4 states ridden to view 3 seas meet! My dream trip to kanyakumari!

4 states ridden to view 3 seas meet! My dream trip to kanyakumari!

                Hi friends, I am back with a trip. As I mentioned in my last trip, about my dream ride, I now made a trip to Kanyakumari with my friend on a pulsar220.

Dream is not something which you get in sleep, Dream is something which does not let you sleep.

 Yes , it is true! It was since 8 months  I have been planning a trip to kanyakumari, but was not able to make it. Now, my college is over, got a job offer in hand but awaiting the joining. It was the time when Pavan proposed a trip. We both have only one destination in mind which is miles far away…Kanyakumari! So, we set out on a voyage to tip of Indian peninsula on a bike!

                The last 3 words of the previous paragraph sounded weird, foolish, crazy or whatever to many people who heard us! But for us, It is the dream ride which is not letting us sleep!

                The plan is to go through kerala and come back on national highway 7. We planned our route, noted our places to be covered, the names of the important places in between, distances, terrains to be ridden etc… Made necessary arrangements like helmets, jackets, gloves and shoes – got bike ready – carried a navigator phone- a cam and a bag!

DAY ONE:  30^th June 2011

                                                Early in the morning, before the sun rose up, we rose! Got ready, packed things, geared up and started! The air filter was showing a block, so, had to stop to clean it. Fuelled up our beast and set out on the NH7 towards Bangalore. The bike was breathing smoothly as it is just two months old. The destination for first day was munnar, kerala, 720 kms away from anantapur. The route is through Bangalore, salem on NH7 and then to Avinashi on NH47, then cross border to reach munnar through forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. It was an easy ride to Bangalore, but crossing Bangalore was hectic and killed time. Though my stomach was upset and not co-operating, we kept moving on NH7.

                                                It was almost evening when we reached Salem, travelling 450kms by then. We derouted to Avinashi and kept moving on NH47 when it started raining. We had all our things safe in bag and our jerkins helped us out of getting wet. Riding in rain during sunset on a national highway was an awesome experience. The wet road till avinashi and bad roads after avinashi left us 70kms away still from Munnar. So, stayed there for that night in Udumalai in Tamilnadu.

DAY TWO: 1^st July 2011

                                                Morning got up a bit late because of the tiredness of riding 630 kms the previous day and also riding in rain. Got ready, vacated that place and started to the Munnar. 20kms from there, we entered a forest tiger reserve which was a bit like forest and 20kms after, we entered the “god’s own country”, Kerala. It was a wildlife sanctuary that invited us to kerala. Slowly, we were riding high above sea level and greenery started creeping on both sides of road. Heavy mountains with trees on them were giving a visual treat to us. The density of western ghat forests were depicted on those hills. We stopped at a place and had snaps. We spotted many waterfalls in between those mountains. The clouds were slowly touching us. It was an amazing feeling riding on a bike, clouds touching us, greenery on all sides around. It was a moment to cherish for all us three (I, Pavan and P220). The beast took easy even on the ghat roads. It was breathing freely even after munching miles in 4 states. We reached Munnar with all scenic view around, amazing feeling like touching the sky. We felt “who said sky is the limit?’. Clouds covering us fast in minutes, we were cruising in the sky, which is called the limit. Munnar is an awesome place to be, especially during monsoon. Though, it would rain, I promise you wont get locations like paintings anywhere else. We covered only mettupatty dam in Munnar.

                                                It was already afternoon by the time we visited metupatty dam. We had our lunch and started to Kochi, to reach Alleppy that night. Though we wanted to stay in Munnar, we had to move to prevent further delays in the total plan. The road to Kochi from Munnar is an awesome ghat road, with numerous curves and challenging traffic. Rain ( actually we are already riding through clouds and its fog that seems like rain ) started early after our journey started and riding on that road is like a gift to any biker. You get an awesome experience of riding in rain with plenty of waterfalls on both sides, good traffic, sexy curves which teach you a lot. We had to take a video of that road, but rain didn’t permit us to take our cams out. Slowly, the clouds were above and surprisingly its not raining. We reached Kochi around 7 in the evening. Took a small gap and rode to Alleppy on NH47. Alleppy is 50kms from Kochi. One hour after, we were in Alleppy searching for rooms. Got a room in a mean while and we retired for that day. Kerala water in restaurants is light pink in colour and is warm. They prefer boiled and cooled water. The colour secret is some ayurvedic herb which is dipped during boiling water which adds a light pinkish colour. (we came to know it later). That night, only thing I see is the road to kochi from munnar. Such a lovely ride we had. I Cherish it!

