Place:Melukote Trek. Distance: 200 x 2 = 400kms.Directions: Bengaluru – Bidadi – Channpatna – Mandya - MelukoteParticiapants: Gowrish (Gorisha) > Karthik (Sp).Bikes: Pulsar Previous visit: KabbaladurgaTrek
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:Alright, this was another very nice trip to the wonderful and peaceful land of Melukote. But this time we trekked to a beautiful spot and relaxed in the heavy downpour. And trek at this place was something new we did and well the battle between the sun and rain was something we were familiar with.
INTRO & PLAN:It was about a week since my solo trek to Kabbaldurga. And I was already bored of not being on the road (yeah, sometimes I go towards the mental side of the spectrum). Gow had accompanied last, on our venture to Gudibande. So, asked him if he was willing to take leave, when it was a go from his end, I took leave as well and decided to head out. I decided the place to be Melukote as I knew it would be slush green due to the nice ongoing rains.TIME: 22:00 (18/6/2015)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Yeah I was up at 05:00, did a few push ups & situps, had a cup of coffee. Gow called me in the morning and said he couldn’t come to my place as he had problems with his Dio. So, I left my home at 06:15 and took the NICE road to electronic city. Rode to Bomnahalli to pick Gowrish up from his home. After which we took back the NICE road and as we were riding, we spotted the company bus moving in the opposite lane. We made faces and continued to reach Mysore road. Just before reaching NICE road exit, we spotted two beautiful peacocks resting on the boulders. Wishing them a very good morning, we were set for a good day on the road.
TIME: 07:30
RIDE 1: (Bangalore– Bidadi – Channpatna – Mandya - Melukote)This was a good 150kms ride, both on country roads and highway. Initially to start things off I rode at a decent pace chatting along the highway. As it was Friday, there wasn’t much traffic to ride to. We reached Bidadi in about 30mins to munch down on some usual tasty breakfast.TIME: 08:00
After the breakfast, we had some hot tea and proceeded towards Ramnagar. The weather was pleasant and very nice to ride to. We cruised past Ramnagar and Maddur to reach the outskirts of Mandya. At the outskirts of Mandya, we again pulled over for some tea. After crossing the town of Mandya we took a right deviation and entered into the country roads.
The ride post this deviation never fails to disappoint us. Greenery began to flood both sides of the road and light drizzle made riding almost ideal. The smell of the sugarcane being processed added flavor to the entire ride as well. The roads were in pretty neat conditions and we cruised along well until we could get the first glimpse of the temple.
But just then, the clouds burst open and down came the rain with all its mighty force. We ran into an abandoned brick factory to take shelter. From here the hill began to look scary as the mist had begun to shroud it. TIME: 11:30
Once the rains reduced, we made it to our bike which looked peaceful after a neat drench. (guess it was refusing to go ahead :P) We took off on our bike, the roads being wet I rode slow to make it to the base of the hills. The minor ghat section was executed to perfection with joy. We parked the bike at the Kalyani and headed towards our “Peace spot”TIME: 11:45
MELUKOTE:
The temple looked pretty intimidating to be frank. Black clouded background gave it a dark hue. We walked down to our regular spot. After showing Gow around the spot, we decided to trek further. With no one around, the trek was actually pretty good. The greenery and the boulder filled terrain offered us a good amount of challenge.
After making to flat land we found some fruits which Gow explained, when thrown against rocks, it would explode and release this yellow powder just like a bomb in movies. First I tried a few, next thing you know, I was throwing them all over the place. The fake bomb kept us entertained for quite some time. Finally after climbing a few more stretches we made it to a wonderful place. From here we got this beautiful view of a lake afar. There was gray clouds surrounding this lake, but the waters of the lake glittered in the beams of light that fell upon only it and nothing else. It was truly a breath taking sight to witness.
We decided to crash overwhelmed by the sight of the beautiful lake. After crashing down, we spoke about work, friends etc. It was not long before the dark clouds on top gave away to heavy rains. I gave my riding jacket to Gow to protect himself and well me? I began dancing in the rain with joy :P (I am not joking)All of a sudden, we could hardly spot the lake itself.Thin curtains of rain accompanied by fog whirled around us. And the fog had completely gobbled up the lake making it invisible. Once the curtains of fog died down a little, the sun again began to reveal itself. We decided it was time to head back.
We trekked back along the same pathway (trying out the fruit bombs again haha:P ) and made it to the temple premises. We got onto my bike and took off from the place.TIME: 13:30
RIDE 2: (Melukote – Mandya – Ramnagara – Bangalore)This was 150kms ride back with one lunch stop in between. As we left Melukote, I asked Gow about his call on visiting Tonnur Kere. When it was a red signal, we rode back in the same route. As we rode back the rains came down gushing at us again, and this time pretty mercilessly. I was riding the bike, I pulled over. Gave my jacket to Gow to wear and I rode in my tee enjoying every bit of the heavy rains. Gow sat behind thinking I had gone mad. We reached back highway post Mandya and headed towards Mysore to settle in our regular dhaba. But as the cook was on leave, we proceeded a few kilometres towards Mysore and settled in the immediate next dhaba for some lunch.TIME:15:00
After the decent lunch, we left the dhaba afloat. After which Gow took over the bike and rode at a decent pace as the conditions were just ideal. The rains had left the roads and surroundings calm. And we rode pretty much a constant pace cruising past Mandya, Maddur, Ramnagar. As we reached Bidadi, we pulled over the highway for some hot tea. It had begun to get dark already. And as we approached the outskirts of Bangalore, we got stuck in rain again and this time along with traffic (deadly combo)We pushed on through to enter NICE road at Mysore road and proceeded towards Hosur road. As we rode towards his home, again spotted the company bus returning back, again we made faces and proceeded. Dropped back Gow to his home at Bomnahalli. After that again (4th time for the day) took the NICE road and reached back home. It was almost a 400kms kickass ride for the day. TIME: 19:45
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