Kalhatty

01.03.2008 – 02.03.2008
Kalhatty (Kalhatti) Ride

Few days before the ride, I’m sitting on a bean bag at Moshaii’s home with a half emptied glass, contemplating the issues of my bike; JSR is busy filling his second round and Moshaii multitasking with one hand on the computer keyboard and the other one holding his glass, at the same time two fingers reserved for a cigi smoking away the mosquitoes and other small creatures with weak hearts and lungs. Do those mosquitoes die of sudden heart attack or lung cancer? God knows.
JSR is looking at the short lived bubbles popping up from bottom of his glass and said to himself, ‘Poor things, they don’t even live long enough to finish their first ride’.
Anyway before finishing that round he raised his head, looked at me and said, “Why you worry Jo, you can take my 500 next week if your bike doesn’t get fit by then”.
Wow… What a consolation… Problem solved… Game on…
But the 500 got some viral fever or flu, coughing continuously and getting unconscious; so I took my bike. That’s the uncertainty of life…
JSR proposes and God disposes.
The lifeless 500 is still lying in my porch.

01.03.2008; Morning
Moshaii rose up to everyone’s expectation and did not rise at all. History repeats… Moshaii was completely ‘fit’ the previous night and woke up very early morning at around 11am. Confused Moshaii chose not to pick any call on his phone and not to respond to any of our sms’ and headed solo expecting a second chapter to the Mannavanoor experience. To reach the camp before the rest, he would have ‘missed us’ purposefully if seen us on the way. Anyway the solo dude reached Kalhatti at around 5, almost 4 hrs after us. By then we were in Ooty and Conoor.

He hit and killed a bird (or the bird hit him and committed suicide) on the way; one monkey had a narrow escape. Moshaii strongly justifies himself with the point that the monkey crossed the road where there wasn’t any zebra line. Also that inhuman thing abused Moshaii loudly till he disappeared from the sight. Thankfully since he was busy, Moshaii did not stop to deal with it; or else one monkey would have joined the camp later in the evening on a black MH registered bullet.

The ride through Bandipur was awesome. I don’t know why, but the ride through that forest has always been breath taking for me and I love it. This time the lush greenery of the forest seemed faded with the autumn effect though.
And... Oh Boy, the two km off road ride to the camp… A stretch where a weak machine will never obey whatever we ask to do.

GK rode from Cochin and joined the camp within half an hour after we reached- His LB500’s maiden ride. His entire mass seemed to be very happy with the new babe’s performance. He seemed doesn’t want to remember those days and nights with the old divorced 350 who always complained about his weight and could never keep up with him.

Conoor visit proved to be ‘full paisa vasool’. Visited the loco shed at the railway station and the driver allowed us to enter inside the engine cabin (!) of one of the century old steam engines. I’m sure one will be thandoori if one of us stays there for one hour.

Meanwhile we got a distressed call from Caption Satyan from Kalhatty with the news that someone calling himself Moshaii crash landed at the camp claiming to be one of us, raided the kitchen and finished all the left over food leaving nothing to feed the elephants, tigers, cheetahs, cats, rats etc (prefix ‘wild’ with each creature and read).

Jumbo belong to the bat family, I doubt. At night, while coming back from Ooty he zoomed ahead leaving us behind… seems darkness boosts his eye vision. The sad part is that one cop misguided him at a turn and sent him in a different route for a very simple reason- to avoid the elephant trail at night. It wasn’t less than half an hour before we could recover him.

Night at camp was awesome. By the time we reached, bonfire, tent, barbeque, refresher liquids… everything is ready. Rest is history.
I slept peacefully in the tent; Jumbo and JSR on both my sides (don’t relate this to Jesus Christ between those two gentlemen). The misery was the rumbling thumping roaring sound from both the sides that woke me up several times at night with the fear that it’s some wild animal circling the tent and I’m gona be a piece of Kabab in the morning. Anyway later I got used to this horror and slept peacefully.

02.03.2008
Sunday morning we visited ‘Duchy of Kalhatty’s Palace’. That’s how the Duchy calls it; a nicely constructed one decorated with antique furniture, old photos, animal skulls etc. All the rooms with balcony and the tree house with fascinating view of the nearby mountains and clouds, JSR says all these seem designed to have ‘thanny’ party (thanny means Liquor in English) at chilling nights. Moshaii seconded him. What to do… These ‘liquefied’ souls don’t have anything else to think of.

