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Trip Log :: Day 02
Day 02 – Friday, 12 December 2008
Day 02 :: 09.30 AM :: Chitradurga - Hotel :: 546 KMs
We got up by 6:00 AM, got our bikes washed (water hose), cleaned and chains lubed. Got ready, had a good breakfast and headed out at about 9:30 AM. Yes, we were very late. Initial inquries revealed that the road to Shimoga is pretty good… and so it was. Both the Ravi’s wanted to get their tyre pressure checked but since I filled in extra air my tyres were still on higher pressure than required. Got air filled in on the way and were enjoying the good roads with twisties and with good greenery around us. The plan was to reach Shimoga via Holalkere, Channagiri, Bhadravati – a distance of 112 KMs on NH13. We have set 90 minutes for this journey.
PHOTO: Our Breakfast
Just as the villages started I noticed bicycles loaded with tender coconut going towards Chitradurga. After two of them I noticed a coconut farm… I decided I want coconut water but what to do… the roads were inviting and speeds were about 90-100 KMPH. But after the village there were two more cycles, I slowed down a bit… there were two fantastic corners and then outside a coconut farm they were loading coconuts on a cycle. I stopped… they looked at me like an alien, I asked them in telugu “how much”… the guy replied in Kannada “ten rupees” … took a moment and asked him if he can speak in Hindi and he replied “dus rupai”. I asked for one while Ravi Kiran & Ravi stopped by (of course, with my honking… they didn’t slow down earlier and enjoyed the good curves). We had two each and were glad that we did! It was about 10:10 AM and we got back on to the road thinking we should have done this road last night itself!
PHOTO: Coconut water
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PHOTO: Ravi Kiran & his Steed
In a moment the ghats have started and also the bad patches. The road was either very bumpy (top layer tar washed out and granite pointing out) or butter smooth with fantastic curves to treat us. The good and bad patches were taking their turns but the scenery was good throughout. About 30 minutes passed, Ravi Kiran was ahead of me but I did not see Ravi in a while. A Discover 135 guys was provoking us all this while and was doing over the ton mark. I was behind him for a while to help me pass through the bad stretches as he seemed to know the road.
Day 02 :: 10.37 AM :: En-route Shimoga on NH13 :: ?? KMs
As soon as I saw a straight stretch I went closer to Ravi Kiran and we both stopped for Ravi. It was a Sunflower farm and provoked some photos from us while Ravi Joined in about 5 minutes… he already stopped for a break! Just as we started, a very bad stretch of road full of potholes and we enter a town at 11:00 AM. Was that Holalkere?
PHOTOS: Scenery
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PHOTOS: This is what Ravi Kiran was doing meanwhile
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PHOTOS: The road
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There was this nice Hero Honda Showroom + workshop where I wanted Ravi to check for Fuses needed fro his ZMA. The person was very helpful… though he couldn’t get the thing needed, they offered Ravi a free checkup of the bike (a camp was going on as per the banner outside) that we couldn’t afford to (time factor). But we had a peep into the workshop and felt that it was way better than those in our cities! We continued on our journey.
PHOTO: The town road
PHOTOS: Lake & Fort in the town
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The road continued to surprise us with the good & bad stretches until Channagiri (was it?). Milestones weren’t that good and that too were in Kannada… I need time to make out what’s written if it is in Kannada! After this village/town there were two roads… one straight (road under construction, red mud hardening to make a bed for the tar road) and one left (a decent road). Ravi Kiran inquired a person there. It seems both roads go to Shimoga and the left turn is the road we were supposed to take. But, it seems, that road is worse than the straight one. We took the straight road!
The under construction bumpy, muddy, slippery road continued for some KM’s and then came jerky roads with no tar layer and with some pot holes. Exactly like the other day, we were stuck with a stupid road, shaking the whole body out, during lunch time! Until before this we at least had the pleasure of some nice patches and great twisties in between… but nothing of that sort here and the road started to narrow down further as some ghat section started. A Karnataka minister was passing through that road in a Carolla. Didn’t give him way for a while and when I let him go I wanted to chase the car. I let my head work a bit and let him go as I didn’t wanted to get hunted by his gunmen
Took another break in between, allowing Ravi to catch up (yes, he was missing again!) and cursing the roads. We were riding for a day and a half… we are still so far away from our first destination that we were supposed to make it in the first day itself! We then rode together.
