the odyssey round up

Jhulley!!
The eccentricity is over. I am back after the 15 day Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey 2007. It was fun, excitement, fear, and some times the adrenalin rush. Luck, God's grace, family's prayers and wishes from friends including you might have made me and Abhi come back without any problem apart from the mountain sickness that hit us at Sarchu.
And none of our Bikes too gave any 'show-stopper' problem apart from a fuel over flow for Abhi's Bird and and my bike switching off while climbing Barlacha-la due to lack of oxygen. But she was back to action in one kick. Good Bird :)
I have taken a lot of photos and some of them (460 to be exact) are put here. There are really a lot and you may take a look at it at your free time. Some of my better shots are given in this post. I don't intend to write down a travelogue post since it's been two long weeks and it will be pretty long and boring if I point out the details of every day. But I promise you to come up with some interesting stuff from the trip, including a Dummies guide to Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey with Abhi. This we think is quite essential for the biker community as we didn't have any idea about how the trip will be conducted and more over this will cover the pros and cons of the trip.
High points of this trip would be visiting Khardung-la, the world's highest motorable pass and Wagah Border. We were able to see the retreat by both Indian and Pakisthani Army. And above all riding Manali - Leh highway (one will really think should it be called as highway after you ride through it) is a dream for every true biker, and that dream has now been successful.
The numerous water crossings, the sand dunes at more plains, the passes - Barlacha-la, Lanchung-la, Naki-la and Tanglang-la, and the Gata Loops has all tried and tested us. Some had fallen, some cruised ahead without any problems. There was no race to be won, but there was a trip to be finished and we all won since we finished it at Amritsar without much of hassles.
At this point of time it is very important to thank people like Alex, Lovely, Jagdish, Vinyl, Solomon and all other mechanics who worked hard on the bikes to make them fit and Ashokji for the flawless logistics and the food he organized, and last but not the least Sachin to lead the 55 of us to the unknown with his experience and management. I should also thank Abhi for going ahead with this plan in the middle of his hectic work, and giving me 'good' company with his Chalus. And one should also not forget Aravind, Balettan, Gopettan and Anup to thank for providing a great company. We might have discussed almost all the things under the sun during that 15 days from Ads, Cinema, Photography to Maya, Myths and Automobiles. They were just the ideal company to have especially in the long trip like this. Finally the trip was blessed with a visit to Golden Temple and Jalianwallah Bagh in Amritsar.

And now back in office,I am too lazy to work and have been already going through the photos many times just to relinquish those memories.

It's tough to be both a biker-traveler and a working man. Phew!!!

a ride to smile..

At the end of it Abhi’s Mom asked –“Are you guys contended?”

At the beginning of it my Dad shouted –“We don’t like you doing this idiot showmanship. Who do you think you are? Why can’t you just concentrate on your job or don’t you have anything else to do? ”
At the end of it there was nothing achieved, but a mere sense of satisfaction of driving through the tea estates, of hearing the beat of two birds, of experiencing adrenaline rush while climbing uphill with the back wheel skidding and moving from one place to another, and last but not the least a rendezvous with fresh air atop Calvary Mount.

At the beginning of it there was lots of planning, exchange
of emails, Herculean tasks of getting leaves approved, maintaining the
birds fighting fit, and finally all the way just getting mentally prepared for
‘The destination – Munnar’.

“We look like outlaws inspiring admiration everywhere we go. We’ve left civilization behind and we are much closer to the land.” -Ernesto “Che” Guevara: The Motor Cycle Diaries
I and Abhi didn’t look like outlaws. We may or may not have been admired everywhere we went, but we surely left civilization behind and were close to the land. Close to the fresh cool air of the lower Sahyadris. We traveled a mere 806 kilometers from Bangalore to Ernakulam through Munnar and Thekkadi, but thought we had experiences to share…

The experience of Zero Visibility on the fast and furious Hosur-Krishnagiri road was right on top The day, Nov 25-2006, started early for us, as we had to cut through the busy city traffic. Hosur road was still busy at 5.30 am. As we filled our tanks and proceeded further, thick fog descended and even with headlight it was almost zero visibility ahead. With our visors getting fogged we realized that we are crawling at 20-30kmph and decided to take a tea break. We stood at the Reliance A1 Plaza for around 15 minutes, but no respite with the fog, it was still going strong. So we decided to move ahead even if it was at 30kmph we are moving. What made us sad was the fact that we were on the road where we should be cruising at 80+, but it’s no good challenging nature, so just went along. Things got better and we were moving faster and at Dharmapuri we had our breakfast. The geography was plain, dry and hot and we stopped only at 70-80 kilometer intervals. At Avanashi (40kms from Coimbatore), Abhi’s cousin Manu was waiting to join us on this venture with his Kinetic Blaze. We were then off to have some food. We were to hit Palladam and then proceed to Udumalpet, and Udumalpet was our camping place for Day 1.

