Well, this is the first travelogue I have ever written, inspired by being a silent member of xBhp.
Any suggestions and corrections are welcome!

What will you do when you have plenty of time just after some headbanging sessions? By headbanging, I didn't refer to heavy metal shows, but rather a bit more further- exams! Well, am not among those into books but a day or two before the exams gets me open up the books!

My final year in engineering started pretty good with a good 1500kms trip to Pondicherry, bunking the initial classes!
Soon after the trip, my bike's odo is stuck at 7021kms! Rode a month as the dealer didnt had stock of it or maybe doesnt want to replace it under warranty.
Semester came to an end, exams nearing to get over. I had already booked my tickets back home 6 days after my exams finish.

Time's plenty... no work, no studies, new year's somedays ahead. Train's departure is after 6 long days. Calender check- high time for Goa and Pondicherry.
Finally am sure I have to eat, sleep like any other day, but this time without anybody along.
Google opens up the map and my mind is still searching for a destination, with an exam the next day!
Being a student, I certainly dont have any tension of leaves or deadlines. Am free! some more time thinking and am done... Kerala! So did 3 more friends join.



Distance check- superb, route check- good, funds check- can't even reach halfway! This is usual phenomenon when students stay 3000kms away from their homes!
And the drama begins- convince mom about the trip and assure about biking 1000 kms and send some funds!
All set, exam finishes and on 23rd December before daybreak, we push in the starters. The chilly winter made the autochock to do overtime!
The ride starts. Mysore to Kannur in the 1st leg. Happily cruising at 6k rpm mark on our P220s and encountering the chill temperatures, trying to keep my fists warm due to cold air entering the gloves. By then I noticed a thing- whenever I slow down near speedbreakers, some rubbing sound occurs.
Investigation starts. The speedo cable which was replaced 2 days back wasnt fastened correctly and was rubbing against the wheel and 25% of the plastic was gone! Taped it against the holder and ride continued.
The signboard points our breakfast stop (Virajpet) towards a potholed gravelly road 20kms ahead and our happy 6k rpm cruise was lowered to 2nd and 3rd gear. My bike's screaming due to excessive push ups and headbanging- the heavy metal one!
Reached Virajpet for a coorgi breakfast. It was delicious

Post breakfast, ride resumed. Kerala border was few more kms ahead on the same mateor cratered road. By that time, fairing started vibrating a lot and was rather irritating! The rivetted joints holding the footrest on the silencer had come loose and was making some wierd sounds- another warranty replacement soon!
Soon the Kerala checkpost came and just like magic, the road became butter smooth! Starts the downhill of the western ghats, some cornering, good speeds and sudden craters invited more fairing vibrations!







Around noon, reached Kannur and headed straight to the beach. Google said its the only driveable beach in India, but sadly couldn't find the entry for bikes! Headed towards the city in search for some hotel. Found one with a decent rent and lodged in.







Evening was when we searched for alcohol and later learned that alcohol in Kerala is sold only in Govt. outlets! Bought some beers and dinner and headed again to the beach for dinner under the moonless sky.



Wasn't sure weather it is legal or illegal to have dinner at the beach. Police patrolling team was passing by and stopped by our parked bikes. Enquiry again! Luckily they allowed us to leave and then one policeman said- u wanna have a drunk driving case lodged? So we left the parked bikes and strolled in the beach. Police left, so did we!
Back to the hotel and dozed off!

24th Dec: Something's irritating. Time's 3am. Room was full of mosquitoes! I was sure of getting some sleep as we had another 400kms to ride that day and didn't sleep much the last 2 nights but the mosquitoes didn't cooperate!

Woke up, had a stroll down the streets of Kannur. Finally at 7am, we started the next leg of our ride- Kannur to Kochi to Allepey, back to Kochi, then to Coimbatore to Mysore. We decided to have the Kochi-Coimbatore section to be done at night and if physical condition permits, we'll stretch it all together to Mysore.

Roads were the best- NH17. Bit of twist and turns, reached Kochikode around 10am or so. Had breakfast- the cheap and best among the whole trip!

