Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Thanks bro Yes we had a great experience on our first road trip And after reading my travelogue, my wife now treats my Karizma as another member of our family

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Ya Ya Ya, after reading this entire travel log seems like watching a live movie (Transformers) a new part ....

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

More is yet to come

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

a different way of writing t.log.. loved it ...

TO ZMA- you sweety ,I was in serious relationship with one of your black sister, I was mere kid then when she taught me how to ride properly to have a long intercourse/ride , how to take care of bikes after the ride , we (me with ur sis) have visited amazing places .. You know it ,I am not gonna explain here much otherwise it will turn out to be ..
My dad gave her retirement in 2011 as she served us too much distance (my dad said 1.8lk + kms), and 3 heart transplant .... (Mai toh emotional ho geya first love of teenage )

All the best .. keep riding ..

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Hehe
Really nice way of writing .
:thumbup:

Sent from my SM-G900H using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Refreshing style mate. Keep up the posts.

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

We reached Ooty soon enough and My oh My was it crowded! The small city hustled with traffic as if it was a metropolis. The small roads made this worse and we had to be in 1st and 2nd gear almost everywhere. Deathmate and his wife were disappointed at the crowd and decided to leave town after having snacks and riding for a bit. The hilly region with it’s cold climate made Deathmate restless to get rid of his body fluid almost ten times that day! Thank you manufacturers for keeping us free from this limitation

Lesson learnt : The hills will give you the chills and you may want to pee a lot! So plan ahead.

They selected the botanical garden as the only place to visit in the city and went there. I happily waited outside for my owners as they entered the garden. They enjoyed the beauty and clicked a lot of pictures of the garden.









We had planned to leave Ooty by 4 pm so as to cross Bandipur Forest in daylight and reach Mysore by 8 pm max. We were before schedule and left by 3:30 pm after having a delicious meal(They had Biryani and Chilly Chicken while I had my staple 91 Octane)

Till now the trip was all very good and happy. We were in the best of spirits, no one was tired or sick, the roads were amazing and the weather had not turned spoilsport. But it was the return leg of our journey that was going to change all this. The rain had started, soaking the hill town and casting a damp shadow over it. We had stuck together in happy times, and now it was time to sail through the coming bad one..

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We started after a long and unfruitful wait for the rain to stop. Though it was only drizzling, Deathmate was more cautious in riding downhill on the wet and slippery mountain roads. We were still in high spirits and they were clicking a lot of pictures. The road we had come from was amazing and we had a lot of time in hand too. However after going on for sometime, we were diverted from our course by the police. Little did we know this would change the course of our trip drastically.

Some pics along the way..















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We later realized that this was not a small detour but a completely different road. And boy, did the road condition suck! The road was riddled with potholes, infact I felt like riding through small stretches of tar among a lunar landscape. After crossing a turn downhill I saw, to my horror, petrol spilled along the entire stretch. To make it worse this was a wet single lane down slope we were riding on and the petrol spill was on our side of the road. We shed speed seriously and negotiated the terrain with engine braking and constant honking over blind turns. There were no blind spot mirrors or warning boards here to warn traffic which made it all the more dangerous.

God save mankind from the reckless bus drivers who ride fatally fast even over such roads! No amount of honking could get them to slow down and they went whooshing past us at every blind turn. We were doing a good job of riding safely when it happened suddenly. The bus in front braked abruptly at a blind hairpin and we shed speed by braking, but my petrol covered front tyre gave up on the sharp wet slope and we skid! As the speed was slow we did not crash in the bus ahead but fell down hard in a massive pothole. I came to a sudden stop but my poor folks were thrown right into that crude pothole on their hands and knees. We hit hard! Poor Deathmate was so shocked by the suddenness of it that he kept shivering for a good 5 minutes after getting up on his feet. A kind soul in a Bolero behind, helped me up and parked me at the side. Deathmate and his wife’s knees and palms were hurt. After sending the Bolero guys ahead, they drank water to soothe their frayed nerves. It was getting dark and we had to move on. The gates close in Bandipur at 9 and we wanted to cross it well before it. God bless his wife for keeping calm in such panicky situation and administering first aid and comforting words to Deathmate. I had cracked my left indicator and fairing and my gear shifter was bent, but more disturbing was my handlebar alignment. I was dragged towards left and thought my forks had gone awry. But thankfully, after a little tinkering (by holding the front wheel between the legs and moving the handlebar in the opposite direction) I was fine. Credit again goes to the Wife for thinking with a sane mind.

Lessons learnt :


1. Keep a very thorough route plan when touring. Take into considerations the detours that you might have to take. You may not travel back the same way you came.

2. Stay calm in the event of a crash. Take good note of the situation and your own condition. Do not shy away from asking help from people standing by.

3. Be properly geared with good quality safety gear. Please invest in knee guards for both rider and pillion.

4. It is very important to carry first aid.

5. Check your vehicle well when you have help handy. It would be very difficult if your bike does not start after people around you have left.


Sunset was approaching fast on our way to the forest..




Shaken but not defeated, we rode along. I gathered up all my strength to get my owners back to safety without any more mishaps. After what seemed like eternity, we left the hills and came out to plain land. By this time the sun had gone down, but we were still hopeful to reach Mudumalai before 9.

A lone peacock on the way..



