The Coffee Luxuriance !

Some pictures at:    

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157638501527114/

A weekend trip with friends to the Balur Estate, about 25 Kms from Mudigere on the Kalasa road took us to the Coffee Luxuriance around Western Ghats of Karnataka.  Surrounded by quiet picturesque wooded trees and the silhouettes of mountain tops to the western sun, a little windy road takes you up on the Ghat section.  The silence is further enhanced as except BSNL telephone, nothing works!  No TV, but served with excellent food from time to time and unlimited coffee!

The staffs were kind and helpful.  The lady cook was too good. In the evening we had a Bon fire light and sometime went star gazing.  

Balur Estate Link: http://linger-at-balur.in/

Had a quick tour of the Coffee estate and some 400 acres are maintained well.  One could see how the coffee taken from the plants were brought the dried beans stage ready for the auction.   

Returned on Sunday evening, back to the hustle bustle of the city !

Bangalore – Hassan – Belur – Mudigere – Pattaduru – Balur = 290 Kms

Left:  Saturday,   6.00 AM Shoppers Stop Bannerghatta Road

Arrived:  12 noon with one stop

My Avenger 40 Kms / litre

Getting There:

Nelamangala > Hassan > Belur

At Belur, turn left towards the Belur Temple/Mudigere towards Mudigere Handpost

(2 kms)

At the Handpost, at the circle, you need to take a left towards Kottegehara. ( 9 Kms)

*Make a call to Balur Estate

At Kottegehara take the road going towards Kalasa,

At Balur Village, take the left "U" hairpin - still towards Kalasa/Kudremukh about 2 Kms

There's a small fork going left towards a gate and a bungalow (behind trees) - this is Balur Estate.

Madurai - Kanayakuari

Happy Diwali to all.  We had a lovely trip to Kanyakumari and back; Zarryl Lobo and myself.  As per my calculation, we did 1429 Kms on my odometer and I got 44 Km /litre for mileage.  

Some Pics are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157632006999260/show/

 On 10 November 2012, we left around 5.30 AM and were in Madurai by 1 PM.  Spent the evening walking around and visited the famous Madurai Meenakshi Temple.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Some history below if you need. Then next day we proceeded to Kanya Kumari, at the Southern tip of India.    We stayed at the Tamilnadu Guest house and visited the Vivekananda rock, the Kanyakumari temple. Ah, we missed the sunrise and the sunset, cloudy weather. 

 Next we went to see an old classmate from the dental school, at Kulasegaram.  It was pleasant and caught up on old memories with him. Returned via Madurai on Tuesday 13 Nov. by 4 pm.

      It was a nice trip and NH highway route 7 is good. But, real boring to hit a straight patch for some 25 hours + !

Some History:

 

     Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple a historic Hindu temple located in the southern banks of river Vaigai in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Parvati who is known as Meenakshi and her consort, Shiva, named here as Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai. The complex houses 14 gateway towers called gopurams, ranging from 45-50m in height, the tallest being the southern tower, 51.9 metres (170 ft) high, and two golden sculptured vimana, the shrine over sanctum of the main deities. The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure is built during 1623 to 1655 CE. The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day, around 25,000 during Fridays and gets annual revenue of sixty million. There is an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the "New Seven Wonders of the World". The annual 10 day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival celebrated during April–May attracts 1 million visitors.

Meenakshi is an avatar of the Hindu goddess Parvati - the consort of Shiva. She is also one of the few Hindu female deities to have a major temple devoted to her.

Thirugnanasambandar, the famous Hindu saint of Saiva philosophy, mentioned this temple as early as the 7th century, and described the deity as Aalavai Iraivan. The temple was believed to be sacked by the infamous Muslim invader Malik Kafur in 1310 and all the ancient elements were destroyed.  The initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559–1600) under the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar.

At Kanyakumari:

The Kanya is still waiting for Shiva to come and marry her, just close by at Suchendram.  A clever mishap conducted by Narada Muni so that the virgin Kanya could kill Banasura the Demon. She is still awaits Lord Shiva.

The small ride to the Vivekananda rock was serene, quite and calm.  The adjacent rock had the statue of Thiruvalluvar, the famous Tamil poet.    

At the Vivekananda rock, I liked the expression on ‘AUM’!

     AUM - Symbol of Absolute;  The essence of the Vedas, described by the Upanishads as the total human and divine consciousness; Recommended  by Swami Vivekananda as the great unifier of all Indian people; Praised by Sri Ramakrishna as a bridge between God with form and God without form.

