Monster's day out to Ponmudi

My Monster was craving for some rubber burn. He was mimicking me to take him out and I was waiting for the best time. There has to be a call, a call for adrenaline rush, a call for speed, a call for curves and twists which happens at its own time. So finally the moment arrived for the baby to go out for 3 days. The long weekend gave me fuel to head out. 

After a quick chat with a good old friend, I decided to head out to the mountains. What better place in south of India that you can think of apart from the Gods Own Country. Whatever it is, this place has everything that you need when it comes to traveling. Be it the misty tea estates, gorgeous waterfalls, calm back waters, pristine beaches or the mighty mountains. Its a package altogether. No wonder they are always attracted by foreigners irrespective of the weather conditions. But my thirst for twists and turns made my mind lock on Ponmudi. The images in google were so tempting that I decided experience it on my own.   

Day out 1:

As usual, an early bird

A rider never sleeps a day before the ride, headed out @ 3.30AM after fueling. Here's what was going on in my mind. 
Mind: Bharath, you gotta reach Madurai by 8 AM
Monster: Don't worry dad, I'm gonna take you
Mind: Yeah, I hope I dont get stuck in traffic
Monster: Don't worry, I will sneak in between those crazy truck drivers, bus drivers and car drivers and zoom away
Me & my mind: Lets roll baby....
Monster: Vrooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

As I was progressing on Hosur Road, there were a lot of traffic, people wanted to get out early to avoid traffic. But that didn't stop me as my Monster truly lived by his words. I was zooming ahead of all. Its like flying away from all the chaos and finding your inner peace. But as an owner of a super bike, you get  a lot of attention on the road and everywhere you stop. As usual, we Indians wants to know what this machine is made up of. I have practiced to answer these kind of questions as its very usual for me. So the conversations goes like this. 

Curious Onlooker : Sir which bike is this?
Me: Its Benelli
Curious Onlooker: How many CC?
Me: 600
Curious Onlooker: Whats the mileage?
Me: As long as I want it to be
Curious Onlooker : Err.. Ok, how much does it cost?
Me: 8 Lakhs
Curious Onlooker: Nice bike sir, bye

I always laugh at these type of conversations. That reminded me of one of the villagers asking or rather telling me that I would have bought a car in this money instead of bike and could have gone in AC. As these thoughts were keeping me company, I realized that I had crossed Madurai toll and stomach was growling with hunger. 

When in Madurai, go as by the custom. The custom is to have Jigarthandai and I was lucky to get it at 8.20 AM itself. A sumptuous breakfast at Hari's Restaurant near Thirumangalam toll satisfied my hunger and the Jigarthandai kept my body cool. Monster was also taking a break and it was time to unite with my good old friend Aswin. He reached at 9.45 and after a quick hi hello's, we headed towards Coutrallam waterfalls. 

Jigarthanda

Himalayan and Benelli 600GTS

This waterfall cures all types of diseases as said by the legend. We always want to take shortcuts to get well soon. Having said that, the place was crowded to the core as we could not even stand even for couple of minutes. And the heat of Tamilnadu was killing me. I told Aswin to head out from there and soon we were back on the roads riding towards Tenmala. 
 

Selfie in Courtallam Falls

Courtallam Falls

Roads to Tenmala from Courtallam was very bad. Umpteen number of potholes were slowing our ride. But the view on that road was amazing which made the pain vanish out of sheer excitement of the surroundings.

We reached the foot hill of Ponmudi and my friend wanted to disperse and head back to his house in Trivandrum. I had another 29kms with 22 hair pin bends to cover. Bid a bye to my friend and I started further. By then it was already 8:30PM and I knew that it's going to be an adventurous ride. As expected, after the 10th Hairpin bend i encountered a herd of 5 elephants crossing the road. As a responsible biker and out of fear I turned of the Ignition and the head lights and waited for them to pass. Post that it was an excitement filled 12 hairpin bends which my Monster cruised effortlessly. Reached KTC Resort {Golden Peak Resort} freshened up, had dinner and called it a day.


Day out 2:
I am an early Riser, and it has it's own perks. The view that you get in the morning in places like these is spell bounding. The rains from the previous night had covered the place with mist. The fresh dew drops always lifts up anyone's mood, like it did for me. A hot cup of Tea was all that u needed to enjoy the surreal place. By then my Friend sent me the all new Himalayan from Royal Enfield to explore Ponmudi. The day has just started. It was time for some off roading. 

Ponmudi offers a vast terrain for off roading and you got to be prepared to stay away from leeches, which was the mistake that I did. Nevertheless I enjoyed off roading wearing my shorts. The day was filled with adrenal rush and satisfying. I called it an early day as I had to return early next day.
 As I lay on the bed, the sequence of the day was running in my mind which is going to be cherished for longtime.  

Day out 3:
Started as early as I could as I needed to avoid, the return traffic. What started at 7:30AM was finished at 4:30PM. 

Enroute I stopped at Madurai for lunch at around 11:30AM and had an early lunch. As my monster never get's tired I rode non-stop from Madurai to Hosur. Here' s me talking to my baby at Hosur.

Me: Baby you made it.
Monster: I told you.
Me: You never let me down
Monster: Hahaha...can we ride home?
Me: Let's roll..
Monster: Vrooommmmmmm
 Monster: We are home.

Day 1. Route taken: 
Bangalore- Hosur-Krishnagiri- Salem- Dindugal- Madurai-Tenkasi-Courtallam- Thenmala- Ponmudi
 Distance covered - 820kms

Day 3. Route taken:
Ponmudi- Trivandrum- Nagercoil- Madurai-Salem-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Banagalore
Distance covered- 826kms

Total disctance: 1646kms

Stay: Ponmudi {Golden Peak Resort} KTC 


For More pics click here

For now Adios and see u till the next ride....;)

"Riderboy"