Wayanad District in the north-east of Kerala, India, was formed on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Kalpetta is the district headquarters as well as the only municipal town in the district. The region was known as Mayakshetra (Maya's land) in the earliest records. Mayakshetra evolved into Mayanad and finally to Wayanad.The Folk etymology of the word says it is a combination of Vayal (paddy field) and Naad (land), making it 'The Land of Paddy Fields'. There are many indigenous tribals in this area. It is set high on the majestic Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 m.
I had called for the ride in the club and had good response for the same. Amith and I had planned to extend the trip for two more days and ride to Kolli hills. But due to various personal reasons only Sailesh and I could make it to the trip. As this ride was being planned for a long time, we decided to carry on with the plan and I had to cancel the trip to Kolli hills.
The Route:
Sailesh (CI500) and I (TBTS) started at 5.30 from DLF Porur, Chennai and hit the highway hard. As there were not much of traffic, we cruised along the way and reached Vellore for a Tea Break. Breakfast stop was @ 9 in Krishnagiri. We had a good breakfast and started towards Bangalore. Expecting rains on the way we had carried tarqualin sheets to guard our saddles, but I dint have the patience to tie it over the saddle so folded it and kept it under the saddle. Sailesh had it over the saddle, and when we were about to take off, we found Sailesh’s saddle had torn due to the tyre kissing. So spent some more time in arranging the stuff and off we flew.
As we took the right, we could feel the long weekend on the highway as the number of vehicles has increased tremendously along with the trucks and the failed Schumacher’s of India (Respective State Transport drivers). We crossed Hosur and saw the traffic grow even bigger than we had experienced. Was like driving in Anna Salai around 2 in the afternoon. We were starting to feel the heat by the time we reached Bangalore. We picked up some booze there and headed straight to Mysore through Nice Road.
From this point till we reached the outskirts of Mysore was full of traffic. Seems the whole of Bangalore was on the highway with hotels overflowing, so we proceeded the ride without lunch. We stopped on the way to Gundlupet for chai and proceeded further with the feeling that there is gonna be traffic all the way long.
To our surprise the traffic eased out after Mysore and there we were again, cruising happily and meeting highway standards. As we had crossed Mysore we were on state highways which made the ride even better. We reached Gundlupet and proceeded to Sultan Bathery, which will be the entry into Kerala from Karnatakka. The route from Gundlupet to Sultan Bathery takes us into the Bandipur Forest for some 50 odd kms. We were stopped in the Karnatakka Check post for having the head light on. The police man came directly to me and asked this “What driving manners?? Head light on?? “. Then I had to get explain him the reason, don’t know if he understood but lets us go.
The drive through Karnataka forest range was not that entertaining, but the minute we drove across the Kerala check post we could find a vast difference.
It was green all over and lovely swindling roads with black tarmac.
Felt blessed and drove through the woods, spotted a few tamed elephants which were being taken for a walk.
The baboon was a common sight. As we felt bad for not being able to snap photos while riding, we hit the first Kerala T shop. Had hot chais and some vada.
We then moved forward to Kalpetta through some damaged and dented roads and the time was already past 6 in the evening. We had to call the resort and asked for directions and we ended travelling 25 more kilometres in the dented roads all the way to the resort. The road which leads to the resort had some off roading to do which includes a steep incline as well as a decline. As we reached around 8, the place was pitch dark and we could actually find where our tent was located or its background.
We know its a lake but dint know how good it was. The resort Manager Sathish was very courteous and helped us getting settled in one of the tents. The bon fire was getting ready for some party and dinner was getting served. We settled down and made our drinks and left for the party. Group of guys who were part of a family and another bachelor group were dancing mercilessly to Tamil and Hindi hits being played. Thats then we missed our gang and we soothed ourselves reminding of the RTMC 10A party we will be having in October. We finished our drinks and left for dinner. By now all have gone to sleep. Satish came over and asked about the food and showed some pics of a group of 50 RE’s which had come to the resort sometime back. Done for the day and went to sleep in our tents.
I woke up by 7.30 and saw the view from our tent and it was magnificent. Took some snaps of the ladies and the location, refreshed ourselves and set out for the lake.
It was a small trek to the lake downhill from the resort. Touched the lake for some snaps and climbed up.
Started the bikes and went to the Banasura Sagar dam. This is the second largest earth dam in Asia. Was lovely as usual in Kerala and then went to Meenmutty waterfalls. It included another trek into the forest. This one was more tedious (atleast for me) than the previous one. We climbed our hearts out to find that we could not take a shower in there. Disappointed that we came this long to just see the waterfall, we could have googled it.
We started our descend and headed towards the resort for lunch as there are no places available for a decent lunch. Had briyani in Kerala style and headed to rest for some time.