Day 02 :: ~12.20 AM :: Just before Shimoga on NH206 :: ?? KMs
Stopped at the intersection where the road we took intersects the NH206. We were supposed to hit this road at Bhadravati itself. Now we were wondering how bad the other road would have been. Stopped for a good 15 minutes with another set of tender coconut water each. We had to follow this NH206 for another 72 KMs to reach Sagar but have to find the bypass route. As we were entering the city we asked two guys on a Platina to guide us to Sagar road. He said “follow us” and took us through inner roads escaping traffic! We passed through some deserted roads, government quarters, medical college and are out on another side of the city and he said the road straight from here leads us to Sagar.
At this point I had less than 100 KM range with the petrol I had and it was not much more for the other two. We decided to re-fuel and went into the BP pump just ahead of us. They were unloading from a tanker and told us to wait 10 minutes. We unloaded tank bags, and riding gear and started relaxing… After pee & face wash Ravi Kiran got the required fuses for Ravi from an automobile shop nearby. Ravi was busy shooting the petrol density checking process they were following. I went aside to check the pressure in my tyres… I set it to 40 PSI, filled in air, got the beeps, checked with my meter and it is 21!!! This thing had taken out the air my tyre had… it was 29 before filling in. I was wondering what next!!! Tried again and it filled in properly. Adjusted the pressure to 36 PSI with my meter.
PHOTO: Petrol Aunty
We packed up, waited for some more time and realized that we were there for more than 30 minutes. We decided to find another pump as there was no sign of their process completing. It was beyond 1:15 PM now. Just as we started, we had an IOCL pump about 50 meters ahead. Shook our heads in disbelief that we wasted so much time, filled our tanks and started off!
Road was good and almost straight. We did a steady 80-100 kmph. A few KM’s before Sagar we were searching for a place to cool off our hunger and rode into a resort!
PHOTOS: Shimoga to Sagar Road
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Day 02 :: 02.40 PM :: Resort just before Sagar on NH206 :: ?? KMs
Ordered for some food, started a photo session, fresh up and caught a chat with one person at the restaurant. Meanwhile Ravi was busy shooting the fountain and what not! Upon Ravi’s pushing Ravi Kiran made a call to a Bangalore xBhpian (forgot the name!) to find out about Kodachadri. We were told not to miss it and to make there by latest 5PM as it is too dangerous once it is dark and we might end up with broken legs too. The person at the hotel told that there’s hardly any water at the Jog Falls then but the scenery is good.
PHOTOS: The Resort
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By the time we finished our lunch it was almost 4:00 PM. We could either make it to Jog (~40 KMs from there) or to Kodachadri which was about 75 KMs to the foot of the hill. We had to take the route to Hosanagara & Nagara for Kodachadri and it is a district highway but with decent roads. We decided to hurry towards Kodachadri !!!
I started out before the other two guys saying I’d wait at the turn to Hosanagara road. Two auto guys told me to to take a left at the “circle”. I went ahead and at one place there were two routes. Asked again, I was pointed to an almost U turn road. I went ahead about 2-3 KMs to find the “circle” and realized that I am in the outskirts and missed the “circle”. Got back to the place where I took the turn and there was a park opposite that road… guessed that could be the “circle”… called up Ravi Kiran, he met me there but Ravi went ahead in a wrong route (mostly the one that goes to Jog Falls). We called up Ravi, he’s a good 5 KM ahead, out of the town. He’s turning back. We waited for him for 15 minutes and called up again… The Karizma’s fuse was blown out again and he’s starting back. This time he identified why the fuse blew out… when he tried using the “pass” switch it went out. Just before the trip his bike’s switch gear was opened to setup the horn’s and the relay… could have been some loose connection somewhere! At least, he now knows how not to blow out the fuse again
With almost 30 minutes wasted here, we were heading towards Hosanagara. As usual I was sweeping & Ravi Kiran was leading. The roads started going through forests, got narrower, continuous ghat section and we were doing 60-90 KMPH. It was time for school children and cattle to return home and we had to be very careful as the road had continuous turns and less straights. There were so many sights we really wanted to stop and take pics but we didn’t have the luxury of time… we were riding for the second day – about to be dark in an hour and we still did not reach our first destination!
