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12th, 13th and 14th July 2013. These 3 days were marked for a Kerala trip in my calender. I had made the announcement 3 months in advance and there
were quite a few people who turned up positively for the future ride.
Fast forward 2.5 months and things got haywire. This meant 12th of July (a Friday) would be a working day for me contrary to my plans.
Kerala trip goes down the drain. Now what? I had Jog falls in mind.
All my biking buddies here were preparing for the 3 state ISG2G in August and nobody turned up for the weekend ride. Finally I got a fellow
who was free on the weekend. Enter Vinay. He rides a Discover 150 and Pulsar 180. P180 did the job for him in this trip.
Now, after some discussing here and there, consulting seniors we decided on the following route (this is the route we did after making some real time
adjustments):
BLR - Tumkur - Shimoga - Jog Falls - Apsara Falls - Murudeshwara - Udupi - Mangalore - Charmadi - Belur - Hassan - Kunigal - BLR.
I had to join Vinay at Tumkur so I set off at 3:20 AM from my place and reached Tumkur meeting point at 4:25 AM. Pleasantaries exchanged, we
started at 4:40 AM towards Shimoga.
On the way to Shimoga.
We had expected this to be a rainy ride and boy how wrong we were. This was not just a rainy ride, it was a thunderstorm wala ride!
By the time we reached Shimoga, we were drenched in rain. So heavy were the showers that I was wet from head to toe (and was getting funny
and cold sensation in all umimaginable places) within the first 10 seconds of attempting to wear my rain coat!
Rain coat on? Check. (no use though, we were wet already)
Camera/mobile/money safe in a polythene? Check.
In Shimoga.
Streets of Shimoga. (Outside a small hotel where we had our breakfast)
Time to proceed to Jog. We stopped for a pee break in between and then the shutterbugs got down to work again.
After clicking a few pics, we proceeded towards Jog where we saw the first accident of our trip. An overloaded truck down on the middle of the road.
Its axle had broken. I assume it attempted taking a high speed turn.
Finally, we reached Jog. It kept pouring and in fact rains intensified once we reached there. It was foggy and hardly looked like what I saw on Google.
We could only hear the booming falls.
Slowly, after the clouds/fog subsided for a few seconds, we saw the falls.
A small stream ran through beside the steps to get down to the falls.
It was raining cats and dogs.
Aha, clouds give way - for barely 10 seconds.
Everyone had their camera ready for the moment.
Vinay trying out different modes.
Nautanki pose.
This guy was not happy because he didn't get that ice cream he wanted. Damn, the pic came blurred. Faster shutter speed next time.
Finally rain stopped.
We pressed towards Honnavar now to visit Apsara falls.
This dude was going crazy.
I didn't even come out of my rain gear. Too lazy you see.
Yeah.
Apsara falls.
Looked so serene.
There's a temple just behind the falls.
Then, Vinay led me to the view point from the falls.
From the viewpoint.
Arabian sea.
We spent quite some time there. Had snacks and some rest. It was time to head to Murudeshwar, where we would be staying for the night.
Got a room at RNS hotel for 675 rupees per 2 people. Quite cheap.
Vinay was happy.
Freshened up and proceeded to Murudeshwara temple.
A massive statue greets you at the temple gate. In fact, there are 2 of them.
Boats lined up.
People enjoying the party.
I guess it wards off bad omen.
Atop a boat, this flag was swaying happily.
These too.
Love those eyes. (boats' eyes)
Time to pull people out of the water, its time for high tides. A mamu gets to work.
Looks like I got painted with the steel railing as well, lol.
Massive chariot.
Then we head back to the hotel. Vinay got himself 2 bottles of beer. He wanted wine, but sadly it wasn't available. Had dinner and we dozed off.
Our plan WAS to leave the hotel at 5 AM.
But, we left the hotel at 9 AM.
(Same old story, I heard the alarm, shut it and slept. )
Anyways, we were running late by 4 hours and we had to do some catching up. We dropped Kudremukh plans. But, what to do from Udupi? Which route to take if not Kudremukh?
Ok, lets reach Udupi first. (P.S - first 15 kms from Murudeshwar towards Udupi were a torture, roads were full Leh type.)
On the way.
Had a tough time riding the elephant on sand.
