Wanderlust in Wayanad

If you are a born again biker and ever own a bike like Clssic-500, I guess you will need frequent long- rides on the bike to remain rational. The highways, trails, and the wanderlust in you, will pull you on to the road and this bike takes you to places and how! This may be construed in my case , by many; erroneously of course, as a symptom of midlife crisis or “fixes” ; -). But trust me, so far, rides on Classic500 have been enjoyable and great way to keep the life going.
It's been two weeks since a long ride for us. It was to Yercaud then. Again, doing few trial rides before a Southern odyssey (SO) ride by Royal-Enfield club (http://www.royalenfield.com/company/events/southernodyssey2010/southernodyssey2010_.aspx ) which we are still contemplating doing. These rides will do us good for a few basic reasons like riding skill, endurance, fatigue, pain in the shoulder and butt, etc. These factors are either tested or fine tuned for this 10 day long ride if ever we decide to do . Hence, a week-end- relatively-long bike-trip to Wayanad district, a Bangalore bikers’ frequent and favorite haunt, was planned. We were warned of rains, which we hoped wouldn’t be too hard .Our primary focus was on meandering/ wandering on bike and a hike to Chembra hill ( a Bangalore trekkers' pet “hike-out” ),which is also in Wayanad- if time and weather permitted.
I got my bike checked for flaws if any and bought a spare tyre-tube. I learnt and practiced wheel replacement (had a flat on our previous week-end ride), just in case.
We had a choice three routes to Wayanad. All three are four-wheel and above vehicle permissible which means that forest department does not permit bikes through forest stretch in two of these routes as riding through on bikes are considered to be highly risky. So, Gundlupet-Sulthan Batthery route was opted though I preferred other routes as they are more remote and less travelled.
Shubha was not too well previous night .It was not fever, but a general malaise kind of a thing. Since we had already planned, she decided to sit behind hoping she would recover in time. We kept the option of going by car open, in case if her condition worsened or if rains played spoil- sport. Fortunately, in the morning ,she was feeling much better and there was no rain. Saturday morning we started around 5:30 on the bike. We reached Mysore early, little too early for breakfast. Shubha wanted to rest for a while before we started again. Not to lose much on time, we then had breakfast and started. Mysore to Nanjagud stretch of road ( 19 kms) was bad. It aggravated Shubha’s headache. She took a pain-killer and she started to feel better.
Gundlupet- Sulthan batthery road is any biker’s dream. Apart from feeble traffic,about 20 kms of road is through reserve forest range and is for that sublime experience. Shubha by now was feeling far better though not normal yet. We rode slowly. I took off my helmet for “that feeling”. We had tea in a quintessential kerala chai shop soon after entering Kerala(trust a keralite to have a shack in reserve forest), and headed further towards Kalpetta, where we had room reserved. Room was bad and Shubha wanted to rest for a while. We asked for a better room. It was holiday season and rooms were in demand. We later went for a nice Kerala lunch at a nearby place. Soon after lunch we left for Lake Pookat, a beautiful place-clean and vast. We walked around the lake; a full-circle in the low light heavy overcast, moist and verdant green condition. We tried our hand at paddling .It was pitifully unsynchronized!
Next to a tourist spot called View point. This spot appears when you are least expecting it as you turn a bend on the road. The sight really “hits” you and you can’t help saying “wow” at it. It overlooks all the winding roads down the ghats to Kazicode. There was ominous dark over-cast high above with approaching dusk and few brigher clouds at a distance at your eye level. This is one hell-of-a awe inspiring place. Photograph cannot depict half the beauty of this place.
On the Way back we had tea at a roadside joint. I t began to drizzle as we rode back. When we returned ,we were given a bigger and better room. Night, we walked to nearby restaurant bar for beer, boiled rice& beef curry dinner (Shubha had boiled rice and veg kerala curry ) . It was pouring outside. We walked back under rain coats.
