Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

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Msuthar, that was a good trip. Share more pics please... Ride safe and hard!

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Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

DAY 1: Bangalore to Rameshwaram

Friday 18th March 4:30AM

Route: Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Madurai-Rameshwaram


Road status: BLR-Madurai 4-laned highway, Madurai-Rameshwaram 2-laned road with construction going on to widen it.



The day for departure finally arrived. I was on cloud 9 as was about to start my first ever solo long ride. I did several small rides around bangalore but


were just for a day and within 400Kms of total distance but this was alltogether a different level for me to ride 600+Kms in a day. Got up at 3:30 in morning


took a nice warm bath and was all set to saddle up and ride. I just had my usual backpack which i use for office to be with me stuffed up.


Contents:
> Clothes(to last 3 days minimal)
> Puncture kit.
> Basic tool kit.
> Snickers and some biscuits
> Gatorade powder(for hydration and glucose supply)
> Documents.


Didnt had anything to eat in morning except a chilled tall glass of milk and was on the road. Plan was to stop at A2B near Krishnagiri roughly 75kms away


from my place and have breakfast. I was good drive till A2B found a lot of bikers on road as it was long weekend was accompnied by some RE's, Harley's, and


few other solo riders. so after a ride of half an hour stopped at A2B only to find that it was closed at around 6.00AM was bit hungry now so i drove little further near Krishnagiri and found a shop and had sumptuous dosa's and was back again on road after a short break.










Objective was to cover as much as i can until the sun reaches overhead. Reached salem at around 8:00, was doing decent 80-90's with occasional bursts of 100kmph. Took a coffee break at Salem called home for on-road status update I somehow managed to convince my parents and accept that i will be riding on my bike. Target was to reach Madurai by 12:00.














On road again after Salem break and my poor stomach started complaining as i was just feeding with liquids only . Stopped for lunch at around 11.30, Madurai was still 50Kms to go. Restaurant was saravana bhavan but was below standards for name. I ordered puri subji which i managed to finish made a Gatorade drink as it was scorching heat outside, body was getting depleted of water that it wasn't able to take out the water i drank(if you know what i mean).
Was about to reach Madurai was in outskirts and the Chain was making too much of noise so stopped down at local mechanic and got it oiled and adjusted.


Now the road for Rameshwaram goes from within Madurai city. The bypass was the most narrowest and worst bypass i ever encountered. It ran alongside the river with all sorts of potholes and bumps not to mention local traffic too, was able to come out of city limits at around 1.30. The narrow 2-laned road started from here with all possible vehicles from both sides. The road was lifeless no trees, barren land, dust all around and slow moving trucks which made riding a hell. Managed to find a good spot for a short break as i was now riding since 10 hours, felt bliss as the hot winds turned cool breeze after you are covered in sweat. Had a snickers with water and sat down on rocks under tree fully streched out after about 15mins.

View of bridge from bypass which ran alongside river in Madurai



Rest stop



Rooster





Rameshwaram was 110Kms from here and it was 2:00 in the clock. Expected to reach at around 4:30 at pamban bridge. The image of the destination was in my mind which really helped me to keep going, was singing out songs loudly and feeling hot air passing through the jacket mesh onto my body which felt cool. Riding jacket was really a big saviour here from the scorching sun.



Time passed, distance passed, Finally first glimpse of something like sea caught my eye. I was practically riding on a small piece of land maybe around 300m wide and could see water on both sides!! was amazed by this!! and just before Pamban bridge took a diversion towards my right to a rocky beach. Definitely was a moment of victory as i could see pamban bridge just few kms away and it was 4:00 in clock. While reading other travelogues for same destination came across one by our moderator Mr.DS he mentioned that there is a train at 4:30 passing from bridge, remembered it and raced up to bridge, was there by 4:15.














An Overloaded RE Thunderbird. Was driven by a foreigner couple. Still wondering how the managed to pack all of these!!





















Overjoyed, Accomplished had every joyful feeling that time. Finally i am at my destination of today. About the pamban bridge, It was definitely crowded, all peoples will park for view and taking snaps although its strictly no parking region. There were no traces of policemen around so went on and found a spot to park by road side and walked down to center to get perfect view of the Pamban Bridge. I waited for about Half an hour just for train to come, sadly there was no train for me finally decided to leave and go to Rameshwaram and find my hotel.

Rameshwaram is 10kms from bridge, I was half way down and i heard a horn!! That's my train!!! i exclaimed. It was leaving Rameshwaram and i sighed. My body was giving up and was demanding rest so decided not to go in pursuit of train and rather find hotel. Entered Rameshwaram. A small crowded town with a lot of pilgrims. Reminded me of all the holy places that i have visited in Gujarat(I am a gujju). Not so different with lodges all around and typical crowd. Finally found my hotel without any hassle of directions, It was just near Railway station.


