FIFA World Cup matches that I watched in stadiums

1. Brazil vs Ivory Coast - I got a seat directly opposite the camera that records the match and telecasts to you all. The Soccer City stadium is HUGE. It can seat 90,000 people! So it has quite a big number of rows and my row was 3rd from the last. This gave me a panoramic view of the stadium. The drawback of this is, it is hard to recognize any player. I was surrounded by thousands of Brazilian fans. Believe me, Brazilian girls look hotter than they look on TV or photos!!

And I could see how dirty the Brazil team plays (apologies to Brazil fans). Whenever there was an attack by Ivory Coast with more strikers than the Brazilian defenders, the defenders would simply fake an injury. Sometimes the referee would signal to continue play because the Ivory Coast striker wouldn’t be at fault. That’s when the Brazilian would not get up and pretend as if he is hurt. Then other Brazilians would stop playing and point the fallen guy to the referee. Now Ivory Coast has no option but to stop their attack and kick the ball out.

Sometimes, the Ivory Coast guys would get distracted and stop. Then a Brazilian defender would sneak in and take the ball in his control. Then the fallen defender would suddenly come back to life and the game would resume with Brazil attacking!!!

This happened so many times that it was frustrating to watch. I was happy to see Kaka sent off (although I didn’t know why, because the ball was elsewhere and you tend to watch where the ball is, and Kaka's so called foul took place elsewhere on the field). Later I found out that it wasn't entirely Kaka's fault. Yet, Brazil got a taste of their own medicine. But it was already late. Brazil needs an opposition that can give them this treatment right from the beginning.

And the sound of vuvuzelas isn't a problem in the stadium at all. When you hear the sound on TV, it is monotonous buzzing sound (like a bee's buzz). But in the stadium, the frequency and amplitude keeps varying. Frequency variation because of different sizes/shapes of vuvuzelas and amplitude variation depending on how far from you a vuvuzela is being blown.

Also, there was only one Mexican wave. It had 3 iterations before it died down. The problem with it was, the seats would fold back the moment you got up, so you have to turn yourself after the wave passes you and open the seat again.

My seat was between two old men and they were boring. Luckily there was one empty seat next to my one German colleague, so i joined him. Most people didn’t bother to sit and they stood on the aisles, so there were many empty seats.

The travel arrangements to the stadium are excellent. There is no car parking in the stadium. But there are many options: one option is to take one of those special buses to the stadium directly from certain points in the city. They drop you to one common point called west gate (common between Ellis Park and soccer city stadiums of Johannesburg). From there are dedicated buses to the stadium. Costs 50 Rands per person.

Another option is to park and ride. There are some places within 5 km radius of each stadium and you can park your car there and take a bus. This is cheaper, costing 50 Rands a car. So if you are 5 people, it is just 10 rands per person. But driving to park and ride facilities is a pain. It is bumper to bumper traffic everywhere and the jam even affects the motorways.

For this match, we (my 3 German colleagues and me) took the first option. But while coming back, the bus went through the city roads and not on the motorway, as it had to drop people. The match got over at 10.15 pm and we reached our hotel at 12.15 am!!

2. Spain vs Honduras: this was in Ellis park stadium. An old stadium and much smaller (60k capacity). Fortunately, my seat was on the 14th row from the arena, and again directly opposite the camera. And exactly on the midfield line. This means, I am sure I came on TV. But u sure can't spot me when i am surrounded by Spanish fans and a few Honduran fans here and there.

It was a do or die match for both teams, but Honduras hardly gave any fight. The players' body language showed that they had given up hope already.

On my left were a few oriental men and they just sat there and watched. But on my right were a few Spanish men who didn’t seem to speak English. And the guy sitting next to me would scream 'ole' every now and then in different tones. The tone varied depending on whether he was happy, angry, sad, delighted and all, but the word remained the same.

When Spain got a penalty, everyone stood up and an old lady behind me tapped on my shoulder and told me to sit down so that she could sit and watch. I told her to stand up, because people in front of me were standing and I didn’t want to miss the penalty kick.

But David Villa missed it. After scoring 2 field goals, he could easily have converted this and had a hat trick against his name. Dumb guy!

For this match, I had to go alone, because my German colleagues' boss had plans to take them and he had no place in his car. I opted for the park and ride option, so I had to go back to my hotel to collect the parking entry ticket (it is a silly thing, to buy the ticket online, and go to their shop and actually receive the ticket and their closest shop was near my hotel). While leaving from the hotel, I met another guest, a Spaniard looking for a ride. He joined me, and we left from my hotel at 4.45 pm. by the time we parked the car, took the bus and reached the stadium, it was 7.30 pm. and the stadium is just 9 km away from the hotel!!!

The return trip was easy. It took only an hour to exit the stadium and drive and reach the hotel.

3. Ghana vs Germany: This time I took the option of park and ride, and parked the car in a place called Gold Reef city. It is a mall with casino and Fun Park and all, and is built over an abandoned gold mine. It is in a place called Soweto (short for South Western Township, as it lies in the south west of Jo’burg).

