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Hi Brothers
This is going to be my journal of various weekend rides that I will do from Trivandrum, Kerala. I will be keeping this single thread for writing about various rides and places rather than starting a new thread for every ride. Hope you enjoy reading these micro adventures of a weekend warrior.
Kumarakom
Suman Satpathy, my friend and a Ninja rider, wanted to ride to Kanyakumari on a Sunday. Though Kanyakumari is a great destination the road that leads to the place is not very appealing. Hence we decided to ride to Kumarakom.
Kumarakom is around 160 kilometers away from Trivandrum. The place is one of the hotspots for Kerala Tourism. The Vembanad Lake is the factor behind the appeal and it is very beautiful indeed.
Suman and I started riding at 6. 30 am. MC Road is a rider’s road. Sweeping wide turns and great surface makes it a merry ride road for a biker. What spoils the fun is the umpteen number of speed cams installed on the way. Every time I ride on this road it affects my bank balance coz of the numerous speed tickets that I get. Nevertheless this is one of the most rideable roads in Kerala.
The ride became slow and difficult once we crossed Chengannur. Your frustration mounts on this stretch of ride till you hit the Changanassery - Kottayam bypass. Soon the Ninja and the Oranje hit three digit speeds. One tends to free up all the horses on this straight and well surfaced roads but the joy is short lived as you come back to the bad stretch of MC road again till Kottayam. The 17 km from Kottayam to Kumarakom is a narrow, curvy, well paved road that can be a delight to ride if there is no traffic. In traffic it will be another slow unappealing ride.
Suman and I continued to ride further to Thanneermukkam Bund. It's like riding right into a waterworld. The road is almost at the water level and the expanse of water gives a meditative experience.
Since we did not do much research on the eateries around we decided to look for a place that looked clean and good. Sea food of this region has been much talked about and celebrated. That is not without a reason. Delicacies like ‘meen pollichathu’ may give you a trance. While at Kumarakom, gorging down plenty of this stuff shall be one of your agendas.
Hotel Green Fields may not be in the food map of Kumarakom at all but we were hungry and wanted to sit and eat somewhere comfortable. The property looked beautiful. The food was acceptable. The Karimeen Pollichathu was a more than average in my book.
After riding around for some more time we left Kumarakom for Trivandrum. The return ride was again predictably difficult till Chengannur. It was again great fun riding on the good stretches of MC road past Chengannur. As intermittent nuisance there are crowded small towns on the way but that is something you can't avoid while riding in a state like Kerala. It started raining after Adoor and the night fell fast. The headlights of the oncoming traffic looked like a kaleidoscope through the droplets on the visor.
Suman and I parted ways once we crossed Pothencode. It was a day well spent. The ride was all the more beautiful because of the spontaneity and we let things happen instead of any meticulous planning around it. I want to go back there sometime soon.
This is going to be my journal of various weekend rides that I will do from Trivandrum, Kerala. I will be keeping this single thread for writing about various rides and places rather than starting a new thread for every ride. Hope you enjoy reading these micro adventures of a weekend warrior.
Kumarakom
Suman Satpathy, my friend and a Ninja rider, wanted to ride to Kanyakumari on a Sunday. Though Kanyakumari is a great destination the road that leads to the place is not very appealing. Hence we decided to ride to Kumarakom.
Kumarakom is around 160 kilometers away from Trivandrum. The place is one of the hotspots for Kerala Tourism. The Vembanad Lake is the factor behind the appeal and it is very beautiful indeed.
Suman and I started riding at 6. 30 am. MC Road is a rider’s road. Sweeping wide turns and great surface makes it a merry ride road for a biker. What spoils the fun is the umpteen number of speed cams installed on the way. Every time I ride on this road it affects my bank balance coz of the numerous speed tickets that I get. Nevertheless this is one of the most rideable roads in Kerala.
The ride became slow and difficult once we crossed Chengannur. Your frustration mounts on this stretch of ride till you hit the Changanassery - Kottayam bypass. Soon the Ninja and the Oranje hit three digit speeds. One tends to free up all the horses on this straight and well surfaced roads but the joy is short lived as you come back to the bad stretch of MC road again till Kottayam. The 17 km from Kottayam to Kumarakom is a narrow, curvy, well paved road that can be a delight to ride if there is no traffic. In traffic it will be another slow unappealing ride.
Suman and I continued to ride further to Thanneermukkam Bund. It's like riding right into a waterworld. The road is almost at the water level and the expanse of water gives a meditative experience.
Since we did not do much research on the eateries around we decided to look for a place that looked clean and good. Sea food of this region has been much talked about and celebrated. That is not without a reason. Delicacies like ‘meen pollichathu’ may give you a trance. While at Kumarakom, gorging down plenty of this stuff shall be one of your agendas.
Hotel Green Fields may not be in the food map of Kumarakom at all but we were hungry and wanted to sit and eat somewhere comfortable. The property looked beautiful. The food was acceptable. The Karimeen Pollichathu was a more than average in my book.
After riding around for some more time we left Kumarakom for Trivandrum. The return ride was again predictably difficult till Chengannur. It was again great fun riding on the good stretches of MC road past Chengannur. As intermittent nuisance there are crowded small towns on the way but that is something you can't avoid while riding in a state like Kerala. It started raining after Adoor and the night fell fast. The headlights of the oncoming traffic looked like a kaleidoscope through the droplets on the visor.
Suman and I parted ways once we crossed Pothencode. It was a day well spent. The ride was all the more beautiful because of the spontaneity and we let things happen instead of any meticulous planning around it. I want to go back there sometime soon.
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