WAYNAD Covered by Roadies(6-8th March)....

Who said biking adventures are not fun & just tiresome and boring?? …. For all those who believe this, its time to change your mind as we bring to you the Roadies Journey straight from them.

The destination was ‘Waynad’ which means land of paddy fields. Situated in north Kerala & lying close to the Sahya ranges this hilly district has almost one fourth of the total land area under forest with rich cultural traditions. It is also home to some of the oldest tribes in South India.

The Start: The Adventure started with 7 Roadies on 5 bikes. All properly geared for the journey with the luggage tied on their respective bikes. Departure was as expected, sharp at 1700hours from Bangalore. The plan was set to reach Mysore in max 5 hours but the Bangalore Traffic did create initial problems. It took almost 2 hours to hit the Bangalore-Mysore highway (SH17). Once on the highway the Machines cruised at speeds of not less than 100 Kmph. City by City the distance got covered & the halting destination (Mysore) came close. We crossed Ramnagaram, Channapatna & Mandya City on the route. With a few halts on the way we finally entered Mysore at 2230hours. The city was already asleep as we tried to find out a place to stay & satiate our hunger pangs. Finally we found a lodge to stay & had dinner there itself. After stuffing our stomachs it was time for some rest & wait for early morning to kick off again to reach the destination “Waynad”.

Day1: Next morning we woke up at 0400hours & departed for the final drive to the destination. The route this time was NH212 with roads completely empty early morning & the weather moderately cold making the perfect aura for the drive. Another 2hours drive and we could see the Sun rising as we headed further. We crossed the city of Nanjanguda on our way & took a halt for breakfast at a local restaurant in Gundalpet & stuffed ourselves with idli, vada & dosa before we took on the final stretch. From Gundalpet we drove through the Bandipur National Park on the same NH212 route. We halted there for some Wildlife Photography & meanwhile the machines got some rest before they were roared again. The route was awesome with smooth roads up and down & with lot of curves. Finally we reached Kalpatta (Waynad) at 1030hours where we had booked our Resort.

The Resort was situated on a hillock in a two acre lush green area with all facilities. It was time for all the Roadies to freshen up & gear for site seeing. We departed at 1130hours for our first sightseeing location, MeenMutty falls which was around 35kms from the resort. We had heavy lunch at a nearby restaurant before departing. The 35Km drive was an amazing experience in the panorama of undulating hills & dales. With plantations of coffee, tea & cardomom on either side the route was perfect for bikers.

The falls had an impressive height of 300metres with a 2Km strenuous down track to get to the falls. The track was muddy with small rocks on one side & hell on the other. Finally we managed the 2Km treacherous distance in an hour to reach the falls. It was an awesome view with the water falling from top. The cold water from the falls brought some respite & relaxed everyone before taking the arduous task of tracing the route back up. The way up was tougher and we halted several times before reaching the top. It was already evening & our next hot spot was Sun set Point which was 40Kms in the opposite direction. On our way back through the hills we captured the beauty of tea plantations in our cameras. The Sunset point had a breathe taking view of the valley towards Calicut also marking the beginning of the ghat section. We took a pretty good halt there with loads of photography on Sunset & monkeys around. Around 1900hours we decided to get back to the resort as the day ended. Back in the resort everyone relaxed with some spending hours under the shower & some stuck to TV in their rooms & still others fighting for the places to visit the next day. Day1 ended with a heavy dinner by everyone & finally falling into the bed. Woo wait …. One of the Roadie had his b’day next day which we all celebrated at midnight with a big cake & some good number of bumps for him before he could sleep.

Day2: All the Roadies woke up with the first morning light. Some of them went into the Swimming pool & others kept sleeping & dreaming. After a big fight last night the site seeing location decided for today was ‘Kuruva Island’. It was around 45Kms from the resort. We checked out from the resort at 1100hours and had heavy breakfast in the famous woodland restaurant nearby. The way to the island was horrible with the roads in extremely bad shape & with lot of potholes. Driving through the paddy fields on the way & lot of greenery around kept us going. We reached the Island around 1230hours. The island is spread across 950 acres with ever green forest and is located on the tributaries of eat flowing river Kabini. It’s an ideal picnic spot far away from the disturbances of city life. We waked a distance of around 2kms to reach the waters. On the way we saw rare species of birds, orchids & herbs. We captured everything we could into the camera. We relaxed in the flowing Kabini water for around an hour or so & then headed back to the origin.

It was 1600hours when we decided to head back to Bangalore. Everyone donned their gears & headed straight for the highway. The first 20Km drive was pathetic on the damaged roads. We had decided to drive through the Nagarhole National Park & join NH212 finally. But to our disappointment the road had been closed for 2 wheelers. So we finally took a route around the National park & reached Hunsur where we joined NH212. Now the route was straight & the brilliant roads of NH212 made the return journey much easier for all. We halted at a small dhaaba on the way for dinner & then kicked off for the final stretch. This time we skipped entering Mysore & took an outskirts route through Srirangapattam finally joining SH17 (Bangalore-Mysore highway). We reached Bangalore around 0030hours.

The Drive was long & tiring but the journey was as memorable as ever. Another Journey + Adventure finished for the Roadies & went into their books with loads of Fun. We’ll be back again… till then Keeping the Roadie Spirit Alive & I hope many of you have changed your mind on biking adventures. All D Best :)…