Monsoon Bike Ride: Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai

Some bike-prophet said, "If you don't ride in rain, you don't ride at all". It is very true, riding in rain is liberating though it certainly bring it's own set of challenges. But then again, if there are no challenges, life tend to become boring.

So this end of monsoon season, Ashish (@ashish_ranjan_87) and I decided to do Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai run during the long weekend in August, i.e. start on Aug 13th and return back by Aug 16th. The broad plan was to reach Goa by late evening of 13th, enjoy Goa on 14th and 15th and then return back on 16th. 

As usual our primary objective was riding, however, I was pushing my luck that if weather Gods favor, we may do Dudhsagar waterfall and/or Yana caves. Old Mumbai-Goa highway has been under construction for God knows how many years. While large part of that has been completed, significant portion remains in bad shape. Hence we decided to stick to usual Mumbai-Pune-Nipani-Amboli Ghat-Goa route.

Weather prediction was heavy to very heavy rainfall, not just in Mumbai but along the way as well as in Goa. Hence we decided to start from our homes by 4:30am and meet-up by 5:00am at JVLR-Eastern Expressway Junction. For a change, the weather prediction turned out to be on spot but then we were fully prepared with rain gear over our riding gears.

Given the well covered route, weather and our intention to reach Goa during the day time none of us took out our Gopro to record onward journey and experiences. We had tea and light breakfast after crossing Lonavala and lunch at Mr. Idli at Satara, which was quite average, but was hot and fresh. The Mumbai-Pune old highway condition was better than we expected, however, after crossing Pune till Satara, there are bad sections but nothing painful. Post Satara till Nipani the roads are in superb condition, which allowed us to maintain decent speed and reach Nipani by 2:30pm. 

Post our early lunch, the rain had stopped so we removed our rain jackets, not a good decision in hindsight. It started raining immediately and the rain didn't left us till we reached Goa. After Nipani, the roads are good for another ~20-25km, but after that, till Amboli ghat, roads are in pathetic situation. Google maps showing 4 hours to drive ~115km said it all.

As usual, we hadn't booked our stay, which wasn't very bright of us given that it was long weekend and post COVID people are in 'revenge tourism' mode to make up for being holed up at home for 2 years. Everything was fully booked, and after spending good amount of time browsing, suddenly Ashish found a hotel in Arambol - Grand Vatika Resort which we hurriedly booked. Our original plan was to stay somewhere in south Goa but by the time we were booking our stay, we realized that we are going to get too tied and hence were happy to find a place at Arambol.

As we crossed Amboli ghat, it was simply too crowded, which was expected. But the Amboli Ghat was ethereal - the valley was completely enveloped in fog, while everything that was visible seemed like freshly painted with vibrant green. Infact there was a section where for 100-200 mtrs, visibility was not more than 10mtrs. The drive through Amboli ghat completely freshened us up. We did stopped near the 'Big Waterfall' on Amboli ghat to have tea and omelet but didn't took any photos or videos at the location.

We reached our hotel around 7pm, and we were looking forward to relax after uttering tiring ride. At the check-in we realized our booking goof-up: in our hurry to book our stay for the first night, we booked ourself for night of Aug 15th instead of Aug 13th. Luckily, they had one room which wasn't booked and we got the room for the night. We were too tied after day long ride, so dinner supplemented by drinks sent us to dream world. 

The owner's house was just beside the hotel with lawn, which doubled up as our bike parking spot. In Mumbai, mere mortal like us can only dream of such house. He had invested in this property and started operations in Dec 2019, and then for almost two years his entire investment has been sitting in front of him earning nothing. He started operations last year but the maintenance work was still on-going. The resort was quite decent - clean rooms, gorgeous view from the roof with limited food and slow service. 

