from Bangalore, 33 Kms from Kanakapura, an ideal weekend gateway. Roads are very nice except the one located inside Kanakapura. Remembering a Tamil movie scene, in which one guy keeps on failing in 10th grade for more then 3 times, his father explains to his friends about his son's greatness like, "Avan padithan(past), padikiran(present) and Padippan(future), he is laying a strong foundation .. It is very similar to Kanakapura road work as well. Anyway after Kanakapura roads are really good, so no worries. But I never miss Thattai Idli(Flat Idli) and Green gram dhal chatni in Kanakapura hotels. After 20Kms from Kanakapura the landscape changes from plain lands to mountains, after 30kms you will find yourself inside a small ghat road which will last for 2 kms. Thats all, you will be in plains again, this place is called Sangaman(Confluence), where river Kaveri and Arakavarhi merges here. Its better to start early from Bangalore, and be first to reach, if you do so you can enjoy the river in silence. Total travelling time would be 2 to 3 Hours. On the way you will never miss a board named "Way to Chunchi falls", most of the summer it will be dry, worth visiting monsoon times.

If you go by rainy season you might fail to realize how dangerous the river is, the surface of the river will be completely covered by water and the uneven shaped rocks will be hidden inside it. Nature does not have any mercy to whom does not respect the rules of it, if you violate the rules of nature, and wanted to be too adventurous please find some other place. There are many predecessors who tried and failed, you can see their names in boards :-( Hopefully we are going there to get some peace, but not permanent peace !! Because of the rocks on the way, this place has lots of swirls and currents. Don't underestimate the force of the water, though you know swimming. It is completely different if you go by summer, you can see the naked rocks everywhere, and water level dips to 4 to 6 feets in most of the places and its very ideal for waterplay activities.

After crossing the river in Sangama, in the other bank you will find a Jeep trial which leads to a place called Mekedattu. The distance is almost 4/5 Kms. Most prefer to walk to that place, but Jeep/Mini bus service is available. So whats special in Mekedattu ? If you walk on that trail you will notice the river flows between two mountains, which just looks like a canyon. One early morning walk in this trail I had seen a deer, few mongooses and a fox. At one place the distance between two banks of the river is just 20 feet. Thats why its called Mekedattu, in Kannada language Meke->Goat, Dattu->Jump, locals meant that a goat can jump across the great Kaveri river at this point. This place will be good if you visit by rainy season, enormous amount of water gushes through this ravine, an awesome view!! You will never miss to wonder the smoothness of the rocks here, they are polished by water. There is a round hole in the rock which is of 10 feet, good enough to push a man inside it.

Jeep trial does not stop in Mekedattu, so where does it lead to ? There is a fishing camp which is another 25 mins of walk from Mekedattu, most of them who visit here would be foreign nationals, I came to know that per day stay in this camp costs around 8000 INRs, I am not 100% sure about this, please verify it yourself. On the way to fishing camp there is a way(right turn) leads to the downhills, in which you will find a nice beach. It seems this place is used by the Fishing camp visitors. You can get an awesome view of the river here. I could spot elephant dung everywhere in this spot, mostly they are active here during nighttime. I don't know how many tourists have explored this place, but I hope it is not polluted as like the river near Sangama. Be aware of broken glass in Sangama, tourist come here just to drink and break the bottles in the river. I really don't understand why the government has not even put a single board about littering. Whenever I go there I will try to find the broken glass pieces on my way and take them out of river, I can not do much.

One time I had started from Bangalore with some of friends by 12.20AM and reached Mekedattu by 3AM. Just we slept in the river for some time, Sorry I have no words to explain that, please try yourselves !!

