Ride to Savanadurga Hills (25Dec2009)

Savanadurga is believed to be among the largest monolith hills in the world at an height of 1226 from sea level. It is a place formed by the union of two hills, Bili gudda and Kari gudda. It is situated at a distance of around 60 km to the west of Bangalore. From Bangalore take the magadi road and keep continuing with the magadi road, just before entering Magadi there is deviation on the left which lead to Savanadurga hills.

The Savandurga hills are frequented by pilgrims who come to visit the Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temple sited at the foothills. The Arkavathi river passes nearby through the Thippagondanahalli reservoir and on towards Manchanabele dam. There are no major hotels nearby. If you are willing to quench your appetite with light items like biscuits, Juices you can get it at the foothill of Savana Durga Rock.

Route : Bangalore - Sunkadakatte - Magadi - Savanadurga Hills - Bangalore

We were 4 guys on 2 Bikes. Me and Janardhan on my Thunderbird. Satish and Kumar on Satish's RX 135.

As usual we don't plan on any trips or adventures. It was instant decision and my interest was going for a trek to Savanadurga Hills, All guys agreed and immedietely we decided to go on a Sunday 25Dec2009. I left early at around 6.30AM because I need to pick up Janardhan near Hosmat, in the meanwhile satish and Kumar were waiting near Prassana theatre in Magadi road. We continued with our ride and at around 7.00AM, we started feeling hungry. We stopped at Sunkadakatte for a breakfast and we were keen on trying thatte Idly, stopped by a small hotel and that was a bad decision because the food was horrible. Grabbed some biscuits, juices and continued with our ride. The road to Magadi was too good and you can cruise at a good speed. After magadi the road is not so good but rideable. We reached savanadurga at around 9.00AM and Visited both the temples.

View of Hills from Temple

The view of the hills from the temple is simply amazing and it just looks like a small hill which can be climbed easily, but once you start trekking you would know how big it is. Trekking on Savanadurga is not a easy task because one slip can take you nowhere. Its not that difficult though, but please ensure you don't try stunts while climbing and proper care is taken while climbing the hills. There are arrow marks which directs you to top of the hill and I would suggest you to follow the arrow. We started trekking at around 9.30AM and as we continued to climb further there is a fort from which the view is amazing.

Steep Ascent - Start of Trek

Climbing further you would come across a pond and some cactus plants. Its a good places to click some pictures of scenaries and mountain. Then we continued with our climb, the rock started descending because we have to climb the second hill. Here you will pass by caves which is a wonderful location and once you reach to the top, you will find a Nandi temple and Flag pole. We took around 2.5 hour to climb to the top and we were there by around 12.00Noon, took some rest enjoying the view from there.

Top of the Hill - Nandi Temple

Once we were back with our energy, we decided to come down and coming down the hill was pretty easy we took around 45 minutes to come down. Please ensure you come down carefully and slowly, because there is chances to get slipped. We started from Savanadurga at around 1.00PM and we were there at home by 3.30PM. It was wonderful trek no wonder Savanadurga Rocks.

Ride down south covering 2400Kms on my Bike (14Nov09-22Nov09)

Here is my recent biking expedition down south covering almost 2330Kms over a period of 9 days. Even though I go on small rides, adventures etc, I have been longing to go on ride like this, but the time had not clicked all these days . Atlast we made it fortnight ago which was amazing experience and needs to be experienced and cannot be shared. We were 5 guys all on Royal Enfield, Nice and small team, it was fun riding all 9 days. The circuit we covered was

Here is the route map which we covered. Starting from Bangalore Silkboard

Day 1 => Bangalore - Vellore - Kanchipuram- Mamallapuram- Pondicherry (Halt)

Day 3 => Pondicherry - Cudalore - Chidambaram - Kumbakonam (Halt)

Day 4 => Kumbakonam - Tanjavur - Pudukotai - Karaikudi - Rameshwaram (halt)

Day 5 = > Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi - Tuticorin (Halt)

Day 6 = > Tuticorin - Tirunelveli - Kanyakumari (Halt)

Day 7 => Kanyakumari - Tirunelveli - Sankarankovil - Srivilliputur - Theni (Halt)

Day 8 => Theni - Bodinayakanur - Kambam - Devikulam - Munnar - Chinar Wildlife - Udumalpet -Palladam - Tirupur - Erode (Halt)

