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! 

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

DAY 2 (Munnar to Kolukkumalai and back)

We all got up at around 10 am. Two decisions were made immediately. Firstly, we'd change the hotel. We had taken this out of compulsion, the room was livable but did not warrant the price. The second decision was to visit Kolukkumalai. Both decisions had a significant, positive impact on the whole trip.

After some research, Fagu discovered the Zina Cottage, halfway up a hill and in the middle of a tea estate. He immediately called and booked a room for the 3 of us. We checked out of this hotel and started searching for Zina Cottage. As I said, it is on a small hill and there is an off-roading patch that you have to negotiate to reach the place. It is a quaint little spot, with an old world charm to it. It overlooks a vast expanse of greenery and was surrounded by tea plantations. The caretaker, Velu, an unassuming, friendly young man showed us our rooms. We fell in love with the place immediately. But we didn't have time to muse about the beauty of this place. After dumping all our luggage, we set off towards Rapsy Restaurant for brunch.

Fagu had visited Munnar before and raved about Rapsy all the time. The place seemed to attract a healthy mix of hippy, European crowd and Indian tourists. I asked for a Spanish omelette since the ingredients looked interesting. It arrived very late, probably because the preparation of this dish takes time. It is quite a thick omelette and is filled with potatoes. It was decent and filling, but I think it could have been made better. I finished my brunch as soon as possible and we started searching for a mechanic. Both Fagu and Sheshank had minor repairs to get done: the Mach's rear left crash guard was hanging loose and the Electra's taillight assembly was on the verge of falling off. Repairs done, we immediately left post-haste for Kolukkumalai.

Kolukkumalai is the world's highest tea estate. Along with the plantations, they have a tea factory. Due to the height at which the tea leaves are picked (almost 8000 ft above sea level), the taste you get is very unique. It is around 35 kms from Munnar and the last 9-10 kms is pure off-roading. Jeeps regularly ferry tourists from Suryanelli to the factory and back, but we had other ideas. We had done a bit of research and realized that the off-roading track is difficult but doable on bikes. Without a second thought, we plunged into the track. It started drizzling slightly, so we put on our rain gear. 

The track is quite different from the off-roading I've done till date. It basically consists of small to medium sized stones that are loosely packed together. When you're on the bike, you move by jumping from one stone to the next. A whole lot of them slip underneath the tires, but we were able to finish the whole stretch without anyone falling. Initially, it is exciting, but afterwards, the continuous bone-jarring bumps irritate you. The frustration is what sees you through the last few kilometers. In the middle, the drizzle turned into rain. The jeeps stopped but we continued. Things like rain and mist are just minor irritants for BOPians, you see. 

We reached the factory finally, just as the rain was stopping. We first had some tea, before going to see the factory. I am not a tea connoisseur and I am usually clueless about the subtle differences between various types. This tea, however, had class in it. I had it black, to taste the real flavour and I found it amazing. I'll leave the rest of the details to someone more knowledgeable than me, lest I say something wrong. The factory is also very old and we got to see the workings of various machines. We realized that one type of tea is called BOP- Broken Orange Pekoe. Our club inadvertently left its mark here also!

 The rain had stopped by now, but it was an hour away from sunset and we quickly consumed another cup of the fantastic tea before starting the ride downhill. Surprisingly, the ride downhill seemed shorter. Perhaps we got used to the track. The mind can play the strangest tricks. We made short work of the remaining 25 kms to Munnar. 

Dinner was at a place recommended by Lonely Planet, called Silver Spoon. It is hidden deep inside the basement of a shopping complex. Once again, the food was fabulous. If you visit this place sometime, do try out the peas masala curry. It is a simple dish, but I've never had such delicious peas masala in any Kerala-cuisine restaurant before. 

This night's BBB session was to be a unique one. Our Delhi chapter was also riding to Deoban on the same dates. Unfortunately, a spate of last minute cancellations meant that Dips was the only Deoban Dragunov. He, however, is a one-man army. The sole Dragunov was supposed to have a video-conference BBB with the Macarenas. Dips wasn't carrying a laptop, so the video-conference part was dropped and we chatted for a while with him on the phone. We continued with our BBB afterwards, discussing in some detail about the taming of wild elephants, before turning in for the night.

(to be continued....)

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

BOP Bangalore completed another fantastic ride! I can't think of a better introduction, so here we go.

