Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Travelogue Approved

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Amazing.. Please share more fotos...

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Trip Stats & Some more pictures

• Steed: Avenger 220
• Rider: I, Me & Myself
• Total Distance: 1299KM
• Duration: 0345 on Fri Oct 18th to 1730 on Sun Oct 20th
• States covered: 3
• Expenses: Rs5243.00/-
• Fuel Expenses: Rs2565/-
• Avg Mileage: 35kmpl

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Awesome pics ..List out the places you went around ooty .

Sent from my TA-FONE A34 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Thanks.
I did not go around places in Ooty. Just crossed Ooty from Coimbatore on way to Bangalore.

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

You've done almost all the awesome places; if at you missed one, then it's Dhimbam ghats; but then you compensated it with Thamarassery, so it's all fine I guess. BTW, did you cover Ambalavayal near Sultan Bathery too?

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Missed Dhimbam ghats this time. IMHO, Dhimbam ghats are better than Thamarassery since there is less traffic and crowd (i.e. cleaner). I did not go to Ambalavayal. There is a museum there. Is there anything more interesting?

Some more pics


Running behind on trip log.

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

The second pic is awesome.
Nice clicks :-) , Beautiful ride.

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Thanks.
It is in the on the way up to Ooty from Methupalayam

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Hi,
I was going through some of Travelogues which was done in Solo Style.
Really its amazing to see the guys riding solo for a long distance.

I hope we need to be mentally strong enough than physically.

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Finally completed the travelogue pushed by the desire to submit a True Wanderers entry. The log below is also posted at True Wanderers 3.0 - Entry Travelogues


Day 1 - Oct 18th
Haunting moon
Deciding on the latter, I took the fog enveloped Mysore Road.

Foggy fields on Mysore Road
The ride on Mysore Road was boring as usual. At timed I wondered whether it would have been wiser to take the Kanakpura Road and choose to turn left or right at Malavalli. After a short break at Maddur for team/bun I turned off the Mysore highway at Srirangapatna towards Hunsur.

Selfie near Hunsur
Nothing better than an empty road to clear the cobwebs of mind & figure out where I am headed. Madikeri, Ooty & unknown roads in between became the destination of choice.
Another stop for tea and couple of plantain pakoras. The plantain pakoras tastes funny with the sweetness of plantain mixed with the spices in the barter. Soon after Kushalnagar, the hills started and so did the fun of the ride. It did not take long to get to Madikeri and I was greeted with the two statues at the entrance

Welcome to Madikere
Too early for a break, I descended towards Virajpet. Madikeri to Virajpet is a nice hilly road, punctuated by small cultivated green valleys.

Near Virajpet

Lush valley between Virajpet & Madikere
Post Virajpet the road is all messed up till Gonikoppal and then significantly improves. The best part of the day came after Kutta where the road skirts the boundary of Nagarhole National Park. The Jungle is lush green and the road is excellent. Since leaving Madikeri, the traffic was minimal & I could drive at leisure.

Day 1 route map
Day 2 - Oct 19th

Come morning the hills were promptly forgotten. As I worked on the morning activities, the mind feverishly explored for beach options. After consultations with Sygic, Muzhappilangad Drive-in Beach was zeroed upon. The fact that it would take me in a direction opposite to where I should be going was ignored. As I left Calicut, the moon was on its way out.

Moonset
Hitting the bypass road, I headed north.The outskirts were just coming alive and the road was empty. I hurried out of the city and onto the beach. The sun soon rose over the horizon making everything glow. I looked forward to a gorgeous day. A river bank stop for tea was refreshing both physically and visually.

