BoP Bangalore Chronicles: The Hampi Humpers ride

  2014 has been a great year for BoP's Bangalore chapter and for me as a rider. We completed 6 rides (a total of 5410+ kms) and added 2 new members to the 'team'. Apart from this, I'd done some more rides on my own or with friends. I did 2 of my longest rides ever within a span of a few months (Munnar Macarenas at 1113 kms, followed by West Coast ride at 1693 kms). Numbers don't matter, but it is immensely fulfilling to look back the ride stats, blogs and pics and I feel happy that I am covering so much of our beautiful country. At the same time, it is overwhelming to see how minuscule these distances are when compared to the vastness of India and how much MORE is left for me to explore!

  To round off this year's riding, I chose Hampi, a destination I'd heard and read a lot about but never visited. Winter is the best time to visit, in my opinion, given the location. It gets beastly hot in summers and you can't really do justice to the place. The ride dates kept changing due to various reasons, but we finally fixed the weekend before Christmas.

Dates: 20-22 December, 2014

Place(s) covered: Lepakshi, Hampi, Tungabhadra Dam

Route taken:

Bangalore-Chikkballapur-Lepakshi-Kalyandurga-Bellary-Hampi (while going)

Hampi-Tungabhadra-Chitradurga-Tumakuru-Bangalore (on the way back)

Riders:

1. Satish Palleti: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 
2. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark

3. Mystery BoPian who didn't ride

Total distance traversed: 793 kms

DAY 1

  The ride started at around 6.30 in the morning and we headed towards the airport road. It was quite chilly and I was really enjoying the weather. As we crossed Nandi Hills, we were surprised by a thick fog that enveloped us. It reminded me of my Delhi days. Oh, how I miss riding in the Delhi winters! We stopped for breakfast at a Kamat restaurant that actually was structured like and resembled an A2B. The food is no match for A2B, though.

  Our plan was to stop for a while at the Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi. The signs were a tad confusing and the road had patches with a whole lot of craters, but we rode on and reached the temple. It was like a trailer for what was in store for us in Hampi. The stone sculptures and pillars inspired awe. Two statues- one of Shesha Nag and other of the Nandi bull- are the centres of attraction. They were both carved out of single blocks of stone. Satish had a good time photographing the temple while I preferred walking around and admiring them with the naked eye.

  We had some delicious cucumber slices outside the temple before hitting the road. Now the sun was up and the bleak, brown landscape seemed to add to the heat. We were riding through the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, a region of rocky, dry hills and occasional fields. It is a wonder that people manage to till the land here. The road was bad just after Lepakshi but eventually smoothed out. However, it is a deserted highway. We road kilometer after kilometer with scarcely a car passing by. Indeed, the citizens and denizens of the surrounding areas seemed to be used to walking in the middle of the road and moved slowly out of the way when they heard us approaching. Obviously, there was no place to stop either.

  It was lunch time when Satish and I took a break on the roadside. A couple of guys loading a bullock cart started talking to us. They informed us that there was a 'great' place to eat 2-3 kms down the road and helpfully informed us that we could get drinks also! Without further ado, we headed towards the place. It was basically a bunch of huts (with brick walls though), each hut serving as a 'private cabin'. Satish doesn't drink, so I just ordered a beer for myself and some snacks. The food wasn't all that great but the beer was much needed and we spent a leisurely 2 hours there before starting off again. 

  Thanks to this long break plus the stop at Lepakshi and some bad roads, we entered Hampi only after sunset. We actually took a wrong turn, but we'd stopped to call up some hotels and eventually discovered that we were heading in the wrong direction. This had happened during the Redstone Rockets ride also, when a timely break saved us all from taking a wrong route. 

We entered the Hampi Bazaar area and started inquiring for places to stay. The first few places turned us down flat. Touts trying to show places to stay outnumber the tourists. We found a little place in the bazaar itself. At 500 a night, it was cheap and perfect for us. Furthermore, it was at walking distance from Virupaksha temple. After freshening up, we stepped out for dinner. We went to a place called Funky Monkey. The ambiance is amazing, with a very 70's hippie'ish feel. The food was bland but decent (probably because it caters to a largely non-Indian crowd). We took the help of the manager/waiter there to chart out the plan for the next day. After dinner, we walked towards Virupaksha temple. We were approached by a nice auto-guy who offered to take us to all places in Hampi in the morning at a fair price. His itinerary sounded good to us, so after some thought, we decided to go ahead with it. He promised to meet us at the temple in the morning.

DAY 2  

  The next morning, Satish got up before me and walked around clicking photos. I joined him for breakfast at a small stall behind the temple. The region of Rayalseema is known for its fiery cuisine and while Hampi is in Karnataka, the cultures are quite similar. Accordingly, we burnt our tongues with some super-hot chutney and idli. We even witnessed a great sunrise. We then met our auto driver-cum-tour guide there and commenced our tour. We covered a lot of places that day, so I will try to give a brief description of each:

1. Hemakunta Hill: The first stop where the main attraction is a giant statue of Ganesha. The sanctum sanctorum is quite dark and frankly, the Ganesh statue looks a little eerie. We found a whole group of school-children here. We would eventually find ourselves a few minutes ahead of these kids at every spot we stopped at throughout the day.

2. Lakshmi Narasimha and Badavi Linga: The former is an enormous statue of the half man, half-lion avatar of Lord Vishnu, Narasimha. Sculptors of that era were virtual magicians, in my opinion. To bring out such terrifying expressions in stone is admirable, to say the least. The Badavi Linga is a large Shiva lingam which remains partially submerged in water all the time due to the presence of a canal nearby. 