The Good, Bad and the Worst

2009-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

The year 2009, made a single resolution, Self cooking. I am just fed up with the junk hotel foods. I was thinking too much of where to go for a trip. First trip in this year should be some thing good and I should remember it forever. Browsed BCM touring site(http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-f9/) for South India options. Many tours to X, Y and Z in Karnataka over the Western Ghats. All of them are very unique and with the same tropical climate. I am quite not agreed with those places. I can not stretch my bike beyond 500Kms so there is not going be anything in North India now, this time I am quite running out of options. Long before my friend Siva always says about Valparai, a place near to Coimbatore. Just googled for the data, it is really promising. Less population, less traveled compared to any other popular tourist places, many other attractions around. I hate to know the fine details of the route map of where I am going, it simply spoils the enthu, the very purpose of trips are beaten if you do so. Great quote, "For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move". Its just a quick plan, only 2 hours left, When I decided it was 8.30PM Friday, have not availed leave for Monday. But this is an addiction you tend to sacrifice most of them for it, so do I. I was so hurry, bought some drinks in food world, fueled the vehicle. Came home after purchase around 10.40PM, then packed the clothes, charged the camera battery... almost done everything. When I kissed the pillow it was 12.00. Set the alarm for 3.40AM. I need to make it too early, my plan is to start here by 4.30 AM. If I do, then I can reach Sathyamangalam by before next day noon, might be around 12PM. I had no respect for the clock always after my college days, so delayed 15 mins. But 4.30AM I am just fighting with my kicker, this is the result of the training in NCC (National Cadet Corps).

In this world most of the judgment depends on perspective to the viewpoint. How you can decide a straight line, it is absolutely relative. If you put the same object which you feel as straight in a great circle you can no longer say that as a straight object. I am just using the same logic here to decide the Good bad and Worst.

The Bad:
When I started from Bangalore it was around 4.32AM. Though I know the route better, I worry about the diversions with out any sign board, multiple continuous humps (makes you to feel like driving in heaven) and big pot holes on the way in dark. Roads from Bangalore to Kanakapura are Bad (Again it is relative).

The Worst:
Worst part starts after 5Kms from Kanakapura. It extends until the Tamilnadu part which starts in the middle of the Sathyamangalam forest area. The whole route falls in Mallavallai - Kollegal - Chamraj nagar. I have no idea why government is least bothered about these farmers. They are the heart beat for any nation. I hope there is going to be a time (may not be in near future), where everyone realises it. I paint these roads with the Worst.

We are going out of topic for some time here ......
When I reached CH Nagar I got a call from home, and immediately I need to address an illness in my family. So I had to return to Bangalore. But I had time until 10.30PM Saturday. I was so hesitant to come back using the same route. I have the map with me for reference, so checked for the possible alternates. There is one, so proceeded towards Sathymangalam. After Sathy I took a route towards Salem, it goes via Anthiyur - Aththani - Ammapettai - Mettur - Mechcheri(Watch here for Diversion to Thoppur Juntion so that you can avoid Salem), Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore. On the way I stopped for porridge made of millet. This is served by diluting it with butter milk and sliced onions added for taste. This is one of the ultimate, some time before staple food as well for Tamilnadu people. It is very good for tropical conditions. I had almost more then a litre taken, I am just desperately needed. I may not get the samething with equal taste in Bangalore. You can easily spot these vendors by their setup, a red color clay pot covered with white piece of cloth, wooden made vehicle with 4 small tyres, and many stainless steel made cups. Additionally they serve 4 to 5 varieties of side dishes for this porridge. All comes in a cost of 4/-Rs per 250ml quantity. Please avoid taking this in towns, may not be hygiene.

On the way to Ammapettai, I just overtook a Bajaj M80 guy at around 35Kms, it was a real close one just because of the oncoming Car. But I don't feel anything different. Because everyday in Bangalore we used to follow these unwritten rules :-) But the native guy took this more offensive way and he blindly followed me after yelling something. I heard his yelling, but I did not think that he meant that for me. He came close to me, delivered few hot words and rushed away. I just followed him a while and asked him to come sideby. I asked why did he get so angry, because I have no clue for the reason he went mad. The reason is quite simple I surprised him very much, he exaggerated this in such a way that his heart was stopped for a second when I overtook him.
I apologized for the wrongdoing, he is actually a nice gentleman almost more then 55. He was so convinced because the way I approached him. This is a lesson, I earned it.

The Good:
Middle of the Sathayamangalm forest there lies the border line for two states, the roads in TN falls under the good category. I was about to take a snap of that border line, one side excellent roads other side medium to bad roads. Missed to do so, If anybody goes over there please take a snap and send that to me. Once you reach Sathyamangalm you see the NH crosses over hundreds of villages on the way, you need to be extremely cautious while driving on these roads. This is infected by pedestrians, so I won't add this stretch starts from Sathy to Thoppur Junction to Good. From Thoppur junction to Hosur, it is one of the world class roads available in India I believe. Though it is just 4 lanes the quality is viable. I salute our great leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee for starting these 4 laning projects across the country. The slogan also more realistic "Safety and Speed", it is simply true. I could see the car guys going in 120Kms.