Dates: 17-20 April, 2014

Places covered: Munnar, Kolukkumalai and Coimbatore

Routes taken:

Bangalore-Salem-Tiruppur-Udumalpet-Munnar (while going)

Munnar-Pollachi-Coimbatore-Salem-Bangalore (on the way back)

Riders:

1. Phalgun Reddy: Royal Enfield Machismo 500
2. Sheshank Reddy: Royal Enfield Electra 5S
3. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark

Total distance traversed: 1113 kms

DAY 1 (Bangalore to Munnar)

We weren't able to indulge in the pre-ride ritual of drinking together on the night before a ride, but I did have a few drinks with my colleagues in office. I prepared for the ride by listening to some catchy item-numbers. Singing helps keep me awake and I usually run out of songs to sing a few hours into the ride; thus, I created this mental catalogue of songs!

We started at 5.15 am from the Silk Board Junction. Because we had to cover 500 kms in one day, we decided to strictly stick to 100 km-pitstop schedule. We made some good progress, even with the sun beating on our heads. The key to avoid getting fried was to continue riding. This serves two purposes: you get closer to the destination, obviously, and also the warm wind is very pleasant. By lunch-time, we had covered 300+ kms and couldn't really go on. We came across an AC restaurant called Bheema's Restaurant and went in, just to escape from the heat. The food was decent, but the focus was on the cold beer. We spent quite some time here, chatting away and sipping the refreshing beer. But the best part of the ride was ahead of us and we soon left. 

For navigation, we relied on Google maps in Fagu's and Sheshank's iPhones. As we reached Udumalpet, it started to get confusing. The directions being told by the locals weren't matching with those in the maps. As we roamed around in the small town, where we had to "neraa ponga" (go straight) for every destination, we chanced upon a group of off-duty bus drivers. They grouped around us, speaking rapidly in Tamil, calling others to join in and generally creating confusion. I was getting a bad feeling about whatever was happening, but they were actually just trying to help. A couple of them were very enthusiastic and interspersed the directions with questions about our bikes and gear. In the end, it was decided that 2 of them will accompany us till the local bus stand, from where they will guide us. We noticed that Sheshank's bike was leaking oil from the air filter, so the drivers took us to a local mechanic. Turned out that it was just because of the heat. We were emphatically told to ride for 50 kms at a speed of 60 km/hr and then take a half-an-hour break to prevent further problems. We dropped the drivers off and continued with our ride. We still haven't figured out what route we took and what we were supposed to take, but the general consensus is that there was a bit of mis-navigation. Another item ticked off from BOP Ride Must-happens checklist!

We now reached the Annamalai Forest Reserve, at the edge of Tamil Nadu's state border. When you cross the border into Kerala, it becomes Chinnar Forest Reserve. Sheshank was riding ahead of us and he saw that a few cars were waiting in the middle of the road. A herd of elephants was crossing the road at that spot. As the last elephant stepped off the road, one over-enthusiastic Indica driver started off, only to back up again, as the last elephant turned around and charged towards the car. No damage was done though; the elephant was simply up to some mischief. We continued riding through the forest, this time keeping a wary eye out for any more mischievous elephants that decide to play around with metal bulls. 

The sun was setting as the ghat riding started. Before it turned dark, we were able to catch a glimpse of gentle hills covered with tea estates, looking green and vibrant. There were loads of tourists in cars, buses and jeeps and at almost every bend, there would be a group of them clicking pics of the landscape. Fagu would pause at every bend, close to the tourist group and try to see whatever they are looking at in the valley below. He probably didn't want to miss out on whatever they were looking at. Eventually though, the number of weird, startled stares he got from the tourists (multiple) was much more than the number of interesting sights spotted (zero) and he stopped with his ritual. 

I've always avoided night-riding because I've never really enjoyed it. During this ride, I realized that it was partly because of the weak headlight of my old Karizma. The Bullet's headlight is superb, in comparison and I was able to ride without any problems. The roads were well maintained and the traffic was disciplined. The others reached Munnar a few minutes before me. When I reached, we decided to split up. Fagu and Sheshank would scout for a place to stay. Advance bookings had been made using Cleartrip, so they both went off to check the hotels out. I rested for a while and started looking for an alcohol shop, for the night's BBB session. 

I was guided through the town to a government liqour shop. Now this place was unlike any other alcohol shop I've ever seen. There are two counters, one for payment and one for delivery. A heavy iron grill made a very narrow pathway, through which you approach both these counters. Only one person can fit in at a time and there is no turning back. You get into the pathway, make the payment in the first counter, take the alcohol from the second counter and exit. The most surprising aspect, however, was the crowd. ALL of them were standing in a queue! Some were slurring and barely able to stand, but they still stood in queue. Never have I seen such discipline at any theka in Noida, Delhi or Bangalore. I bought a bottle of 8 PM whisky. As it regularly happens, I made a fool of myself as I got stuck between the grill and counters due to my huge bag and arm-guards. I was getting panicky, as the people behind me and shop staff got impatient. Finally, a kind soul helped me out of the mess. I flashed him an embarrassed smile-thanks and went back to the town bazaar to wait for news from Fagu and Sheshank. 