From Avanashi, it’s a state road that goes to Palladam and a few kilometers from there we were greeted by an overflowing river. The road was so low and the river decided to flow over the road. But thankfully it was shallow and water currents were not too strong. The water almost touched the foot rest of my bike when I crossed it. It was the first time I & RED was facing so much water, but since the road below was good, there weren’t any problems except for the fact that I had to balance her very well.

Palladam to Udumalpet was a good state highway and we just ripped through. Curvy at times flat and straight sometimes and there I touched my first 100kmph on RED. Udumalpet has a lot of wind mills and we rightly stopped everywhere to take pictures. We rode leisurely as our camping point was nearing and finally checked into the Anamalai Hotels, which they say is a 3 Star hotel where we got a decent double room for a shocking tariff of Rs 450/-.

Next day we started at 7.00 am. Munnar was a mere 90 kms from the starting point. The road promised to be good at the start but soon it was getting bad and finally a few kilometers into the forests it just gave up to become worse. In fact, the road simply ceased to exist. All we saw was mud, stones and gravel. And to worsen the situation a guard at a check post told us that there is no road to Munnar and you can go ahead only at your own risk. There wasn’t any alternate route; he added. We stopped there for a while and a million dollar thought about further course of action. As a ray of hope, we saw some motorcycles going ahead, but we were not sure how far they will go. Our only option was to ride ahead or to return to the base. We decided to give it a shot and started our bikes and were going at steady 10-15kmph. But it was tough to ride on a road less terrain where you find hard stones, loose gravel and sand which will spoil your tyre and helps only in skidding of the bike rather than riding smoothly. A few kilometers into this rollercoaster, a lorry came across us. We stopped and asked the driver about the road condition ahead. He said it was like that for 2 more kilometers and after that it should be fine. We were relieved to hear this and soon we did hit a smooth road. By this time we had entered the Chinnar forest range and were nearing Kerala Check post. It was lush green all around. We did enter our names and travel details at the Chinnar check post as required, and I could see some kind of admiration in the officer’s eyes. At the vehicle type column in his log book when I proudly wrote Bullet, a smile spread across his lips. Am sure he must have seen many passing across that check post, many a wanderers like us.

En-route we virtually stopped everywhere we could and took pictures. In that God’s Own Country wherever you point your camera, there was nothing but amazing views. At Maraiyur we had fabulous breakfast- chappathi and meat fry and meat roast. Munnar was now 40 kms away and tea gardens / estates welcomed us.
We rode through windy roads of Kannan Devan Hills capturing the moments in frame and mind. And as I rode my lips synched with that beautiful ballad –Country Roads Take Me Home- that was playing in my mind. We decided not to have lunch as we had a very late breakfast and rode to Thekkadi. The idea was to take the NH49 till Pooppara and then take on the state highway 17 to Thekkadi. Everything went smooth; we had intermittent stops taking pictures and then riding ahead, some where in between all this we even feasted on a cup of great tea and pazhampori’s (Ripe Banana’s Deep Fried in Coconut Oil). I was at times getting irritated with the kind of stops we were having every now and then as it spoiled the momentum or rather the beauty of this ride, but then one just couldn’t help admiring beauty of mother earth, a natural feast for the eyes. But soon we hit the tough and rough ride as we reached Puliyanmala. From there on the road was nothing less than disastrous with potholes and more potholes. They were really deep at some places and whoever was the point among us kept signaling each other about the potholes. It was a horrible experience and after those horrible 20kms finally we reached Kumili which is the base of Thekkadi. Thekkadi Lake was just 4 kms from there. We settled at Abhi’s cousin’s house. The night ended a bit later than normal for us since Abhi’s cousin took us out for a great dinner.

