Ride to the Ghost Town - Danushkodi

Hi. Hope you are doing gr8. Thanks for stopping by to read this. Was inspired by my friend Rajith, to pen down this write up, which is regarding to a recent trip of mine with Jillu (My babe, My Bike), down south to Danushkodi.  Fellow riders were: Jenny with Prathamesh and Hasan (a) Airheads. Just the previous weekend (Oct 9^th & 10^th) we had been to Yercaud with our club, Madras Bulls to celebrate the 9^th Anniversary of the Royal Enfield club from B’lore, Rolling Thunder Motorcycling Club (RTMC). So this ride wasn’t expected this soon. The ride was from 15^th morning to 17^th Evening covering 1300 kms approx.

History:

Danushkodi is situated in the South-East of Pamban. Danushkodi is about 18 miles West of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The Danushkodi railway line running from Pamban Station was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone and a passenger train with over 100 passengers was drowned into the sea.

On that fateful night (December 22) at 23.55 hours while entering Danushkodi railway station, the train No.653, Pamban-Danushkodi Passenger, a daily regular service which left Pamban with 110 passengers and 5 railway staff, was only few yards before Danushkodi Railway station when it was hit by a massive tidal wave. The whole train was washed away killing all 115 on board. All together over 1800 people died in the cyclonic storm. All dwelling houses and other structures in Danushkodi were marooned in the storm . The high tidal waves moved almost 10 kilometres onto this island and ruined the entire town. Pamban bridge was also washed away by the high tidal waves in this disaster. Eyewitness accounts recollected of how the surging waters stopped just short of the main temple at Rameshwaram where hundreds of people had taken refuge from the fury of the storm. Following this disaster, the Government of Madras declared the town as Ghost town and unfit for living after the storm.Only few fisherfolks now live there.

 

Now for our part of the story:

The route:

Onward : Chennai – Pondy – Nagapattinam – Kottaipattinam – Ramanathapuram – Rameshwaram – Danushkodi (Entirely on ECR)

Return: Rameshwaram – Ramanathapuram – Trichy – Dindivanam – Chennai

Day one:

This trip was long pending for Prathamesh and Hasan as well as me. The trip was decided on Thursday afternoon and all three were game. I had immediately decided to bunk office on Friday. Not much of preparations. Could not sleep well on Thursday night due to the excitement and finally dozed of around 1 and then rang the alarm @ 4.30 AM. Got a hot coffee from mom and then dressed my self to the occasion, with my safety gears covering me all over. Started Jillu @ 5.15 AM and there she was, roaring to go. She was waiting for me to lay my hands on her. Then rode upto Thiruvanmiyur n met up with Hasan n his ride. Started @ 5.45 and met Prathamesh & Jenny some 10 kms after Mahaps. 

I wanted to check my Oil level then and found it was empty. Thought we can do Pondy n fill her up there, n then rode of some 10 kms and after which I remembered that I dint replace the Oil Cap. 

She was fuming, n immediately Airheads went searching for the cap n then Prathamesh followed to search but it was not found. Airheads had a broken lock which was remodelled as stopper and Jillu readily accepted it n held on to it tight for the next 1200 kms. Was really astonished abt the fitment. Thanks Prathamesh for cutting his thumb and Airheads for helping me out. 

Then roaring starts, reached pondy a bit late around 10 had quick breakfast n set out to our next stop, Nagapattinam via Cuddalore.  Hasan went low on fuel n had to tank up, meanwhile Prathamesh n me took a drink brk, n hasan headed ahead of us. So completely missed him @ Nagapattinam as he dint pick up the cal or reply to our msgs. Tried calling him for a very last time after waiting for more than half an hour in a juice shop, BINGO !!! he picks up n we met @ Velankanni. 

We started riding again @ 1.30 from there n headed to Raameshwaram. By the time we reached some another 100 kms, I ran low n had to tank her up. We rode past lonely ECR, with few people here and there. It was hot n humid. We took a brk again arnd 4 Pm and had briyani which was spotted by Hasan. The briyani was hot n us being hungry enough, filled our tummy’s. Then headed straight n found a secluded place besides the beach. Drove in right there for some snaps n started riding to the destination. 

It was getting dark and Hasan lost his head light, so pulled up for fixing it. All set n running, I moved ahead. Saw a lot of headlights behind me n thought guys shud be just behind me, n headed to Ramanathapuram and found no one was following. Hasan's ride dint wanna start with the new headlights and after some 30 mins of waiting it started and guys took the bypass from Ramanathapuram n I was waiting inside the town n completely missed them. Since Raameshwaram was just 50 Kms more, thought ll catch up with them over there, since they dint respond to cals or msgs. Wore my reflective jacket so that they could spot me from any distance n started towards the By Pass and there they were, just reached the bypass. It was 6 Pm and very dark n night drive was completely different n reached Raameshwaram around 7.30 and settled down for an AC room just few feet from the temple. Freshened up a bit n then set foot to a shop, u knows where.  Spoke to Hari n decided to finish danushkodi the next day n start to Karaikal for the night n had sight seeing there. This time, Hasans bike again refused to start. She had a problem with the battery. Left it aside for the next day and went back to room. So all plans made and we had very little booze n ordered food in the hotel n slept @ 11 Pm.