We reached the forest pretty quickly though by 7 and were stopped by the checkpost guys. We thought this would be a routine check like in the morning but the guy refused to let us through! We argued that the timing is 9 pm and it was only 7 but he said it is not allowed for 2-wheelers after dark. We were like WTF but could not do much. Then one of the checkpost guys showed his true intention of stopping us. He said after some ‘adjustments’ it is possible that I will let you go. Deathmate got the cue and was taking out his wallet when the other 2 guys pitched in saying ‘Aapko jana hai toh jaiyye lekin koi guarantee nahi. Apni risk pe jao. Jungle me pura andhera hai and haathi ka koi bharosa nahi. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai’. <<Translation : If you want to go you can, but entirely at your own risk. The jungle is dark and there is no guarantee of the elephants. Anything can happen>>

Now this gave wifey the creeps! The same jungle that was so beautiful in the day was an endless eerie pitch black expanse in front of us. The farthest one could see on any side was in the light thrown by the headlamp. The wife was totally against the idea of us riding out into that forest and getting crushed by angry elephants, The rider, bike and the greedy guard were excitedly impatient to get over with it while the two blokes were scaring us again and again with stories of dangerous elephants. Deathmate chose riding ahead instead of searching for a safe place in that small unknown village. The idea was to tail a bigger vehicle ahead to maximize the illumination on the road. Moreover it was just 30 kms of riding before we got out to open highways. A hundred bucks and a thousand scary thoughts later, we were into the pitch black forest.

Beautiful vistas like these were left far behind..




This part of the ride was the highlight of our journey. The jungle was dark and eerie around us. Our hearts racing inside, we raced through the expanse to keep up with a Chevrolet Beat car going ahead. The car was speeding at speeds over 60 kmph(although that is not allowed in the forest) and it was getting difficult to catch up to it due to the numerous potholes and speed bumps. Moreover, the darkness ensured we did not see any bump unless it was really close. I worked up my brakes and handling real hard that night. After a long chase, we finally caught up with the car and requested him to ride with us. The wife was tense with excitement and fear while I could hear Deathmate chuckling under his own adrenaline rush. The prospect of coming across a wild animal was so exciting for them in the day, but now I could hear the wife praying not to come across any animal at all . We turned a slight bend and lo behold! There was a huge grey elephant grazing alongside the road.

The wife went silent and hastened her prayers. Deathmate rode along calmly as he remarked that panicking unnecessarily was far more dangerous. The giant was peacefully just eating with no heed for the passing vehicles. Around 10 kms later, another giant elephant (and this was a male as shown by the huge tusks) surfaced out of the darkness. This one had his face towards us and just as we passed him, he STEPPED ON THE ROAD! God bless the car driver for accompanying us and providing us enhanced illumination, for if we had slowed down even by a minute, the tusker would have been standing in front of us on the road.


Lessons learnt : Pass the forests in daylight if you are on a two-wheeler. It is much enjoyable and safer that way. Take note of a good and safe place to stay before the forest gates if it’s dark. Better stay for the night. If the vehicle breaks down in that forest, there is no way you could get a mechanic to repair it. If however darkness falls, and you need to cross it then tail a bigger vehicle. This is VERY IMPORTANT for 2 reasons :


1. You get better illumination and judgement of the road condition.

2. You stay on course. The Bandipur and Mudumalai roads have a lot of off-track paths leading away. Trust me you don’t want to be stranded in the darkness of the wild forest night. Who will you ask for directions? The elephants?

In the event of encountering elephants/bison crossing the road, stop the vehicle a good distance away WITHOUT turning off the engine. Don’t even think about honking. These giants can very well charge and turn a mini truck over when agitated. The animals usually give out warnings if they feel threatened, so if you see one even making a mock charge towards you, take a u-turn and speed away. Wait till you hear/see the entire herd pass through and only then make your move. Remember, the jungle is their area. You are only a passer by.

This road had looked so exciting in the daylight ..






What a mighty elephant looks like at night.. (Pic taken from internet for reference, Wifey was too freaked out to click pictures)..






After riding for about an hour we were through both the Bandipur and Mudumalai reserves. We thanked God for having saved us from any untoward happening in the forest.


We reached home by 9:30 pm after travelling an extra and exhausting 70 kms due to the detour. My human companions were obviously tired with the grueling ride and mental turmoil and scurried off to bed instantly. As I retired for the night in the parking, listening to my exhaust cooling off, I was smiling. Stunning views of nature, cruising through clouds, climbing and descending hairpin bends, crashing but still riding on strongly, negotiating treacherous forests paths and coming face to face with the largest living land animal in the world in it’s own natural habitat was an amazing experience for our first true roadtrip.

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Seems like you had a ride of your life, well you could have stayed that night at masangudi where you have good hotels and resorts. Travelling at night in jungle damm i know when i stayed at bandipur, went for a night safari, its scary....

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Yup I too feel that now. On a later ooty trip saw few decent hotels. Should have done the homework better I confess. Riding with your better half is a big responsibility. Well, I have learnt and now atleast I have an exciting though dangerous story to talk about

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Enthralling storytelling!
Hope you & your wifey have recovered from the crash. It definitely makes an adventurous trip.

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Thanks! The injuries have healed now. Were minor. But it has made me go for knee guards all the same

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Simply superb writing and photoes!

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

awesome narration mate !! And that was a great jungle story. I see you reciting them to people over coffee/beer in future

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Just came across this.

Very nice pics!

Re: My journeys begin : Straight from my mechanical heart

Bumped into this log. Very well composed keeping the rider, errr..reader interested throughout