Here is how I describe my most adventurous trip to my hometown so far...
Some time around 8th May (Friday), Raghu mailed a few of us asking our opinion about travelling by train to Mangalore, to attend Pradeep's brother's wedding. Himself, Shiv and I confirmed. But he did not book the tickets until Tuesday, 3 days before the scheduled date of travel (it was because his internet connection had a problem, but let me blame him for everything ;-) ). A day before the trip, he cancelled his ticket, and so only Shiv and I were to travel together.
And the day came. I took a ride from my office to Marathahalli in a Vajra (Volvo city bus) bus, and from there to Wind Tunnel Road in another. Wind Tunnel road is where Shiv's office is, and the conductor did not know this place. I had trouble in explaining where this place is, until another passenger interrupted and told the conductor that it is near Total mall.
Fine, I waited for Shiv there, who came quickly (strange!!!), and we took another Vajra to Majestic. We reached there at 7.30 PM, and as we had another hour and a half for the train to arrive, we took a stroll on the busy streets of Majestic, and hopped into a shoddy pub. After sharing a pitcher of beer along with tasty chilly chicken, we bought some food from KFC and headed to the train station. We checked there and realised that our tickets weren't confirmed. Still, we decided to go to the platform 9, where the train would arrive. I called up Raghu on the way, and he told us that our tickets weren't confirmed, but we should try talking to the TC, who would try to give us some place in the train.
When we reached platform 9, there was no TC. We finished our KFC food (and realised that the KFC guy had cheated us, packing only 4 pieces of chicken, instead of 6), and waited for the train to arrive. The train arrived, along with that, the TC too. We asked the TC, and initially he said he can't do anything. When we met him again, he suggested that we board the car S3. We weren't sure, so we thought of going to KSRTC bus stop and taking a bus to Mangalore. I spoke to Raghu again, to check whether he'd get the money back for our 2 tickets, and he suggested that we should take TC's advice and board S3 because if TC has advised so, he can surely get us seats.
We jumped into that car just as the train started moving, and stood at the door for a while. After half an hour, the TC came, and told us to sit in 2 adjacent seats. Good, we had seats, that too together. Super…. We played Rummy for the next hour or so, initially Shiv having the upper hand, and later me. I guess the final score was 183 - 115, mine being lower. Just as we finished what would be our last game, the TC came and informed us that the seats we had occupied were already booked by someone else, from Mysore. He gave us two options: take a ticket in the general class and travel in that, or get down at Mysore. In any case, he said that the amount we (actually Raghu) had paid for our tickets already would already have been returned, so we must pay for the trip we had from Bangalore to Mysore. That would be 120 Rs for sleeper class. Add to that, the unconfirmed ticket means ticketless travel, so a fine of 250 rs. That meant each of us had to pay 370 Rs for a trip from Bangalore to Mysore. But when he had given those seats, his intention was very clear, to make money. Just as we expected, he took a total of 200 Rs from us, and we alighted at Mysore train station at 11.30 PM.
Then we took a prepaid auto from there to Mysore KSRTC bus stop, paying only 21 Rs. Just as we arrived there fifteen minutes later, we saw a Mangalore-bound bus departing. As I had to take a leak urgently, we skipped that bus and after I relieved myself, we went to speak to the station master there. He put a bomb on us, saying that the bus we had seen was the last bus to Mangalore. Great!!! Someone gave us hope saying there is an Airavata (Volvo intercity bus) in another 15 minutes. We waited, and the bus came as expected. But it was already full. We saw one junk red bus bound to Madikeri, and the conductor suggested that we take that bus and take another from there to Mangalore. But that bus was full, so we skipped that too. After that, there was no bus that would go anywhere close to Mangalore for the next hour and a half. Finally, another Madikeri-bound bus arrived, which was full again.
Then a kind police constable, who was watching us for the two hours we were standing there (taking only a cup of tea in between), told us that it was the last bus for the night, and the next one would be three hours later, at 4.30 AM. Great!!! We boarded the bus, and Shiv found a seat for himself. I saw one empty seat between two men (it was a 3+2 junk bus), but I was reluctant to sit there. A passenger, who was travelling with 2 drums, gave me one drum and told me to sit on that. So I put that drum in the aisle, and sat there with my back towards the direction of the bus. It was a circus. Every time the driver braked, I had to hold on tightly to the rods around.
