Mungaaru Maleyali Mooru Dina…..Bike Savari (3 days road trip in Monsoon Rains)

It was almost 6 months since my first longest bike trip (Road Trip). I wanted to go on another one. Shantanu & Balu had told me about their Wayanad trips. So I planned to go on one with Balu. The route was unplanned till the last moment. All we knew was we will be traveling to Kasaragodu via Coorg and will return back to Bangalore via Wayanad – Mysore. Ravi helped me with some maps of Wayanad and I had googled out some information on route via Coorg. That’s it; we had decided to kick it off on 3rd July. Then we made a little change in plan. We thought of leaving Bangalore on 2nd evening and reach Mysore that night, just to make our journey more comfortable. So the plan was finalized and we were ready.

Wow Wow! Before starting let me introduce Balu…Balasubramanya. I met Balu in Coorg trek. We were together for all the days during trek and we had something’s quite common in us which brought us close. Balu has got a huge passion for Photography and owns a Cannon SLR which he always carries’s with him on every trip. Recently he had won a first place in a photography contest in his office. He works for Fidelity. He is a well built tall guy (6’2”).

Well I should say the start was not really great for this trip, but still it was an interesting start for this trip. Balu gave me a call at around 5.30 PM and told me that there have been some communal clashes in Mysore which took the life of 3 people. Curfew was declared in that part of Mysore. But I was not bothered about that and so was Balu. We decided to start as per the plan. Luckily we found that the problem was in South Mysore and we were going to stay at North Mysore, so no problems.

As I left my apartment gates, I was embraced by rain, and then I had to wait for around 90 min near NICE road Intersection on Mysore road waiting for Balu. Balu had given his bike for service two days prior to trip and the mechanic had delayed his work for unknown reasons. Finally I met Balu at around 9.45 PM. We headed towards Mysore in that rainy night.

The next question was where to have dinner…thought of having it at Bidadi (Thatte idli), but all of them were shut by the time we reached there. By then it was almost 10.15 PM. We had decided to limit our speeds to 50 Km/Hr as both of our bike engines were serviced very recently. The fact was that we could not have gone beyond 60 in that rain. So it was OK to be at 50+ speeds. We had our dinner at Hotel Indradhanush (Next to MTR) after Channapattana. It was almost 11.45 when we left the hotel. Balu had to repeatedly call his friend Pavan to tell him our frequently changing delayed arrival time. Pavan had picked up the tent from one of the fella in Mysore on our behalf. We had to collect that from him before leaving Mysore.

We reached Mysore at 1.30 AM. Before entering Mysore, we were enquired by police. The police showed us a little problem of petrol leakage in Balu’s bike and also helped us to fix that. They gave us some info & warning messages about the clashes in Mysore.

By the time we reached Jaladarshini (where Balu’s cousin has managed to get us a room) it was 1.45AM. We could not find the person in charge; Balu had to call his cousin at that hour to find the person in charge. Finally by 2 AM we were settled in the room.

Enter next day (July 3rd) ….

We woke up at 6AM and by 6.30AM left the guest house. Collected the tent from Pavan at around 6.45 and had to look around for a shop to buy some twines to tie the tent to bike. With all that done we left Mysore and reached Hunsur for Breakfast.

The morning was very pleasant, cool breeze and the cloudy sky just made our journey very pleasant & beautiful. We got rid of our helmets…which were a hindrance to enjoy the nature. The fresh air was pumping lot of energy in our body and mind. As we reached close to Kushalanagara, the drizzling started and it become heavy by the time we reached Bylakuppe (The Tibetan village). Bylakuppe is a very beautiful scenic location. You will feel as if you have entered a different land when you get in here.

We went to the monastery, well built and well managed. A beautiful Monastery with three large and imposing Golden Buddha statues and in a serene setting beckons you. The temple has 62 feet Buddha statues covered with gold plates is a wonderful sight anytime. The highlight of this town is the Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery & Golden temple. Hundreds of Tibetan student do study here about Buddhism, when we visited the monastery we could see students busy learning inside the temple.

From here we were all set to ride towards Coorg, it was still drizzling, we had no time to wait since we have to cover a long distance…we knew very well that we have to ride through rain for all the three days. From Kushalanagara till Coorg the road was also not good…slowly and steadily we made it to Coorg, went to the city and purchased some fruits and snacks as we knew we may not find time and good hotels as we go further.