Hotel Vinayaga, Inside the street next to Rama Teertham temple.
Cost for me was 800rs(goibibo discounts) for night with a very decent double room with AC and soft bed, ample parking space, good staff, clean rooms and most importantly a backup power generator as there is a lot of power cuts in Rameshwaram.


Felt bliss after reaching to room, just jumped on bed and took rest of about half an hour. I have this habit to visit surroundings at any new place, so after a good hot-cold shower i started out to walk and see nearby area. First thing that i bumped into was House of Kalam!!. It's a small place with 2 floors displaying life of our beloved late President Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. Rameshwaram is where he was born. Had walk around all the displays of his achievements and his life, was truly inspiring and also set a chain of thoughts running about my own accomplishments, shortly decided not to think much :P. Was looking for a decent place to eat and found one Marwadi lodge on main street towards Agni Teertham. For all North Indian travellers this is a very much recommended place to eat as they give phulkas and decent subji along with rice and dal as meal for 70Rs which was totally worth it. Took a walk back to hotel made some calls and called day off.

Next day was planned as visit to Dhanushkodi, sole reason for me which led me to drive till here.

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Good going Man,,Bring on the rest..And here is a pic of the train taken approximately the same time...3 years ago when the bridge was red ..Not a catchy one though..

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Good narration with beautiful pics

Bring on the rest

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

DAY 2


Plan: Visit Dhanushkodi- The Ghost Town
Distance: 12Kms from my hotel
Time: 6:30AM


It was a long restful night for me as i refused to get up even after snoozing the alarm 3 times, Finally was up at around 6:30. Sun was already out as could see light from my window along with some clouds. Hurriedly got up, got ready and was out on road at 6:45 for a 12Km ride to Dhanushkodi.










Something about Dhanushkodi
Dhanushkodi is situated to the South-East of Pamban. Danushkodi is about 29 km West of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The Dhanushkodi railway line running from Pamban Station was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone and a passenger train with over 100 passengers drowned in the sea.
The Hindu scripture Ramayana says that Lord Rama built a bridge or causeway, called Ram Setu or 'Rama's bridge', between the mainland and Sri Lanka, in order to bring his army across. After Rama won the war and crowned a new king of Lanka, Vibhishana asked Rama to destroy the bridge. According to the Hindu story, Rama then broke the bridge with one end of his bow. Hence, the name Dhanushkodi or 'end of the bow' (dhanush meaning 'bow' and kodi meaning 'end').


Dhanushkodi has the only land border between India and Sri Lanka which is one of the smallest in the world-just 45 meters in length on a shoal in Palk Strait. Before the 1964 cyclone, Dhanushkodi was a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town. After it got hit by cyclone altogether, over 1,800 people died in the cyclonic storm. All dwellings and other structures in Dhanushkodi town were marooned in the storm. The high tidal waves moved deep onto the island and ruined the entire town. So it is named Ghost Town.




When i was planning the trip i came across the news that there was no road leading to Dhanushkodi as it was destroyed. People who visited earlier had done some off roading in the sand to reach till there. After covering almost 5Kms i reached to halt where it was not allowed to proceed further for vehicles. But to my surprise there was a freshly laid tarmac and further inspecting found that it was laid till stretch of 5kms further ahead. The locals in area operate 4x4 van for tourists to commute from the point till the end across the beach driving on sands instead of taking the road. They were doing this for their living so understood the point of blocking the road and not allowing tourist vehicles to pass. I was also accompanied by a lone fellow rider by this time. Somehow he managed to negotiate and i too jumped in the negotiations for allowing to go as we are just bikers. The man who was guarding the road block note down our bike numbers and allowed us to pass. Hurray!!



The ride was pure bliss from here on. Riding on a road laid on white sand with water surrounding you on both the sides, was an amazing feeling. Sun was peeking out through clouds and cool breeze which i missed since i left bangalore was gushing past me. Stopped for few snaps on the way. By now the other biker also got acquainted with me and we both shared few clicks of each other and then moved on to the rama-sethu point. After about 5-6Kms the road ended and was sand all around. The end was visible so decided to park bike over sand laid for road construction and started walking. After reaching the point it occurred to me that i was actually surrounded by water on 3-sides, it was blue vast ocean on either side and some piece of land visible ahead. Thats Sri-lanka i mumbled to myself and this was the closest i ever got to an international border. The fellow biker and me exchanged pleasantries and he introduced himself as Mr.Hanspal Singh found out he was riding all the way from Chennai all alone. After a brief photo session and a surprising SMS on Mr.Hans's phone "Welcome to Sri Lanka" by his network operator implied he had officially visited Sri Lanka

























Now the sun was climbing up and the temperature was rising once again, we both decided to leave the place bid a final adieu and were back on road. On the way came across the remains of Dhanushkodi town clicked few snaps, Mr.Hans asked me my next destination as there was nothing else to do in the town and had one more day left. I wasn't really having any plans what to do next. I thought of going to KanyaKumari but thinking about the heat didn't wanted to pursue it further. I asked same question to Mr.Hans about his plan, It was to visit KodaiKanal!!

















