Day 1 – 20th Aug, 2010
The trip started with Sachin running out of fuel even before all of us met :) and as expected our start got delayed by almost an hour. At 7:30 AM, we met at HSBC call center on Bannerghatta road and with the newly bought saddle bags, jackets and all the other gear, we headed towards NECE road riding with Clinton riding his Royal Enfield (his bull as he lovingly calls it), Vikram on his newly bought Yamaha FZ, Sachin’s Pulsar and my Avenger.
The fresh air and little morning traffic made our life easier and with minutes we were on SH17 heading towards Mysore. We stopped at around 9:00 AM at the McDonalds for a quick breakfast cum lunch and even before we realized, we were back on the road. With overcast skies yet no sight of rains, it was just perfect weather to ride and we crossed Mysore and started riding on NH212.
There are three ways to reach Wayanad.
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Assuming that central governments usually have more money to manage then state governments, we decided to follow the National Highway and followed the OOTY road via. Nanjangud, Begur to Gundlupet. Except for a patch of about 15-20 km the road is just perfect and we were able to cruise at about 60 km/hr almost consistently.
Vikram and I decided to top up gas and we stopped at a HP gas station before Nanjangud. The pump operator was busy talking and filled the tank until there was petrol all over the bike and the tank full up to the brim. It resulted in a wait to find a suitable method to drain out the excess oil. Finally, Clinton managed to siphon off the extra fuel with less than 15 inches of a pipe and ended up drinking petrol in the process. With a 30 minute delay because of the stupidity of the pump operator, we resumed our journey.
After Gundulpet the road is really beautiful with marigold flowers blooming on both sides, very sparse traffic and with in no time we crossed the border into Kerala at around 1:45 PM.
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We stopped for the first official tea break inside Kerala after riding through the bamboo forests. This is a small tea stall just next to some big temple and as per the team; the TEA was excellent and strong.
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We passed lush green bamboo forests, much greener and serene than any other that I have recently seen, past the lines of trucks waiting for clearance, excise toll post, forest toll post around the border and a herd of wild elephants inside the National Park following strictly the NO PARKING, NO STOPPING and NO PICNIC signboards until we exited the National Park area.
We reached Sultan Bathery and the plan was to head to Edekkal Caves and then Kalpetta to the Green Gates hotel.
Edekkal cave carvings as people say were probably created during the Neolithic period of the Late Stone Age and date from about 1000BC. The route to the caves is pretty interesting to ride though village roads and only government controlled 4x4 jeeps are allowed for the last kilometer stretch. The last 500m or so is a quick trek through the forest and then inside the caves. We reached the caves at around 3:40 PM.
Entering the rock shelter and the sheer scale of the carving was a very humbling experience. Thankfully we had quite 20 minutes into the cave experiencing probably the rain soaking our skin as our ancestors would have felt. After twenty minutes into silence a swarm of kids and tourists walked into the cave. That was the good enough trigger to leave the place.
We decided to descend on foot and half way down Sachin pulled out the second surprise of the day. He couldn't find the keys of his Pulsar. Clinton and I ran down the hill jus to cross check if he left the keys on the bike while Sachin ran upwards back into the caves. Thankfully he had left the keys on the bike itself!
Imagine on a place like this without keys for the Bike am not sure what we could have done !
We followed the small village roads until we reached Kalpetta and checked into the hotel Green Gates at around 6:00 PM and just Two personal milestones....10k on the bike n 320 plus on the same day..
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We spent some time around the pool enjoying the sounds of the nature, crickets, insects and birds creating a cacophony of sounds so refreshing and real that it was far better and stereophonic then the best of the spa music available for sale.
Day 2 – 21th Aug, 2010
Enfield and Yamaha got a day off and Clinton and I rode on Avenger and Sachin and Vikram on the pulsar to explore the place. I woke up with Pirsig’s words echoing in my head and I guess it was not a remote connection because “good time” was what we were looking for in the God’s Own Country.
“We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with
emphasis on "good" rather than "time" and when you make that shift in
emphasis the whole approach changes. “
The plan was to keep it simple for the day and ride to Soochippara Waterfall and Pookot Lake. Soojippara is one of the most beautiful places in Wayanad. To reach the waterfalls you have to cross the green lush tea gardens which take you to Soochippara. Waterfalls which are a beautiful view can be seen from far. To reach the waterfall, one has to trek down 2kms through dense equatorial forest over steep rocks. Soochippara is located near Meppady. The water falls from 100 FT to 300ft heights which makes the place unique with its beauty. The pool below increases the adventure which allows swimming, water rafting etc. The tree top huts at Soochippara give a unique view of the valleys of the Western Ghats and the glimmering shallow waters of the surrounding springs.
If there was ever a place until now, where I felt like removing my helmet while riding (I know it is unsafe) and feel the rising mix of clouds and mist to take me over, this was it. Tea gardens with no one else on the road gush of wind in the face and silence of the empty roads except for the bikes felt like this was indeed God’s own country and at least for now our personal road to our own Shangri-la.
Day 3 - 22nd Aug,2010
The plan for day three was even simpler - have breakfast and head back to Bangalore following any of the other routes. We clicked the first all people picture before we started. Here is the ceremonial picture outside the hotel.
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The plan was to visit Kabini Dam and then follow to Mysore and then Bangalore.
We started from Kalpetta on NH212 to Manthanwadi and officially the plan was to follow SH17D.
Very soon we were riding into jungle roads but apparently the directions were not clear. We reached Pulpally through a jungle road which went through the National park. Lush green and again we were the only traffic until we reached Pulpally.
The directions to the Kabini dam were complicated and no one on the road was very sure. I tried accessing the GPS but it was showing the current location in some green field and was not able to provide any assistance. There was no option but to rely on Sachin's translations until we reached a police station. I requested him to go inside and request for directions.
He came out and declared that we have come wrong way and the options are either to go back about 20kms or there is some boat or may be ferry about 10kms which will help us cross the river into Karnataka. The idea of putting my Avenger was really really alien to me. We decided to let's see and worst case will ride back. We had ample time to reach Bangalore and this would be just another detour.
And my heart literally skipped a beat when I first looked at the river and the boat we were being asked to use for crossing the river. I guess the pictures will explain all this best.
The boat was a row boat and in the middle of the river we were informed that the river was 45 feet deep. The balance was so fragile that I literally didn't even move my butt a single inch for the fear of dis-balancing the boat and the fear of the biked drowning. One hell of an experience !
We rejoined on the Karnataka side and started following the road into the jungle. The road was amazing for about 50kms and then after that all the roads into the Kabini were closed due to rains and we reached a spot after which there was no road. We waded our way out of the mud and holes for about a hour and half until we joined the SH17D again.
After the morning's river crossing and surviving it, nothing seem to matter not even the rains which soaked us wet twice head to toe. It was fun to ride in the rains for about 30 km until we entered Mysore. The rains rejoined us just outside Mysore until the McDonald's where we made our first pit stop at around 6 PM.
The trip was almost over, we had lunch cum snacks at the McDonald's, had a cup of coffee and started inching through the almost city like traffic and stream of cars returning to Bangalore.
Like all good things the ride ended but what it left behind was lot's of dirt on the bike, mud on the shoes, wet clothes and a whole lot of memories especially around the bike on the boat !
For few seconds we felt like explorers who found a fourth route to reach Bangalore from Wayanad:)
PS: And the heading is an anonymous quote picked up from interent