The final day of the trip dawned and we had to reach Abhi’s house at Ernakulam. We tried checking in at the Lake, but the entry cost we favoured a decision otherwise!. We had to come back to Puliyanmala as we decided to return via Kattappana-Thodupuzha. Even though we were aware of the road conditions, overnight rains made it worse than the day before. The road was wet and the on-going road widening jobs made even the actual road muddy. It was just a muddy watery road for a few kilometers. Application of brakes was impossible and I could feel the tyres skidding. Somehow, we were able to ride on and hit Puliyanmala. From there the road to Kattappana was good. But heights of tough experiences were yet to come.

We stopped at Anchuruli for a break and while Manu was taking pictures some locals suggested that we should visit the top of the hillock so that we could get more picturesque views and some good photographs too. There was a narrow road that went uphill and soon that turned to a normal village road. The soil was strong, but the climb was steep with water streams flowing downhill making deep tracks. Manu took a try on his Blaze, and he returned after sometime climbing half the distance. He thought it seemed to be fine and we too thought our Birds should just be able to handle it. We set off; little did we realize that it was raining uphill. It’s always that light drizzle that plays the spoilsport. Manu was the point and I followed him at a distance as I wanted to give him some space of his own and as we entered the rainy zone, I could see Manu’s bike skidding. It was getting tough for him, since the back wheel wasn’t getting a grip on the wet, hard soil –typical soil in Kerala- and as the back wheel rotated freely smoke came up from the burned rubber. I asked him to stop there and thought I would give it a try. I climbed up slowly and steadily, but I could feel the skidding and my back wheel was going places. I realized it was getting tough, but decided to move ahead as I had only few meters to cover. Then my front wheel stuck in a ditch and owasn’t moving ahead and at the same time I lost my balance. I could feel RED coming down to its left. I tried holding her with all my power, but it was tough for me and finally she came to rest on her footrest. With the heavy load on the Cramsters it was difficult for me to hold especially on that slippery surface. And as she lay there on her foot rest, I had spread my legs so wide that my left leg would not get hurt. I laid her to rest like that and waited for Manu and Abhi to help me. Abhi came running from long behind after parking his bike and Manu was just behind me. Three of us then pulled the bike to get it straight and tried to pull it somewhere, but the slippery surface only made it very difficult for us to balance the royal beast. So then I decided to start the bike and take it up. The electric starter came for help here. I put on it to the first gear and slowly increased the throttle. Abhi and Manu held the back side of the bike and pushed it slowly. RED moved up slowly and steadily, and the view that awaited us on top was breathtaking. The catchment area for Idukki Dam stood right front of us; green, serene and of course tempting.
After taking a few pictures we took the descend down. It was tougher than climbing as the slant was steep. With both breaks and the gear on first, and almighty in our hearts we came down without much hassles. There was a Holy Cross that stood at the point where we ended the descend, and there was another one at the top of the hill too. Even though it was put up by a different sect of Christianity I believed somewhere we had a helping hand right from there. It truly was; as “Sahaya Hastham” was inscribed on it which meant helping hand in Malayalam. And as me and Abhi analyzed later; this was the most unnecessary thing we had to do and it really required a divine intervention to solve!

Later, we rode ahead to Thodupuzha through the windy roads of SH33 which was smooth and spectacular. We stopped at the Calvary Mount to get another good view of the catchment area. This place is an Eco Tourism spot promoted by Govt. of Kerala. The view from there was nothing but breathtaking. This place was much better than Anchuruli as there was a proper road till some place and then we had to walk up a few meters.

We had lunch at Cheruthoni and proceeded faster to Thodupuzha. We stopped at times to capture our cherishing moments on the video and camera. We had the camera tied on to the Cramster bag and it shot each one of us riding sequences. Soon we had the rain run down putting us in a spot of bother since it was getting dark too. The roads were wider now and straight with minimal curves and vehicles were getting faster. We safely pulled ourselves into the rain coats and rode at a steady 40-50Kmph. By the time we reached Abhi’s house it was around 7.00 pm.

