Re: Tour De' South

awesome... mast hai...

Re: Tour De' South

Day 6 – Kanyakumari – Munnar (Devikulam)

We visited the Sunrise spot but came back disappointed as we could not go to the Swami Vivekanand rock memorial because the line for the ticket was huge. We returned to our hotel and were getting ready to leave when the hotel guy arranged for us to be taken there without any waiting in VIP quota. Yup, we finally managed to get to the rock memorial and checked one more to see place off the list. We were at the Southern-most point in India and were happy to receive this VIP treatment as we had endured bad roads and bad luck to see this. All the gates opened and hordes of people by-passed; we were cruising in style onboard the ferry in a special cabin that seats 4. We visit the memorial (and spot a few nice looking people of opposite sex around) and head back to our hotel. We pack up and head to Munnar.

Some pics from kanyakumari







Fishing Harbour



This is at 5.30 in the morning.













View from Swami Vivekanand Memorial

The road from Kanyakumari to Madurai is very scenic as it is doted by gazillions of wind mills and its very interesting until you spot the first five; then it’s just a spec in your peripheral vision. The road is brilliant and it’s truly therapeutic. Therapeutic because I am an insomniac and this road made me sloppy and I started dozing off while doing triple digit speeds. Awesome!! Not. It was dangerous at the least. Checked in to a really swanky ‘Tapri’ serving ‘kaafi’ and dozed off for about 15 minutes while Abhijeet was soaking in all the attention from the lungi clad ‘chaiwala’ and an old uncle with moustache resembling the famous veerappan’s style. He was a retired Army personnel and Abhijeet was his audience. He went on and on about war stories from Burma to Siachen to Pakistan. While I dozed off for a power nap. Woke up slightly fresh and captured a picture with the war veteran and off we went.



Route ahead was by-pass Madurai towards Theni through beautiful village roads post Tirumangalam to Theni. Crossed Theni and headed towards Bodinaykanur a.k.a. Bodi which is a small city at the foothills of the ghats that lead us to Munnar. The tea gardens and the corners awaited us. Okay, it was just me who was eager and Abhijeet was unwilling as the Sun had set and people advised us to stay at Bodi and head to Munnar in the morning. Hell no; I am not going to stay 70 km’s (AFAI remember) away from the destination and I knew I will reach Munnar that night.

Abhijeet was unwilling as usual and I said the words that always motivated him the most – “I will leave you here.” With a new found zeal, he took to the saddle. The roads through the Ghats were broken due to landslides and heavy rainfall a week ago. No source of light other than our headlamps and a tall mountain on our right and the deadly valley on our left; the narrow road made it thrilling enough for me and Abhijeet who was half way there, was now completely scared to death and was on my tail like a damaged vehicle stuck behind a towing van. With all this commotion inside Abhijeet’s head and the adrenaline pumping through my veins, we finally spot a small tempo parked under a dim street light. Thankfully the driver could speak fluent Malyalam which I don’t understand and it was all fine till we started playing Dumb Charades and I think he was trying to enact and elephant and then said road. Message received loud and clear and Abhijeet the brave hearts heart sank lower as he knew that I would not stop and he will have to follow. We move ahead only to be stopped by cops and them requesting us to stay at the next village 20 Km’s from Munnar as there was an Elephant on the road. We reached the next village and were contemplating our (MY) decision. On seeing this, the local hotel owner said that it’s not safe to go alone and then he gave the best news of all – A truck driver was finishing his meal and he was heading to Munnar. He agreed to let us follow him and he would keep a look out for any elephants. We followed him till the point where he let us go ahead saying it was safe now. We went ahead and reached Devikulam where we decided to halt 6 KM’s before Munnar as it was slightly cheaper. Asked Abhijeet to wait at the junction and went off looking for a hotel and the place was deserted. Found a bunch of guys around a bonfire and enquired about a room. This nice group of gentleman surrounded me and started asking question when another gentleman interfered and understood that I wanted a room. He immediately called Shyam, the savior and we hired a 2 room in his house for INR 1000 just across a tea estate. Perfect scenario for a peaceful sleep – a nice house, 10 odd drunk police man throwing all sorts of tantrums, no food, no beverage to warm us up and it could only get better when most of these drunk cops entered our room and wanted to take photographs with us. Abhijeet surely felt like he was about to be raped “TRUE STORY”. They only looked menacing but that night they provided us with food and warm beverage which Abhijeet thought was a custom before you sacrifice the meat. I happly hogged on the brilliant chicken and told Abhijeet in Marathi that might as well eat and drink before you are tied to a bed or pole or whatever that happens in Munnar. Thankfully they all left after sometime only to be never seen again. The exciting day comes to an end.