Right from this road, we were mostly climbing down, for the next two days, pretty good roads, mostly ghat section, fantastic scenery, good direction boards and mostly riding in forest area. Another common thing was sand and small stones on roads in middle of many turns. We were surprised at the bright & modern uniforms the school children had throughout this stretch. That indicates some good schools and we’re pleased with that thought. Most kids cheered us.
PHOTOS: Sagar to Nagara Road & Scenery
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As we could see the sun setting, it was getting difficult facing the sun right in my eyes and take turns in a ghat road… but the sun set was a pleasant sight. We passed Nagara and took the road to Kollur. Took a short pee + water break and proceeded further.
PHOTO: Another break
Day 02 :: 05.40 PM :: Kodachadri Entrance :: ?? KMs
Kodachadri is some 14 KMs from Kollur road, a diversion to left. There’s another diversion ahead at 9KMs that actually takes you on to the Kodachadri mountain. The first 5 kms is a parallel road to Kollur that is under construction and in a few months we’d have a beautiful road. We had to settle with the hardening red soil road again. I shouted to Ravi “We’re lucky, they are laying road and no rocks” Ravi came back “This is not the one… you still have path ahead with hair pin bends and only rocks”
By this time Karnataka tourism boards marking tourist spots, distance and directions have become a useful reading to us and this has helped us for the next two days too. The sun was set and the visibility was barely good by the time we hit the mountain path and in no time we were climbing rocks in dark with our high beams on. Bikes were toggling in 1st and 2nd gears negotiating the path so that we don’t slide into the pits created by water flow (when it rained) and keep on the track with tyre marks we could see there. When we were feeling “this is hard to concentrate”, we realized that one small slide and our bikes won’t hold the path, we don’t have the luxury of braking and anything wrong we can be off the road – cant even see how deep it is beside the path.
Knowing well that the R15’s tyres don’t get grip on rocks, I had to be careful that I stay out of rocks. I had my left leg off the peg and have already told one of the guys to stay behind me. At least, they had the luxury of an off-roading tyre on their bikes. The progress was very slow and we had no idea how much distance we covered and how much more is ahead of us. We didn’t know what dangers this route has, that others have warned us of. Only thing that gave us some strength is that we can now and then see people walking down hill in the full moon. Yes, it was a full moon day but that had little help for us. The jeeps going down hill have passed us before the light faded away and we have a rare M80 / Passion / Victor crawling down. We were facing hardship while taking turns as they were sharp, generally had only one tyre width of a path where we had to point our bikes without extra trouble and all our bikes have fixed fairing… making it difficult to see ahead of the turn before we turn… of course, stopping the bike to negotiate the turn was a bad option too! You might skid or slip when trying to stop and if you manage to stop, you might not get enough grip to start pulling the bike onto the rocks ahead of you in the turn!
Well, the real trouble hasn’t started yet. In the absolute darkness (nothing but the moon & stars… that too not at every place) with no light other than our bikes’ and no sound than our engines, to add to the difficulty we were having, the hairpin bends started. Along with them comes a completely difficult terrain! The path has deeper cuts (made by flowing water during rains, probably!), there are boulders (can’t just call them stones) in middle of the path, at places you have to run the bike on just a long stretch of a rock, sometimes the rock needs climbing like a small step, worse, there were loose stones. Most of them appear suddenly when you need to take a turn (may be the night effect) and you have to position your bike accurately into the only available path.
PHOTOS: These were shot the next day but do justice here. The path uphill... wish I had 3D
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All three of us had our share of incidents failing to judge the turn and had to stop, sometimes rolled back unable to stop, sometimes stopped to climb a stone and had to carefully release the clutch but revv hard so that you don’t roll back. And then if you have another bike behind you struggling to keep the line in the only possible narrow path… Ravi has to explain that situation here. He was behind me at one such situation; he had a very tough time to stop. Besides this, I wanted him to go a bit back so that I can come back a bit and take the correct line that I could see then. His position was like two inches to the right he’ll slide, two inches left he’ll fall, release the brake – he’s not sure if he can stop the bike again!!! I moved ahead but he had a tough time to start off as he went into an awkward position while moving back for me. He honked for help I honked back but couldn’t stop because applying brakes was out of question there. A turn ahead there was a better place where Ravi Kiran stopped hearing us. I too stopped and we yelled for Ravi (that obviously went unheard!) but could see moving light so we were relieved! I was thinking of pulling my torch out and walking down otherwise.