For bikers these good roads might be a boring one. So relatively I vote for Bad as Good, Good as Bad. This time the trip is just running all the way with out any sight seeing. Just a stress test for my bike too. I have crossed the 500Km limit in a single day using Splendor+, hats off to Hero honda. I decided in the beginning this trip should be rememberable, at last yes it was.

Distance between important stations are given below.

Bangalore to ChamrajNagar - 168 Kms
Bangalore to Satyamangalam - 244 Kms

Sathyamangalam to Mettur - 80 Kms
Mettur to Bangalore - 193 Kms

Total distance I covered - 522 Kms.
Please let me know if anybody breaks this record using Splendor+.

Kodachadri Trek and Malpe Beach Visit

2008-12-29T00:27:00.000-08:00

Four of us Me, Vikram, Peddi and Sathis planned to attend our beloved friend Mangesh's marriage in Sagar which is in Shimoga district on Dec 25th. My mind did the maths fast and calculated the available days if I take leave on friday, yup it is 4 full days. After some google visits and Govind's advice I concluded with 2 days trip plan. This time we are planned to go by bus. First time I am tripping through bus. It just gives altogether a different experience, you are more prone to mingle with the native people and get to know their customs and explore their cultures. Like this quote very much, “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

Day1[Dec 25]: We are at Sagar, at 2PM the marriage was over. Jog is almost 28Kms from the place where the marriage have happened. Tried hiring a car and we found that to be costly (500 for 56Kms) moreover that guy seems not interested in bargaining. So we took an Auto and squeezed ourselves inside. It was an altogether different kind of experience! Our good luck, we could see the Rocks of Jog :-) Probably 90 out of 100 could have only seen the water flowing, not the rocks. We are among the 10% population. From Jog we took a bus to Sagar, for every half an hour there is a bus to Sagar. Our plans of what next is not clear, we decided to postpone that until we reach Sagar. After 2Hrs journey we reached Sagar, had refreshments. Our initial plan is to reach Kollur the same day to start the Kodachadri trekking. But unavailability of bus service to Kollur made us to change our plan. We left Peddi in lodge, he is going back to home. At 8PM we started towards Udupi in a private bus, distance would be 120Kms, but the travel time might take 4 to 5 hrs. This entire road is located in a ghat, for every 10 meters there is a steep curve, bus was going to left and right extremes of the road to turn properly.

Day2[Dec 26]: We reached Udupi at around 1AM, checked almost 20 lodges, but none of them have rooms. So we finally decided to stay in Bus terminal, Sathis had some old news papers, which might come handy in saving us. Fortunately(Thought initially!) we found one lodge, and there is a room. Got the keys and the keeper said the room is an old one, we thought it is ok for nothing. Once I opened the room, I thought I have come to some archaeological survey and reached Harappa :-) Immediately went to the reception and said to that guy I am leaving Udupi itself, he was cool and asked "Is the room dusty?", I just stopped the word which come until my lips. He saw our faces and said there is one more room available which we have to vacate at 7AM. I was hesitant to waste some more time, but tried just. It was good, we got dragged into a deep sleep with in 10 mins. Got up at 6AM and had our bath, started moving towards Malpe beach. In Udupi bus stand there is a "Santhi Sagar" hotel in which we had very good breakfast. Boarded in Malpe bus, it is just 8 Kms ahead. Within 30 mins we are at Malpe. From bus stand we started to beach by walk, the streets are narrow and after few 100 meters you will find the beach road. The beach is not polluted much and sand is smooth like silk. Early morning in the beach is so enjoyable. Water bike ride is available here for 300Rs per round, he might take you for 2Kms, with sharp twists. We had enjoyed that fun, it was not so thrilling, as because you know that you won't sink as well you wont get hurt. Beach is getting hot as the sun moves from east to west, we started heading back to Udupi.

