Southern Spice Ride : The Journey Back

Having visited Kanyakumari and getting rather disappointed at not seeing the sunrise, it was time for us to head off to Madurai. As soon as I stepped out of the AC cooled room, the heat of the land hit me. My shirt was completely drenched with sweat by the time I got on my bike. The sun was bright, but still covered with clouds. I placed my saddles on the bike, tied them up, wiped the sweat of my eye brows, zipped up my jacket and got on my bike. Ready to go. As you might recall from the previous blog post, we headed out for a quick photo session before departing from Kanyakumari.

Windmills, Windmills and Only Windmills
Photo Courtesy : Parameshwaran Balasubramanian

The first stop was to fill a full tank of fuel. The first bunk we stopped at seemed to be a bit too crowded, so we decided to fill up a bit ahead. While riding on, I got to glimpse at the many Windmills that I had seen the previous night. There were everywhere. Imagine, a field of sparsely spaced coconut trees. Now just take that thought but instead of the coconut trees, make them windmills. It's a very different sight, and one that I'm sure can be seen only in Kanyakumari.

Soon, our lead found a good petrol bunk and we stopped to refuel. The time was around 3pm, and we had to cover around 300 kms to Madurai. The route was partly the same as the one we took to reach Kanyakumari. Kanyakumari - Tirunalveli - Madurai. We took a decision to keep our breaks at a minimum, with hopes that we would reach Madurai before 8pm for a temple visit.

My Co-Sweep Bala

Mostly highways, the roads were great, We were enjoying the ride so far. Nothing special, except for Sidd's antics on the bike. He would suddenly slow down, for 5-10 mins, then rip the bike and reach the lead, leaving Bala and me to play catch up. At times, I would tell him to push ahead, and just for fun, he would tell me to slow down. Other times, he would stand on his bike and ride. Taken in the right spirit, he's absolute fun!! A word of warning, get used to his signalling. He puts the right indicator, to tell you to overtake him from the right. And many more such circus acts!! Crazy but awesome guy!!

On this dry, hot stretch, all of a sudden, the clouds started growing. Dark skies ahead, and before I could do anything I was completely drenched. What made it worse was the wait for Empy and Bala to cover themselves and their bags (which was useless, due to how quickly the rain had started). Since Anudeep was standing and waiting too, I asked him to push on. Big mistake. A couple of seconds later, I got a call from Go Go telling me to stop below the next flyover till the rain stopped. Empy, Bala and me stopped as instructed and met the rest of the group. Unfortunately, due to the rain, no one had stopped road side to direct Anudeep.

Dark Clouds, Rain in the making.
Photo Courtesy : Chandrakanth PG

Seeing no one in front of him, Anudeep had pushed an extra 20 kms in the rain. As soon as the rain reduced Go Go and a few others went ahead to find him, while the rest waited just in case he was behind. Finally, we were able to contact him and asked him to wait. It was time for us to catch up. I got onto my bike and was ready to lead till we reached the others. But the curse of the lead was upon me, I tried the self start, the bike didn't start. I kept kicking, but it didn't start. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, similar to a balloon bursting, which I ignored and continued to kick, thinking it was just an engine backfire. That's when Bala got the idea, that my spark plugs might be water logged. From his prior experience, he knew that we needed to poke it with a stick. Unfortunately even after doing that, the bike didn't start. Confused and completely wet, I had almost given up. That's when the infinitely wise mechanic in the group, Harish, noticed that the earlier sound was due to the carburettor-engine hose having come lose. A quick fix later, I was ready to move on.

A beautiful Sunset on the way to Madurai

We caught up with everyone, and as a group were back on the road. Smooth sailing. Close to 70kms from Madurai, we decided to halt and get some food to eat. On the menu, was yummy "mutte beech", which is a stretched out paper like parotha onto which an egg is broken and cooked. Along with this, we had kalaki, which is something like a half boiled egg omelette ( a must try if you ever go to these parts ), and ofcourse, parothas.

Having eaten, I was ready to leave, but my water soaked riding pants were making things very uncomfortable. Breaking the rules just for the next 70 kms, I removed my riding pants, and my water soaked shoes in exchange for a half pants and sandals.

Harish showing off the awesome room in Madurai.
Photo Courtesy : Chandrakanth PG

Soon we reached the crowded city of Madurai. Here people drive like maniacs, and especially after many kms on the highway, it can get very frustrating. We requested a localite to lead us till the hotel. This guy took us around the whole city, before we reached the hotel room. Finally we reached the hotel room at 9.30 pm, it was a bit too late for a temple visit, and so it was postponed for the next day morning. I went out and got some quick bites for everyone to munch on before hitting the bed. We had some fun, all gathered up in the same room, cracking jokes and having a good time.

The next day's plan was to leave the hotel by 10.30 am to Bangalore. The temple visit had to be finished by then. Well, that was the plan. What, actually happened was that the gang actually left the hotel only at 9 am to go to the temple. By the time they came back, it was almost 12.30 pm. It was already very late, and we decided to ride hard to reach Bangalore in time.

Ready to leave for Bangalore

The Bike and the gear that let me complete the journey

Our way back to Bangalore, was fast and uneventful. 90-100km rides with 20 mins break. One stop near Dindigul, one after Salem, one between Salem and Krishnagiri, and one final dinner stop 20kms after Krishnagiri. Even after so much of riding, the group was still full of energy and josh.

After having a couple of McDonald's burgers for dinner, we pushed to reach Bangalore, dropping off our lead at Hosur on the way. The end point, Electronic city toll gate.

One Final Group Pic

What an amazing and awesome ride!! Unforgetfull, great company and pure fun!! We had done it. 1700 kms in 4 days!!


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