After 806 kms of journey span across three states and three days, riding across almost all kinds of terrain except snow, we stood there in front of Abhi’s house shaking hands and admiring our machines. They all performed well, responding to our requirements whenever we asked them to do it and made sure they never troubled us too. As Abhi and I were dismantling our luggage, we looked at those Royal Beasts and exchanged smiles. That smile explained everything, just a communication on its own when it is the two of us; the planning from the day we decided to go on a trip to the struggles we faced on the last day. This smile was what we achieved at the end of the day!

Still if I am asked ‘why do you ride’, I really have nothing to explain.

As Vibhu says may be life is like a map and it’s all about going through the roads on this map.
Or as Sachin Rao says it may be the feeling that a biker is never alone on the road.
Or as Gaurav Jani says it is that I am on my own terms while I ride solo.
Or as Robert M Pirsig says in Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintanence it may be the feeling that I am completely in contact with it all.

Or it may be that smile; that smiles of satisfaction we experienced across our lips at the end of journey.

a post that became royally published

So there I am, with my first official publishing of an article on the Internet(other than on blogs). Its the old trip story, but on a different site.

Yeah !

At the Royal Enfield Site Buddies. And the Trip Story is published under the name Chilling Alone In Chikmagalur

The mail saying that my article is published came today afternoon, and how much joy I had. It was a different feeling altogether. A few months back I was just a reader of those trip stories that got published on the RE site. While reading those, I sat in awe about the IndieThumpers, BikeNomads and those Solo Riders, thinking when will I do atleast 10% of what these guys are doing. I haven't even created a login then, to read about the technical discussions that went on in the site while PP and Abhi - who also were RE fans at that time like me - made and told me about various details about the bikes. I never thought about publishing one trip story there, but today I have put one there. And Today I and Abhi own two beautiful Royal Red Beasts, while PP is still contemplating on the upgradation from his Defintely Male All Black Pulsar 180 to the Thunderbird. I am sure he will be ready with a ravishing Black Bird for the Himalayan Odyssey.

Its an un explainable feeling to see your article published, up there somewhere, after all the editing and filtering. Be it on the Campus Magazine or the Newspaper or a local intranet. You read, read and read to know what all the editor has changed from the master copy that you sent him/her. Then you analyze the changes in language he/she made.

In this case they didn't do any editing, but a publication is a publication, and that too on the Royal Enfield Site. It may be a trivial thing, but for mortals like me it means a lot!!!.

Many Thanks for all those who make it a point to visit my blog and comment. And thanks for all the friends and family who were with me, as an invisible helping hand, throughout those 862 kms. Without you I wouldn't have made it :)

PS: I know this blog is becoming a bit monotonous these days, always about the bird. But that is what happen when people fall in love right? They always think about their soulmates :)

she held on.. we made it ..

Prelude

I was getting frustrated as the VijayaDashami long weekend approached. My long weekend plans were appearing to get disrupted; with my friend Abhi not able to join me here in Bangalore due to unavoidable circumstances. I didn’t know what to do until I thought about going myself out to some where from the city. I wanted to go out but didn’t know where to until Tanuja’s blog pointed me to Chikmagalur. Chikmagalur was around 240 kms from here, and I needed some one with me atleast as a pillion.

And as I asked around about the place people told me about the places I should see, routes I should take and even about the hotels I could stay. But no one was ready to come. My last hope was my roommate Aravind, but he also had some problems in joining me. On Thursday I came across an article in bike nomads - I was researching through different sites of biking for tips, locations and driving routes - where the author Sachin Rao had emphasized the need of traveling solo on the bike. That along with the teaser of the documentary that won 60kph.com founder Gaurav Jani accolades, acted as the catalyst for me to set out solo. Then there was my hostel mate and batch mate Arun U. R who rides a Thunderbird and most of the times solo. He was the inspiration for me to biking and long rides, and of course getting the Bird. I always have long discussions with him about the bike. And on Thursday night too we had one long discussion about riding solo, things I should take care while driving, spares I should carry with me and other general stuff. He told me to go ahead and wished me good luck.

Still I was not sure, whether to go ahead or not. There were a lot of people discouraging me. Yea, they were true in the sense that I was alone and if I needed any help en-route I had nobody except the nature and the public. And then I have to convince my people back home about why I am going. That was a big task, but I had a way to tackle it.

