Sometimes it is the incompleteness of things which makes it more beautiful or valuable. Like a millennium old statue belonging to a different era or civilization becoming more antique if it has a broken arm or missing limb. It kind of completes it. Here I have a write up which is in similar condition. Well, I don’t expect it to be an antique and it is just my laziness that I didn’t complete it. Never shared, never posted anywhere…so here it is in its incomplete form.
So one day Prafull asks “Shouldn’t we go somewhere?” to which Raghav replies “Yes, let’s go somewhere!” But then I was wondering where is this Somewhere? Somewhere could be anywhere between 60 to 2000 km and it could also be 1 to15 days on the road. It remains an ambiguous term while I am working on its definition. We had just completed couple of rides yet the same phrase was haunting my ears.
As we just wanted to ride this time, it was more about choosing a direction rather than a destination. As none of the above mentioned characters knew where they wanted to head I suggested Pondy even though all of us have been there couple of times. Sipping a cup of coffee while watching the sun coming out on the serenity beach is what I had in my mind. When we can ride all the way to Krishnagiri to eat dosa why not ride to Pondy for a cup of coffee. Talk about taking lunacy to the next level. So now we had a destination. From beginning onwards Raghav was not so comfortable with this destination as he had been there just a month back but he was ok to do it again. Finally he came with a plan to ride to Ooty saying it will be too hot in Pondy. The ride was on 18-20th March. I know I took a long time to write up this blog. Call it laziness or whatever. As only intend was to go somewhere we thought if not Pondy then lets Ooty.
Before the ride Raghav enquired at the Youth Hostel (http://yhaindia.org/hostels/index/21) for the stay. That was an exception. We never used to reverse room in advance. My God! Should we take that as a sign of civilization as in the past we always hunted for rooms only after reaching where we wanted to. Room rents were very low in the Youth Hostel and there was no luxury. Well that was exactly the intention also. Riding your bike through that beautiful place was indeed the most luxurious thing which can happen to you compared to a deluxe hotel room.
The ride started from my room at around 6am, meeting Raghav on the way and finally picking up Prafull from his room. Prafull’s luggage was mounted on Raghav’s bike and he got himself mounted on my bike. The bikes were ready so were we. Route decided to be taken was Mysore-Nanjangud-Gudlupet-Madumalai-Masinagudi-Kalhatty-Ooty. We were back on the Bangalore-Mysore road after a while. Our first stop was at Kadamba restaurant. “Eat well while you get the food, you never know when and where you will get your next meal” Raghav said. We took that rule of the road very seriously and kept the waiters busy at our table. When the waiter gave us the bill without asking for a final order, we knew it was time for us to ride off. Prafull was worried that the authentic Iyengar food may show its effect while he sits as a pillion.
15 km before Mysore city we had to take a right on the Mysore-Ooty road. That was what I remembered from my last ride to Ooty few years ago. But now when I reached that point I saw sign board indicating take left for Ooty. Scratching our head we enquired with a local for directions. “You may take left or you can take right or better you go straight, all the roads will take you to Ooty” he said! Had heard of all roads leading to Rome but this was a version update. We took a right and didn’t regret about that decision.
We crossed Nanjangud and Gudlupet to reach Bandipur. Just after crossing the forest check post, we took a break. We continued the ride and didn’t stop anywhere till we reached Masinagudi. Stopping in the middle of that jungle is not advisable. Not because you might get eaten by a tiger (like tigers don’t have any better job, they are already sick of being photographed like celebrities by the truck load of tourist entering their space.) or so but you may end up disturbing whatever wild life which may come across on your way. On a lucky day you may spot a herd of elephants or a gaur, well that has been the case with me. And when you come across anything like that, please move on silently with your business unless you want to be chased away, which could be a very bad thing, trust me on that.
After reaching Masinagudi the only thing which I could think of was food. It was time for a recharge. One of my dad’s friends was running a hotel and a home stay there. I met him for the first time during my last trip to Ooty. I thought of meeting him again. As he was at his home when we reached the hotel, we thought of meeting him after our lunch. Raghav being pure vegetarian and we two being pure non vegetarians we divided the table into two as a strategic move before carrying on the attack to prevent our chicken fry getting mixed in Raghav’s sambar and rasam. After which it was a war.
Post lunch I went to meet my dad’s friend but was not sure whether he will recognize me as we had met only once. I was surprised when he identified me. No credits to my face value but all glory to my bike parked outside. He said he thought of me when he saw a bike loaded with luggage in two saddle bags. That was something pleasant to hear. I felt great. Bike becomes your identity, the highway becomes your attitude and riding becomes your destiny.
Before resuming the ride, we stood besides our bikes outside the hotel, chit chatting. Raghav was checking his gears for the ascent ahead. We had the curls and curves of Kalhatty Ghats awaiting us and we wanted to capture her beauty from every possible angle, of course with our bikes in the foreground.
PS : Anyone who can guess what the road ahead had in store for us will get a special prize... :-)
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