Day Two:

Wake up call from Prathamesh @ 4.30. Got up freshened up n rode till Danushkodi, some 20kms from Rameshwaram. Still Hasan’s bike was not starting up, so he rode pillion with me. Was pitch dark @ 5 AM. We wanted to have a good view of the sun rise, so walked some 3 kms into the beach n saw nothing. Day break was great to watch and we could see the place clearly now. Now all three realized as if we were in a desert, covered by sand all over and all we could see was never ending land with sand dunes all along the way. The clouds eluded us of the Sunrise and all the pains we took to get up early was wasted.  

There was a discussion on our walk back, whether to get our bikes there. I would have atleast 5 times if we can bring our bikes but we dint wanna take a chance and waste her in the sands , as it might not pull n we will have tough time if its mid way of the 10km stretch.We then walked back to the get a truck to go inside Danushkodi, but saw an M80 with pillion riding towards us, we stopped him n he told, when mine can do it, y cant a bullet ? 

Insult gr8 insult, went back n started our bikes. Hasan behind me could not stop resisting driving there. Gave the ride to him n sat pillion. There it started an awesome off-roading experience, rode along the sea bed, in water, in the sand. 

We reached the remains of Danushkodi, stopped by for a couple of snaps and bought shells from children over there.  Saw the remains of the railway station and the town itself. Everything was marooned. Places were a Church, couple of houses under the sands, the post office and the bank. All destroyed n covered by the sands. It resembled a desert in some places.

The ground under the water was much firmer than the sands. Then rode back to the exact point were Bay of bengal meets the Indian ocean. The place was scenic, never could a foto reproduce what we saw. All three of us were shouting n mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the place. Could see parts of Sethu, which was built by Ram when he was trying to go to Lanka. They were like small islands in the sea and we could see vast strip of land in very far range, hope it was Srilanka. Lot of history for that place. After some snaps, we had to reluctantly ride back again from the beautiful place. Spent some where around 5 Hrs @ Danushkodi and still thought we could spend more time there. 

Came back to our room, n Jillu badly needed a bath. Immediately took her for a water wash n had her cleaned up of all the mud, sand, n salt deposited all over her. She was then gorgeous as usual. Rode her back n did Ayutha pooja n then rested her for sometime. There we met Jothi who was in Raameshwaram with his family and came to know abt a new club in Madurai for RE named “Royal Pandiyas “. Had a chat with him n he had to go n accompany his family n we had our stomachs grumbling. Went for brunch @ 12PM and came back to room for rest. Hasan n me found a mechanic shop open n decided to show his bike there n found the battery was down n needed two hrs of charge. Power gets cut from 12-2 Pm in  Raameshwaram and so we got the bike back only by 4, which upsets the Karaikal plans. Had a beer each n went for a nap and got up @ 4 to view Ramar Patham, the place which gives a complete view of  Raameshwaram. We spotted a small lake from there and rode to that point too. 

Then rode back to get Hasan's bike, but never found it there. It wzas doing all rounds in Raameshwaram. Thanks to the mechanic. So we left to ve a look at the Pamban Bridge. Oh boy we could see so many fishing boats and the Railway Bridge, was a sight of engineering. It was built in 1914 by the British and was recently changed into broad gauge during 2007.  The bridge opens up when a Ship passes through it. It does this 10 times every month. It was held by floating support and new support is being built now. Luckily saw a train passing by it. So had nice time outing there, took some snaps and headed back to  Raameshwaram. 

Got Hasan's bike up and running n went for a small round of booze and dinner @ a local shop, which served excellent food. Slept @ 11 after Prathamesh set the alarm for 4:22 Am for the ride out next day.

Day Three:

Got up horrified @ 5 AM, only to see that Prathamesh set the alarm to 4:22 Pm instead of AM. lol!!! Hurried up and got ready n rode out after checking out of the hotel @ 6 AM. Got all three tanks topped up to the brim n set to ride to Trichy. Did Trichy in 3 ½ hrs non stop. Stopped for breakfast and had a very filling one n had to ride in the hot sun and in the highway. Prayed not to get dozed off, n thank god I dint. Some 30 kms up the highway, Hasan again had problems with his ride. Pulled over, allowed it to cool and then found the spark plug had gone bad. Changed a reserve spark n started n it ran beautifully. There stopped the ripping. We did a constant 80 kmph for the next 3hrs. 70kms before Dindivanam, there was a toll and I needed a drink badly, so stopped for some tender coconut in the hot sun. Reached Dindivanam, n were supposed to meet Hari but he was fixing his bike back in Madras, so took a half hour break n continued to ride back to Chennai. Reached Mahindra world city n bid adieu to Prathamesh n then darted to Tambaram, from where our speeds dropped badly.  Final bye was to Hasan near guindy n reached home @ 5 PM.  Thanks to Prathamesh and Hasan for helping me out and for the awesome company all along. Had a bath n cud not stop seeing the photos again n again. Was much tired, and dozed off @12 thinking I had to be in office on Monday :(

Hope you guys enjoyed reading the blog. Please stop by for my further rides. Safe thumping everyone. Dud dud dud dud dud dud………

P.S: This is my first blog attempt. Hope u had fun reading through it.