Next day, as per hotel receptionist’s instructions, we had early breakfast at the attached restaurant and left for Chembra peak. It was about half an hour ride from Kalpetta. We were to pay necessary fee for the maintainace and guide-fee to the Forest department. Another group of youngsters reached there after us.. Forest official wanted to send one guide for us and the group which came after us. We demanded for a separate guide as we had paid for it. A decision, later proved wise as the other group didn’t complete the climbing.
Kerala government’s initiative to promote environmentalism is remarkable. At the eco-sensitive places they check your baggage for any plastic material disposables. Either you have to discard them there or leave them under their custody till you return . They collected Rs. 200 per plastic water bottle as deposit from us before the trek. They returned the money when we showed them the bottles after the trek. All through the trek we rarely spotted any plastic debris; so also at the tourist locations. I wish Karnataka government takes cue from them. Our experience especially around western ghats was pitiable.
The guide, Santhosh, is young, energetic and was a good company. We took little less than 2 hours to climb the peak. We had to climb 3 lesser peaks before we climbed the tallest. It is the tallest peak in Wayanad. This trek was great! It was thickly foliaged in parts, cloudy and foggy and ominous of rains to come. Fortunately it didn’t rain during the trek. Peak was a bit of disappointment as we could not see anything around. It was foggy. Nothing visible beyond few feet. We have had this kind of experience in few other places. We would have the sense of achievement when we reach the top but miss the great views from there. We didn’t spend much time there and started the descent. Descent proved more difficult as it was wet and slippery. We took longer time-more than 2 hours to climb down. I was not wearing my regular trekking shoes but my Nike sandals and they contributed to my one “skid and roll” there. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt me physically though it did disturb me. I swore that I would never ever wear sandals for treks.
We ate a place called Parry’s at Meppady. It is typical Kerala muslim hotel. Meals for two of did cost Rs 150!.This Meppady town is on route to Soochipura falls which was where we headed to. We rode for one hour to reach parking lot of the falls. It was 2km walk from there to base of the falls. It was raining and beginning to get dark as we climbed down to reach falls. While walking downhill we were wondering how we would cope with uphill walk when we had just finished a major day-trek. Fortunately, it didn’t tire us much. I was also worried about few meters of bad muddy road to negotiate on my bike in the rain on the way back from here. Again, it passed off eventless. We rode back in the drizzle but at a slow pace. That late evening we shifted to a home-stay ( Green mount). It was relatively huge place with sparkling clean toilets.. We were very tired. All Shubha needed was a bath and dinner and I needed a beer as well. Again, here liquor is sold only in government designated shops like in Tamilnadu . You get what they want to sell. Sadly, I was served “King fisher strong” instead of “King fisher Premium”. I generally avoid these “Strong” beers. But, here they consider “strong” beer as top class beer. I was desperate and had no choice . That was the only disappointment of the day. That night we slept like logs.
Next morning, Monday, we had tea and settled the bill with our friendly host and the owner Mr. Martin. We considered staying here again during our next visit. We soon left the place. Riding back to Mysore was smooth and beautiful. It rained in one patch, just a drizzle. But after Maddur it really poured. We continued to ride in slow pace till we could hardly see few meters ahead. We used to stop till the intensity reduced-then start again. This cycle went on for couple of times till Ramnagara. After wards, rain stopped. Wind and engine heat dried us up . We reached Banagalore well ahead of dusk.
Well, that was our short, satisfying and enjoyable trial-run bike-ride. No untoward events, a “time-fly-by” experience and Classic-500 bike served us great. For us , Wayanad lived up to its legend- drizzly, exotic, wild, verdure and sparking off the interest to come back to explore more.
Link to the album- http://picasaweb.google.com/bkrster/Wayanad?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7f7KKuopyr8AE&feat=directlink


