[aargee]

Year - 2012
Plan as below to ride a little over a week's time; sounded like a plan, but little did I know it would take an year to complete!!


Let's start the journey from Marina beach in Chennai at 6:00 AM...


And the luggage the previous night...


Back to Marina again...


And then riding towards South via beautiful ECR...

[aargee]

and then some customary pics follows...


Needless to say which place this is...


Breakfast time...


Continuing the journey on ECR...

[aargee]

After this @Ananth suggested visiting Tranquebar or Tharangambady; some pics...









Had the car not been there, ppl would certainly believe this is 19th century photo


Enroute to Point Calimere




No more talk about Point Calimere for the kind of frustration about accommodation!!! But wait...Mandapam TTDC was one awesome place to stay; open the rear door & you see the beach. Don't believe me? Here's the proof...


Let's recap the distance of day 1

[aargee]

Woke up with sever throat infection; I hadn't noticed it much previous day because of the enjoyable ride; I almost had to starve for the rest of the day because there was not a single good vegetarian hotel (all serves veg & non-veg) from Ramnadu upto Rameshwaram. So when I tried finding a veg hotel at Mandapam, I couldn't. I'd to survive with Nice & Good day. Whew!!! These are the names of the biscuits; how ironical?

So despite the throat infection, I couldn't resist going out as this is how the scene looked outside when I opened up the door



and then the otherside, this is how the Moon appeared...






Some customary pics around TTDC




Finally I got myself prepared to go to Rameshwaram & Dhanushkodi; this is how the road lay ahead

[ecenandu]

Wow, keep it coming.

I myself ride a CBR 250. Travelogues like these are real inspiration for people like me to go out and 'do it'. The only thing holding me back is the support from family. They are concerned about the risks involved in these kind of trips.

BTW how did your CBR fair?

[aargee]

It was a mixed feeling of amazement, scary & exciting to know that I was riding on the landscape that is surrounded by water, actually Ocean, on both the sides







Wait a minute...what did I see?


Beautiful bridge isn't it?




Whoa!!! This is Sea, not some junk polluted river. Take a close look


What's that?
Also there's a significant thing in the below pic; you can see the roadway, railway & waterway on the same pic; had there been an airport closer by, would've been a very rare place in the face of Earth

[aargee]

Taking a closer look


Even closer


The bridge


Sea




Enroute to Danushkodi

[aargee]

Enroute is to Kothandaramar Temple; the whole place is simply awesome; when you actually think that the water bodies you see on both the sides are Sea, it simply shivers the body





Then I see this at a great distance; had to use digital zoom


Enter the sands enroute to Gulf of Mannar










All the above seems exciting isn't it? Well, its not that simple. May be a bike like Rx or KTM would fair well; let me explain. The distance from paved road to Gulf of Mannar is about 12 Kms all in & around the Sea with sands all over. The rulers of these sands are only 4X4; I was the only joker to ride a single cylinder, single wheel powered motorcycle getting fried in the Sun while all the crowd in the 4X4 kept watching me like a Monkey . I never bother on those line, I can happily say today that I rode almost into the ocean & 6 Kms before the Indian coastal border, makes me happy

You couldn't push the vehicle on the sand as it wouldn't move, accelerate hard & the rear wheel sinks to sand, so one has to accelerate moderate & then push. And all this circus has to be done only on the trails of the 4X4. You also have to keep an eye for the oncoming vehicle otherwise they start cursing you as if you burned their family or they offer you immediate help...needless to say on what accounts

But all this troublesome is only for the first 100 feet or so after which the sands are little wet & you get traction & you can start riding.

I couldn't ride all way upto 12 Kms for 2 reasons that...
1. I didn't anticipate so much of heat & didn't carry enough water. By the time I rode 12 Kms, I was completely exhausted. The very thought that I should also be riding back so much distance made me to return
2. My sore in the throat was getting intense & I had to return to get something. Ideally 6 Kms on a paved road with CBR can be done in 3 minutes or less & I've done that. But on sand, its all a different game altogether. It took about 45 minutes for me to just return, that was quickest compared to onward journey of over an hour+

For the maps...

[aargee]

Some pics around...






After this I visited Ramar Padham (yes there's one more here at Mandapam apart from Point Calimere); infact there're about 22 theerthas (don't ask me to list, I don't know) here at Rameshwaram. Every heroic character from the epic Ramayana has been devoted a theertha here. I'd like to visit this place probably with a group next time.









That day night...no Moon though


Let's recap the map of day 2


One word of caution for people who take motorcycles...well...well see the pics for yourself & decide...


It took about 2 hours for me to clean it spotless

[aargee]

Before proceeding, would like to say a few words about TTDC Mandapam. Its a kind of shabby place (has bar facility for people who prefer) & they also have attached hotel for food serving veg & non veg. I couldn't get food as their staffs were on leave when I was there. Otherwise, they charge less, very friendly people. All they need is no ruckus, calm & quiet people who simply stay without making noise or troubles. They were eager to know about my trip & amazed to see & hear such kind of biking group exists. The only drawback being is that, Mandapam is about 15 Kms before Rameshwaram.

Day 3, my ride plan was to visit Sethukarai, Tiruchendur, Kanyakumari & then stay at my Aunt's house at Nagercoil where a big cousin reunion was planned.

Sethukarai...












Enroute from Sethukarai to Tiruchendur; ECR...but reminds me of Jaisalmer




Thamirabharani River


Couldn't help clicking the beauty of this showroom; no matter where you're, you're never far away from a Honda

[Ddrive]

Going great guns RG bro !!
Feels good saying 'Hello' to you here in tbhp.
Keep them comin, Im ready to ride with you virtually.

[mallumowgli]

Awesome start to an awesome trip. Waiting for the rest
Good to see another Nagercoil connection

[naveenroy]

Hello RG!!

Awesome, awesome trip. But what were the dates in which you did this? I thought you had planned this long back.

The photos bring back awesome memories of riding alone on the same routes last December. Same CBR. Nostalgic *sigh*

@mallumowgli - Another Nagercoil connection here

[aargee]

Tiruchendur Beach








After Tiruchendur, I headed off to Nagercoil & missed out riding through the last leg of ECR due to crystal clear sign boards. Probably this was the second step to failure.

One thing I've to mention is the route from Sethukarai to Tuticorin is a pure bliss; trust me, if you haven't ridden on this road, you're missing something. I was slowly cruising around 90's, forgetting about my work, my family; I was like riding without a care or worry about the world & felt I was the only living creature in the entire world, felt like a free man; occasionally a village might show up, other than that, its just nature, bike & the biker.

Let's recap the map of day 3

[aargee]

One of the horrible day; reason one being my sore in the throat was intense + the other cousin whom we were expecting wasn't joining & another cousin had a college to attend was quite a disappointment. Regardless of all these, I made a point to ride to Kanyakumari & Vattakotta (Circular Fort) for Sunrise.

One thing I want to mention is, the impressive FE that I got from Rameshwaram all way upto Nagercoil is a whooping 35+ Kmpl; seriously CBR's FE rocked

Needless to say about this place









Sunset point