We left the camp by noon. The heavy breakfast gave us no option to think about lunch before leaving.
Nice ride.
Finally Moshaii is riding with others.
GK, running in, trying hard to control his instincts and emotions to open up a bit but listens to the bike and cruises slowly…

Thanks to all the riders for this amazing ride and nice company.
JSR, Moshaii, GK, Jumbo and JSR’s colleague Uday (this was his first long ride and he enjoyed it. Uday rides very well too.)

Route to kalhatty from Bangalore (Map added by JSR)
Bangalore- Mysore- Nannjangud- Gundalpet- bandipur- Kalhatty
Distance : ~280km

Kalhatty Photos

PS: One horrible sad scene on the way back on Mysore road- one man run over by a truck. One can imagine how that scene would be. I need not explain that. Pathetic, it’s pathetic again to see that he is still conscious. From the scene it looks like he followed his own rules and crossed the busy highway on his bike… probably a straight entry from one side of the road or probably from the opposite lane.

Galibore

Galibore report
Weekend ride to Galibore on 10.02.2008

10.2.2008
Morning 7:00, attendance marked and found 5 of us present at the BTM petrol bunk as planned earlier. Meppa, Moshaii, JSR, myself Jo, and our very well wisher Kar to ride with us till our breakfast point and see us off. The Bypanahalli railway crossing delayed me and moshaii for more than 15 min. One soul did not pick the phone and JSR recollected from his previous experiences that it’s the sign that the soul is still “resting in peace” and is a go ahead sign for others.

Decided breakfast point was kanakpura. JSR was found trying to stop much before that, responding to the call for refueling. His personal fuel level seemed much bellow the reserve. The previous day’s alcohol would have melted down and gasified whatever possible solid fuel he’s had and would have gone like fumes out into the free space. But he moved with the crowd to stretch till Kanakpura for breakfast. At the restaurant 5 idli vadas and one extra vada each for all but JSR... That’s the amazing part of the breakfast story. Anyway he was in full throttle after that. Kar took a U turn. We headed straight.

Few stops to ask for directions and we are at Sangam safe and sound with full energy and enthusiasm. The roads are tempting.. Narrow stretches, full of potholes and rough patches.. Most of the time leaving us up on foot pegs…

The pack stopped at sangam. Me followed by JSR headed to the sand and then close to the water. Moshaii and Meppa’s wtf look did not last for long. They too are there in the $#it. I can’t forget JSR’s comment when I got down to guide him to cross the river… “Da, are you going to send me to other side and you guys going to stay here?“ That suddenly reminded me of the procedure of abandoning unwanted kittens and puppies mostly at the other side of some river or stream making them impossible to come back and find the owner's house. I said, “No Duda, we follow you to any hell“. Good, the photographer is now on the other side and we followed. Moshaii counted the “phishes” he went over while crossing. The latest information is that there are few final calculations to be completed before publishing the final count.

The next stage seemed quite eventful. The sand dune didn’t seem like letting us through easily like the river did. Few events there are beyond explanation. Moshaii’s left right left right bike dance step is inspirational to any choreographer. He made some offerings to the sand dunes – few crystal glass pieces in return to the nicest time and experience.

The other side, a watch man at the check post to the wilderness asked us 100 bucks each under the table to go past the check post with bikes. We imagined one of our fingers raised up in the air and kissing him good bye. Crossed the river back in search of “non check posted” wilderness and found very good ones. That was Galibore area. That was a good decision. I had been to the check posted area and that is not different from the Galibore wilderness and off roads. Probably Galibore is more apt for biking and more exploration. The sangam side is crowded with tourists and lover couples all around like those mosquitos at JSR’s house porch in the evenings at HSR Layout. No place for a biker to open the throttle of his heart with peace of mind.

On the way we had to squeeze pass thorough few Wipro (office team outing) busses blocking the narrow road. Moshaii recollects one girl who was about to step down from one of the busses, seeing JSR popping out from the wild and coming straight to her, suddenly put herself into reverse gear and disappeared back inside the bus. She would have recovered from her initial shock after we all passed by and would have asked others “why are these maniacs riding baked in those space suits when there are air-conditioned busses with push back seats to travel”… We saw the local civilization (probably) welcoming the wipro civilization with drum beats same as that happenin in some funeral processions. (They would need to do things like this and more... After all the package to stay there for one day is around 1600 bucks)

The mud road offered us a wonderful time. We put our anchors at a shore. There Meppa was found flirting with few dogs… Oh let me correct myself… he was found with few dogs and what he was doing with them is still a debatable subject. Let me not get into that now. That all I leave to human imagination to interpret.

