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.
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!
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
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 |
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 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.
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!