We stopped there, with our headlights on! Need we tell you that we were scared? we were engaged in a discussion when we saw a jeep coming down and had to clear way. I told the guys “we need to make way for them, let us move ahead”, started my bike and moved ahead. My radiator fan was fully engaged, engine off and low bean headlight on for over 5 minutes but the engine started with a mild push on the starter switch. That’s the R15’s battery for you! There was mild burnt smell from both the Ravi’s & Ravi Kiran’s bikes (clutch plates!). Didn’t take note of mine as my bike was parked a little ahead of theirs but nothing odd was noticed. It took me a few minutes to understand that I am riding alone. Two hairpins later there was a plain stretch, found a place with extra width on the path, stopped for the other two bikes.
PHOTO: This is what the Ravi's were shooting
For the first time I realized that it is a full moon night and I am on top of a hill there but could hardly estimate how much more distance needs to be covered. I waited a few minutes with the engine & headlight on, looking scarily all around! Honked heavily but no response from the other two bikes. Pulled out the torch (7 LED’s is decently bright!), stopped & locked the bike, started walking down hill looking all around me. I got the guys just about to start from the place we stopped earlier. Apparently they didn’t hear my “let us move ahead” and were wondering why I went away! They took a few snaps but more importantly let the engines cool a bit so that the clutch plates wont give way. We saw three bikes (Passion’s & a Victor) coming down, one with female in jeans as pillion. I told the guys to stop where my bike is parked and walked uphill… was shit tiered by the time I reached the place and Ravi has already started his photo shoot there. Spend some time there and have got some long exposure photos - fantastic moon shots and bike silhouette in moonlight. A couple of jeeps went downhill during this and we realized that we were on a hilltop and the road is leading us to another hill.
PHOTOS: The viewpoint. But the night view was up in the sky. All are 15 second exposure shots. Our tripod was the rocks & stones there
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Guess how we shot the below photo...
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My Favorites
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As we started out, we first climbed a steep and then a long slope… for the first time that evening we saw a light bulb… far away. Thought that’s our destination but had no clue what so ever. Three or more uphill hairpins followed after the slope and we were at the guesthouse.
Day 02 :: 07.30 PM :: Kodachadri Hill Top Guest House :: 816 KMs
Ravi Kiran inquired there and confirmed that is the guesthouse. We parked our bikes and got down… it was like 11PM but the clocks showed only beyond 7:30. We can see decently far in the full moon and the view was a relaxing treat to our tiered bodies. We took the room @ Rs 500 (dormitory was available for Rs 50 each person), the in-charge gave us the key & told us that food will be served at 8pm so we get ready quickly. We didn’t even untie our luggage until we were called for food. The guy informed us to make it very quick as the food will go cold otherwise. In 10 minutes we unpacked luggage, freshen up and were at the table but the food was already cold. Never the less, it was tasty and we had a great moonlit dinner on top of a mountain.
PHOTOS: On the K-Top
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We could see lights blinking on the hills as far as we could see. After a long observation we understood that they are all vehicles plying on those ghats! The photo here hardly shows them... you need to observe closely even in the full resolution photo.
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It is a surprise how they are getting drinking water & electricity on to that mountain just to serve one guesthouse, another house (also acts as a guesthouse) and a set of two temples! We have spent some more time in the open… we knew at the back of our minds that tomorrow morning is going to be one hell of a sight from there. We’ve even pulled out the maps and started discussing the alternate return route and if or not to make it to Horanadu. We went to bed thinking we need to extend the trip by a day (make it 5 days) if we have to cover Horanadu but the possibility of extension was bleak.
Day 2 Summary
Route:: Chitradurga – Holalkere – Channagiri – Sagar – Hosanagara – Nagara - Kodachadri
Total Time:: 10:00 hours
Day’s KM’s:: 270
Trip Total KM’s:: 816
Day Highlights:: Everything! Superb Scenery & twisties on NH13, Coconut water, Road From Shimoga to Sagar, Forest drive from Sagar to Kodachadri, The Kodachadri Mountain was icing on the cake.
You await a treat for your senses in Day 3 log. I am already going mad thinking how I should present it!
