Back in May 2019, when I was having a chaotic personal time; marriage tortures at home, banks chasing me for credit card and EMI dues, office year-end pressures plus a stray dog had bitten me and I was taking Anti-Rabies vaccine!  All happening at the same time.  I was craving to hit the road on my Warrior, a break to escape all the chaos that was happening around me.  I wanted to pin the throttle to a place free from cellular networks.

Late Thursday evening; Sudheer asked me if we could ride to Coorg for an overnighter that coming weekend.  Sudheer spoke to one of his friend’s homestay and booked it for us.  I agreed and started packing.  I was excited to get back on touring mode after a long gap of 6 months apart from the short day rides.

Day 01: 18^th May 2019 (Saturday)

Both of us were on time at Parle Toll Plaza early morning, paired our intercoms over a quick chai and started riding towards Kunigal on the Hassan Highway.  The most common road to Coorg is via Mysore, which we always skip and take the Hassan road.

Sudheer wanted to open his bike’s throttle and zoomed off, my Gixxer wouldn’t catch-up with the Triumph; so I was at cruising speeds, enjoying the early morning weather and listening to music.

We took a deviation at Channarayapatna and towards Hole Narsipura. After a railway crossing at Hole Narsipura, we had some tender coconut and continued towards Arkalgud and towards Shanivarsanthe.  The roads from Shanivarsanthe were twisties surrounded by Coffee estates on both sides and barely any vehicular movements.

We stopped at Somwarpete to withdraw some cash and to buy some holy water; OMR and some Beers off-course 😊.  Sudheer had been to the homestay earlier and he knew the route and I tailed him throughout.

A detour after the Somwarpete bus stand and the roads were very narrow single laned curves.  Somewhere in the middle, I noticed a board that read 55 kilometers to Kukke Subrahmanya, and I asked Sudheer on the intercom, does this deviation go to Kukke via Bisle ghats, he said; “Yes, but shut up and follow me”.

We reached the homestay, to our surprise, the caretaker of the homestay mentioned; they weren’t aware of booking for that weekend.  Probably some miscommunication between the owner and the caretaker.

The caretaker had 2 dogs in their cowshed. I was playing with them without any fear of getting bitten again.  Sudheer told the caretaker; we will rest here for a while, visit Malalli falls later in the evening and return to Somwarpete for the night’s stay.

I didn’t break my head for the miscommunication between the owner and the caretaker nor did Sudheer.  We just chilled out with some beers and chips, sitting in the homestay’s verandah and rested for a while in one of the rooms.

After a good sleep for an hour or two, we woke up and rode to Malalli falls which is less than 5 km from the homestay.  It was peak summer and the falls had dried up, we still took the steps to the base.

We climbed back to the parking area and had some bread omelet at one of the stall there.  We were super hungry and ate whatever food the stall owner served.

Sudheer mentioned a private mini waterfall nearby, we decided to check it out and surprisingly there was a tiny stream flowing through the stones.  We had a gala time playing in the tiny stream fall.

I go crazy when I see the water.   I stood beneath the waterfall, it felt like a jacuzzi, natural body massage.  It was a much-needed peaceful timeout amidst greenery as the tiny stream was surrounded by giant trees.  New folks wouldn’t be able to find this beauty easily!

We reached back the homestay, geared up and came back to Somwarpete and checked into Oyo Rooms.

We walked inside the town in search of a hotel for dinner and it started raining heavily.  While running on the road, my slippers tore and I ran barefoot until we found a footwear shop nearby, bought a pair and continued looking out for a hotel for dinner.

We found a small hotel open behind the bus stand and got in.  We had some food and walked to our hotel.  We were exhausted, drenched and the holy Monk hit us bad.  We don’t remember what shit we spoke on our way back to the hotel room.  We just crashed into bed.

Day 02: 19^th May 2019 (Sunday)

We woke up at around 9 am.  A quick shower and we walked towards the bus-stand to have our breakfast.  We found a small hotel that served local Coorg style breakfast.

I really wanted to visit Kukke temple and also ride the Bisle Ghats.  Sudheer wasn’t keen on another adventure, so he said he will return to Kunigal and be at his inlaws place if your interested go for it.  So I said, I will go visit Kukke and meet you at Hotel Empire, Kunigal.

Sudheer mentioned about a place Honnamana Kere, which was close by to Somwarpete.  We visited this small lake and took a few pics.

Sudheer took the route to Kunigal, and I headed towards Kukke.  The initial stretch of the roads was ok and then it turned total off-roading.  I was following the Google maps, I knew it would take me somewhere saying the shortest distance which it did. It deviated me somewhere on an under-construction road until it reached a dead end.  There were cement pipes and stones laid to close the road and followed by a deep dugout.

I guess Google thought I was a Super Cross rider who would do a backflip across the ditch and land flawlessly; sorry Google!

I came back to the junction and was amused that the Google map was still showing towards the dead-end, there was another road that went straight on and I continued that way and reached the check-post of Bisle Ghat.