By Friday morning I was decided, that come what may I am going ahead. I will ask around for one last time in the office, if any one was ready I will get them along, otherwise I am going alone. I went to the Royal Enfield showroom with the bike. They tuned the carburetor for me and showed me how to change the clutch cable and accelerator cable and checked the bike all in all. When I went to the office my teammates were still skeptical about my journey. But I was decided, I am going. I googled and found out the routes, took the necessary printouts for my help and talked to a colleague of mine who have been to Chikmagalur and Kudremukh. In the afternoon I went and bought the Cramster Saddle bags as I didn’t want to carry the luggage on my shoulders.

By evening I drew the final plan. It was like this - Leaving to Chikmagalur on 30^th Sep early morning, reaching around noon, and settling in a lodge. After noon off to Mulyangiri and Baba Budan Hills. 1^st Oct morning off to Kudremukh and spend the day there. On 2^nd to Kemmangundi and return. I left a bit early than normal, went to withdraw money from ATM and filled in the tank to the full. At home I packed my stuff and slept early.

30-Sep-2006

I woke up early, had a quick bath and left by sharp 5AM. I took the outer ring road till Hebbal Flyover and then took NH 4 towards Tumkur. At 6AM I took my first break at Nelamangala, 52 kms from my house, and had a tea. From there I took the NH48 to Mangalore and boy that was one hell of a road. Perfectly tarred with lots of curves and slopes, in some areas you could easily touch 100+ kmph. But I had to keep my bird within 70Kmph as I was in running period. It was really tough from my part to control the speed. Avengers, Pulsars and even Splendors over took me, but I didn’t mind. I kept a constant 70.

After 75 kms I had my second break for a nature call and there I met my boss who also was leaving for Hassan that same day. He wished me good luck and bid adieu before asking me to drop in at his house if I am returning via Hassan. I continued my journey after some time and had my breakfast at Hassan. I was now 60 kms away from my destination. There I called a few friends to talk about my journey and Tanuja told me to visit Belur and Halebid also if possible. They were on the way to Chikmagalur and famous for temples of Hoysala Architecture.

After the breakfast I took the road to Chikmagalur from Hassan and that also was a good road. And now slowly the nature around was changing from the plains to small sloppy mountains with lots of agriculture around. I drove to a small hillock a few meters of the main road and took some pictures. I stopped wherever I could see nature at its best and took pictures. And by 11.30 I was at Chikmagalur. I checked into a small lodge and settled my stuff. I asked at the hotel about the route to Mulayangiri and Baba Budan Hills and left. My first decision was to go to Baba Budan Hills and come back to Mulayangiri. But as I approached the diversion that takes you to Mulayangiri, I stopped and thought and then in a split second I took the left to Mulayangiri. The road up to Mulayangiri was winding and curving. It was understandable as Mulayangiri is the highest peak in Karnataka and stands 1930 meters tall. As I climbed with the Bird I could feel the chillness in the air. The visor of my helmet became moist and I found it difficult adjusting to the different terrain. Sharp curves, narrow road and deep valley on one side definitely made me scary.

I felt for the first time that if something goes wrong, then I am alone. Somehow I was able to over come that thought and rode ahead smoothly relaxing. I did stop many a times to take some pictures, including at Seethalaingiri, which is a temple en-route. The peak was just 2 kms from there. The final few meters to the peak was not tarred and I was a bit hesitant to take the bike ahead. However I took her ahead and I found a lot of crowd there. I parked the bike and as I started climbing the peak, it rained. I put on my jacket hat and ignored the rain and continued climbing. But at a point it became heavy and clouds came descending. I couldn’t see my way up and so I returned back. It was very difficult finding the steps as the visibility was poor and rain was pouring hard. As I reached the parking area, I took refuge behind a Scorpio and got some respite from the rain. Then the rain subsided and I start my ride back. It was really scary; I started the bike, put on the lights, honked the horn and slowly came down in the first gear. At one point I could see nothing in front and so I stopped the bike. My left leg was shivering, partly due to cold and partly due to the fear. Some how clouds moved away and I could ride back smoothly. I stopped again at Seethalaingiri on my way back and took some pictures. Rain, Roads and ThunderBird – What else you needed :).

