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Day1: Bangalore-Erode-Palani-Kodaikanal


We started from Silkboard @4:40am. Since Dheeraj was riding his 1st gen Pulsar 150DTSI, I was keeping my speed to 100kmph. We decided to have our 1st stop after Krishnagiri flyover for Tea and light snack. Stopped at a small shop, had tea and home-made pancakes topped with Nutella.



Our next stop was for b'fast just before entering Salem town. Had Dosa and Idly from a mess near Manipal hospital. By then the weather started showing it's true colour. We changed our helmet's plain wisor and installed the tinted one. Decided not to stop anywhere before Erode for hydration and then Palani for lunch.


Once we crossed Salem town, the awesome and boring 4 lane highway welcomed us. Riding below 100 was dangerous on this kind of track, as there are high chances of me dosing off. Needed some adrinaline rush and in no time the digits crossed 130. Spotted the left arrow indicating Erode and took the diversion from the highway. I was certain that my friend would miss that turn, stood in the junction, so that he won't miss me. But little did I know that he was testing the top speed of his steed, and he passed right in front of me towards Madurai. After 15-20 mins of failed attempts to reach him on phone, decided to continue towards Salem...he can find his way back. But only later did I realise that, the route he took was actually better. As soon as I entered Erode, 2 things welcomed me- TVS 50s and narrow busy roads. Finally got the call from Dheeraj. He reached Bhavani, and decided to meet at Kangayam where the 2 routes we took will meet. That was 6-8kms more compared to the Erode route, but takes same or lesser time. We lost almost 30-40 mins due to this confusion.


Reached Palani by 1pm and started searching for an 'AC' restaurant for lunch. A relaxed lunch in AC was the need of the hour, and 'AC' is not a common thing in restaurants in this part as there is power outage every 1 hr. Finally we found a restaurnt with the label 'High class meal' and in AC hall. We took our own time to finish the meal. Made phone calls to all concerned. Clock struck 2:30 and it was time to leave. By now we had covered 400kms and my bike too needed re-fueling.

As soon as we entered the Palani-Kodai road, we spotted a fuel station. No CC accepted, so din't do a full tank. The guy at the petrol pump told us that there was unusually heavy traffic towards Kodai that day. We were glad that we had a room booked in advance.


The Palani-Kodai road is single lane, but with trees on both sides providing shade and a cool breeze, which was a great relief after getting baked in the highway heat.


Soon the ghat road started and we had to stop for pics and Zinga break.

Dheeraj on his P150




Now that I had my Zinga, i'm happy


1st view of the beautiful green hills



We were in no hurry to reach the top, so took ample breaks for photo sessions. The roads were not the best, good in parts but bumpy in some places. But nothing to complain about.



Now my turn



We reached our room around 5:30pm. It was easy to find as it very close to Bus stand and Coaker's walk.


The weather was cool, but no chill like Ooty, maybe because it's peak summer. We quickly got out of our riding gears and went on a stroll to the lake which was just a km away. The place was crowded with tourists, no place even to walk with all the vehicles parked randomly and the cyclists. We dropped our plan for cycling as it was getting dark and the traffic around the lake was crazy.


Had a nice hot ginger tea accompanied by chilli bajjies, and it was time for our photo session.

Kodai lake





Had our mandatory visit to Tasmac shop, bought the energy drinks and returned to our room. We called it a day.

Oh boy! that was exhaustive...day 2 will follow soon

Continued in Post #9

awesome Dude Keep this Up
Keep Riding

Nice log, hows the weather at Kodai now?

Nice pics.. But the same question arises as huntphani... How is the weather at kodaikannal.. Is it worth spending a day there during this time of the year ?

Weather is always pleasant in Kodai. It's slightly hot during day especially during afternoon under direct sun. But after 4pm, most of the places were covered in mist and nights are chilling

Nice ride and beautiful pics. Waiting for Day 2.

Day 2: Kodai-Poomparai-Manavannur-Kilavarai-Kodai

Waking up was a tough task. Last night's rain was like an icing on the cake to the already cool weather. We didn’t set any timeline for us today. It was going to be a relaxed day, just riding through the countryside.
Since the restaurant in the hotel we stayed was too cramped, we ventured out to find some decent place for b'fast. Found a small 'mini restaurant' as they called it, and wow!...this is the best part of being in Tamil Nadu. No one can make Idly, Dosa and Sambar like these guys do. We went on hogging, "somebody stop me....!” This is why A2B is looting fellow Bangalooreans and Arya Bhavans & Saravana Bhavans are mushrooming in all parts of Kerala.

It was time to gear up again. We got some tips from the hotel manager on places to visit. As per him Manavannur Lake is the only tourist destination outside Kodaikanal town area and Kilavarai is the end point. Before this trip I had done a search in Google with keywords like "offbeat locations in Kodai", and nothing actually came up. So we settled for Manavannur.

There were 2 routes, one via Upper Lake view point and the other via pillar rock. We decided to go via Upper lake view route and return by the other route.

Upper lake view is the point from where we get a helicopter view of the star shaped Kodaikanal Lake. We didn't stop there as the place was crowded.
There were lot of vehicles going in both direction and with road repair going on in many places; the ride was not very enjoyable. But once we took the diversion towards Poomparia, vehicle density came down. There were rough patches for some more time, but after that the roads were good.

Stopped in between for some pics.