Forgot the name, but this place's just before reaching Kozhikode.


Resumed the ride after an hour or so. The roads were getting smoother every kilometer! The afternoon heat was no good. Sweating inside the helmets and jackets made us more tired. Made a few refreshment stops in between. Finally reached Kochi around 4pm. Without having a stop at Kochi, we made it directly to Allepey, another 60kms, that took us an hour more.
Headed straight to the backwater boat ride, only to return back without even hopping off the bike. The pictureque scenes shown in TV as what we expected, but found nothing similar to that and only a small drain like walled structure where boats were going up and down. Left the boating and headed to the beach.
Without having any food past the breakfast, we were frantically searching for good food. Got nothing such and instead settled for gobi manchuri and other fries.
The heat and lack of proper food made us too tired. Finally took a dip at the sea and rolled on the sand to have some sleep.







It was past 9pm. The beach wore a deserted look. Decided to make a move and head back to Kochi and then decide wether to continue it to Coimbatore or not. The sleep made us bit refreshed. We reached Kochi in a bit above an hour, having dinner on the way. Well, that was the worst dinner of the whole trip!
We decided to head to Coimbatore, but confused with the routes. The maps was showing something else, people were telling something else. Moreover we were conserned about the ongoing KL-TN border blockade. However, we decided to ride and started at exactly midnight. It was 25th December now and Christmas being celebrated. Heading towards the Pallakad, roads became smaller and conditions worsened. Without any problem, we crossed over to TN.
But by that time, sleep was taking its toll. Our eyes were open but mind was out. I could see bright lights coming in front of me and I turn my bike left. When I was not in control of the bike for even a minute, we stopped at the TN check post. The police provided a stool from a neighbouring shop and we slept sitting at the stool and supporting our back against a wall.
After 2 hours of rest, time was not of our concern anymore. We need to reach Mysore in one state, whatever time it takes. Started riding again and soon the bike was going on its own and me on half of my senses. We reached a place where all Sabrimala people stopped to have tea. Had some tea and resumed the ride. After sometime we reached Coimbatore. All 4 of us were fully exhausted. Checked in at the first hotel we got and the bed came to our rescue! It was 5.30am by now.
My phone was too exhausted as much as me, but rather, it had completely died. Slept for a good 6 hours. By 1pm, we headed back to the highway again. Stopped soon at a restaurant to have breakfast+lunch. It was the best in terms of quality. Atleast we didnt expect such good North Indian nonveg food at a TN highway through a village.
Resumed the ride past 2pm. Stopped for the first only photography stop.







Resumed riding and soon we came across the 37 hairpin bends. The bend was tempting for some knee scraping but as you reach the bend, the road goes potholled! Almost everyturn was potholed, prohibiting me from scraping the knee.







As we looked at the time, panic started. It was 4 pm and the other rider has a bus to Hyderabad at 7.30 and we were still 100kms away from Mysore. From there, we rode quite fast. Down came the mileage and we had to make an additional stop for refill.



Reached Chamrajnagar in sometime. My pillion is my navigator always. He saw some sign showing Mysore towards left. We turned and kept going. After a few kilometers, I noticed the other bike was missing. When we asked for the direction to Mysore, the man laughed and told "you have come 15kms inside to a village". Heck! Wrong turn at the wrong time! Returned back 15 kms only to find that my navigator missed the other sign which said to turn right after the previous left.
We reach the Nanjangud highway and speed up to the max possible. Finally we got to know the other bike has already reach Mysore at 6.30pm and we reached at 7pm. We headed straight to the bus stand to get the pics from the other guy and bid him a happy journey and an advance new year.
His bus left, we reach our rooms in sometime. The 3 days 3 states 1100kms ride was finally over. Quite excited about having the new year celebrated with family after 3 long years, I now leave for my hometown, keeping the bike away from me for a long 45days.

p.s.
We don't have any (D)SLR. All pics were taken with Samsung Galaxy Note. Sorry if the pics were not upto the standards.
The whole riding was done by two riders only. The two pillions were pillions only for the whole journey.
This is my first travelogue.