09 August 2008

A ride thru the enchanting mountains.....and an anticlimax!

The alarm was harsh and not welcome.

It seemed as if I went to bed just a moment ago; but, there was no scope for more delays since we had to be back in Bangalore before it is night.

We had a few different routes to choose from, and we chose the Shiradi ghat road. We were worried since we didn’t know if they allowed any traffic there since the developmental work was underway according to the newspaper reports. Uncle was sure that the two-wheeler traffic was allowed, but not the bigger ones.

We started by 7 AM, on that pleasant morning, after stuffing ourselves with a good breakfast. It was chilling outside, and as we dented further on the National Highway, the visibility was dimmer! We could hardly see a 50 yard ahead of us. This prompted us to slow down in pace, nevertheless, a wonderful experience to be riding in the morning mist on a National Highway. Traffic was not much at that hour.

Our first stop was on the banks of the Kumaradhara River. The river was flowing with its majestic norm; we had a good break from the chilling environs with the young rays of Sun kissing us.

We started again after some 15 mins, and soon we entered the Shiradi ghat road. There was a deviation for bigger vehicles from there, but for the two-wheelers, there was no stopping. We ventured ahead on that road which seemed highly mysterious.

The Shiradi ghat has been prettily immortalized by the popular Kannada writer Poorna Chandra Tejaswi. His stories depicting the lives here are amazing, and so we had the interest to experience it ourselves.

We next stopped at a small stream that was descending slowly on a boulder. The road condition was bad all thru the ghat, but of course… the contractors were busy building it afresh.

We had tea at a petty shop on the roadside almost at the end of the ghat road. Here, we saw a huge venomous snake that was green in color. He was busy hunting for food, I guess. He took a note of the curious eyes and hid inside the bush! Huh!

We continued our journey and stopped at Sakaleshapura for a quick visit to the temple there. Here, I received a call from my office. The Manager wanted me to rush back to work in the evening when I was expected to demo a part of my project to the clients!!

The call ruined my joy and made our next leg of the journey a run-of-the-mill kind of ride. We stopped at a few places on the way for lunch and gave a break to the butts. But, the thought of office horrified me, and I hated myself for picking the call at that moment!

We managed to reach Bangalore by 4:45 in the evening; pretty fast ride considering our initial plans. We initially thought of stopping at some more places on the way, but for the call!!

As soon as I reached home, Mother gave me coffee, I gulped the whole cup in a moment and virtually ran to take an auto-rickshaw to the office. I didn't want to ride anymore that day!

So, a Four-day long ride turned to be a pleasure ride at the beginning, a tense one in the middle, and a teasing one in the end for a perfect anticlimax.

What I got from this long ride was… an education about taking care of myself, handling any situation with patience and peace of mind.

My aunt’s neighbors warned it seems, “When two riders on different bikes, they tend to overtake each other and that could be dangerous.”

What my answer for it would be, “Prashanth and I complement each other, we don’t run a competition, but work as a team”!

Here ends my epic West Coast Ride story.

Thanks for being with me all thru, and be prepared for more breathtaking stories in the future too :-)

Day I:

Bengalooru -> Nelamangala -> Kunigal -> Chennarayapattana -> Hassana -> Belur -> Yagachi -> Chikkamagalooru -> Balehonnuru -> Sringeri -> Agumbe -> Hebri -> Seethanadi -> Udupi

Day II:

Udupi -> Malpe -> Bengre -> Udupi -> Udyavara -> Kunjarugiri -> Pajaka -> Katapadi -> KuLayi

Day III:

Kulayi -> Mangalooru -> Manjeshwara -> Ananthapura -> Madhur -> Kasaragodu -> Bekal fort -> Kasaragodu -> Manjeshwara -> Someshwara -> Mangalooru -> Kudupu -> Polali -> MRPL -> Ganeshapura -> Kulayi

Day IV:

Kulayi -> Mangalooru -> B C Road -> Uppinangadi -> Dundya Check Post -> Shiradi -> Sakaleshapura -> Hasana -> Chennarayapattana -> Kunigal -> Nelamangala -> Peenya -> NICE Road -> Kengeri -> Bengalooru

1 comment:

Prashanth M said...

a Four-day long ride turned to be a pleasure ride at the beginning, a tense one in the middle, and a teasing one in the end for a perfect anticlimax.

Well... completely agree with you :D