BoP Bangalore Chronicles: The Gandikota Gargoyles ride

  The month of January passed by, and BoP Bangalore hadn't yet started riding. Satish and I had separately ridden to Tirupati, but it wasn't a BoP ride. I decided February had to be the ride month and chose a location I chanced upon while searching for something else - Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh.

  Few people know of it so all the more reason for BoP to go there. There is a fort overlooking an awesome gorge over the Penna river, the pics looked damn cool and we could also cover Belum caves. I really wanted to ride in the starting of Feb to avoid the beastly heat of the Rayalseema region of A.P. Fate had something else in store for us and we were forced to postpone it to the end of February.

Dates: 28 Feb-2 March, 2015

Place(s) covered: Gandikota, Belum Caves, Yaganti

Route taken:

Bangalore-Chikkaballapur-Gorantla-Kadiri-Jammalamadugu-Gandikota-Belum caves-Yaganti (while going)

Yaganti-Peapully-Gooty-Anantpur-Chikkballapur-Bangalore (on the way back)

Riders:

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

Total distance traversed: 817 kms

DAY 1

  Navigator of the ride was Satish; I had barely looked at the route myself. He informed me that it is 340 kms to Gandikota, another 60 odd kms to Belum Caves from there and then 380 kms back to Bangalore. He even wanted to cover a place called Yaganti. I was mentally prepared for a longish ride to and from the destination.

  We started at around 6.15 AM. We had to take the same route that we took for the Hampi Humpers ride, skipping a left towards Lepakshi and taking a right further ahead for Gandikota. On the way, we came across a bunch of bikers, all on the new Thunderbirds. We stopped for breakfast at the Kamat-that-resembles-an-A2B and the Thunderbird group met us here. They were a bunch of middle-aged men, new to Bullets and riding, going towards Lepakshi. We introduced each other and invited them to join BoP for future rides; they seemed enthusiastic, but Satish and I had our doubts on their capacity and tolerance for bakchodi. Later in the ride, Satish pointed out that they would likely get offended if they hear me, Nishant Jha and a lot of other BoPians speak (thanks to our penchant for attaching an expletive to every phrase). 

  We finished our breakfast, bade farewell to the bikers and hit the highway again. After taking a right at Gorantla, the road narrows to 2 lanes. We were now riding in the Rayalseema region. The landscape is primarily arid, brown in colour, with rocky, solitary hills. It was getting hotter too, so we took less breaks. The road would narrow down to a single lane sometimes, completely covered by a truck. Unlike what I experienced in Kerala, most truck drivers here would actually go off-road to let bikers pass (there were a few exceptions though).
 
  After crossing a turning into the town of Jammalamadugu, we had to ride up a small hill to reach the Haritha guesthouse (APSTDC's string of guesthouses all across tourist destinations in AP). The Gandikota Fort is just a short distance away from the guesthouse, so we decided to have lunch, rest for a bit and then go to the fort. The place is quite big, spread over a lot of land with multiple buildings, each of which had a couple of rooms. Unfortunately, the manager informed us that there were no rooms available. Online booking was started 15 days ago and there was no on-the-spot booking available. We talked to him for a bit and were told that there is a 8-bed dormitory room booked by 5 guys, we could talk to them. Turned out they were a bunch of North Indians who had rented a car from Bangalore and were OK with us sharing the room with them. So we had some average lunch at the guesthouse, moved in our luggage and took a short nap.

  By the time we got up at 4, the weather had completely changed. We could hear thunder rumbling in the distance, with dark clouds bearing down towards us. We immediately rode the short distance to the fort and started exploring. In sharp contrast to Hampi, the entire fort was in shambles. It is not maintained at all. Thorny bushes and rocks created impromptu dead-ends everywhere, so we had to rely on our virtually non-existent trekking skills.

  While the fort itself isn't any great, what is spectacular is the view of the gorge. Gandikota is known as the Grand Canyon of India and justifiably so. The Penna river cuts through the rocky mountain to open up into a huge lake, all of which can be viewed from various points. The light drizzle made the views even better and I was having the time of my life. Our roommates had found an awesome point, but I was unable to find a path towards the same. Satish had a near-fall into a deep hole as he slipped while trying to climb and decided to call it a day. I monkeyed around for a while before turning back. It was getting dark and the next order of the day was beer. We did witness an amazing sunset though.

  The errand boy at the guesthouse had earlier asked for my bike to get the beer from Jammalamadugu (10 kms away). I prefer not to give my bike to people I don't know, so I decided to get it myself. Satish wanted to rest for a bit, so off I went. The rain had cooled down the weather considerably and I enjoyed the short, solitary ride on a dark and empty road to Jammalamadugu and back. Back at the guesthouse, we had a short BBB session with the 'child bear' and 'snakes'. We spotted a trio of riders from IBR who stuck to Thums-Up and professional conversations. Soon, a big group of riders roared in on their Bullets. We would learn later that they were from the Hyderabad Royals. It reminded us of the need to expand the Bangalore BoP chapter furthermore.

