Topic Approved.

Wow Great. Even I am from Mysore. expecting more from this

Finally found some time for the log..

The next day was a Sunday and we woke up after multiple alarms ringing. I could not resist checking the watch just in case it isn't dawn. Alas, it was already 5:10 AM and I went through a quick shower and brush. My buddy had an elaborate hot water bath and came out only after me banging on the door for half a minute
Ordered a tea and we were all set to go at 06:30 AM. Started my bull and let it idle for a while. As we started to move out of the city we had the pleasure of having a look at the palace. Next destination was Nanjangud which was about 20kms. I dint want to rip the engine right away and wanted it to reach its optimum temperature, hence cruised at around 60 and reached Nanjangud at 7:00 AM. By then both of us were starving and saw a Udupi hotel. We ordered for idli, vada and upma. The breakfast was delicious as it was just prepared. Thoroughly satisfied with the food, we set off again at 7:30 AM to Gundlupet. This was a short stint of around 40kms and I now raised the tempo of the cruise and started maintaining a constant speed in 80-85 range. The bull( Hugo is his name) was running amazingly smooth and I was loving this ride so much! Meanwhile, one of my pillion footrest just got lost somewhere and my friend started complaining about the uncomfortable feet position. So I put a bottle of slice on the bolt as a temporary measure . Shortly reached Gundlupet at 8:00 AM. The condition was slightly overcast and perfect for a bike trip. Soon after crossing crossing the town of Gundlupet, we saw an arch welcoming the entry to Himawad Gopalaswamy betta. My friend bought a couple of dry cells for his cam and as usual people nearby were checking my bike out

After the short shopping we took the detour from NH and my heart instantly beat faster with excitement on looking at the road - off road !!
The road was extremely jerky and I decided to fly past the road. So pulled the throttle till we hardly felt any bumps at all, much to the exclamation of fellow bikers and cars Gradually, the uphill climb began and Hugo started growling louder and louder. I cursed my friend for being heavy at 80+ kilos. Some times the climb was so steep that I had to constantly swap between first and second gears. At one point the air really got dense and I stopped the bike to enrichen the mixture of the carburetor. Voila, it did help, the bike pulled much better after that. The scenery was breathtaking - entire place was surrounded with dense mist and visibility was about 20feet. The only sound that could be heard was Hugo thundering . After some fantastic hairpins(I love banking and this time the footrests scraping the road told me that it was sufficient), we reached the apex to find quite a good crowd. The time was around 8:40 AM and we parked the bike and went straight to the temple after whom the hill was named.

This is what the sunrise looked like when seen from the Mysore-Nanjangud road.


Some distance after taking deviation from the Gundlupet-Bandipur road towards the hill..


The Mist...


The temple at the apex..


Bikers heaven for off roading. I could manage to work out speeds of 60-65kmph in these roads..


Panoramic view seen during the descent..


To be continued

After clicking a few pictures and enjoying the nature we thought of checking out the surroundings. There was another road kind of a thing next to the parking space. This seemed interesting as it wound downwards and wasn't visible entirely. The bullet started chugging and we covered a few hundred meters distance when I felt we were very near to the cliff. The whole place was submerged in deep mist and it was a divine sight. Not too many people either and I wanted to click a few pics. All of a sudden a person comes running and says vehicles are not allowed down there and asked us to move immediately. I just bought some time and after a few shots started the way back towards temple amidst a big group of college fellows cheering for us




By then the watch showed 09:25 AM and we started the downhill journey. En route met a lot of vehicles climbing the hill very cautiously. We were almost cruising down the winding roads and I really appreciated my Buddie's confidence in my driving capabilities because he hardly made any comments that showed apprehension
The only place we stopped was on seeing the sunflowers blooming wide open and we dint want to miss such a beautiful sight from being captured. Couple of clicks and I got some idea when I saw an aged couple walking past me. I requested them if they could pose foe me and they obliged by standing where I asked them to. The pic came out very well but then the couple starting asking me money. I felt a bit sad and gave 10 bucks each and to my dismay, another passerby comes and stretches his hand I gave a mouthful to him and started the bike.







On nearing the main road towards Bandipur, saw a couple of P220s and cars going towards the hill. We made a very wise decision of visting a bit early in the morning and I really dislike places infested with crowd.

