Pondicherry Chronicles

[rohitbhat]

Month of May was never ever a good time to travel South India. Why?
i) Monsoon approaching,
ii) Killer heat and very humid weather.

But my friend still wanted to ride all the way and come back from Mumbai.

1) The long awaited plan, finally comes into effect.
2) An accident on first day itself, luckily all goes well, except bank balance.
3) Not a great trip till we reach Bangalore on second day.
4) Realised why Go-Pro or any other helmet cameras are better, if its a long road trip.


Day 1 : Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - (Dharwad -Hubli road) - Yerikoppa - 570 kms
Halt at Ramya Residency.
A decent hotel with good room service.

 

[rohitbhat]

Some photos from Day 1 :
On NH4 -
Nipani - Belgaum stretch.

 

[metalhead]

Please don't stop, keep posting the rest story.

 

[rohitbhat]

Like my other blogs, this one will be dull with very little no. of photos.
Was unable to shot pictures due to time constraints, weather and laziness.
The stretch from Yerikoppa till Gabbur junction is old but neat single lane.
After that, its a bliss to ride on that road till Tumkur, then the traffic jams of outskirts of Bengaluru greets.

Day 2 : Yerikoppa - Hiriyur - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Bengaluru (Mahadevpura)

We reached at 8:00pm and took a halt at friend's place, an ex-BCMTian, ex-FB user.
We were showered with their generosity with here with some heavy doses of brew. Excellent host.

Windmills in Chitradurga on NH4

Just after Tumkur - the odo reads 9999.

The sky becomes dramatic as we get closer to Bengaluru.

Twilight at Peenya. We stopped to click one picture and also to ask direction to Mahadevpura.

 

[rohitbhat]

After planning on various routes and making note of it, we ended up following maps.
The maps advised us a different route soon after Krishnagiri through various villages and we again ended up on highway near Chengam after 3pm.
We were late and did not managed to visit Thiruvannamalai for various reasons.
We reached Pondicherry at 8.

Jawadhu hills

Just after Thiruvannamalai

This is where the cops caught us for speeding and we were cruising around 70kmh.
Somehow by sign language, we told them that we came all the way from Mumbai.
He let us go with a smile.

 

[rohitbhat]

The route : Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Chengam - Thiruvannamalai - Tindivanam - Pondicherry

Some more photos

 

[rohitbhat]

The next day was supposed to be the rest day and wanderings on the streets of Pondi and visit to White town.
White town or French colony, are same.
The streets and the old buildings are classic, clean and colourful. There are plenty no.of restaurants, cafe's, lounge, etc.
Rock beach runs parallel to the white town and the entry of vehicles is restricted from dusk till the break of dawn.

The afternoon break for brew and some chips.

The impact of 192kg motorcycle on Pondi roads.

The common views around the street.

Gandhi Statue and Rock Beach.

Alas! It was closed and procedure to enter inside was something which we never studied before.

IMPORTANT NOTE : MAITRI MANDIR
From their website.
Timing for issuing of Passes at the Visitors' Centre:

• Monday to Saturday - 9 am to 1:00 pm and 1:30 pm to 4.30 pm
• Sunday - 9.30 am to 1 pm only, afternoon closed.
• Monday to Saturday - 9.30 am to 5.00 pm.
• Sunday - 9.30 to 1.30 pm only, afternoon closed.

After sipping milky tea from the road, it was time to taste some local malts. We headed back to our hotel after the sunset.

 

[NeerajVayu]

Great pics , i am hooked, please update more details

 

[rohitbhat]

On our second last day, we headed to Mahabalipuram via East Coast Road.
The roads are beautiful and resemble our very own NH66 (Mumbai - Goa highway). The vehicles over here are always in top speed, including those giant and scary looking Tamil Nadu trucks.
Within an hour, we started feeling the loss of water from our body. Taking multiple breaks en route, we reached Mahabalipuram at 12pm, phew and it was the hottest place I have ever visited in my life.

We did not bothered to wear all the safety gears(except helmets) because of excess heat.
Yours truly

One of the many Rathas, known as Pidari Ratha which is incomplete and it is situated a bit far from central Mahabalipuram old town.

The sculptures at Varaha Cave Temple.

The Varaha Cave Temple

From top of the rock temple, overlooking south side. Buckingham canal and its backwaters can be seen.

Coromandel Coast - Mahabalipuram beach

The Lighthouse

Varaha temple from Lighthouse

The Shore temple of Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram)

 

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Man great ride...