At Hunsur, one guy sitting next to Shiv alighted (the route of the bus was not through the regular Kushalnagar bus station, but through Virajpet). Finally I had a decent seat. It was congesting, still we managed. I could not get sleep, so I was staring out of the window, trying to remember every place. I got the thoughts of the sort "hey, that's the place where we stopped for a leak during our first Irpu trip", "hey, that's the place where Raghu rode Kunal's Bullet for a while" etc.. Once we crossed Gonikoppa, the road was unfamiliar to me. Then I fell asleep for a while, and when we I woke up, the bus had stopped at Virajpet. The bus was 90% empty at that place, and the driver had suddenly had an adrenaline rush, and he drove like a maniac. We reached Madikeri at 5.25 AM, with me sleeping only for 10 minutes or so. I wonder how Shiv managed to snore!!!
The bus from Madikeri to Mangalore was at 5.30 AM. Aha, five minutes!! We relieved ourselves, and then grabbed a few bananas and some water. Even the Mangalore bus' conductor was there, and so we thought we still had time, so we went to drink some tea. As we drank, the bus left. Shiv tried to wave at the bus with his 2 hands full of bananas. I think the driver thought that Shiv was trying to attract some monkeys, so he ignore Shiv. Damn!!! We had another half an hour for the next bus, so we had Akki Shavige and Uppittu at that small eatery in the bus station. Just as we finished, the next bus arrived. This time, we got into the bus, wasting no time.
And then, 3 small children little ahead of us in the bus vomitted all over the place, forcing us to go to the back rows of the half-empty bus. The journey was quite rocking.. Literally.. Still we both managed to fall asleep. When I woke up, we were in the outskirts of Mangalore. And then the conductor came and reminded us that he owed us some change. That's only 4 Rs. That was very professional!!! We had forgotten about it, but he hadn't.
And the bus reached Mangalore city, and as I saw my house pass by, I asked the driver to stop. He said that the bus doesn't stop at all city bus stops. Damn, I had to get down 2 kms further, and take a city bus and reach home at 10 AM.
Later, Shiv said he reached home at 10.30 AM.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Yet another trip to Irpu
Note: the actual travelogue starts from 4th paragraph. The first 3 are “preface” :-D
Another long weekend was coming up, and we had 2 destinations in mind: South Coorg (again!!) or Ooty. Needless to say, South Coorg was unanimous. So I dialed the Irpu Home Stay number and confirmed our place. That’s a month in advance. Two weeks later, that uncle called back asking whether our plan was confirmed. Indeed, it was!!!
Ragz, Shiv, Ashith, Sudheer and I planned go for the trip. Initially we thought of taking my Palio that could take all the guys’ luggage, while all the other guys would ride freely. Nah, I won’t get to ride, which I prefer to do in South Coorg. Moreover, I was sure that none would be in the car with me, because everyone would want to ride his bike. Later, Guru too confirmed that he’d join. All the guys got their bikes serviced just in time for the trip. Ashith and Shiv (and their Pulsar 180 and 150) hadn’t been to Irpu since January 2007 (I was with them during that trip, obviously). Ragz had been there twice last year (once during the same time and once again during rainy season with his colleagues). It was the first trip to Irpu for Sudheer (and his new Unicorn) and Guru (and his Splendor on which I learnt to ride a motorbike while in Manipal. And it still has the scar it got when I crashed it).
A day before the trip day, I cooked some fried rice for the guys, packed my bags, went to Koramangala and exchanged my car with Dawson’s Pulsar 180, then went to Hotel Ashoka (a bar in Domlur), met up with Sudheer, Shiv and Ragz who had already downed a few beers, and I downed a pint too. Once we were done, we headed to the GM house in RT Nagar. And after some timepass till midnight, we went to sleep, for the next 5 hours.
Although we had planned to hit the road by 6 AM, we managed to do so only by 7. That’s quite an improvement compared to last year!!! Guru met us near Hebbal police station, and we were on our way through West of Chord road to Mysore Road. Our plan was to stop for breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi after Ramanagara. But looking at the traffic on Mysore road at 7.30 AM, and the crowd at every restaurant by the roadside, it seemed unlikely that we would be able to. Truly, Kamat Lokaruchi’s security guard was really struggling to manage the cars there. Well, big deal. We headed to Kamat Upachar 16 kms further. Shivanand had trailed behind, and he didn’t notice us entering the restaurant, and so he went ahead. When we didn’t see him even when we were half way through our buffet breakfast (for 70 Rs only), we tried calling him. No response. And he called back after some time to tell us that he had reached Mandya!! So we told him to wait, and started the next leg of our journey.
