Clutch Breaks and Gears

2+ years since we passed out of college and everyone from my hostel gang have been very busy. We still made time every now and then to catch up with each other. It was during one of such meets that we decided to go on a trip. For a change we decided to make it a bike trip. We started asking around for places where we could go for a 3day trip. The only place that looked feasible was Coorg. We decided not to go to the places that all of us have visited before. My friend Guru told that there is a place called Mandalpatti where certain song sequences of the Kannada movie Gaalipata was filmed. So with just one location in mind we started out on a 3day trip.

22nd December 6pm 

Meter Reading - 000

Guru and Me started out from BTM, Vikram joined us in Banashankari and Amruth joined us at Kengeri. So 3bikes and 4riders all geared up for the first road trip together. We filled in petrol and had the tyre pressure checked and headed out to Mysore. 

Remember the scene in ZNMD where Hrithik is taking his office calls and Frahan throws the phone out the window. Similar was the scene with Vikram. He was taking office calls on trip and before we could throw his phone, it accidentally dropped out of his pocket and we could not locate the battery. This was the highlight of out trip :P

We stopped at Kamat Hotel in Maddur and had the JoLLaDa RoTTi meals. After an hour of rest and hogging we headed to our first stop - Mysore. We reached Athreya's place in Mysore at around 1045pm. So that was all we did on Day 1 :)

Total Distance covered this day - 144 km

23rd December 8am 

Meter Reading - 144

We had breakfast and headed out towards Madikeri. Now it was 3bikes and 5riders. We had no clue what we will do the next 2days. The road to Madikeri was amazing. Reached top speed of 120 and when i was bored going fast, i went at a speed of 40. It was a fun ride. The last few kms were Ghat section. The ride there reminded me of the way the bikes bend in those bike races. Due to the road curves overtaking those KSRTC buses was a challenge. Finally we took the deviation towards Mandalpatti. It was around 11am when we reached this point.

Route: Take the deviation towards Abby falls before you enter Madikeri. Just 3kms before Abby Falls you need to take a deviation towards right to reach the road towards Mandalpatti. The roads are amazing till this point. 

We were finally at the point where the good roads ended and there were 2 bad roads ahead of us. We spoke with the locals and were told to take the terrible road uphill. They told our destination is 20kms from that point. The roads were more of rocks and sand. There was a layer of tar and concrete in a few places but it was in a really bad condition. So for this 20kms we were restricted to 2nd gear and max speed of 20kmph. We took a couple of breaks in between and reached the peak. We ordered our lunch 4kms before the peak. It was worth the effort put in to reach the peak. 

The view was amazing. The winds were blowing in full speed. There is nothing much to do here. If you are planning a picnic then its an ideal location. There are jeeps available that will take you to this point from Madikeri. On reaching the peak all tiredness from the ride was gone. Took a lot of pics and headed downhill after having our lunch. A simple rice-rasam-curry-papad-coffee meal cost us 50bucks/per head. The ride downhill was equally amazing. Gear on neutral and breaks were used for almost the entire 20kms. When we reached down my wrist was in pain. We had to refuel our bikes. Everyone was tired and we had not booked the room for the night. We just went to a nearby lodge and took 2 rooms at 700rs/room.

It was around 4pm and we decided to go to Chelavara falls. We were told the roads are bad but if we have managed to survive the route to Mandalpatti then this road is a piece of cake for us. 

Route - Take the Virajpet Road from Madikeri. After around 15kms you will reach Murnad. Take the right towards Panane to reach Chelavara. The route is confusing and there are no signboards so speak with the locals who will help you out.

The road was ok-ish and we passed through fields and rivers. Peaceful areas. The roads were narrow and had potholes. We had to reach the falls before sunset. We went as fast as possible. We jumped over every pothole and humps on our way. We finally reached the falls. There were very few people. We were tired and we just jumped into the water. The force of the falls gave our backs a nice massage. Water was cold and our bodies became so numb that we forgot the body pain and strain we had the entire day. It was sunset and the roads were dark. Now came the challenge of going back. No street lights and not even a person on the street. It was so dark and kind off scary. We finally made it back to our lodge. We had enough of this trip and wanted to go back to Blore. Lights out at 1030pm.

Total Distance covered this day - 232 km

24th December 9am 

Meter Reading - 372

The only plan for the day was Irrupu falls and reach Mysore by end of the day. We decided to cover some local places in Madikeri before leaving. We went to the Raja Seat and Omkareshwar temple. We head out to Irrupu at 11am. The roads were decent, cant call them good nor bad.

Route: Madikeri - Virajpet - Gonigoppa - Ponnampet - Iruppu (There is a shortcut to skip Gonigoppa, ask some locals once u are around 20kms out of Virajpet)

We reached Irrupu at around 2pm. We decided to have our lunch before heading to the falls. You need to walk for around 1kms to reach the falls. This falls is huge but there is very less area for you to enter into the water. Dont worry much, just strip down to your shorts and enter the water. The water here was colder then the water u get from your fridge. Standing under the falls was awesome. It was like someone is beating your back with a hammer. Took a few pics and we reached to our bikes by 430pm. We were told the Iruppu-Nagerhole road was awesome. When we reached near Nagerhole we got to know that bikes are not allowed in that route. We had to take a 40kms detour to reach Gonigoppa from where it was 90kms to mysore. 

Route: Iruppu - Gonigoppa - Hunsur - Mysore

The 40kms ride was the best. Awesome road with no potholes. We passed by some really good estates and finally reached Gonigoppa. This is where the hell began. Horrible route and it had traffic. We had our dinner at Hunsur and took the Madikeri-Mysore highway to reach Athreya's place in Mysore. We had made some plans for the next day but we were very tired and couple of them were showing signs of fever. So we decided to head back to Blore the next morning.

Total Distance covered this day - 228 km

25th December 11am 

Meter Reading - 600 km

We couldnt wake up until 10am in the morning. At 11 am we headed to Ranganthittu Bird sanctuary and after an hour of bird watching we headed towards Bangalore. We had our lunch at the Adigas hotel in Maddur and i reached BTM at 6pm.

Total Distance covered this day - 147 km

Final Meter Reading - 747 km

Overall it was hell of a trip. A trip where we went through hell (roads) to reach heavenly places :) Comparing the places covered and distance traveled, it may look like horrible planning but the truth is this was a totally unplanned trip and every kilometer of this trip will be cherished. 

PS: In case you are planning such a trip make sure to carry sufficient cash preferably in 100's and couple of water bottles. If you need more details please leave a comment and i will be more then happy to help.