The ghats were super crazy off-roads and very narrow with hairpin curves passing through dense forest.   The weather was cool inside the forest area.  At a blind curve, there was a reckless car driver who hadn’t responded to the horn, appeared in front and didn’t leave any space for me to pass-through, I had to get off the road’s edge sliding over the mud and gravel and back on the patchy roads.  That was a near miss and a fatal accident was avoided!

The ghat ended and after a few kilometers, I reached the State Highway and stopped at a roadside shop to have some sugarcane juice.  I could feel the scorching hot weather of the DK district, gulped multiple glasses of sugarcane juice to quench my thirst.  I was happy and excited to tame Bisle ghat, as it was the only pending item on my To-Do list of the dangerous ghats in Karnataka;  having done Charmadi, Shiraadi, and Agumbe earlier.

Kukke Subrahmanya temple was another 5 km from here, the time was 1.45 pm, the shop-keeper said, the temple closes at 2 pm daily and reopens at 3.30 pm.

I parked my bike in the parking lot and dumped my bag in the luggage room and took a special darshan ticket and walked inside the temple.  The queue for special darshan had very fewer people and got a quick darshan.

A much needed Chai and snacks at the hotel outside the temple fueled up at a petrol pump and reached the start point of Shiraadi ghat.  It was 5.45 pm and I wanted to pass through this ghat before it was dark.  I had a few near misses when I rode this ghat back in April 2017 during our return from Kannur, hence I wanted to clear this stretch before dark.

I was surprised to see this ghat had very good concrete road and clear road markings.  The road was well done without any patchwork.  The 27 km stretch ghat seemed like a highway, I rode non-stop until Sakleshpur and stopped for chai and hot bhajji.

The next stretch from Sakleshpur to Hassan was never completed under construction with lots of deviations.  At Hassan, I took an extended pitstop over a call with Akshay who had started his Leh journey.

I reached the Hotel Empire, Kunigal at around 10 pm, Sudheer was already waiting for me there.  Both of us had our dinner and rode back to Bangalore.

When I was passing through Jay Nagar, the bungee cords loosened and my bag fell off the carrier, I had no patience to tie the bungee again, took the bag on my shoulder and rode home.

It was 1.45 am as I reached home, Thanks a lot Sudheer for yet another memorable ride.

Until next time,

Gokool Kini

(Soul Warrior)

Also visit: The Ride of 3 States; Trails of Ghats

The office riding group was itching to ride and someone suggested a Ride to Mandalapatti; an off-roaders Paradise in Coorg. Rahul knew about a homestay at the foothills of Mandalpatti where we could cook our own food, sounds fun ain’t it? And thus we discussed the plan and shared the details in our WhatsApp group.  Soon, we had 10 people confirmed for this trip.

Day 01: 28^th Sept 2019 (Saturday)

Our usual flag-off point was the Parle Toll.  I got geared up and took the outer ring road to Parle Toll, met Kowshikha (in his car) at Kathriguppe signal and we reached the flag-off point.

Sudheer and Patrick had already reached the toll plaza.  A quick chai until everyone arrived and we started the ride towards Hassan Road.  Thiru and Raviraj took the service road and had already reached the Nelamangala exit towards Hassan Road.

Raviraj got into Kowshikha’s car and we continued ahead.  I hadn’t fueled up for the ride, so I quickly got a full tank at the HP petrol pump and joined the group.  A small pitstop for chai en route and then reached Hotel Mayura at Bellur Cross.

While entering the service lane, a local on an R15 was rash riding in the wrong lane, Mohan braked hard and avoided ramming into him.  The R15 rider slid off the road, fell on his face and went sliding into the bushes.  His face bled since he wasn’t wearing a helmet, also had some bruises to his hands and legs.

I had my first-aid kit handy in my hydration bag and gave him some cotton and Savlon.  The local accepted his mistake of recklessness and apologized.  He called his friends to pick up him and the bike back to his home.

Thiru and Tarun were the last to enter the hotel compound and Thiru noticed his bike’s flat tire.  The hotel’s security said; a puncture shop is right beside the hotel, the contact number is on the shop’s wall, call him and request to come early to his shop.

We spoke to him and updated about our flat tire, he said he would take some time as he stays in a far village.  Till then we had our breakfast at the hotel, it was a leisured time on the breakfast table.

Patrick, Mohan, and Deepak joined only till the breakfast point and headed back to Bangalore.

Meanwhile, we kept on calling the puncture guy, he took his own sweet time to reach his shop.  After waiting for 3 hours in the hotel’s parking area, the puncture guy reached his shop and called us.  We towed Thiru’s heavyweight Bullet to the shop.  Bullets usually have tubed tires and it took some good amount of time to remove the rear tire, replace the tube and put the tire back.  The humble mechanic also got coffee for every one of us.

At around 11 am when we continued from Hotel Mayura.  We took a detour at Channarayapatna and towards Hole Narsipura.  From here on, the roads were broken single lanes until Kushal Nagar.  We took ample pitstops for chai, fuel and some snacks until Kushal Nagar.  It was 2.30 pm when we reached Kushal Nagar and we were looking for hotels for lunch.  A local shop-keeper suggested having lunch at Hotel Coorg Cuisine at Madikeri.