3. Sisters Rocks: Two rocks lean against each other precariously. Supposedly, they were two sisters who made fun of Hampi and were cursed and turned into these rocks. I decided to keep any negative opinions on the place to myself, lest I be turned into a stone.

4. Prasanna Virupaksha/Underground Temple: So called because it is built 'underground'. The roof is at ground level, but back in the day, tall grass covered the surrounding areas and the place was virtually invisible. It was also flooded (and still is in some parts). We came upon a bunch of guys here, who complained about the lack of maintenance. Personally, I thought all places in Hampi were maintained superbly. But then, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one!

5. Hazara Rama temple: We passed by some buildings of that era that our driver informed us were mosques. The next stop was the beautiful Hazara Rama Temple. It is quite huge and scenes from the Ramayana were carved into the stone walls inside and outside. Among all the temples we saw, this was the grandest and best-maintained temple. The main hall has some amazing sculptures carved out of black stone.

6. Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stables: Till now, we were mainly exploring temples. Now we reached the area of royal buildings. The Vijayanagara Empire had its capital in Hampi and as a result, a number of palaces, baths, living quarters and ruins of forts are spread all around the place. We came upon a watch tower first and joked about how it overlooked a bathing area and how the guards would have had fun 'watching' stuff from the tower. The Lotus Mahal was a place for relaxing after a long day (too grand for such a simple activity, but then, I ain't a king!). Elephant Stables are seen in most photos of Hampi; it is a grand building that held 11 elephants. My little guide booklet said there was a secret entrance to the top, but it was gated to prevent any mischief. Nearby was a 'pushkarini' or step well, supplied by an aqueduct from the river. A guard didn't trust us and followed around till we went away.



7. Mahanavmi Dibba: This was one intriguing structure. Basically, it is a huge platform with multiple tiers and steps connecting each tier. There is no pavilion on the top, it is open air. It was apparently used for festivals and various rituals. Each tier has some nice carvings too. We climbed up to the top of the platform, from where you get a nice view of the remains of the fort. Two European tourists were getting so much attention from a bunch of schoolchildren that it would put a celebrity to shame. Their accompanying teacher was not only indulging this behaviour but trying to score his own brownie points with a short speech on how Indians are destroying their own culture. Nearby was a secret enclosure which was used to discuss state secrets. One guide was spinning off grand stories to another group of tourists on how prisoners were brought here into this underground maze.

8. Queen's Bath: It was a grand structure for the Queen's bathing. The only thing worthy of note here was the aqueduct system that brought in water from the Tungabhadra river.

9. Vitthala Temple: Once again, this is a very famous temple and something that a lot of people associate with Hampi. Like the Hazara Rama (and other places too), astoundingly beautiful carvings adorn the temple, so intricately detailed that you sometimes forget that they were once stones. The first center of attraction here is a large stone chariot in front of the temple, inspired from the Sun Temple in Konark. It used to have a couple of stone horses, but they had been vandalized and had been replaced with a pair of elephants from another part of the temple by the ASI. As I walked around the chariot, I spotted a familiar face admiring the chariot. Who else, but our very own Varun Doegar, present with his wife and a tourist guide! He had opted out of the ride but here he was! He invited us to join him but we had our auto-driver-cum-guide waiting for us, so we decided to meet in the evening for dinner. The next stop in this temple is the main hall, locally known as "saptaswara". Tapping each pillar in this hall produces a different 'swara' or musical note. They are NOT hollow and are built of solid stone. Unfortunately, instead of admiring such great examples of craftsmanship, visitors used to be more interested in damaging the pillars by throwing stones and other stuff at them. As a consequence, tapping the pillars is no longer allowed, in order to preserve them.

10. Anegundi: From the Vitthala temple, the auto driver took us to the edge of the Tungabhadra river and dropped us off there. We were to take a boat to the other side and find a bus/share auto over there. Surprisingly, we found that bikes were being taken in the boats too, contrary to all the information we had received till then. On the boat, we bumped into a Japanese lady who was cycling around. We waved away all the drivers looking to get a package deal and walked into Anegundi. It was afternoon now, the sun was on top of our heads and we were hungry. We bought biscuits and water and finished them off in no time. A signboard said there was a 'Gagan Mahal' nearby. It sounded grand, but it actually was in a dilapidated state, surrounded by shops and other buildings.

11. Hanuman Temple: One of the last places on our itinerary, the Hanuman Temple is located on top of a hill known as Kishkinda. In the Ramayana, this is the abode of Sugriva, king of monkeys. Thanks to our Gagan Mahal trip, we watched a bus going towards the temple rush away. After waiting for almost half hour, we found a share auto willing to drop us at the temple without a package deal. On the way, we passed the Japanese lady cycling away towards the same destination. The temple attracts a lot of tourists from Rajasthan and Gujarat, so you can hear a lot of Hindi all around. You need to climb 500+ steps to the top. Neither of us is particularly fit and the heat didn't make it easier either. But there was no question of turning back. We huffed and puffed our way up to the top. Somewhere in the middle, our dear old Japanese lady cheerfully crossed me at a brisk pace while I was bent double gasping for air. Some fitness that woman had! The views were superb from the top. We stepped inside the temple for a while before making our way downhill. Too tired to wait for a bus now, we hired a share auto to drop us off at the river crossing. We went via Viruppura Guda, the famed hippie village of Hampi. We couldn't explore it properly, but it surely looked appealing.