Vinay apparently found something interesting.
We reach Udupi and head to the temple.
At the temple.
Here is when Vinay called up Nishanth. He suggested taking Charmadi ghats. Hmm, so next stop is Mangalore.
So we left for Mangalore. Taking cues from people we head towards the beach.
Aha, off-roader!!!
Yeah, I'm the lifeguard. Seeing that surf board, I remembered Pamela Anderson from Baywatch.
Oh, something snapped. It was my belt. Felt too tight.
Child - 50 rupees, adult - 100 rupees. This horse indeed takes you for a ride.
Far into the sea.
Our guy posing. Sorry for the low light pic bro. (flash ruined it)
This bugger was hopping everywhere.
I remembered my childhood when I saw a sparrow. Don't see them anymore. (Cellphone towers made them extinct due to EM radiation.)
Someone just headed to sea.
Felt bad for this guy. He was sitting waiting for customers. Went to him to ask the rate, he said 200 bucks. Now, I know why he was sitting without a
customer!
I think this guy has some resemblance to Phanikar sir.
Vinay clicking a fotu.
We then had a light lunch and head towards Charmadi ghats.
On the way to Charmadi. (before rains started again and cameras went inside)
Yummy corners.
I simply love this macro. That ant was barely 5mm in size.
After clicking a few pics, the weather looked loomy. We had quite a distance to make up for. Target to reach Bangalore was 11 PM. It was 5 already.
We hopped onto our bikes when rains started. Got into the riding gear and continued.
Saw 2 more accidents on the way. 2 guys started racing and one of them fell in the corner. He skid and hit a stationary truck. Luckily nothing much happened
apart from a few bruises here and there.
Further ahead, we saw a deadly accident that was a result of 2 buses colliding head on. Gruesome to say the least. Stopped after crossing Charmadi. Had some
break and head towards Belur. We stopped for a few minutes at Belur as well as Hassan.
Finally had a heavy dinner midway between Hassan and Kunigal.
Vinay took a different route to Tumkur from Kunigal and I head back alone. It was 10:40 already and I had to do 78 kms. Completed that last leg in 55 min.
In the basement, when I looked at the trip meter.
All in all, it was a lovely trip. I'd remember it a long time.
were quite a few people who turned up positively for the future ride.
Fast forward 2.5 months and things got haywire. This meant 12th of July (a Friday) would be a working day for me contrary to my plans.
Kerala trip goes down the drain. Now what? I had Jog falls in mind.
All my biking buddies here were preparing for the 3 state ISG2G in August and nobody turned up for the weekend ride. Finally I got a fellow
who was free on the weekend. Enter Vinay. He rides a Discover 150 and Pulsar 180. P180 did the job for him in this trip.
Now, after some discussing here and there, consulting seniors we decided on the following route (this is the route we did after making some real time
adjustments):
BLR - Tumkur - Shimoga - Jog Falls - Apsara Falls - Murudeshwara - Udupi - Mangalore - Charmadi - Belur - Hassan - Kunigal - BLR.
I had to join Vinay at Tumkur so I set off at 3:20 AM from my place and reached Tumkur meeting point at 4:25 AM. Pleasantaries exchanged, we
started at 4:40 AM towards Shimoga.
On the way to Shimoga.
We had expected this to be a rainy ride and boy how wrong we were. This was not just a rainy ride, it was a thunderstorm wala ride!
By the time we reached Shimoga, we were drenched in rain. So heavy were the showers that I was wet from head to toe (and was getting funny
and cold sensation in all umimaginable places) within the first 10 seconds of attempting to wear my rain coat!
Rain coat on? Check. (no use though, we were wet already)
Camera/mobile/money safe in a polythene? Check.
In Shimoga.
Streets of Shimoga. (Outside a small hotel where we had our breakfast)
Time to proceed to Jog. We stopped for a pee break in between and then the shutterbugs got down to work again.
After clicking a few pics, we proceeded towards Jog where we saw the first accident of our trip. An overloaded truck down on the middle of the road.
Its axle had broken. I assume it attempted taking a high speed turn.
Finally, we reached Jog. It kept pouring and in fact rains intensified once we reached there. It was foggy and hardly looked like what I saw on Google.
We could only hear the booming falls.
Slowly, after the clouds/fog subsided for a few seconds, we saw the falls.