The route from Kushal Nagar to Madikeri was through ghats and was beautiful.  Every one of us kept a good pace, throttling it out at every corner.  This stretch took our sleepy mood away, especially after riding on a bright sunny day and on the burning hot air on the highways.

A good lunch is what everybody wanted as we reached Madikeri town and lunch in Coorg Cuisine that served some delicious Kodagu styled food was a nice suggestion.  The food was superb and delicious.

For this trip, we planned to cook our own dinner at the homestay and had to purchase all the groceries, chicken and off-course some booze so we could have a nice ice-breaking session and get to know each other well.

All the things were shopped and dumped in Kowshika’s car.  Our homestay was another 20 km from Madikeri town.  Somewhere in the middle of this stretch, it started drizzling and few of us handed our mobile phones to Raviraj who was in Kowshika’s car.

We reached the homestay; Green Meadows that lied at the base of Mandalapatti (the jeep parking space).

Within no time we dumped all the baggage in the homestay and set towards Kote Abbey falls, this was a small off-roader amidst the mountain.   Somewhere in the middle of this terrain, Kowshika parked his car and hopped on one of our bikes.

It was past dusk as we reached Kote Abbey.  I parked my bike on a small bridge, took off all my riding gears and kept them on my bike, walked down the bridge and jumped into the water.

A good relaxing time spent at the waterfalls and on our way back, it was pitch dark and no moon night.  At some point, we all switched off our bike’s headlights and all screamed on top of our voices.  Darshan’s bike was low on fuel and had battery issues, but could make it back till the homestay.

Upon reaching back to the homestay, our master chef Rahul got into cooking spree and assisted by Tarun, Manjeet, Darshan and Sudheer.

He cooked some yummy food and the barbeque done by Tarun and Darshan on the bonfire was like icing on the cake.  A good ice-breaking session started by Thiru and followed by everyone.  It was our first overnighter with our office Bikers and an ice-breaker was needed to get along with all.

A anecdote by Thiru:

“Divided by designation but united by OMR

It started out as a regular night, somehow it turned out to be a spectacular night with long & deep conversation on movies, sketching etc. coupled with delicious food

The reason behind the incredible night was that we had the perfect ice breaker

I always cling to the motto “A well-selected icebreaker makes people comfortable enough to speak up” and it holds good all the time and in our case it was spirit oriented 🙂

I was certain that the spiritual people share a common fondness “OMR” and it did a great job here by forgetting everything that was nagging us”

The party went till late in the night and all crashed into bed.

Day 02: 29^th Sept 2019 (Sunday)

A few of us woke up early and walked to the nearby shop for some hot tea.  Darshan and Raviraj walked further ahead to explore the forests and coffee estates and crashed into bed again.

Kishore received some emergency calls from home and planned to ride back solo.  My riding gears were wet because I wore them on the wet clothes after getting out of the waterfalls the previous evening, so I kept them to dry on a chair as the weather was bright and sunny.

Rahul, our master chef cooked egg fried rice this time and post-lunch, Kishore started towards Bangalore and the rest of us started towards Mandalapatti peak.

Darshan purchased fuel from the nearby shop by paying some extra bucks and we all started on the crazy off-roading.

The initial stretch was an easy muddy trail and some broken patches uphill.  We stopped at a shop before the off-road turned crazy to rocky terrain. Darshan’s bike had battery issues and had to be towed to get started and returned to homestay along with Sudheer.

Rahul, Kowshika, Tarun, Thiru, Manjeet, Raviraj and myself went ahead on the off-roader.  At a point, we stopped for some photography and saw the terrain ahead.  It was an adventurous steep that looked horrifying from the place we stopped.

Rahul and I had that urge to ride till the top, no matter what.  Kowshika hopped as pillion on my bike and the three of us continued on the rocky terrain.

The steeps were crazy, one of the steep was roughly 60° inclined.  One 4×4 jeep kept honking and irritated me to my nerves.  The jeep drivers are always in a hurry to drive to the top or reach the base and catch hold of new customers.

The view from the top was bliss.  Mandalapatti’s viewpoint is truly the Heavenly Abode in Karnataka.  The moderate cloudy weather and the cool breeze and the valley surrounded by thick green forests and we could sight the dirt trail we took from a balcony.

We headed back to the homestay.  I was shit scared on the crazy steep riding downhill as my bike’s tire threads were bald, one small slide and I would have a bad crash.  Rahul’s bike had Ralco off-road tires on his Dominor, so he didn’t face any issues.

We reached back the homestay and to see all were snoring in deep slumber.   It’s good that the rest of the riders got some rest.

It was 3.30 pm and we decided to gear up by 4 pm and head towards Bangalore.  It was dusk during our return journey through the ghats.

We stopped for chai somewhere, and every pitstop we took, we had to tow Darshan’s bike.  It was Sunday and no mechanical support available and none of the battery shops was open, so after every pitstop, his bike had to be towed to start.

After Kushal Nagar, our pace dropped, pitstops increased and there were lots of bugs hitting our helmet visors in the dark.

At 9.30 pm we reached Kunigal and stopped for dinner at the Hotel Empire; the first thing all did, gulped the mixed fruit punch.

