[nandita_bayan21]

Prologue

Last year during almost the same time, we were on the highway with our Western and Central India ride for 19 days. This year due to lack of leaves, we couldn’t plan for a bigger ride, hence, had to settle for something which could be covered in lesser days. Lots of places were shortlisted yet nothing was getting firmed up. We wanted to go, relax and enjoy in some beach yet didn’t want overly crowded ones. Goa was completely ruled out as at this point of year the whole of universe would be headed there. Even Pondicherry was filling up quite soon and getting room availability was sparse.

Amruthesh, our friend, didn’t have much to do during that time and decided to join us for the ride. So after much deliberation and debate we agreed upon going to northern beaches of Karnataka and cover few places which we have never seen before. This included Karwar, Kumta, Yana, Honnavar and Gokarna, our base towns being Karwar and Kumta. As always, we looked up for hotels on the Goibibo app as soon as possible and the moment we found out decent ones, we booked them. We would be staying one night in Karwar and two nights in Kumta, while we explore other places. Hotel booking done, Hulk’s service couple of days before the ride done and wait for the ride day began – we were almost nearing the end of the year.

Some quick bytes from the ride:

Bikes: Kawasaki Versys 650, KTM Duke 390
Riders: Atul, Amruthesh and I (pillion)
Dates: 29th, 30th, 31st Dec 2017 and 1st Jan 2018
Route Taken: BTM > Tumkur > Davangere > Haveri > Bankapur > Mundgod > Yellapur > Adlur > Karwar > Kumta > Gokarna > Kumta > Honnavar > Kumta > Sirsi > Haveri > Davangere > Tumkur > BTM
Distance covered: a little over 1400kms
Total expenditure (for two people): Rs 4600 for petrol, Rs 2800 for hotel room and Rs 4100 for food and other expenses = Rs 11500 approx. in total.

[nandita_bayan21]

Day 1

All three of us had a pretty late closure with official work on 28th December due to year end tasks and finishing off all the pending work before all go for a long weekend holiday. Hulk was tanked full the previous night as always and over the weekdays we did most of our packing for the trip. Though our plan was to start early, we agreed on pushing the start time a bit so as to get proper sleep for the ride and we don’t feel fatigue. All three of us got up, got ready, loaded bikes with luggage, got together in our parking lot and started the ride sharp at 6am. Considering a December month morning, it was pretty much cold and mild fog engulfing the atmosphere. Reached Nice Road and took exit for Tumkur Road (Rs 48 per bike toll). Crossed the toll exits for Bangalore and finally hit NH4. The weather was too chilly and all three of us were shivering till our bones. This was a perfect time to stop and sip on some hot tea. Around 7am we stopped near a local bakery and had some tea along with some biscuits. 15 minutes’ break, we decided to head ahead.



Our next pit stop was when Amruthesh’s bike demanded petrol. Covered nearly 230kms from home, both of the guys tanked up the bikes and we resumed our ride. Breakfast plan was to take a detour and enter Davangere town and this time we wanted to try out Ravi Benne Dosa joint on the Church Road, really heard some amazing reviews about this place as they apparently serve the best authentic benne dosas in Davangere. Reached the hotel at around 10:30am, super lucky as it was just about to be closed for the day (11am is the closing time). Ordered our benne dosas and yes, they were really good, loaded with so much of homemade butter (I have never had so much of butter in a single dosa in my life). Though the dosas were killer but I felt Rs 40 per dosa was something on the higher side, may be because of demand and usage of a lot of butter spiked up the price. After devouring the dosas, it was time for wiping off the buttery grease from the palm and have some tea. From a nearby bakery we took tea, relaxed for a while and by 11:15am we geared up, resumed our ride towards the highway and headed for Haveri.





Not sure what was the cause, was it because of the dosas, tiredness, or what, I was feeling so dizzy and sleepy. The boys did all possible talks to keep me awake but then I was feeling way too drowsy. Somehow we reached Haveri and needed to take the diversion for Bankapur. Right at the junction is the famous ‘Delhi Durbar’ restaurant where we all decided to take a quick break, have some tea so that I feel fresh and can resume the journey. After a 10 minutes stop, we started once again around 12:30pm.