Day 02 – Friday, 12 December 2008
Day 02 :: 09.30 AM :: Chitradurga - Hotel :: 546 KMs
We got up by 6:00 AM, got our bikes washed (water hose), cleaned and chains lubed. Got ready, had a good breakfast and headed out at about 9:30 AM. Yes, we were very late. Initial inquries revealed that the road to Shimoga is pretty good… and so it was. Both the Ravi’s wanted to get their tyre pressure checked but since I filled in extra air my tyres were still on higher pressure than required. Got air filled in on the way and were enjoying the good roads with twisties and with good greenery around us. The plan was to reach Shimoga via Holalkere, Channagiri, Bhadravati – a distance of 112 KMs on NH13. We have set 90 minutes for this journey.
PHOTO: Our Breakfast
Just as the villages started I noticed bicycles loaded with tender coconut going towards Chitradurga. After two of them I noticed a coconut farm… I decided I want coconut water but what to do… the roads were inviting and speeds were about 90-100 KMPH. But after the village there were two more cycles, I slowed down a bit… there were two fantastic corners and then outside a coconut farm they were loading coconuts on a cycle. I stopped… they looked at me like an alien, I asked them in telugu “how much”… the guy replied in Kannada “ten rupees” … took a moment and asked him if he can speak in Hindi and he replied “dus rupai”. I asked for one while Ravi Kiran & Ravi stopped by (of course, with my honking… they didn’t slow down earlier and enjoyed the good curves). We had two each and were glad that we did! It was about 10:10 AM and we got back on to the road thinking we should have done this road last night itself!
PHOTO: Coconut water
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PHOTO: Ravi Kiran & his Steed
In a moment the ghats have started and also the bad patches. The road was either very bumpy (top layer tar washed out and granite pointing out) or butter smooth with fantastic curves to treat us. The good and bad patches were taking their turns but the scenery was good throughout. About 30 minutes passed, Ravi Kiran was ahead of me but I did not see Ravi in a while. A Discover 135 guys was provoking us all this while and was doing over the ton mark. I was behind him for a while to help me pass through the bad stretches as he seemed to know the road.
Day 02 :: 10.37 AM :: En-route Shimoga on NH13 :: ?? KMs
As soon as I saw a straight stretch I went closer to Ravi Kiran and we both stopped for Ravi. It was a Sunflower farm and provoked some photos from us while Ravi Joined in about 5 minutes… he already stopped for a break! Just as we started, a very bad stretch of road full of potholes and we enter a town at 11:00 AM. Was that Holalkere?
PHOTOS: Scenery
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PHOTOS: This is what Ravi Kiran was doing meanwhile
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PHOTOS: The road
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There was this nice Hero Honda Showroom + workshop where I wanted Ravi to check for Fuses needed fro his ZMA. The person was very helpful… though he couldn’t get the thing needed, they offered Ravi a free checkup of the bike (a camp was going on as per the banner outside) that we couldn’t afford to (time factor). But we had a peep into the workshop and felt that it was way better than those in our cities! We continued on our journey.
PHOTO: The town road
PHOTOS: Lake & Fort in the town
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The road continued to surprise us with the good & bad stretches until Channagiri (was it?). Milestones weren’t that good and that too were in Kannada… I need time to make out what’s written if it is in Kannada! After this village/town there were two roads… one straight (road under construction, red mud hardening to make a bed for the tar road) and one left (a decent road). Ravi Kiran inquired a person there. It seems both roads go to Shimoga and the left turn is the road we were supposed to take. But, it seems, that road is worse than the straight one. We took the straight road!
The under construction bumpy, muddy, slippery road continued for some KM’s and then came jerky roads with no tar layer and with some pot holes. Exactly like the other day, we were stuck with a stupid road, shaking the whole body out, during lunch time! Until before this we at least had the pleasure of some nice patches and great twisties in between… but nothing of that sort here and the road started to narrow down further as some ghat section started. A Karnataka minister was passing through that road in a Carolla. Didn’t give him way for a while and when I let him go I wanted to chase the car. I let my head work a bit and let him go as I didn’t wanted to get hunted by his gunmen
Took another break in between, allowing Ravi to catch up (yes, he was missing again!) and cursing the roads. We were riding for a day and a half… we are still so far away from our first destination that we were supposed to make it in the first day itself! We then rode together.