A relaxed dinner and upon exit from the Hotel Empire, Rahul was towing Darshan’s bike, meanwhile, I was covering them with hazard blinkers, suddenly a speeding Volvo bus overtook me and missed crashing Darshan by a whisker.  Luck was with us, it could have been fatal.

It was 1 am when we reached the Nelamangala toll and dispersed.

Thanks a lot, for an amazing overnighter and special thanks to Rahul and Sudheer for coordinating and executing this ride well.

Until next time,

Gokool Kini

(Soul Warrior)

Also visit: My Trails from the Malenadu Region

After office hours, at a bakery near Kanteerava Stadium, my brother Akshay and I planned to have a crazy monsoon ride. We finalized the places; Sringeri, Kudremukha, and Horanadu.  We were always enticed by the beauty of nature of the Western Ghats of Karnataka and hence these places.

Day 01: 12^th Oct 2019, Saturday

Our actual plan was to start by 3.30 am from Parle Toll, but because of my office workload that stretched late Friday night, I reached my room around 2.30 am and dropped a message to Akshay; “Bhai, I will sleep till 4 am”.  I wanted a power nap so I could ride peacefully.

Akshay woke me at 4.15 am, I packed my bag, freshened up and was ready to hit the road.  We met at Parle Toll at around 5.15 am; a cup of tea, paired our intercoms and started riding towards Hassan Road.

We stopped for breakfast at Hotel Dhruvataare.  I kept my intercom for charging at the hotel’s billing counter until we finished breakfast and filled my hydration bag.

Both of us kept on switching our intercoms from music mode to speaking over the intercom.  The pleasant cloudy and foggy weather on the highway made our ride more pleasant.  We managed good speeds till a toll Naka; few kilometers before Hassan and stopped for refueling at an IOC petrol pump followed by a long pitstop for tea.  Akshay wanted to meet a few of his friends who were driving to Chikamagalur, hence the long pitstop, but apparently, they were very far; so, we continued towards Hassan.

We deviated towards Hassan City and then towards Belur.  After Hassan, the roads are single lane twisties passing through the lush greenery on both sides of the road.

Passing through the town of Belur, we deviated towards Sringeri.  The brisk single lanes with broken patches passed through coffee estates and some tea estates.  It was humid, we stopped at a roadside sugar cane juice shop and had multiple glasses of juice to quench our thirst.

We took a wrong route after Balehonnur forest ghats and kept on riding until we realized, the distance to Sringeri on Google map started to increase.  It was 30 odd km from Balehonnur and showed 55 km to Sringeri, this was realized only after riding some 25 km on the wrong route.  Taking a U-turn and few locals guided us to the correct route to Sringeri.  It was around 3 pm when we reached Sringeri.

Amshit Bhai waited for us near Sringeri Temple for the past couple of hours.  All 3 of us went to a local hotel in Sringeri town for lunch.  I had no proper sleep the previous night and had nausea and vomited outside the hotel and relaxed for a while on the table in the hotel.

For lunch, we had some delicious fish curry, fish fry and white rice for lunch.  The bangda fish fry was very tasty.

We had booked an Oyo Room near Kudremukh.  But, Amshit bhai convinced us to stay at his home near Kigga (a small village near Sringeri) and we canceled the hotel booking.  So, we first planned to visit Sirimane falls near Kigga.  The road from Kigga to the falls is an off-road stretch and it had rained cats and dogs.  We parked our bikes at the parking lot, took the entrance tickets, dumped our helmets and riding jackets in a small shop there and walked to the base of the waterfall.  There are around 100 steps to the base.

Amshith bhai told us that the money collected from the entrance fees are used to support the tiny hydraulic power station in the falls that supplies electricity to the village of Kigga.

Sirimane falls, a small waterfall looked like a mere white curtain on the big rock and surrounded by greenery all over and a viewpoint at the top.  The burbling sound of the water as it hit the base and traveled between rocks felt was enchanting.

Well, it was a weekend and the good monsoon that lashed Karnataka from the past few months attracted more tourists to this place.

I stood somewhere in the middle of the steps from where I could directly see this mystic beauty, while Akshay and Amshit bhai walked further down.

From here, we rode straight to Amshit Bhai’s house that is deep inside a forest and coffee estates with yet another off-roading stretch.  As we reached Amshit Bhai’s house, his Mom welcomed us with some hot and tasty coffee.  Their house was nestled in between acres of coffee estates and some big trees behind their house, a lush green paddy fields in the front and mountains behind the paddy field.  The view was blissful!

Pics

We dumped our luggage in the room, took a hot water shower and rode the off-roads in pitch dark till Sringeri temple.  This was crazier.

It was festive season; just a couple of days after Dussehra, hence the temple sanctum was illuminated with decorative lights all over and colored focus lights hitting the stoned walls of the very famous Vidyashankara Temple that was built many centuries ago and all the decorative and illumination added to the beauty of this Temple.

We first walked to the riverbank to feed plain puffed rice (churmuri in Hindi) to the fishes in the river.  But the river was flowing in full zest and no fishes seen at the river bank.  Amshit bhai told, most of the time there will be lots of fishes at the river banks.