DAY THREE: 2^nd July 2011

                                                Good sleep last night and a warm morning in Alleppy. We set out to see backwaters of Alleppy after we got ready and had breakfast. We engaged a boat (chikari boat they call it der) to view the scenic Alleppy back waters. At first, the sail was through back waters in town. Slowly, we entered the stretch of back waters with plenty of coconut trees on both sides and numerous boats sailin. Some of them are city boats (like our city buses), which transport commuters from their houses to work places, some of them are tourist house boats, some of them are chikari boats like ours. The back waters are full of sceneries everywhere. There are houses along it. Each house has a boat, like we have a scooty or bike. There was also a petrol bunk for motor boats. The selling of daily chore takes place on boats along backwaters. The snaps we  took were not enough to explain the beauty of nature we have witnessed on back waters. Even in the bright day light, it was looking great. I imagined this place how it would look when raining and I felt amazing. Two hours passed very soon on back waters. The interesting fact we came to know is that those back waters extend for about 2000kms and there is water way to kovalam from alleppy. Another one is the traditional snake boat race that takes place in month of august. That boat would be very lengthy and hundreds of participants row it to win the race. An amazing place to view nature very closely. After back waters, we headed towards the west coast, the beach in Alleppy. That was the first time we are seeing Arabian sea. It is very calm with low tides. There are some creatures like crabs in the beach. Spent some time in beach clicking pics. Then started to our dream destination, Kanyakumari. The road to kanyakumari is via Trivandrum.

                                                It  is a national highway NH47, the same road we rode till avinashi from salem. This road is a two lane with heavy traffic and many towns alongside. Actually there is no gap between places. Every town is followed by other without much gap. So, the ride was tired both due to busy traffic and also hot climate. Somewhere in between these towns, we missed actual route and rode 10kms, then came to know and with the help of navigator, came back on track and cruised on those busy roads to reach kanyakumari at 9pm in the night. The straight road leads to the last road of the Indian peninsula.  It was the moment I cherish with ending land leading to never ending seas. Our bike’s odo showing 1230kms. That moment is a moment of pride, joy and achievement!

                                                                3 seas meeting to make our country, a peninsula, at kanyakumari. We rode on a pulsar 220  in 4 states to see 3 seas meet! 2^nd july 2011 is the day I got my shot! That night, we retired in a hotel with sea view. Dined late and rode all over kanyakumari with joy.

DAY FOUR: 3^rd July 2011

                                                Morning, we got a bell intimating to watch the sun rise on east side. We rushed towards the east side to view it. We waited there, but in vain as sun already rose up above clouds, which didn’t permit us view the rise. Disappointed, came room, got ready and set out. Found a beach 3kms away on west side. Had snaps and spent a good time in water. Had brunch in the afternoon. Packed our things and started back to Anantapur on NH7. It was sad leaving kanyakumari, but thought I would make trip again to the place ( may be on RE’s or Harleys ). Wish I could do it!

                                                Started back on national highway to reach Madurai that night. It was cool cruising on national highways after two days. The highway has wind farms on both sides as this area had pretty good winds. Our beast was still breathing happily after such a hard ride. No problems with bike! Slowly, without any rush, we reached Madurai in the late evening just after it became dark. A short service for bike ( chain spray etc). We took a room for stay. Roamed about on streets of Madurai. It is a bit unpleasant city with heavy population on streets.