Transcendental Biking.

I have been riding either a scooter or a bike ever since I graduated. But in those days, biking was for banal commuting and I always aspired to own a car instead. Understandably so, as the roads were bad and riding a bike was never a pleasure. Bikes too then were of substandard- never of world class. Visiting bike mechanic for repairs used to be a weekly affair. The manufactures of these sub-standard bikes made these frequent visits to mechanic appear normal. Never did we know then what a world-standard bike looks like, leave alone its performance. Only bike of the world standard then available was one scooter by name Chetak, by Bajaj company. Trying to own this scooter used to be a daunting task. Preference for allotting this scooter was given to foreign currency holders. Foreign currency was available then to only those employed abroad. In fact, many of us had not seen a real $ bill till late eighties leave alone owning one. For us-the foreign currency deprived souls, it was few years of waiting period for allotment of this Chetak .
India was a “closed” country then. We were deprived of anything foreign and forced to buy and use only Indian. This government policy was supposed to forestall purported neo-colonism. Our country’s economic policies were similar but diluted versions of that of Burma and North Korea today. Sometimes, I describe these “difficult times “ of our history to my children and about hardship of living in such times. But then, when I do that, I would be fully aware of the fact they would dismiss it as another “heroic” story by the old man.
After India “opened” its markets in mid 80’s, things began to change. Japanese bikes “invaded” India. We were presented with world class bikes. Only then the realization of quality difference dawned on us. Indian bikes were no match for them. Most, if not all the local bike manufactures closed shops or began to trade these foreign bikes. “Be Indian Buy Indian” became a slogan of the past. But road condition was slow to transform to better. Only few roads in the city were given face-lifts. Country roads remained bad. National highways were still of low quality. All these road conditions improved gradually but certainly and likewise motorcycling experience also improved.
What according to me, we missed out in our youth on bike was the riding pleasure by itself. It was mainly due to, as I mentioned earlier, bad roads and low quality bikes. And that now, we have fairly good roads and good motorcycles, it is not illusion to say that I am reliving my missed-out-in-the youth motorcycling pleasure, especially in the country side. It is apt to quote here David Karlotski, who writes about joy of motorcycling, “A motorcycle is not just a two-wheeled car; the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes and cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us languidly from home-box to work-box to store-box and back, the whole time entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, and smelling of carpets”. I share that sentiment and I am so lucky as my wife also shares it. She is my pillion rider most of the time. For me closest way you can get to nature is by hiking, cycling and biking in that order. Riding on country road, without a helmet with just an eye-ware just-enough to protect your eyes, with wind blowing against your face and body, with no motor vehicles anywhere in sight, well, that’s transcendental meditation for me. Sometimes you even want to take out your eye protection not to miss out on any pleasure in that breeze of pure air on your face. When that happens, tears start rolling. That’s no weeping, they are true tears of joy!!.
I am lucky that I haven’t experienced any of the cruel downsides of riding so far, touch wood. I have had minor falls, few mechanical problems and few flats to name few. But that’s living life isn’t it?

I am not a hard core aficionado of biking. I am just an amateur biker. I know I have only few years for biking left and I want to use them. My Kawasaki Eliminator served me fairly well. Except for its low power, it performed well. Shubha and myself have spent a good amount of time riding on it- I meant non-commuting rides. Now I am looking forward to riding more powerful-Enfield Classic from the house of Bullet, which I have booked 2 months back. I have been assured of delivery some time during the end of January. I am not having any high hopes as far as its performance concerned. I had ridden a Bullet earlier and was not very impressed with it. I found engine to be bit ancient and its performance paled in front of Hondas and Yamahas. But the new Classic 500 seems to be different. It is with a newly designed engine and being of 500cc, must have good power. Cost wise, it is affordable too and when I test rode- it was impressive.
So, I am all eager with lot of expectations to go far and far on my bike with my wife behind on Classic 500. I hope my enthusiasm remains and my bread-winning profession permits.
BTW, I should end this with a clip from an “America’s funniest Home videos”episode. The anchor, whose sense of humor I admire, picks few graying members from the audience and asks one of them to answer truthfully if the are experiencing any sort of midlife crisis. One of them says he doesn’t believe in MLC- sincerely probably. Then, this anchor points a finger at you and says” if you really want to know if any man is in any sort of mid life crisis,…… just look between his legs!” .He pauses to the silence of the audience and then says” there will be a motorcycle there”. The audience laughs and I laugh too at his humor. But, wasn’t the allegorical joke cruel??
Sad thing is, we the graying crowd, have to put up with many jokes like this one relating us to this MYTH.