The traffic was dense throughout. Add to that, poor management by Ramanagara district police. They didn’t bother to remove the barricades they had put on the road (which is good at nights, to stop people from overspeeding) even though there was slow-moving traffic for kms and kms. Looking at the dirt around those barricades, it looked as if they hadn’t been moved for at least a few years.
By this time, Ashith had exchanged his Pulsar 180 with Ragz’s Karizma. All the days before our trip, Ashith was dreaming about this opportunity to test the top speed of Karizma. And his dream had come true. Later he said he reached 130 kmph on it!!!
More woes at Mandya. This time, can’t blame Mandya district police force. Poor chaps were just bystanders because they could do nothing about narrow roads which were populated by vacation-goers and city motorists.
After Mandya, there was free-flow of traffic, marred occasionally by the slow-moving three-wheelers or trucks that occupied the rightmost lane, forcing the cars to slowdown and overtake from left. Unfortunately, the rearview mirrors of my bike (actually, Dawson’s) were in bad condition, so I too had to slow down quite a lot before overtaking or changing lanes.
And all this while, I was hoping that we would find lesser traffic on the route from Srirangapatna to Hunsur. We were kinda lucky. There was less traffic once we took that right turn into rural road from Srirangapatna towards Hunsur, but it wasn’t as less as it was last year. And while we waited for all the guys to arrive at that junction, 3 cars stopped and asked directions. Lucky for them, I knew whatever places they mentioned and so I was able to direct them. And that prompted other guys to suggest that I put a table and chair under a tree there and sit and wait for travelers asking for directions and charge them for my service too.
Once we hit the BM road at Ilawala, Ashith went ahead and disappeared from us, and we ourselves were riding at 80+ kmph!! Unfortunately, he missed the turn to Gonikoppa and went towards Piriyapatna. We all met up at that turn and tried calling him. No use. So I sent him an SMS to find his way to Gonikoppa and we’d wait for him. As we went ahead, he called back, and I told him how to reach Gonikoppa from Piriyapatna (I knew the way because we also had got lost and taken this route last year). The ride on this road is a wonderful experience. The road goes through the protected forest. And the weather is pretty cool even during midsummer. I can’t imagine how cold it would be during winter nights! We rode without our helmets or jackets, just to experience this climate.
And Ashith managed to reach Gonikoppa before us and there was more confusion. Sudheer, Ragz and I had some beer at Gonikoppa and while waiting for other guys to come. And finally we all managed to get back together and headed towards Irpu. Four of us (Guru, Ashith, Sudheer and I) went ahead and reached Irpu Home Stay. Ragz and Shiv somehow missed their way and managed to reach some half an hour later.
Uncle and aunty greeted us. And after the exchange of usual wishes, we were ready for lunch. As the saying goes, ‘hunger is the best sauce’, we gobbled up our lunch in no time. Then we spent some time on the benches (made of bamboo) and sways which the Timmaiahs (uncle and aunty) have installed in their front yard, under the trees. When you sit here and gaze at the world, to the extent that your eye can see, you see only green (except one small patch downhill where you see the roof of a godown). As you look up, the green ends and the blue starts. It’s so wonderful.
Later, we played shuttle and basketball in their front yard. The gentle breeze was tingling us once in a while, and also spoiling the game by giving unexpected twists to the shuttlecock. As darkness approached, it was time to play rummy. Sudheer is the punter in this game. But we did manage to get fewer points than him in some games. And of course, beer was there to accompany us. We had decided not to drink any hard liquor. We had no intention of getting drunk and ruining such a nice vacation. And KF Premium can never get us drunk. Jai Vijay Mallya!!!
Aunty served onion pakoda as we played. And it was so tasty that we had to pause our play to empty the plates. Even the dinner, complete with pork cooked in Coorgi style, was exemplary.
In between Rummy, we also played Donkey and Bluff. Guru, who had detached himself from us to sit under the trees because he didn’t know to play Rummy, also joined to play Donkey and Bluff. As the night went on, we got bored of card games, so we just sat there and chatted. Uncle also joined us and shared his stories with us. Finally, it was curtains down for the day by midnight.
