Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Thread Approved

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

thanks for the approval moderator,BTW this is my first long trip on my bike..though i have made some bike trips to the tirupathi,pondicherry and other such places that are a few hundred kms away from chennai,i was so desperate to set out on a long ride..and now came the time..

Trip distance:1585 kms
Ride:1 unicorn
Duration:4 nights,4 days
Trip plan:Chennai-Valparai-Munnar-Pondycherry-Chennai
Camera:Xperia arc s

Day 1:Chennai-Tindivanam-Villupuram-Ulundurpet-Attur-Salem-Bhavani-Uthukuli-Pollachi

As we started from Chennai taking the tambaram by-pass we reached chengalpatu in less than 20 mins where we took a break for nature's call and decided to make it to tindivanam within an hour..

As planned we were able to reach tindivanam in 45mins where we had our tea break..my unicorn was mazing through the highway traffic,maintaining an average of 85kms and making us reach our destination much earlier than we planned..the projector headlamps which i changed a week ago did some justice on the highways helping me to avoid pot-holes and bad sector of the roads..as it was almost 11 as we were about to start from tindivanam,we decided to make a 120km non-stop till kallakurichi..after one and half hours of ripping we reached kallakurichi at 12.40 where we stopped near a deserted bus-stop for relaxing our spines and bums and also to let the engine to cool down..as my friend rested himself on the slabs in the bus-stop,i checked on my mails,facebook updates and had a quick chat with my online friends..

Since having a plenty of time before checking into the hotel in pollachi,which we booked online,we took a 30 mins break before to headed to our next checkpoint-salem..as this route was having combination of both 2,4 lane i was able to reach triple digits as wind blast was much lesser when compared to the 6-lanes..by 2.15 we were able to reach salem were we again took a tea break along with biscuits..From salem the roads were 4-lane till avinashi,were we asked the highway patrol cop for directions..as we entered the route to pollachi from there the day-light was breaking in slowly and so did the scenic route..there were windmills,cattle farms and agricultural lands all over the route where we stopped for clicking few pics

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Day 2:Pollachi-Valparai-Adimali

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

lovely fotos there...
the rains & the fog makes the journey even better
besides the point, the smoked-out black bike looks quiet stunning too!
keep the fotos coming & also do put some narrations alongwith the fotos... so we all get to learn / know new things about the location / place / trip etc.
ride safe my friend!

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Hi Koushik really nice pic's bro specially the nature is at it's best in ur pic. It is looking like u had a rocking time on this trip by your naration .

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Thanks buddy..BTW the rain made the trip a little horrible,as my mobile blacked out,missed few spots worth clicking,besides the fog gave us memories for a lifetime..

keep the fotos coming & also do put some narrations alongwith the fotos... so we all get to learn / know new things about the location / place / trip etc.

Sorry mate,Little busy with work so narrations and more pics coming tomorrow..

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Thanks mate..really had the best times of my life on wheels

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

keep it coming ..

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

This one's an epic picture mate
Nice travelogue.




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Sent from my Nexus !

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Thanks buddy..

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Day 2:Pollachi-Valparai-Chalakudy-Adimali

As soon as we reached pollachi,we checked-in at a hotel where we relaxed our spines and butt's on those cozy beds..after having our lunch in a near by restaurant we setout on my bike to few nearby spots which were so unpleasant and crowded..so we decided to head back to our hotel as we had to cover a ghat and jungle roads of upto 350kms..planning to start at 5.30 the next morning,we set our alarms and crashed into our beds..