For next day we had booked our stay at Hotel Bloom, near to Baga beach. We reached the hotel early, kept our bags at reception as check-in was at 1pm and proceeded to Fat Fish for brunch. We reached Fat Fish by 11:30am, and had to wait for around 30-45min to get a seat as it opens up at 12noon. This place fills up really fast and usually has a wait time, so plan your visit accordingly. We tried the Goan style fish masala and Lobster 🤤. Totally worth it, though in my view, there was too much masala in fish masala and not much flavor of the fish. Near Fat Fish, there is another attraction for all footfall fans - life size statue of Cristiano Ronaldo. This caused quite a stir when it was unveiled - few people have politicized it given Goa used to be Portuguese colony while few other of view that this will help to promote football and inspire more children to play and love football. 

We came back, relaxed for couple of hours and then headed to Baga beach in the evening. To say that the beach was crowded would be an understatement. It seemed like people from all around first gathered in Goa and then decided to raid Baga beach. Luckily, weather Gods took pity on us and we had a clear sky which allowed us to find a spot at the beach in front of Bistro, and so we settled down with Beer and food😝. 

Original plan was to chill in Goa on Aug 15th as well, however, given the weather and road condition till Nipani, it would have been another torturous ride to complete in single day. Hence we decided to split our ride back home over two days - start from Goa on the afternoon of Aug 15th, reach Kolhapur and then decide whether to rest for the day or ride till Satara. Reaching Satara would certainly make our next day ride easier but given the road condition till Nipani, our desire to stop for few clicks on Amboli ghat, we were keeping things flexible.

So next day, after lazy start we checked out of the hotel. Our first stop was Bajaj Service Centre as it seemed that engine oil was leaking out. Thanks to Google mata we were able to find a service centre on our way. Luckily our concern was misplaced and there was no leak but then we had 600km ride ahead of us and before any ride its better to be careful. Just after exiting Goa we stopped near a road side dhaba for brunch. The location was very picturesque, a minor river stream was flowing just beside the dhaba with greenery all around.

The ride back till Amboli ghat was uneventful, and while the Big Waterfall location was still supremely crowed, we did stop for few pics. 

After Amboli ghat we were dreading as we knew the long bad patch of road are ahead of us but after the ghat section, rather than taking left we continued straight. Now initially it felt like a mistake but in hindsight it was perfect mistake 😋, if there is such a thing. The route was equally or even more picture perfect, road conditions were superb and we still exited at Nippani with just addition 10-15km on the odometer. The alternate route is Amboli - Gele (continue on the route towards right) - Chandgarh - Nesari - Gandhilaj - Nipani. 

As per plan we comfortably crossed Kolhapur and decided to stay overnight at Satara. We stayed at Amrai resort, which is beside the highway and I must say the property was terrific, but the best part was the food - unbelievable. The only negative point being the manager at reception. Next day was non-eventful ride just the way we like, and ended it with our usual selfie before the Airoli toll.

Despite this short visit, I would agree that Goa has its charm and I certainly plan to go again. This time would be for a longer period so that I can properly explore and enjoy Goa and not just for bike ride - amen!

3500km South India Bike Trip - Part 2

A quick recap, four of us - Ashish, Kshitiz, Shreyas and I started our South India bike ride on Dec 16, 2020. We had reached Munnar on Day 3 of our trip, and were in Coimbatore at the end of Day 5 to visit the Adiyogi Statue at Isha Foundation, just outside Coimbatore. Part 1 of the blog.

Many of the readers may know this, but for the uninitiated, this is bust of Hindu God Shiva, one of the Trimurti (Bhrahma - Vishnu - Mahesh). Adiyogi refers to God Shiva as 'the first yogi' .

As mentioned in Wikipedia, it is 34 mt tall, 45 mt long and 25 mt wide steel statue, weighing around 500 tonnes, and designed by Sadhguru himself. It is also recognised by the Guinness World Records as the "Largest Bust Sculpture". The Indian Ministry of Tourism has included the statue in its official Incredible India campaign. 

The best thing I liked about the place, it offers the kind of calmness and peace that any religious/ spiritual place should offer without asking you to be religious and have any affinity towards that religion. One can simply visit the place, sit near the statue and enjoy the serenity that the surrounding has to offer. If you are planning to visit, Isha Foundation website offers trove of information about the place.