The Cleartrip booking hadn't worked out  and there were no rooms vacant anywhere, except in one hotel. It was a tad pricey, but we didn't have the patience to search for anything else. We freshened up in the room and stepped out for dinner. There were only 3 places open at this time (9 pm). We walked into one of them, but the waiter was more intent on leaving for home and informed us that most of the dishes on the menu weren't available. We weren't keen on having Chinese food in a Kerala restaurant and walked out. We then went to the second hotel, called Sri Mahaveer. It was all empty and we expected another disappointment. Far from it. The waiter was extremely courteous and hospitable. Everything on the menu was available. Our arrival and subsequent orders spurred activity in the kitchen and we were soon digging into some very delicious food. I had a Gujarati thaali and it was fabulous. We returned to our rooms and realized we were too tired to do anything. We, however, drank a few pegs, discussed the day's ride and made tentative plans for the next day before going off to sleep.


(to be continued....)

BOP Bangalore Chronicles: Gopalaswamy Betta and Masinagudi

This ride marks 2 comebacks for me: back to riding after a gap of almost 2 months and back to blogging after more than 2 years! The former is easy to explain: I was waiting for my run-in period to get over so that I don't have to religiously stick to a speed limit of 60 km/hr. The latter has no easy explanations. I was hit by writer's block, I couldn't think of anything to write about, I was too busy, so on and so forth. Each excuse is as good or bad as the next one. But the important thing is, I am writing this now! The ride was amazing and writing about it is a great feeling too. Enough of the introduction though, let's get to the main point.

Dates: 15-16 March, 2014

Places covered: Gopalaswamy Betta, Masinagudi and Shivanasamudra

Routes taken:

Bangalore-Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet-Gopalaswamy Betta-Mudumalai-Masinagudi (while going)

Masinagudi-Gundlupet-Chamrajnagar-Kollegal-Shivanasamudra-Kanakpura-Bangalore (on the way back)

Riders:
1. Varun Doegar- Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Only married man, Failed Water-carrier)
2. Nishant Khanna- Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Bangalore's Nishant, Pee-man, 'Tiger' spotter)
3. Krishnatreya Brindavanam- Royal Enfield Electra (Psychologist with 'p' silent, Indicator of indicators)


Total distance traversed: 557 kms


I have had the itch to ride for the past two weeks. Last weekend's plan didn't pan out as the riders petered away slowly and I wasn't in a mood to do a solo ride  The other BoPian in Bangalore, Fagu told me he was busy for both weekends, but Varun confirmed and soon, Nishant confirmed too. We wanted to do a 2-day ride as Monday (Holi) wasn't a holiday for both Varun and Nishant. The destination, Gopalaswamy Betta, happened to be the first destination I had planned to ride to when I first came to Bangalore in 2011. Two years passed, numerous other rides were completed, the Karizma was sold and the Bullet acquired before I could ride to this place. Very 'demanding' destination, I must say, for putting me through all of this before allowing me to ride to it.

We gathered at around 5.45 a.m. at the Silk Board junction. There was some initial confusion, as I was behind a van and Doegar was with Nishant on the other side and we were waiting for each other for almost 10 mins before deciding to call. Doegar and I were clad in our biking gear- elbow guards, leg guards, gloves, bandana, scarf, military-style lowers etc. Nishant, a debut rider, was just clad in his t-shirt, jeans and thin jacket. Doegar magnanimously gave him another bandana to protect him from the cold and we set off towards NICE road. All luggage was tied on both the Thunderbirds with the help of my 'kapde taangne waale' bungee cords.

NICE (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises) Road is actually a very nice road to rip the bike. I gunned my bike as soon as we crossed the toll and touched 100+ for the first time on my new bike. But all three of us are natural slow-and-easy riders, comfortable with revs between 70-90 kmph. I slowed after a few kilometers, as my co-riders caught up with me. After a short photo shoot, we set off towards Mysore. I always stop for chai at a shop near the beginning of the Mysore highway, but it was closed, so we rode on. We stopped for breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi where we relished strangely shaped idlis wrapped in leaves and washed it down with coffee. Doegar snatched his bandana back from Nishant, telling him it was no longer cold and he didn't require it. His magnanimity has limits, you see.