When I woke up the next morning, Guru had already gotten up and visited the Irpu Rameshwara temple and had had his breakfast too. Once Ashith woke up, we 2 had our breakfast of dosa with a wonderful coconut chutney, lemon rice and sambar. By then, even the other 3 guys joined us. After breakfast, we played more shuttle. We cancelled our plan to go to Wayanad, that disappointed Guru. Not sure if it disappointed him because he also expressed a shock when we told him that going to View Point south of Wayanad, and coming back, would come to around 220 kms in one day. But in the end, it was a good idea not to go. We had our lunch there, which was totally vegetarian. They had assumed that we would not be having lunch, so they hadn’t had much stock of food. And we emptied every vessel in which food was served, and that pleased the old couple, who said they want the same “performance” from us during other meals too.
After evening tea, we finally decided to take a short ride through the tea estate of Tata. We headed to their Glen-Lorna estate. I felt that the tea estate region was colder than other parts of Coorg. Was it because of higher elevation, or was it the influence of some 2000 acres of tea plants? Anyway, one gate of the tea estate was open, so we entered the estate. Yeah, we trespassed into Tata’s property. After spending some time there, we headed back home for more Rummy/Donkey/Bluff and more food. Uncle prepared barbeque for us, and we had that along with onion pakoda, egg pakoda and beer. I slept pretty early after dinner, while the rest of the guys continued to play cards.
When I woke up the next morning, Guru had woken up again. The rest of the guys were still sleeping. We had nothing to do, so we plucked some chikku fruits from the tree and ate them. It is so thrilling to eat fruits directly from the tree!! Uncle saw us and called one of the guys (Bollu) working in his estate to pluck a few chikkus and that guy plucked a big bag full. By then, Guru had gone to Irpu falls, and the other guys were also up. Ragz and Sudheer too headed to the falls. And suddenly we realized that had not enough cash to pay for the expenses!!! Once Guru came back, we went to Kutta and found no ATM there and came back empty handed. That was some 30 kms of journey. Then we reluctantly asked uncle about the closest ATM and he told us that it is in Ponnampet, which is near Gonikoppa. So Guru and I went to Ponnampet and got the cash. By then we had traveled 80 kms already!!
When we reached back home, the other guys had had their breakfast and uncle and aunty were ready to go for some function that they had to attend. Aunty served the two of us the last few remaining KADUBUs with coconut chutney. By the time we had packed our bags, they had already left. So we handed over the room keys to their servant Gopi and we hit the road.
Guru stopped for some time to check his bike. That’s again at Ponnampet. But he joined the rest of us soon. Our return journey seemed quicker than forward journey. We had left from Irpu at 12.30 in the afternoon and had reached the BM road in about 2 hours. Ragz stopped to buy mangoes while Sudheer stopped by a garage to get his bike checked (as his bike had fallen to its left while going back to the road from the side, after a short break). The rest of us also stopped a little ahead to drink tender coconut water, at Ilawala. This is the place where the shortcut to Srirangapatna begins. As we were drinking the coconut water, we saw Ragz speeding by. He had missed the turn, but he realized it as he approached the outskirts of Mysore. We told him to come and meet us at that junction outside Srirangapatna. Actually, he took almost the same time as us, because the road he had taken is far better than the rural road. I think we will not take this shortcut anymore.
Once we were back together, we rode to Mandya and stopped there for lunch. After lunch, the trip continued. The road was as crowded with cars as it was when we had left. We were so desperate to get back home that we didn’t stop many times. Our butts were aching, and we all had the same complaint, that the elastic of the underwear was giving more pains. I think I will design underwear that is best suited for bikers and market it with a cruiser bike brand name.
Guru had gone far ahead of us. Ragz, Shiv and Ashith took the diversion at Kengeri to go to RT Nagar. Sudheer and I continued to his house at Domlur and have a few beers. Then I went to Koramangala and exchanged the bike with the car and went back home, and slept for an hour in the hot water in the bath tub. Today, my body still aches, but I like it….
Another long weekend was coming up, and we had 2 destinations in mind: South Coorg (again!!) or Ooty. Needless to say, South Coorg was unanimous. So I dialed the Irpu Home Stay number and confirmed our place. That’s a month in advance. Two weeks later, that uncle called back asking whether our plan was confirmed. Indeed, it was!!!
Ragz, Shiv, Ashith, Sudheer and I planned go for the trip. Initially we thought of taking my Palio that could take all the guys’ luggage, while all the other guys would ride freely. Nah, I won’t get to ride, which I prefer to do in South Coorg. Moreover, I was sure that none would be in the car with me, because everyone would want to ride his bike. Later, Guru too confirmed that he’d join. All the guys got their bikes serviced just in time for the trip. Ashith and Shiv (and their Pulsar 180 and 150) hadn’t been to Irpu since January 2007 (I was with them during that trip, obviously). Ragz had been there twice last year (once during the same time and once again during rainy season with his colleagues). It was the first trip to Irpu for Sudheer (and his new Unicorn) and Guru (and his Splendor on which I learnt to ride a motorbike while in Manipal. And it still has the scar it got when I crashed it).