Tomorrow we rest, go sightseeing and FINALLY!!!!!! Corners without luggage tied on the bike. My favorite part starts tomorrow. The best day in this entire trip.

Coming up
Day 7 – Munnar

Re: Tour De' South

Day 7 – Munnar

Woke up in the morning after a nice sleep in a cozy room and with a beautiful view; although it’s not the best view but it is better than waking up to see the person in the adjacent building brushing his teeth while half asleep. It was cold outside but I could not care less even if a thunderstorm was raising havoc outside as it was time to ride on non-straight roads. Attacking the curves and knee scraping through the tea gardens without any luggage is what I was waiting for and I went bonkers on seeing the beauty that Munnar is. We suited up and headed to top station and a couple of other places en-route. We just roamed around throughout the day and came back in the evening and we were told by the hotel owner to leave our belongings behind and get out of the room. No he was not looting us; he had arranged for us to stay on top of a hill in the tea garden. Shyam also went to the extent of having his friend’s camp with us just to make us feel comfortable and had also arranged for food and some beverages to keep the night young. Surreal experience is what he arranged for us and everything was served with a dash of smile and a handful of friendly warmth. Abhijeet stole a line from somewhere for his interview at office regarding this trip but it’s what is apt and it goes – “There are no stranger’s. They are just friends we have never met”. So my most favorite day of the tour comes to an end.

Munnar pics

Right outside our beautiful homestay

Thats Shyam in the White tee








Before anyone comments on where i'm looking, this pic was clicked with the flash on which distracted me.











On the Mattupatti Dam


Mattupatti Dam










Tea Garden on the way to Top Station




Top Station


















The party spot at night. Abhijeet has more pics of our camp site.


Coming Up
Day 8 – Munnar – Coimbatore – Ooty

Re: Tour De' South

Cool pics. ..seems like you guys are enjoyed the ride a lot more...

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Re: Tour De' South

Just read the whole thing again. Brilliant recount JayD. Is khushi mein beer hojaye. Dahisar check naka :P

Re: Tour De' South

[MENTION=63672]KaushikN[/MENTION] - Sorry brother i don't drink.

Re: Tour De' South

[MENTION=42045]JayD[/MENTION] & [MENTION=63283]ABHI-Red Devil[/MENTION] ... Fantastic trip log Very humorous narration. Nice pics and I must say I envy you guys for the kind of road trip you had..Wish you many more wonderful & joyous miles ... Also [MENTION=56891]Ezilkannan[/MENTION] a nice cameo buddy, true spirit of riderhood Waiting for next course of action

Re: Tour De' South

Best part about Pondicherry was....

THE PETROL WAS VERY VERY CHEAP... Rs. 64/litre...
We filled up our tank and also could not resist taking some more bottles for journey further....

JD is just crazy about cornering... We had planned a shoot of his cornering at Munnar or Ooty...
But all of sudden on our way to Rameshwaram on ECR (This road goes through several villages with all sort of animals (Human's are animals too) crossing the small road)
JD does his knee down... He should be around 70-80 odd speed and me at the back (as always) saw him just scrape his knee guard...

JD was fully loaded with luggage... as he says "JD goes bonkers on seeing corners..." (I know that does not rhyme quite well...)


Anways...
My Favourite pic...




As JD said visiting velankani was not a part of our plans... But really thankful now to JD's dad for suggesting this place... Amazing














Now the magnificent Pamban Bridge ( I am finally getting all the names right...

Re: Tour De' South

We reached Rameshwaram at around 7PM. BUt came to know that the check post gates closes at 6 PM and there is no way you can enter and camp.
We had made up our mind to camp in Dhanushkodi or near Rameshwaram...

JD tried his luck trying to convince the post official to let us camp near the Ramanathaswamy Temple which was near the beach... but the guy was adamant...
Hence we decided to stay in very good hotel... (This was going to be our first stay in a hotel as earlier Bangalore - Friend's Place, Chennai - Friend's Place & Pondicherry - Aurbindo Ashram.)

Early morning JD was busy discussing any alternate way to reach Dhanushkodi and he struck gold... ( My entire trip was only for this place Dhanushkodi)
Soon there was jeep waiting.. (Sorry it was we who waited for the jeep almost an hour) to take us to the Ghost Town...





























The Floating Stone...

Re: Tour De' South

Very nice pics and good Log... By the way Pulsar 200 NS has MH 05 no. plate .. is that bike from Dombivli/Kalyan???

Re: Tour De' South

Dombivli....

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Re: Tour De' South

Did you guys try to artificially some thunderstorm clouds on few pics.... If not then i am amazed at the sudden changes in the climate. Kudos guys... wish i had some friends like you. Atleast i would enjoy a day or 2 of the ride along. Just fantastic reading it. Wonder what you folks felt doing the ride!!!!!