I left from office at 4.45, changed my clothes from business formals to sportswear in the car and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to go to gold reef city that is 3 km away from office!!!

And from Gold Reef City to soccer city stadium, another half an hour. So I was at the stadium more than an hour before the proceedings could begin. The food, drinks and beer at the stadiums are expensive. Coke costs 15R, sandwiches cost 30R and Budweiser beer costs 30R. A rand is 6 Rs. For the lifestyle and economy here, perhaps a multiplication factor of 3 seems good. That is, multiply any rand value by 3 and see if the price makes sense in rupees, go for it. Well, to me, Budweiser didn't make sense at 90 Rs. I would rather pay 15R for sparkling water which tastes the same!!

There is nothing much to say about the match. The match began in a lame way and continued in that fashion and ended in that fashion. It seemed like both teams were looking for a draw. There were hardly any fouls. Germans play clean and Ghanaians are strong men who don't give a crap for small or medium injuries and continue their play as if nothing happened.

There were probably six or seven fouls in the whole match. And yet, one player from each team did receive yellow cards. I am sure the referee was bored, that's why he gave those yellow cards.

My one observation about the way the Germans play. Whenever there are a few defenders and one defender is controlling the ball and is attacked by opposition, he immediately passes the ball to the goalie. As no attacker can go close to the goalie (because he is the last in line, and any pass to the attacker by his teammate results in off side), the ball remains in Germany’s possession. But there was one close call for Manuel Bauer when a pass to him almost resulted in a Ghana striker stealing the ball. Luckily, Manuel managed to clear it before there was any risk.

And it didn’t seem like any German or Ghanaian played to their potential. The Ghana striker Gyan had to be replaced. German mid fielder Schweinsteiger (funny name, I think it means someone who jumps over a pig) also had to be replaced.

4. Brazil vs Chile (pre-QF): A friend of mine gave me a call and said he'll buy tickets. I didn't ask him which countries would be playing :-D

Somehow, Brazil seemed to play a much fairer game. There were very few drama incidents, and also the referee seemed to know Brazil's tactics, so he chose to ignore the fallen drama queens writhing in pain.

Yet, Brazil won the match. So, they can still win without cheating!!

The night was colder than usual. I had worn an extra t shirt than usual. So, even with 3 t shirts and a sports jacket, it was quite chilling. My seat was close to an open area from where wind blew into the stadium.

I borrowed a vuvuzela from the friend who bought my ticket. I am really proud of my lungs. I had blown about 25 balloons while 3 other guys could manage another 25. That was to welcome the newlywed friends to their house.

Well, I could blow the vuvuzela throughout the match. The guys around me (quite a few Brazilian fans) had given up already.

I will next try to inflate a car tyre.. HAHAHAHAHAHA..