A day before the trip day, I cooked some fried rice for the guys, packed my bags, went to Koramangala and exchanged my car with Dawson’s Pulsar 180, then went to Hotel Ashoka (a bar in Domlur), met up with Sudheer, Shiv and Ragz who had already downed a few beers, and I downed a pint too. Once we were done, we headed to the GM house in RT Nagar. And after some timepass till midnight, we went to sleep, for the next 5 hours.
Although we had planned to hit the road by 6 AM, we managed to do so only by 7. That’s quite an improvement compared to last year!!! Guru met us near Hebbal police station, and we were on our way through West of Chord road to Mysore Road. Our plan was to stop for breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi after Ramanagara. But looking at the traffic on Mysore road at 7.30 AM, and the crowd at every restaurant by the roadside, it seemed unlikely that we would be able to. Truly, Kamat Lokaruchi’s security guard was really struggling to manage the cars there. Well, big deal. We headed to Kamat Upachar 16 kms further. Shivanand had trailed behind, and he didn’t notice us entering the restaurant, and so he went ahead. When we didn’t see him even when we were half way through our buffet breakfast (for 70 Rs only), we tried calling him. No response. And he called back after some time to tell us that he had reached Mandya!! So we told him to wait, and started the next leg of our journey.
The traffic was dense throughout. Add to that, poor management by Ramanagara district police. They didn’t bother to remove the barricades they had put on the road (which is good at nights, to stop people from overspeeding) even though there was slow-moving traffic for kms and kms. Looking at the dirt around those barricades, it looked as if they hadn’t been moved for at least a few years.
By this time, Ashith had exchanged his Pulsar 180 with Ragz’s Karizma. All the days before our trip, Ashith was dreaming about this opportunity to test the top speed of Karizma. And his dream had come true. Later he said he reached 130 kmph on it!!!
More woes at Mandya. This time, can’t blame Mandya district police force. Poor chaps were just bystanders because they could do nothing about narrow roads which were populated by vacation-goers and city motorists.
After Mandya, there was free-flow of traffic, marred occasionally by the slow-moving three-wheelers or trucks that occupied the rightmost lane, forcing the cars to slowdown and overtake from left. Unfortunately, the rearview mirrors of my bike (actually, Dawson’s) were in bad condition, so I too had to slow down quite a lot before overtaking or changing lanes.
And all this while, I was hoping that we would find lesser traffic on the route from Srirangapatna to Hunsur. We were kinda lucky. There was less traffic once we took that right turn into rural road from Srirangapatna towards Hunsur, but it wasn’t as less as it was last year. And while we waited for all the guys to arrive at that junction, 3 cars stopped and asked directions. Lucky for them, I knew whatever places they mentioned and so I was able to direct them. And that prompted other guys to suggest that I put a table and chair under a tree there and sit and wait for travelers asking for directions and charge them for my service too.
Once we hit the BM road at Ilawala, Ashith went ahead and disappeared from us, and we ourselves were riding at 80+ kmph!! Unfortunately, he missed the turn to Gonikoppa and went towards Piriyapatna. We all met up at that turn and tried calling him. No use. So I sent him an SMS to find his way to Gonikoppa and we’d wait for him. As we went ahead, he called back, and I told him how to reach Gonikoppa from Piriyapatna (I knew the way because we also had got lost and taken this route last year). The ride on this road is a wonderful experience. The road goes through the protected forest. And the weather is pretty cool even during midsummer. I can’t imagine how cold it would be during winter nights! We rode without our helmets or jackets, just to experience this climate.
And Ashith managed to reach Gonikoppa before us and there was more confusion. Sudheer, Ragz and I had some beer at Gonikoppa and while waiting for other guys to come. And finally we all managed to get back together and headed towards Irpu. Four of us (Guru, Ashith, Sudheer and I) went ahead and reached Irpu Home Stay. Ragz and Shiv somehow missed their way and managed to reach some half an hour later.