Had our lunch in "Santhi Sagar", it was really good. North indian special meals with many items. All of them are carefully prepared to give a very good taste. Had a "Gadi Badi", it is a kind of ice cream prepared with dry fruits and cherry fruits which is very famous in areas around Mangalore. Boarded a bus to Kollur, travel took more then 2Hrs to reach Kollur. This town is known for the "Mookambika temple". There is nothing interesting in this town, we struggled to get a room in this town, just because it is a festival season. If your plan is nothing other then trekking and you want to stay in Kollur, please be aware of the festival seasons. Otherwise you will be ended-up paying triple the amount. We are just lucky enough to escape from it, immediately after getting down from the bus we just asked the temple facility office which is located in the bus stand itself for accommodation. That guy is kind enough to give the details about the situation and also said if we don't find any room we can stay in the dormitory provided by the temple by paying 10Rs per head. Finally we ended up staying in the temple facility, total cost including the locker was 50Rs. We were about to pay 1000 per night in some lodge. But it costs you something, you need to adjust with other devotees, some time it gets crowded badly. I won't mind experiencing ups and downs of this country.

Got up in the early morning 5AM, had no chance to take the bath due to the crowd. At 6, we boarded in a Bangalore bus and got down in the trekking point called "Netoor". Its 7AM, very cool and foggy. Its little different from the Kumaraparvatha forests, we could hear some sounds of animals and birds here, whereas there is a dead silence in KP forests. Tall trees both the side block the light from coming inside. At 8.20 we reached a village on the way and found a hotel, had some Puttus(steam cake) and idlies. Until this village trekking is nothing but just walking in the even land. Steep climbing starts from this point, you will be walking alongside the edges of the peaks. Its the start of the summer, but the grasslands have dried up already. We reached the peak around 11.55AM, took some snaps. There is a hotel at this point, he is serving food to trekkers and devotees. From this point you can trek further up to reach "Agasthiar Theertha", small water fall. Else you can just follow the jeep tracks which goes down and find a left turn inside the trekking path after 1km to reach a water fall called Hitluemane. Finding the left turn is little tricky, if you miss you might get ended up somewhere. We also had no clue where it comes, one group was standing in a left turn and discussing themselves something. We approached them and asked for the fall route, it seems they too not sure of it. We trekked down further in the same left trun and found that route goes further down. From the main route(jeep track) you will see a left turn which is actually the route to falls, to make sure of this turn just watch your right side, you will see a trekking path going top to the hill. If you find both of them you are done finding the route to the fall, just slide down in the left turn, after some distance it takes a left again. After another an hour, at 12 we were in the falls.

The fall is crowed with all aged people, some kids too :-) I have seen many water falls, but not like this one. Covered by dense forest, there is a less scope for the sun beams to peep inside. This is the fact that explains why the water is so cool. Trekking route near to this fall is just made to reach it, obviously they are steep and sliding. But it is not difficult to negotiate them. Just slide your upper body little backside, you can easily move across without slipping. We spent 2Hrs, our trip was fulfilled here. This fall is not advisable in the rainy seasons, if you are doing it I would recommend you to have all precautionary measures and trainings. Now its time to trek down, we need to just follow the water flow some distance, then a left upside route starts. That leads to paddy and sugarcane fields, then a village(Just we saw few houses) starts, you will be merged in a jeep track again. Now it is nothing but follow the tracks. At one place there is a right turn and a straight way, you need to take the straight one, if you follow the right one you will be ended up in a village called "Kambali" instead of "Netoor". We missed to take the correct route after some time and reached a place called "Harimane" which joins the main road anyway.

When we were waiting in the bus stand we had a chance to speak with a local guy who works in Bangalore, we asked about the wild animals, sloth bears and elephants seems to be the most common animals here. In which bears are having unpredictable temperament, so you need to be aware of the environment before having fun in this forest bypassing the regular trek route and time! I got a guide number from a trekker, this guide seems to be very flexible and reasonable. You can check with him for possible routes and schedules. His Name is Rajendra and his contact number is 9242892299. I had uploaded high resolution photos taken in this trip in my picasa web albums. The link is available here right top of this page "My past in captivity". If you are able to spend one more day, plan to visit Sakrebylu near Shimoga, where you can get a chance to see the elephant herd playing in water. Just for curiosity read the below link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_bear_of_Mysore.

Kodaikanal Bike trip [Aug 2008]

2008-12-09T02:07:00.000-08:00

All of my previous trips are less then 400Kms. I thought my bike might get into troubles if I stretch it beyond 400+ in a single day. But how long I can resist myself from not involving into road trips, I always feel like I am born to roam around. I never liked traveling inside Bangalore, only I go out if it is completely necessary. Came to Bangalore in the mid of 2003, almost 6 years, but still I am not sure where the intersection of MG road and Brigade road is. Whoever(I do not mean above 45) come to Bangalore would be tempted to visit MG Road first ! This was not the case with me, I am sure this is a characteristic which makes me a different kind. After all I came here to make money, not just get into this dreamy urban culture. I wanted to stay as much as lazy possible.