Day 02 :: ~12.20 AM :: Just before Shimoga on NH206 :: ?? KMs
Stopped at the intersection where the road we took intersects the NH206. We were supposed to hit this road at Bhadravati itself. Now we were wondering how bad the other road would have been. Stopped for a good 15 minutes with another set of tender coconut water each. We had to follow this NH206 for another 72 KMs to reach Sagar but have to find the bypass route. As we were entering the city we asked two guys on a Platina to guide us to Sagar road. He said “follow us” and took us through inner roads escaping traffic! We passed through some deserted roads, government quarters, medical college and are out on another side of the city and he said the road straight from here leads us to Sagar.
At this point I had less than 100 KM range with the petrol I had and it was not much more for the other two. We decided to re-fuel and went into the BP pump just ahead of us. They were unloading from a tanker and told us to wait 10 minutes. We unloaded tank bags, and riding gear and started relaxing… After pee & face wash Ravi Kiran got the required fuses for Ravi from an automobile shop nearby. Ravi was busy shooting the petrol density checking process they were following. I went aside to check the pressure in my tyres… I set it to 40 PSI, filled in air, got the beeps, checked with my meter and it is 21!!! This thing had taken out the air my tyre had… it was 29 before filling in. I was wondering what next!!! Tried again and it filled in properly. Adjusted the pressure to 36 PSI with my meter.
PHOTO: Petrol Aunty
We packed up, waited for some more time and realized that we were there for more than 30 minutes. We decided to find another pump as there was no sign of their process completing. It was beyond 1:15 PM now. Just as we started, we had an IOCL pump about 50 meters ahead. Shook our heads in disbelief that we wasted so much time, filled our tanks and started off!
Road was good and almost straight. We did a steady 80-100 kmph. A few KM’s before Sagar we were searching for a place to cool off our hunger and rode into a resort!
PHOTOS: Shimoga to Sagar Road
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Day 02 :: 02.40 PM :: Resort just before Sagar on NH206 :: ?? KMs
Ordered for some food, started a photo session, fresh up and caught a chat with one person at the restaurant. Meanwhile Ravi was busy shooting the fountain and what not! Upon Ravi’s pushing Ravi Kiran made a call to a Bangalore xBhpian (forgot the name!) to find out about Kodachadri. We were told not to miss it and to make there by latest 5PM as it is too dangerous once it is dark and we might end up with broken legs too. The person at the hotel told that there’s hardly any water at the Jog Falls then but the scenery is good.
PHOTOS: The Resort
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By the time we finished our lunch it was almost 4:00 PM. We could either make it to Jog (~40 KMs from there) or to Kodachadri which was about 75 KMs to the foot of the hill. We had to take the route to Hosanagara & Nagara for Kodachadri and it is a district highway but with decent roads. We decided to hurry towards Kodachadri !!!
I started out before the other two guys saying I’d wait at the turn to Hosanagara road. Two auto guys told me to to take a left at the “circle”. I went ahead and at one place there were two routes. Asked again, I was pointed to an almost U turn road. I went ahead about 2-3 KMs to find the “circle” and realized that I am in the outskirts and missed the “circle”. Got back to the place where I took the turn and there was a park opposite that road… guessed that could be the “circle”… called up Ravi Kiran, he met me there but Ravi went ahead in a wrong route (mostly the one that goes to Jog Falls). We called up Ravi, he’s a good 5 KM ahead, out of the town. He’s turning back. We waited for him for 15 minutes and called up again… The Karizma’s fuse was blown out again and he’s starting back. This time he identified why the fuse blew out… when he tried using the “pass” switch it went out. Just before the trip his bike’s switch gear was opened to setup the horn’s and the relay… could have been some loose connection somewhere! At least, he now knows how not to blow out the fuse again
With almost 30 minutes wasted here, we were heading towards Hosanagara. As usual I was sweeping & Ravi Kiran was leading. The roads started going through forests, got narrower, continuous ghat section and we were doing 60-90 KMPH. It was time for school children and cattle to return home and we had to be very careful as the road had continuous turns and less straights. There were so many sights we really wanted to stop and take pics but we didn’t have the luxury of time… we were riding for the second day – about to be dark in an hour and we still did not reach our first destination!