First, we walked into the newly constructed Sharada Temple to offer our prayers.  We patiently sat near a pillar until the pooja was over.  Next, we explore the historical Vidyashankara temple.  This temple has some finest stone carvings of the Vijayanagara architecture.

Then, we visited the Adi Shankara Math which is on the other side of the river connected by a walk-over bridge.  The World’s biggest Veena (an Indian Classical musical instrument) is at display here inside the Adi Shankara Math.

Note: Photography and videography are not permitted inside the main temple (both the new and the historical) or the Adi Shankara Math.  The entire temple campus is cleanly maintained by the authorities and I request all the tourists not to trash their travel.

As we headed back, it started drizzling and we rushed soon. We didn’t want the off-road ride back home to turn into a slush fest, that too under pitch dark.

Upon returning to Amshit Bhai’s home, all 3 of us sat in the balcony, chit-chatting and sharing each other’s travel experiences, relishing our memories from the trip to Jog Falls in September last year and off-course partying!!

After spending a couple of hours on the balcony, we came downstairs for dinner.  Amshit Bhai’s Mom had prepared some yummy food; chicken biryani and gravy served on the traditional banana leaf was a grandeur.

It was 2’o clock in the night and we crashed into bed.  We did plan to ride to Kundadri Hills for sunrise but woke up late the next day.

Day 02: 13^th Oct 2019, Sunday

Akshay and I woke up at around 9 am, the view from the balcony was stunning.  We went for a small walk into the Paddy fields and came back, freshened up, came downstairs for breakfast.  The Idly and chutney were too good. We saddled up and set towards Kundadri hills.

Thanks to Amshit Bhai’s family who hosted us for the night and special thanks to his Mom for cooking and serving some delicious Malenadu style food.  Thanks a lot for your magnificent hospitality.

We bid good-bye to Amshit Bhai’s parents and then the 3 of us lead by Amshit Bhai, rode to Kundadri Hills. The road to Kundadri hills was proper single lane tarmac, twisties until the base of the hills.

A small pitstop for water and we rode that very few hairpins till the hilltop.  There are very few steps from the parking lot to the main viewpoint.

The view from the top was fantastic. It was greenery all over, not a sight of dry land. Thanks to the very abundant monsoons in Karnataka this season.

We regretted not making here for Sun-rise.  Hopefully next time, we will ride again with the main agenda of visiting this place would be to view the stunning sun-rise.

We descended back to the base, stopped at a shop to have some biscuits and cold-drinks.  We planned to ride via the forest of Kudremukha and then hit to Horanadu.  Upon reaching Sringeri, Amshith Bhai guided us with the route to go-ahead.  Thanks a lot, bhai for all the wonderful hospitality.

As we crossed Sringeri town, I noticed my Intercom was loosened and came off my helmet, I just made a temporary fix and continued riding.  Somewhere a few kilometers after exiting the town, we noticed a hanging bridge and made a quick stop to take some pics.

We soon reached the Kudremukha forest check-post, made our entry details and continued.  The roads were good barring for the few broken patches here and there.  This stretch of the ride was the most beautiful; dense forests on either side of the road, the dark clouds above us, cool breeze and the slight drizzle that made the ride mesmerizing.  We wanted to ride to the Kudremukha viewpoint but skipped it because of the time crunch.

We stopped for some photography en route; at a small roadside waterfall somewhere in the middle.

Fuel on Akshay’s bike signaled low and we enquired about the next nearest fuel pump with few of the oncoming drivers.  One guy told there could be a petrol pump 5 km ahead, but when we reached, the fuel pump was closed and rusted.  I don’t know when was the pump operated last.

We reached the KIOCL (Kudremukha Iron Ore Company Limited) check-post and enquired with the security personnel for petrol.

The security guy said; “There is a small shop down the lane, he stocks petrol at his home and probably he can help you with fuel which can help you to ride out of this forest”

We were hungry too, so we got some biscuits and cream doughnuts to snack and I started playing with the stray dogs there.

Pics

Akshay was afraid I would get bitten by the stray dogs,  I was already vaccinated with Anti-Rabies post the dog bite in May, so I told; Bhai, chillax, I ain’t scared and gave a big smile to him 😊

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper told us to directly visit the house for petrol and guided us the way to the home.

The price per liter was a shocker, Akshay paid Rs 200 for a liter of petrol and I couldn’t control my laughter.  I said; “Bhai, in Ladakh, I paid Rs 130 a liter, and you are paying Rs 200 for a liter here”

We reached the forest exit check-post and I was surprised to meet Veeren there.  He was driving along with his parents to Horanadu.

Reaching a small town; Kalasa, we stopped at the Hotel Prince of Kalasa for coffee.  Stopped at another small river for some pictures and fuel stop at the HP Petrol pump in Kalasa and continued towards Horanadu.

Suddenly Akshay on the intercom; “Bhai, there is an old Horanadu – Sringeri route that goes to the peak of a small hill and the view is superb”, I said let’s go.  Amidst reaching half-way, he said this is not the one which I was referring to, we came the wrong route.  But as we descended back, we saw an off-road trail that goes somewhere and we said, let’s do some more off-roading.  This off-roader was a crazy one filled only with loose gravel which was thrown for construction.