Kalahari

I had to change to a different hotel that weekend, and I thought, why not save some money of Standard Bank? Why not check out from the current hotel on Friday and not check into the other hotel not until Sunday? So where am I going to spend the weekend? How about Kalahari? There is a colleague (Arindam) who is ready to join me. So be the plan.
Fine Friday morning. I check out from the hotel and move all my stuff into the car and head to office. After a series of meetings, Arindam and I start for the city of Upington (on the edge of Kalahari desert, but on the shores of Orange river). The GPS shows an arrival time of 2 AM for 796 km. But no toll roads for the whole stretch. That’s not a good sign. The roads could be bad. Let’s find out!
After taking a few motorways and exits, we reach N14, which goes from Johannesburg to I don’t know where. But I know that it goes through Kalahari green area (the southernmost part of Kalahari where there is lot of vegetation, thanks to Orange river). The road is a 2 lane road just like our Indian highways, but is very well marked with no-ovetake zones and turns indicated clearly. Moreover, the speed limit is 120 kmph and where you need to reduce speed (at curves, or when the road goes through towns), there are too many road signs that you can’t miss. And no road bumps, obviously.
But within a few tens of kilometers, we were greeted with a signal. The next 5 km were one-way, as one part of the road was still being built. While cars and HUGE trucks waited on one side, workers from the other side would let the other side traffic to go through. It was well managed. But the arrival time shown in the GPS was only increasing. And it was getting dark too.
After 5 such stretches, we were literally flying (cruising at 180 kmph). The road had sparse traffic, and I was sure that there would be no cops, as it was quite dark already. After a short stop for loading the car tank and emptying our tanks, we continued through the straight roads. We could see head lamps of vehicles from far, and by the time we would pass that vehicle, at least 10 minutes would have passed. If I consider my speed as 150 kmph and the opposite cars as 100 kmph (I am sure I am underestimating here), the relative speed of 250 kmph would take me 10 minutes to cross the car. So you can imagine how straight the road is. And the road got only straighter, as we approached our destination. Thanks to constant overspeeding, we realized that we would reach our destination by 11 PM. And the car was quite stable at around 170 kmph. The only problem was of having to stop for refueling frequently.
When we were cruising at about 175 kmph near a town called Kuruman, a Mercedes Benz C class simply overtook us and disappeared. It was the first car to overtake us when we were driving (not counting the times when we slowed down to look around for fuel stations). We tried to catch up with him, but could not. At Kuruman, he went straight while we had to take a turn. So he won :-D.
Arindam had booked a room in Upington and when we reached the place, I really liked it. The lady greeted us warmly and showed us the room. It was SHOCKING! A beautiful room with a small kitchen and an attached bathroom. And PINK ROSE PETALS SPREAD ON THE BED. WHAT THE ****!!!! Because Arindam had just told her “two adults” she had assumed a couple would be visiting them. And thank heavens, there was a single bed besides the decorated double bed, and I immediately went and sat on it, to show her that we aren’t what she thought we are :-D
We didn’t wait for long to hit the beds, and next thing I remember is checking the time. it was 7 AM. It was very cold in the morning. After freshening up quickly, we had the breakfast that the lady served us. It was quite delicious. Bacon, fried eggs, toast, butter, jam, mushrooms, cheese and orange juice. Bed and breakfast for 360 Rands for two. Quite inexpensive.
We started the car soon after breakfast and discovered that the GPS wasn’t programmed to take us to our next destination, Twee Rivieren (two rivers in Afrikaans). That is the entrance to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which spans across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
The landlady offered us to guide us to the road from Upington. There are a lot of intersections and she said we would not be able to figure out without her help. She drove for about 5 km in front of us and got us to the road we had to take. After thanking her, we started the next leg of our road trip, through the Kalahari desert. Now we could see the beauty of the desert. Hardly any trees, but a lot of dry grass on both sides of the road. Some shrubs here and there. Once in a while, a lone tree. And some small windmills. I am not very sure why they are there. It was exactly like the way you see it in the film “The Gods Must Be Crazy”. The sky was clear, without a hint of a cloud. The weather was pleasant. There were birds on the road, feasting on the flesh of the small animals killed by speeding vehicles. And one of those birds hit my windshield and crapped a truckload on it. As I was doing 160 kmph easily, I don’t think the bird survived. Fortunately, the windshield took the impact without cracking. I was careful enough to look for animals on the road and managed to escape without their blood on my hands all the time. But the birds weren’t so fortunate. I saw another bird just coming swooping towards my car from the left and then I didn’t see it. I would see it only a day later. You will read about it when I reach that section.
The fuel level was going down and there was no village in sight. When the fuel level had reached the red mark, we came across a village called Askham. When we took the turn, we were greeted with a rough road. After some 300 meters, there was sand and no road. Luckily it wasn’t for a long stretch and then there was asphalt road. There were kids playing on the road wearing South African national football team’s uniforms. Even in the remotest of the South African villages, there still was so much spirit in them!
From the Kgalagadi entrance in Twee Rivieren, we could either drive to Namibia or Botswana (by taking necessary permits) or just roam around the park for a few hours. We chose to drive around the park. The roads we went on had some vegetation and some small ponds of water. There were wildebeests, bisons and springboks. But no predators. After driving for a while, we got bored, and decided to get out of the park. Arindam was driving during this time. Unfortunately, we drove over a small rock that bent the wheel rim enough to drain the air from the tubeless tyre. We drove it with a punctured tyre on the mud road for some 20 km to the park entry point and got it fixed by the mechanic there. And we had beer while he did his work. People there wondered what made us drive the car all the way with a punctured tyre and damage it. I had one reply to them all, “rented car”.
