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Prologue
It was December time, and I had to consume the leave I am privileged to by the office.So, the Dexter in me was planning for a sudden 1 week vacation along with friends. But, where?I had a long backlogged list of places to visit among which the west coast stood first.
Now, where in west coast?
The Plan
After a few iterations of round table conferences with friends it was decided that we should head to Goa.
"Bus? Car? Bike?How do we go there?" question was evident until the last moment as all the means of transport were not evaluated thoroughly and since it was not planned a long while before.
We were 3 people, and I was the lone car driver, which rules out car. It was then that we decided to do an adventure trip on bikes. A 5 day trip, 3 People, 3 Bikes. 3 Idiots?
Our plan was to start on 12pm of Day 1 from Hyderabad reach Hampi by late evening of Day 1.Then head to goa and reach by Day 2 evening.
Day 1
We packed our luggage according to the plan and were about to start and meet at a common point in Hyderabad. But, just before the start, I realized that my 8 year old Cbz Xtreme, 31k kms done, needed change of shoes. As the old rubber had worn out and I could not have taken a chance of a long trip. The other 2 bikes were in fairly good condition and none of them required any urgent attention as such.Went to Prakash tyres near Mayur Pan Mahal, Koti in Hyderabad based on a friends recommendation. I had the option to choose either new zappers or Michelin Sirac Street. The zappers were costlier to Sirac by about Rs.400, both tyres included. I wanted to try something different and decided on the Sirac. Verified the dates of manufacture and purchased both front and back for Rs.3600 and got them fitted
It was 2 pm by the time I joined my friend on his Hero Impulse and we both got the petrol tanks filled to the brim. Another friend was supposed to join us in the outskirts of Hyderabad. We reached Shamshabad by 3pm after wading through the city traffic. We were greeted by the 3rd biker on his Tvs Apache and we were all set to roll despite being 3 hours behind schedule.
Route to follow
Hyderabad->Jadcherla->Mahbubnagar->Raichur->Sindhanur->Gangawati->Hampi
Just before reaching Jadcherla the can of worms slowly started to open. The speedometer cable of my Xtreme got snapped due to Xtreme vibrations. I fastened the speedometer cable to the front fork as it was hanging loose and scrapping the road. For, those who don’t know the 1st version of cbz xtreme is well known for its acupressure’ish vibrations at speeds above 60km/hr. Fortunately, the tachometer and Fuel gauge were fine. Problem 2, noticed the engine oil was slowly leaking from the head screws. I ensured that the bike isn’t ripped till I take to the mechanic at the next checkpoint.
We payed a visit to the mechanic in Mahbubnagar, and he insisted that we take it to a Hero Service center as he was unable to open the Instrument console assembly screws as they were rusted. It was 6pm by then and since we were running behind the schedule by 3 hours, it was evident that we would not be able to reach Hampi if we took any more of such long breaks. And hence, I decided to continue with a dysfunctional speedometer and odometer.
Day - 1 - Enroute to Raichur - Dusk
We slowly started munching miles by taking very short breaks and reached Raichur bypass by around 8pm. We had to take the road towards Gangavathi to reach Hampi. Slowly, the wind was getting cooler. And despite having proper thermals, the weather was too cold for us to handle while driving. And gradually our speed also decreased.
We started to feel hungry as it was dinner time. Astonishingly, we could not find any good Dhaba to have food. To be honest they were very sparsely distributed. A good Samaritan local in a village recommended us to head to Bombay Dhaba 6kms before Sindhanur. Our hunger was at its peak also complemented by the cold weather we coerced ourselves to stop at Bombay Dhaba. The place was a bit shady, but the food was good.
It was around 12 midnight by the time we finished our dinner and we needed to take rest as we had to ride about 400+ kms the next day. We checked into a hotel in Sindhanur and let our butts rest for a few hours.
Now, enough of words and I will let the pictures elaborate the trip.
Day-2 On the way to Hubli from Sindhanur
Day-2 Enroute to Ankola from Belgaum
Day-2 Plan changed @ Ankola, decided to visit Gokarna, then ride to Goa the next day. Kali River on way to Gokarna.
Day-2 Kudle beach, sunset view point. We just missed the phenomenon.
Day-2 Om beach @ Gokarna, after dusk. Shacks at the beach.
To be Continued....
P.S.: Please excuse me,as this is my first travelogue I am trying my level best to make it interesting.