We reached some point and stopped.  It was dusk and dark clouds seemed like it would rain cats and dogs.  As usual, I got busy playing with a few puppies.

We slowly descended down and headed straight to Horanadu Annapoorneshwari Temple, dumped all our things in the temple’s luggage room and walked inside the temple.  It was evening and the temple had very fewer pilgrims which helped us to quickly seek blessings and come out of the main temple sanctum.

At a hotel inside the temple campus, we ate Masala Dosa and Dry Poha.

Then, the wrath of the rain Gods started, it rained very heavily.  Somehow, we ran till the luggage room, geared up and stood in the anticipation that the rain would stop.  But it didn’t and we decided to ride in the rain.  The attendant at the luggage room gave us a few plastic bags so we could keep our mobiles safe from the rainwater.

The people who saw us riding in that heavy downpour might have assumed us to be Physcos.

Within no time we were fully drenched and stopped at a roadside shop for some hot coffee.  It was 7’o’clock in the evening and the distance back to Bangalore was approx. 300 km and the rain showing no signs of stopping, we continued.  The small single lanes were full of water on the road and flowing at the sides of the road.  We knew the sides of the roads are broken and waterlogged, we ensure we were very careful while on the corners of the ghats.  Every heavy vehicle on the way splashed all the muddy water on us.

My bike’s tire pressure was very low while riding in the rain, it dropped my speed and our intercoms weren’t working too.

After riding non-stop for 4.5 hours, covering only 100 km, we reached Belur at 11.30 pm and searched for a hotel for dinner.  Luckily, we found a hotel in the town and stopped over.

Few customers who sat on the table beside us were suggesting us to have some alcohol.  We denied as we don’t drink and ride.

We convinced the attendant at the HP Petrol Pump to switch on the air-filling machine and get our tire pressures checked.

A big thanks to Google Map that kept rerouting and we did rounds within and around Belur.  One auto driver guided us with the correct route towards Hassan.

We were fatigued and sleepy, stopped over for a quick coffee at Hotel Pathanjali after Hassan city.  Somewhere near Jodighatta on the Bangalore – Hassan Highway, I heard some screeching sounds from my bike.  I was hitting speeds of 100 km/h and the power suddenly dropped with white smoke was pouring out of my Warrior’s engine and my bike came to standstill.

I instantly understood that the engine had seized! Luckily, I was at the extreme left lane and no vehicles behind me.  I switched on the hazard blinkers and towed it to a roadside building and dialed Akshay to inform the same and he reached back soon.

It was 2 ‘o’clock in the night and no mechanical support expected.  I bent down to check the engine oil level, it seemed that the engine oil was dried up, the kick wouldn’t operate. This confirmed my horror i.e. engine seizure.

Akshay called Zoheb bhai from Art of Motorcycles and informed about the breakdown.  He suggested to visit any nearby petrol pump and fill engine oil and try starting.  I hopped on to Akshay’s bike and we went to an IOC Petrol Pump nearby but it was closed.

I kept calling Arun Sir and Sajith Sir and none picked the call initially.  I knew it was a late-night and everybody would be in deep sleep.

Then called up Naveen Bhai from Gixxer Club Bengaluru and informed him, he somehow managed to call Arun Sir and inform him.  Arun Sir dialed back told, there is Suzuki Showroom and service center at Hassan, and suggested to take the bike there somehow.  This is the only way out and I will ensure full repair at Hassan Suzuki.

Meanwhile, I had also called Rajesh Bhai from Highway Delite.  Rajesh Bhai said he will arrange a tow vehicle and he also suggested to get back to Hassan as it was nearby from Jodighatta.  He spoke to the tow vehicle owner, informed about the breakdown and passed on his contact number to me.  I spoke to the driver and shared the location with him.  Both Akshay and I sat at the roadside under heavy rain clouds.  We were tired, cold and completely drenched.

After waiting for an hour, a Tata Ace arrived at the place and good that he had a plank, so it was easy to load the bike on the pickup truck.

The driver tied my bike with ropes and ensured it wouldn’t shake or fall on humps.  Once my bike was loaded, I asked Akshay to leave as he had some urgent office work and told him I will get my bike repaired and ride back the next day.

I sat in the cabin beside the driver and told him about the trip and the breakdown on the go.  A chai at the toll Naka and we reached Hassan town.  The driver drove till Hotel Krishna, spoke to the hotel receptionist and said you can stay here for the night, this hotel is a decent one.  The driver accepted only cash, and he drove me till the nearby ATM so I could withdraw and pay him and dropped me back to the hotel and unloaded my bike.

Thanks a lot, Rajesh Bhai from Highway Delite for all the help and support at that point in time.  Special thanks to the driver too. I checked into the hotel and crashed into bed.

In case any of you are stuck nearby Hassan and looking for rescue or tow vehicles, please contact Munsur Bhai +91 7022932702 or Prashant Bhai +91 7899536344 who run the tow services jointly.

