To Heaven and Back - Aug 2003

To Heaven and Back.


Aug 30, 2003 loomed large and clear as I prepared to undertake a nice relaxed ride – for a change – when Saru, yet another Mad Bull and I would undertake a trip to Gods own country.

We had done our planning in the previous week and said that Saturday would be a good day to start off. I had to be in Trivandrum on Thursday the 4th for a wedding and hence said we would do all our travelling before that.

The flexible route we decided was:
Chennai – Trichy – Kodaikanal – Munnar – Thekkady – Trivandrum- Nagercoil – Kanyakumari – Trichy – Pondy – Chennai.

This was to be a really flexible route and we would decide along the way and make necessary additions / deletions based on the speed and distance we covered – not leaving out the road conditions.

Day 1:
30/08, Saturday – odo reading: 31159
Chennai - Trichy

Saru and I met at 0830 at the Le Meridien and after a few last minute checks we headed out. First stop was about 40 Km out of Chennai where we had a good continental breakfast at one of the Hotel Management institutes restaurant.

Left around 1100 after a nice leisurely breakfast and proceeded to Trichy. I did some good speeds and so did Saru – it was Saru’s first long ride and I was filling him with tips all along the way.

Reached Trichy and stayed in my uncles place for the night. We did some riding in the night just for the heck of it.

Day 2:
31/08, Sunday
Trichy - Kodaikanal

Left Trichy for Kodaikanal around 0900 hours.
The route to Dindugal is pretty good except for a few stretches. It is also very windy. We had to stop the bikes at one stretch, as the bikes were very unstable in the wind. Just before Dindigul took off on the bye-pass to Kodaikanal.

Stopped at the base of the hills to give Saru some tips on Ghat riding and also to let the bikes cool down and then we took off. The ride was really good and as the views were spectacular we were stopping pretty often. Saru caught on to the technique of using the clutch and gears as brakes and was coping really well.

Started getting dark as a mist was coming in and finally reached around 0700. The last bit was exciting with a cool wind in our faces and the bikes doing really well. Found a decent hotel, picked up some um…refreshments and ordered some good food from Room service and crashed out.

Day 3:
01/09, Monday
Kodaikanal – Munnar

We had heard of the Berijam route via Top Station being closed off but being the Mad Bulls that we were we decided to give it a try anyway. First we went to the Forest office where we were told outright that there would be no way we could get there! Not wanting to give up so easily we rode on till the check post and were denied entry there as well!! - Apparently the road does not exist for over 12 kilometres and no amount of cajoling and “adjusting” would make the Forest Officer let us through.

So dejected we rode back and down the hills then onto Munnar through Theni.
The ghat ride up to the border was excellent – really not too steep and absolutely no traffic at all – oh yes the occasional Mahindra packed with people and bursting at the seams but apart form this not much at all.

The surroundings on the Tamil Nadu side are really very dull and brown and dry. The moment you cross the border into Kerala the forests and greenery start all around – the roads are surprisingly good and the best is the fact that it’s all downhill from here.

Had a lovely ride in the hills. Nice waterfalls and excellent views all around. Started getting dark and had to ride slowly as the visibility was really poor. Rode into town and finally met up with Solo aka Solomon –who had been waiting for us for over 2 hours. Ironically we went to the same booth that he had called us from while waiting and the booth operator put 2 and 2 together and informed us that Solomon had indeed arrived in Munnar and was searching for us. Talk about coincidence.

Went to the Hotel Hill top – couldn’t see any hill or a top either, had some refreshment and spent most of the night catching up on news in the bulleting industry.

Day 4
02/09, Tuesday.
Munnar – Thekkady - Kanjirapalli

The day started off with us deciding to ride on to Kanjirapalli instead of Thekkady as the distance was really less – only 80 KM. Also – in Kerala the normal time and distance equation does not work due to the Ghats, Roads and traffic. So we decided to ride on to Kanjirapalli where Solo had arranged some accommodation for us. We also decided to take the road less travelled which was to be only around 30 Kilometres more but in reality we kind of went all over the place and reached Thekkady only at around 5:00, it was here that my coil conked out and we had to get this fixed and that further delayed us by an hour or so.

