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!