Radio Void.

Here is excerpt from World space satellite radio’s “ last letter” to us customers:

“Dear customer,

On December 31, 2009, the WorldSpace satellite radio broadcast service will be terminated for all customers serviced from India.

This action is an outgrowth of the financial difficulties facing WorldSpace India’s parent company, WorldSpace, Inc., which has been under bankruptcy protection since October 2008. The potential buyer of much of WorldSpace’s global assets has decided not to buy the WorldSpace assets relating to and supporting WorldSpace’s subscription business in India. As a consequence, WorldSpace, Inc. must discontinue its subscriber business in India. Your subscription contract is with WorldSpace, Inc., a US company that is in a bankruptcy proceeding in the United States. The company recognizes that you may have paid for services to be rendered beyond the termination date, but is not in a position to offer a refund for any unused portion of your subscription.”

Oh! I will miss World space!

For TV detesters WS was a vindication. Radio Farista and Orbit rock two my favorite channels of WS used to take me on nostalgic trips like no other. When I hear Kishore Kumar singing fifties song , it was time machine travel to childhood whatever destination. I remember my brother singing same in the same way DevAnand did to the amusement of my family members. Oh. That feeling!!
It is general knowledge radios are generically different than Tvs. You can enjoy listening to radio in the background while you doing other chores. Tv generally demands your attention. For us, guys born in fifties, radio is nostalgically sacrosanct. How we used to rush home while playing to listen to Binacageetmala or Radio Ceylon!!
Nostalgia is bliss no matter how bad the reality was!
I watch Tv, I certainly do not dislike it. It has great entertainment and info value. In hindsight we missed out a lot on TV at our prime. I wish there was TV then but not as pervasive as it is today. But that’s life isn’t it? Every generation miss out on some epochal inventions of the later generation. I am not ruing on missing it then. I am sad at the demise this world-space radio” Timemachine”. Even while I am typing this I am listening to fifities hindi song from it with out those pompous overly informative deejays or irritating commercials in between songs. Sadly I am told the reason for this advantage, optimum subscriber population, which WS unfortunately could not garner, has led to its early demise.
FM radio stations never really commanded my attention. Whenever I listen, it is loud music , noisy commercials and annoying RJs. Fm stations probably have miniscule time slot for our 50's/60's music, especially hindi.I rarely come across to listen to them. Is this generic music on the wane like our age group. Probably yes. Or is it we are not aging gracefully?
I don’t know.
Can a CD player replace it. I do not think so. That jumbled random assortment of songs has a soul which is missed in a CD player.
SO, It is curtains for WS on this Year end. That official letter is like “DearJohn” letter for me.
That really breaks my heart and I am sure it is for many of its fans. I have the proud claim as inaugural subscriber. In fact I have subscription for next year too. According to same Email sent by WS, I can claim for refund from US government.
That apart, I am used to listen to it in the morning while working out, while bathing or in some evenings.
I will miss it hard.
That’s something I do not want to happen just before the beginning of a New year.
It does not bode well for our world. TRUST ME.