We had our lunch back at sangam, a decent restaurant with good food, facility and staff with the right attitude to serve. It was when we all finished our lunch and chilling under the trees, a group of Xboys emerged out of nowhere and got pissed to see our bikes line up. Thankfully it seemed they all were too hungry for much show offs and soon disappeared inside the restaurant.
The return ride… as exiting as the morning ride… around 4 or 4:30 we are back at JSR’s place for the much awaited golden colored drink comes in bottle labeled with some king bird on it.

One fantastic ride;
Everyone kept the rider behind in his R Mirror;
Effective signaling;
Small group with a good formation ride;
Everyone fully ‘armored’…
I enjoyed it very much.

And, those who missed may come out to the terrace at night, lie down looking at the sky and start counting the stars from one side to the other and keep repeating it till you get the same count two consecutive times. This exercise should give good relief to the pain... :D

Photos (courtesy JSR)

A bullet to the Himalayas

(Translation of Bala's write-up in Fast Track - Malayalam Car& Bike monthly Dec 2007)
Prologue:
Hi Bala, Translation was a bit difficult. I'm sure that this doesn't do 100% justice to the your write-up. But I have done my best not to lose the essence of the original article.

A bullet to the Himalayas

The Royal Enfield Bullet cruises at 80kph. There is a sharp turn to right. One side is a steep gorge thousands of feet deep and the other side, ice glaciers waiting to fall onto the road anytime. Keeping to the left hand side, footrest almost touching the road, taken a lean angle and what waits there after the curve is a water fall from the glaciers. It's a 50m wide water crossing. No time to get confused. In no time the gear is down from 5th to 2nd ; crossed the stream 2 feet deep , splashing water on either side...

This is one of the many adventurous moments from the bullet ride through the Himalayas. The ride was with a group of adventurous people.

Royal Enfield has been organizing this adventure bike ride called Himalayan Odyssey every year from 2004 and this year I too was a part of it. Trivandurm to Delhi by train… but not alone; my KL01 AM 245 bullet too. From Delhi to Khardungla via Chandigarh, Manali, Kaylong and Leh. From Khardungla the route taken was Manali- Mandi- Dharmashala and reached Wagah boarder in Amritsar; turned off the engine, flicked the side stand with left foot… the odometer has run 2300km in two weeks.

The Himalayan Odyssey (HO) starts every year on 24th of June. This year there were 55 participants gathered at the New Delhi International Youth Center. Kashmiri to Mallu, College students to DGP, 20 year olds to big boys in their 50s… people from different cultures, status and age group were present. Amount them were 6 mallus who speak pure mal and 3 half mallus from Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

Adjusting the short tight T-shirt quite often and exhibiting the balloon biceps, Hollywood star Sunil Shetty flagged off the ride from Delhi in the morning on Jun 24th.

The climate is extremely hot, we rode between the speeding trucks and buses to Chandigarh covering Karnal, Panipath, Kurukshetra and Ambala. The road is NH1 which is called as GT (Grand trunk)

Today, when I look back, I feel that the first day's ride was the most dangerous one. Chandigarh to Manali road is very beautiful. Leaving the wheat fields behind the road enters the footsteps of Himalayas- the Shivalik ranges… and nature has already transformed herself into a beautiful Himalayan Girl. Crossing Bhilaspur and Mandi, when we reach Kulu we are at the Himalayan ranges. Now we have a lady escort till Manali- the river Biyas.

Whether you like Manali or not depends on your personal taste. Further on from Manali is Rohtang pass- an average tourist ends his Himalayan journey there. They just get themselves satisfied with a walk through the narrow Manali streets, shopping from those looters there, bath at the hot streams of Vasishti, a journey till Rohteng pass to see the snow and have a ride on the yak or snow scooter. The journey ends there.

Rohtang is 1300 feet from sea level. Need to open the airscrew half a turn for the bike to breath well. Here on oxygen is less and climb is more.

It's not easy to ride through the Himalayas just because you need to be physically fit. One needs to be mentally prepared too. Also the bike too has to be in the very best condition. Need to carry spares like cables, tube, oil, bulbs etc. – parts most likely to go kaput. A good helmet that will never irritate you, a sunglass inside it, Jacket, gloves, boots etc. for protection from the cold and wind are some essential gadgets for a Himalayan rider. Also knee and shin protectors are needed. The rest of it- things what we normally take with us when go for a ride.

If you are someone like me in the 50s, better take a back support belt and some karpooradi tailam. Leave those youngsters who hesitantly ask 'Uncle, can I have a little of that oil please'.

Kaylong is 85km from Rohtang. Through the Lahaul valley and the banks or river Chandra- the barren land.

Chandra River at a distance, beautiful girl, seemingly still, unaffected by climatic changes, covered with a gray blanket, flows silent turning her face away from you.