Our next destination was a falls called Augrabies. This place is actually some 150 km from Twee Rivieren. But this shortest route is through Namibia. We had to come down south all the way to Upington (250 km) and then go west for another 100 km. We took nearly 3 hours to cover this distance, including a long break. Here Arindam had booked a room for us in a hotel. This place was nice too, and had a pub and a restaurant.
I hit the pub the moment we landed there, and soon Arindam too joined me. By the time we left the pub at 10.30 or so, I had downed six beers, two shots of Jägermeister and a bunch of snails in butter and garlic. There was only one bed in the room, so I slept on the sofa. Bad idea, because I had no blanket, and it was quite cold. I woke up somewhere in the middle of the night with a splitting headache. So I slept on the bed. It was quite comforting, but I didn’t get sleep for a quite a while, thanks to the headache.
The headache hadn’t gone down even a bit till morning. I tried drinking black tea and that prompted all my stomach contents to come out. I felt much better and we headed to the restaurant for breakfast. Half way through the breakfast, I had to barf again :-D. Then we checked out of the hotel and headed to Augrabies Falls and National Park. At the entrance there, the guard stopped the car, bent in front of it, and removed some feathers from the car’s grille. Then he removed the whole dead bird.
At the falls, I had to pay 88 rands to enter because I am here on business visa. Arindam had to pay only 22, as he is on work permit. But it is better than India where all foreigners are charged in dollars.
The falls was beautiful. Somewhat like Mekedatu near Bangalore, but well maintained. There were a lot of rabbit like animals called dassies around, basking in the sun. They are so lucky. They do nothing but eat the grass, crap, bask and sometimes mate. Some unlucky ones end up as food for eagles though.
After Augrabies, it was time to head to Johannesburg. My headache hadn’t gone yet, so I had some orange juice there and we left from Augrabies at 11.10 am. The arrival time showed by the GPS was 11 PM for a distance of 916 km. We continued at moderate speeds up to Upington, because it was broad daylight, and there could be cops (Upington seemed like a well developed city). After Upington, we continued our journey through the desert, overspeeding all the time. On the way, some oncoming vehicles blinked their head lights. Although my headlights are always switched on when I drive, it was unlikely that it was bothering them. So there is only one explanation, they are warning me of something hideous waiting for us on the way. What could that be? A speed trap, obviously. So we drove at just about 120 to 125 kmph and after some 30 km, we found a cop hiding under a tree with a speed gun. He had hid his BMW quite well behind the bushes. First of all it is so hard to find a bush around there, and it is nearly impossible to find a bush to hide the car and a tree for his own shade, and yet the cop had managed. And he was at least 30 km away from any nearest town!
After the cop disappeared in my rear view mirrors, it was time to fly again. And on the way, we saw a Volvo S80 pulling onto the road. After a while, he overtook us and he probably was doing 180 kmph. My blood boiled. Damn, just the 2nd guy to overtake me and that too in a car that’s at least twice as powerful as mine. Who cares? I started trailing him. Obviously, I didn’t go closer to him than 200 meters, so I could not see where he was headed to (a clue from his car registration) or the engine he had in his car. And then all of a sudden, two cops appeared in from of him and stopped him. Whew, missed by a whisker. They didn’t bother to stop me, and I braked hard to get below 120 kmph and continued we continued our journey. And after a while, the same Volvo guy overtook us again. But this time I didn’t try to provoke him. But he ran out of luck in a different way this time. He had to stop at a signal at road work, and behind him were a Tata Indica, then a big truck and then me. He surely was frustrated because he came out of the car, looked around, spoke to the workers and came and sat in the car. The moment the signal opened, he overtook the cars in front of him by going over the under-construction side of the road and disappeared. I didn’t bother to chase him, although I did go on the under-construction road to overtake the truck in front of me. These trucks are so irritating. They slowly cruise on the road (at around 100 to 120 kmph) and block all vehicles.
At the next signal, it was green when I reached and so I could continue without stopping. And there was the Volvo guy in front of us. He probably was stuck at that signal for a while. And he would not give up overspeeding. I didn’t bother much to trail him. But the road went through a town and he had to slow down, and so did I. the last I saw him was when he pulled into a fuel station.
As we went further, cops stopped us and told me that I was doing 135 kmph in 80 kmph zone. That’s quite unlikely because when I saw the 80 kmph sign, I had slowed down to 100 kmph. He had no proof because what was being shown in the radar was the speed of the car behind us (which was also overspeeding). But he said we have to pay a fine and all that. Saw my passport, and asked how much a fine of 1000 rands would be in rupees. I said 6000 Rs. He himself said that is huge, and asked where I work here and all. When I said Standard Bank, he told me to drive carefully and let me go. Whew! This is the second time a cop was letting me go without having to pay up. I guess I won’t be lucky next time.
We never saw the Volvo again. It was unlikely that he took a different route, because there weren’t any. May be he passed us by when we were speaking to the cop. If that happened, I am sure he had the last laugh.
We entered Johannesburg at around 8, and reached Arindam’s house at 9. After dropping him, I went to my new hotel, checked in, and hit the bed by 10. The distance of about 2200 km in 2.5 days had really drained me. I still am drained, and it is Monday afternoon already.
And most of the South Africans here who I tell about my weekend, tell me that they have never been to wherever I went!!!!