A small stream ran through beside the steps to get down to the falls.
It was raining cats and dogs.
Aha, clouds give way - for barely 10 seconds.
Everyone had their camera ready for the moment.
Vinay trying out different modes.
Nautanki pose.
This guy was not happy because he didn't get that ice cream he wanted. Damn, the pic came blurred. Faster shutter speed next time.
Finally rain stopped.
We pressed towards Honnavar now to visit Apsara falls.
This dude was going crazy.
I didn't even come out of my rain gear. Too lazy you see.
Yeah.
Apsara falls.
Looked so serene.
There's a temple just behind the falls.
Then, Vinay led me to the view point from the falls.
From the viewpoint.
Arabian sea.
We spent quite some time there. Had snacks and some rest. It was time to head to Murudeshwar, where we would be staying for the night.
Got a room at RNS hotel for 675 rupees per 2 people. Quite cheap.
Vinay was happy.
Freshened up and proceeded to Murudeshwara temple.
A massive statue greets you at the temple gate. In fact, there are 2 of them.
Boats lined up.
People enjoying the party.
I guess it wards off bad omen.
Atop a boat, this flag was swaying happily.
These too.
Love those eyes. (boats' eyes)
Time to pull people out of the water, its time for high tides. A mamu gets to work.
Looks like I got painted with the steel railing as well, lol.
Massive chariot.
Then we head back to the hotel. Vinay got himself 2 bottles of beer. He wanted wine, but sadly it wasn't available. Had dinner and we dozed off.
Our plan WAS to leave the hotel at 5 AM.
But, we left the hotel at 9 AM.
(Same old story, I heard the alarm, shut it and slept. )Anyways, we were running late by 4 hours and we had to do some catching up. We dropped Kudremukh plans. But, what to do from Udupi? Which route to take if not Kudremukh?
Ok, lets reach Udupi first. (P.S - first 15 kms from Murudeshwar towards Udupi were a torture, roads were full Leh type.)
On the way.
Had a tough time riding the elephant on sand.
Vinay apparently found something interesting.
We reach Udupi and head to the temple.
At the temple.
Here is when Vinay called up Nishanth. He suggested taking Charmadi ghats. Hmm, so next stop is Mangalore.
So we left for Mangalore. Taking cues from people we head towards the beach.
Aha, off-roader!!!
Yeah, I'm the lifeguard. Seeing that surf board, I remembered Pamela Anderson from Baywatch.
Oh, something snapped. It was my belt. Felt too tight.
Child - 50 rupees, adult - 100 rupees. This horse indeed takes you for a ride.
Far into the sea.
Our guy posing. Sorry for the low light pic bro. (flash ruined it)
This bugger was hopping everywhere.
I remembered my childhood when I saw a sparrow. Don't see them anymore. (Cellphone towers made them extinct due to EM radiation.)
Someone just headed to sea.
Felt bad for this guy. He was sitting waiting for customers. Went to him to ask the rate, he said 200 bucks. Now, I know why he was sitting without a
customer!
I think this guy has some resemblance to Phanikar sir.
Vinay clicking a fotu.
We then had a light lunch and head towards Charmadi ghats.
On the way to Charmadi. (before rains started again and cameras went inside)
Yummy corners.
I simply love this macro. That ant was barely 5mm in size.
After clicking a few pics, the weather looked loomy. We had quite a distance to make up for. Target to reach Bangalore was 11 PM. It was 5 already.
We hopped onto our bikes when rains started. Got into the riding gear and continued.
Saw 2 more accidents on the way. 2 guys started racing and one of them fell in the corner. He skid and hit a stationary truck. Luckily nothing much happened
apart from a few bruises here and there.
Further ahead, we saw a deadly accident that was a result of 2 buses colliding head on. Gruesome to say the least. Stopped after crossing Charmadi. Had some
break and head towards Belur. We stopped for a few minutes at Belur as well as Hassan.
Finally had a heavy dinner midway between Hassan and Kunigal.
Vinay took a different route to Tumkur from Kunigal and I head back alone. It was 10:40 already and I had to do 78 kms. Completed that last leg in 55 min.
In the basement, when I looked at the trip meter.
All in all, it was a lovely trip. I'd remember it a long time.
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