It's been close to a year since I was bitten by touring bug. I have been a solo-tourer most of the times. I get goosebumps every time I venture on long cruises.It's hard for me to express the relief, the excitement I get out of every bike ride in words. It's an addiction. I get more kick when I look around and find more and more people who have done and are doing some amazing trips on their steeds. Wow.

Last time I went for a long cruise was in August 2011. That trip was crazy. Riding for about 21 hours, covering 748 K ms and it was raining cats and dogs. Riding in the western ghats during monsoon was a great experience and made me hungry for more trips. However, due to busy schedule and financial crunches, I had to call off few trips. The itch was increasing day by day. In the mean time, came across another addict. Enter Bhaskaran. His appetite grew manifold after he got a new steed, Avenger. We were waiting for him to finish his run-in period, after which he did a Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore in about 36 hours and was raring to go for more, for us to decide on a bike trip. meanwhile I went on pilgrimage with my family to some amazing holy places in western ghats. The sheer beauty of these places made me decide that I am going back there, but on my steed this time. Described the beauty of the place, the roads, curves to Bhaskaran. We decided that we are embarking on this trip and we are not calling it off, come what may. Informed few of our colleagues/ friends about our trip, and were happy to find few of them were excited to be part of this venture. However, due to personal reasons, couple of them, Siva and Gnan, opted out at the last minute (We missed you guys). Finally, it was six of us, on our three steeds, who embarked upon this amazing venture which I would cherish forever.

Bike 1: Karizma; Riders:Vivek and Dhawan.
Bike 2: Avenger 220 (Black); Riders: Bhaskaran and Piyush.
Bike 3: Avenger 220 (Red); Riders: Vinayak and I [Raghu].

Trip dates: March 4th & 5th 2012

Route: Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Moodigere-Kalsa-Kudremukh-Horanadu-Hassan-Bangalore

Distance: Estimated 650 K ms. Finally covered:780 K ms.

March 3rd: We finished our shifts by 5.30 PM on 3rd. Came home and packed my stuff. Ensured that my baggage is very light and included all basic stuff. Slept at 11. With great difficulty I could sleep.

March 4th: Got up by 1.15 AM and was ready by 2 AM. We had decided that we would all meet at Bhaskaran's place by 2.30. Reached Bhaskaran's place little late. Reached Bhaskaran's place by 2.45 am and found that Bhaskaran and Piyus were up and ready, but Vivek, Dhawan and Vinayak were still sleeping. By 3.30 AM We were all ready and eager to hit the roads.

We rode till Nelmangala diversion, stopped their for about five minutes and decided that we will ride for another fifty K ms before our next break. We failed to realize that at that hour around 4 Am it would be so chill outside unlike our homes. It was getting very cold. At 5 Am we stopped close to Kunigal and had tea nd snacks. We could hardly feel our palms (We all forgot to carry our riding gloves. How silly) We resumed our journey at 5.20 and we rode non-stop till we were about 16 K ms away from Hassan. Amazing road. Till about Adichunchanagiri medical college, we have four lanes national-highway and traffic is less, and after that road widening work is going on and it becomes a single lane highway. Great road. As the dawn broke, it was such a pleasure to ride. We reached Hassan by 7.20. And, continued towards Belur. We were beginning to feel hungry and decided that breakfast-stop would be in Belur.

Once we crossed Hassan, road towards Belur is simply superb. Very well laid state-highway, and riding on this stretch is a joy. We reached Belur by about 8.25 and had our breakfast at Vishnu refreshments and I must say that breakfast, in addition to our hunger, was delicious and was Value for money. Vivek's bike had developed a minor glitch of chain slackness, which was fixed by a local mechanic. After heavy breakfast we continued towards Moodigere.