The owner of the hotel told us that the Adiyogi opens up for visitors at 9am, whereas it actually opens up at 6am. Not that our group would have reached there at 6am by any chance, but the misinformation did delayed our Day 6 start.

After visiting Adiyogi, we had a quick but heavy breakfast and headed out for our next destination. In our original plan, next stop was supposed to be Ooty with a day of rest. However, staying back at Ooty would have meant missing on Belur, which I'm glad we didn't. So the plan was revised to skip Ooty all together, stay in Coorg, and then head out for Belur. 

Our target was to reach Coorg by day end, however our delayed start and the 30-45min time it took us to register on TN website before entering Ooty district, meant we again needed to adjust our plan. I would rate the driving experience from Coimbatore - Ooty - Coorg as the best in the trip. It had everything, good weather, superb roads, great scenery and full of twisties.

We crossed two forest reserve, one after dark. Point to note, in case you need to drive through a forest reserve, you need to cross the entry gate before 6pm, post which they restrict the entry for your safety. We encountered quite a few signs, warning us about Elephants, luckily we didn't encountered any. Or, should I say, didn't see any in the dark 😨. We ended at a place called Kattikulam at around 10:30pm. For a small town on the way, we found a fantastic hotel called Holiday Hills. They also have a property in Waynad, and given the quality of property and service in Kattikulam I'll certainly recommend their Waynad property as well. The manager (I think Nithin) was very helpful, and after knowing that Ashish is a youtube vlogger (Highway Stories), he upgraded our room as well as gave us good discount, which certainly made Ashish's day.

Day 6 blooper: Kshitiz with his hand still troubling him, wanted a break from everyday continuous riding and he decided to go to Kodaikanal and stay for few days before heading back home. So by end of day, the 'four musketeers' became 'three musketeers'.

Day 7 plan was to drive to Coorg, do local sight-seeing and stay overnight. We started around 7:30-8:00am and our first stop was Iruppu Waterfall on the way. It is also known as Lakshmana Tirtha Falls, derived from the name of a tributary of Cauvery which starts from these falls, the Lakshmana Tirtha River. The place is also a pilgrimage spot - the legend being that Ram and Lakshman, passed along the Bhramagiri range while searching for Sita. Ram requested Lakshman to fetch drinking water for him. Lakshman couldn't find fresh water nearby for his elder brother, so he shot an arrow into the Bhramagiri hills and brought out the river Lakshmana Tirtha.

To reach the waterfall, there is an entry ticket, a small forest trail and bunch of steps. By the time we reached the waterfall, owing to hot weather, riding gears and our low fitness level, we were quite tired. The waterfall, and its drizzle in the air quickly freshened us up. We spent some time there, came out and had our breakfast. A little girl of hardly 10years, was managing the front counter while her mother was preparing the breakfast orders. It was heartening to see that she still was a regular at school and was happily helping her mother run the shop, more power to her!

During our breakfast I realised that Talacauvery, which is the originating point of river Cauvery (just like Gaumukh is for river Ganga), is a quick detour from Coorg. Till this point all three of us were on the same page, however, Shreyas had started feeling home sick. When we stopped for a quick break, he just wanted to complete the ride and reach home; sight seeing, riding was now not providing enough excitement for him. So we decided to split up again, Shreyas continued to ride directly to Coorg, and wait for Ashish and me. 

Talacauvery is 48km from Coorg, and around 1hr drive owing to narrow and twisty roads. It is also located in Bhramagiri range at height of 1,276 mts. A tank has been constructed at the origination point and the river originates as a spring feeding this tank, which is considered sacred. The spring  water in not year round continuous flow but gushes out starting mid-October. The water then flow underground from the tank and emerges as river Cauvery some distance away from the origination point. The temple has been renovated quite well by the state government and attracts tourists and devotees in equal numbers.

We reached Coorg around 4pm, had our late lunch, booked a homestay for our over night stay. Shreyas was still in the same mood, and hence post lunch he decided to go to the homestay and rest. Ashish and I wanted to check out the Medikeri Fort and a local temple before calling it a day.

