Abhii46

The planning of this trip had started 2 months back, majorly by Girish and me, though the actual plan was of Santosh. Several places were included, several were left out, several route maps were made using google maps during the productive hours of office. Finally we had stick to one and later changed to other just a few days before the trip.
Our trip on the map:

Bangalore-Bandipur-Ooty-Coonoor-Coimbatore-Munnar-Madurai-Dhanushkodi-Thanjavur-Pondicherry-Bangalore

Riders and their bikes:
Abhinav(myself) - Apache RTR 190(Joel'ed)


Santosh - Apache RTR 180


Girish - Honda Unicorn
.

When we started planning we were 4 bikers. The planning went on for few weeks when Sashwat( 4th biker ) said he cant come with us. We tried to convince him a lot but all in vain. Now we were left with only 3 of us.

My planning also included tires change which had already covered 30k kms. Also got myself a pair of knee guards, as safety is top priority for me during these trips, got the bike polished just a day before the trip, new memory card for the camera, a rope to tie the bag on the bike and servicing of the bike 2 weeks before the trip.

Day1

Day2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7.

Noor

Thread approved

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Abhii46

Day 1:

Our plan was to leave on 27th Aug morning at 5am from Silk Board but I left my home only at 6am, which was 20kms from SB. After that I had to meet Santosh at Marathalli, the guy was even more late than me. Finally we reached Silk Board at 7am, called Girish and asked him to come directly over there.
I was carrying 2 bags, one tied on the seat and other one as backpack. The backpack was making me very uncomfortable and I knew that I wont be able to carry it like this for the whole trip. At SB Santosh gave me an idea, to put some of the things from my bag into his bag, which still had some space left in it, and rest of the useless things, along with the bag at Karun's room( Our college friend, he stays in BTM ). When Girish came to SB we told him that we need to go to Karun's room for few minutues and asked him to follow us till there. By the time I had given I had given several calls to Karun, the bugger was still asleep and didnt answered even one call. After we reached Karun's home I transferred all the imp stuffs in Santosh's bag and left my backpack over there. Now I got the nature call on top of that, that means another delay of 15 mins or more. Girish had missed following us and he was waiting for us before the Jayadeva hospital. After we left Karun's house we went to the signal where Girish was waiting. He was tying his bag again which had became loose. Then I realised I have forgotten my phone charger at Karuns'. Again I had to rush. It was already 8 when I came back. We were late by 3 hours. We decided to take NICE Road from there, I insisted on that because I had to check the top speed as I had recently got the bike Joel'ed. Touched 133kmph, with full tank and a loaded bike. Could have gone more.
Our pic at NICE Road:


We had our breakfast around 10am on Mysore road and headed towards Mysore from there.
Mysore Road ( SH 17 ):

By 12 we were at the signal which is just at the entrance of Mysore.


Asked for route to Ooty from there and people advised us to take it from inside of Mysore. A small incident happened inside Mysore. While I was riding there were few college guys, with no respect to safety (riding without helmet ), riding in front of me. Once they saw me, their discussion started, as if I was some alien, riding with big riding jacket, helmet, gloves, knee guards, bag tied at the back and of-course FFE. Since they had completely blocked the road, I gave the horn and passed them with increased throttle. They took that personally, I think, majorly because of the sound. One of them came in front of me and attempted stoppie, another came two fast and passed me too close( he had K&N ). Another biker and the pillion gave me a look and passed me. I was enjoying that. They tried all the stuff but I didnt gave any response. We left Mysore around 1pm after having a bottle of Maaza. Now our next stop was to have lunch. Around 3:30 we stopped for it roadside and had biryani, egg burji and chapati. As it was raining, we bought 3 rice packets from that dhaba to cover our bags. He sold it for Rs 10.
From there we left towards Bandipur forest. Driving inside was forest was an amazing experience which cannot be matched. The only thing one hears is the sound of the exhaust of his own bike. And the lush green color makes the ride more beautiful and enjoyable.



From Bandipur we entered Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

Stopped for some more pics as the place was too beautiful and one just cannot stop admiring it.



After taking some pics we moved forward and after some distance saw many cars and few buses stopped at a place. A herd of elephants was crossing the road. It was a sight which cannot be expressed in words.
From there we headed towards Ooty. It was already 5pm and we knew we were getting late. So we paced up, but then again, at the sight of first hills we had to stop. You cant just ignore them and move.