Even in summer, we were seeing more greenery than we could find in B'lore. I have ridden in western ghats in monsoon. Compared to that, greenery was very less. Obviously, it was summer and dry. But still, enough greenery and flora around which would make you feel really good. Curves had begun and we were enjoying. Real fun is in taming curves. However, your riding speed dips becuase of just too many curves. This was what we always wanted in our lives. curves. More curves We were running behind schedule and we reached mudigere by around 10.30 AM. Bhaskaran and Vivek were way ahead of us and we also took a wrong turn near kottigehara which resulted in further delay.
We regrouped near Kottigehara around 11 am and resumed our ride towards kalsa. From here, actual ghats begin. Few stretches of road are completely spoiled. However most of the stretch is amazing. The stretch is a maze of blind curves. you have to keep honking the horn. We had to stop quite a few times just to enjoy the scenic beauty and also the vastness of surroundings. You can see so many hills one behind the other with vast flora and I guess fauna too, till your eyes can see. We also came across couple of beautiful coffee estates.Breathtaking!!!

It was getting hot by noon. Surprisingly Vinayak and I, reached Kalasa about twenty minutes early than other two bikes. We reached famous kalasa temple and had couple of tender coconuts, which soothed our systems. Later we were joined by other four, and were told that they took a longer route. We took a break for about forty minutes and then resumed towards our final destination at around 2 pm. On way to Kudremukh, jungles become thicker and greener compared to Kottigehara-Kalasa route.

On the way we found a diversion to our left with a board reading Kudremukh trekking trail. We all thought probably this could be the route to kudremukh peak and turned our bikes and followed the trail. It was a perfect off-road biker's paradise with destroyed stretch of red soil and rocks and steep too. We kept riding and since my bike was behind two others, we literally bathed in the dust. After about two or three kilometers of riding, we realised that we were heading nowhere and were getting tired and trail seemed more and more dangerous as there was no fencing on one side and taking turns was a tedious and dangerous task. We resumed our return and it was even more difficult. But we all had fun and we all thought it was quite crazy on our parts for having tried something like that. Wow!!! For someone with a dirt bike like Hero Impulse, the stretch would be awesome.

We reached Kudremukh check post around 3.10 pm and we enquired about Hanumanagundi falls and also about accommodation n Kudremukh. We were told that falls would be closed for visitors by 4.30 pm and were asked to try kudremukh guesthouse or forest department office for accommodation. We were asked to reach other end of check post in about an hour's time. We were told to keep the tickets of the falls as evidence against time exceeded to reach the other side of check post. We thanked officials and continued.Finally, we reached Kudremukh at 3.35 pm against our estimated time of arrival of 11. Thanks to number of stops and breaks we took. We continued to ride as we wanted to visit hanumanagundi falls before 4 pm so that we could enjoy the water for at least half an hour. We passed by lakya dam and reached falls by 3.55 pm. We had to climb down quite a few steps before reaching the base of the falls. Nice place. But water was little dirty. Despite many boards suggesting no plastcis, we came across litter. The place was cool and we relaxed for about half an hour and then climbed up. Had nice pineapple slices to kill our hunger. Slices were delicious. Then we started our return journey to Kudremukh. It was 5 pm and a beautiful stretch. While going to falls we could not enjoy the stretch as our focus was on reaching falls before 4 pm. But now, Vinayak and I decided to slow down and enjoy the ride. The cool evening breeze made it more enjoyable. Long stretches of roads laced with some amazing curves. We stopped near lakya dam, took couple of pictures and resumed.

We all reached kudremukh by 6 pm and we immediately proceeded towards guest house. We could see that it's a small place with less population and people were enjoying their evening walk. I guess, during days of active mining the population was more and place was busy, unlike now. We reached guest house and coaxed the supervisor to get two 3-bed rooms. We were told that as an exception we were given rooms. Thanks to my company's id. We were glad to know that we get food as well over there. We checked in and relaxed for a while. Nice, clean rooms. Rs. 350 for each room. Real value for money. We then headed towards dining hall, and enjoyed heavy supper and it was not too costly either, and to our delight it was tasty too. After supper, we went back to our rooms, chatted for a while and then went out to take a stroll. There was not a single soul out on the road. We returned, enjoyed dinner at guest house, chatted for a while, and then we all hit the sacks. I slept like a baby. Was a great day of riding