The state highway 6 is an amazingly scenic route with many villages to cross, green trees, growing crop fields, the Tibetan settlement of Mundgod and very well-laid tarmac. Somehow I couldn’t get rid of my sleep and it was getting impossible for me to continue sitting behind without falling asleep. The guys decided to stop for a while after crossing Mundgod, let me have some quick power nap and then it would be safe to continue riding. While I slept to my glory on our Hulk for almost 20 minutes, Atul and Amruthesh looked around the place, clicked pictures, took some GoPro shots, chit chat and waited for me to wake up. The place was quite spooky with dried tall trees and dense forest on each side of the road and almost zero traffic flow. Once I got up, washed my face and was in a decent position to go ahead, we started our ride.












We reached Yellapur town at around 2:30pm and decided to have our lunch as this would be the last big town we would cross before reaching Karwar. Parked our bikes, got inside a restaurant and ordered our food. Veg thalis, chapattis and some panner curry followed by tea. By 3:15pm we left the restaurant, took a petrol pitstop and headed towards Karwar which was 100kms away. By now even I was ok and not feeling sleepy any more. Crossed Arbail ghat section and it was a beautiful view of the Western Ghats offering a panoramic landscape of hills packed one behind the other. These ghats has huge numbers of langoors and macaques playing around the roadside so one has to be too careful while driving/riding, sometimes they just lie down in the highway itself and sometimes they come so close to the cars/bikes in search of food.

In between Atul got a call from The Sai International, the hotel we booked in Karwar saying because of certain unavoidable circumstances they would not be able to hold on to our reservations, advised us to look for another stay and would refund our cash immediately. This left us stranded and pissed, but Atul checked into the app and looked for another hotel, found one – Hotel Navaratna and immediately booked it. Thankfully the roads were in very good condition and with lesser breaks from here on, we finally reached Karwar at around 4:30pm. Surprisingly Hotel Navaratna was bang opposite to the Sai International, just across the main road. The boys finished with the hotel formalities, unloaded the bags from the bikes and we went to our room. The hotel is well-maintained property with enough parking space and right in the center of the Karwar town (a deluxe AC room fare was Rs 1100 per night). The Karwar beach was just 5 mins walking distance from the hotel. We got settled inside the room, took some 10-15 mins rest, changed into some comfortable clothes and decided to head towards the beach for the sunset.

Though it wasn’t a rainy day and the sky was partially clear, the sunset that day wasn’t a proper one. It was too hazy and the sun disappeared much before it came near the sea horizon. The Tagore Beach, the sea beach of Karwar is known for its soft sand and is one of finest beach in India. It is certainly a beautiful place which makes us to realize that the beauty of nature is not a mirage of the imagination, but reflects the joy of the infinite marvel and thus draws us to lose ourselves in it. The beach also houses the famous War Museum, displaying the missile boat of Indian Navy, INS Chapal, which we were planning to visit the next day before heading to Kumta.







Being a Friday evening, we were not expecting much crowd in the beach but the place was overly crowded with locals and tourists like us. Walking along the soft sea beach sand and feet touching the cold water of the vast sea, the feeling was just surreal. Along the coastline one could see big ships both of fishermen and Indian Navy (the Karwar Naval Base is some 10 kms away). There were couple of oil rigging ships stationed far off as well. On the beach there is a big market place as well where one can buy clothes, accessories, hats and other fancy stuff along with many food joints serving fast foods, lemonade and juice counters, a small area for kids to play. The whole atmosphere was too colorful and jovial. We wanted to try out some chats so orders gobi manchurian, dahi papdi chat and the usual masala chat. Around 7:30pm we started to walk towards our hotel room.










I wanted to feel fresh and wash away all the tiredness of the day, so decided to take a shower. After me even Amruthesh and Atul took their turns to take bath. After much contemplation and deliberation, all three of us decided to have a very light dinner as stomach was already full with the chats and junk food we ate. Around 9:30pm we again walked towards the beach side where we saw a good restaurant, ‘Drive in’ serving both veg and non-veg food. At that point of time, the restaurant was pretty much empty and luckily they were still serving food. We ordered very minimal food to eat – tandoori rotis, dal fry, mix veg curry and Atul ordered a fish fry for himself.