Uncle and aunty greeted us. And after the exchange of usual wishes, we were ready for lunch. As the saying goes, ‘hunger is the best sauce’, we gobbled up our lunch in no time. Then we spent some time on the benches (made of bamboo) and sways which the Timmaiahs (uncle and aunty) have installed in their front yard, under the trees. When you sit here and gaze at the world, to the extent that your eye can see, you see only green (except one small patch downhill where you see the roof of a godown). As you look up, the green ends and the blue starts. It’s so wonderful.
Later, we played shuttle and basketball in their front yard. The gentle breeze was tingling us once in a while, and also spoiling the game by giving unexpected twists to the shuttlecock. As darkness approached, it was time to play rummy. Sudheer is the punter in this game. But we did manage to get fewer points than him in some games. And of course, beer was there to accompany us. We had decided not to drink any hard liquor. We had no intention of getting drunk and ruining such a nice vacation. And KF Premium can never get us drunk. Jai Vijay Mallya!!!
Aunty served onion pakoda as we played. And it was so tasty that we had to pause our play to empty the plates. Even the dinner, complete with pork cooked in Coorgi style, was exemplary.
In between Rummy, we also played Donkey and Bluff. Guru, who had detached himself from us to sit under the trees because he didn’t know to play Rummy, also joined to play Donkey and Bluff. As the night went on, we got bored of card games, so we just sat there and chatted. Uncle also joined us and shared his stories with us. Finally, it was curtains down for the day by midnight.
When I woke up the next morning, Guru had already gotten up and visited the Irpu Rameshwara temple and had had his breakfast too. Once Ashith woke up, we 2 had our breakfast of dosa with a wonderful coconut chutney, lemon rice and sambar. By then, even the other 3 guys joined us. After breakfast, we played more shuttle. We cancelled our plan to go to Wayanad, that disappointed Guru. Not sure if it disappointed him because he also expressed a shock when we told him that going to View Point south of Wayanad, and coming back, would come to around 220 kms in one day. But in the end, it was a good idea not to go. We had our lunch there, which was totally vegetarian. They had assumed that we would not be having lunch, so they hadn’t had much stock of food. And we emptied every vessel in which food was served, and that pleased the old couple, who said they want the same “performance” from us during other meals too.
After evening tea, we finally decided to take a short ride through the tea estate of Tata. We headed to their Glen-Lorna estate. I felt that the tea estate region was colder than other parts of Coorg. Was it because of higher elevation, or was it the influence of some 2000 acres of tea plants? Anyway, one gate of the tea estate was open, so we entered the estate. Yeah, we trespassed into Tata’s property. After spending some time there, we headed back home for more Rummy/Donkey/Bluff and more food. Uncle prepared barbeque for us, and we had that along with onion pakoda, egg pakoda and beer. I slept pretty early after dinner, while the rest of the guys continued to play cards.
When I woke up the next morning, Guru had woken up again. The rest of the guys were still sleeping. We had nothing to do, so we plucked some chikku fruits from the tree and ate them. It is so thrilling to eat fruits directly from the tree!! Uncle saw us and called one of the guys (Bollu) working in his estate to pluck a few chikkus and that guy plucked a big bag full. By then, Guru had gone to Irpu falls, and the other guys were also up. Ragz and Sudheer too headed to the falls. And suddenly we realized that had not enough cash to pay for the expenses!!! Once Guru came back, we went to Kutta and found no ATM there and came back empty handed. That was some 30 kms of journey. Then we reluctantly asked uncle about the closest ATM and he told us that it is in Ponnampet, which is near Gonikoppa. So Guru and I went to Ponnampet and got the cash. By then we had traveled 80 kms already!!
When we reached back home, the other guys had had their breakfast and uncle and aunty were ready to go for some function that they had to attend. Aunty served the two of us the last few remaining KADUBUs with coconut chutney. By the time we had packed our bags, they had already left. So we handed over the room keys to their servant Gopi and we hit the road.
Guru stopped for some time to check his bike. That’s again at Ponnampet. But he joined the rest of us soon. Our return journey seemed quicker than forward journey. We had left from Irpu at 12.30 in the afternoon and had reached the BM road in about 2 hours. Ragz stopped to buy mangoes while Sudheer stopped by a garage to get his bike checked (as his bike had fallen to its left while going back to the road from the side, after a short break). The rest of us also stopped a little ahead to drink tender coconut water, at Ilawala. This is the place where the shortcut to Srirangapatna begins. As we were drinking the coconut water, we saw Ragz speeding by. He had missed the turn, but he realized it as he approached the outskirts of Mysore. We told him to come and meet us at that junction outside Srirangapatna. Actually, he took almost the same time as us, because the road he had taken is far better than the rural road. I think we will not take this shortcut anymore.
