Southern Spice Ride : Road to Rameswaram

Road to Rameswaram

I recently embarked on a ride that we christened "Southern Spice", where we planned to cover Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Madurai in 4 days. A total of 1700 kms. It was an epic ride with varying weather conditions that really tested our tolerance to heat.

It was a warm Thursday morning, 4 AM to be exact, with 11 people ready to start off from Madiwala Police Station. To see us off, were a couple of friends and fellow club members. The route was simple. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishangiri - Salem - Dindigul - Madurai - Rameswaram. A total of 650 kms.

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We departed Bangalore right on time, towards Hosur. It took us around 25 mins to reach Hosur, where our Lead for the ride, Go Go, joined us. Not wanting to waste time, we got back on the road again and rode on for the next 80 kms. After this stretch, we stopped for a quick tea break. It was still 6.15 am, and we had made good time. After tea, we faced our first breakdown.

Fixing Go Go's bike with mseal

Empy mixing the mseal like an expert

One of the bikes was busy marking its territory. Leaking petrol from the tank. On close inspection, we found that the fuel tank had some cracks in it. Being the well prepared group that we are, we quickly pulled out some mseal, and sealed that leak right away.

Breakfast at Salem

After letting the mseal dry for a bit, we jumped on our bikes and pumped the accelerator. We rode past krishnagiri, towards Salem, reaching there by 8am for some breakfast. As you can see in the picture, the heat had already started.

After some utthappam and pongal, we stepped out near our bikes for some tea. Our previous fix on the petrol leak, wasn't good enough, and so we had to apply a bit more mseal. That fixed it, and there were no more petrol leak issues. But here started another problem, the bike would just not start. It had to be kicked a dozen times to start, and would go off as soon as the accelerator was left. We pushed on hoping to fix it later.

The next 200 kms went almost seamlessly, with a small break in between. The breaks instantly made us sweat a bucket. Riding was far more cooler. Take a look at the video to see us riding on the road. Absolute fun group.

We reached Madurai post noon. And stopped for some lunch. On the menu, our first taste of parotha. Egg kottu parotha, Chilli parotha. Little did we know, that by the end of this trip we would eat so much of it, that the word parotha would make us think "not again".

Lunch being prepared

Go Go having Sharbath

From here we rode on towards Rameswaram. The roads got smaller, but the scenery just got better. Having had a heavy lunch, I began to feel sleepy on this stretch. Not wanting to take any chances, I stopped the bike to wash my face and drive away the drowsiness. It worked beautifully, I was back on the bike, feeling awake and fresh. But, within a few kms, we had to stop, as stubborn Sidd wanted to fuel his bike. This bugger never fuels when all the others fuel. After refilling, we moved hardly a few kms, to find everyone waiting for us and ready to take a break.

Time to refuel the body

After this nice little break, that surely woke us all up, we decided to gun towards Rameswaram. The Time was 5.45pm, and we wanted to do the next 90kms till Panban bridge. We reached the bridge by around 8pm. Little too late, and so dark that we couldn't see much. Panban Bridge is a long bridge stretching over the ocean that connects the island of Rameswaram to the rest of India. The speciality of this bridge is the intense winds and also the adjacent railway bridge.

At Panban Bridge. Photo Courtesy : Sreekanta Datta

It was another 30 kms to the hotel room. We rode swiftly and were soon at the hotel. Identifying the hotel was very easy, as Rameswaram is pretty much a temple and 4 surrounding roads. I took out my saddle bags from the bike and ran to the room, to take care of nature's call.

The rest of the night passed with celebrations and fun. It was great fun, sitting with friends, cracking jokes. But soon enough the fatigue caught up, and we all went to bed.

Come morning, I was still too sleepy, and didn't go to the temple for a teertha yatra. Basically, this temple contains the waters from many rivers, and it is considered auspicious and holy to take a bath from the water of all these wells. But first, one must take a dip in the ocean.

Taking a dip in the Bay of Bengal.  Photo Courtesy : Sreekanta Datta

Theertha Snaanam. Photo Courtesy : Parameshwaran Balasubramanian

After the others finished the Theertha yatra, they came to the hotel room, to change clothes. I went to the temple with them on their second visit. Empy had arranged for a special darshan for us which was indeed rare and awesome. We literally sat at the doorsteps of god. After the temple visit, we got out of the temple complex and headed to a local joint for some breakfast. We completely emptied the hotel. When we were done, he had nothing left to offer other customers.

Next in the plan was to hire a jeep and go to Dhanushkodi beach. This is one part of the trip, that I just loved. A photographer's paradise. The van at times, literally rode over the shallow ocean water. It was amazing and exhilarating. Off roading enthusiasts and Jeep owners will absolutely love to take their vehicles over these stretches. Take a look at the pictures below.

After this awesome visit to Dhanushkodi, we were back to the hotel rooms. Here I sat for sometime to fix Go Go's bike's starting problem. I discovered that the air flow screw was tightened too much, causing a rich mixture to be delivered to the engine. Also, both the spark plugs were dripping oil. Chandru's brother, sat next to me, and like an expert started removing and checking the spark plugs. I was shocked, to see this guy do it well. Only later was I told, that we had been blessed by a mechanic on this ride, Chandru's brother Harish!!!

Me fixing the bike!! 

The oily spark plug.
Photos Courtesy : Parameshwaran Balasubramanian

Packed up quickly, and ready to hit the roads to our next destination, Kanyakumari.

Ready to go to Kanyakumari. Photo Courtesy : Parameshwaran Balasubramanian