  We took a boat back to Hampi, sharing it with a whole bunch of foreigners, a lot of them pretty girls. Lunch was at Mango Tree. We ordered full meals and it was fantastic. Our tiredness and hunger must have added to the great taste. A not-to-be missed place for all foodies out there! We went back to our room and I crashed into the bed for a short nap while Satish went around looking for a laptop to empty his camera's memory card.

  After I woke up, we went to Virupaksha Temple. There was an elephant there that would 'bless' people. If you pay Rs 2, it would be a short touch with its trunk. If you pay more, it would keep the trunk on your head for longer. Smart elephant, I must say! The temple was connected to living quarters and the river in the back. Thanks to my tourist guide booklet, we didn't miss out a little marvel here. In a dark corner, there is a little hole in the wall that projects an inverted shadow-image of the the temple's main tower at the entrance. It acts like a giant pin-hole camera. I tried to explain the science behind it to Satish (since I had constructed one for a school project once) but failed to answer his questions. Guess I should have paid more attention in class.

All the sightseeing for the day done, the next order of business was beer! Hampi being a temple town doesn't have any bars, so we rode to Kamalapuram, the next nearest town. We passed through the entire town without spotting a bar and reached a mirror-like reservoir that reflected the majestic sky with a setting sun. We even spotted a large fire in the distance. The view was amazing but I was a little disappointed that there was no beer. On the way back though, Satish spotted a bar, spread over 3 floors. The basement and first floor had seating areas, but the waiter told us to go the basement area only. As I drank the beer and munched through the snacks, I noticed people around kept eyeing Satish's phone. I was getting a little uncomfortable with the stares and was expecting some trouble. The waiter was very perceptive and must have noticed the same thing, so he said we could shift to the first floor because of the 'public' around here. This was a much neater place and empty too, save a couple of foreigners. The drinking was great and I was a little buzzed. 

  Back in Hampi, we decided to have dinner at Mango Tree again. Doegar and his wife accompanied us, even though they had finished their dinner (at the same place). Doegar narrated his experience with the guide, who was more intent on showing individual carvings from various angles than moving faster. Satish and I bid farewell to the couple after dinner and went back to our rooms. I inquired about the first boat to Viruppura Guda because I really wanted to walk around in the hippie area before leaving for Bangalore. Sadly, I was informed that they only started at around 7 which would be too late for us.

DAY 3

  In the morning, we got some line up pics clicked at the Virupaksha temple. A bunch of devotees from the temple thronged around us and one of them described our ride as a "bike yatra". We also witnessed stand-off between a wailing puppy and a bull.

  As we made our way out of Hampi, the chill in the air added to the enjoyment. The plan was to take the route through Chitradurga. We decided to ride in a more disciplined manner this time to avoid the dreaded weekday traffic of Bangalore. We did however stop at Tungabhadra Dam on the way. There is not much to see here, though I did enjoy seeing the swans skimming on the water.

  After Tungabhadra, the roads were bad for a while but we hit the 4-lane expressway soon and it was smooth riding from there on. We stopped for breakfast at a small place on the way, where the staff moved at the pace of a tortoise that had smoked weed. Their chai was superb though!

  It was a smooth ride back into Bangalore. We skipped a lunch break, took the NICE Road to bypass a major chunk of city traffic and reached home at around 3.30. 

  The ride was quite different because of the sheer number of places we had visited on Day 2. The auto-driver (whose name I forgot, sadly) deserves kudos for helping us plan the itinerary that day so as to not miss any key places. I wish I could have spent more time in the hippie area, but there is always a next time! Here's to having more amazing rides in 2015!

Until next time! Cheers and Jai BoP!

All photographs by Satish Palleti, last painting made by an unknown painter in the Hampi Bazaar

BoP West Coast Ride: Part I - Chalo Wayanad!

This blog will be distributed over a number of parts, due to the length and complexity of the ride. This was a big ride in many senses - distance, number of riders, number of days, length of mis-navigations, amount of bakchodi, southernmost point of Indian mainland, lowest point in India....and so on! Also, this was the first Anniversary ride of the Bangalore chapter and the first time we'd be riding together with our NCR chapter (who were riding from Pune, stopping at Goa and Mangalore and joining us at Wayanad).

Dates: 13-18 November, 2014

Place(s) covered: Wayanad, Alleppey (Alappuzha), Cochin (Kochi), Kanyakumari and Salem

Riders (for the first leg to Wayanad):

1. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra (The vegetarian in a space-suit)
2. Satish Palleti: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (The bandookdhaari who fell sick along with his bike)
3. Varun Doegar: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (The one who shifts his bike with his long legs)

Route taken (First leg, to Wayanad)

Bangalore-Srirangapattnam-Ilavala Hobli-Hunsur-Nagarhole-Gurupura-Mananthavadi-Pulpally

We started off from Bangalore at around 7 AM, with a light drizzle to escort us out of the city. I was donning my shiny, silver rain gear; with my silver bike and my silver-grey helmet, I must have been a sight on the roads! Satish turned up a bit late because he was on night-duty, so I utilized that time to put on the rain covers on my saddlebags too. This was my first ride with my new Via Terra Leh saddlebags, and they got rain-tested within the first 20 mins. 

We'd decided not to take the Mysore-Gundlupet-Sultan Bathery route, to avoid the city and also since we were staying in Pulpally (the route leads to Kalpetta directly). Instead, we chose to go till Srirangapattnam, bypass Mysore and reach Hunsur. From there on, Doegar suggested we go to HD Kote, skirt the edges of Nagarhole National Park, cross Mananthavady and reach Pulpally. Google showed me another route right through Nagarhole, via Tholpetty and Mananthavady to Pulpally. I love riding through forests and this route seemed shorter, so I convinced Doegar and Satish that it was the better route. 