Infinite Ombattu gudda

Ombattu gudda (OG) trek was one of my most exciting adrenalin -surging treks. Treacherous, (def :Marked by unforeseen hazards; dangerous or deceptive: treacherous waters) is most fitting word to describe it. This trek lived up to its harsh reputation described in many blogs.
All the travails of trekking: no trails, GPS not working, humid and hot condition, leeches, snakes, no proper camping sites, frequent periods of uncertainty, low morale, water shortage and you name it, you have it on this hike.
It all started when I was checking on the website my co trekker on previous hikes,Rajesh, had forwarded; Adivaas.com. They had OG program for the weekend which suited us. We three; me, my wife Shubha and my nephew Shyam registered with them for this trek.
We (18 of us in all) left on Fri day (11/12/09) night by Dharmastala bus (Volvo, unlike rickety buses by BMC). Slept well in it. Next morning at 5.30 we were at Gundya, near Addahole bridge, from where this trek begins. We had to wait for the guide arranged by our organizers. We had our breakfast there and distributed things to be carried amongst us the. Finally the guide showed up around 8. He appeared very unwilling from the beginning to take us. He didn’t finally anyway. We don’t know the exact reason. According to organizers he demanded unaffordable fee.
Anyway Adivaas had no choice but proceed with the trek without a guide. They probably thought we were well equipped with GPS, maps and compass. We started immediately from there. It was approximately 4 to 5 km trek for 2 hrs on a trail, till we reach the main river; Kabbinale. That’s where I think was the first lapse of the trek. There were no trails seen any where around . So, we decided to move northwards, in the direction of OG as it was the only option. We had to create a path with a Machete to move on . As we moved on the jungle became thicker and thicker. Sun was harsh and it was very humid under jungle canopy.
“Go north
If there is a river, cross it
or go along with it till you
head north again.
If there is a hill, cross it .
If there is a ravine, pass through it.
But stay northwards”
That became our silent marching song. We had little choice any wa :GPS was little too complex to comprehend for the owners ,neither were we well versed with map reading and we were bunch of amateur trekkers. In fact, for a few it was the first time. So going north in straight line was the only option.
In doing so we crossed the river many times, climbed few hills, crossed few ravines.
Around 5PM we decided to camp on a bald hill. Bald is a misnomer. It had indeed few trees but was carpeted by tall grass, elephant grass probably .It was all over with out clear patch any where . The ground beneath the grass was knotty and hard like mineral rock. We somehow managed pitch tents on this ground. We had early dinner and slept like logs despite bad ground conditions ‘cause of exhaustion.
Next morning we started after breakfast at 7.30. This time we had a huge ravine and two hills to cross.It took 2hrs to do so. No stream anywhere near for water and we were in fear of running out of it. Sun was getting hotter. Destination was nowhere in sight . This was when some of us found it very hard to proceed. Normally, in an uphill walk, few of us would go little ahead forming one single long line . Now and then you would look back to see if others are behind you. Very often we do the count to 18(size of our group) to make sure that no one is left behind.
Few of us were resting mid-way up a hill under a lone tree waiting for others to join us. We were extremely tired. Few of us were feeling nauseous ‘cause of exhaustion. Then came a shocking news. Someone who just joined us then announced that Someone was refusing to continue. We assumed that it was normal for some one to give up for sometime but start again after some rest. Little later another person who joined us said same thing and added that he even called his people home (phones used to pick signals in patches) and described to them the mess he was in and that he cannot walk any further. That situation sent shivers through us. We began to worry about him and the helplessness of his people at home. Someone, immediately then,called back his people and reassured them to our partial relief. We were on the ridge of a hill, a vantage-point, yet no sign of human habitation anywhere in sight. It was either thick forest or hills or ravines around. Where to get help??
We decided to share the weight he was carrying. To think of carrying additional weight was little hard to swallow.. After a bit of cajoling and coaxing Anand started walking. A good samaritan amongst us, Mahesh, carried Anand’s entire pack for a while .Anand eventually made it fairly comfortably. Kudos to him for proving many of us wrong. His apparent newly manifested grit was commendable.
