cortomaltese

HI everyone indian riders!
i'm Daniele and i'm an italian rider.
First of all congratulations for the forum, very interested threads and very good pictures of beautiful places.
I write here because i'll come in South India with my wife in december for one month. We'll be in India for the second time

we will spent ten days in a indian orphanage near Hyderabad ( helping them for dental problems) and the other 15 days we would travel across South India by motorbyke.

i ask you some information about the trip:

a place for rent the motorbike near Chennai. i like very much Enfield Bullet
Is possible take the bike in a city (Chennai) and take off in another city (Bengaluru)?

Conditions of the roads?

Conditions of roadsign? i need a gps?

my planning:

Chennai- Puducherry - Trichy - Thanjavur - Madurai - Periyar (Wildlife Sanctuary) - varkala - allappuzha - Kochi - Mysore - Bengaluru

what do you think ? it's possible in two weeks?

any advices are accepted

thank you very much
good saturday evening

p.s. : sorry for my English

Noor

Discussion thread approved

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satyenpoojary

You might want to post this here as well to get more info on the road conditions, and the places where you could source the bike from.

Many tourists do buy bikes from one state and sell it off at another state.
Considering this is happening at December, you might want to strecth uptil Goa (the party place of India) It would be easier to get rid of the bike there.

The road signages are present, however considering that the route that you intend to take crosses exposes you to atleast 5 Indian languages, a gps map could help.
You can buy a cheap one for your phone from here

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hensil

Hi cortomaltese,
Welcome to India and wish you all the best for your trip.
Henry

kirosh_03

Corto, try these...

Chennai:
Vicky - +91-9952100400 (rent-a-bike)
Another - +91- 8925480447


Bangalore:
Vijay: +91-9620554441 (dvkbiking@yahoo.co.in)

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aargee

Welcome to xBhp & to our country @cortomaltese; enjoy your stay

When you're in the state of Tamilnadu, you don't need to ask for the road conditions as its second best state in terms of growth, economy, infrastructure & highways...rated by UN. So just feel free to explore

Hope you know it left hand side driving, just like UK & Hongkong; GPS is up to you. But if you post your questions here in xBhp or get contact of someone here, you may need very less of GPS. People in TN, KA & KL (State of Tamilnadu, Karnataka & Kerala) are friendly & you don't have much to bother.

Very much; but here're the road conditions...
- Chennai - Puduchery (or Pondicherry) - Trichy - Chennai - Pondichery is like riding on esplanade; from Pondi, you'll need a diversion to Villupuram & then the Super good highway begins & you can ride like an Autobahn; dry highway, but will help you gain time.
- Trichy - Thanjavur - Madurai - Good state highways though two-laned, but still can ride & most importantly enjoy good (but I'd suggest take Pondicherry-Cuddalore-Thanjavur & then go to Trichy followed to Madurai).
- Madurai - Thekkady - From Madurai, all way upto TN border (Theni) roads are good; once you enter KL (Kerala; Periyar near to Kumily or called Thekkady is in Kerala) roads are average to bad
- Thekkady - Varkala - Alapuzha - This is like coming from mid to South & then going back once again to North
- Alapuzha - Kochi - Mysore - Kochi - Mysore is going to be super tough if you intent to complete in a day; because you'll need to ride all way upto entire North of KL & then get into Banduipur reserve forest area (where you cannot ride between 6/9 PM to 6 AM( & then get into Mysore. The roads are pretty rough & bad between the borders
- Once you're halfway to Mysore, then its beautiful highway all way upto Bangalore.

Anyway, here's the map per your route you've planned...

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Ch...ia=1,3&t=m&z=7

What's your preference...
1. Do you want to stay at one place & explore surroundings?
2. Do you want to visit explore each state's culture?
3. Do you want to ride & enjoy the best roads in all the states?
4. Or do you want a mix of 1, 2 & 3?

Pls make your choice & we can help you make the best possible route. Also how do you intent to travel from Hyderabad to Chennai?