Planned decisively to Kodaikanal, no second thought this time. I know partial route until Gopichettipalayam. It is Tamilnadu afterward. So I have no concern about maps, distance etc ... One of my college-mate Palani(Its not a place name) agreed to accompany me there. We planned for two day stay in Kodai. For me itinerary will be four days. As usual serviced the vehicle, changed oil, purchased some ready to eat items. I aimed at August 15 which is a holiday, took off by 14th, now it sums up to 4 days. Early morning 4.30 started the engine, there were some of my usual passerby neighbors who gave me "All the best, have a nice time", by barking loudly and chasing me until the end of street. A nice beginning, warm start !! Took left in Banashankari circle, this time plan is not to go to Mysore and going through Kanakapura, Malavalli. I know the route good until Kanakapura, because I had visited Mekedatu many times. Until Kanakapura roads are good and not much traffic except few trucks and stray dogs. I started towards Malavalli, now the good roads are shadowing behind, could see only pot holes everywhere. Drastically reduced my speed now, consoled myself saying this won't last forever, there will be a good road ahead after some distance. But there is nothing, I was keep on moving ... Malavalli ... Kollegal ... Chamrajnagar. Ha, I am exhausted now, all the way I was scolding government authorities, passerby people were looking strange at me, so though they would think I am scolding them, shut my mouth up!

Near and after Chamrajnagar I could see a good patch of road, relieved somehow. But after 4 to 5 Kms the roads were in worst condition, bus fellows are just patching me with a dust. There were many private buses, luckily my overcoat is very good enough to cover myself completely. Otherwise I could have to park my body in a garage for a water-wash. After Chamrajnagar the forest boundary starts, roads are changing worst to good. Due to the previous day's rain the wind was so chill and ride was pleasant. I saw a sign board stating that "Tamilnadu border starts", all of a sudden the road condition changes to good to excellent. I am not completely biased here, the roads are remarkably put. You can easily accelerate to 140+ with out having any fear of getting a pot hole in the middle. After some distance Thimbam ghat section starts, zig-zag ride, a pleasant one. No much vehicle population in this road, stopped in the top of the hill to have a fresh tea.

Time crossed 12.30PM, started sliding down, many thoughts in my mind, where to stop for lunch? when approximately I can reach Kodai ??? Kept moving fast ... crossed Bannari ... Satyamangalam ... Gopichettipalayam. It is time to ask the correct route, asked locals, no one is clear, one truck driver clearly had given me the details. You can take either Kangayam or through P.Puliyampatti route, both of them are very good. I had chosen Kangayam one, planned to have lunch there, as well while coming back I planned for the next route. Reached Kangayam at around 2.50PM, many hotels, you don't need to look around. Its Tamilnadu, just close your eyes, the smell of sambar will tell you where and how the hotel is !! Had a special meals worth 35 bucks, it was awesome. One addition is Ghee from Oothukuli the nearby town, which is very well known for butter. Its hot sun, In Tamilnadu there is zero humidity most of the times, I am used to it from my childhood and I like it very much. Removed my overcoat, crossed Dharapuram. I was going non stop most of the times, my back started crying, I needed some rest; could not find a single big Banyan tree, everywhere only Tamarind trees, those will not give good shade. On the way I spotted a water tap(Its TN, there won't be canals like Karnataka), washed my face. After some distance there was a well and a garden(Thottam in tamil), looked like a good place for resting.

Switched off the engine, took off all the baggage, moved a big stone to support my back. Ha, what a comfort a stone can provide in such a place. I can't just explain that in words. The wind was getting cool so the engine. Stopped there for 30 mins, just to cool down the engine. Its time to start again, After Dharapuram, Palani city comes, there is a famous temple for Lord Muruga situated here. Its one of the "Arupadai Veedu" (Six houses) for Lord Muruga. (Own house or rented, I don't know). After Palani, Kodai is 60 Kms, out of that 40kms is sure a ghat road. Really a fun ahead, It was 4.45PM. Started climbing up, Once after reaching the ghat roads the climate changed completely, at 5.30PM fog blocked the view, nothing is visible. I have a high/low beam option, used both of them to identify the edges of the road. I was moving quite slow, this is absolutely important. A perfect Rider has 100% responsibility not only for his life, also for others life as well.