Done with food, paid the bills, we took a leisurely stroll towards the hotel and on the way the boys had some coconut water to flush down the food. Around 10:45pm we reach the hotel premise, waited outside for some fresh air, spoke for a while and then decided to head up to the room.



11:30pm and all three of us went to bed.

[nandita_bayan21]

Day 2

Not sure why but all three of us got up quite late today, around 9:30am. Though we didn’t have much to do today apart from reaching Kumta before evening, so it wasn’t a very worrisome thing. Three of us got ready and came out for some breakfast, we even planned to visit the Warship Museum post breakfast. Breakfast was done in the same restaurant where we had our dinner the previous day, Drive In. despite being almost 10:30am the place was still serving all the items available for breakfast, we ordered masala dosa, idly vada, poha and chow chow bath along with tea. After having the food, we started walking towards the Warship Museum which is just 2 mins walk away from the restaurant.



Warship Museum is a popular tourist destination in Karwar, situated right across NH66. This is a naval museum situated in the Rabindranath Tagore beach. Entry to the park is priced at Rs 15 per person. INS Chapal (K94), a Chamak class Russian made missile boat, was launched as a missile launcher warship by the Indian Navy. It is one of the 3 ship museums in India and probably the only one in Karnataka. INS Chapal was a star of the 1971 Indo Pak War and missiles from the ship had bombarded Karachi causing large scale damage. It was one of the main reasons behind India's victory in the war. The crew of the ship were awarded prestigious gallantry awards for their bravery and courage. It included 2 PARAM Veer Chakras and 8 Veer Chakras.







After its long tenure of dedicated service, it was decided to turn INS Chapal into a museum ship in 2006. And was brought to the Karwar Beach. The ship is now positioned on a concrete platform so that the rising of sea water does not create any chemical impact on the ship. Being a missile Boat, INS Chapal provides enormous information on sea warfare with the artifacts and other good collections exhibited in this museum. The museum is home to mannequins dressed as doctors, sailors and captains as well as replicas of the missiles used and the food served on board. Apparently, the view from top of the ship to Arabian Sea during sunset is amazingly marvelous.










We took some time exploring the ship from inside, going up to the dock and enjoying the view of the vast Arabian Sea and the endless horizon ahead of us. Around 12 noon we started our walk towards the hotel as our check out time was 1pm. On our way back we had some coconut water and lime juice to quench our thirst, it was getting warmer as the day passed by. On reaching the hotel, we started with our packing, taking shower and getting ready for the ride to Kumta, which was 73 kms away. By 1:30pm we finished all the checkout formalities and started riding towards Kumta via NH 66. This highway is getting constructed and expanded on both sides, so we had to take diversions in few of the sections however, the road condition is still better and provides a beautiful view to a passerby.

It didn’t take us much time to reach Kumta and by 2:45pm we were at our hotel, Panduranga International. Atul and Amruthesh completed the check in formalities and post this we got inside our room. A nice well maintained property, not very new though, with spacious rooms and ample amount for parking both cars and two wheelers. We paid Rs 1700 for two nights for an AC deluxe room in this hotel. There is an in-house restaurant as well which served veg food, the reviews on Goibibo said that the food, though only veg and not very fancy, is of good quality and worth the money you pay. After settling inside our room, unloading the bags and quickly getting freshened up, we decided to head straight for lunch as by 3:30pm serving food will be stopped. We ordered two South Indian meals and a North Indian meal. The reviews were correct, the food was extremely yum and worth every penny we paid. We ended up the lunch with a cup of tea.




After the lunch, we took rest for some 45 mins and decided to go enjoy some beach time at the Kumta Beach which is some 6kms away from our hotel. The beach we went was called Nirvana beach, a widely spread sea flow which gives a picturesque view of the horizon, small fishermen villages on one side and mountain ranges on the other. Luckily, the sand of the beach wasn’t loose and two wheelers can be easily taken inside right close to the water. Also, this place was not overly crowded and finding a perfect spot to park our bikes, relax and enjoy the beach all by ourselves, wasn’t difficult.