March 5th: Vinayak woke me up by 7 am. Enjoyed nice hot-water bath. We were all ready by 9.30 am. We all had heavy breakfast. After a brief photo session in the backyard of guest house, we packed our stuff, and checked out. We inquired about reservations at guest house. We were given relevant details. We thanked personnel, headed to forest department office, got the passes and headed towards Kalasa. We stopped near the tea estate for sometime and finally reached Kalasa by 12 pm. We visited the Sri Kalaseshwara temple. Very nice and huge temple. We offered our prayers and obeisance to the lord. This is the only temple where you would find male and female Ganapathi. Nice temple. We then headed towards Horanadu which is just 8 Kms from Kalasa. Road is completely spoiled. However, it did not take more than 15 minutes to reach Horanadu. We kept our luggage in the cloak room, visited temple, sought Sri Annapoorneshwari devi's blessings. Very nice temple, situated right in he middle and surrounded by dense forest. Then we had our prasadam (lunch) at the temple. According to me, the prasadam served at temples in Dakshina kannada and chikmagalur districts is the best and delicious. Vivek told me after about three days he is having proper food and he relished the prasadam.

We left Horanadu by 3 pm, reached Kalasa, filled the tanks and proceeded towards kottigehara. We were told by the friendly shopkeeper near Kalasa temple about some nice places around. He
was also kind enough to give us pictures of Lord Kalaseshwara to worship. We thanked him for his friendly suggestions. But, we could not stop anywhere else as we had to head towards Bangalore. It was already 3.40 pm when we departed from kalasa. We rode continuously for about an hour and a half. En route we were cheered by lot of school kids. We were taken in by nature's beauty and we took a small break near a very old estate built around 1826 if I remember correctly.
We reached Hassan by 7.15 pm. Then, Bhaskaran and piyush were lost for sometime somewhere in Hassan. Finally we regrouped and departed from Hassan at 7.45 pm and we rode non-stop for about 75 K ms. Then we took a break and resumed our journey. We reached Nelamangala by 11 pm. Then Bhaskaran insisted that we must go to a Punjabi dhaba,on NH 4, for dinner. We went to Punjabi dhaba. Food was good. But, I loved the lassi. The best I ever had.

March 6th: We headed towards Bangalore around 1.30 am. Dhawan and Vivek bid goodbye near Peenya. We reached Bhaskaran's place around 2 am. Reached home by 2.30 am.

Wow...what a trip It's really hard to express in words about what I experience whenever I ride. However, I tried

Thanks to Dhawan, Vinayak, Vivek and Bhaskaran for some great pics.

We all had a great time. My friends and I are already planning another ride to Muliyanagiri and Hebbe falls on March 31st and April 1st.

About to hit the roads



Somewhere on NH48



Soaking in the early morning Sun near Hassan



On way to Belur







Delicious breakfast at Belur...Real VFM.



A small break on way to Mudigere



Sprinkler at the top



From left: Vivek, me and Bhaskaran..Having fun



How much more green can it get



All we men seek are curves in all shapes and colors





Love is blind. So are these curves







Can't get enough of these curves







All I could say was WOW





















BSNL network...omnipresent



On way to Kalasa



My steed taking a break



LIVES OF BIKERS



Time for bit of dirt biking













ENTER DUST MAN



From dust to water...That's life HANUMANAGUNDI water falls















Hanumanagundi falls to Kudremukh - The best stretch of the trip, a biker's bliss







Lakya Dam in between



Kudremukh Guesthouse- Real value for money













Return Journey begins with Lord Hanuman's blessings











We were blessed to visit Horanadu on the way back











Two extreme modes of local-transportation





I guess one of the oldest estates around







Lord Sun closing shop as we rode on







Current truckers and future truckers





Real steeds



The Pack:

From right to left: Dhawan, Bhaskaran, Vivek, Me (Raghu), Vinayak, and Piyush



Pictures do not reveal the true beauty of the nature. Just visit and enjoy god's creation.