Solo was pillion on Saru's bike for a while and was showing him the ropes and then for some time they swapped and Saru literally shivered while Solo rode! Solo was amazing on the ghats – almost as good as I am on the 500!!!! – but after all what can you expect from a 350!!!!!(Cool it guys – I used to have a 350 as well remember??!)

As it was late, Solo took over and Saru was pillion with me and we did some amazing riding – like poetry in motion. It started raining badly and we kept going on and on and on....
The rains were so bad the roads were washed off and we had to go through water flowing across the road and taking most of it with it as well! It kind of reminded me of the countless water crossing the RTMC, 60Kph and other groups went through in Kashmir.

OK OK – its nowhere as close!!!! – but it kind of reminded me that’s all!
Reached Kanjirapalli and stayed in a quaint Government guesthouse. Lot of refreshments sponsored by Solo and his cousins.

Day 4
03/09, Wednesday
Kanjirapalli – Trivandrum

Had a nice breakfast at Solos cousins place and headed out to Trivandrum, had a couple of shocks on the way with people saying the distance on the route we had taken was a lot more than we expected, did some good distances and finally hit the NH and was in Trivandrum much earlier than expected. Solo and Saru then split up to get a “massage” and I left for the wedding place.

Day 5.
04/09, Thursday
Trivandrum – Nagercoil

Not much riding except for the 75 kilometres from Trivandrum to Nagercoil that took us 3 hours due to Traffic!

Day 6.
05/09, Friday
Nagercoil.

Saru and Solo decided to split here and head off back together to Coimbatore as something had cropped up and Saru had to leave urgently.
They got lost on the way and eventually reached Coimbatore on Saturday morning.
I chilled out on my friend’s coconut estate and had a ball at a private beach.

Day 7.
06/09, Saturday
Nagercoil – Kanyakumari – Pondicherry.
Woke up early and rode 25 km solo to see the sun rise at KK. Left KK at around 8:00 and had to stop by on the way to see the scores and scores of windmills that were on the way.

On the way – my fuel pipe broke – so took the one from the air filter and replaced it and all seemed to be well, till my clutch cable snapped in a few minutes. Changed it using the spare I had and continued on. Reached Tirunelveli and spent an hour on breakfast.

Rode on thro Madurai to Trichy and had reached Trichy much earlier that I expected. Met up with my sister and decided to carry on, as I was in the mood and doing really well.

Rode on till Pondy and decided to stay the night as it was 7:00 and I had been riding the whole day. I could have done Chennai, but did not have a reason to and so chilled out in Pondy.

Day 8.
07/09, Sunday –
Pondy to Chennai.

Woke up late and left Pondy at around 10:30 and was in Chennai 1t 12:30. Realised that I keep pushing the bike much more than normal when I get onto a good road, hence made it a point to stop not once an hour as I normally do but stop once in every 45 minutes.

All in all a really good ride.

The bikes – both Saru’s and mine performed well on all occasions. There were no major problems and at the end of the day, Saru has become a good rider now, a person I can sit behind and trust knowing that he would be as responsible as I on the road. Normally this is something I find really difficult to do.

Final Odo reading: 33202
Total Distance covered: 2043Km

Number of days: 9.

Lessons learnt:
1. Always carry Cash – Cards don’t always help you – both ATM and Credit! – Learnt it the hard way in Pondicherry when the ATM network was down

2. During the night, if in a pair stick as close together as possible in Staggered formation, lighting up the way for both of you. (Day 4 – riding in the rain in the night)

3. During Night riding rather than stick to the centre and keep moving out into the wrong lane to check and see if you can overtake, look below the bigger vehicle in front of you and see the reflection on the roads.

4. Solo Night riding – Tail a bigger vehicle and keep a safe distance from it all the way rather than taken unnecessary risks.

5. Tie luggage well, and test ride it before starting of as if this is done improperly it will cause major wobbling.

6. If you start losing pickup and pulling power, cool the engine for a while and take off again.

7. Always keep a common contact as home base. Mobiles do not always work.

8. And finally take time to see the place after all for a true biker the journey is the destination.