Where the road took a U turn!

It has been nearly three and a half years since I wrote my previous post. Well, post my PG, I got busy in my job and got married in the month of Feb, 2013. How I got married to a girl of my choice is an altogether different story and would get published in some other post. Instead of visiting some tourist place for honeymoon, we thought to spend some time together with our parents in Gorakhpur. The reason for this was that both of us were supposed to stay in Bangalore; a city far away from Gorakhpur and we wouldn't have got much time to spend with them. However, we did have a very short visit to Mysore in the month of April 2013 where we commuted by bus and train.

We were thinking of something adventurous when a motorbike-trip came to our mind. The question was ‘where’? We had already been to Coorg in a rented car. So, we thought to go to Mysore, take a halt of one night and proceed to Coorg the next day on our motorbike. We started with the preparations. The main problem was to carry the luggage bag. My pulsar 180 is designed like a racer bike and isn’t supposed to have much room for luggage. We finalized the bag and hung it on the grab rails. The grab rails were strong for sure (those are the only support for the pillion). Sellotape came extremely handy each time to strongly cling the shoulders of the bag. So, whenever we had to detach the bag from the motorcycle we cut the sellotapes using a pair of scissors.

Day 1:

We left our home at 7 am on Dec 14, 2013. There was the usual traffic jam around Gorguntepalya railway crossing otherwise we moved smoothly until we caught the SH-17. Thereafter we started zipping past the streets. It was little cold early in the morning but the weather became comfortable gradually. We ensured that we take adequate breaks so as to avoid fatigue. Khushboo had prepared aloo & sattu (roased gram et al flour) paraathaas the previous night and kept those in the fridge. We carried them straight out of the fridge on our journey. We stopped at a drive-in between Channapatna and Maddur. It was little unusual gulping the cold paraathaas down with hot coffee.

We proceeded further and took 3-4 breaks of 10-15 minutes each, every 30-40 minutes and reached Mysore. I was trying to maintain a speed between 70-75 km/hr. I had read somewhere that bikes driven between 4000 and 5500 revolutions per minute render the maximum mileage. The maximum speed which I was able to attain was 110 km/hr and at that speed too the bag was clung tightly. We had prior reservations in Hotel Mayura (a division of KSTDC). Now KSTDC has two hotels in Mysore: Hoysala & Yatri Niwas.

There was a substantial difference of Rs. 500 of Non AC Double bedroom in both the hotels. Both the hotels seemed to be located on the same road and we wondered on the price difference. To experience further on the difference, we booked Hoysala on the way onwards and Yatri Niwas on the way backwards.

After reaching Mysore, we took some rest. Gaurav’s (my colleague who came from Bangalore to attend my wedding long back) family was there in Mysore and he invited us for dinner at his place. We received a very warm reception from his family. Vast is the word which comes to my mind when I think of that dinner. What not was there! Veg Kadhai, Butter Paneer Masaala, Saambhar and three other kinds of side dishes. Akki Roti, Neer Dosa, Chapaati were the staples. For deserts there were Suji Laddoo, Ganesh Halwa, Ice Cream and Gulab Jamoon. Additionally there were banana chips and bananas. After the dinner we received our wedding-gift and bid farewell to them.

Day 2:

Next morning was the day which I enjoyed the most. We departed from Mysore at 8 am early in the morning and caught State Highway 88. The road was smooth and without any thing peculiar happening in between, we stopped at a restaurant called Halli Mane.

We had a decent value-for-money breakfast over there. Before Coorg we again took a halt at a Café Coffee Day (Mysore Madikeri Road).

The weather was very balanced; neither too much sunshine nor too cold!

After reaching Madikeri, we approached towards Bhagmandala where our room was booked.

We deliberately chose Bhagmandala (36 kms away from Madikeri) for our stay as it was marooned from the main Coorg population and the usual hustle-bustle of a hill station. Also, the fact that it had a good proximity to Talakaveri temple which is said to be the origin of the Cauveri River. On the way, the roads were so sloped at times that I drove my motorcycle in neutral gear for a few kms with the engine off. After reaching the KSTDC guesthouse over there, we refreshed ourselves, had lunch and took some rest.