8km before Keylong, You could see something that you may not be able to see anywhere in the workd- A board that says 'next filling station 356km ahead'. This is Thindi village. Here river Pamba joins Chandra and becomes river Penab.

Kaylong is a beautiful Himalayan girl who could probably be a victim to tourism; she could probably be ruined in the next five years or so. It's a small valley at the banks of river Bhaga, few houses here and there and step farming everywhere. Though a district headquarters, Kaylong is a small village.

Water crossings start in the Rohtang- Kaylong route. It's just a beginning; Lots to come on the way ahead… but, no issues with those other than icy cold water splashed from toe to chest.

By the time you reach Sarchu for the next day's halt, everyone would be suffering from AMS (Acute mountain sickness). Headache, giddiness and sleeplessness are the symptoms. Drink more water and reduce the usage of alcohol and cigarette; nothing much can be done until the body gets used to the lack of oxygen .

We need to cross Barachala (Known as killer pass) which is at 4892 meters from sea level to reach Sarchu. Staying at the pass for long is dangerous. Sarchu is like a wide passage. The road ahead stretches without end- mountains on either side stand like a gallery. You are the only riders of this road except few local shepherds and their sheep packs.

Stay at Sarchu is in tents. Though rent is high, there is no other alternative in this desert. Leh is approximately 250km from Sarchu. It's possible to cover this in one day, but better go slow. Only then will you be able to enjoy the beauty of Ladakh.

Sarchu - Leh road promises the most thrilling ride of this journey. Gattalups, Nakila and Lachungla stretches are like roads to heaven. By the time these are covered, both the bike and the rider would become dead tired. Next obstacle is the most challenging Moray plains. At some places the roads doesn't exist at all and we need to ride through sand for kilometers. Falling is fun and reaching the other side without a fall is super success.

It's when you think that the thrilling part is over; you reach the world's second highest pass after Khardungla– Tanglangla. Weather is too cold and it's too difficult to get breath… There 350ccs struggled to catch up with their big brother 500ccs.

World's highest airport is here crowded with foreigners who start their Himalayan expedition from there. There is one more road to reach Leh; Srinagar- Sogilo – Kargil route. That is comparatively the easiest one. But due to militant issues restrictions and risk too is high.

Good old tradition is seen challenged in Leh. Military and Tourism now rule the city.

There are many traditional monuments for visitors to see and explore in Leh and surrounding areas. Shay Palace, Lamayurugompa, Stock Palace, Alpi gompa and the Buddhist monasteries at Thikse and Hemis are the important ones. The Pangongso Lake 154km away is another attraction.

Khardungla is 42km from Leh. Not just India's, but it's the worlds peak of adventure motorcycling. Though Khardungla is the world's highest motorable road on earth, some believe that Marsmikla is higher than Khardungla. But very few are able to make it to there. The road to Khardungla is a very steep climb. But compared to the roads that've already been covered, this is fine.

It was snowing continuously in Khardungla. Being there with friends is satisfaction beyond words. Reaching here riding my own bike, spending thousands and overcoming lots of difficulties and obstacles, gave life's most precious moments.

If all the wishes and dreams come true in life, how would that be? There should be some left unfulfilled which will be the fuel for the rest of our life. There was a similar situation in this ride too. Initial plan was to return to Amritsar via the Sach pass and Champa which hasn't been attempted by anyone before. But an unexpected landslide ruined that plan. For one day we stayed at Udaipur on the banks of river Chenab, and then headed to Dharmashala via Mandi and from there to Amritsar via Pathankot. In the evening I left the Wagah boarder after 'beating the retreat' of course with my heart full of satisfaction.

What we gain from journeys is knowledge- about our mother earth who gave us birth and brings up all of us- and of course about ourselves. Love for nature and us makes our lives bright.

-Balachandran V

The author who did this adventurer ride to Himalayas is an employee of Punjab National Bank.

Hogenakkal Ride

Hogenakkal

02.12.2008
Nice refreshing ride. The place is a mess though…

Hogenakkal is one dirty face of domestic tourism.
Don’t these people have any other place to wash cloths!
Others seemed like washing their sins off as in some sacred river.
Good that we didn’t spend much time over there.

The roads as usual offered good off-roading, on the foot peg for very long…
Few kilometers before Hogenakkal, the the place we chose to get down looked peaceful is a nice Kaveri shore to chill. The remaining ride to Hogenakkal proved to be just a formality except that we got some nice fish fry and meals.

Attendance: Moshaii, Kar, Conductor, Parvi and myself.

Photos