Once the bikes were parked safely, we started enjoying the view, clicking as many pictures possible, talk, relish this beautiful moment, try out different angles to shoot both the bikes, capturing the setting sun, endless attempts to get the perfect long exposure images, and what not. Time just flew by and it was already 7:45pm. It was getting extremely dark and not a single person was roaming along the beach. The guard was about to leave for the day and he advised us as well to go as it would be unsafe to stay long in such secluded area. Pulling out Hulk from the beach sand was a bit difficult but we managed to get it off the shore and immediately started riding back to Kumta town. Once we reached highway, we stopped by at a local shop to have some tea and quick snacks.












Around 8:15pm we reached our hotel. As soon as we reached, the guys asked the hotel security guard to do a quick wash of both the bikes thoroughly as sea water is not good for the alloys. Took some time to relax, had some small talks and planned our schedule for next day before heading out for dinner. For dinner went to the same restaurant and ordered tandoori rotis, dal fry, some special veg fried rice, panner curry and for a change, coffee. By 10:30pm we were done with dinner, went out for a quick walk and then came back to our room.

It was almost 11pm and all of us agreed to call it a day, sleep time!

[nandita_bayan21]

Few more clicks from Day 2

At the Rabindranath Tagore Beach, Karwar




Breakfast at Drive In, Karwar


Some more clicks of INS Chapal





The curvy NH66 - Edapally Panvel Highway




Saw a Harley man on our way


Some photo-shoot with the bike and the boys









Capturing the capture


Always looking out for a frame to capture



Let's not forget the view!





Sometimes even I love to be clicked



Long exposure trials

[nandita_bayan21]

Day 3

An early rise today as all three of us got up by 7:30am. Today was the last day of 2017 and we wanted to utilize most of it. We quickly got freshened up and headed for breakfast. Ordered masala dosa, idly vada, Mangalore bun and tea. Finished our food soon and went up our room to get ready for the day. Our plan was to visit Yana caves first and then head out to Gokarna for the New Year’s eve.

As soon as we got out from hotel, the first thing boys did was to tank up the bikes. Soon after we headed out for Yana, which was 60kms away from hotel. We took NH66 to reach the Gokarna cross and from there took right diversion for the Mirjan – Ramnagar road to reach Yana. Though the route was very scenic and runs along river Gangavali, the roads were extremely bad, patchy bumpy and too much of gravels. This took us lots of time and we were highly exhausted by the time we reached Yana caves’ entry gate, which was around 10:30am. Surprisingly the place was too crowded with tourists flocking in buses, cars and bikes. Somehow got a place to park both of our bikes, took our belongings and headed to explore the cave. Atul was not convinced that it was safe to park the bikes as the green color of Hulk attracts a lot of unnecessary attention. We agreed to come back as soon as possible.

Yana caves are known for their unusual karst rock formations where two unique rocks outcrops. From the main entrance gate, the caves can be seen after trekking for almost half a kilometer. These huge rocks are composed of solid black, crystalline limestone. This place is also famous for the cave temple where there is a self-manifested linga. Water drips from the roof over the linga and adds to the sanctity of the place, we however, couldn’t see any water drips during our visit. One can access the interior of the caves by entering through the temple (leaving our shoes outside). The place and the surrounding hillocks are known for the evergreen scenic beauty. We walked around the caves, explore the surroundings, clicked pictures and spent some time here before deciding to head back for Kumta. I personally liked this cave as it was truly unique and haven’t seen something like this before.























As expected people were already sitting on Hulk and the D390, clicking pictures and fiddling with all the controls. I don’t understand what fun people get by rotating the accelerator when the bike is stand still and not in motion. Anyway, we had to ask people to get off the bikes and this at time can get extremely frustrating. Due to too much heat, three of us decided to have some coconut juice and fresh lime juice before starting our horrid ride back to Kumta through those extremely bad roads once again. And this time with Sun shining right above us to make the matter worst. Nonetheless, we reached our hotel by around 2:30pm and the first thing we all wanted to do was to have lunch as all three of us were dying of hunger. Ordered jeera rice, dal fry, and South and North Indian meals. How can we not have some tea after our food?

