Christmasy Travelogue Approved​

Thanks a lot Monk

Thanks Krishna. Rest all on it's way, stay tuned.

The Plan, four days before Christmas (21^st and 22^nd December):The Plan, two days before Christmas (23^rd December):^th evening till Salem and remaining distance on 25^th early morning.

Preparation night (23^rd DecemberMy safety gear:
- LS2 Phobia FF350 Helmet with clear visor
- Spartan Pro Gear Helios Mesh Jacket
- Cramster Twister touring gloves
- Cramster balaclava
I have made my bike ready for long rides by fitting a mobile phone mount and universal USB charger.

Letting the good times roll:
Day 1, 24^th December: Bangalore to Salem, Riding from office:
I have all the things packed in to a backpack. As planned, I left office (5^th Block, Kormangala) at 3:30PM and reached the Electronic city flyover toll gate by 4:15 PM. My only fuel stop for the day is at Bharat Petrol@Chinnar, Tamilnadu. Filled in for 600 INR and got both the tires air pressure checked.



Rode for 200 kilometers non-stop and reached Salem outskirts by 6:30 PM. It took me 1 hour to ride through Salem traffic and I was able to find a budget lodge with safe parking by 7:30 PM, checked-in and finished my dinner at near-by hotel and crashed in to bed by 9:30 PM.





Coming up: Day 2, 25^th December: Salem--Kanyakumari, Riding on Christmas day

Thanks a lot friends. Your comments are quite encouraging.

Hi dichkaun, thanks a lot for the appreciation. Thread updated. BTW your username is very good, sounds funny

Oh is it? They were loading fine on my side also no one complained till now. Thanks anyway

Sorry for the wait. So the second day ride details are here:

25^th December, The Christmas day:
I got up at 5:00 AM, freshen-up, checked-out of the lodge and was on road by 6:00 AM against my planned depart at 8:00 AM, 2 hours ahead.

Odo reading when started leaving from Salem


A decorated church in Salem


Sunrise over a lake




Snacks and hot coffee break


Encounter with windmills










And the district welcomes me


Reached the southernmost tip of our mother land India by 12:30 PM


The immediate thing I did after reaching Kanyakumari is the hunt for a stay with parking facility. Since it’s a long weekend all the places were pre-booked and were already full. Lodges were making money out of this situation and were charging more than the actual price. Unfortunately (fortunate for a guest who’s going to appear soon) I was unable to find a single room in Kanyakumari after enquiring some 6 to 7 lodges and I was left with no other option rather than taking a double room. I bargained and failed, paid 1200 INR for a decent room which is close enough for tourist attractions around.

Finished my lunch (it’s horrible) returned to lodge and slept for two hours, got up and started exploring the places around.

Shrine of our lady of ransom, Kanyakumari






When the night turns up


Vivekananda Rock memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue


I have skipped visiting Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar Statue, because of crowd and huge queue waiting for the boat tickets. If you want to cover these places, make sure you are spending one full day in Kanyakumari. As per the information I gathered, people form start forming a queue from 7 or 8 AM. So plan accordingly.

A shop selling different varieties of sea shells starting from 20 INR.


Yay!!! At the southernmost tip of India




They named them as twin beaches, but they didn’t look like a beach to my eyes




Sun settling down at the southernmost tip of India


That’s me, taking a selfie with Sun






I was lucky enough to see the sunset at the southernmost tip of India. But couldn’t get perfect sunset because of sky being cloudy. All the gathered crowd was little upset for same reason.

When the crowd started to disperse, I was having a snack sitting on a near-by rock. In all this crowd I saw a guy riding a Yamaha R15 V2 with True Wanderers sticker on tail, ‘I, The Biker’ patch on this jacket and few other patches. I identified him, but in that crowd he didn’t noticed me. He was very much disappointed that he couldn’t made it to the sunset. He rode the bike to a parking spot and I started walking towards him. Meet @saquib3005, the true wanderer. I don’t know how he felt but it’s a big surprise for me to meet riding buddies at an unexpected place.

I’m damn sure that he’s not going to get a lodge to stay so I invited him to share the double room that I took. So whatever happens, it happens for a reason – Me reaching Kanyakumari early, taking a double room is helping some biker brother. He’s on a solo ride, I’m on my solo ride as well and we both were riding in opposite directions. But somehow we met in Kanyakumari.

Selfie with the True Wanderer


After a little chit-chat we had our food, visited couple of places, we inquired about the way to sunrise view point and returned to the lodge. So the day has ended with beautiful roads, hundreds of windmills, great sunset and an unexpected friend. Totally loved it!!!

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. I'm occupied with some office work and never ending meetings. Will try to end the travelogue with upcoming chapter. Hope you all like the pictures and kindly bear with my writing, second timer here so I would like to hear some suggestions in writing tlogs. Thanks a lot.

Coming up: Day 3: Riding to the Temple town and to the Ghost town

EXACTLY My thoughts....

Bikes...Food... 2 things I cant live without!

And the wait is on




The first glimpse








Its same thing again, we didn’t saw the perfect sunrise since sky being cloudy. But all in all it’s an amazing experience to see the sun settling down and rising up at Lakshadweep Sea. By the time we returned to the lodge it was 7:15 AM I ensured that I have packed all my things, bid adieu to the true wanderer and was on road riding to Thiruchendur located 90 Km from Kanyakumari.





Want to see how the good the roads are getting while I ride? Checkout




I have crossed two such water puddles on my way to Thiruchendur. And in all this I have reached the 39000 Km milestone on the odometer.



Reached Thiruchendur by 9:40 AM. I visited this place only based on my friend’s suggestion, but I didn’t felt the place good unless you go to the Murugan Temple which is known as only Murugan house that’s situated near the sea shore.



So I didn't wasted any time there and started riding towards Rameswaram, the temple island town. Letting the pictures talk about route:













The Pamban Bridge




Construction of missing link in Danushkodi




Travelling to Danushkodi




Remains








Danushkodi beach


Returned from Danushkodi by 5:30 PM and started to my friends place, M. Reddiapatti. That's 145 Kilometers from Rameswaram. And I rode in the night through pathless pothole filled so called roads. One can imagine how hard it will be to ride a Yamaha R15 during night time and that 145 KM stretch is unforgettable for me. I'm all alone with only a couple of two wheelers for only some of the extent.

Reached M. Reddiapatti by 9:30 PM, that's way too late and I never rode till that time. Had an awesome dinner with dosa's and mutton curry made by my friend's mom. Can't forget the food I had there.

While leaving his place @9:30 AM


Next destination is the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, the temple city. Spent around 1 in Madurai because of rush inside the temple and baggage counters.





Reached home safe by 6:00 PM.

odometer reading at the end of the ride


Thanks for reading and really sorry for ending it very very late almost 20 days after ride completion

My very recent ride on 15th, 16th and 17th of Jan 2016. It's one hell of a ride through western ghats and thick forests.