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).
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.
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....)