We made good time, stopping for some photos and breakfast at Nandini Hotel. Happy with the weather and our pace of ride, we stopped for lunch and beer at Nandhana Hotel (breakfast at Nandini, lunch at Nandhana, the epitome of poetic alliteration). With just 100 kms more to cover and plenty of daylight left, we relaxed here. The on-and-off drizzle stopped completely while we were inside. We had our beers slowly, with some nice snacks. After-all, what could go wrong, we'd finished a large chunk of our journey....right? Wrong! 

As soon as we started off after lunch, the rain started again, this time heavier. Then, as we approached Nagarhole, someone informed us that bikes aren't allowed there. Thinking that this was impossible, we went ahead and rode 15 kms, only to be stopped at the checkpoint. A notice declared that only four-wheelers were allowed; no two- or three-wheelers. I tried to negotiate with the guard, but to no avail. The route now was to go via the Gurupura Tibetan settlement, to HD Kote and then on to Pulpally - the exact route that Doegar suggested and now a detour of 40+ kms for us. The only saving grace was that the road through Gurupura was decent, with ups and downs like a roller coaster. Doegar and I had done night-rides before and didn't really enjoy them. It was a race against time that we almost lost.

We entered Kerala at the fag-end of the evening. At a shop, where we took a bum-break, a helpful shopkeeper told us someone from his shop was going towards Pulpally and we could follow him. He guided us through 10-15 kms of the lovely forest roads before parting ways at a junction (God bless that soul!). From there on, Pulpally was elusive. Every time we stopped for directions, we were informed it was "1 km away". The route was correct, but somehow, Pulpally didn't seem to be interested in revealing itself to this bunch of bikers. After many more "1 kms", we finally reached the outskirts of the town at 7.30 PM. The other riders from the NCR chapter had reached just 20-25 mins before we did and guided us to the hotel. 

Except for Dips, I was meeting all of them after a long time; and Ashok and Zaheer for the first time. The hotel was decent, but hot-water was only given for an hour in the mornings, We were too tired and dusty to care about these little things and plunged into the shower immediately. 

For the BBB + dinner session, we didn't have any beer. Due to the recent prohibition on alcohol, toddy was the only drink available, that Gyan and Dips had procured from the nearby store. It was given in polybags tied with rubber-bands and in the process of transferring the 6 lts into various jugs, one entire bag was spilled. Nevertheless, the rest of the toddy was consumed with gusto. It has a very interesting aftertaste, but I slowly realized that it gives a very brief buzz that flies away within a few minutes. Rohit sir and Zaheer paaji went to make arrangements for dinner. Being the only vegetarian in the group, there was a lot of leg-pulling and ribbing, but I have been at the receiving end of jokes regarding this for a long time, so have grown thick-skinned. 

The food finally arrived; Rohit sir, true to his friendly and gregarious nature, had made friends with the restaurant owner/manager. For me, the gobi manchurian and rice were average fare, but I was too hungry to care (Kerala is a nightmare for vegetarians, as I'd known from my previous trips). We discussed the plan for the next day and kinda wrapped it up without any concrete decision. After dinner, I hit the bed and was asleep inside of a minute. 

(to be continued....)

BoP Bangalore Chronicles: The Pondicherry Paladins ride

  This was another short-notice, but much needed ride for me. After the Sakleshpur Sledgehammers ride, June and July had passed by without a BoP ride. However, I had done a solo ride to Tirupati in June to meet my brother and other relatives, while a major chunk of July was spent exploring Paris.

  For some reason, the Paris trip left me craving even more for a ride once I came back home. I had planned a ride with some other friends in late August, but jumped on the opportunity for another ride before it when Doegar called me with a plan to go to Pondicherry. Khanna had formulated the plan with some other friend of his, who then backed out, then Doegar joined in......it is a tad complicated. On with the blog!

Dates: 9-10 August, 2014

Place(s) covered: Pondicherry

Route taken:

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Thiruvannamalai-Gingee-Tindivanam-Pondicherry (while going)

Pondicherry-Tindivanam-Vandavasi-Arcot-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Bangalore (on the way back)

Riders:

1. Varun Doegar: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Goat Attraction II)
2. Nishant Khanna: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Goat Attraction I) 
3. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark (Paris bwoy)

Total distance traversed: 706 kms
  

We met at the Silk Board junction at 5 a.m. Khanna's T'bird had a new Monster exhaust and could be heard from far away. He referred to it as the 'Sardaaro ka silencer'. We finalized the route we planned to take before starting off. We wanted to avoid the regular route via Thiruvannamalai (because of bad roads) and go via Vellore. The ride out of the city was a bit of a challenge because the sun hadn't risen yet and none of us are very comfortable with night riding.

  Khanna had mentioned a 'sax' place to eat, around 60-70 kms out of the city. We came upon it pretty early, at around 6 a.m. The place hadn't opened yet, but there was a McD nearby. This was the same McD we'd stopped at on the way back from Munnar. We were too hungry to wait, so we just went into it and tried out their breakfast menu options. None too great though.  Not satisfied with it, we went to the other place (can't remember the name now, but it is besides a CCD and a McD on the Bangalore-Chennai highway) to have a proper South Indian breakfast. I, of course, had my favourite ride breakfast of masala dosa and filter coffee. The food was really good, even though the service wasn't.