Johannesburg to Durban and back, within a day

Saturday morning. I wake up at 5.30 and pack my stuff to go to Durban, stay for a day and return on Sunday evening. After breakfast, and some delays, I finally leave the hotel at 7. My GPS says I have to travel 583 km and I would reach at 12.51 pm. So I start. Just about half a km later, I see a police car and an ambulance, and dead man by the side of the road. Seems like a murder. A bad way to start a trip.
After taking different motorways, I reach N3. That’s the motorway from Johannesburg to Durban. Straight 500+ kms. Time to put my Polo (Mk IV, 1.4 petrol, 85 PS) to the test. I keep pushing the limits. On some toll roads, I even hit 180 kmph. I feel proud when BMWs and Mercs switch on their indicators and move to the left lane to give me way. Muahahahaha.
The car can cruise easily at around 170 kmph, but after that, it is a bit difficult to control. So I start cruising at about 160 kmph. And then, the dreaded moment. A cop signals me to stop. Damn.. Caught! No wonder these powerful cars were giving me way. They were just sending on the path of Hell!!!
The cop tells me that I was doing 147 kmph in 120 kmph zone, so I should pay 800 Rand fine. I try to act innocent, saying I am new to the country, and this is my first drive outside Johannesburg and I badly want to pee. And I ask her if she can reduce the fine. She keeps asking me how much I wanna pay. I say I don’t know how things work in South Africa, so she should tell me. Finally she says, “ok, give me 200”. I open my wallet, and there are some 300R. I say, “how about 50?”. Typical Indian bargaining. I think that pisses her off. She says, “that’s ok. Go. Drive safe”. I say, “this 50?”. She says, “no, that’s ok”.. whew!! I saved a big amount!
After that I keep cruising at 120 – 125 kmph when I have no company on the road. But when there are many other speeding vehicles, I try to keep up with them. First I find 2 BMW X5s. One of them gives me company all the way. For a while I lead and he trails me. After a while, he leads and I trail. Constantly doing 140 to 150 kmph. Luckily, no cops after that. I don’t know about automatic cameras. But in a country where theft is very common, I don’t think cops would risk planting such a camera!
And then I stop to reload the car’s tank and unload my tank. Time is 9.30 am. I have come only about 250 km. I now have lost the company of the X5. But now the scenery is getting better. Drakenberg mountains. I am so close to the border of Lesotho, and yet I can’t go. I see the mountains from far. So beautiful! The mountain that I am driving on, hardly has any vegetation, other than the elephant grass. The grass is brown and you can spot an occasional bush or a tree. Typical African savannah they show in national geographic. But drakenberg mountains are different. They are either rocky, or are full of flora.
As I continue, I get another company. A GTI. So two VWs racing. Well, not really racing. But trying to confuse the cops ;-). Now I am getting closer to Durban. The air is getting warmer. And now I have just about 5 km to reach the first place I want to visit, Ushaka Marine World. So I switch on the left indicator, and expect the guy behind to give me way. Stupid mistake. Because that is a city taxi (kinda car pooling taxi, used only by low income people. Usually full of people). I hear a thud and left mirror has turned inwards. That guy swerves left and right and then comes to a halt. I too stop the car by the road side. And then 3 black guys come rushing to my car. And start demanding money and my license. I tell them that I have no license, and I am driving illegally, so I tell them to call cops and that I’d surrender. I don’t get out of the car and I don’t get the window down more than an inch. So they really can’t do anything. After some abuses, they leave. Once their vehicle disappears, I come out and see. Whew!!! No damage to my car at all!
Then I go to the marine world. I didn’t expect it to be an amusement park. There are different water rides and all. Ha! Why would I want to do all that alone? So I roam around a mall there, and take a walk on the beach, and eat some Pasta and drink Peroni (Italian beer) at an Italian restaurant, and go to my next destination, Anstey’s beach. This place is a bit far from the other popular places, so no crowd. The weather is extremely pleasing. And the beach is beautiful too. About 30 feet sand on the shore that gradually goes up. And then some 15 feet of lawn. Then road. On the other side of the road, row houses. Beautiful beach houses. And the temperature is just about 15 degree C, and the breeze is chilling. I stand there for some 10 minutes, staring at the sea. Then I feel cold, so I sit in the car. The time now is about 3.15 pm. And I fall asleep. When I wake up, it is 4. The sun has almost gone down, but still not many people at the beach. So I go out and stand. I stand there for an hour, without even realizing it! When I see the time is 5, and still there are very few people, I decide to go. Go where? One option is to find a hotel to stay, and come to the beach again next day. Nah! Why spend on a hotel? I already had spent 160R on the toll (which meant another 160R while going back). Let me go back to my hotel, to Johannesburg!
So I leave from Anstey. My car’s windshield is hazy. The car’s wipers can’t clean it. They only make it worse. I hope that the haze disappears as I go on, so I continue. By the time I hit N3, it is 6 pm and is totally dark. And my windshield is still hazy. I can only see the tail lights of the vehicles behind me. And some vehicles don’t even have functioning tail lights. This is recipe for disaster and I am not on a suicide mission. I have to find a petrol bunk now. I need to take a leak too. I see a few petrol bunks by the motorway, but by the time I see them, I have already crossed the exit. I am getting more and more irritated, so I simply take an exit into some town and drive around. No petrol bunks. Heck! Then it strikes me. OH! GPS can show me petrol bunks! I find one, and get all the things done, and get back on the motorway.
I am convinced that the cops here don’t have night radars to track overspeeding vehicles. So I keep a constant speed of 140 to 160 kmph. As a toll booth approaches, I forget to slow down. And there is a lightning. Oh, no. that’ wasn’t lightning. That was a camera flash. Someone took my photo. Hehehe. So there are automated cameras, at least near toll booths (where there always are people). I want to get hold of that photo. That is my only photo from this trip!
Then I see a crashed city taxi. This one seems to have toppled multiple times. It is totally damaged and is being loaded into a tow truck. There are a few ambulances, which means there were many people inside.
Then I stop for dinner near Drakenburg. I walk out of the car wearing my t shirt. All the people there are wearing sweaters, mufflers and all. It is very cold. Like a big shot, I walk into the restaurant, and place my order. Now I realize how cold it is. I start to shiver. Still, I wait till my food comes (grilled prawns and rice), eat and then leave.
The moment I get in the car, I switch on the heater and wait till I am warm again, before I even move the car. After that, I drive non-stop and reach my hotel at 11. I had travelled 1195 km in less than 16 hours, and yet I had so much energy left within me. so, I start writing this travelogue within a few minutes of reaching my room…

The Plight On A Friday Night

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.

