Bike trip - jog falls, gokarna, udupi, agumbe, belur

Aug, 2009...

Anil, friend at Softjin, came up with the idea of a bike trip along the scenic west coast.... sounded exciting for the starters... but after the detailed plan read : arnd 1200 kms to be covered in 4 days... it sounded too ambitious... however the travel blogs, the pics, the routes n the thrill got me excited... slowly n steadily things started falling in place... the routes (courtesy google maps), the accomodation (courtesy google), water-proof jackets (courtesy DuckBack), the bikes (courtesy service centers) n most importantly an extra day's leave (courtesy Murali, our PL) were all set...

Sept 24 - 29, 2009...

Day 1: Bangalore - Chitradurga - Shimoga - Jog falls

Woke up at 5.30 in the morning, packed my stuff n started from home in an hour… reached Gangaram’s book shop on MG road, our meeting point… Anil was there after 10 minutes n the chequered flag was waved… we hit our first pit-stop almost immediately… got our petrol tanks filled, tyre pressures set to 25 psi (front) n 35 psi (rear)… n off we started… we took the tumkur road (NH 206) passing via yeshwantpur n nelamangala... Anil was the lead driver setting the tempo n i was the trail driver...

After an hour an half’s drive we stopped by a coffee day, had a yummy bread-omlette breakfast... we then took the NH 4, bglr-pune highway… after crossing the toll gate, the road was awesome.... it was then we went full throttle… with 5 min breaks in-between, we reached chitradurga by 12pm, much earlier than planned.... drove through the town n started to shimoga, arnd 120 kms away... the road was ok in the beginning but towards the end turned horrible… the last 10 kms was bumpy n katcha… my buttocks ached…

We reached Shimoga by 1.30 pm.... our initial plan was to halt at Shimoga on day 1, but as it turned out we covered close to 300 kms in 6 hrs... lot of time n nothing to do... hungry by then, we had our lunch n discussed over our alternate plans… the restaurant owner told us that Jog falls was another 105 kms from Shimoga n assured us that we can get an accommodation there... n so we decided to move on...

This stretch turned out to be a treat.... cool, refreshing evening breeze, green fields on both sides of the road n curvy roads.... wht else to please bikers with tiring bodies… reached Jog falls by 6 pm... took a quick view of the 6 to 7 waterfalls… got the kstdc accommodation… the room is located barely 50 m from the falls n with a good view of the falls from the window.... we went to a nearby village on the pitch dark roads for dinner… after finding nothing interesting, we came back to the room, had dinner n retired to bed…

Day 2: Jog falls - Gokarna

The waterfalls weren’t in full flow n we were disappointed. After a photo session in the morning, we set out to Gokarna. We had to cross the Western Ghats enroute. As it was downhill, we turned off our engines to listen to the sounds of the forest. After a silent half an hour, started struggle... the descent was putting stress on the buttocks… my buttocks started paining… n paining like hell... we took more breaks n reached Honnavar by 11 am. Gokarna is arnd 70 kms from Honnavar... huffing n puffing, we reached Om beach in Gokarna by noon.

We checked-in into the shacks at ‘Namaste Café’ right in the beach. The beach was barely 20 m from the shacks, the place lively, foreigners all over.... a couple of them in bikinis.... good music n a beach side restaurant....

The ride totally sapped my energy n considering we still had 2 days to travel, we decided on no more biking for the day... i took a nap n in the evening we went to the beach.... spotted some beauties n bikinis… had a king fish sizzler for dinner n set out to bed…

Day 3: Gokarna - Udupi - Manipal

Got up early for a walk on the beach.... went rock climbing n followed it by a photo session… checked out the shack at 8 am n set off to Gokarna siva temple.... the "athma lingam" was believed to be put down on earth here by Ravana, the demon king of Ramayana. Gokarna town had two contrasting sides, the modern beaches with lots of foreigners reflecting the western culture on one side n the temple based old fashioned religious town on the other....

After the temple, we set out to Murdeshwar through Honnavar.... we covered a famous ganesh temple at Iddi-gunji enroute. We have reached Murdeshwar by noon n went for the temple darshan. The temple stands on a small stretch of land covered by sea on 3 sides… plenty of water sports on the beach…

Our scheduled halt for the day was Kundapura… as we had reached before schedule... i proposed we halt at Manipal instead of Kundapura… Anil, being an ex-student at Manipal, also likes the place n so it was Manipal for the night....

That decision took a heavy toll on my body... we first rode through the Marwanthe beach to reach Kundapura.... this road is sandwiched by Arabian sea on one side n a lake on the other side.... awesome sight.... after taking a break there, we started on the road to Udupi… the road from Kundapura to Udupi is bad... really bad.... back-breaking bad... it was just 30 kms but was real torture...

We reached Udupi by 5 in the evening, had a shower n hit the road quickly. Anil showed me around, the hostels, the mess, the colleges, the temples n most importantly the "chicks".... fast.... posh.... short skirts, mini shorts... hot n happening place, really… we then went to a pub called "Dee Tee"... rocking place, drunken dancers all around.... dim lights.... cigar smoke.... place to be for the youth... we followed it up with tasty liver fry n chicken noodles.... finally set to bed... dil kushhhh…

Day 4: Manipal - Agumbe - Chikmaglur - Belur

Visited the famous Krishna temple in Udupi early next morning... we then set out to Shimoga thru the Western ghats... the route goes up the hills, reaches the peak at Agumbe, the south indian Chirapunji, n then goes downhill... we then changed our plan for the umpteenth time, decided to visit Sringeri n go to Chikmaglur instead... that day being Dussera, the temple at Sringeri was very crowded... after lunch we started to Chikmaglur... the roads were curvy with some blind turns… as a result 70 kms took us 2 hrs to reach Chikmaglur only by evening.... we dropped the plan to go local sight-seeing n proceeded to Hassan, n then to Belur where we halted for the nite...

Day 5: Belur - Bangalore

Quick bath, packing n off we started... the road from belur to hassan is top class.... we covered around 120 kms in 2 hrs.... took a break at coffee day... reached Bangalore outskirts by noon n after fighting out the city traffic, reached home at 1 pm... having now gained enough confidence to take the Ladakh bike trip, I wait in anticipation... THE END