It was December time, and I had to consume the leave I am privileged to by the office.So, the Dexter in me was planning for a sudden 1 week vacation along with friends. But, where?I had a long backlogged list of places to visit among which the west coast stood first.
Now, where in west coast?
The Plan
After a few iterations of round table conferences with friends it was decided that we should head to Goa.
"Bus? Car? Bike?How do we go there?" question was evident until the last moment as all the means of transport were not evaluated thoroughly and since it was not planned a long while before.
We were 3 people, and I was the lone car driver, which rules out car. It was then that we decided to do an adventure trip on bikes. A 5 day trip, 3 People, 3 Bikes. 3 Idiots?
Our plan was to start on 12pm of Day 1 from Hyderabad reach Hampi by late evening of Day 1.Then head to goa and reach by Day 2 evening.
Day 1
We packed our luggage according to the plan and were about to start and meet at a common point in Hyderabad. But, just before the start, I realized that my 8 year old Cbz Xtreme, 31k kms done, needed change of shoes. As the old rubber had worn out and I could not have taken a chance of a long trip. The other 2 bikes were in fairly good condition and none of them required any urgent attention as such.Went to Prakash tyres near Mayur Pan Mahal, Koti in Hyderabad based on a friends recommendation. I had the option to choose either new zappers or Michelin Sirac Street. The zappers were costlier to Sirac by about Rs.400, both tyres included. I wanted to try something different and decided on the Sirac. Verified the dates of manufacture and purchased both front and back for Rs.3600 and got them fitted
It was 2 pm by the time I joined my friend on his Hero Impulse and we both got the petrol tanks filled to the brim. Another friend was supposed to join us in the outskirts of Hyderabad. We reached Shamshabad by 3pm after wading through the city traffic. We were greeted by the 3rd biker on his Tvs Apache and we were all set to roll despite being 3 hours behind schedule.
Route to follow
Hyderabad->Jadcherla->Mahbubnagar->Raichur->Sindhanur->Gangawati->Hampi
Just before reaching Jadcherla the can of worms slowly started to open. The speedometer cable of my Xtreme got snapped due to Xtreme vibrations. I fastened the speedometer cable to the front fork as it was hanging loose and scrapping the road. For, those who don’t know the 1st version of cbz xtreme is well known for its acupressure’ish vibrations at speeds above 60km/hr. Fortunately, the tachometer and Fuel gauge were fine. Problem 2, noticed the engine oil was slowly leaking from the head screws. I ensured that the bike isn’t ripped till I take to the mechanic at the next checkpoint.
We payed a visit to the mechanic in Mahbubnagar, and he insisted that we take it to a Hero Service center as he was unable to open the Instrument console assembly screws as they were rusted. It was 6pm by then and since we were running behind the schedule by 3 hours, it was evident that we would not be able to reach Hampi if we took any more of such long breaks. And hence, I decided to continue with a dysfunctional speedometer and odometer.
Day - 1 - Enroute to Raichur - Dusk
We slowly started munching miles by taking very short breaks and reached Raichur bypass by around 8pm. We had to take the road towards Gangavathi to reach Hampi. Slowly, the wind was getting cooler. And despite having proper thermals, the weather was too cold for us to handle while driving. And gradually our speed also decreased.
We started to feel hungry as it was dinner time. Astonishingly, we could not find any good Dhaba to have food. To be honest they were very sparsely distributed. A good Samaritan local in a village recommended us to head to Bombay Dhaba 6kms before Sindhanur. Our hunger was at its peak also complemented by the cold weather we coerced ourselves to stop at Bombay Dhaba. The place was a bit shady, but the food was good.
It was around 12 midnight by the time we finished our dinner and we needed to take rest as we had to ride about 400+ kms the next day. We checked into a hotel in Sindhanur and let our butts rest for a few hours.
Now, enough of words and I will let the pictures elaborate the trip.
Day-2 On the way to Hubli from Sindhanur
Day-2 Enroute to Ankola from Belgaum
Day-2 Plan changed @ Ankola, decided to visit Gokarna, then ride to Goa the next day. Kali River on way to Gokarna.
Day-2 Kudle beach, sunset view point. We just missed the phenomenon.
Day-2 Om beach @ Gokarna, after dusk. Shacks at the beach.
To be Continued....
P.S.: Please excuse me,as this is my first travelogue I am trying my level best to make it interesting.
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