The next morning,due to my lazy bums i snoozed the alarm making us to hurry our check-out activites..by 6.15 as we came to the parking lot,we realised that it has been raining since the previous night and i was so worried on waking my unicorn as they are prone for starting problems,but lucky me since i changed to castrol power1,which was recommended for cold engines was doing magic as i was able to kick-start my two-wheeled buddy at once..as we started our ride,the drizzles grown-up to be a heavy down pour resulting in zero-visiblity..but still we managed to reach a petrol-pump as i noted the fuel level was low as we wouldnt make it till valparai,without refuelling..soon after the fuel-refill the rain stopped and the roads were wet and some sectors of the roads turned into streams..as soon as we started climbing the ghats the hair-pin bends were becoming more and more challenging as the unicorn's ergonomics didnt do much justice in the corners..after climbing a lean 9-hairpin bends we stopped for some photo snaps before taking on the rest of 32 hair-pin bends to valparai..once we crossed the 29-th HP bend there was a noticable change in the climate and as well as the scenic route started thereafter passing through the cliffs and tea-estates which the valparai is famous for..
After taming my beast in al those corners we reached the town where i immediately started hunting for a tea and found one,we parked the bike and rushed-in for some hot chai..after slurrping the hot tea we asked directions towards the nallamudi pooncholai which boasts greeny,scenic cliffs,mountains,and estates..as soon as we rode a kilometer away from the town the only thing around us were tea estates and the only color my eyes could see were GREEN..after riding all the way through some private roads we reached the spot,and found to be the only visitor as a famliy just left in thier car..the forest gaurds didnt allow us as a panther was spotted to be reported..so we decided to ride to athirapalli falls,which is located on the way to chalakudi and set-out after asking for directions and road conditions to the forest-rangers..we had to dodge the potholes and bad-roads all the way till the tamilnadu-kerala forest check post..at the check-post after some serious checking and questions check-post gates opened with the guy at the gate warning us to have an eye for the elephants which is a common sight at this route..praying for the worst not to happen we took-off real quick as this route is reported to have a tremendous rainfall all over the year..the roads were really-bad for the first 10~15Kms and after that it was roads to heaven..this route is less taken by tourists due to wild encounters and were lucky enough to meet a group of bikers from kerala at some ~10kms from the checkpost..as my friend who is a keralite by native started a conversation about the road conditions all the way down to chalakudi and after a small chat,we departed wishing good luck to the fellow bikers..as we were informed the rain started and was pouring like hell al the way till the athirapalli falls..also we spotted elephant dungs,a black cobra(as i guess,coz im not steve-irwin)and few langurs on the tree which were far enough to blurr-out in our tiny cameras..on reachin the athirapalli check-post we were shocked to see the place flocking with tourists as we hardly spotted around 10 cars,0 bikes on our way since we started for the TN-KERALA border check post,on crossing the check-post i felt like skipping the falls as crowded spots are not my piece of cake and looked at my friend..he gave me a mutual signal and decided to head towards chalakudi,since the route that we rode was itself made us so excited and satisfied..by the time we reached chalakudi the rain stopped and also i was getting mad in hunger,so we immediately rushed into to hotel and had a tasty kerala meals..

Making ourselves "tummy-happy" we again started to ride heading towards munnar..having no knowledge on this route we stopped at several places for directions and by the time i was hearing some noise from my chain case as the 700kms on my trip meter made me realize it was due to the loose chain play..so we started crawling slowly in search of a mechanic shop and luckily found a HSC where the guy was kind enough to adjust and lubricate the chain and brakes and also charged a very minimal amount as compared to the local mechanic shops..it was around 5'o clk as we reached the foot hills of munnar..we decided to drive a non-stop 70 kms on ghat sections so that we could reach before it gets dark giving low visiblity as the roads were patchy and damaged at some points,but it started getting dark earlier than we expected and so i decided to race against the dark to get to our destination,but a guy in R15 mistook my aggressive driving and started inviting me to race..despite the bad roads and our safety i let the guy pass by and started climbing at some average of 50-60 kms..after a one and half hour non-stop climbing we reached a place called adimali which was 20kms before munnar..it was 7 as we reached adimali and i decided to stop there for a engine-cool break and found a couple of decent hotels with nominal price and settled for adimali as we didnt prefer to climb as the night grew darker..we then had our dinner and dried our clothes under the fan and we were also lucky enough to have a closed parking lot to park my bike..

After having our dinner at the hotel's restaurant we crashed into our beds as we had a long journey ahead at Day 3..............................

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Nice log bro...Keep coming. Its always a blissfull to ride through the Valparai-Athirapally route. I'm much tempted to ride thru the forests before any climatic changes occurs. Havent met any jumbos

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

thanks bro..and yes..the valparai-athirapally route would be the best forest roads in whole south india i guess,though the munnar-theni route was a delight to ride(pics coming soon)and we even spotted "THE TUSKY JUMBO's" in the wild at munnar..lucky "me"

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Great Ride buddy!... can feel the chill breeze through the clicks. we are going to rock kutraalam and forest areas around western ghats on august. you are just triggering my enthu cant wait any longer. keep it coming. good luck

Re: A Ride so close to the nature :Valparai and Munnar

Day 3:Adimali-Munnar-Theni-Dindugul-Tindivanam-Pondycherry

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thanks naseer..and all the best for your august ride.....Ride safe