  We clicked some pics and started off again. We took a bum break on the roadside after covering a significant distance, where Doegar taught Khanna how to tie his bandana properly. After the educational lessons, we were about to start off when we saw a lady with her flock of goats on the other side of the road. One big black goat saw us, crossed the road and started nuzzling Khanna's leg. As Doegar and I were laughing, it turned its attention to Doegar, literally smacking its lips. Thinking it was planning to bite him, Doegar tried to dodge it, until the lady came and took him away. We had a good laugh about how the goat was particularly attracted to Khanna before Doegar caught its attention, similar to their experiences with girls in the past, apparently! During the entire ride, Doegar and I would keep pointing out goats on the road for Khanna's benefit and viewing pleasure.

How Khanna ties his bandana

Doegar teaching him the right way

The roads were alright till Krishnagiri, where we stopped at a junction to confirm the route towards Vellore. I went ahead a little to inquire and came back to find that the Disaster of the Ride had arrived in form of an NHAI jeep. Now this guy very confidently told us that the road via Thiruvannamalai was bad only in certain patches and bikes can easily pass through. He emphatically asserted that we were taking an unnecessarily long route. Ignoring all our instincts, we listened to him (assuming better knowledge of the roads since he was in NHAI) and took the turn towards Thiruvannamalai and the worst part of the ride started. For the next 150+ kms, we encountered patches of good road only! Yes, the majority of the distance had no road, interspersed with good tarmac where we'd try to twist the throttle only to clamp onto the brakes within a minute or two.


  Frankly, the thought of turning back crossed our minds more than once, because we didn't want to go to Pondicherry, sleep for the night and return the next day. Mentally, I had almost written off the ride as a bad one. Turning back obviously was not a viable option, but I was just intent on reaching the destination so that the bum torture stops. We stopped for lunch at an AC restaurant in Thiruvannamalai that was discovered by Doegar. We devoured a traditional South Indian thali with Carnatic music playing in the background. The hotel was right besides a big temple, so there was no alcohol, unfortunately. One of the waiters was from Kanpur and was very happy to talk to someone in Hindi. 
  

  We passed by Gingee Fort, but were too tired to climb up to the fort, so just got some pics clicked outside. 40 kms before Pondicherry, the entire road smoothed out and I was lulled into a trance by the straight, butter-like road. We took some victory pics at the entrance before entering the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Doegar had been here before and led us through the small streets confidently till we reached the seaside, where our hotel was situated (booked during a break on the way). Suddenly, all my tiredness and negative thoughts disappeared, as I saw the sea and felt the cool breeze. 10 mins ago, I was planning to just crash into the hotel bed. Now all I wanted to do was park the bike and walk.

 We found our hotel, the Pondicherry Executive Inn after a bit of an effort. The owner was a Hindi-speaking lady who claimed that her hotel was visited all the time by bikers, especially from Nasik. Khanna used his charm and bargaining skills and we settled on a room and price pretty easily. After freshening up, we walked out towards the sea. Doegar wanted a pic of the bikes lined up with the sea in the background, but we decided to do that in the morning.

 The sea was magnificent and peaceful. Having spent my entire life in the middle of a city, I haven't been exposed to the majesty of nature too often. On my motorcycle, I have experienced amazing sights and sounds, mostly in the hills. The sea is relatively new to me. I have been on beaches and seashores only 2-3 times till now. Despite the crowds of people walking around, it is very easy to get lost in your thoughts and find a bit of peace as the waves build up slowly and crash against the rocks. After spending a few contemplative moments, I resolved to come back here again one day, for a longer trip. I was loving Pondicherry and I had barely explored it. My recent trip to Paris enhanced my enjoyment, because I could see that this part of the town was distinctly similar to the streets of Paris. The amalgamation of Tamil and French cultures was delightful. 

  We walked along the seaside (no beach here, mind you), munching on boiled peanuts and other snacks. Doegar was busy clicking pics. The trend till now in the ride was eating early; breakfast at 6 and lunch at 12. So we continued with it and decided to have dinner at 7. Everyone was in the mood for some continental food, so Le Maison Rose was chosen. We went in to find that it was an open air restaurant with a French manager who escorted us to our tables. We ordered beer and some tasty starters, which were finished off within no time. From then on, we kept signalling to the waiters (who were all Indian) to come and get our order for the main course, but nobody was interested. The restaurant was full of foreigners, so we barely got any attention. We were getting pissed off. Finally, Khanna stopped one waiter and asked him to take down the order now or get the bill. This reminded me of the Tony Cold Drinks waiter-bashing done by Vikas; Le Maison Rose waiter-bashing was softer and more refined, modified to suit the fine-dining experience. The food arrived soon. I had ordered a penne with pesto sauce and it tasted exactly as the one I had in Paris. I didn't enjoy it a lot, but full points to the restaurant for authenticity. No wonder it was filled with French people, craving for food from back home. 

  We bought beers for the night's BBB session and guided by Doegar's impressive navigational sense, we reached our hotel in no time. On the way, we spotted a bunch of auto drivers having their own 'BBB' in their auto; we dubbed it 'Beer, Bajaj, Bakchodi'. At the hotel, Khanna declined to have any beer and decided to have coffee instead. He had recently gotten engaged, so he was more intent on 'chat'iya-ing' with his fiancee. The plan for the next day was walk on the seaside for a bit, return to the hotel for breakfast and then go off towards Auro Beach or Cuddalore backwaters. I voted for Cuddalore. By the time we finished this planning, we were done with our beers. Dead tired, Doegar and I dozed off. Khanna's late night pot of coffee meant that he wasn't in any mood to sleep, but we both slept off as he kept talking about something. The last I remember him muttering was "BC, bewde saale so gaye". 

