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Ride #5 - First Monsoon Ride Bangalore - Dharmasthala - Chikmagalur - Bangalore

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  • #1

    Ride #5 - First Monsoon Ride Bangalore - Dharmasthala - Chikmagalur - Bangalore

    Hello Everyone,

    Me and my friends have planned for a much awaited monsoon ride to Chikmagalur.

    Date: 20, 21 and 22 July 2018

    Itinerary:

    20th July 2018 - Bangalore - Hasaan - Dharmasthala

    21st July 2018 - Dharmasthala - Chikmagalur Via Charmadi Ghat

    22nd July 2018 - Chikmagalur - Belur - Bangalore

    Riders:

    Palani - Classic 500
    Varun - Classic 350 Gun Metal Grey
    Sajo - Yamaha FZ -16
    Bala(Me) and KS Pandian Sir (My college Professor) - RE Himalayan

    Excited. Will update the travelogue once the ride is complete.
    Tags: chikmagalur, classic 500, fz -16, gun metal grey, monsoon ride, rehimalayan
  • #2
    Re: Ride #5 - First Monsoon Ride Bangalore - Dharmasthala - Chikmagalur - Bangalore

    Looking forward!

    travelogue in anticipation, approved.
    (Been There Done That) x 3.25

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Ride #5 - First Monsoon Ride Bangalore - Dharmasthala - Chikmagalur - Bangalore

      2018 marks the early onset of South West monsoon at Mainland India.

      Varun started the topic, shall we go for a Monsoon ride? Yes, was the answer from me and Palani. We three work for the same organization and in the same team and Varun’s classmate during engineering Sajo was also greedy to go for a bike ride before his marriage which was Scheduled later this year.

      After exploring many options like Shakleshpur, Chikmagalur, Coorg, Agumbe and Wayanad, we zeroed on Chikmagalur.

      Dates were being discussed, everybody were open for any weekends except Palani. After discussion we have decided that 20th, 21st and 22nd of July. Rooms were booked at Dharmasthala and Chikmagalur

      I invited my beloved professor from my engineering college, Mr.K.S.Pandian Prof of Geology to join our ride. I was not able to accommodate him during my Summer ride to Idukki and Munnar. Though he was eager to join us, latest positive developments back at his home has forced him to withdraw from the ride. I have promised him to take him with our group during our next ride.

      Route: Bangalore – Dharmasthala – Charmadi Ghat – Chikmagalur – Bangalore




      Day 1: Bangalore to Dharmasthala (Via Shakleshpur)

      First day was supposed to be an uneventful like any of my rides, but time had a different plan for us. We all gathered at my home and started by around 2.30 PM.

      1st Pic of the ride taken by my wife:




      From Ramamurthy Nagar took Outer ring road to reach Hebbal and head straight to Nelmangala. Had a quick and late lunch there and we were officially out of the Bangalore city. We all were cruising at good speed, reached Hassan.

      1. Nelmangala to Hassan highway was a beauty
      2. Due to heavy rain, nature was at its best on the both the sides
      3. You have some good eateries on the way and small dhabas



      From Hassan, we took left towards Mangalore Highway. Time was around 6.30 PM we stopped just after Hassan city for a quick tea break, since the mercury started going down and then filled up fuel. Since this highway is a two-way road, we had to be careful and should maintain a moderate speed, crossed Sakleshpur by around 8.00. Be careful at this point if you are at night hours.



      After few Kms from Shakleshpur, you will reach a point where there will be a diversion for both left and right. You must take the road in right to reach Dharmasthala. In this road, it looks to be a scam running. They make vehicles puncher and they will fix with high cost. Because we saw many cars getting punchered in the same spot and 100 meters from there, even my my beast got a puncher.

      The Culprit:



      The Hotel where we took shelter for 2 hours:


      Loosened the tube’s valve and pushed it to the shop, Palani and Sajo went to bring a puncture man from sakleshpur. After 2 hours of struggle we resumed our journey after 9.30 PM.

      The drive from here was really thrilling because it was raining heavily, visibility was < 10 meters, complete fog in many areas and no vehicles passing by for most of the time.

      But still it was really a great ride which we enjoyed since we know a chance like this will be very rare to get. We drove across beautiful roads which was fully covered by trees, pitch dark, sound of water streams on both sides, an amazing smell of soil and fog all around.

