Travelogue approved.

come on suru jee

After meeting for 3 weeks consecutively on Sundays and sipping a tidy sum of Apple Mojito's at Indulge, we decided to try some offroading instead of merely hitting the tarmac.. We finalized the place at Ooty, from thereon to Upper Bhavani, and back.. But we were denied permissions since there was a survey going on and moreover bikes werent allowed at all times, we we decided on Ralliah Dam.. Ralliah Dam is a small dam situated in between Coonoor and Kotagiri. One has to go via Staff College, where the movie "Roja" was shot, and then take an alternate route which passes through a military training camp to reach a place called Bandhimai.. From there, the route passes through a very small village and after about half a kilometer or so, you enter the forest. It is thick and dense, though at this time, it was a bit dry. One has to visit Ralliah dam in the monsoons to see it in full glory. Ralliah Dam is a catchment area where Coonoor town gets it's drinking water from. The place is absolutely silent except for chirping birds. Ralliah dam is a place that is not frequented often except by some forest officials in a rare manner. Otherwise, it is a local hangout place for the localites on weekends to have a booze. I mean, its an excellent place to have fun. The silent forest, the greenery, absolutely no disturbance, a place to break out, even for trekking.. But its beauty is usually spoiled by people who bring in their rides, booze until dark, too loud music which disturbs the whole area, and at last leave the place filthy.

So, Deepak and Aravinth comes by my office at 7 a.m. After having tea, we confirm with mahesh about his location. After scheduling the meeting place as Annur, we ride slowly towards Annur. After may be 5 kms, Deepak's bike starts to stutter. While in neutral, it looks good but then again in about 3rd or 4th, it starts to stutter. We look on either side of the road in search of mechanic shops. May be the mixture was too rich enough that it took some time to get back. Meeting Mahesh and his friend Sarath in Annur, we switch bikes with our usual single lineup. After crossing Mettupalayam traffic, we climbed safely all the 14 hairpin bends with utmost ease yet at few times Deepak's RX would choke but a quick shift to the 2nd would bring it back to life. We reach Coonoor for a breakfast stop.




After having breakfast, we take the supply depot route, and we reached Bharathi Nagar quickly. A bit of patch roadwork was going on but it did not interfere us. We zipped past the military training camp, and we reach Bandimai. From there, one has to take a left to reach Ralliah Dam or else one could reach Bettati and could take a completely short route by walk. We decided to take our bikes after all offroading was what we were looking for.








The entrace of the forest was cool, I mean, the temperature was cool. Dried leaves and twigs were throughout the road making the tarmac completely invisible. We were very careful especially the leaves werent offering any grip to the tires. It was slippery all the way.


















now for some posing..













After riding about 5 kms into the jungle with a few tiny hairpin bends, we saw a giant leg. For a second, it looked like someone is tripping in slow-mo.



Yeah, it was a tree that had uprooted. All the guys thought this was the end of the road but Mahesh with determined mind said that we willcarry the bike around or ride through some way no matter what. There was enough space behind the root for a bike to pass but one has to lift the back of the bike. We did not have any problems with the 100s, but the real problem came with the newer Yammies espcially with the fairing and the stand in the R15 and Fz respectively. But determined to somehow cross this, we twisted and turned the bike in different angles, lifted, and managed to somewhat come pass it without a scratch.



















After riding another km, we had another tree that was uprooted and it was right across but Sarath managed to lift the tree up, and we bypassed it easily with a bit of crouching. After riding a solid 7 km inside the dense forest, we at last reached the foudation stone by the dam. The entire place has an ample parking space with the foundation stone in the middle. The info reads as the Dam was opened on May 16, 1941, by the Governor of Madras, Sir Arthur Hope. We park our bikes, pose a few photos, and walk down the dam.































After spending some time there, we decide to head back as Mahesh and Sarath had a bit of work in Ooty. We ride back to Coonoor, from where Mahesh and Sarath head to Ooty while Aravinth, Deepak, and myself head to Tiger Hill. Tiger Hill Factory is one of the biggest tea factory in Coonoor. The way to Tiger Hill gives us a breathtaking view of Mettupalayam. The view is the same as one sees from Lamb's Rock or Dolphin's Nose, the two main tourist spots in Coonoor. We actually can see the Coonoor MEttupalayam route and also old ruins of Tipu Sultan's Fort on the opposite mountain.


















From Tiger Hill, we wander aimlessly through the neigbouring tea estates, a place called Hidden Valley. We also pay a visit to my aunt's house, as we get served with some biscuits and tea.. We decide to call up Mahesh. Mahesh assures that he would starting in 5 mins and would meet up in Railway station. After a smal chat, we decide to leave. After saying bye to the neighborhood people, we ride down to Coonoor. After Mahesh joining us, we ride back to Coimbatore with a vow to hit the same place during the monsoons..

PS: The cam battery drained off pretty quickly, so most of the pics were taken by mobiles.

awesome ride it was and awesome write up ji!!! i thought u'l also upload those pics depicting muscular strengths!!

Awesome pics suru, as I said earlier, these pics are really good better than pics taken by some P&S cameras!!

BTW, we did not encounter the fallen tree, how come?? It can not be that it fell after we left and before you folks came!!!........lol

Yes, it was one awesome ride.. but again, as the last line of the thread states, we make the trip once again in full flow in the moonsoons to witness it at its full glory...

he he!! sure!! but , by that time our bike would not be the same !!

Hey great place & very nice pics guys, It's obvious that you guys had fun. I want to know more details about the route which you took.
* I remember there is a road going to this place on the Ooty - Kotagiri road, Is this route nice?
* I believe you guys had gone from Coonoor, can you tell me the route in detail, like where you have to go off the main highway and all.

I am also interested to know this buddy.Nice pics and some good off roading

Suru ji......Let me know when you plan for this next ride to Ralliah Dam. I am in for it.

Yeah sure.. We ride in style.


Thanks man. This is not connected with the Ooty to Kotagiri route. You have to take a left at a place called Bettati in the Coonoor to Kotagiri route. But that is all complicated stuff, there are numerous villages on the way, so there is a high chance of you guys missing it... Let me put this simple and sweet..

1. Reach Coonoor Busstand.
2. While entering Coonoor Busstand, one would see Sri Lakshmi Hotel, take a left there... and take this single road for say about 4 to 5 km at max, you would see this.....


and



There are two ways diverging, one going down and the other one up.. take the one going up.. ride in the same path for about 3 km, there will be a small bridge, a 10 meter bridge, take a right.. keep riding until you see a board "BANDHIMAI" ... take a right and keep riding in a single road.. you reach the dam..

This is by far the shortest and simplest route that one can take.. Total Km as per milestone in the dam is 11 km to Coonoor...

Thanks buddy.. hope the post meets ur info requirements...

Sure man.. Anytime..

PS: If any of you guys find the above post confusing, there is another alternative, PM me for my number, may be we can catch up for a ride...

Nice info. With pictures too, that's a good idea. Will surely go to this place the next time I go Home. Thanks a lot

This has surpassed my info requirements.Probably even google is not as descriptive as you are Thanks buddy.Do you Stay in coonoor or Coimbatore??? Because i some time back remember you saying that you are from coonoor.

He is from Coonoor, staying in (near??) Coimbatore!!