DAY FIVE:  4^th July 2011

                                                Our plan is to visit famous Meenakshi temple in Madurai, so, we visited. It is an amazing temple with lots of sculptures. It has got more than dozen gopurams. It is a very big temple with long corridors and pleasant pujas. It took us one hour to view whole temple and had darshan. We broke our fast outside temple and headed to room to pack luggage and start our final leg of voyage to Anantapur, 650kms from there. It took one hour with the help of navigation to get out of chaotic city. From there, we managed a good average speed every hour on the NH7. In the trip on the whole, we didn’t go for the red line in the top gear anywhere, but managed to munch good miles every hour.

                                               

                                                Afternoon, had lunch outside salem city and cruised towards Bangalore. It was 5pm on reaching the Bangalore city from hosur side. Thick black clouds welcomed us to Bangalore city and rain accompanied us all through the city. Traffic was as usual terrific. We stopped for a bite at dominos and kept riding in rain to cross the city. It killed pretty good time in the city. But falling back on NH, we cruised very comfortably along and reached our place within 2 hours from Bangalore city at 10pm in the nite. 3 hours were dedicated to Bangalore traffic!

                                                Our trip was successful ( ofcourse, successful man!). This is the time we made people think that it can be done to kanyakumari on a bike, if they got passion, composure and determination. 2300kms showing on the Odometer, 900 pictures captured, 4 nights spent in different states, riding across good sections and challenging sections for 5 days in 4 states ( A.P. Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala) to see 3 seas, we, 2 bikers stand proudly with our 1 beast!

Here I come with some of my trip memories......

                                           3 months ago i was in the same spot on zma on coorg trip

 it was then a long distance, but not now!

 

on the outskirts of salem city

   

                                                   a good section of road near krishnagiri on NH7                                                                                                                                                       

 on the route to munnar in tiger reserve....                                                                                     one of the many beautiful falls we came across in hills.....
 

 in the western ghats enroute munnar....
 clouds getting closer...

 in the foggy munnar.....in the clouds..!!!!
 

at mettupatty dam, munnar...

                                                                                                                                                  the painting like view of mettupatty dam in the evening....( courtesy: my sister)

the alleppy back waters 
 the awesome view of back waters....with cocnut trees on both sides....
 
a house boat on back waters

munched miles to view west coast...alleppy beach

                                                   we were on those sands of time....:p

alleppy beach...

kollam, welcoming us!

 the sunrise..actually it rose....

 the view of ending land from our hotel....

the view of vivekananda rock memorial and tiruvalluvar statue....
 no distance too far....i can even ride across...!!!

 jumping in joy...i landed a bit earlier....

view of sea from view tower....

 
 another view of the beast...

the wind farms on either side on highway

 

NH7 to madurai from kanyakumari

model of  the meenakshi temple, madurai

 
south gopuram of madurai temple..

 
south gopuram thru koneru...

 
the long corridors full of sculptured pillars...

north gopuram...

 
relaxing at domino's in bangalore....

Thank you all who helped me out and made my dream trip memorable and un forgettable one...!!!

Thanks and Regards

Bharath R. Bhushan

Visit to Harley davidson showroom in hyderabad.

VISIT  TO HARLEY DAVIDSON HUB IN INDIA:

                                  It was a cool Friday evening and I was roaming in Hyderabad aimless. I was there for vacation and the next day, I had to leave Hyderabad and go home. My mind was wandering (even I was wandering on roads on a bike) around where to go till it found Harley Davidson showroom in Banjara Hills. My mind couldn’t stop  me from visiting it as it was the first Harley Davidson showroom in India itself. I entered the house of touring U.S.A bikes in India. It was an amazing sight of about of a dozen Harleys standing proudly in that bike paradise.. I was feeling a bit proud too as I am watching them so close for first time in my life .

I met Akbar, a sales consultant in that showroom and found some interesting details.

 -- The tax one should pay to import a Harley Davidson is absolutely 118% of its cost.

·          ---The dealer of Harley sent a team to USA to get trained to service the Harleys in India.

·          ---There were about 30 Harleys sold by that dealer till now.

·          ---There were also accessories from Harley available in the showroom.