Nishant got into this habit of 'irrigating' roadside plants and trees whenever we took a break. He reminded us of his namesake in BOP, legendary for his open-air dumps. When we told this Nishant about that Nishant, he took his role even more seriously and made sure that every bum break was a pee break for him. After all, emulating legends is no easy task!

Owing to the short distance and our natural inclination to ride slow, we were relaxed and took frequent breaks. Nishant and Doegar would regularly forget to switch off their indicators and I took the duty to signal and remind them to switch it off every now and then. Coconut water was consumed, photos were taken and we devoured the natural beauty of the countryside. The hills were dry and brown (due to the summers), but it was still beautiful in its own way. Respecting the BOP tradition, we stopped for some beer at a lodge/restaurant on the roadside.

We reached the turning for Gopalaswamy Betta at around 2.30 p.m. We stopped for another photo shoot and were greeted by a group of local children who were fascinated by our bikes and our gear. As it is the midst of the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary, nobody is allowed inside after 4 p.m. A guard at the gate took the entry fees and told us to be back by 3.45 p.m. to avoid a penalty of Rs 500. From there on, you have to ride up a hill for around 3 kms to reach the temple. We made short work of this hill and reached the temple.

The temple commands a spectacular view of the countryside with chequered fields and abrupt, lone hills. We went inside the temple, paid our respects and came out. I insisted on having prasad; I am not a religious person but I respect traditions. Also, it was lunch time and I was hungry. I was led deep inside the caverns of the temple and feasted on a small plate of puliogare. We then set off from there towards Masinagudi where Nishant had booked a room for us in the Nest Inn.

To reach Masinagudi, we rode through Bandipur Forest Reserve. It becomes Mudumalai Forest Reserve when we enter Tamil Nadu. As we rode through the beautiful forest, we came across loads of monkeys, langurs and bunches of deer standing on the roadside as if nothing was amiss (probably nothing was, for them). As we continued, we suddenly came across a patch of bleak landscape. It took me a moment to realize that we were staring at the aftermath of a recent forest fire. Tree stumps were still spewing out smoke and the whole scene had a surreal, dystopic look to it. We rode on and reached out hotel at around 5 pm. Nest Inn truly resembles a nest. The entrance and the pathways are adorned with loads of plants, vines and creepers. We were shown our room, with a view of a large, stony hill.

After refreshing ourselves, we set off on a short exploratory walk. The primary aim was to scour for supplies for the night's BBB session. For the uninitiated, BBB stands for Beer, Bullet and Bakchodi. It is BOP's trademark and the awesomeness of it can only be felt by those in attendance and understood by those who have attended BBBs in the past. After buying our beers (Kingfishers and one local brand called British Empire, for my beer sticker collection), we returned. We ordered for starters to be delivered to the room and the session started. All manners of topics were discussed. Varun Doegar, being the only married man among the lot, gave us his insights about married life and what it entails. After a simple dinner of rice and dal (chicken for the non-veggies), we turned in for the night.

The next morning, we got up late and lazed around for a while before going out to get money from an ATM. On the way, Nishant shared a story about some national park he visited where he saw a whole bunch of 'tigers' taking a bath. The next line stumped us both for a few seconds- "Apne soondh se paani daale ja rahe the ek doosre pe". Doegar kindly pointed out that it is called an elephant and not a tiger. We  then came back to the hotel and totaled our expenses. Nishant and Doegar worked out a brilliant role-playing technique to avoid all confusions, that would have made our legendary Chadda paaji cry. Chadda paaji is well known in the club for his Excel sheets where he meticulously records all expenses incurred by the riders. His presence was sorely missed as both of them passed a Rs 100 note back and forth, asking how much the other owed him at each exchange.


After settling up everything, we set off towards Bangalore at around 10 a.m. We took a different route this time, passing through Chamrajanagar and Kanakpura. The roads were fabulous and we soon reached Shivanasamudra. I had been here with Fagu and another friend last year. Doegar and Nishant hadn't seen it, so we took the turn. The road had been re-laid now but the waterfall had dried out. Nevertheless, it was a majestic view. We had lunch at the restaurant nearby, where the food was good but the service abysmal; half the items on the menu weren't available and the waiter seemed clueless. We took a post-lunch break in the grassy lawn before starting off for Bangalore.

We took less breaks this time, but the ride was still relaxed and easy. Doegar, who carried our water bottle throughout the ride, mysteriously lost it somewhere on the way. He claimed someone at the red-light in the last town we passed must have stolen it, but who knows? We had some coconut water instead. As we passed through Kanakpura, some 40 kms from Bangalore, Doegar had a near-fall as he skidded on some sand in the middle of the road and almost fell in front of an auto. Fortunately though, he managed to regain his balance. We took the last break after this, for a can of beer at a roadside bar.