Hogging food to our glory, we came up to our room, packed up some clothes for going to Gokarna, took only minimal stuff, rested for a while and headed to spend the New Year at Gokarna. Kumta to Gokarna distance was just 30kms so it didn’t take us much time to reach there via NH 66, we already reached by 5pm. But then soon we realized that the plan to come to Gokarna wasn’t a great one. Hundreds and thousands of people were flocking around this town and it was hell so crowded. Amruthesh made some arrangements to keep our bikes parked safely inside the premise of a home stay, which he visited sometimes back. Knowing the fact that the bikes are parked with no hassles was a complete relief for all of us. From here we started our stroll towards the Gokarna beach.

There were hordes of tourists walking around and playing in the beach. The otherwise calm and relaxing beach is now completely chaotic and overcrowded. I don’t like crowded places at all and it takes away all the fun of enjoying special moments. Camel rides, hawkers selling all sorts of funky things, food carts, balloon guys and innumerable heads – everyone were busy enjoying the last evening of the year. We decided we would spend some time here, click pictures, have food and return to our base at Kumta to bring in the New Year. The boys did some dipping in the sea while I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view. The last setting Sun and the view was extremely marvelous, a photographer’s delight to capture such moments. After the Sun was down, three of us sat down on the sand, spoke for a while, talked about the year passing by and had some quality time. There was a changing room as well where the guys changed and freshened up.





By now all of us were hungry so we took a walk towards the restaurants and sat for some quick snacks in a local fast food joint. Ordered gobi manchurian, pasta, veg noodles and coffee/tea. It was already 8pm and we had to reach Kumta. Took out the bikes from the home stay parking, got a cake for the New Year celebration and straight away headed for Kumta. Busy highway road with too many trucks and heavy vehicles plying yet it didn’t take much time for us to reach our hotel, may be 45 mins. Time was 9:30pm and we were inside our hotel room. The reception guy told us to have our dinner as the restaurant was about to close soon, all staff would leave home early. Came down for food and ordered our dinner, special veg fried rice, tandoori rotis, paneer butter masala and dal fry. Ending of food has to be with a cup of tea. After food we spent some time in our room until it was 11:30pm, when we came to the parking area of the hotel and decided to spend time here until 12am.

Some chit chats, jokes, flash back of old times and in no time New Year just came by – it was 2018. Three of us wished each other, ate cake, enjoyed the moments and appreciated the fact that yet again this year we were together as friends forever amidst all ups and downs. Spent some more time here and around 1am the security guard advised us to go to our room, we obliged.

All three of us crashed into our beds and slept for the day. As we wake up it will be a new day, new beginning with new hopes and many newer adventures. Happy New Year!

[nandita_bayan21]

Day 4

And so here we are, beginning of a brand new year altogether. Three of us woke up around 8am in the morning, freshened up and headed straight to eat breakfast. Ordered masala dosa, idly vada, khara bath and Mangalore bun along with some tea and coffee. Everyone around seemed to be happy, jovial and embracing the new day of the New Year. The atmosphere was extremely joyous and satisfying. We took our time eating our food, enjoying everything around and discussing about what would be the plan for the day. We were returning home today after going quickly to Honnavar, explore some places and then head home via Sirsi.

With food done, three of us went to our room, packed bags, took shower and got ready for the check out. Atul finished with all the remaining hotel formalities, loaded our bikes with bags and around 10:30am we left the hotel and went towards Honnavar. In between we took the first petrol break for the day. Our plan was to go see the famous Sharavathi River Bridge (rail) in Honnavar which was some 21kms away. Roads to Honnavar were in extremely good condition and we reached here in some 30 mins.




Honnavar, known for its simplicity in today’s era of modernization, is a port town in North Karnataka. It is famous for its beaches and traditional dance forms. We rode through the town and came across Road Bridge above Sharavathi River, however, we wanted to check out the rail bridge. Sharavathi River originates and flows entirely in Karnataka and is one of the few westward flowing rivers. I wasn’t aware, but the famous Jog falls are formed by this river. Apparently, the river is rich in biodiversity and is home to many rare species of flora and fauna. The river also has three high power generating stations, bringing in electricity potential to the region.

