Day 03: 14^th Oct 2019, Sunday

By 8 am in the morning, Sajith Sir called me, I informed him about the breakdown.  He said a mechanic from Hassan Suzuki will be there within half an hour to pick your bike.  Soon, Irfan Bhai (mechanic at Hassan Suzuki) called and took the hotel details and reached there quickly.

He towed my bike till Hassan Suzuki.  As my bike’s engine was opened, it was confirmed about the engine seize and had to replace the full bore kit.  Apparently, they didn’t have them in stock.  Sajith sir and Arun Sir said they can send it from their Mysore or Bangalore showrooms respectively and both being approx. equidistance from Hassan and would take a minimum of 3 to 4 hours in bus transit.  Sajith and Arun sir spoke to a lot of Suzuki showrooms which can help to deliver the bore kit at the earliest and later, he confirmed that one of their sub-dealer in Arsikere has it in stock and arranged to send it soon.

Meanwhile, I asked the mechanic to get the valve setting done, so as soon the bore kit arrives, we can quickly fix the engine.

The bore kit arrived at around 3.30 pm and the mechanic started working on the engine.  Meanwhile, I dozed off in the customer lounge but kept checking the status every half an hour.

By 7.00 pm, the mechanic said, Bhai your bike is ready and said you can ride back to Bangalore now, but maintain the speeds of 50 to 60 Kmph and an rpm less than 4500.

Quickly, I rode back to the hotel and checked out and by 8.00 pm started towards Bangalore.  Luckily, the skies looked clear with no signs of rain.

Riding at the speeds less than 50 to 60 Kmph on the empty four-lane highway was frustrating.  My intercom wasn’t working either, so there was no music to hear and couldn’t control my sleep.  Every 50 km I rode, I kept on taking pitstops for chai and splashed water to my face.

Kept humming some songs, nursery rhymes and tried all the multiplication table, square root, cube root, n numbers, Algebra, Pythagoras Theorem, and what not to only keep me awake on the highway.

Stopped at Hotel Empire at Kunigal to have my favorite fruit punch and then rode straight to my room.  It was late night 2.30 when I reached home.

It was a 946 km riding pleasure exploring the Malenadu region of Karnataka and that made it a proper Monsoon ride.

Thanks a lot, to everyone who stood by me when I needed help the most.

Until next time…

Cheers,

Gokool Kini

(Soul Warrior)

Also visit: Exploring Chikamagaluru, Belur, Halebeedu

Click Here to read more about Sringeri Temple on the internet

Jog Falls, also known as Gersoppa Falls or Jogada Gundi.  It is amongst the highest waterfalls in India and the 13^th highest waterfalls in the world, located in the Sahyadri Mountain ranges of Shimoga district.  The falls are created by the river Sharavathi taking a plunge of approx. 850ft.  This was just a brief introduction to the very famous Jog Falls.

My brother Akshay had planned this trip along with his office colleagues.  And, as usual; I decided to join them last minute.

Akshay and his friends left on Friday night of 7^th Sept 2018 and I initially planned to ride solo on the next morning.  Somewhere on Friday afternoon, I pinged my friend Sudheer on office communicator; saying I am riding to Jog Falls.  Sudheer got excited with the plan and he also craved for a long ride somewhere amidst greenery.  Sudheer agreed to accompany me.

Post office hours, I got my bag packed and the riding gears ready for the ride.  As I was about to sleep, Sudheer dropped a WhatsApp message, I might not join . . . !!!!

I started from my home at around 5.30am and stopped for a chai near to PES University and noticed a missed call from Sudheer.  I quickly dialed him back to hear him saying; “Maga, I will also join, will meet you at Parle Factory Toll”

The first thing we did as we met, was getting our Intercoms paired so we could speak while we rode.

So, we were all set to see Raja, Rani, Roarer, and Rocket.

Confused?

Those are the names of the 4 water streams that trickle down the cliff 😊

The plan was to ditch the highway and take the single lanes that passed through towns and villages that surrounded by greenery all over.  So, we planned this route:

We stopped for breakfast at Darshan, Tatte Idli near Kunigal. From here, we took a detour from the highway making our way towards Tiptur.  We saw a big lake beside the single lane road.  Thanks to the rains that splashed in Karnataka this monsoon.  The water full lake was picturesque.

Meanwhile, I got a call from Akshay saying they had already reached Jog Falls.  The pleasant weather along with the tiny droplets of rain made our ride smooth.  Over the intercom, Sudheer and I, only spoke about biking, our various travel stories, describing the route, and lot many things . . .  blah blah blah blah!! The talks went on and on….

Somewhere near Kadur, we stopped to have some tender coconut water.

The ride continued and soon reaching near to Bhadra Dam, we could sight the water flowing in full gush from the gates of the dam. We could see this gushing water from alongside the road.

A Stop-over for lunch at Shimoga at a local hotel, some baadoota (naati koli) style.  Meanwhile, I kept my Intercom for a quick charge at the billing counter.

Post lunch, the ride continued, and somewhere in Kumsi village, my bike got off.  I kick started my bike and as I throttled, I could sense heavy power lag.  My bike wasn’t going above 30kmph.  I stopped at the side and started to enquire for a garage.  One of the shopkeepers said the garage is just on the opposite side of the road.