Some more pics taken on that route.








At the start of 36 hairpin bends:



After we left from the hairpin bends we moved straight to Ooty as it was already getting dark. We took a room in a hotel just outside Ooty, thought it will be cheaper over here. Got a room for Rs400 for a night. It was already 7:30 and we were too tired to go anywhere else. Went to the room, got our dresses changed and moved for dinner. Ooty was really cold. We had ridden almost 300kms. After dinner went for a small walk and came back to the room.

From Bangy to Ooty the roads were really good, all way long and the scenery was awesome.

rakesh_zmr

Great Trip you had there, waiting for the remaining pictures esp., Danushkodi

aargee

I'm going to rate this thread 5* even before reading; reason being that, you guys have covered 3 states & most important places to visit in a circular fashion; quite a planning should've gone in.

Makes me wonder what's there in Thodupuzha; what did you guys get into KL for?

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beruoist

Nice trip,Me too covered almost same route
Waiting for more details

Cheers
Biru

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Abhii46

Thanks mate. Ya will upload more pics. We had some good pics from Dhanushkodi. Will upload them soon.

Thanks a lot yaar.
No we didnt went to Thodupuza. It is just showing on the map. We went to Munnar.


Thanks. When did you had your trip?

Abhii46

Day 2:

Next day we got up around 6:30, but of no use. We came to know that we will get hot water only between 7:30 and 8:30. After getting ready we went to the parking area where we had parked our bikes. Since it was cold, bike refused to start, but after some attempt succeeded. We first headed towards Botanical garden. Took some pics over there, got myself a muffler and also a Rs150 water-proof bag. It was much better than which I was already carrying. Had our breakfast after that and went to buy a new and longer rope to tie the bag, since the one we had was not sufficient. It took us hell lot of time, finally we got it after riding a lot inside Ooty. We had to check out at 12 so we went back to hotel. We checked out at 12:30 and tied our bags again( it takes at least 15mins ).
We headed towards Coonoor, as someone told us we will get lot of good views during the ride. And they were right. Riding inside Ooty itself was so good, with lot of curves.
While going towards Coonoor the roads were mind blowing, they were so smooth and so curvy that we didnt wanted to stop but once again the view was such that we had to.

Few pics:






From there we headed straight towards Coonoor. Saw a hotel with the same name as my company's .

A small video of the ride


The ride towards Coonoor is smooth with very good turns and very smooth road. From Coonoor we moved forward towards Lamb's Rock View and Dolphin Nose. The few patches of the road were bad but the view was scenic.









Some pics from Dolphin Nose view:






From there we moved back to Coonoor as we had to ride towards Coimbatore.
The ride from Coonoor to Mettupalyam gives you a feeling of riding on tracks. Roads are too curvy, too smooth and too scenic. Its a 34kms of paradise. One cannot just resist to bend on them. I tried a lot but was not satisfied. Then recalled few of the cornering videos that I had seen on youtube. After that gave my best. I was shifting my butt from right to left and vice versa at every corner, figuratively hanging from the bike. And when I stopped, Santosh came to me and said, "I have never seen you leaning so much, at few places your knees were just few inches above the ground. I was more than happy but too tired. Didnt stopped much during that ride, because one just wants to keep on riding such roads.
Few pics:







Stopped for a Coconut water break.


Just 5kms before Mettupalyam we stopped for dinner. It was already 6pm and we didnt had anything solid after 10am in the morning.
2 pics from outside the restaurant.



By the time we finished our dinner it was already 6:45pm. We thought to stay in Coimbatore for a night and leave for Munnar next morning. Coimbatore was 40kms from there. Roads were ok but once we entered Coimbatore's boundary they became pathetic. We searched for lodges. Few of them were expensive but in the end got one for Rs300. We went out for tea and some snacks and came back to room and slept.

ridermax

Really nice ride guys ! The pictures are beautiful. As you said, the route is so scenic that you just keep clicking ! It's really nostalgic for me as I've done that route many times.

Kudos ! Keep Riding & Ride Safe !!

Abhii46

Thanks for the comment.
This route surely deserves more rides.