DAY 2

  We started off towards Belum Caves at 6.30 in the morning. It was still cloudy, but there was no rain. We had to ride just 60 kms, so we took it easy this time. On the way, we stopped at a small stall for a breakfast of poori-baji. We weren't sure of the accommodation arrangements in Belum Caves, but we were told that a Haritha dormitory existed there.

  We reached Belum Caves at 9 AM. Just like in Gandikota, the guesthouse is very close to the spot. However, the dormitory was already occupied and we were informed that there was no power or water supply, so we had to make other arrangements. The caves opened at 10.30, so we decided to ride to Yaganti afterwards. While Satish took a nap on the bike, I buried myself into a book until opening time.


   Belum Caves are a set of underground caves, apparently the second largest in India. They are maintained excellently, and even though free guides are available, you either need to have a big group or wait for a group to build up for the guide to tag along. We didn't have the patience to wait, so decided to explore on our own. The caves are lit up with halogen lamps and there are 'blow-holes' for ventilation. Since they are underground, you start sweating within minutes. We leisurely walked through various alleys and gullies. Around 3.5 kms of the caves are explored, but only 1.5 kms are open to public. The stalactites and stalagmites in one chamber are known as "Kotilingalu" (1 crore Shiv lingas). Personally, I don't care much for religion and I was wondering why simple, natural formations cannot be appreciated for what they are without any religious connotations. But then, probably calling them "Shiv lingas" was the reason why people didn't damage them, so who am I to argue. Call it a "stalagmite", people will try to break it; call it a "Shiva linga" and people won't even touch it!

  We had a little scare deep in the caves when the power went off. It made me appreciate the challenges of spelunking. You need guts to go so deep into a cave, not really knowing how to make it back. The power came back on though, and we started making our way back. We again bumped into our roommates from Gandikota here. Fancy meeting them all the way inside a cave!

                                  

  We cooled off for a bit in the breeze outside with some soft drinks, before making our way out towards Yaganti. It was mostly a smooth ride, except for a village crossing where a large group of women had blocked the road with tree branches and were demanding money. Satish reached the spot before me and when I saw the crowd around him, I thought it was an accident. But as soon as I reached, one bunch of ladies surrounded me, wailing, singing and coaxing me to pay them. I twisted, turned and got out of it, while Satish had to cough up Rs 20.

  We reached Yaganti just in time for lunch. Accommodation was easy to find, but food wasn't. The village is at the dead end of a road, blocked by a rocky hill. So there is one very unappealing hotel and one place where they give free food to everyone. The other option is to ride back 10-15 kms to the nearest town. We were in no mood to ride in the afternoon heat, so we settled down in the free-food place. The 'pappu' (dal) was quite good and we donated Rs 100 in lieu of the lunch. We again came across the Hyderabad Royals here. 

  After a short nap, we set off to explore Yaganti. There is one little temple here, along with 2 sets of small caves. Once again, they forced religion into the place by installing Shiva lingas and planting a bunch of sadhus and priests here. Altogether, an average place with not a lot to do. We then rode towards a little 'fort' like structure we had passed by earlier. Known as the Nawab's Palace, it looks newly constructed and a superhit Telugu movie called 'Arundathi' was shot here. All the inner chambers and rooms are shuttered, so there wasn't anything to do here either. We decided to go back to the room and then ride to the nearest town for dinner.

  Dinner was at a place called 'Malabar Hotel'. The day's breakfast and lunch were mostly average fare. The last meal of the day, however, made up for it. I had an excellent egg-curry, probably the best I have tasted till date. Satish's chicken biryani was good too. Once the food-high got over, I was in no mood to drink, so we rode back to the hotel and slept off.

DAY 3

  Satish's estimate of 340 kms to Gandikota from Bangalore had fallen short by around 40 kms. Now, he said it would be 380 kms back to Bangalore, but I had my doubts. We started off in the morning at 6 sharp. Winding through the narrow village roads till Jaladurgam, we then got onto the NH7 that connects Bangalore and Hyderabad.

  As expected, the first signboard announced that Bangalore would be less than 380 that Satish had claimed. NH7 is a super-smooth highway, and after riding around 250 kms on narrow village roads, it was exhilarating to ride on this 6-laned slab of butter.

  As soon as we entered the outskirts of Bangalore, I was greeted by a bunch of cops who challaned me Rs 300 for over-speeding; I was going at 80 in a 50-60 zone. Except for this, it was an uneventful ride back home. We didn't encounter a whole lot of the weekday traffic either, fortunately. 

  The first BoP ride of 2015 was thus completed. This ride, along with the Hampi Humpers ride, was to a similar dry area and I am starting to miss the beauty of the hills now. The next ride will definitely be to the hills. Also, Satish and I resolved to try and expand the Bangalore chapter, so as to get more riders. 

Until next time! Cheers and Jai BoP!

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!