Medikiri Fort is nothing much to talk about in terms of grandeur or otherwise except that there is a palace building, which is quite average and an archeological museum. The temple was also nothing extra ordinary to talk about but the temple compound had that soothing feeling about it. It could be just the timing of visit, which was quite late, so there was no crowd.

Blooper Day 7: Shreyas was adamant that he wanted to ride directly to Mumbai, and don't want any other detour or sight seeing. Problem was two - (1) Selfish Reason: After riding so far, Ashish and I certainly wanted to visit Belur, (2) Rational Reason: Owing to the distance from Mumbai, we would have reached Mumbai on Day 9, irrespective of the route we took or way we rode. So we again decided to split up, Shreyas decided take extended sleep, and ride directly to Hubli. Ashish and I decided to start early morning for Belur, and plan was to meet Shreyas at Hubli and then ride together on the last day back to Mumbai.

Day 8 started early for Ashish and me. For those who don't know, Belur and surrounding area was part of the Hoysala Empire between 10th and 14th century. Belur was their original capital, however later it was moved to Halebidu. Hoysala Era was an important time period resulting in significant development in art, architecture and religion in South India. Today, the Hoysala Empire is primarily known for their architecture known as Hoysala architecture. During their reign of approx 400 years, they built many temples, hundreds of which are still surviving scattered across Karnataka.

We picked three primary temples, in our view, to visit - Lakshmi Devi Temple Doddagaddavalli, Chennakeshava Temple Belur and Hoysaleswara Temple Halebidu.

Our first stop was Lakshmi Devi Temple at Doddagaddavalli. As per the local, the temple was commissioned by a diamond merchant and his wife. I'm sure if the Wikipedia refers to this merchant or a different one. In addition to the superb Hoysala architecture,this temple is unique because of its chatuskuta construction (four shrines and towers). All of the four shrines are connected, and each one of them house on of the Primary Hindu God/ Goddess - Lakshmi, Vishnu, Kali and Shiva facing each other. In my limited experience I have not seen this in any of the temples.

Because of COVID, there were no tourists or priest at the temple, and the local person allowed us to click pictures inside the temple.

We stopped for breakfast at government 'Athithi Bhawan' which was surprisingly good and fresh. Chennakeshava temple was the main attraction of our Belur stop and I have to say that it completely lived up to its expectation. As the name suggest the temple is dedicated to Vishnu. To pay homage to two avatars of Vishnu - Kurma (Turtle) and Matsaya (Fish), the temple tank has both these species. I wouldn't be able to describe the beauty of intricate carvings that each stone block carried. It is unfathomable to even imagine how these artists carved out the stone in such intricate manner without high tech machinery. Just search for the temple pictures and may be you will understand what I'm trying to say.

After trying to capture its beauty in our camera, we headed out for last stop - Hoysaleshwara Temple, Halebidu. The temple is situated on the bank of a man-made lake. it is equally beautiful, but for some reason, the most neglected one. I don't know if this was because the country was still opening up after first wave of COVID or there were other reasons. 

The Belur temple complex along with nearby Hindu and Jain temples at Halebidu have been proposed to be listed under UNESCO World Heritage sites. I feel these sites are completely worthy to be included in the list, which will also allow to attract more tourists and support the local economy.

We rode approx 500km on Day 8 along with sight seeing at Belur, thanks to superb highway conditions in Karnataka, us not taking unnecessary stops, and not wasting time on coordinating between us. We reached Hubli by around 8:30pm and stayed again at Ramya Residency for the night.

Blooper Day 8: We were using Google maps the entire time. Just a advise, select the navigation option for car rather than bike. Reason, Google assume that since you are on a bike, every road, trail, pagdandi, gali between two houses are completely accessible to you. That landed us in few tricky situations during the trip.

Day 9 we started the last leg of our trip. We had to cover approx 600km, but we were confident of doing it in good time, given that we did the same distance on our first day despite wasting lot of time.

Actually, in this ride we had barely scratched the surface of what South India has to offer. Just as any other part of country, it is truly beautiful, filled with amazing places to visit and explore. We will need another life time to properly explore the beauty that our country offers. Let see what I can do in this life time 😎.