The date was 29th April 2018 and how could I forget that on that day I would complete 3 memorable years with my bike. It was my Warrior’s 3rd anniversary with me. I wanted to celebrate the day with a ride somewhere. We prepped our bikes with welded carriers, top racks and also purchased the helmet intercoms as we were getting ourselves ready for the Big Ladakh ride. So we thought to go some off-roads wherein we could test the carriers and the intercoms.
Hence, we chose the off-road trail of Kailasagiri hills along with a visit to a cave temple at the foothills of Kailasagiri. At dawn, 6:00 AM, both Phani and I met near Esteem Mall in Hebbal. Over a chai, we got our Intercoms connected and kicked off the ride on to Airport Road.
At Vijaypura junction, we had breakfast in Hotel Nanda Gokula. The hotelier asked us to wait for some time as they were still preparing Idli Vada. Meanwhile, we had a conversation about Leh. What else could we talk and discuss? We were very hungry, but as the Idli Vada were served over the counter, we just concentrated on eating until our tummy was full. The breakfast was yum and it was worth the wait.
We took a detour from the highway and rode towards Chintamani. We tested the intercom in all possible ways, from keeping a distance of approx. 1 km to riding at speeds above 100 kph only to check if it would face any disturbance from the wind noise. Initially, it was very difficult to operate the intercom because of the riding gloves we wore, but as we moved on, we got accustomed with it. The device worked perfectly and suited our purpose and requirement.
We reached the Kaivara village at 8 AM; a local guided us to reach the base of Kailasagiri hills which gave us an exciting off-road experience. Then we headed to the Cave Temple. The temple usually opens at 10 AM, so we took the off-roads to Kailasagiri hill first until the temple opened for devotees.
Note: This off-road trail is an easy one. This trail would be very slippery and slush during monsoons.
Somewhere in the middle of the uphill, Phani’s bike got stuck over a stone. I dismounted from my bike to help him cross the stone. Finally, we made it until the place where the bikes were allowed to go which is almost top of the hill. The view was nice and the cool breeze iced it. We took some photos there and rested for a while.
On the hillock there lies a small Hanuman temple and a fort-like structure behind it. We visited this temple and there were few locals who had come there for the uphill fort trek. We just enquired about the fort trek, they said it would take approx. an hour to reach atop the fort. As we had to reach Bangalore back by noon, we skipped this fort trek. We thought to plan a trek here some other time.
Note: Please do carry enough water and snacks as there is nothing available on the hilltop.
We rode back downhill to the base to visit the very famous Cave Temple. I skid and had a small fall while riding down but had no injuries as I was geared up well and no damages to my Warrior.
Note: Always ride with full riding gears no matter what bike you ride.
We parked our bikes and walked a few steps to reach the Cave temple. Inside of the cave, it was very cool and peaceful. There are a couple of temples inside the cave and a huge Shiva Linga too.
Note: Photography of the idols and deities were prohibited.
I had first visited this cave temple way back in 2015 with Gixxer Club Bangalore, but that time we weren’t aware of the off-road trail there.
We started our journey back to Bangalore. By the time we reached Chintamani, the weather was very hot, so we stopped at a Nandini Milk Parlour to have some cold Badam milk and cold-drinks.
As we reached the main highway, we could see many Jackfruits ready to be sold in the street side shops. We couldn’t resist stopping by after we smelled the jackfruit. We ate some jackfruit pieces from a shop there and quickly zoomed back to Bangalore. Phani had pre-booked IPL match tickets so he quickly rushed back home.
As I approached my home, I got a call from my friend Raju saying he had Pavilion passes for that night’s IPL match and I better not miss it. By the way, we don’t get pavilion passes quite often.
Post reaching home, we went to watch RCB vs KKR match at Chinnaswamy stadium by taking the metro.
It was a memorable day; the off-road, the Cave temple, IPL match and a walk from MG Road to Shanti Nagar and then taking a cab back home. My friend Raju still yells at me for making him walk at midnight that day.
Stay safe, be happy, and keep traveling!!!
Until next time…
Cheers,
Gokool Kini
(Soul Warrior)