We reached hill top around 12 pm. We rested there and ate lunch. We started to move further north. It was along the ridge for an hour or two. Then some one shouted that the hill we could sight on to our right looks familiar and similar to a photograph of OG in some blog. We could see a trail along the crest of the series of hills. But few pointed northwards to a taller hill and said “ that one there not this one”, to our frustration! Our cell phones started working then . Some called their friends who had done OG and confirmed the hill we saw on to right was indeed 9G. We were not too sure yet. Anyway this appeared climbable and was inviting. We dropped our packs at the point on a ridge. It was blissful to walk without anything on your back. We literally ran to the top. But to our dismay we found a stone with “MG” sculpted on it instead of “OG” on the summit. It reinforced our misgivings on our achievement. Did we climb OG or is it some other non significant MG?!. We were still not sure. Anyway it was photo opportunity to be made use of . O ot back to pick our bags to head towards another hill. While on the way back to pick our backpacks we told Raj who was heading another group towards” MC” about MG stone and it was a wrong hill they were climbing. But he said, to our gratification, MG is indeed OG but locals call it as MoorkalGudda and MG was its acronym. We were elated. We finally did it!!
Now that we did it , next is to get to the “jeep Track”. This JT, not surprisingly, considering the daunting trek we were doing , became equally important landmark as OG. This after all is a sign of civilization we were desperately looking forward to spot and of course, JT is what takes us back to human habitation!!
Prashanth , another energetic trekker, wandered beyond and around the place we sat. He came back and announced that there was JT in the opposite direction of the OG summit. But few amongst us countered him saying JT is supposed to be in opposite direction, they said, according to blogs they read. What they meant was that we had to walk further east beyond summit: disheartening proposal. We were dillydallying which way to go. This again was one of many uncertain periods of the trek. The sun was going down fast. We and everyone knew that we had a thickly canopied jungle to cross to reach that JT before it gets dark. Someone even suggested camping on the summit for the night. It was put-off as there was no water source anywhere near and we were running short of it.
We banked on Prashanth’s claim and marched in that direction and oh boy! he was right! Few meters away we could sight JT. Did anybody cry when they saw it?? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did! That was a moment of jubilation for many.
We crossed the forest patch in the dark and hit the JT in an hour. Beyond jungle it was dusk. We didn’t know how far the “main road” on the JT. We had to walk uphill for almost 3 hrs before we found a coffee estate. There was an open space and water tap. Perfect camping place for tired souls. There were two obliging people. We could heat up our packed dinner. We slept well.
Next morning we were to catch 8:30 bus at main road 3 km from estate. We couldn’t afford to miss that ‘cause the next one was @ 10.30. So we started early, reached the place on time.to go to Mudigere. From Mudigere we took a bus Bangalore to reach here at around 5 evening.
So that’s about it.
This trek, ironically, was most thrilling and gratifying probably because we were half prepared for it!! It was “ man vs wild “ situation for us. We survived!!
This was, after all, the experience of a bunch amateurs. Experienced trekkers may laugh at our travails ; - ).
You can put the whole experience philosophically to life. Destination i.e. OG, was minor compared to the trek. Destination, in fact, could be reached comfortably within a day from the opposite direction. But who wants to miss all the this action!!
As the old adage says “life is not about its destination, but its journey.. The journey may tough long and winding, but surely worth the walk..”
Adivaas is group of young, energetic, enthusiastic and aspiring dudes who deserve a pat.As any other start ups they too are prone to growth pangs. But,they went beyond their means to keep it going smooth.I can not help but to compare their organisational effort with others I previously mentioned. Adivaas,scored better.
In hind sight, I think, we could have done this easier with much less anxiety if we had done our homework well.
As lessons learnt for future:
We, that’s me and Shubha would,
• learn more about map reading and compass usage..
• Carry a map of the place always
• Collect more info about the place.
• Contemplate buying GPS but will not entirely depend on it’s vaunted prowess.
• Accompany at least one seasoned trekker for such treks.


Photo courtesy:
Sathosh, Prashanth,