It was amazing to see the whole city fully covered by mist (Clouds) and people with all their umbrellas open (just reminded me of one of the scenes from Mungaru Male). On the outskirts we stopped in that rain to take few snaps of beautiful, scenic hills & coffee estates that beckons you.

The route to Sulya was very curvy and road was not too good and also not too bad. During this rainy season along the road side many waterfalls get formed. We came across few of those. One or two places we stopped to enjoy the nature. The Rubber plantation that stretches for kilometers was gratifying. Nature is so beautiful and inviting at times that we forget all our tensions and responsibilities, that could be one of the reason why the poets admire nature so much (Some times like mad people). One of the problems for us to enjoy the nature was our helmets. After Kushalanagara we were not able to get rid of our helmets as it was raining continuously and riding without helmets could cause lot of problems in the next two days, so we had to make a compromise.

On the way somewhere after Sampaje the downpour became intense and we had to stop near a road side bus stop near a village to take shelter. It was almost 2PM and we decided that we will have the plum cake and furits we had purchased in Madikeri for our Luch there in that bus stop. We spent nice 15 minutes there and when the downpour became low we started towards Sulya.

Traveling for sometime after Sampaje you will suddenly start to observe a river along the roadside. That’s river Payaswini. River is born in a village called Koinadu in Dhakshina Kannada district and flows towards Arabian Sea. As this region was witnessing heavy rains the current in the river was very high and water was almost brownish in colour. It is very exciting to see the vibrant flow of the water. This river will flow along the road side until very close to Cherkala (Close to Kasaragodu). If there were no rains, at some points this river will be a very nice spot to halt for a snack/lunch/play/rest.

We reached Sulya close to 3PM. Balu went in search of ATM to withdraw some money. Then we together went in search of automobile/mechanic shop. Balu wanted to replace his bike’s petrol tube and the nut for Silencer which had caused some problems from yesterday night and we both wanted to buy a spare tube for rear wheels (to replace the tubes in case of an emergency). Sulya town was witnessing heavy rain. All the TV channels were reporting the heavy down pour in the costal and central Karnataka and havoc caused by rain. After seeing the downpour for the whole day I felt nothing wrong in that news. Only thing I never imagined was that it will become worse and cause lots of havoc for living as I saw in the news channels after returning back from the trip.

So now we were all set to leave Karnataka and enter Kerala. Sulya to Kasaragodu is around 60Kms. After traveling around 8 to 10 kms from Sulya we reached the junction (Jalasoor??? Don’t remember properly) where the roads bisects, one towards Kasaragodu and the other towards Mangalore. We were heading towards Bekal and so we had to take a diversion near Cherkala, no need to enter Kasaragodu town.

Let me tell you about the Sulya to Cherkala journey. Moving some distance from the junction, the Kasaragodu road suddenly turns out to be a wonderful SH. Very good road, curvy throughout and covered by intense nature on both sides of the road. Along the left side of the road the river Payaswini will accompany you. We had to be very careful while negotiating the curves or else it could have turned fatal though it’s not a ghat section (That’s true right from the time we left Coorg). You will enjoy that areca nut / pepper plantation, paddy fields the Tea Estates along the road side.

Even in that rain we started to feel the humidity as we reached close to Cherkala (Kasaragodu). On the way we crossed Adur, Mulleria, Bovikanam. People say Adur temple is very good to see, but we could not go there because of the time constrain, and we were on a road trip not on a pilgrimage.

We reached Cherkala close to 4.30PM. We spent sometime there in a hotel tasting the tasteless dosa and then shopping in a Bakery. Cherkala to Bekal is around 17 Kms, you need to travel few Kms on NH17 and then take diversion to right that will lead you to Bekal. The journey was quiet good. We reached near Subramanya temple on the way, it’s on the beach side and we halted here to take a look at the wild Sea. We also noticed a stage next to the temple (Later we chose that for our night stay). Straight from here we went to Bekal-fort (there’s another fort called Chandragiri-Fort at some distance from here). By then the time was 5.30 PM and the fort entry time is from 8AM to 5PM. We could not get inside; instead we said we will go to Bekal beach from where we can take a outside look of the fort. Bekal beach has an entry fee, both for the vehicle and the people. We could find Kannada speaking people (Kasaragodu used to be the land of Kannada speaking people) so there was no difficulty in communicating with people.