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….

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!!!!

Another trip to South Coorg

Ever since I visited South Coorg in January 2007, I wanted to go there again. Finally I got this opportunity during the first week of May (2008). Sachin, Raghavendra and my brother Roshan agreed to come, but none of the guys from the previous trip to the same place. I found out that the Poonachas' High falls Holiday Home had become too expensive for us, with 1200 Rs per person per day (though it included all meals, it still was expensive!!). So I got this place called Irpu Home Stay (Belonging to Timmaiahs), just about 300 meters far from High Falls, but at about one-third of the cost.
A day before our trip, Thomas and Kunal said they too would join. So we met these guys (both with their own Bullets) near City Market and soon we hit the Mysore Road. We already were nearly an hour later than our scheduled time of 7 AM. And we had to wait for nearly half an hour at Kadumane, just to get a place to sit and have our breakfast. Then we decided that we would meet next only at the turn from Mysore road towards Hunsur. Thomas and Kunal went ahead, while Sachin, Raghavendra, Roshan and I moved on slowly, as we were 2 guys on each bike: Pulsar 150 (which I had borrowed from Shivanand, as my Caliber wasn't suited for two riders for such a journey) and Karizma (Raghavendra's new bike that had done only 140 KM before this journey).
We stopped in between for tender coconuts (and in the case of Sachin, cigarettes too), and fought about who would ride the Karizma. After we crossed Mandya city (or town, whatever), Kunal called to tell us that Thomas and he had already taken the right turn after Srirangapatna, and were relaxing in a field. We too reached that spot soon, to find them sitting under a coconut tree, with sugarcane field on their side. By then our (the pillion riders') a$$es had taken enough pounding, so we desperately needed a break.
After the break, Thomas and Kunal decided to exchange their bikes, so they started adjusting something on Kunal's bike, while the other 4 continued towards Hunsur. We crossed the power grid area, and reached the BM road (the wide 4 lane road that goes on the outskirts of Mysore). After stopping at one place for tender coconut, we continued. Though the 3 of us were sure that Thomas and Kunal were behind us, Sachin firmly told us that they had gone ahead. So I told him, if at all they are behind us, I am going to break a tender coconut on his head. Soon Kunal called and told us to wait for him at some place, so that we could get together and go for lunch. So I still owe Sachin's head a tender coconut.
We waited for the Bulleteers at the bypass to Hunsur. Once they came, we entered the Hunsur town, and stopped at a veg restaurant for lunch. It was already 1.30 PM then. After ordering food, Kunal, Sachin and I went into the bar next door. Good old KF was really really really refreshing!!! And it was a perfect appetizer too.
After lunch, our next town was Gonikoppalu. We came out of Hunsur town and hit the BM road again. Meanwhile, Mrs Timmaiah called me up to check whether we are coming or not. I had told her earlier that we would be reaching at around 2.30 or 3, but now we had covered only about 70% distance by 3 PM.
Unfortunately, all of us missed that left turn from BM road towards Gonikoppalu, and ended going through Piriyapattana. The road was bad, and I could not remember going through this town last time. Still we continued, and after about 6 km, finally decided to ask someone (typical men, always hesitating to ask for directions). And there we got to know that we had to go back to Piriyapattana and take a right turn. So we went back on the bad road, and took that turn. This stretch of road was not very good either. Finally we came to the junction of this road and the road which we should actually have taken. Right at this junction is a checkpost and a board that welcomes you to Rajiv Gandhi Sanctuary.

And once you are on this part of the road, you don't feel like wearing helmet anymore. You ride through the forest, and feel the wind flowing through your hair. The road is straight, and gets your mind lost. But within a few kilometres, you are back into civilization. And so we continued, from Hudikeri to T.Shettigeri, stopping in between only to give rest to our aching rear-ends. At T.Shettigeri, we stopped for tea. It was already 5.30 PM then, and we had about 20 km more to go. And here the roads are not so good. They look good because they are tarred newly. However, while putting a new layer of tar, these repair people don't fill up the potholes, so the road gives you a bumpy ride.

By the time we reached Irpu, it was beyond 6 PM, and the Timmaiahs were waiting for us. They have only 2 guest rooms, and as we had booked both these, we had no worry of getting disturbed by other tourists/travellers. Though our original plan was to go to Irpu falls that day itself, it was already late. The entry to Irpu falls is controlled by the forest department, and you have to pay Rs 10 to enter. And it is shared equally by the temple there and the forest department. No free access to that beautiful falls.