  The next morning, we woke up to a light drizzle. Khanna and Doegar went off for their walk. There was a marathon going on, so the road was blocked for traffic, which meant Doegar couldn't get his bikes-against-the-sea photo. When they came back, we went down for a delicious breakfast. Because of the rain, we dropped all plans of going anywhere else and decided to ride back to Bangalore via Vellore (the longer but better route) at 10. 

  The ride back was over 60 kms longer, but it was worth the extra distance because the tarmac was awesome. We stuck to our 100 kms pitstop strategy till lunch, which was done at the Vellore Kitchen. You can see the board from afar, they have a HUGE signboard on the roof and it is perfectly situated right besides the highway. The restaurant was full of people, with more waiting outside, but we managed to get a table within 5 mins. We were all in the mood for North Indian food and the place didn't disappoint. The dishes were exceptionally good. Khanna's tryst with waiters continued here as they got his second round of juice very late, after he had finished his food. The man seems to have developed a knack of handling bad waiters.

  Doegar's bike was giving him some trouble, so he had to play catch-up with us all the while. After crossing Vellore, I noticed a distinct sight- ahead of me, near a hill, there was a straight line of grey clouds cutting vertically from the sky to the ground. I was a little mystified by this. As we rode on, I realized what I was seeing- it was raining ahead of me. We were actually riding 'into' rain, so we stopped again and donned our rain gear. Because of this little stop, we actually managed to avoid the rain, as the clouds turned away from us and swept east. We narrowly avoided getting heavily drenched, but the rain had freshened up the landscape and the atmosphere and it was a superb ride back into Bangalore. Because of the traffic, we lost each other, and couldn't meet up again.

 It was a ride of major ups and downs, but all-in-all, it was fantastic. I discovered and fell in love with Pondicherry, at first sight. The only regret was we couldn't spend more time there; it is definitely worth another longer trip. After all, we still need the bikes-against-the-sea photo!

Until next time! Cheers and Jai BoP!



  

BoP Bangalore Chronicles: The Sakleshpur Sledgehammers ride

I seem to have gotten into a nice, 1-ride per month routine and am thoroughly enjoying it! This ride was also planned in advance, but there were two unique things about it:

1. Stay was neither booked nor researched, a first for the BoP Bangalore chapter, but something that I'm very much used to. A large chunk of my rides have been like that.

2. We actually did 'nothing' at the destination! But again, BoP's 'nothing' has a different meaning. 

Read on to find out more!

Dates: 24-25 April, 2014

Places covered: Sakleshpur and Hanbal

Route taken:

Bangalore-Nelamangala-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Anemahal-Hanbal (same route on the way back too)

Riders:

1. Varun Doegar: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Half Sledgehammer, escort service)
2. Nishant Khanna: Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Life adviser) 
3. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark (Elaichi winner)

Total distance traversed: 557 kms

We were considering Red Hills near Ooty as a destination, but Doegar suggested we explore a new area. We hadn't been on the Bangalore-Mangalore highway, so Sakleshpur was chosen as the ride destination. Doegar had to back out due to some personal reasons, but he agreed to meet us up in the morning and escort us till the city outskirts. Personally, I think he had had a glimpse of our navigational skills in the Masinagudi ride and wanted to make sure we are on the right road. Always the gentleman!

We got stuck in early morning truck traffic at the railway junction near Yeshwantpur, but went off the road and reached the railway crossing. Here, we witnessed a rather funny sight of a huge, fat guy on a modified Avenger who ducked underneath the barrier, crossed the tracks and tried to repeat the stunt on the other side. We were sure the bike would go through, but had our doubts about the guy fitting underneath the barrier. It took him quite some time, but he made it through safely. 

After this, it was a super smooth ride. Doegar said his goodbyes and took the NICE Road back into Bangalore while we continued on the Tumkur Road and eventually turned into the amazing Bangalore-Mangalore Highway.

The riding was relaxed, as it always is with us. Khanna was having some issues, as his engine kept 'missing' and wasn't delivering enough power at inclines. Thus, we stuck to a comfortable, cruising speed of 70 kmph. Around 90 kms into the ride, we stopped at a place called Dosa Corner for breakfast. Khanna, ever vigilant, spotted a pretty girl in the other section of the restaurant, but I was too hungry to pay attention to her. I had my favourite ride-breakfast of masala dosa and coffee. The food was average and the service abysmal. I went to wash my hands while Khanna lounged around. He looked towards the girl again and got a shock when he spotted me chatting amiably with her. When I came back to our table, he was virtually fuming. It so happened that I knew the girl; she was my classmate from Christ University and was going towards Chikmagalur and Sakleshpur with a large group of her friends. It's a small world full of funny coincidences!

For this ride, we hadn't researched much about the destination. We just knew that Sakleshpur offered good trekking opportunities, but had not knowledge of the lay of land. The weather was amazing, with the sun playing hide and seek among the clouds and a cool breeze that made the riding really enjoyable. Around 3 kms before Sakleshpur, we stopped and started calling homestays and hotels in the area. We didn't have much luck, as almost all places were fully occupied or weren't responding. One of the not-responding guys called me back and told me he had 2 rooms vacant, one for Rs 2200 and another for Rs 1750. He spoke only Kannada, but I managed to get the rough directions from him. His homestay was called Makkithitta (which Khanna referred to as 'Maakiteri') and was located near the village of Hanbal, around 15 kms from main town of Sakleshpur. On the way, we came across a couple of lodges and small hotels but decided to skip them and stick to Makkithitta.