Bandipur was hardly around 10kms from the entry point of Gopalaswamy Betta. Took a right turn at the entrance of the arch and after a few kms I strongly began recalling my run on the same road a few months back towards Ooty. Then were were a pack of three bikes and I had quite a dramatic journey with my piston seizing after covering 80kms from Bangalore. The icing on the cake was even better - gear box went kaput near Nanjangud. Drove 10kms with the small neutral finder lever serving as gear engager Memories of a trip are even sweeter and satisfying than during the trip...

On entering the picturesque stretch of Bandipur we saw a pack of deers and I stopped to take some snaps. Unfortunately after that the only animals we ever saw were few monkeys and a couple of elephants. Soon we arrived at the Tamilnadu checkpost at the entry point of Madhumalai tiger reserve area. The cops gave the bull a nice sweeping stare and we just moved on. Another 15kms and finally the end of forest stretch and we came to the diversion point to Ooty. This place offers two routes to Ooty - one is a shorter one through the awesome Kalhatti ghat and other one is a bit longer. Stopped by at the junction for a tea and we negated the idea of going to Ooty as my friend had to board the bus to his native the same night. At aboout 11:10 AM we started off back towards Gundlupet with the idea of covering Shivanasamudram falls. The speedo showed that a total of
245kms for the one way journey.









The drive back till Gundlupet was uneventful and now our stomachs really reminded that it was quite a while since we had food. Saw some hotel and I really dint care about the quality of food. They had some dosa and parathas. I finihsed my meal + tea quickly and got a piece of flat wood from the shopwala. The missing pillion footrest was causing great problems and my buddy was complaining of getting his ankle sore. So I had to get some innovative solution and using my bungee cord secured the wooden piece. After the work was complete both me and my friend broke into a laughter looking at the sight of wood sitting on the bullet

Here it is..


Energy levels back to normal, the ride towards Kollegal resumed. We had to take a right turn at Gundlupet towards Chamaraj Nagar and then this would lead to Kollegal. Roads are pretty good and neverthless I dint bother!!
By now the sun was scorching and we had some pace to set. Did not stop anywhere until we covered distance till Kollegal. I lost of track of the odo reading due to a funny incident. En route the speedo needle started making wierd noise. After a while it started spinning all the way to 160kmph and I started laughing. Farther the way, it totally went nuts and started spinning round the dial just like those compasses in the planes behave when in the Bermuda triangle . I was laughing heaving under the helmet and suddenly the needle snapped into two pieces and I stopped to disconnect the speedo cable. So much for the speed

When we reached Gaganachukki (there are two falls in Shivanasamudra) it was damn hot and the time was 15:00. The road condition here needs special mention: it would be better if you own a tractor for such kind of roads. However, not bothering to slow down I decided to tread on the narrows patch of road partially better than the rest of the gravel road.
We hastily took some pictures and went down the pathway towards the base of the falls. The scenery was beautiful as the falls had plenty of water.




After spending around 20min we got bored and started off towards Gaganachukki which is about 6kms from the first falls. This falls was amazingly spread up and I loved the sight. But the huge crowd alone was sufficent to force us turn back and ride after some snaps.





I had to get my buddy back in Bangalore atleast by 19:30 so that he could catch the bus. Hence just took a couple of butt breaks in between and cruised at around 90kmph. Kanakapura was the last well known town before Bangalore and this is when we saw couple of horrible accidents. The cars in both occasion were deformed beyond recognition. But I dint allow it to get on to my nerves and just kept the calm so that we can ride back well in time. Once crossing Kanakapura the sun began setting down the horizon and it was a pleasant time to be on the bike.



I read somewhere that the last part of the trip is always the most dangerous one as we get restless to get back home and results in accidents. I just reminded of this and was being watchful for freaks on the road after a Omni screeched and swayed on braking hard just ahead of me.

At 19:00 we were near Banashankari and voila, a heavy downpor welcomed our entry to the city .
Completely drenched, reached back room after half an hour and yeah, we had covered around 540kms for the trip. It was a memorable ride in the weekend.

ODO Start: 23670 End: I dont know - broken speedo needle