Finally we managed to Reach Mr Timmaiah's house. And the moment we we saw the house, and the surroundings, all our pain vanished. Mr Timmaiah showed us our rooms, and other things we could use: a hammock (which, he said, is made of the same rope that is used to tie ships to the port, and so will not break even for my weight) and a swing (which is tied to the trees that are so strong that the tree will not break, even for my weight). The rooms had attached bathrooms, 2 beds each, and quite a few chairs, including two easy-chairs. PERFECT!!!!

Kunal, who preferred being closer to the nature than the rest of us, pitched his tent in one corner of the open ground in front of the house. I took a bath in the cold water, and it was as refreshing as drinking beer!!! The water was so soft, that I didn’t need to use much soap, and it didn’t affect my hair at all.

That night, the dinner consisted of pork and chicken curries, chapatis, sambar and rice. But before dinner, we guys had to have our usual tonic. So came out from my bag a full bottle of Black&White, 1/3rd Jack Daniel's, 1/3rd Teacher's Highland Cream and 1/4th Bacardi Reserva. Mr Timmaiah, who we had started already calling 'uncle', gave us the KF strong beer he had, plus ice cubes.After all the plates were wiped clean, we went to sleep. Kunal went to his tent, Thomas and Roshan went into one room, and Raghu, Sachin and I went into another. We 3 guys were thinking of chatting until late night. But the moment we hit the bed, we wanted to stop all other activities. Next morning Sachin told me that I was telling them something about my previous trip to Irpu, and just as I was telling, I stopped abruptly, and started snoring moments later.

Next morning we were up at 8, to finish off the poori bhaji that Mrs Timmaiah ("aunty") had made for us. Thomas and Kunal studied the map of South India and decided to enter to Kerala through Wayanad (about 7 KM from Irpu) and go to Calicut. The rest of us headed for Irpu falls, about half a KM from where we stayed.But we were shocked to see the number of vehicles already there. There were 2 tourist buses, and at least 10 cars. We entered the gates, and went through the cement pathway (perfect to spoil your mood if you are looking for a natural path to the falls). There was a bridge to cross the stream (that comes from the falls) but we guys went through the rocks of the stream, to get some feel of the nature. And when we reached the falls, all we could see was people. And the authorities have even put a platform made from bamboo, all the way to the bottom of the falls. It was so disgusting, that I decided not to get under the falling water. I would hate to stand in a queue to get under the water!!!! Once the other guys finished their bath (Raghu and Sachin hadn't taken bath the previous night), we sat there for a while, looking at all the silly things the people there were doing. Someone had put a fire in one of the wastebins, and the smell of burning plastic was all around.We came back to our house, and gulped some cold beer. And we went to sleep after lunch, at around 1.30 PM, hoping to get up by 3, and go to Kuruva island in Kerala. But when we got up (after great difficulty) at around 3.30, Mrs Timmaiah informed us that Thomas and Kunal were coming back and would have lunch there, as there was some strike in Kerala. FOILED!!!! Even we had no chance to go to Kerala then. Thomas and Kunal were back, and they said they had been to the island, and it looked very boring. So no island. What to do? Kunal said they saw a stream in Irpu and we could try spending time there. So we 4 went to that stream. It looked pretty dirty, and deep too. There was no possibility of going up the stream.

The shores were full of plants, and the stream was deep. So we tried going down the stream. As we were exploring, two young girls came with buckets filled with clothes. Hmmmm, it was the washing place for them, and there was no point for us to spend time there. So we went back to the house. Mr Timmaiah suggested that we could actually trek through his brother's estate, on the hill behind. This is Brahmagiri. And if you really want to trek, you need to take permission from the forest department, and you have to take a guide along (of course, you have to pay for the guide too!!).

Soon we had started our trek. After the coffee estate ended, it was a path through thorny bushes. And I felt really tired. So Sachin, Roshan and I decided to go back, while Thomas and Kunal continued trekking, as if they were walking on a tar road. Raghu went with them.

As we were walking towards our house, we could see the shiny yellow t-shirt of Raghu (If you look closely, you can actually spot him in the photo). After looking at him closely, we could see Thomas and Kunal (who weren't wearing "attractive" clothes) as well. From that distance, Raghu looked just as small as the nail of my pinkie. Those who know him also know his size. Now imagine how far up they were!!!

But it was getting dark, so we 3 went back to the house. After waiting for a long long time, the trekkers finally came back. By then it was pitch dark outside. They hadn't gone much further from where they were when we had seen them earlier. It is illegal to enter the area without permission and these guys didn't want to risk getting caught for trespassing into a wildlife sanctuary.

Soon we started our 2nd day's drinks. Jack Daniel's and Bacardi Reserva were finished, and Black&White was opened.

Mr Timmaiah had lit a fire with some wood, so make coal to prepare barbeque for us. Soon we had barbequed chicken, and some potato and onion that Kunal put under the coal.