The last 7-8 kms to the homestay was dirt-track riding. It was not very challenging (compared to the off-roading I had done in Munnar), but a lot of fun. The homestay is a big place, situated in a shallow valley and surrounded by coffee estates, fields and low hills. We were told that the room rent told to us was actually per person and not for the entire room, as I was made to believe earlier. Nevertheless, we loved the place and decided on the spot to stick to it. The caretaker, Ranjan, told us that the rent included a couple of meals and since we'll have only 2 of them (lunch and dinner), the owner would knock down the price. 

The first important task was securing alcohol supplies. Ranjan told us that they had a jeep and would go get the alcohol for us. We ordered some 'child bears', planning to have a beer each after lunch and save the rest for the post-dinner BBB session. While he got the beer, we went to the lunch area. It was a pleasant and fulfilling meal. The rotis were particularly good. The beer arrived in the meantime. It wasn't very cold, but we didn't care. Ranjan and the other caretaker, Rangaswamy (Khanna thought he was Narayana Swamy, for God knows what reason) got us 'snakes'- salted cucumber slices and namkeen (called 'mixture' in the South). We had a nice time, drinking beer in the gazebo, staring at the green fields below us and discussing the lives of the bulls and cows that were grazing around lazily. Ranjan claimed there was a 'river' at the edge of the field, but we weren't too keen on exploring; from our viewpoint, we could just see a small irrigation canal. 

We took a short nap after this. Well, my nap wasn't so short, as I woke up at 5.30 pm. Meanwhile, Khanna had gone down into the fields, taken some photographs and had met the bull that was the subject of our BBB session. I joined him in the gazebo after the nap. I wasn't interested in exploring at all, surprisingly. I guess the idyllic charm of the place had taken over me. We were just sitting there and chatting when one of the other guests approached us. He told us he came with a group of his friends who gone off to look at the 'river' and asked if he could join us. We didn't mind and the conversation flowed smoothly, until I mentioned a particularly pretty girl that I'd spotted in the lunch area. Fortunately, I hadn't gone into the details, because the girl was part of this guy's group. It looked like he got a little offended, so Khanna changed topics and started talking about mechanics. This attempt to mend ties with the guy failed when the guy asked us about good bike mechanics in Bangalore. Khanna replied that unless the bike owner knows some basic stuff about the bike, there is no use searching for a 'good' mechanic. Thus humiliated and offended, the guy beat a hasty retreat when his friends came back from their walk. 

The sun had set and we were debating whether to drink before dinner or afterwards, when the owner of the homestay appeared and asked us all to gather for a small game. He spoke only Kannada, but I managed to grasp the bare basics. It was his 50th marriage anniversary (or birthday, I am not sure) and he had just returned from a function. He wanted to celebrate it with the homestay guests by playing this game. The first prize was a packet of coffee powder (Rs 180), second prize was a packet of elaichi (Rs 150) and third prize was a packet of tea powder (Rs 55). The game was simple- we count from 1 to 60 and replace 2 with 'car' and 5 with 'bus'. 12 is thus 'one car', 25 is 'car bus', 55 is 'bus bus' and so on. It is a game of concentration and BoPians are all-round achievers. There were around 15 people in the game and everyone who made a mistake got kicked out. The owner was a very jovial man and kept changing the conditions in between to keep people on their toes. For e.g. the counting had to be done backwards, then backwards with alternate numbers, then the pace was increased, etc. etc. The guy besides me would count in Kannada, trying to throw me off, but little did he know that I could count from 1 to 100 fluently in 4 languages and semi-fluently in 1 language (French). Khanna and I weathered through and were in the top 5, though the only girl in the group (the one I had spotted earlier) got an extra chance and Khanna lost. I came through, but lost in the one-on-one and came second, thus winning my elaichi packet. It was good fun. Afterwards, I negotiated the room tariff with the owner in my broken Kannada, and managed to get it down to Rs 1400 per person. It turns out that the room is actually for Rs 2200 and not Rs 1750, so we had managed to get a decent discount.

We had dinner afterwards, and the BBB session started in earnest. Khanna, being 10 years older than me, gave me some sage, brotherly advice on how to live life. We discussed a lot of other important things like career, girls and the day's events, before calling it a night. We settled the bills, as the plan was to start off at 5 am the next morning.

Surprisingly, we both got up at 4.30 am. It is very rare in BoP for the ride back home to start on time. We dressed up and got on our bikes, when Rangaswamy appeared with a flashlight to open the gate. Khanna got so excited on seeing him, that he dropped his bike, breaking his right rearview mirror. His bike engine continued to give him trouble, but we had time on our side and rode at an easy pace. We stopped for breakfast at the White Spot Restaurant where the food was delivered late but was very delicious. 

It was an uneventful but smooth ride back. We decided to skip the Yeshwantpur nightmare traffic and got onto the NICE road. It was a longer route but virtually had no traffic. I reached home at 11.30 a.m, culminating a supremely relaxing ride, made better by the joy of winning something (however small it is!).

Until next time! 

Cheers and Jai BoP!

BOP Bangalore Chronicles: The Munnar Macarenas ride (Part III)

DAY 3 (Munnar to Coimbatore)

We had earlier toyed with the idea of spending the whole day at Zina Cottage and covering the 500 kms back to Bangalore on Sunday. But we remembered the ride under the sun and we switched back to our original plan of starting off from Munnar in the afternoon and spending the night in Coimbatore. We would thus have only a comfortable 350 kms to cover on the final day. We got up late and took a leisurely walk through the surrounding tea estates. Fagu and Sheshank started off before me, so I explored the area alone. I sat on a comfortable rock and let my mind wander for a while. The soothingly warm sun, the gentle, cool wind and the vast expanse of green, neatly arranged in grids, were all hypnotic and I spent quite some time on that rock. I almost forgot that I was mindlessly twirling a stick until a local passed by me, looking at me strangely. That broke the spell and I walked back to the cottage, as the hunger pangs started.