We left for Talakaveri temple at around 5 in the evening. The temple was located at such a height that the road stopped itself and took a U turn there. By the time we reached there, we got to know that the temple is slated to close in 15 minutes. We had our “darshan” in a rush and stopped at the aforementioned resort on our way back. The peculiar fact about this resort was its proximity to the Talakavery Temple. One can easily walk her way to the temple and can explore various scenic views of Bhagmandala (the temple is located at one of the highest points in Madikeri). The resort was a very moderate one with the per person charges of Rs. 500/-per day. The service seemed to be bare-minimum with only one person acting as a cook, caretaker et al. A group of college students was enjoying campfire when we reached there. It seemed to be a nice place to stay for a group of young people of at least 10 or more.Since we enquired about several resorts before coming here, a gentleman named K.V. Nayakcalled us and invited us to visit his resort  despite telling him that we’d already booked our room elsewhere. He just wanted us to come to his resort and have a look over there. We didn’t see any harm in that and anyways that resort would have fallen in our route to Talakaveri temple.

By the time we decided to go back, it was already 08.15 pm. The distance from that resort was our hotel was around 5 kms and the road was COMPLETE dark with no traffic at all. A silence with chirping of small creatures ensued on the way. I was little apprehensive if I came across any unusual creature. But we reached safely to our hotel at around 9. We had dinner and being tired because of the long journey in the first half of the day, fell asleep. I had already planned for the next day to see the sunset from the top of the temple.

Day 3:

Next day, we left the hotel at 05.50 am early in the morning when it was dark and foggy. There was complete darkness and the usual chirping of birds et al. Slowly sunshine had started making its way. Khushboo looked back as I kept driving and asked me if what she saw was water or clouds. I didn’t remember any water-body in that area and had a look myself. Oh my god! It seemed it was all clouds backwards and we felt like we were ascending from clouds.

We reached the Talakavery temple at around 6.10 am.

Coincidentally, the group of students which we met last night was also there to view the sunrise. Besides the temple there are stairs to go to the top of a hill. We immediately took the stairs. Khushboo took rest twice while climbing the stairs while I was alright. It wasn’t her fault. There were some 300-400 stairs on the way. After reaching the top of the hill we realized what a panoramic view was in front of our eyes! We were on a hill and had a view of many other hills around us.

The hills looked like emanating from clouds. In other words, we could see vast range of clouds beneath us. The sun was on the verge of rising in the sky and wind was blowing fast enough to make us feel little cold. We took many photographs of the scenes.

Gradually the sun rose completely in the sky and the sunshine ate all the clouds. Very slowly, it was all sunny and became little hot. I was reminiscent of my last visit to this place in Sep 2010 when throughout our visit to this temple, it has been drizzling.

Now I feel that monsoon is the best season to visit Coorg.

Be that as it may, we were there on the top when everybody else left but slowly the sunshine was becoming more direct and we thought to leave.

Since we were staying in Bhagmandala, we thought to take a tour of the main town Madikeri. We left on our bike at around 11.30 to cover the approximate 38 kms of the distance. Driving on that route was such an adventurous experience! Paths were steep and curved like anything besides the fact that the paths were surrounded by coffee and other spices’ plantation. At times, Mountains were there on one side and trenches on the other side. We reached Madikeri and had lunch in this humble Kerala restaurant named Greenland.

After that we departed for Abbey falls when those unfortunate moments of a small accident came into picture. Khushboo was navigating the way to Abbey Falls when we came across a split road and were not sure whether to take the left one or the right one. I slowed down the bike and she asked me to take the right one. I immediately swung the bike little right without looking back. A mini bus passed us completely but its rear dumper got stuck in my front brake-lever. Fortunately the bumper got detached from the bus instantly but that was enough for us to have lost our balance on the bike and we were flat on the ground. The bike’s speed was bare minimum 5-10 km/hr. The mini bus stopped immediately and the driver and/or caretaker started shouting at us as in why didn’t I give a signal before turning right. It was my fault indeed and so we maintained a low profile. I developed minor scratches on my leg. On asking, the caretaker was kind enough to give us a sealed bottle of water as we couldn't find any source of water over there.