At 6.00PM it was killing cold, I stopped bike and took out my hand cloves. I always carry them even if I don't use it. Now the ride was somehow manageable. Reached police check-post, paid 10 bucks for my two wheeler. Policeman checked all my baggage suspecting that I am terrorist, might be the riding gear made him to suspect me. Even after showing all my identity he was specifically interested in my company ID card, so guys don't underestimate the value of your employee ID, it might save your already soured *** at some critical time. Finally reached Kodaikanal at around 7.00PM. So more then 2Hours climb. Got a room in "Hotel RUBY Internatinal", it is very start of Kodaikanal called "Moonjikkal". settled down all my packages, had a warm bath. Now went around to have a food, there are many hotels nearby, but none of them are good. None of them are clean, so asked everyone around for good vegetarian hotel. Finally found one near to the bus stand (I am really sorry here, Forgot the name, it was almost 6 months before). The next two days I had never gone to another veg hotel, the one I went for Biriyani is a different story, that is "Thirunelveli Nadar Hotel" near bus stand.

It was a pleasant night with no dreams! Next day morning my friend Palani came to room around 8.00PM. We planned to see the nearby places on that day, no plans were there in mind for next day. Our schedule is to visit the Lake first, at 10 we were at Lake, the ariel view it looks like a perfect star. There is a name too for it "Star lake". The around lake distance is 6Kms, made us to open our mouth widely! There are hundreds of bicycles for rent, just rent them one and start riding around the lake. It would be a worthwhile experience. We had chosen to walk, talking all things happened in the past, mimic-ed HOD, and the lady lecturer, followed the girls in the tour, got zero marks in Set theory paper .... We are near to the boat house now, so took tickets for Pedal boats, 1 hour the charge is 40 bucks, you can extend the time if needed. They are in perfect condition, you need to cycle the pedal 100 times to cross 1 meter, isn't it a nice exercise! Palani is capable of crossing that lake non stop, I used see him swimming the Sivagalai lake(which is a lengthy one, might spreads over 3kms). After having fun in lake we moved for lunch, tasted Nadar's Biriyani made in Nelli style (Thirunelveli is called Nellai).

After lunch we went to Coaker's walk, a place where you can get awesome view of the valley. This place is named after a British man who found this place. We took many snaps here, by nature this is a great place, but the crowd which pulls you there and here will not allow you to enjoy it to the maximum. So prepared to come here by week days. Weekends you will see kids, kids everywhere. End of the other side there are many shops which provide you variety of oils, normal coconut oils to pain killers. You can buy them, all of them available other side too have the similar quality. We want to get the night view from that place, so planned to come in the late evening again. Went to hotel, had a nap, around 6.30PM walked back to Cocker's walk, due to the fog visibility was less, few people around this time. There was a brief silence only the breeze broke it often, we stayed there until they close it, around 8PM. Came back to hotel room after having some idlies and parotas (Not the north indian paratha).

Next day morning 7AM we rented two cycles and planned to visit the places which comes in the same route. The places are 500 year old tree, Green valley, Guna cave, Pine tree forest and a small trek until the Piller rock. It is an uphill, so we struggled a lot to pedal the cycles forward, but that was an unmemorable experience, which lasts until the end of your life. We visited all the places en-route, took many snaps. One good thing is you don't need to lock the bicycle, it doesn't come with a lock. I could see the "Mutual Belief system" working. On the way you spot many English names in some big Villas, all of them came here around 50/100 years before, they explored this land and made the beauty visible to the world. We sat under some trees on the peak for a while, fog comes and goes, at some time we were completely blinded by it. Started drizzling, might be we mistook the fog. Started cycling down, effortless ride, just used brakes. On the way we purchased walnut, cherrys, and some dry fruits as well some chocolates, dirty cheap here. You need to bargain though!