After another sumptuous meal, it was time to end another day. We wanted to celebrate Roshan's birthday, but had no energy to wait until midnight. Next day Thomas and Kunal would continue to Calicut early in the morning, and the others had plans to go to Phookode lake and see the surrounding area.By the time we got up at 8, Kunal and Thomas had finished their breakfast of Akkirotti with some kind of spinach curry. We celebrated Roshan's birthday then. We left about an hour after they left, and headed towards Kerala. We had to go through the bad roads of Kutta. The moment we crossed the border, the condition of the road was completely different. There is one place with board that says it is the Karnataka-Kerala border. One side of the road has a road that hasn't been tarred for ages, while the other side has perfectly tarred road. Now we had entered the Wayanad district. We continued through the forest, and went on for about 70 km from the border, passing Mananthavady (the first town you get in Kerala on this road), Vythiri and Kalpetta on the way. We saw many roadsigns that gave directions to Edakal caves, and different waterfalls. We also saw tea estates for the first time during this trip.We reached the Phookode lake, and it was rather boring. There was a few peddle boats, and there were enough people in queue to use them. So we went 3 km further, to a place called Viewpoint. This is the beginning of the Ghat road that goes down, down and down and apparently we can even see Calicut from there. Well well well, when we went we could hardly see anything. The whole area was covered in fog. The fog seemed to rise rapidly from the bottom of the mountain, so it hadn't occupied the road. But the road seemed so maginficent and irresistible that we gave up all our other plans and continued on the road. It is a narrow road (a national highway, I guess), but well maintained. Riding on it is a pleasure, as long as you stay away from the monstrous KSRTC (Kerala SRTC) buses whose drivers seem to have problem spotting smaller vehicles on the road. May be their government should conduct eye-tests for them.

After a long long long journey, we reached the bottom of the hill, a town called Adivaram. We had tea there. Sachin had a cigarette too. There was a board there that said the Calicut beach was only 45 km from there. That's an hour's ride. But Sachin wasn't too interested, so we headed back, upwards. Raghu and Roshan went far ahead and Sachin and I went slowly. Half way through our journey, it started raining. As we got closer to Viewpoint, it was pouring cats and dogs. We could not see beyond 20 meters or so. Still some irreponsible drivers hadn't switched on their headlamps. We stopped at Viewpoint, and the rain got heavier. It was one awesome experience. Sachin could smoke without the fear of being caught (public smoking draws 500 Rs fine, we heard).We continued on our journey back, and when we reached Kalpetta, it was 3 PM. Mr Timmaiah had suggested that we lunch at Hotel Woodlands there. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed. Fortunately, the food court was open. And the food there is awesome. The place is unbelievably clean and economical. In the food court, the food is cooked in front of you, so you know the quality. Raghu and I weren't satisfied with one round of food, so we asked the cook what food could he cook. The restaurant was long closed for others. But for us, the cook agreed to prepare food, so we bought more food. When we were finally done, it was 4 PM, and they were sticking the evening snack menus to the wall. But we were too filled up to have tea and snacks. So we continued our journey back to Irpu. We crossed Mananthavady and continued further. We stopped at a shack for tea. We asked the boy there whether the road led to Karnataka, and he said yes. All in broken English and Malayalam. As we went on, to my surprise I could see lot of tea estates. But I could not remember seeing them while going to Phookode. The first tea estate we had seen then were very close to Phookode. It was obvious that we had lost our way. Luckily we found a few men who had parked their car on the roadside, probably for a smoke. They told us that we had come quite a distance on the wrong road (which led to Talassery), after missing a right turn at Mananthavady. So we begain our 11 km journey back to Mananthavady.It is easy for a traveller to get lost in Mananthavady. There are many one-ways, but and very few roadsigns. But this time we managed to find the right road. We picked up some snacks at Kutta and headed back home. It was probably about 7 PM when we reached back home. By the time I finished my bath and came out, Sachin and Raghu had already emptied the Teacher's, and now only Black&White was left. Mr Timmaiah joined us with his bottle, Mansion house brandy. We sat and shared a lot of stories. Mr Timmaiah said that we were the best group who had been there, since the time they started homestay in January 2007 (DAMN! That's the first time I went to Irpu!!!). We were the cleanest, and least fighting. He said he really liked our way of putting all waste in one plastic bag, instead of throwing into their garden. And he shared with us their experiences while running he homestay: some tourists of one room stealing cigarette packets of a britisher staying in the next room, 2 people of a group fighting over the girl both were interested in (but luckily, the girl wasn't there with them then), some people fighting over the bill etc.

Sunday morning was a sad time. We had rice idlis with sambar and chutney, and after settling our bill (which was nowhere close to what we had expected, with beer and cigarettes costing only a few rupees more than MRP, and non-veg food costing very cheap too), we left from there at 8.45 AM. We knew the way, and we had no intention to stop often, except to let the blood flow into certain parts of the body that are deprived of blood while riding. We stopped for lunch at Kamat Lokaruchi, and by 4.30 PM, we were back breathing the polluted air.