Day 9 => Erode to Bangalore

Team : Myself, Prakash, Aditya, Senapathy and Rajesh (Another Guy)

Bikes : [Me on my Thunderbird] [Prakash on Standard 1975 Model] [Aditya on Machismo] [Sena & Rajesh on Bullet Electra]

I am sure you would be assuming covering such a big circuit, we would have had some tremendous experiences both good and bad, and your right. We had all the good, bad, wonderful, unforgettable experiences. Cyclone was one of the horrible experience we happened to face, because the time during which we covered these place were cyclone hit and cyclone warning was given. I feel like narrating each of my incidents and Iam sure you guys would njoy reading and let me assure not to take much of your time.

Day 1 : As per the plan we all met at Silkboard junction sharp at 6.00AM on 14Nov2009. The start was not so thumping for us and we had to face the glitch for our trip. Prakash got his tyre punctured while coming to Silkboard and early morning we did not have any shops open to fix the tyre. We were just hanging around Silkboard looking for mechanics and at last we were able to get the tyre punctured and we started our circuit with a loud thump at 8.00AM. We were riding at 60's and did not want to rip as its the start of journey, it was a clear weather and we stopped for breakfast at Krishnagiri. It started raining and we immediately dressed up with our rain gear and we started the journey towards kanchipuram..It was raining heavily and suddenly everyone was in josh and we were ripping at almost 90s and 100s. Reached Kanchipuram for Lunch at around 2.00 and it was still raining..We moved on towards ECR road (connecting to Pondicherry) and it started pouring heavily because of cyclone and roads were flooded. Inspite of rain we were riding very slowly, Sena almost missed a buffalo that came in to the Road and he happened get down the road and it was the first miss for Sena..Remember the name Sena as I would be using his name frequently. It was zero visibility and rain pouring heavily, somehow we managed to reach ECR road riding in zero visibility and heavy rain.

Seeing the rain everyone was hesitant to ride further and wanted to halt in Mamalapuram. Also we were tired and wet and we had 90kms further to reach Pondicherry. Myself and sena insisted that we ride another 90kms and reach Pondicherry and then we can decide, whether to continue further or not..Everyone agreed and we stared riding on ECR road in rain and sena again hit a cattle and the Bike Footrest was broken. Atlast we reached Pondicherry at 8.00PM and managed to get a room in a hotel called Arindham Residency..Later in the night had some good drinks gave a good relaxation and boost to our mind and body. The bad part of the ride was, all our belongings were completely wet.

Day 2 : Spent a good time at Pondicherry visiting the French colonies, beach etc.. Mainly we were keen on tracking the weather forecast because of the Cyclone warning on TN coastal region. On Night we decided if the weather is good next day we will continue further else we were planning to ride back to Bangalore

Day 3 : Luckily it was bright sunny day which gave a sort of confidence and joy to us. We got our Bikes tested in the authorized Garage and visited Auroville. Sena got a new foot rest fixed for his bike. Departed Pondicherry at around 12.30PM and started our journey towards Tanjore. Rode to Cudalore and had our lunch at Chidambaram. We proceeded our journey further and one more nightmare to our journey, an old man in his bike crossed the road without checking the road and Sena banged him directly. The old man flew in to the open drain with head going in first. I was following Sena and seeing the guy flying, I thought something major would have happened to the old man, luckily nothing happened to him. Somehow we managed to convince the villagers and Sena's Footrest was broken again and also his handle was bent. We were bit taken away because of that accident and we were riding slowly and were able to reach Kumbakonam by 6.30PM. None of the guys wanted to ride in night and we decided to stay at kumbakonam and guys got their bikes repaired. Since my bike did not have any issues, I visited Kumbeshwarar Temple and Sarangapani temple, Both are huge temple and worth visiting ones. In Kumbakonam, Sena got his foot rest fixed and also got his handle bar straightened.

