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!!!!