It was a different experience for me in the beach. I was thrilled by seeing the very very wild sea. Being in a beach on a rainy day is altogether a different experience. The one who enjoys could only feel it. It’s unexplainable. The beach was very steep and we saw that even the fishermen stayed away from entering the waters. I could talk to some of the fishermen and found that during the late June till first week of August, no fishermen would dare to enter the sea. During this season there will be very high tides and the water is usually very rough and dangerous. They even restrict their children from playing in the sea water during this season.

Here we spent time till 7 PM and then enquired with the authorities if we could pitch our tent there. They dint allow us instead offered some other place for 500 Rs. We said no and then explored the Bekal – Kanhangad road to some distance to find some good place. With out any success we decided going back to the first spot where we had noticed the stage. Some even suggested enquiring in the temples. We had seen two temples near that spot. When we enquired, they were reluctant to react to us. We found some local boys near the temple. They also talked some nonsense; there was no good info available from them. Finally I suggested Balu that we shall put the tent on the stage near the beach. As we went there, we found lots of fishing nets lying and few people sleeping in that area to guard the nets.

We started to unfold the tent, which drew the attention of many locals. One by one people started coming to us and ask us our whereabouts, purpose of visit and some unwanted suggestions. Only one point that we bought from those locals is that there are lots of thieves in that area and we have to be careful about that.

We hanged all our wet clothes outside to dry for sometime then packed in everything inside the tent and went for sleep. By then it was 10.30PM. I & Balu made an agreement for that night that every now and then we have to wake up and take a look at our bikes parked in the open air on the beach. I have to tell you that, when we were ready to leave next day Balu found that he has not locked his bike.

Enter next Day (July 4th) …..

We woke up early morning 5.30 AM. I feel, I was tired little bit and hence could not rise early. Balu took the time to go around beach and capture some photos. By the time he was back I was ready, packed up all my baggage and asked Balu to pack up his luggage. The rain continued to pour continuously. On the way we captured the photos of fisherman fishing in the backwaters. Went straight to Bekal beach, bathroom facilities were available there.We used the facilities there and from there went to Bekal-fort.

As we entered the gates we saw the Mukya prana temple (God Anjeneya (Maruthi or Hanuman)). Paid entry fees of 5 Rs per head and 25 Rs for a still camera and we were in. The huge open space embraces you as you step inside. You will see a big Vantage point structure standing in the middle of the fort area. As it was early morning 8.15 AM there were no visitors apart from us. During this season usually the visitors are very few. That was an advantage, less people, no noise, cool raining weather, roaring sound of sea waves, it was awesome.

We tried to capture the beauty of fort, sea, beach and the sceneries around in our cameras. Spent almost one and half hours inside the fort and then we were out. By then our stomach was crying, outside the fort they were selling some amla and mangoes dripped in salt water. I had a slice of mango; Balu took a slice of mango and a glass of butter milk. Most of the snacks that we took were already consumed.

From here we started our ride towards kuruva Island via Kannur (Cannanore) and Mananthavadi. We had to go to Kanhangad and from there join NH17 to reach Kannur. We had our breakfast on Kanhangad. From Bekal to Kanhangad I could observe lots of big house on both the sides of the road. They were all of the size of bungalow with lots of space for garden and lawn. I was just thinking the residences what I see in Bangalore are no way comparable to these bungalows, Each one different and better than one another and its like showing off who is better. Balu filled up his bike tank here. He was telling me that he is getting a better mileage now than before. My bike was also giving better mileage after servicing.

On this day we had to take frequent breakages. I started developing skin rashes due to wet clothes becoming very hard and scratching over my thighs. At Thaliparamba we spent some time looking out for a shop where I could get a nice half pant or shorts so that I can get rid of my cargos. Everybody was watching us when we were walking in that heavy rain whereas the rest were looking out for a shelter to avoid the rain.

Reaching Kannur straight away we went to a Hotel and had our lunch. Here we met a boy (Server) who is actually from Coorg and had worked for sometime in Bangalore, very close to Balu’s house. We enquired few people about the route and then went on our way. On the way I filled up the petrol and we reached a junction where the road bisects, one towards Thallichery and other towards Kootuparambu. Both the roads lead to Mananthavadi, after speaking to a local truck driver we understood that road via Koothauparambu is much nearer and better than the other one. So we decided to take that route.