Despite our mood becoming very upset after this incident, we continued to Abbey Falls. To reach the falls, one has to walk downstairs on a narrow path surrounded by trees. It is a giant fall viewable from a hanging bridge. We had a few pictures and had a good time relaxing over there trying to forget the incident. 

It was around 5 when we left Abbey Falls. Since there wasn’t any decent restaurant around the Guest House where we were staying (apart from the Guest House’s one, the food of which we became little bored with), we planned to had the food packed from the Hotel Green Land in Madikeri and then leave for our Guest House at Bhagmandala. We left Madikeri at around 0645 hours. The sun was setting and darkness was slowly creeping into the picture.

We met many vehicles / people on our way from Bhagmandala to Madikeri and that’s why I presumed that the same situation would last there in the evening as well. The reason for taking the liberty of leaving Madikeri as late as 1845 hours! Little did I know what was there in store for us. As we left Madikeri, the traffic and population started becoming less. Coffee and other plants’ plantations would look like jungle in dark through which we were traversing. Slowly, the road became darker and the only source of light was the headlight in my motorbike. Once in a while we used to get a vehicle coming from the either direction and / or going to the same direction. We were also coming across small shops and houses randomly but at a very low frequency. We travelled 60-70% of the 38 km drive alone with nothing in sight but the road and the jungle (I agree that they were plantations, but we felt like travelling on a road amidst an unknown jungle in night which was scary). I was once again afraid what we would do if we come across any unusual creature. The roads were once again steep and curved but this time it was far scarier than adventurous.

That 38 kms ride was a journey of lifetime. However, we reached safely to our Guest House at around 2000 hours. We had the parceled food and then started planning for the next day’s event. Since I had been riding the motorbike for the last 3 days, we thought to take some rest the next day and explore the local area on foot.

Day 4:

As mentioned earlier, Bhagmandala was a place away from the usual hustle-bustle of a hill station. After having experienced the rush since the day we started, we thought to pass this day just like that. We had breakfast at the in-house restaurant, but sitting on the gate of the guesthouse and staring the silent road. The road was so silent that once in 10 minutes would a vehicle pass it. It were these calm moments for which we zeroed in on Bhagmandala. There were small shops which would serve the daily necessities of a layman and that was it. We roamed around the place and checked out the coffee beans plants.

There were a small pond and an old temple nearby with nothing unusual. There were a couple of very humble restaurants in the vicinity. While going to Madikeri we had spotted a home which serves food to outsiders as well. We thought to explore that option and were on our bike for that. It was some 15-20 kms from our place. Both of us not being very hungry, we just ordered one meals and pork as a side dish. 

Now, pork is prepared in this region in a different way; be that as it may I didn't like eating pork. With nothing unusual in the evening we slept early as we had to depart for Mysore the next day.

Day 5:

We got ready and left Coorg by 8 am. At around 9.15 am we reached Madikeri and had breakfast at Greenland. There were sad moments as we were leaving the beautiful hilly regions. I was enjoying my driving this time as well but the excitement was less compared to the experience which I had when we entered Coorg. We ensured that we take enough number of breaks to avoid fatigue. Driving at an average speed of 65-73 km/hour, we reached Mysore at around 2.30 pm. This time we had a booking at Yatri Niwas. There wasn’t a major difference between the two adjacent hotels Hoysala and Yatri Niwas. The Hoysala had a slightly more premium feeling. Both hotels were just okay. We had a roam at local markets near the Railway Station over there in the evening. This being the 5th day of the journey, we were little tired.

Day 6:

Next day we left the hotel bag and baggage and had breakfast in the main market over there. On the way from Mysore to Bangalore we came across another Hotel Mayur (River View). We thought to check it out for future reference. That hotel had a nice view of the bank of Cauvery River. We left from there and took a number of halts to avoid fatigue. With nothing unusual happening we entered Bangalore. Traffic warmly welcomed us back to the normal rush of our busy lives.