As I came back to the junction which takes you to Baba Bundan Hills it rained and I decided to return back to the lodge. I rode slowly, enjoying the scenery, rains and roads. At 3.30 I stopped at a small hotel on the way and had MulakaBajji and 2 cups of Coffee as my lunch. I reached my lodge and slept. Only thing I missed in the night was a drink which I used to have in long rides. I had good Chicken Biriyani for my Dinner and I enquired the route to Kudremukh with Hotel Guys where I had my dinner. They said me to go via Mudigere-Kotogehara-Kalasa. I was so tired, but sleep came late and Dharmapuranam gave me a good company till then.

01-Oct-2006

For the consecutive second day I woke very early and left for Kudremukh at 6AM. As decided I took the earlier mentioned route. There is a junction 10kms from Chikmagalur and I had to take left there. And I moved ahead the road was becoming horrible, the speedo was moving between 15 and 25 Kmph. But the road was again through ghats and coffee and tea plantations.

Even though I enjoyed the ride and scenery, my buttocks were paining and I had to take a lot of pit stops and I finally reached Kalasa at 9.30. That 90kms took three and half hours to cover. Huh!! At Kalasa, I had my breakfast and the restaurant owner there said about the route to Kudremukh and also advised me not to take the same route back. He said I should take Balehennur-Aldur route instead of the one I came. He also said the road to Kudremukh will be the best you can get and it was. It was superb in every sense. Sharp curves, wide and smoothly tarred and lesser traffic. I highly enjoyed that sector of the journey. Kudremukh is famous for its horse-faced hill ranges and for the Iron Ore Mining Company, KIOCL. Even though the company is now closed the township still exist. There is also a Dam, called Lakhya Dam which is used to store the Iron Ore Waste. I visited the township church which was at a height and took a few pictures of the range.

I also went to the Dam and the reservoir was full of the iron ore waste. I thought one could easily walk on the waste. There is a view point at almost the center point of the Dam where you could view the Horse faced ranges at its best.

I drove back to Kalasa and then took the Balehennur-Aldur route and it was much better than the route by which I came to Kalasa. I stopped at Balehennur for lunch and then on the way to Aldur at a Drive Inn Coffee Shop in Bhadra Coffee plantation Estate. By 5PM I was back to my lodge and I decided to drop Kemmangundi from my plans as it would be raining there and added Belur and Halebid as my destinations on my way back. I called up my boss to check if he is there in Hassan the next day and surprisingly found out that he is also visiting Halebid with his family. We decided to meet there.

I was immensely satisfied when I went to sleep. A major phase of my trip was over and I didn’t face any problem and above all I was very much happy with the performance of my bike and me as a driver. It was one of those dreams I always wanted to achieve.

02-Oct-2006

The final day has arrived. I just need to keep the concentration for one final day.

I left a bit late as I had to catch up my boss at around 10 at Halebid. My first destination was Belur which was 24 kms from Chikmagalur. Belur is famous for its Chennakeshava Temple which was built by the great Hoysala Empire. The temple was very magnificent and I spend a good time capturing various pictures outside and inside the temple. Since the temples at Belur and Halebid are under Archaeological Survey of India, photography is not prohibited here.

After the breakfast I left to Halebid which is 16 kms from Belur. There are three temples there. The main Hoysaleshwara Temple, then the Jain Temple and the Kedareshwara Temple which is partly destroyed. Only Hoysaleshwara temple attracts crowds. My Boss reached a little late there and by that time I had covered all the temples. I met him and after a small chat decided to leave. I took the Hassan road from Halebid so that I do not need to come back to Belur.

As I reached Hassan, I checked the tyre pressure and hit the NH. The ride was getting a bit boring because of the sudden change of the terrains and at times I was losing my concentration. And more over the traffic had increased and KSRTC buses were giving a tough time to me as they pushed me out of the road a couple of times.

I stopped at an Andhra Dhaba to have my lunch. I left again and cruised and reached Nelamangala at 4PM. I had a tea break there and left to my home. When I reached the home and parked my bike, the odometer showed 862 as the trip kilometers.

862 Kilometers is what I covered in 3 days riding solo on my Red Bird from home to Chikmangalur – Mulayangiri – Kudremukh – Belur – Halebid and then back to home. It is a just small step to start with and I now have the confidence to ride any where alone. Just me and my bird and my loneliness.

Drive Safe Buddies and Check out My Motorcycle Diaries when you have time :)