Asked a lot of locals about the specific view point from where we could see the rail bridge. After moving around endlessly for some 40kms in and out Honnavar town, asking million people about the location, ending up coming just below the bridge via some village, getting inside some interior remote area, we were just about to give up as we were wasting time finding something which might not even exist. Just then Amruthesh decided to ask a last person about the place from where we could get the curvy view of the rail bridge, the man was kind enough, he guided us through the way and right behind the college named SDM College ground and walking for some distance one could see the perfect view of the rail bridge. We thank that person a lot and I guess roaming around aimlessly for such a long time was worth the view.






So for people who wouldn’t be aware, Sharavathi River Rail Bridge carries the Konkan railway over the river and is the longest bridge on that railway and probably the longest railway bridge in the state. The view was completely blissful and I clicked as many pictures I could, as this was after an effort of two hours. It might sound crazy but I feel that roaming around for two hours to see this view was completely worthwhile. Amruthesh watched after the bikes while Atul and I captured some pictures. Post this we immediately geared up and started our ride towards Kumta. Why Kumta again? Well, our initial plan was to go to Bangalore via Shimoga but since we lost considerable amount of time here in Honnavar we decided to take the Sirsi route to reach home, it was longer yet faster.

On our way back to Kumta, we once again stopped at our Panduranga hotel for lunch at around 2:15pm. We thought it would be better to have lunch here and then keep going as not sure whether we would get any place to eat ahead. We kept lunch simple, ordered some tandoori rotis, panner curry and dal fry. Bidding goodbye to Kumta, we started our ride towards home by 3pm.

The road towards Sirsi was super scenic and almost in really good conditions. Only some stretches the road was patchy and had potholes but otherwise the ride was pleasant and non-exhausting. We stopped by at couple of places to click some quick pictures so as not to make the afternoon ride too boring. 4:45pm and we reached Sirsi town, decided to take a quick tea break before we ride a bit more and hit highway. After crossing the Sirsi city limit, we stopped by at a local tea shop and drank some tea with snacks. 15 mins break and we started again.






By 6:15pm we hit the Bangalore Pune highway through Haveri. From here on as usual it was a fast highway run to cover as much distance possible. In between we took a quick petrol break and kept on riding with very less stops in between. Sometime around 9:30pm we stopped by at a local dhaba to have our dinner, this was some distance before Tumkur. Ordered omelet, tandoori roti, chicken curry, paneer curry and then at the end piping hot tea. 10:15pm we resumed our ride and home was just 120kms away.

In no time we reached Nelamangala, then Nice road entry for Bannerghatta road (paid toll of Rs 48). Around 11:45pm, sharp before midnight, we reached home. Amruthesh bid us goodbye and headed out towards him home. This was the end of our New Year ride and the beginning of many more rides/trips to come in the future.

[theMAG]

Mod's note: Moving thread from Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[dailydriver]

One more adventure for the Three Musketeers and a delectable travelogue for the rest of us! In its truest sense, you guys live to ride & travel.

A feature of all your travelogues that draws me towards them is your focus on and enjoyment of food. Wherever you go, you do full justice to the local cuisine.

Wish I could travel at least half as much as you .

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

A feature of all your travelogues that draws me towards them is your focus on and enjoyment of food. Wherever you go, you do full justice to the local cuisine..

I think apart from riding, driving, clicking pictures, seeing places, our other love would be love for food . So as much as possible we try and experience local cuisines of all the places we visit.

[atul.ktm]

I know it's more than 3 months to this ride, nevertheless here goes the video for Day 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI1dALvMBlM

[atul.ktm]

Video of Day 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHR_gnr0ZKQ

Video of Day 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Q5A_Sxz40

[atul.ktm]

Finally, video of Day 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lwCr8kkIlU&t=6s

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by atul.ktm

Finally, video of Day 4:

Thanks for sharing the videos, Atul