Once we were back together, we rode to Mandya and stopped there for lunch. After lunch, the trip continued. The road was as crowded with cars as it was when we had left. We were so desperate to get back home that we didn’t stop many times. Our butts were aching, and we all had the same complaint, that the elastic of the underwear was giving more pains. I think I will design underwear that is best suited for bikers and market it with a cruiser bike brand name.
Guru had gone far ahead of us. Ragz, Shiv and Ashith took the diversion at Kengeri to go to RT Nagar. Sudheer and I continued to his house at Domlur and have a few beers. Then I went to Koramangala and exchanged the bike with the car and went back home, and slept for an hour in the hot water in the bath tub. Today, my body still aches, but I like it….
Friday, January 16, 2009
Bike ride to Chikmagalur
This year, the way to welcome the new year had to be different. We, the GM house fraternity, wanted to be away from the celebrations of the city. So Shiv found out this place called Koffee Woods in the Western Ghats. And we had our place for vacation. I spoke to the lady Kavya (whose husband owns the place) over the phone, and visited her at her house in Koramangala. Payment done, rules noted...
5 of us (Bala, Raghu, Shiv, Sachin and I) left from Bangalore on 31st at 7 AM. I got my Caliber for the trip. I had no idea how I was going to keep up with the speeds of Bala's CBZ Extreme, Shiv's Pulsar 150 and Raghu's Karizma. Yet, I wanted to try. Gummy (real name lost somewhere in the history of mankind) was supposed to come to Chikmagalur directly from his hometown Gangolli.
After riding for some 30 km on one of the worst stretches of Bangalore (Yashwantpur to Nelamangala), which is full of trucks, road widening and flyover construction, potholes and uneven roads, we regrouped at Nelamangala junction, the one end of NH 48 (the other end is in Mangalore, close my house there). The bikes needed fuel, but for next 15 km or so, there was no petrol pump. The road is good, and will be better in future as it is being widened to 4 lanes.
We continued after refuelling the motorbikes, and stopped at Kunigal for breakfast. This place is some 50 km from Nelamangala. Here we all had 2 rounds of breakfast and tea too. All for a meagre 110 Rs. After breakfast, we continued through many small towns, stopping occasionally to relieve ourselves or for smoking breaks and once for tender coconuts. I did not find it difficult to keep up with the other bikes thus far.
We entered the chaotic city of Hassan, off the NH48, by noon. It is one really bad city in Karnataka. For more information, drive in this city once. You'll surely feel that Bangalore is at least a thousand times better!!! From Hassan, we took the SH57 to Belur. This is one AWESOME road. Nicely paved, and well painted. Less traffic too. This stretch is close to 40 km and you can cover it in half an hour or so. The road is that good!!
Belur is a small town, and yet, chaotic!! Luckily, it is easy to find your way to Mudigere. The road from Belur to Mudigere is not so smooth. Not many potholes, but the pothole-fillings make the road uneven. Somewhat a bumpy ride for 30 km. But because I have driven on that road by car (while coming from Mangalore to Bangalore on 29th Dec) also, I can confidently say that it isn't as bumpy as the road from Yashwantpur to Nelamangala!!!
Once you cross the Hassan district and enter Chikmagalur district, the road quality improves considerably. Although the road is curvy, you can still maintain about 60 kmph. You will not feel like riding fast here anyway, because you would want to look at the paddy fields or huge trees on both sides of the road, plus the distant peaks of the Western Ghats where probably no human ever has set foot!!
At Banakal, Ramesh (the son of the caretaker of the estate house Seetamma) was waiting for us. After we bought a few bottles of beer, he led us on a dilapidated road towards the estate. This is some 2 km stretch I think. But it feels much longer because of its condition. But once you reach the house, all your tiredness goes away. The house is pretty big. It has 3 bedrooms and is fully furnished. It was about 2 in the afternoon then. Seetamma greeted us with refreshing lime water. As Gummy was still on his way to Shivamogga, it meant he would need another 3 hours to reach here. So we had our lunch that consisted of chicken biryani, chicken curry, fried chicken, raita, curd, rasam and rice. More than enough to satisfy 5 hungry stomachs.
Then we found a carrom board and its coins, so 4 of us started playing in the verandah while Raghu went to sleep. The problem there is, Vodafone has connectivity but Airtel doesn't. Strange, isn't it? Gummy called up on Raghu's cell to inform us that he will be further delayed as the bus from Shivamogga to Chikmagalur is going at a snail's pace.