    I asked if I could take pics of Harleys. I got a yes as an answer and it was the moment I cherished and got excited. I also got a chance to pose for a pic on the knight rod (though the pic was shaky), I felt happy being there for that moment. Thanks to Harley for coming to India.

Here are some pictures....

dyna streetbob

dyna

 softail classic
 console of softail classic
  iron 883 sporster
  XL 1200 R sposter
  softail classic
 superglide custom
  nightrod, my favourite.
 ` nightrod

Thank you Hyderabad for giving me an awesome experience of lifetime.

Thanks and Regards
Bharat R.Bhushan

THE TRIP TO THE COFFEE SHOP OF INDIA.

TRIP TO THE COFFEE SHOP OF INDIA:

Author: Rallapalli Bharat Bhushan.

                                                                 I am Bharat, completed my engineering from JNTU College of Engineering, Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. I am very passionate about tripping on bikes to long places. I made trips to many places in India till now. My latest trip was to Coorg, Karnataka, the coffee shop of India.

                                                                                My heart was longing for a trip to somewhere before my engineering college life ends in a month. I had many plans. My dream trip is to Kanyakumari on NH7, 1000kms from the place where I live i.e Anantapur which is on the same NH7 in Andhra Pradesh. But the time and finance doesn’t allow me to go to Kanyakumari.

                                                                 I and sunny decided to trip somewhere else. I came to know about Coorg when I was in school and felt it would be nice if me made a trip to it . So, the destination we chose was Coorg, the coffee shop of India, in Karnataka. The Coorg is 500 kms from Anantapur  via Bangalore and Mysore. Bike we chose was Karizma R, which is 2 years old. We made many trips before on it. I and my friend sunny planned our route and timings for this trip. For the route and other doubts, I visited blogs by Xbhp riders who made a trip before.

The first leg is to Bangalore on NH7- 220 kms.

The second leg is to Mysore from Bangalore – 140kms

The third leg is to Madikere from Mysore – 140kms

                                                                It was a 4 day trip and our first plan was to reach Bangalore or Mysore in one day and then go to Madikere the next day, then see places around Madikere  and return. Journey started at 9 am in the morning on 26^th march. The bike did very well on the highway and by 11.30am, we were reaching Bangalore. So, we planned to Mysore directly. Riding on the outer ring road, reached Mysore road. The traffic was chaotic on outer ring road with many lorries. The road to Mysore from Bangalore was a state highway with its own culture which reflects the heritage of our country. It had a decent traffic with good sceneries on either side. We crossed Maddur, Mandya and Sri Rangapatna to reach mysore. The road was nice and had good curves. It was almost  5 in the evening while we were reaching Mysore when we called a friend and asked him if we could ride to Madikere at that time. He suggested to go ahead because it is a good stretch and 120kms is not a big distance on it, he said. So, started to Madikere from there directly. The road was nice with good curves and challenging traffic. After we crossed Hunsur, 45 Kms from Mysore, the road bifurcated into two ways. We were left in confusion and there is no one to guide us. We halted there watching which way all the vehicles were going, and we decided a route in which buses were also going.

                                                                This is the thrilling part of our trip which left many memories and lessons in our biking life. The route we have chosen was through the jungle in the Kodagu forest reserve. We came to know it after we rode for 20 Kms through it. The time before the light fails was little which didn’t permit us to go back around in the state highway. The light is failing, the road is not so good, forest all around, cold creeping in, still many miles to munch!!!!I felt strange and weird while sunny encouraged me to keep moving forward. At a place, we spotted elephants crossing the road. We felt Kerala very nearby and later came to know that it was just behind a hill at that place. The road had coffee plantations on either side with many little fields also. We reached a place called Virajpet, where the buses stopped with which we were coming along. I spoke to the bus driver and gained some knowledge. Actually Coorg is not a single place. It is a place stretching over 80 kms with Madikere as main centre . Madikere was 35 Kms from that place, but it was already dark and we have no other choice but to move forward to reach the main centre.