One thing I appreciate in this road trip is, each and every stretch that we took during this road trip was different and was a real good experience. Be it from Bangalore to Mysore, Mysore to Coorg, Coorg to Sulya, Sulya to Bekal and Bekal to Kannur, So was this road. This road just reminded me of my child hood days when I traveled through the Areaca nut & Coconut plantations along the road side near my mum’s native and in Tiptur area. The road goes right in between the villages and the small towns and on either side you see the land full of coconut, areca nut, banana plantations. After traveling around 20 kms we started climbing the uphill, and then from here onwards apart from areca nut we also witnessed rubber plantations. Small streams all along the way, a house at least for every 75 to 100 meters till we reached Thambpoil via Koothuparamba. We took a break at Thambpoil, had some tea and some chocolates. By now we realized that we still have to cover at least 50 Kms from here to Mananthavadi, we dint know we will be just climbing going forward. It actually made us to think whether we really rode down so much when we started from Mysore to Bekal.

It was pleasant afternoon (Around 2.30 PM), looked like late evening 6pm or so. Whether was fantastic and gloomy. We just talked to each other and admired the stretch we had traveled and started off, as we rode we were just climbing, it was not more that 10 to 15 minutes (Say around 5 to 6 Kms) from Thambpoil I started noticing the mist covering all over the mountains, and it started becoming dark, making it difficult to ride. I could see all the vehicles using their head lights. So it just gave me the idea about the road ahead which is very curvy, ghat section and fully covered by mist (Clouds). The journey on this stretch was very enthralling, some curves were woeful and we had to move very slowly.

We could never miss a photo session on this road, so we had a small photo session and another one near a waterfall on the way & moved on. It was wonderful experiencing all such things on a rainy day. As we moved on we reached the Periya tea estates, wonderful sight and a pleasure to eyes. From here another stretch of ghat covered by tea estates till Thalipova (not sure abt the name) close to Mananthavadi.

















By the time we reached Manathavadi it was around 5 PM. We had a cup of tea and shopped some snacks for night’s dinner and moved on to Kuruva Islands. It’s around 17 kms from here. It’s a single road and not very good, but a beautiful stretch covered by lot of plantations. By 6 PM we reached the Kuruva Islands and found no tourists or activities there. One tea shop was open and the person who takes care of the parking lot told us that we cannot visit the islands as the current in the river is too high and all tourist activities are abandoned till mid of August. The tea shop owner helped us with a glass of black tea.

Though the river flow didn’t look very furious to me, I could see the rise in water level. Continuous rains had increased the water level and stopping all the activities in that area. I could spot some water snakes near the banks.

Balu and me enquired them about the place and told them that we will be pitching up a tent. They become curious and think they thought of plan to make some money from us. They started objecting to pitch the tent and started asking for money to put tent near a tourist bungalow which is still under construction. We already had found an abandoned cool bar covered with coconut & Areca nut leaves, which was very ideal for us to put the tent. That place was even equipped with electric power, which we felt could use in the night to charge our mobile and camera batteries. The person started objecting for that saying that the shopkeeper of that abandoned shop is a bad fellow and he might pickup a quarrel with us if we stay there, so we should not stay there and agree to pay him 200 Rs and stay in the place where he shows and according to him that would be safe. I told the fellow that if somebody has got problem with our staying in that place then I prefer to pitch the tent on the Road instead and stay happily there.

We took our luggage and went to the place that we had identified, that person came to us again and started to talk, we did not heed to him and he went away. We dint see any problem after that, neither from him nor from the shopkeeper that he mentioned.

That was an ideal place for us to make arrangements to dry our clothes and take good rest. We did our best to take off all the wet material and to dry it. Charged our mobiles and camera batteries as decided before, ate the snacks and fruits that we had got, went thru the snaps that we had taken and then slept.

Enter next Day (July 5th)….

Early morning next day I captured some of the photos of the location, had a cup of black tea prepared by the local shop fellow, I checked for the clothes. They were in the same condition, the way we had left them on the twines y’day night. They were still wet & unusable. I used the other set of clothes and packed all the wet materials in covers, so that it should not smell in the bag. Before leaving I wanted a close look at the rise in the water level. I could see at least 2 to 3 feet’s rise in the water level compared to what we saw Y’day evening.

We left the place at around 7.30 AM and headed towards Mysore. Mysore was almost 100 Kms from Kuruva Island and we had plans to Visit Kabini dam on the way.