Day 4 : We left to Tanjore early morning around 6.30AM and reached the temple at around 8.30AM. Visited the Tanjore Brihadeshwara temple which is one of the best temple in India with its marvelous architecture and Gigantic Siva Lingam .It was treat to eyes watching the Lord at Moolasthanam with a Siva lingam at a height of around 20 ft. Had breakfast at Tanjore and we stared riding towards Rameshwaram. We reached pudukottai and while riding towards kariakudi, one more hurdle to our trip and it was the same person..Sena was coming slowly and one cycle person came in between and Sena happened to collide on him head on. The cycle was smashed and luckily nothing happened to both of them and sena's bike foot rest broke again..He was very much frustrated and he was scared because of continuous accident and he was thinking to ride back..Some how we convinced sena to ride with us and reached karaikudi and got his bike fixed. We fixed his foot rest again and we were just making fun on him, trying to nick name him as Footrest Sena (FR). Lunch at karaikudi was mouthwatering and after finishing the lunch we rode toward Rameswaram and reached Rameswaram at 4.00 PM.. On the way stopped at Pamban Bridge and took lot of snaps.

Day 5 : At Rameshwaram got up early to see the sunrise and also took the holy bath in 22 Theerthams. After that we visited the temple to see the lord Ramanathar and came back to room by 10.00AM..Then we proceeded to ride towards Dhanushkodi which is 22Kms from Rameshwaram. We can ride only 11 Kms by bike/car and next 11 Kms, we have to take the local Van or jeep which has been specially designed to ride on the sea sand. For the remaining 11Kms there is no road and van has to travel in sea sand and seawater. It was a wonderful view of the Bay of Bengal and one can njoy the nature very much here. Dhanush kodi is a place to be visited when you reach rameshwaram. We had a good time spending at one of the tip of India in Dhanushkodui and returned to Rameshwaram. We started our journey towards Kanyakumari, knowing Kanyakumari is 320 Kms, we decided to ride how much ever possible and reached Tutiocorin.

Day 6 : Left Tutukodi at around 11.00am because Aditya wanted his crash guard fixed which was broken..We were riding via Tirunelveli and as we started nearing Kanyakumari, the sceneries was too good with 1000s of windmills on either side of the road..We started to ride very slow to njoy the fresh air and every bit of nature's beauty. Reached kanyakumari at around 4.00Pm and spent some good time shopping and playing on the beach. We stayed at hotel called Seaview residency which is worth for money and I would recommend this place to every one because of its location. The Room costs you just Rs 750/- which is sea facing and from your room balcony you can watch the Vivekananda Rock, Thiruvalluvar Statue & Sunset.

Day 7 : Adi and Rajesh decided to headback to Bangalore riding through NH and we did not want to do that. We wanted to cover some good ghats and scenaries which would add signature to our ride. So myself, Prakash and Sena visited the the Kanyakumari Temple early in the morning and left kanyakumari. Reached Tirunelveli at around 11.30am and since we would be riding through Ghats, we decided to get our bikes tested at Tirunelveli. We started our journey further towards Theni. The Stretch from Tirunelvi to Srivilliputtur was amazing with lots of curves and smooth road..We were just riding as if we are in racing..We took a break for for lunch at Srivilliputur and reached Theni at around 7.00PM

Day 8 : One of the best ride in the whole circuit..Left Theni early morning at 6.00AM and rode towards munnar..On the way we happened to go via Bodinayakanur, Kambam and immediately after this we started entering in to Nilgiri range. Munnar was 65 Kms away and all the 65kms was riding in ghats..what a beautiful ride it was and marvelous sceneries..We enjoyed the ride in Ghats, Curves, Mist, Sharp turns, Cliffs etc..As we reached Munnar the sceneries was completely different and it was full of coffee estates. It was a different experience and feeling riding in amidst coffee estates...Just to say in one word.."This ride was a signature to our whole circuit".

Left Munnar and we rode towards Bangaore and wanted to cover as much as possible. From Munnar we happed to cross Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and then reach Udumelpet..We were coming via Palladam, just around 2 minutes earlier there was major accident on that road with 2 persons spot dead..The Entire road was blocked and we happened to take diversion and ride through some gullies in the villages and somehow managed to reach the Tirupur highway.. After riding through Tirupur and continuing further on the highway, we reached Erode at around 8.00PM. We were completely exhausted and wanted to give rest to our butts, because it was hectic ride..Managed to have quick dinner and then jumped to our bed.

Day 9 ; Left Erode early morning at 6.45 and reached Bangalore at around 11.30 AM..

Overall it was a wonderful break for me, coming out the regular home, office routine. Added to it, our ride had everything what it need to have, Dry ride, Cyclone, Rain, Sceneries, Coastal ride, Sea, Ghats, Coffee Estates, Wildlife, Accidents, Bike damages, Temples etc. Overall it was fun and now back to routine.