Woke up @ 4 PM and started out to Kalpetta for fuel and cash. After topping our purses and ladies we took them for a spin around the place. We went directly to Pookot lake in Vythri but it was closed by then. So we decided to reach back to the resort for the evening party. The road from Vythri to 10th Mile was in excellent condition with agmark twist and turns that Kerala boasts of. I loved the 20+km ride and when we had reached the resort we found that we had totally drove around 60kms for just petrol and cash. We missed out seeing a lot of places like Chembara Peak, Kuruva Islands and Edakkal caves. Had we planned a bit more, we could have seen some more places. But that was secondary, we loved the ride the most so this dint bother us much and we settled with our drinks and found a couple of Tamil guys from Bangalore there. So session was started and discussion widened out to roads routes rides and bikes. Slept @ 12 and planned to get up @ 5 for ride out.
As usual the ride out was late and happened only @ 7.
We had to follow the same route till Gundlupet and branch out to Chamrajnagar to reach Sathyamangalam. During the past two days my wrist had been paining due to some issue which i could not figure out. Thought the new handle bar was causing the damage. But by the time we started riding back to Gundlupet, it became evident that my clutch lever was a bit down than usual. Pulled over after negotiating the traffic and crossing Kalpetta and adjusted the clutch lever. Had some chai in the nearby shop and started again. The ride till Gundlupet was as explained earlier. Neat roads with windings all over the route, it was the best part of the ride. We reached Gundlupet and headed to Chamrajnagar. We wanted to try a different route other than the one which we used for the onward. We were doing speeds of 80 – 100 on State highways which were mostly deserted. Out of the blue stood a herd of cows in a dilemma whether to go left or right, braking could not be applied completely as there was some gravel in the path. Was able to dodge the first 4 and then came the last one swaying here and there and finally targeted me to hit it. Thank god that my lady and I dint even touch it, slowed down for a full breath and started again. As a small fall can also cause a lot of damage to your bike and the small modifications will be hurt well. Regained the composure and drove ahead. Topped up fuel for the ladies as we were not sure about bunks in Sathi. We reached Sathyamangalam soon from Chamrajnagar as the roads were clean and without much of the traffic except for school students returning home after the I – Day celebrations. Entered TN border and roads to Thimbam from Sathi was great along the forest and ghats. Again we experienced a lovely ride for the 50 odd kilometres from Sathi to Thimbam. Stopped for a T break and sensed a huge amount of lorry traffic.
Asked for the best route to Mettur from the T Shop and geared up for the descend down the mountains. Immediately when we started to drive down there was huge traffic with cars and buses parked on either side of the roads with no space to ride the ladies besides them. A truck had found a shorter route down the hill after the 25th hairpin and was dangling out of the ghat roads with an broken axle. This was the main reason for the traffic. A KSRTC Volvo dint have enough space to take the hairpin. So we needed to shuffle a bit to let him pass by.
Most of the cars had to reverse themselves and off he went which gave way for some bikes to pass by and from there no turning back and with all gears placed we were sweating. Stopped off in the plains to cool off a bit and then started again to be stopped by Thimbam check post for having the lights on. Explained them the reason and started to Mettur via Ammapettai. Roads were neat and as we dint have breakfast and lunch till now, decided to reach the Ghar Dabha for lunch neary Dharmapuri. Given motivation of food we sped past Mettur and reached Thoppur and joined the NH. Was relieved in a sense that we can ride faster from here. We reached the Ghar Dhaba to find it unusually super crowded so had some tender coconut break and left searching for other shops nearby.
As it was almost past 3 all shops were closed and which meant no lunch also today. We encountered rain in a place after Krishnagiri where it has been raining for all my rides through that place. Quite unusual, but this time it got heavier. Asked Saliesh if he needs to stop but he was alright with the visibility. So carried forward and the rain stopped in another 10 mins. We found Muniyandi Vilas open for service. Stopped there gulped some dosas and by the time we started it was 4.30 PM. The thing is the ride seems longer in the last return than in the onward. Thinking of office the next day gives a bad feeling to the ride. Having another solid 230+ kms ahead of us and considering the weekend traffic we thought we might reach by 9 PM. So drove at good speeds to leave all fast moving vehicles ahead of us. All of a sudden traffic was building so much that cars could not cross 70kmph and had to brake constantly. The bad part was bikes were not left to overtake them and they covered the whole road on both the lanes and started obstructing our movement. No indicators were on when they take rights and lefts. Got really pissed off and zoomed ahead past them and reached Vellore faster than expected and asked Sailesh to lead.
From that point I could not find him, he was gone. There was a grey swift I loved to fight with all the way till Chennai. He would overtake me easily and go forward but to find him in the middle of traffic and I would get past him. This happened for the last 100 odd kms and kept me entertained. Happily reached Sriperumbudur and topped some fuel and sped for chai in the usual shop. And no signs of Sailesh. left him a message and reached Poonamalle to find him waiting near the flyover. Then rode together into the city and bid adieu near DLF. Reached home @ 8. Thanks to the Swift for bringing me home earlier. Had a wonderful ride and stay @ Wayanad and planning to go there for 3 days stay to enjoy the whole place. Obviously, its Gods own country. Thanks for reading the blog and will meet u on the highway soon someday.
Where to Next ???? It will be Ooty during Oct 7 – 10, for RTMC 10th Anniversary event. Will be a kickass ride as the number of riders and ladies will be very high. Take care till then. Ciao