We shifted the carrom board to the hut outside the house, opened a bottle of beer, and started playing and drinking. It was fun to stand and play, that too while drinking beer. At around 6, Gummy called up saying he had managed to reach Banakal. So Bala and I went to pick him up. It was dark and cold. very dark and very cold.
We found Gummy smoking at a shop in Banakal. We bought a case of beer and returned to the estate. After drinking more beer, we sat around the bonfire, while Seetamma and Ramesh served us with pork cooked in coorgi style, and fried chicken. We sat there till almost midnight. Once the new year arrived, we greeted each other and then had our dinner. The first meal of the year was similar to the lunch we had. After a sumptuous meal, we all retired to sleep.
By the time I woke up on Thursday, it was already 9 AM. The other guys too were just waking up. Soon we gathered around the dining table to have our breakfast. It consisted of akki rotti (kinda chapati made from rice), chicken curry and tea. It was good, but the chicken was already getting too much.
After breakfast, we walked to a small stream some 10 minutes away. Ramesh showed us the place and left. The water was cold and initial few minutes were achy. We spent some 2 hours in that place and then went back home. Then we played cricket in the frontyard of the house. Initially we played individual batting for 2 rounds, and then made teams. One team consisted of Raghu, Shiv and Bala. The other consisted of Gummy, Sachin and me. I was surprised to know that Sachin knew a few rules of cricket. All these years I used to think he had no idea how a cricket bat looked like!! Shiv started singing his favourite song "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me" to Raghu. We really had trouble restraining Raghu from breaking Shiv's neck.
There was one incomplete well (may be 10m deep) in the compound, and our pitch was such that the well was exactly at the mid on position. And one of us managed to hit the ball into that. But we had a spare ball. So the game continued.
We decided to have a 5 match series, each of 10 overs per innings. In the first match, the other team made some 32 runs, and we chased it successfully even though only Gummy knew batting. Sachin managed to bat well. My only 4 in the series came in this match. After this match, it was time to lunch.
The lunch had chapati this time. But the chicken was already too much so we asked Seetamma to prepare some vegetarian dish for dinner. After lunch, we played cards for some time: Bluff and Donkey. Later we resumed our cricket series. 2nd and 3rd matches went the other team's way. We batted first and didn't manage to gather a double digit total in both. And they chased easily. Throughout the series, beer kept us fresh.
Meanwhile, the 2nd ball too had managed to find its way into the well. We had to find a way to get the balls out. There was a rope to get into the well, tied firmly to the trees around. Plus, there were steps carved on the well wall. Initially Ragz decided to get into the well. But we felt that he would be too heavy for the rope ;-).. Finally Bala got down into the well and got the balls out and came out of the well, all within 60 seconds.. I think Bala should join the defence forces..
Time for coffee break. Seetamma made delicious coffee from local beans. It was awesome!!! Then we played more card games, in the hut, and with beer. By this time, bonfire was ready. Upon my request, Ramesh had brought a whole chicken. He also had readied an iron rod with a big handle. We tied the marinated chicken to the rod using thin wires, and held it over the fire. After some 40 minutes, our delicious barbequed chicken was ready. It took less than 10 minutes to consume it!!!
The dinner consisted of kadubu (or pundi) and chicken curry and, for a change, beans curry. More card games followed, with beer. I learnt how to play Rummy. Gummy taught us Rummy. Gummy is expert in Rummy.
Next morning, time for cricket. More cricket and more beer. Only then, breakfast. After breakfast, more cricket and more beer. Then lunch. Then Rummy and beer. In the evening, time for a short bike ride to a waterfall nearby. It is by the main road to Mangalore. So it is dirty. I could smell human waste and so I did not feel like entering the water at all. Even the other guys did not spend much time there. We came back and played more cricket and drank more beer.
After dinner, which had more vegetarian dishes this time (upon request, of course) and mackerel curry, we went to sleep.
The next morning was a boring one. We woke up a bit earlier than usual (by 8), packed our bags, had our breakfast, bid adieu to Seetamma and Ramesh, and left for Bangalore. On the way, we saw one KSRTC bus crashed into a tree by the road. Then a BMW 5 Series overtook us some 200 km before Bangalore. Later I saw the same car stuck in the traffic jam in Yashwantpur and I overtook it. Muahahahahaha!!!!
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