Right from this road, we were mostly climbing down, for the next two days, pretty good roads, mostly ghat section, fantastic scenery, good direction boards and mostly riding in forest area. Another common thing was sand and small stones on roads in middle of many turns. We were surprised at the bright & modern uniforms the school children had throughout this stretch. That indicates some good schools and we’re pleased with that thought. Most kids cheered us.
PHOTOS: Sagar to Nagara Road & Scenery
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As we could see the sun setting, it was getting difficult facing the sun right in my eyes and take turns in a ghat road… but the sun set was a pleasant sight. We passed Nagara and took the road to Kollur. Took a short pee + water break and proceeded further.
PHOTO: Another break
Day 02 :: 05.40 PM :: Kodachadri Entrance :: ?? KMs
Kodachadri is some 14 KMs from Kollur road, a diversion to left. There’s another diversion ahead at 9KMs that actually takes you on to the Kodachadri mountain. The first 5 kms is a parallel road to Kollur that is under construction and in a few months we’d have a beautiful road. We had to settle with the hardening red soil road again. I shouted to Ravi “We’re lucky, they are laying road and no rocks” Ravi came back “This is not the one… you still have path ahead with hair pin bends and only rocks”
By this time Karnataka tourism boards marking tourist spots, distance and directions have become a useful reading to us and this has helped us for the next two days too. The sun was set and the visibility was barely good by the time we hit the mountain path and in no time we were climbing rocks in dark with our high beams on. Bikes were toggling in 1st and 2nd gears negotiating the path so that we don’t slide into the pits created by water flow (when it rained) and keep on the track with tyre marks we could see there. When we were feeling “this is hard to concentrate”, we realized that one small slide and our bikes won’t hold the path, we don’t have the luxury of braking and anything wrong we can be off the road – cant even see how deep it is beside the path.
Knowing well that the R15’s tyres don’t get grip on rocks, I had to be careful that I stay out of rocks. I had my left leg off the peg and have already told one of the guys to stay behind me. At least, they had the luxury of an off-roading tyre on their bikes. The progress was very slow and we had no idea how much distance we covered and how much more is ahead of us. We didn’t know what dangers this route has, that others have warned us of. Only thing that gave us some strength is that we can now and then see people walking down hill in the full moon. Yes, it was a full moon day but that had little help for us. The jeeps going down hill have passed us before the light faded away and we have a rare M80 / Passion / Victor crawling down. We were facing hardship while taking turns as they were sharp, generally had only one tyre width of a path where we had to point our bikes without extra trouble and all our bikes have fixed fairing… making it difficult to see ahead of the turn before we turn… of course, stopping the bike to negotiate the turn was a bad option too! You might skid or slip when trying to stop and if you manage to stop, you might not get enough grip to start pulling the bike onto the rocks ahead of you in the turn!
Well, the real trouble hasn’t started yet. In the absolute darkness (nothing but the moon & stars… that too not at every place) with no light other than our bikes’ and no sound than our engines, to add to the difficulty we were having, the hairpin bends started. Along with them comes a completely difficult terrain! The path has deeper cuts (made by flowing water during rains, probably!), there are boulders (can’t just call them stones) in middle of the path, at places you have to run the bike on just a long stretch of a rock, sometimes the rock needs climbing like a small step, worse, there were loose stones. Most of them appear suddenly when you need to take a turn (may be the night effect) and you have to position your bike accurately into the only available path.
PHOTOS: These were shot the next day but do justice here. The path uphill... wish I had 3D
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All three of us had our share of incidents failing to judge the turn and had to stop, sometimes rolled back unable to stop, sometimes stopped to climb a stone and had to carefully release the clutch but revv hard so that you don’t roll back. And then if you have another bike behind you struggling to keep the line in the only possible narrow path… Ravi has to explain that situation here. He was behind me at one such situation; he had a very tough time to stop. Besides this, I wanted him to go a bit back so that I can come back a bit and take the correct line that I could see then. His position was like two inches to the right he’ll slide, two inches left he’ll fall, release the brake – he’s not sure if he can stop the bike again!!! I moved ahead but he had a tough time to start off as he went into an awkward position while moving back for me. He honked for help I honked back but couldn’t stop because applying brakes was out of question there. A turn ahead there was a better place where Ravi Kiran stopped hearing us. I too stopped and we yelled for Ravi (that obviously went unheard!) but could see moving light so we were relieved! I was thinking of pulling my torch out and walking down otherwise.