Bicycle rent had cost us 100 bucks. After having lunch my friend thought of going home early, so I took him to bus stand, he left around 3.30PM. I roamed myself until 9.00PM. Planned to leave by next day morning at 9.00AM. Delayed due to the non-availability of petrol until 10AM. Atlast I filled-up the tank and started my journey back. I was not sad to say a Goodbye to Kodai, because I know that I will be back at some point of time again! I had chosen not to travel in the early morning, because ghat roads are more enjoyable at day time. Yes it was, Kodai to Palani is the best ghat road, with zero pot holes. The view from the top would be awesome when you reach near to the downhills. I had many snaps, you can see the zig-zag roads from the top. One thing to remind here, if you come by bus, you will have only time to vomit most of the times, or smelling a lemon always with a fear of vomitting; won't be having enough time to enjoy the surroundings. So don't prefer closed driving unless until you are not really fit for bike travel. This time after Palani I had choosen P.Puliampatti route, but this road is more open, much windy, lots of wind-farms all the way. If you have good bike choose this one, otherwise choose Kangayam route. Traveled through Pollachi, Bhavani, Mettupalayam, Sirumugai, Bannari and Satyamangalam. Its 5.30PM, so decided to halt in Sathy. Took a room dropped all baggage had a bath and went for a Chettinad style hotel, no second though after seeing Idly and chicken in the menu board(They can not afford giving everyone a junk Booklet with items only in it) !! Came back to room and slept.

Started again by 5AM next day, same route through Thimbam (Doesn't matter how many times I travel, I like this road very much), Chamrajnagar, Kolllegal, Mallavalli, Kanakapura and Bangalore. It was almost non-stop ride, very few stops also very fast(average 55kms/hr). Might be for splendor+ it is a good speed. At around 11.45 I was in front of my home! The trip has ended, but not the desire for tripping, it is a wave and constantly comes when you are depressed and goes when you think I am done enough. But it never stops for any reason until .....

I had given some information of my odometer values observed at the trip time here for the reference. Covered both the ways, one side distance is almost 460Kms. Route map can be seen from mapsofindia.com

http://www.mapsofindia.com/driving-directions-maps/nh209-driving-directions-map.html

Bangalore Ooty Bike trip [ Nov 2007 ]

2008-11-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

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!!

Kumaraparvatha Trek

2008-11-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

After so many bike trips, I thought of trying something different, first thing came in my mind was trekking. Mostly I go alone for Bike trips, whatever the distance is, the fact is nobody was interested to join with me !! But this time I decided to get some guys from my team, I lured them as much as possible. We drafted a plan to trek in Mukurthi peak. I called up the DFO office in Ooty and asked the trek permission process, he said I need to go there by person to get it. So I though I can go there by Friday and make arrangements, Thursday I called them again, one good soul in DFO office gave me some more details, it is nothing but to trek inside Mukurthi I need to get a permission from "Niligiri Wildlife Society", this actually for the Fishing hut which is located near the lake. Luckily(!) that was booked until December 7th, so our plans went burst. I had created lots of expectations and at-least don't want to stay in Bangalore over that weekend. So final day we met and googled for places, all of a sudden we remembered one of our friends suggestion to go to Kumaraparvatha. But Govind in our group had already visited this place, and seems not interested going second time there. So opted to toss a coin(just to make Govind agree), head for yes, fortunately (!) it was a head !!!!

So planned and made all purchases, rented sleeping bags and started from JP Nagar at 9.30 PM Saturday. We are four, me, Govind, Juan and Vikram. Our car driver knows the route better, we are in a better mode that we won't get lost in the middle. Around 5AM Saturday we reached Somwarpet town, searched for a lodge. It is a small town with 2 to 3 lodges, some film shooting was going on, so all the rooms were occupied. Finally we made a deal with the lodge guy for 2Hrs 200 bucks :-) Started towards the trek point around 7AM after pushing 7 idlies !! At exactly 7.45 we were at trek starting point, we were exited a lot.

Generally people try from Kukke side to reach peak and they return back towards the same route. For them other side is unknown. Around 8AM we started climbing up, after few hundred meters there is a forest office out post, where we got our permission for trekking. We are packed with energy in mind as well as in body, a fresh start towards the peak....

We could see trees everywhere, no sign of animals. We were talking crap and kept moving up. Red color arrow marks everywhere to show the trek route, Thanks for whoever done that !! After 1 Hour we reached a view point, where you will get awesome view of the place where you have started. We had some rest and had some oranges, then started climbing up further, slowly Juan's engine started giving problems, he got muscle cramp in his leg. So the speed reduced, and we had frequent rests. We encountered three big steep rocks, negotiating them was really challenging with all luggage we had. There was a funny incident when we approached the second such rock, Vikram said he won't climb further, he said "Are you asking me to go hell?" :-) We pushed him to his limits. We saw some guys in one of the peak opposite to us, Govind said that is the second highest peak in that place. I read it in many blogs people saying that, by mistake they thought that is Pushpagiri and returned back. On the way I spotted a Porcupine quill, and put that behind my ears. Unfortunately I lost that when I was climbing down !!