Breakfast consisted of simple toast, jam, omelette and tea. I had laid out all my rain-soaked gear and clothes out in the sun to dry. There were a bunch of foreigners in the other rooms who greeted us, but left us to our own devices. Velu, the cottage caretaker, shuttled up and down the dirt track in a Bajaj auto, of all the vehicles in the world. He took it up a steep, stony slope near the cottage and I was pretty sure that he could manage the off-road track to Kolukkumalai without breaking a sweat. The auto was apparently 12 years old and barely required any maintenance. He pointed out that the fancy Piaggio autos that dominated the roads would require a lot more maintenance if they are made to endure similar abuse. That tells you a lot about the toughness of classic Indian automobiles. 

We checked out and cleared our rooms, sharp at 11 am (the check out time). We, however, lounged around in the gazebo and the lawn for another hour. The plan was to start off at 2.30 pm, but at around 1, Velu informed us that it could rain any time. We immediately loaded our bikes and went downhill to the Kanan Devan Hills clubhouse for lunch. Fagu informed us that it was quite famous.

Interestingly though, the clubhouse was virtually empty. There were living quarters, but the canteen was abandoned. It did look like it had seen better days in the bygone era. But presently, it resembled an old widow dressed in her bride's gown, waiting patiently for her long-dead groom. The chairs were brand new but unused. One of the staff took our orders, prepared the food in limited quantities and served it to us. It was good food, but didn't stand out. The sambhar, however, was excellent. During the meal, Fagu dropped a bombshell. Apparently, he mistook this clubhouse for another; the famous club he read about was another one, costlier and livelier. No regrets though, eating in that empty canteen made me feel like the protagonist in one of Ruskin Bond's short stories. Fagu is an adventurous spirit and asked for ice-cream at the end of the meal. This bright pink ice-cream was apparently very creamy. I gave it a pass. 

The ride to Coimbatore was very pleasant for the most part. We couldn't have timed it better. The hottest part of the day was spent cruising down the ghats and by the time we reached the plains, the cool evening breeze had started. We only faced heavy traffic 50 kms before Coimbatore. We rode on stoically and reached our hotel at around 8.30 pm. We upgraded to the AC room at the last moment. I jumped into the bath immediately, while Fagu and Sheshank entertained themselves watching Arnab Goswami, getting his ass kicked by Raj Thackeray. 

Sheshank told us about a famous food stall in the city and we set off in an auto (none of us were in a mood to ride again in the night traffic) for dinner. The place, however,  was closed. We came upon a busy restaurant called Delhiwala. I went in to order the food, while Fagu and Sheshank went ahead to a bar called 18+ for buying booze. I sat at an empty table and was about to order for all 3 of us, when the waiter informed me they had '3G service'. He elaborated, telling me that the service is very fast and that I should wait for my friends, lest the food go cold. I took his advice and waited for the others. They turned up looking very happy. 18+ is apparently open till 12 am and serves amazingly cold beer. We ordered for the food and as the waiter said, the food appeared on our tables in 5-7 mins. The food was par excellence. You may say that I am exaggerating, but the food was actually better than the 'real' Delhi food. Who would expect that this place, tucked deep inside Coimbatore, would serve such delicious North Indian food! I ate till I could eat no more and we set off towards 18+.

18+ was the next best-decision of the day. The bar is a tad shady, but the interiors are well designed. They charged Rs 200 per beer. That's pricey, you would say. But not when you lay eyes on the array of snacks that are served alongside. With each chilled beer you order, you get a different plate of snacks- pakodas,cucumber slices, peanuts, different types of namkeen, masala papad, etc. Everything is laid before you with each serving of beer. Fagu decided to test their magnanimity by asking for another masala papad 15 minutes before closing time. The waiter served this without complaint, but we soon realized why. The cook was very liberal with the use of chillies now and Fagu turned into Darth Vader, breathing in and out heavily to cool down his tongue. I was quite convinced that another order for masala papad would cause the cook to send us a plate of Bhut Jolokia sprinkled on some papad. We finished drinking and headed back to the hotel for a night of peaceful sleep.

DAY 4 (Coimbatore to Bangalore)

We started off at 5.20 am from Coimbatore. It was smooth riding all the way. The roads are very smooth and we were able to cover the distance easily. The ride back was more or less uneventful. Lunch was at McDonalds, where I chatted with a guy from Munnar, settled in Bangalore, who had ridden to his hometown recently on his Karizma. It's always good to chat up with other riders. You feel like you are part of a large, secret community with shared experiences and stories.

We reached Bangalore at 2 pm and had a post-ride celebratory beer at a bar near my place, a fitting end to a superb ride!


I'd like to sign off with a general observation about bike rides. I've done a majority of leisure travelling on my bike and I have discovered that there are generally two kinds of rides. One, where the destination is more important and the other, where the ride is more important. Note that I said 'MORE' important. I enjoy both equally, but I've noticed that a lot of riders have a strong preference for one of either. My Kannur and Agumbe rides were of the latter type, where we took everything at a leisurely pace. We stopped very frequently on the way- a stream behind a tea-shop, a pond, a museum, etc. The destination had to be reached, but more important was having fun on the way. This ride is of the former type- disciplined riding, so that we could make the most of a beautiful destination in a very limited time-frame. Kudos to Fagu for his meticulous research about the destination that helped make this ride a grand success.

Until next time....

Cheers and JAI BoP!