We stopped there, with our headlights on! Need we tell you that we were scared? we were engaged in a discussion when we saw a jeep coming down and had to clear way. I told the guys “we need to make way for them, let us move ahead”, started my bike and moved ahead. My radiator fan was fully engaged, engine off and low bean headlight on for over 5 minutes but the engine started with a mild push on the starter switch. That’s the R15’s battery for you! There was mild burnt smell from both the Ravi’s & Ravi Kiran’s bikes (clutch plates!). Didn’t take note of mine as my bike was parked a little ahead of theirs but nothing odd was noticed. It took me a few minutes to understand that I am riding alone. Two hairpins later there was a plain stretch, found a place with extra width on the path, stopped for the other two bikes.
PHOTO: This is what the Ravi's were shooting
For the first time I realized that it is a full moon night and I am on top of a hill there but could hardly estimate how much more distance needs to be covered. I waited a few minutes with the engine & headlight on, looking scarily all around! Honked heavily but no response from the other two bikes. Pulled out the torch (7 LED’s is decently bright!), stopped & locked the bike, started walking down hill looking all around me. I got the guys just about to start from the place we stopped earlier. Apparently they didn’t hear my “let us move ahead” and were wondering why I went away! They took a few snaps but more importantly let the engines cool a bit so that the clutch plates wont give way. We saw three bikes (Passion’s & a Victor) coming down, one with female in jeans as pillion. I told the guys to stop where my bike is parked and walked uphill… was shit tiered by the time I reached the place and Ravi has already started his photo shoot there. Spend some time there and have got some long exposure photos - fantastic moon shots and bike silhouette in moonlight. A couple of jeeps went downhill during this and we realized that we were on a hilltop and the road is leading us to another hill.
PHOTOS: The viewpoint. But the night view was up in the sky. All are 15 second exposure shots. Our tripod was the rocks & stones there
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Guess how we shot the below photo...
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My Favorites
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As we started out, we first climbed a steep and then a long slope… for the first time that evening we saw a light bulb… far away. Thought that’s our destination but had no clue what so ever. Three or more uphill hairpins followed after the slope and we were at the guesthouse.
Day 02 :: 07.30 PM :: Kodachadri Hill Top Guest House :: 816 KMs
Ravi Kiran inquired there and confirmed that is the guesthouse. We parked our bikes and got down… it was like 11PM but the clocks showed only beyond 7:30. We can see decently far in the full moon and the view was a relaxing treat to our tiered bodies. We took the room @ Rs 500 (dormitory was available for Rs 50 each person), the in-charge gave us the key & told us that food will be served at 8pm so we get ready quickly. We didn’t even untie our luggage until we were called for food. The guy informed us to make it very quick as the food will go cold otherwise. In 10 minutes we unpacked luggage, freshen up and were at the table but the food was already cold. Never the less, it was tasty and we had a great moonlit dinner on top of a mountain.
PHOTOS: On the K-Top
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We could see lights blinking on the hills as far as we could see. After a long observation we understood that they are all vehicles plying on those ghats! The photo here hardly shows them... you need to observe closely even in the full resolution photo.
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It is a surprise how they are getting drinking water & electricity on to that mountain just to serve one guesthouse, another house (also acts as a guesthouse) and a set of two temples! We have spent some more time in the open… we knew at the back of our minds that tomorrow morning is going to be one hell of a sight from there. We’ve even pulled out the maps and started discussing the alternate return route and if or not to make it to Horanadu. We went to bed thinking we need to extend the trip by a day (make it 5 days) if we have to cover Horanadu but the possibility of extension was bleak.
Day 2 Summary
Route:: Chitradurga – Holalkere – Channagiri – Sagar – Hosanagara – Nagara - Kodachadri
Total Time:: 10:00 hours
Day’s KM’s:: 270
Trip Total KM’s:: 816
Day Highlights:: Everything! Superb Scenery & twisties on NH13, Coconut water, Road From Shimoga to Sagar, Forest drive from Sagar to Kodachadri, The Kodachadri Mountain was icing on the cake.
You await a treat for your senses in Day 3 log. I am already going mad thinking how I should present it!
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