      After nearly 2 hours of drive, we reached Dharmasthala by around 11.30 and checked into the room.

      After cracking lot of jokes about the incident crashed on to the bed by around 12.30.

      Accommodation: We booked a room in the lodge available in Dharmasthala (Managed by the Temple) for 600 INR for 5 people. The rooms were clean and good




      Day 2: Dharmasthala – Charmadi ghat – Chikmagalur – Baba Budan Giri – Chikmagalur

      Woke up by 6.30 and got ready to go to temple, went out only to see rain was pouring like a 10 HP motor pump. Decided to quit visiting the temple. Packed up and checked out by 9.00 AM and resumed our journey.

      The first 7 Kms of the road which starts from Dharmasthala to connect a village called Kakinja in route was something an unexpected beauty. We felt as if the bike has got into some village in Kerala with beautiful back drop. Even the house structures and everything will make you feel you are in Kerala. You will Kakinja in 30 minutes and this is a small town with some small eateries. It might not look classy from outside but the food you get was amazing. It made our day. Also, the people around was so nice.

      @Kakinje:




      To add, they also have a local language called “Nakku Nikku” which is a mix of Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu and Tulu. This is the beauty of exploring, you don’t know what new and interesting information you are going to get. Both the owner and the local people have warned us about aggressive commercial vehicle drivers and asked us to be slow and cautious while riding in Charmadi ghat. Meanwhile, Palani has got his loosed air filter box fixed at a local shop.

      After riding for few KMs we entered the charmadi ghat section and the road conditions were bad due to heavy rains this monsoon, but the joy of riding inside the ghat section was awesome. Once we reached the top, we started seeing water falls one after another right beside the road and in no time, we all became kid and started enjoying in the falls along with the rain and near zero visibility.

      Note: We can only park 2 wheelers at most of the places, 4 wheelers can just enjoy the views.



      Resumed riding and after 20 minutes, we reached the valley. This is the place where you can enjoy the greenery to the core. After riding for about 2 hours we reached Chikmagalur town, reached our stay which was 5 KMs away from the town. After unpacking and some quick rest we headed towards Baba Budan Giri and had our lunch in a Dhaba on the way.

      The road condition was very good even at this season, reached the point with great difficulty due to fog and non-stop rain. This is considered as a holy place for both Hindus and Muslims.



      We had some snacks and Tea which was great. The taste of tea increases when the mercury goes down





      Visited some falls on the way back and had some snacks at “New Town Canteen “ (Do not try this. It is expensive and service is really bad. But you will get nice Gullabjamun and Poori) on the way back to our stay. After some refreshments at the room came back to town to have a good non-veg food and came back to take good rest (Only on dreams). Palani didn’t want to come out of the Thug life of his classic 500 and keep making the same noise while sleeping, with great difficulty got some sleep by around 12.

      Day 3: Chikmagalur - Mulliangiri Peak – Belur – Bangalore

      First half of day 3 was eventful, started by around 8.30 AM. Half of the distance was the same route to Baba Budan Giri. Once we reached the open side of the hills we had to face strong wind, with less visibility and last 3 KMs of bad stretch we reached Mulliangiri (Highest Peak of Karnataka). My beast Himalayan was showing its character whenever the roads go bad, many youngsters who were trekking the final stretch had cheered up for me (guess they did it for my bike).



      We had to face fierce winds which can push away even the bikes. We had to claim some good number (~200) of steps to reach the summit. We could see nothing but fog throughout the climb.



      In front of the Resort:


      Returned to our stay and checked out. Went to Chikmagalur town to buy coffee for home and for friends. Filled up fuel and started cruising towards Belur. Had Biriyani at Belur (Hotel Paradise) and decided to ride non-stop till Hassan.

      This stretch is really a beautiful one and nature all around which one must enjoy. Don’t try to cruise at high speed because you will miss some beautiful sight

      Took just 3 beaks for every 60-70 KMs and the final one was at Nelmangala for tea and snacks. Bid adieu to all and reached home by 8.30 PM.

      Customary final Pic @ Nelmangala:


      Ride hard...Ride safe... This is Bala signing off until the next trip..

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