Re: Tour De' South

Great:thumbup:

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Re: Tour De' South

Surely not

Re: Tour De' South

Day 8 – Munnar – Coimbatore – Ooty

With a very heavy heart and lack of will to let go off this beauty called Munnar, we finally gathered enough momentum to leave behind what felt only like Heaven. The original plan was to cover Athirapally and valparai and stay at valparai or Pollachi but ended up dropping the plan owing to Abhijeet’s love or rather the absolute lack of it for the twisties. Also, we needed to get our bikes serviced hence we re-routed through Chinnar, Udumalpet, Pollachi, mettupalayam, Coimbatore, Conoor, ooty. The day was looking good; Day 8 begins.
Main agenda was to get my bike’s second service done and bring back Abhijeet’s ailing NS up to speed. Off we went while we bid good bye to Munnar and our Hosts and now our friends. The route was nothing short of mesmerizing. The cool breeze, tea gardens, grazing lands, mountains, waterfalls, streams, wild life sanctuary, blazing straights and swooping corners and more filter “kaafi” were the order of the day.















Admring the nature around us kept us entertained enough for us to reach Coimbatore without any stress. Once in Coimbatore, locals guided us to the KTM service center and just as I Guessed, both KTM & Bajaj service were nearby. Bikes were getting pampered while we had our biryani and coke and chilled out at the service center. By the time we left for Ooty, the sun had set already and Abhijeet was determined to reach ooty whereas I did not want to ride in the dark. Wait! It’s the other way round as usual. Abhijeet continued to give up once the sun set but I wanted to ride more. And ride we did. Surprisingly the traffic was heavy unlike our climb to Munnar.

There were lot of vehicles on the road and this gave Abhijeet, a lot of confidence. While climbing the ghats, although I was ahead, Abhijeet was keeping up. This was new! Is this finally happening? All the motivational talks (read swearing, bullying and more swearing) finally seemed to be working. The 3500 km old noob was transforming into a biker. Every good (safe) move he made on the road got him a thumb up and every mistake meant waiting on the side of the road and discussing the mistake. This guy’s patience needs a special mention here. Throughout our ride he listened and listened well and not just that; this guy made a conscious effort in improving and riding safely. I was riding with another responsible biker now. We rode together and finally saw a nice tea stall on the road side where we stopped for a cup of tea and “Kaafi”.This was in Coonoor and we were just 20 Km’s from Ooty. Abhijeet was tired and wanted to stay at Conoor and as Luck would have it, we were 20 KM’s away from the nearest hotel. A guy at the tea stall gave us a card of a hotel owned by his friend and we spoke to him and finalized a room for 2 nights for 800 bucks a night. Headed towards Ooty through another 20 Km’s of twisties and it was nice and cold; somewhere around 12 degrees. Just perfect for a plate full of hot chicken and heat inducing beverage all served at our room. Took a bath, ate our dinner and fell asleep. Lights out for the day but tomorrow we visit Dodabetta – Apparently the highest peak in south India.

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Day 9 – Ooty

Woke up at a leisurely time and off we went to enjoy our Rest day. Today we explore Ooty and visit the famous Botanical garden, Dodabetta, Local Market, Tea Factory, Chocolate shops, spot some test bikes from Bajaj (The SS) and a test car from Mahindra (the S101) and pamper our tired bodies with some Kerala Ayurvedic Massgae. Will let the pictures do the talking for the day.


Capturing Natural beauties . Making good use of the lens.


Whats special about this pic is that it Makes me laugh hard every single time and i will tell you why. This newly married chick was with her new husband and presumably her in-laws and yup she was Aight. Flaunting her newly married swag all over the Botanical garden. All this was fine until she lost track of where she was going and she slipped and fell in the wataer drain (read Gutter). Abhijeet and I laughed our behinds off and got the hell out of there.


The Botanical Garden


Entrance to the botanical garden


Just FYI.


Another view of the botanical garden. As you guessed, this was as much as we could take and we got back out on the road. Off to Dodabetta



En-Route Dodabetta


View from Doddbetta






Ooty as seen from Dodabetta





The observation Deck atop Dodabetta, where they have binoculars for viewing ooty town and its "Free".


Another view from Dodabetta




Old Tea Factory Machine


View From tea factory





After this we spotted a Keral Ayurvedic massage center and got our bodies some much needed rejuvenation. By the time we were done sight seeing, the sun had almost set so we headed out for Dinner and a peaceful sleep at our cozy room. Tomorow we head to Mysore through 2 National Parks, finally experience the hairpin bends and reach Mysore.