Other day night I was talking to Balu about going to Kakana Kote Forest. I never knew that immediately after Kerala border we will be entering the Kakana Kote forests.

Just traveling for 5 to 6 Kms from Kuruva, near a junction as we take a right turn towards Mysore we enter the thick forests, adjacent to Karnakataka border.
We pass thru a small town called Kottikulam which is the last town on the Kerala side, hardly 4 to 5 Kms away from Bavali Check Post (Karnataka). The road till Bavali check post is too good surrounded by dense forest on both the side. From here Tholpetty wildlife area is very nearby. We dint go that side as it was not in our planned agenda.

At Bavali they say 7 streams join at one place into Kabini, we came to know about that at Balle (20 to 25 kms after Bavali Check post). Right from the Karnataka Kerala border the Rajiv Ghandi National Reserve forest area begins. It’s a part of Nagarahole reserve forest area of which this one is called Kakana Kote reserve forest area.

The road from here is too bad and cannot switch to 3rd gear and pace not more than 15 to 20 kms an hour. The heavy rains had filled all the path holes with water making us difficult to negotiate through the road. But the dense forest beauty makes you forget all this and at one point I felt that it’s good that road is bad, so only we could go slow and enjoy the nature than just cruising fast through the forest area. On the way I captured some scenic spots, a group of people collecting wood & working out to remove a lorry struck in mud and at Balle (DB kuppe Area) some photographs of the tamed elephants.

I was wondering if I could find some wild life in that forest area. I know that during rainy season we generally don’t see the wild life on the road side because there will be lot of food and water available to the animals deep inside the forest.

But luck was there with me, I could spot Sambar deers, Fawn deers, wild Boar, Peacock and a huge family of birds (I don’t know the family of birds and identification so don’t ask me. Balu has got some knowledge of birds). On the way we could also spot some fresh dung of elephants that gave us an indication that elephants would have passed that way either y’day evening or early morning.

Once we reached close to HD kote hand post area, we saw a sudden change in plateau. Leave back all the dense forest and embrace the plain land (Agricultural land). This place is very close to Jungle lodges on the Kabini Banks. It does not mean that forest is over from this place, but the density of trees comes down drastically as the land is vegetated.

We were feeling hungry and could manage with some of the left over plum cake, chocolates and apple. By the time we reached Kabini Dam (Near Bidarahally and Beechana halli), it was almost 11.30 AM. Here from a local fellow we could get some news of Mysore communal clashes. That confirmed that the tension is still ON in Mysore. Balu had problems with his mobile as it was doused in rain water, so he could not call up his friend. We thought that the part of Mysore that we would be visiting may not have any problems, so we carried on.

We wanted to go on the dam, but according to new govt law the dam are not open for public. We managed to befriend the police man (paid him 20 Rs) and went on the Dam. The police and some other workers provided us some info on the dam and the contractor of that dam.

Kabini Dam is actually called as KAPILA Jalashaya (Kapila Dam). Dam can store water up to 84 feet height. We spent some pleasant time here talking to those people. Rain was still playing its tricks by showering every now and then. But as we neared close to Kabini area we actually had come away from that heavy rain zone. Now we saw showers here and there and that too very lightly, was not intense like what we saw in past two days. So that was a kind of relief for us.

We reached Mysore by 2PM, took our lunch, met the fellow from whom we had hired the tent, returned it back to him, paid him and were all set to reach Bangalore. It was close to 3 PM when we left Mysore; the city was quite calm (Y’day Mysore had witnessed a bundh).

On the way back we took breaks at two spots, of which one was a long break near coffee day next to MTR, where I and Balu shared lot of general information that we were interested in. It was 6.15 PM when we reached the NICE road intersection. Thanked Balu for his support and making this ride a memorable one and bid adieu to him. I followed the ring road to reach Vidyaranyapura.

There was no rain during my return journey back to home. That moment I was just thinking about the rain that embraced me when I left my apartments. To my surprise as I reached the Kamakshiplaya junction there was a heavy downpour and I had park my bike and look for a shelter. So it was like leave wet from home and reach home in wet condition, a fair deal.

Total distance Covered: Approx 960 Kms.

Route: Bangalore - Mysore - Bylakuppe (Kushalanagara) - Madikeri - Sulya - Cherkala - Bekal - Kannur - Mananthavadi - Kuruva Islands - Kakanakote Reserve Forests - Kabini Reservoir - Mysore - Bangalore