People mostly compare Ooty and Kodaikanal, both hill station with a lake, botanical garden and a small township. But the similarity ends there. There are no tea plantations in Kodaikanal. Hills are covered with Meadows and grasslands. There were big Eucalyptus trees on the way and lot of vegetable and fruit cultivations. No cornering fun like we have on Nilgiri roads, but the trees provide shade in most of the places.

After riding for about 17kms, we reached Poomparai. There is a small temple and lot of tourists were visiting that place. I have heard of only Kurunji Andavar temple, no idea which temple this is. After this point, there were no vehicles other than our bikes on that road. 13kms more to go for Manavannur.

Around 11:30 we reached Manavarrur. The lake was calm and serene with very few tourists around. The vast grasslands, the lake and a small bridge; all reminded me of the illustrations in the fairy tale books set in England or Scottish countryside. Took out my camera and started clicking, but none of my clicks could do justice to the beauty of that place. Blazing hot sun acted as a villain here.







We would have spent half the day there if the weather was good and if we had some food packed. We could have found a shade to relax, but it was already 2 pm, and only thing a hungry man can think of is food and we couldn’t see that there. By that time, this place has also started to look like another crowded tourist place. Lot of people coming with packed food. This place is actually good for a family picnics.

We rolled out from there towards Kilavarai which is another 13kms. Soon we reached the village and the road ends there. There were 2 paths (can’t call them road), one going down and another one going up the hill. While we stand there confused, one guy approached us and offered help. He was from forest department. The path going uphill is towards Munnar and entry is restricted. Special permission from forest dept required to travel through that route. There was no tarmac left on that road, completely broken but do-able on bike. Maybe only this part is bad, and may get better after some distance.

Since going to Munnar was not in our agenda, we enquired about places where we can get food. No good restaurants around

Step cultivation in Kilavaria


We stopped in between and finished the biscuits and Snickers that we had with us. Photo session was a hidden agenda.







We were looking for a good place for lunch and found one just after we crossed Poomparai. This restaurant had a different ‘ambience’



Poomparai village


As decided, we took the Pillar rock road. It was 4pm and the entire place was covered in mist. From Moir point, traffic block started. It got worse as we approached Guna Caves. The entire place looked like some trade fair, vehicles parked on both sides, buses stopped in the middle of the road for tourists to get down. I have never seen a tourist place so crowded. We didn’t want to enter this mess, so we proceeded forward. Passed through Golf Club, Fairy falls and Silent valley view; crowd everywhere We wanted to see the Dolphin’s nose and after riding through mist covered small lanes, we reached the parking lot. Since we were not in a mood to trek 2 kms, decided to return. Couldn’t take pics, nothing was visible because of the mist.

We went back to our room, and set out on foot for chocolate and spices shopping.
FYI about shopping in Kodai: Tea comes from Munnar & Ooty, dry fruits and spices from Kerala.
Trivia: Kerala is the biggest producer of Cocoa and the best quality too, but we Malayalees buy homemade chocolate from Ooty or Kodaikanal.

Our day ended with a delicious dinner from a small place called ‘Royal Tibet’.

Day 3: Kodai-Batalagund-Dindigul-Namakkal-Selam-Bangalore

Our plan was to start @6:30 but we overslept and finally started our return journey by 7:45 am. Since we were late already, we planned to have b’fast after we cover some distance as stopping for b’fast in the town will take more time.

For Dindigul, one has to go straight from Perumalmalai Jn. Left goes to Palani. 8-10 kms after Perumalmali is in bad condition. Took me an hour to cover 45kms.

I was feeling very hungry and stopped in the ghat section to have some biscuits, but the monkeys didn’t allow us to take out the packets. They were ready to attack. So we left from there hungry and angry.



Had Idlis and Dosa from Batalagund at around 9:30. There was a drastic change in weather in the last half an hour as we rode down the hills. Mercury was on the rise.

Time to role again. Dheeraj who was way behind me, took the Dindigul bypass and headed towards Namakkal. I missed the bypass and entered the town and stopped for some refreshment just before the town exit. Waited for Dheeraj for almost 20 mins unaware of the bypass. The tender coconut seller enlightened me about the existence of a bypass; realised my mistake.

Ripped through the highway for more than an hour and stopped at a fuel station in Namakkal for refill. Dheeraj was waiting for me in Karur. Regrouped in the fuel station and we lost an hour in the process. But the time we waited for each other was well utilised in getting enough rest and getting re-hydrated, very important in this extreme hot condition.

From Dindigul onwards it has been a really tough ride, boring open highway with hot air blowing from all directions. We could feel the heat radiation from the burning tarmac hitting the chin of the helmet. I was able to do 130kmph+ easily on that road, but even that felt monotonous.

Had lunch from one of the Dhaba’s after crossing Salem. After our last stop in Shoolagiri CCD, where we spend more than an hour cooling ourselves, I reached home by 6pm. Who said Bangalore is hot!

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day

Do you remember seeing a CBR250R near your hotel in Kodai?
I wish I had known that we were from the same forum.
It was refreshing to see you guys in full gear.
Unfortunately, I was in a bit of hurry and couldnt stop n chat.
Next time..

nice trip... wonderful pics.....

I din't notice you, but my friend mentioned that he saw a KL regn CBR. It's a small world, we will meet again.

Dual core around hill station's . . Gud pics

Nice trip and pics

Not KL Regn, mine is KA. Im from Bangalore and Kodai is my hometown.

I remember the yellow 200NS and saw you parking at the hotel. We crossed paths in front of the church there.