We reached Bangalore at around 7 pm, said our goodbyes and headed off home. The ride was a much-needed break for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The end of my bike's run-in period was celebrated in a manner befitting the Bullet and no less significant is that the ride made me get back to writing after a long hiatus.

Until next time! Cheers and Jai BOP!

A tale of guts and guile!

     Everyday in Gokul PG, a curious scene plays out at 1 in the afternoon and 8 in the night. Small groups of the PG residents gather at every floor, all looking tense and poised for action. Half of them don't know each other, yet they exchange knowing smiles. Some of them dart downstairs to conduct reconnaissance, but they receive information from those in the lower floors through nods and glances. The tension builds up slowly as the number of people increase. Now, the groups are openly conversing with each other, cursing the PG owner, the caretakers and the guard. All the people are armed with their plates and cups. Those who just reached the PG rush up the stairs to their respective rooms to arm themselves for the battle ahead.

   Movement begins when the guard arrives carrying a bag with 3 containers and a 4th larger container, separately. He keeps them on the 1st floor and disappears somewhere. Everybody is agitated now. "Abbe sekority (security), muhurat ka wait kar raha hai bh*****?" A censored, calmer version is repeated by the Telugu speaking elements of this crowd. The guard's reinforcements arrive in the form of a young boy and a teenager, who are barely able to lift the aforementioned containers between themselves. Some of the waiting crowd help them carry it to the roof, where a plastic table is waiting (and it still has scars of that afternoon or the previous day's battles). The scene is all set. The waiting people open the big container, full of rice or tomato rice or lemon rice (depending on the day of the week). What is everyone waiting for? The serving spoons! They are lying on another part of the roof, most probably unwashed. One of the 'staff' gets it. The Mexican standoff ends and mayhem rules supreme.

   Now the young boys  mentioned earlier desperately try to swing into action and bring about order in chaos. The younger one is sent off to one corner of the roof with the packet of rotis. The North Indians set upon him, intent on grabbing their quota of 3 rotis before they get finished. They will remain out of the main action for now, so let us focus on the table. The teenage caretaker tries to do 2 things at once- serve the rice and serve the dry curry. He fails miserably at both, usually. If one towers over the crowd gathered around the table, all one can see is a sea of plates thrust into the boy's face. You can also hear everyone shouting in Telugu, Hindi or Kannada to serve them first, so that they can leave. Some of them ask him to serve double the quantity of rice, for their friends waiting downstairs. The ones whose plates are full turn their attention to the sambhar. The serving spoon is nowhere to be seen. "Ooye, gante ekkada ra?" (where is the serving spoon?). The 'gante' appears from somewhere, everyone reaches out to it, a determined hand snatches is from everyone and takes his share. While doing so, he has maneuver it expertly through other hands waiting to grab it. When he is done, he hands it over to a friend or the nearest hand and gingerly extracts himself from the crush of hungry men. If you want to get your chance, you will have be to assertive, bordering on aggressive. Meanwhile,  the North Indians join the crowd at the table for their curry and sambhar. By now, the curry is almost finished and only the ones willing to snatch the whole container can get anything. The sambhar is still left, so all the serving spoons are used to finish it off. Some of them (like me) dip their cups into it. Plates full and a look of victory in their eyes, the winners of this brouhaha calmly retire to enjoy their food in peace. For those who go back to their rooms to eat, yet another minor dogfight is left. And dogfight it is, as they go down the stairs and avoid oncoming traffic. The oncoming traffic consists of latecomers who are rushing up the stairs like bulls to grab anything that is still left. You need to swerve and dodge them like Spanish bullfighters.

   The exceptional days are Wednesdays, Sundays and the days the owner serves the food himself. On Wednesdays and Sundays, the table IS the center of action since there are no rotis. The day the owner serves is completely different. Towering over everyone in the PG, with a stern demeanor and a broad physique, the owner commands respect. Nobody shouts, nobody grabs the spoons and nobody asks for more. Thou shalt take what He gives and thou shalt retire, for He is fair and just!

   Many years from now, when I am enjoying food in a 5 star hotel, I shall think of these days. I will look back at days when I missed my food, when I couldn't get enough and more importantly, at days when I successfully duped everyone and got an extra egg or extra curry!Ah, such joy! Who will believe me then, that a day's lunch and dinner required such guts and guile? I will surely miss the food rituals of Gokul PG when I finally get out of this place!