                                                                It was pitch dark with no street lights on the way, there came the ghat section, there were no other vehicles, no villages in between etc....My mind started losing balance thinking over these things. But it was the time I realised my wishes were coming true. Riding in the night, on a ghat section, its very cool there as we were reaching the hill station, I felt thrilling and It was the moment I felt proud to be a biker on a trip. Though it was our mistake to have chosen the wrong way at that time, it was like a life time experience which brought the true biker spirit in us. It was 8.30 pm when we reached Madikere. Hired a room and got freshen up.

At the end of the day, I noted all my experiences to frame them in to an article one day.

11 hours

 500 Kms ( 3 terrains)

 2 guys

 1 bike – 17 horsepower

 were the figures at the end of the day. We did 500 kms in less than 12 hours which included riding on National highway, state highway and Forest route. The all credit goes to the Karizma. It had a very hard time but didn’t let us down. Thanks to machine again. That day what we learnt was to be composed and confident even if things go wrong while you were tripping but make sure you plan well and execute well.

                                                                Next day, we visited a place called Tala Cauvery, which is the birth place of river Cauvery. It is 55 Kms from Madikere, with total ghat section while riding. The road is scenic  with coffee plantations on either side and was visual treat for the tourists. There was a coffee pub on the way. It was a shop that sells all the products of the forests like honey, wine, coffee beans etc. It was established by a self  help woman group. We ordered a coffee and the woman there showed us a book on Coorg, written by an English man in 1990. It had all the details of Coorg, their culture, their traditions, festivals, dresses, places in Coorg etc. The only field marshal of the Indian Army, K.M. Cariappa is from Coorg. I came to know this from that book. I noted down some points from that book into my trip book. I managed to take pics in the book through my mobile. I got few of them. The coffee was superb. Thanked the woman for the book about history of Coorg. Payed the bill for coffee and left the pub. The temple in Tala Cauvery was reflecting the culture, sculpture and architecture with a modernistic tinge and the view from the top was amazing. We started back after some time and sunny rode fast back to Madikere to watch India – Pakistan match of World cup. Evening, I visited a waterfall near by Madikere and I rode all over Madikere and the houses were interestingly built on slopes. Had snaps of Madikere and interesting places in it. Came back room and felt happy knowing India is going to win the match that day.

                                                Next day, left to Bangalore in the morning and  we rode on the state highway  which is not taken the day before that day. It was a state highway with less vehicles and good places in between. We by passed Mysore, reached Sri Rangapatna, had lunch there and started to Bangalore. It was evening by the time we reached Bangalore. Stayed there in cousin’s house for that night.

Next day, morning was the last leg of the total trip. It was the national highway leading to our place, Anantapur. Even though it was the afternoon, the ride was comfortable. We managed to take some good pics and reached back to room.

Over all, the trip gave me memories, taught me lessons, raised my spirit as a biker, increased my passion for making many more good trips in the future.

I only had my phone to take pics on this trip. It had a 3 mega pixel camera. But I am happy and lucky to have obtained good pics.

Pics:

Starting from our room.

Sunny with his 17 horses Karizma

National Highway – 7, The paradise of speed.

The traffic of Bangalore

The heritage of Karnataka being painted on the walls.

 

The Bangalore Mysore state highway.

Tuskers in the forest region of Kodagu.

The forest road, the challenge for the day. Will ride on this road again one day.

The view of Madikere from our room.

The coffee PUB on the way to Tala Cauvery.

Pics from the book given by the woman at coffee pub.

 
 
 

Some pictures en route Tala Cauvery.

 Pics of Tala Cauvery temple and view from the top!

The road not taken by us to reach madikere. (we missed this and rode along forest which left memories worth)

The road to which the car is going is the forest route, the other one is the road not taken (state highway)

.

No distance is too far on a highway like this for KARIZMA.....love it!!!!

The objects in the mirror are closer but are surely behind......the sweet baby Karizma had munched miles without much stress....lovely bike....!!!

Resting time for the beast.....for touring in India I believe Karizma is the best in class...!!!

Thank you all

 Bharat R. Bhushan