I quickly pushed my bike to the nearby garage there, the mechanic there said my bike’s battery had fully drained and he would need to charge it for 3-4 hours.  Meanwhile, I called Sudheer and told him to wait until I provide an update regarding my bike’s condition.

I convinced the mechanic (Avinash) that I would take one of his fully charged spared battery fixed to my bike and continue the ride, while he charges my bike’s battery until I return the next day. Luckily, he agreed for this.

Post fixing the battery, I started my bike and rode to Anantapur village where Sudheer waited for me.  We rode till Talaguppa and took a detour towards Jog Falls which was 15 km approx. from Talguppa.  Riding through few twisties and curves we reached the entrance gate of Jog Falls and straight to the Govt. Bungalow in there.  Akshay had pre-booked the bungalow and we joined them for that night.

The view of the falls from the bungalow’s balcony was breathtaking.  We sat downstairs outside of the bungalow listening to the soothing sound of the waterfall, wow!!! What a peace that was being away from the honking sound of city traffic.

Over the dinner table, we got ourselves introduced with everyone here. The dinner which was served here was simple yet tasty and post-dinner, every one of us crashed to bed.

Day 2: September, 09 (Sunday)

Few of us woke up early and walked towards the main viewpoint.  The tranquil valley was swaddled in a veil of mist and through which we could see the 4 water streams; Raja, Roarer, Rocket, and Rani plunging off the cliff.  We sat silently on one of the benches there watching this spectacular view.

If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is Wake up – J. M. Power

We had some tea and biscuits in the nearby shop there.

As we headed back to the bungalow, the breakfast was ready to be served.  Lemon rice with chutney which was served for breakfast, after which, we were all ready to head back to Bangalore.

Taking a few group pics and greeting goodbye to each other we started the ride back to Bangalore.  Akshay’s friends had come in a car while Akshay had come by bike, so he decided to ride back with us and one of his friend, Amshith joined him as pillion.

Our initial plan was to go to Kumsi, fix my bike’s battery and ride to Sringeri and then head to Bangalore.  But as we were a few kilometers away from Kumsi, my bike faced the same power lag issue with the bike’s battery being drained fully again.  Akshay tried to leg tow my bike but we couldn’t do it due to the uphill roads.

Meanwhile, I told Akshay and Sudheer to be at the garage and send the mechanic till here.  Avinash (the garage mechanic) was helpful yet again as he came riding till the place where my bike was totally off, replaced the charged battery with which I could get my bike started and continue the ride back home.  We knew that my bike’s battery would give problems yet over again, so we decided to ride straight back to Bangalore skipping the plan of visiting Sringeri.

We took a detour after Kumsi that took us through pothole filled roads in anticipation we would touch the highway soon, so we could zoom quickly on the national highway.  We reached the highway just after Davangere where we stopped for lunch at Sagar Dhaba.  The food here was lip-smacking and tasty.

From here we rode non-stop for a stretch of 140 km approx. until we reached Sira Toll and stopped for evening tea.

As I crossed Tumkur, my bike faced the same issue yet again.  The darkness had overtaken and I couldn’t switch on my bike’s headlight, indicators and couldn’t even beep the horn and bike couldn’t take acceleration beyond 40kmph.

I initially jumped all the potholes and humps as there was no visibility of the road due to darkness.  I then started to follow a petrol tanker taking the cover of the tanker’s tail lamps to see through the road.  I was riding watching at its tail lamps and following the tire lane and being ready to hit the brake in case the tanker jumped over any humps or potholes.

I did that for a few kilometers until the tanker stopped over at a roadside dhaba and I too stopped for tea.  Meanwhile, Akshay and Sudheer had already crossed Nelamangala Toll.  Then, I found an uncle riding a splendor with bright lights and doing normal speeds of 30 to 40kmph.  I kept riding behind him taking the help of his bright lights.  I followed his lane until Nice road junction of Nelamangala.  The splendor guy being fearful kept looking at his rearview mirrors of being surprised who is following him from such a distance.

Thank you, uncle, and sorry to keep you fearful.

I sighted the street lights, and happily rode till Parle Toll and by now my bike was totally off.  The bike couldn’t be started with any number of kicks and then I towed my bike till the Indian Oil Petrol Pump on the cross of 8^th Mile road.

Parking my bike here and started to inspect my bike’s problem.  I saw a wire being cut and thought the bike’s battery power getting leaked from here. I walked for few meters in search of a garage, when nothing found, walked 2kms ahead and found a stationery shop where I bought an insulation tape (electrical tape) and sealed the wire with the insulation tape.

Woaahhh !!! My bike did start again. From here, I could ride amidst power loss and facing jerks, somehow made it till Phani’s house in Malleshwaram where I dropped my bike and then booked a cab back home.

It was yet another memorable ride of 860kms on my bike odometer.

Until next time.

Stay safe, Ride Safe and please don’t trash your travel.

Regards,

Gokool Kini

(Soul Warrior)

Also Visit: Weekend Beyond Roads – A Race Track and Dirt Trails