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hensil

argee,
That's wonderful! Who needs an GPS when guys like you are around.
Henry

cortomaltese

really! argee you are very gentle thank you very much for the precious info!

i think a mix of all. the important thing is the security (we're on holiday)

i think by train. do you know if is possible? there is a website for reservation?

exist possibility bike-on-train?

aargee

Yes - https://www.irctc.co.in/; but I guess this is open only for Indian nationals/citizen.

Alternatively you can talk to any of your Indian counter partners (or travel agency through which you book your flight tickets) to make reservations for you.

Yes; but you know when the porters who see non Indian nationals ferrying bike through train start demanding more money. So unless you've some Indian friends who can bargain or you've experience, I would advice you staying away from this business. Second important thing is that, would you make a round trip from Hyderabad-Chennai-Kerala & return the bike back to Hyderabad? Remember, this is India where hire & returns can't take place in different cities.

Thanks hensil for your kind words

Edit - Here's a glimpse on Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - Tour de Thekkady

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Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear

aargee

Here's some detailed plan; I'm not sticking to the 15 days as I'm covering an overall general places of visit, but, feel free to take or leave few places so that you can cover the rest

Day 1 - Arrive in Chennai; stay in a hotel, take time off for hunting a bike rental, negotiation & may be visit Marina beach. End of day 1 have the bike in hand.

Day 2 - Have BFast in Chennai & start from Chennai around 9:00 AM towards Mahabalipuram; enroute visit Dakshin Chitra (or if interested Croc + Snake park) & visit Mahabalipuram cultural heritage; have lunch at Radisson hotel Mahabalipuram & leave towards Pondicherry by evening. Dinner at Pondicherry

Day 3 - Visit Aurobindo Ashram (if interested; its more of exotic piece), beach, try some French & Portugese cuisine, visit some old French & Portugese colony & call it a day

Day 4 - Have early or enroute BFast & leave towards Chidambaram; don't miss the Pichchavaram Mangroove forest at Chidambaram; have lunch & visit the Chidambaram Natarajar temple for the architecture that stands for over several centuries (hire a guide if possible & negotiate hard); end of the day stay close or reach to Point Calimere. I've marked as Vedaranyam in the map that's the closest big town to Point Calimere. If you're able to make till there (just 130 odd Kms from Chidambaram) you're good.

Day 5 - Ride from Point Calimere to Rameshwaram; not sure if you'll be able to make to Danushkodi, but, if you can, its one of an experience though. Visit Rameshwaram temple & just call it a day.

Day 6 - Ride from Rameshwaram towards Kanyakumari to the bottom most tip of India where you can witness the Sunrise & Sunset at one place. Objective is to reach Kanyakumari before evening to witness Sunset.

Day 7 - Witness the Sunrise, have BFast & leave towards Trivandrum; stay at Trivandrum, not sure if they allow you inside Padmanabhapuram temple, but worth a visit. Also go to Veli village & Varkala beach. But if you make to Varkala beach, don't stay at Trivandrum. Visit Varkala beach & stay somewhere close to the beach (there're quite few hotels)

Day 8 - Ride from Varkala towards Alappuzha; if you want Ayurvedic massage or a boat ride (its one of a different kind of experience with freshly caught fish etc) this is the perfect place to spend holidays. Lets say you spend 2 days here.

Day 10 - Ride from Alapppuzha to Kochi or you may want to extend further. From here there're multiple options. I'd suggest you understand the above itinerary before we proceed further. Here's the map - Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Kochi, Kerala, India - Google Maps

From Kochi, the below are possible options; 4th is my personal favourite, but, you'll have to cut short few days from the above 1-10 days. The above 1-10 days are very very light rides involving not more than 300-400 & some even 150 Kms a day which are more than doable.

1. Kochi-Coimbatore-Ooty-Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
2. Kochi-Munnar-Kodaikanal-Madurai-Trichy-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
3. Kochi-Thrissur-Vadakkenchery-(enroute to Nelliyampathi)Pollachi-Coimbatore-Salem-Krishnagiri-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)
4. Kochi-Wayanad-Sulthan Bathery-Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Google Maps)

I'd suggest go through the maps, zoom to places & check if you're interested doing those places & come back with questions if they're really worth of visit & then we'll take it from there.

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Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear