Hyderabad-Gooty-Bellary-Tornagallu-Hubli-Gokarna-Murdeshwar-Jog falls-Sirisi-Hubli-Raichur-Hyderabad
1700km in three days. Whew! Well it doesn't break my previous record of 1800km in approximately the same time but I would say I did better. Nature was merciless.
It was the time when cyclone Phalin was in full swing flooding the coastal areas of Andhra when a group of twenty from Pramati planned a trip to Gokarna, Murdeshwara and Jog falls. I have been to these places before and I knew the ghat sections are just amazing. The temptation to take my bike was overwhelming. The distance, cyclone and fear of wrecking the entire groups' plans were measuring against me riding. But the winding roads, lush greenery and few other reasons were forcing me to take the bike. Finally, nature and my selfishness won. Much to dismay of Kiran, I, asked him to cancel my ticket. He was furious but I was stubborn.
Thursday, 24th Oct, 2013
10am, I saddled up my bike and was off to office.
5pm, Closed my laptop, gave it to Jitendra for safe keeping and hit the road.
By 6pm, I was happily cruising along the Bangalore highway.
All hell broke loose within the next one hour. It began with a welcome drizzle which soon turned into a thunderstorm. I was expecting this, thanks to some weather forecasting website. I didn't stop because I knew the rain wouldn't stop the whole night anyway. I was prepared to ride throughout the night, through the fierce cyclone.
After a while, I caught a glimpse of my favourite Drive-In restaurant, Hill Side, just 60km away from Hyderabad. I drove in completely drenched. Peeling off my gloves, I ordered soup and starters without asking for the menu.
I was enjoying hot chicken corn soup and chicken 65 while the rain was threatening to bring the place down. Surprisingly, the restaurant was crowded and with more cars driving in, I had no choice but to leave.
The rain was at its peak when I drove out and I could sense people staring at me like I am a mad man. With elastic ropes tying my luggage on the pillion seat, I sure might have looked like an adventurer.
Tiny droplets on the helmet visor were acting as lenses focussing headlights of oncoming vehicles right into my eyes, blinding me, and with rain showing no sighs of giving up its wrath, navigating between heavy vehicles sure was a hair rising spine chilling experience. But I never knew this was nothing compared to what was about to come.
Another regular stop was a dhaba right after the Kurnool toll gate. After some dal fry and rotis I decided to enquire about the route. I had two options, leave the luxurious four lane national highway after about 2kms and take the torturous pothole filled state highway through Mahbobnagar, Raichur, Manvi and Hubli or continue on the national highway for another 100kms and take the Gooty route. I tried the first route when I went to Goa about 6 months back and it was pure hell. So I was inclined to avoid it but the second route was a 100kms longer.
I found a group of drivers chatting away and I joined them asking 'Hubli ke liye best route kya hain bhaiyya'. They were confused and started discussing among themselves. Finally one of them said 'Raichur se ja sakte hoon. Aage flyover ke niche se right le lo'. That was the route I wanted to avoid. 'Kaise ja rahe hoon' he asked as an after thought. I pointed out my bike. His eyes literally popped out. He was speechless. His more observant companion deduced I was alone. 'Akhele?', he asked wide eyed.
Then began a tirade of advices. I could catch 'dangerous... heavy rains... fierce water at places... four buses swept away.. take a lodge sleep.. start early morning'.
Noticing that the rain thrashing the roof was making a little lesser noise, I thought about the 500 kms more to go, I politely thanked them, put on my gloves and drove away. Four buses swept away indeed, did they take me for a fool? Though they exaggerated, stagnant water on the highway is a danger. Imagine driving into knee deep stagnant water at 90kmph, a fall and a swim guaranteed. So I had to keep my eyes peeled out watching out for all dangers lurking even on a national highway - stagnant water and dogs topped the list.
I usually sleep in Petrol bunks, closed tea shops or abandoned constructions. Tired, I usually sleep so well that a two hour slumber would be enough. But this time, I was completely drenched, from gloves to socks and shoes, every bit of clothing I had on was at least twice heavier. Result, no sleep.
Friday 6am, devoid of sleep, still completely wet, I entered Bellary with a mild headache which was threatening to turn severe. Hubli, where I planned to rest was still 360km away. Half my mind was asking me to rest but the other half which loves self torture and is more dominating was asking me to ride on. So ignoring all the welcoming hotels and lodges and the throbbing headache, I rode on. Bellamy seemed a nice place to explore but still the evil part of my brain was denying me all pleasure. After an hour, I entered Tornagallu, the heart of Jindal Steel Works. I have been there before for Ranjeet's (mere yaar mere bhai) reception (that time it was in my brand new three day old i20). Jindal Steels has a campus there, the entrance is like a portal, taking you from a third world country to a developed one! But I had no intension to go in. I wanted to drive on, until I saw a sign which said 'bridge collapsed due to rains, take diversion'.
Every inch of my body was dead tired and this sign was enough to lead me to the nearest hotel.
Dolphin Inn, it was very good. Spacious parking, full of trees and welcoming reception. I walked in expecting to shell out at least Rs1500. But surprisingly, I got a single AC room for just Rs 600!
After a hot water bath, I slept like a log till 2pm. Lunch was not good, too much salt in the chicken. Weather was good and I decided to explore the place a bit before taking off. Walking around, I found a few places where I hung out with my friends earlier, revelled in those past memories for a while and by 3pm, I realised it was time to go. I knew there was a 100km ghat road after Hubli which must be covered before twilight.
Realising Hubli was 360km away, I knew this was an impossible task. But I had to try. Check-out, fueling and checking tyre air pressure delayed me. It was 4:30pm when I was fully set to take off. With a hard deadline, I rode like a maniac. The rode was bad, my clutch wrist started hurting badly, still I rode on. With Hubli still 150kms awai, I had to turn on the headlights. I failed. I had to negotiate the ghat road in the night. I shuddered thinking about the near accident I had there last time in broad daylight. But I had no choice, the rest of the group is scheduled to arrive by 4am.
Finally at 11pm, I entered Hubli. I stopped, took out my mobile, confirmed the route on the gps, made note of the route and resumed my journey. I bought a beer, stuffed it in my bag and entered the dreaded ghat road by 11:30pm. With the air smelling like it was about to rain, thick vegetation all around illuminated with the moonlight, I found myself actually enjoying it. I found a tea stall and stopped. I considered opening the beer but decided against it and settled for a tea. It was just brown sweet water. I would have no trouble believing if someone told me that it was water from the puddle in front of the shop, heated and sweetened. Throwing it away, I relieved myself, watsapped a few friends, resisted the beer temptation and started again.
Fifteen minutes later, it started pouring. Rain was so heavy that I was totally blinded. My speed slowed to a crawl, My hands became wiper,. still no use at all. Getting drenched was the least of my problems. I could not stop because it was all jungle around. Driving in those conditions for half an hour made me completely fearless. Slippery road ghat road, hair pin turns, merciless rain and heavy vehicles trying to blind me, crush me, drive me off the road, I started enjoying it. I had fun showing the finger to every driver. Excuse my language, but they wouldn't even dip their headlights blinding me for a few possibly fatal seconds!
The lightening strikes were amazing, the completely dark forest, glowing in purple, sometimes for as long as a few seconds, a sight which is etched in my mind even now.
By 3am, I was done with the ghat road, bike and rider unscathed and all in one piece and feeling totally exhilarated. It was a feeling of conquering the world.
From this point, on my previous trip at around 5pm, I took the right towards Goa. This time, at around 3am I took the left towards Gokarna. Even last time the goal was Murdeshwar but this magical junction turned my bike towards Goa :-).
Next challenge was to find Makara Village Resort. I was wondering how could I operate the GPS on my mobile because being drenched, it would go haywire, calling, messaging, opening apps at random. A few meters ahead I could see a few Volvos parked and dim candle lights in what seemed like a restaurant. Thankfully it was and it was open and it was crowded with tourists. As I entered, I noticed a couple of cute girls, Iranian perhaps, looking at me. I considered chatting with them but the temptation of hot coffee and muscles of guys who were with them put me off. I silently headed towards an empty table and ordered coffee. Then dried my mobile with paper napkins and searched for Makara Village. GMaps told me that it was 20.6 kms on the highway. How much ever I zoom in, it told me the same tale. 20.6 kms on the Edapally-Panvel highway, no tricky side lanes or complex route. Coffee was served. After the sweetened water code named Tea, proper hot coffee felt like heaven. I drained every last drop in the cup. Feeling the much needed warmth inside me, I jacketed up and started my bike. The ever reliable Yamaha R15 roared to life. The trip meter read 736.3kms. Making a mental note that Makara village should be close by when I touch 756 kms, I hit the road again. Rain became a friend now, and I even started lapping up rain water - open the visor, stick your tongue out, let a few drops fall and drink :-).
Soon the blue illuminated display read 754 kms. I slowed down and started scanning the surroundings. When the reading was 757.8kms, I found it. It was right on the highway to my left with a cute little gate. I liked it the moment I saw it. The gate was padlocked. So I had shout and honk several times to wake up the inn keeper, it took him ten minutes to come out of his deep slumber.
Seeing my state, he gave me one of the pre booked room without as much seeing an id proof or a reservation slip.
Somehow I was not at all tired. I would have been more tired in a bus. All the adventure has pumped up so much adrenaline that I was feeling high! I decided to combine this feeling with beer. I did and had three hours of blissful sleep. At 6am, rest of the gang arrived, I was fresh and ready for the wonderful day ahead to trek along the coast.
But I was more than looking forward for the next day when the itinerary was Murdeshwar and Jog falls when I would have the next affair with my bike.
The first day was pretty good, trekking, boat ride, horrible lunch, sunset photography, dinner, a short midnight ride with Sreedhar and sleep.
Next day, we got ready by 5am and I saw that it was raining. It did not deter me. I kept my date with the bike and I was glad I did. The road was amazing, a treat to all senses. The heavy rain made the ride much more romantic!
The visit to Jog falls included the most amazing ghat road ride and spell bounding views. Jog falls itself included climbing down 1200 steps, a trek to the waterfall and climbing up the same 1200 steps. We came up puffing and panting, and it was time for me to depart.
Earlier the day I found an alternate route through a place called Sirisi. So I saddled up my bike, bid a hasty farewell and was on my way back to Hyderabad. Rain subsided and I hung my jacket, socks and shoes to dry on the bike and was riding wearing shorts and slippers. Within an hour everything was dry and I could get back to my biker's attire.
I wanted to get back in time for office the next day so I skipped lunch and rode hard. I reached Hubli by 6pm, had some bajjis and sped towards Raichur.
I had an hour's sleep in a dhaba where I had my dinner. The owner got mad and woke me up. He was yelling at me shouting how can he do business if customers eat and then even sleep. Looking at the empty dhaba I found this quite unnecessary but left anyway.
On the way I had a couple of power naps, first one seemed like a small school and the second one, a dilapidated building. I had such good sleep that both times when I woke up I did not understand where I was for a few seconds.
The road till Raichur was surprisingly good, recently repaired. But speed breakers were a nightmare. Each village had atleast twelve speed breakers, strips of six while entering and another strip while exiting. Yahama has done a superb job of engineering its bike to keep its upright position no matter what but I often missed the ABS when I noticed the speed breaker too late and had to brake hard skidding the rear wheel like hell.
But my faithful bike never once let me down.
The worst road I had on my way back is from Mehbobnagar. Hope the telangana issue would be put aside and roads would be repaired.
Every politician must be given a bike and asked to go on a long ride. They will then realise how serious the issues are which are ignored. Transportation is the backbone of any economy and the roads around Mehbobnagar are so bad that I think transport companies spend their profits replacing broken truck parts, mainly the suspensions!
By 11am I was back home, again fresh. Mom even commented 'Looks like you slept very well. You look so fresh'. She thinks I went in bus with everyone else. Giving myself an evil grin, I started getting ready for the routine week ahead.
Route Review
Route 1: Hyderabad-Gooty-Bellary-Tornagallu-Hubli-Gokarna (768kms) AVOID!
This route adds 100kms to the journey for nothing!
Route 2: Hyderabad-Mehbobnagar-Raichur-Hubli-Gokarna (676kms) PREFERRED!
The only BAD part is from Mehbobnagar to Raichur. It seriously bad. After that its a bliss.
1700km in three days. Whew! Well it doesn't break my previous record of 1800km in approximately the same time but I would say I did better. Nature was merciless.
It was the time when cyclone Phalin was in full swing flooding the coastal areas of Andhra when a group of twenty from Pramati planned a trip to Gokarna, Murdeshwara and Jog falls. I have been to these places before and I knew the ghat sections are just amazing. The temptation to take my bike was overwhelming. The distance, cyclone and fear of wrecking the entire groups' plans were measuring against me riding. But the winding roads, lush greenery and few other reasons were forcing me to take the bike. Finally, nature and my selfishness won. Much to dismay of Kiran, I, asked him to cancel my ticket. He was furious but I was stubborn.
Thursday, 24th Oct, 2013
10am, I saddled up my bike and was off to office.
5pm, Closed my laptop, gave it to Jitendra for safe keeping and hit the road.
By 6pm, I was happily cruising along the Bangalore highway.
All hell broke loose within the next one hour. It began with a welcome drizzle which soon turned into a thunderstorm. I was expecting this, thanks to some weather forecasting website. I didn't stop because I knew the rain wouldn't stop the whole night anyway. I was prepared to ride throughout the night, through the fierce cyclone.
After a while, I caught a glimpse of my favourite Drive-In restaurant, Hill Side, just 60km away from Hyderabad. I drove in completely drenched. Peeling off my gloves, I ordered soup and starters without asking for the menu.
Pictures taken long back. This time is was raining so damn heavily.
The rain was at its peak when I drove out and I could sense people staring at me like I am a mad man. With elastic ropes tying my luggage on the pillion seat, I sure might have looked like an adventurer.
Tiny droplets on the helmet visor were acting as lenses focussing headlights of oncoming vehicles right into my eyes, blinding me, and with rain showing no sighs of giving up its wrath, navigating between heavy vehicles sure was a hair rising spine chilling experience. But I never knew this was nothing compared to what was about to come.
Another regular stop was a dhaba right after the Kurnool toll gate. After some dal fry and rotis I decided to enquire about the route. I had two options, leave the luxurious four lane national highway after about 2kms and take the torturous pothole filled state highway through Mahbobnagar, Raichur, Manvi and Hubli or continue on the national highway for another 100kms and take the Gooty route. I tried the first route when I went to Goa about 6 months back and it was pure hell. So I was inclined to avoid it but the second route was a 100kms longer.
I found a group of drivers chatting away and I joined them asking 'Hubli ke liye best route kya hain bhaiyya'. They were confused and started discussing among themselves. Finally one of them said 'Raichur se ja sakte hoon. Aage flyover ke niche se right le lo'. That was the route I wanted to avoid. 'Kaise ja rahe hoon' he asked as an after thought. I pointed out my bike. His eyes literally popped out. He was speechless. His more observant companion deduced I was alone. 'Akhele?', he asked wide eyed.
Then began a tirade of advices. I could catch 'dangerous... heavy rains... fierce water at places... four buses swept away.. take a lodge sleep.. start early morning'.
Noticing that the rain thrashing the roof was making a little lesser noise, I thought about the 500 kms more to go, I politely thanked them, put on my gloves and drove away. Four buses swept away indeed, did they take me for a fool? Though they exaggerated, stagnant water on the highway is a danger. Imagine driving into knee deep stagnant water at 90kmph, a fall and a swim guaranteed. So I had to keep my eyes peeled out watching out for all dangers lurking even on a national highway - stagnant water and dogs topped the list.
I usually sleep in Petrol bunks, closed tea shops or abandoned constructions. Tired, I usually sleep so well that a two hour slumber would be enough. But this time, I was completely drenched, from gloves to socks and shoes, every bit of clothing I had on was at least twice heavier. Result, no sleep.
Friday 6am, devoid of sleep, still completely wet, I entered Bellary with a mild headache which was threatening to turn severe. Hubli, where I planned to rest was still 360km away. Half my mind was asking me to rest but the other half which loves self torture and is more dominating was asking me to ride on. So ignoring all the welcoming hotels and lodges and the throbbing headache, I rode on. Bellamy seemed a nice place to explore but still the evil part of my brain was denying me all pleasure. After an hour, I entered Tornagallu, the heart of Jindal Steel Works. I have been there before for Ranjeet's (mere yaar mere bhai) reception (that time it was in my brand new three day old i20). Jindal Steels has a campus there, the entrance is like a portal, taking you from a third world country to a developed one! But I had no intension to go in. I wanted to drive on, until I saw a sign which said 'bridge collapsed due to rains, take diversion'.
Every inch of my body was dead tired and this sign was enough to lead me to the nearest hotel.
Dolphin Inn, it was very good. Spacious parking, full of trees and welcoming reception. I walked in expecting to shell out at least Rs1500. But surprisingly, I got a single AC room for just Rs 600!
Dolphin Inn. Recommended. Single AC room Rs600 for 24 hours.
By 3pm I was ready
After a hot water bath, I slept like a log till 2pm. Lunch was not good, too much salt in the chicken. Weather was good and I decided to explore the place a bit before taking off. Walking around, I found a few places where I hung out with my friends earlier, revelled in those past memories for a while and by 3pm, I realised it was time to go. I knew there was a 100km ghat road after Hubli which must be covered before twilight.
Realising Hubli was 360km away, I knew this was an impossible task. But I had to try. Check-out, fueling and checking tyre air pressure delayed me. It was 4:30pm when I was fully set to take off. With a hard deadline, I rode like a maniac. The rode was bad, my clutch wrist started hurting badly, still I rode on. With Hubli still 150kms awai, I had to turn on the headlights. I failed. I had to negotiate the ghat road in the night. I shuddered thinking about the near accident I had there last time in broad daylight. But I had no choice, the rest of the group is scheduled to arrive by 4am.
Finally at 11pm, I entered Hubli. I stopped, took out my mobile, confirmed the route on the gps, made note of the route and resumed my journey. I bought a beer, stuffed it in my bag and entered the dreaded ghat road by 11:30pm. With the air smelling like it was about to rain, thick vegetation all around illuminated with the moonlight, I found myself actually enjoying it. I found a tea stall and stopped. I considered opening the beer but decided against it and settled for a tea. It was just brown sweet water. I would have no trouble believing if someone told me that it was water from the puddle in front of the shop, heated and sweetened. Throwing it away, I relieved myself, watsapped a few friends, resisted the beer temptation and started again.
Fifteen minutes later, it started pouring. Rain was so heavy that I was totally blinded. My speed slowed to a crawl, My hands became wiper,. still no use at all. Getting drenched was the least of my problems. I could not stop because it was all jungle around. Driving in those conditions for half an hour made me completely fearless. Slippery road ghat road, hair pin turns, merciless rain and heavy vehicles trying to blind me, crush me, drive me off the road, I started enjoying it. I had fun showing the finger to every driver. Excuse my language, but they wouldn't even dip their headlights blinding me for a few possibly fatal seconds!
The lightening strikes were amazing, the completely dark forest, glowing in purple, sometimes for as long as a few seconds, a sight which is etched in my mind even now.
By 3am, I was done with the ghat road, bike and rider unscathed and all in one piece and feeling totally exhilarated. It was a feeling of conquering the world.
From this point, on my previous trip at around 5pm, I took the right towards Goa. This time, at around 3am I took the left towards Gokarna. Even last time the goal was Murdeshwar but this magical junction turned my bike towards Goa :-).
Next challenge was to find Makara Village Resort. I was wondering how could I operate the GPS on my mobile because being drenched, it would go haywire, calling, messaging, opening apps at random. A few meters ahead I could see a few Volvos parked and dim candle lights in what seemed like a restaurant. Thankfully it was and it was open and it was crowded with tourists. As I entered, I noticed a couple of cute girls, Iranian perhaps, looking at me. I considered chatting with them but the temptation of hot coffee and muscles of guys who were with them put me off. I silently headed towards an empty table and ordered coffee. Then dried my mobile with paper napkins and searched for Makara Village. GMaps told me that it was 20.6 kms on the highway. How much ever I zoom in, it told me the same tale. 20.6 kms on the Edapally-Panvel highway, no tricky side lanes or complex route. Coffee was served. After the sweetened water code named Tea, proper hot coffee felt like heaven. I drained every last drop in the cup. Feeling the much needed warmth inside me, I jacketed up and started my bike. The ever reliable Yamaha R15 roared to life. The trip meter read 736.3kms. Making a mental note that Makara village should be close by when I touch 756 kms, I hit the road again. Rain became a friend now, and I even started lapping up rain water - open the visor, stick your tongue out, let a few drops fall and drink :-).
Soon the blue illuminated display read 754 kms. I slowed down and started scanning the surroundings. When the reading was 757.8kms, I found it. It was right on the highway to my left with a cute little gate. I liked it the moment I saw it. The gate was padlocked. So I had shout and honk several times to wake up the inn keeper, it took him ten minutes to come out of his deep slumber.
Seeing my state, he gave me one of the pre booked room without as much seeing an id proof or a reservation slip.
Makara Village. Highly recommended. Easily accessible. Resonable rates.
Somehow I was not at all tired. I would have been more tired in a bus. All the adventure has pumped up so much adrenaline that I was feeling high! I decided to combine this feeling with beer. I did and had three hours of blissful sleep. At 6am, rest of the gang arrived, I was fresh and ready for the wonderful day ahead to trek along the coast.
But I was more than looking forward for the next day when the itinerary was Murdeshwar and Jog falls when I would have the next affair with my bike.
The first day was pretty good, trekking, boat ride, horrible lunch, sunset photography, dinner, a short midnight ride with Sreedhar and sleep.
Next day, we got ready by 5am and I saw that it was raining. It did not deter me. I kept my date with the bike and I was glad I did. The road was amazing, a treat to all senses. The heavy rain made the ride much more romantic!
The visit to Jog falls included the most amazing ghat road ride and spell bounding views. Jog falls itself included climbing down 1200 steps, a trek to the waterfall and climbing up the same 1200 steps. We came up puffing and panting, and it was time for me to depart.
Earlier the day I found an alternate route through a place called Sirisi. So I saddled up my bike, bid a hasty farewell and was on my way back to Hyderabad. Rain subsided and I hung my jacket, socks and shoes to dry on the bike and was riding wearing shorts and slippers. Within an hour everything was dry and I could get back to my biker's attire.
I wanted to get back in time for office the next day so I skipped lunch and rode hard. I reached Hubli by 6pm, had some bajjis and sped towards Raichur.
I had an hour's sleep in a dhaba where I had my dinner. The owner got mad and woke me up. He was yelling at me shouting how can he do business if customers eat and then even sleep. Looking at the empty dhaba I found this quite unnecessary but left anyway.
On the way I had a couple of power naps, first one seemed like a small school and the second one, a dilapidated building. I had such good sleep that both times when I woke up I did not understand where I was for a few seconds.
Resting place. Looked like a village school
But my faithful bike never once let me down.
The worst road I had on my way back is from Mehbobnagar. Hope the telangana issue would be put aside and roads would be repaired.
Every politician must be given a bike and asked to go on a long ride. They will then realise how serious the issues are which are ignored. Transportation is the backbone of any economy and the roads around Mehbobnagar are so bad that I think transport companies spend their profits replacing broken truck parts, mainly the suspensions!
By 11am I was back home, again fresh. Mom even commented 'Looks like you slept very well. You look so fresh'. She thinks I went in bus with everyone else. Giving myself an evil grin, I started getting ready for the routine week ahead.
Route Review
Route 1: Hyderabad-Gooty-Bellary-Tornagallu-Hubli-Gokarna (768kms) AVOID!
- NH7 till Gooty: Awesome four lane national highway.
- Gooty to Bellary: Karnataka state highway. Beware of speed breakers and unexpected potholes.
- Bellary-Gadag: Road till Gadag is very unpredictable but better. Sped breakers will still haunt.
- Gadag-Hubli: After Gadag we get a better road with potholes a little less frequent.
- Hubli-Gokarna: Amazingly awesome road. It gets a little bad towards the end of the ghat road for a short stretch.
This route adds 100kms to the journey for nothing!
Route 2: Hyderabad-Mehbobnagar-Raichur-Hubli-Gokarna (676kms) PREFERRED!
The only BAD part is from Mehbobnagar to Raichur. It seriously bad. After that its a bliss.