River sunrise

Drive-in beach

Drive-in beach
I could continue North and then cross the ghats at Sullia or further North at Mangalore. Or I could retrace my route to Calicut and continue South, turning East somewhere down. Then I realized that I planned to go to Ooty. So South it was.
Back on NH17, the traffic has significantly increases. With the highway being undivided, there were frequent mini jams. Eventually my patience ran out. I stopped for breakfast and search for a interior route. Fortunately, unlike Karnataka, the Kerala government believes in keeping the interior roads also in good shape. Around 30Km before Calicut, I turned East at Koyilandy. Riding on the interiors was much more fun. Dense trees skirted the road providing ample shade for the occasional stop.
Riding through Thamarassery and Areacode, I decided to cross the hills East through the Silent Valley National Park. This would comfortably take me to Mettupalayam for the night. I had done this route a few years back and it was worth visiting again. Crossing Manjari and Mannarkkad, I stopped to take my bearing. Studying the map, I spied another route which would take me to Coimbatore, albeit through some dense jungle and skirting the Siruvani reservoir. It looked interesting enough to take the risk. The route was on.
Soon after leaving Mannarkkad a light drizzle started which soon turned into a downpour. I took shelter at a shop near the turn off to Siruvani Main Road. While I waited for the rain to subside I had a piping hot lunch of tea and egg pakoras. Perfect food to boost the spirit waned by the rain which was increasing by the minute.
And then my patience ran out and I prepared to ride in the rain, an eventuality every rider must be prepared for. Out came the rain liners and bag covers. Securing everything properly I headed out in the blinding rain. Fortunately there was zero traffic on the road. I should have wondered why. Perhaps it was good that I did not.
Luck favors the brave. Within minutes the rain had subsided to a drizzle.The route was beautiful and I congratulated myself on the choice.

Rain drenched terrain
If I had to rank, I would rank this as the best stretch of the three day ride. The beauty of the rain drenched hills coupled with the solitude of the stretch made it endearing. I stopped often taking in the sights with feet dangling off the parapet. The rain stopped soon enough leaving behind the sun to play hide and seek with the clouds. I was hoping this was just the beginning. The map showed a long stretch of descent to Coimbatore.

Silent Valley

Sun playing hide and seek

Forest Road

Day 2 route map
Day 3 - Oct 20th

My tired bones slept longer than planned. By the time I was on my way, the morning crowd of the city was well about their chores.

Early morning flower shop
Leaving Coimbatore in a haste, I was quickly on my way to Mettupalayam. It was good I spent the night at Coimbatore, since judging by the looks of the town. it would have been difficult to find lodging at Mettupalayam. From Mettupalayam, there are two ways up to Ooty, via Connor and via Kotagiri. The Kotagiri route was highly recommended for the tea gardens and it lived up to the recommendation.
As I climbed up the hills, the entire plains stretched below. From the elevation, I could see the fields, jungles, rivers and lakes stretched out below. The rising sun made everything glitter like gold.

Golden plains
Soon the tea gardens surrounded the road and the experience was mesmerizing. A green carpet pierced by the black tar road made darker by the wetness of the fog. It was a sight to behold. Enchanting is the word that came to my mind.

Kotagiri Tea Estate
A short break at Kotagiri for hot idli and dosa, has me set for the day. Post Kotagiri, the fog got dense. It was like riding through the clouds. Fog rose out of the hills engulfing everything leaving tiny droplets of water on the visor and everything else.

Foggy route

Ooty hills
Further down, Bandipur was as crowded as ever. Sunday usually brings in the crowds. At one point I got stuck for 10min waiting for cars to move on after watching a peacock.

Bandipur

Shaded tree lined road
The roar of bikes woke me up. Another group was out on a Sunday ride. I sat there till the last of them was gone more than 5 min and then moved on.
Charamrajanagar came and went. So did Kollegal. Just before crossing Cauvery, U stopped for lunch. For a moment I was tempted to turn towards Barachukki falls. The temptation passed on and I was on my way to Malavalli. At Malavalli I turned towards Kanakpura. Rain clouds loomed over. I was hoping to get home before needing to don the rain gear again. But that was not to be. Immediately after Kanakpura, the rain started. For a while I kept a brave front, before bowing to the downpour.
Another tree with thick foliage came to the rescue. This time I waited the rain out. After that it was just a matter of chugging it out to home.
Back in the basement the trip meter read 1299Km.

Day 3 route map

Complete Route

Re: 1001Km to Ooty



Majestic View Bro!!!

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Great photos ....

Re: 1001Km to Ooty

Nice t'log and pics.