Voila !!! At 12PM we are are at peak, all in our group felt like achieved something great in life, like climbed Himalayas (I don't know what else to say here, don't know how I feel if I climb Himalayas). The view was awesome, we could see the place where we had started our trek. I had a Sony DSLR, shot some good pics !! We met a group of doctors, and wipro guys !! We sat near to the edge of the peak for about half an hour, then started climbing down other side. Our plan is to reach the mantapa and stay there over night.

Trekking down is a difficult task, the whole body weight is on your knees, they beg you to stop every 5 mins if you are not physically good or had some injuries in the past. Better carry a wooden stick, use as a third leg. I had some injuries in the past, so my left leg was not in a good condition when we started climbing down, so I stopped bending left leg and was climbing down using my right leg heavily. We could see only peaks, peaks everywhere !! Don't know how much distance is for our destination. Govind was simply running in the rocks, rocking :-) After crossing a peak we saw a rocky peak nearby which seems to made of a single boulder. We had some snaps. After 2 more peaks we reached Mantapa, there is a small stream nearby, we refreshed ourselves, it was quite a difficult time climbing down. I was not in a position to walk further, so asked Juan and Govind to check for firewood, luckily somebody put up the fire in a big firewood and left near the mantapa. One group was moving from mantapa to climb further, so we rushed to occupy it. Our ultimate plan is to sleep in the mantapa !! There were two school guys, missed their friends and about to stay near the mantapa with out food, we asked them to join with us, and prepared rice, used MTR ready-made currys. No spoons, we used Nippets to serve the rice(Don't know the english name, I suspect there will be one). Around 8PM we went to sleep. It was cloudy, no wind at all. We were tired but not feeling sleepy, had some talk about a-z. Around 3AM we could see stars all over the sky, it was clear and it was 1 day after the full moon. I remember the days when I was a kid, used to go to the field and sleep under the bullock cart only with jute bags, I felt the same warmth !! I don't think I have exited this extent when I got my first month hefty salary :-)

Morning 6.50 we started climbing down, both of my knees started giving trouble now. So in the middle I went inside the bushes, and broke one guava stick from the tree, now the 3rd leg is ready, it was really great !! We got Bhatter mane within 1hr 30 mins. It looked like a simple country side house, don't bother about the hygiene, under the nature nothing is inhygiene. We had a great breakfast Chittranna and Wheat uppuma, with Bhatter's special Pickle :-) Govind was always talking about Bhatta's pickle, I got a chance to taste it !! Food is prepared by a Grandma who seems to be Bhatta's mother or in-law, I am not sure. I saw her photo in Govind's album. Hearty thanks for Grandma and Bhatta for sumptuous food. Don't come without talking food from that home, then it is very similar to "Going to kasi and not talking bath in Ganga", in Vikram's style "Going to Tirupathi returning with hairs". You need to call and inform Bhatta to prepare food prior you reach his place, otherwise you may have to wait for an hour or so, his number is 9448647947.

After Bhatter mane, it is almost steep down path. We were like snails except Govind and Juan, they were moderately doing good. I compared the photos taken at starting and now, no glow in the faces :-) we are very eager to see the grounds of Kukke !! Atlast we saw some fence around, like columbus did see the birds !! Reached down at around 11.50 PM. There was a stream on the road side, we dipped our bodies inside, called car driver to pick us up there. After the bath we were rocking again, (Really, believe me, I can't compare this with what I do daily in my Bangalore bathroom). Govind went for dharshan, I was too interested in the free lunch, but the hanuman tail like line had dissolved my dreams :-) . Totally we had an unmemorable experience, thanks a lot to my Ooty friend(who spoiled the Mukurhi trek plan) and Govind(who guided us in every step in this trekking).

We reached Bangalore at around 9.30PM. I could see dust and smoke everywhere, every single molucule of air is polluted. Remembered an old tamil song "ponal pogattm poda ..... intha boomil nilayai valnthavar yarada"....