I never really thought of visiting Kodaikanal even while planning the trip. It would be en-route to bangalore but with a diversion of close to 160Kms. Thought for a while and it actually was a good plan. Now the whole rest-for-a-day thing went out of my mind and was ready to ride again for the day. Google maps pointed our next destination as 280Kms away. Clock already stuck 9:00 and so targeted to reach Kodaikanal before it gets dark. Now before leaving Rameswaram i just wanted to visit the famous temple. But as i reached there saw a long waiting queue of pilgrims, bowed my head from outside of the temple, took blessings, had breakfast and was all ready for my next impromptu destination.
We were on road by 10.30am as decided to meet at pamban bridge and proceed further. A long day was awaiting.


Route Taken: Rameshwaram-Madurai-Kodaikanal


The return route was really a non-happening one, was just riding on two laned road till Madurai had few hydration stops and reached madurai at around 1.30PM. After reaching Madurai had to take-on the same bypass road and on the way took a break for fresh chilled sugar cane juice had 2 glasses of sugarcane juice. Asked vendor about Madurai any places if can visit in short duration. He pointed to some temples, but as it was noon so will be closed. Decided to just head on for Kodaikanal as it was still 120Kms away. After fuelling up we were on outskirts of Madurai searching for route to Kodaikanal. Google maps was behaving bit weird not correcting the location getting signal losses. Somehow we managed to find a route which went through villages and lush green trees at some points and farms with paddy and sugarcanes. The road was good eventful with many curves, enjoyed cornering. Reached onto Madura-Salem highway our diversion was few Kms away decided to throttle up and covered it within minutes. Highways are such bliss to ride on.

After short break at one of the bakery were on road again and reached at foothills on the way to KodaiKanal. From here there was an uphill battle of about 52Kms. This was the longest ever ghat roads that i would do. It started off crazy, good curves and slopes. The road was mixed of good and bad patches, was somewhat disappointed at few patches for potholes and couldn't just corner out of them. There were buses, trucks and cars oncoming as well as alongside. Managed to overtake and ride at decent speed on those roads. As i reached Halfway stopped for a small break and view was just mesmerising. The temperature had also gone down by few degrees. it was 4:00 in clock and were still about 25kms away from destination.

After a relatively slow ride were able to reach at around 5:00. First stop was small waterfalls on the way. Huge crowd, too much traffic, sighed a little, clicked few pics and was off to main town. Reached Kodai lake which is in the middle of town. As i stepped in it reminded me of Mt. Abu, the famous hill station in Rajasthan near border of Gujarat. Parked bike beside lake road and damn there were so many people around with so many vehicles!! The only relief was the climate, was so cool.













We both were standing near lake observing the boats and were thinking to find a hotel stay for tonight. It was getting dark started search for a hotel online and found one at a decent price. Drove till hotel, the entrance was having a slope of about 30 degrees high! That was some short climb that i made. Got decent room and just barged in and onto the bed.


After freshening up, it was around 7:30 and were hungry too so decided to go out take a look around town and find a decent place to eat. As we stepped out..man it was cold, Temperature had dropped down to 21C, just few hours ago were riding in scorching heat of 37C. Roamed around a small market street, bought some homemade chocolates and some spices for sending it to home(mom's orders).


Found a punjabi restaurant nearby but the taste was not likable for me and you can imagine horror of the guy accompanied by me as he was a punjabi Somehow we stuffed our empty stomachs and came back to hotel. It was already 10:00, Moon was shining bright. Hotel was on a perch so could view the shining Moon and it was a sight to watch. Stars were also visible and spent some time viewing them. Finally it was totally worth it.


Peace of mind

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Awesome buddy. When I visited Danushkodi in December 2015, this road was under construction. I begged police man to allow me to ride for a few kilometers, they weren't pleased with my begging skills. Glad you made it till rama sethu point. Nice pics and write up. Do join us for Bangalore G2G's.

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Awesome:thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I8262 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Nice snaps mate!

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Thanks dude

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Well done and thanks for sharing your pictures of the devastation that the cyclone made on the town

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Final Day Pics leaving from Kodaikanal

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Good ride and beautiful pictures.

Re: Hot Beaches to Soothing Hills

Thanks........