Aurangabad – Ellora Ride

3-8 October 2011

I took the opportunity of  Dashara ( Dasha-Hara = Victory of Good over Evil ) holidays to ride out to Northern Maharashtra this time. It was a Solo ride and the purpose was to see the famous Ellora caves. 

Some pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157627728169783/show/

Since I left in the afternoon of Monday, I halted at Chitradurga 200 Kms, on NH 4 and continued my journey the next day on National Highway 13 and then 211. Preferred the  straight road up north  and country side roads. Deccan Plateau was very windy.  Roads are not so good from Chitradurga to Hospet. Unmarked speed breakers can kill your back and your bike shocks if you don’t watch out. The warning sign boards are almost next to the speed breakers ;-)   After that it is a 4 lane highway (under construction) up to Solapur. Though I had Ajanta on mind I could do only Ellora.  Ajanta would have taken me another day and a half.

The caves are a real treasure of ancient India and the kind of thoughts people  had, and  expressed it by way of architectural excellence and sculpting skills. There are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain carvings. The Kailash temple and the temple for Mahavira are really good. All these dates back to about 8^th century AD ! Enroute the Doulatabad fort is historic and from about the same period.  Interesting places to see in Aurangabad are the mini Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb’s resting place, naturally harvested water bodies, a sleeping Hanuman Temple ! Two days stay at Aurangabad was at ‘Tirupati Hotel’ with South Indian food ! The weather was good biking weather all through. Returned by the same route.

Route and some logistics:

(Overnight halt underlined )

Bangalore > Chitradurga > Hospet > Bijapur > Solapur > Taljapur > Osmanabad > Beed > Aurangabad > Doulatabad > Ellora > Aurangabad > Bijapur > Hospet > Bangalore.

Aurangabad - Hospet was 710 Kms my longest so far in one day.  

Total Kms : Home to Home :  1895 Kms :  

Aurangabad > Ellora Aurangabad was by AC/Cab ;-) and hence 60 kms not included.

Total Gas consumed:  41.25 Liters  = 45.9 Kms. The petrol rate was lowest at Beed, Rs. 70.44 per liter.

Aurangabad – Ellora Ride

3-8 October 2011

I took the opportunity of  Dashara ( Dasha-Hara = Victory of Good over Evil ) holidays to ride out to Northern Maharashtra this time. It was a Solo ride and the purpose was to see the famous Ellora caves. 

Some pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157627728169783/show/

Since I left in the afternoon of Monday, I halted at Chitradurga 200 Kms, on NH 4 and continued my journey the next day on National Highway 13 and then 211. Preferred the  straight road up north  and country side roads. Deccan Plateau was very windy.  Roads are not so good from Chitradurga to Hospet. Unmarked speed breakers can kill your back and your bike shocks if you don’t watch out. The warning sign boards are almost next to the speed breakers ;-)   After that it is a 4 lane highway (under construction) up to Solapur. Though I had Ajanta on mind I could do only Ellora.  Ajanta would have taken me another day and a half.

The caves are a real treasure of ancient India and the kind of thoughts people  had, and  expressed it by way of architectural excellence and sculpting skills. There are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain carvings. The Kailash temple and the temple for Mahavira are really good. All these dates back to about 8^th century AD ! Enroute the Doulatabad fort is historic and from about the same period.  Interesting places to see in Aurangabad are the mini Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb’s resting place, naturally harvested water bodies, a sleeping Hanuman Temple ! Two days stay at Aurangabad was at ‘Tirupati Hotel’ with South Indian food ! The weather was good biking weather all through. Returned by the same route.

Route and some logistics:

(Overnight halt underlined )

Bangalore > Chitradurga > Hospet > Bijapur > Solapur > Taljapur > Osmanabad > Beed > Aurangabad > Doulatabad > Ellora > Aurangabad > Bijapur > Hospet > Bangalore.

Aurangabad - Hospet was 710 Kms my longest so far in one day.  

Total Kms : Home to Home :  1895 Kms :  

Aurangabad > Ellora Aurangabad was by AC/Cab ;-) and hence 60 kms not included.

Total Gas consumed:  41.25 Liters  = 45.9 Kms. The petrol rate was lowest at Beed, Rs. 70.44 per liter.

Gujarat Ride Nov 2010

Kem cho (How are you?) is probably the I Gujarati phrase I came across in conversation.

Gujarat with its unique geological and topographical landscape, history, and its hospitable people, was my choice for exploring on my motorcycle this past Diwali week. Sabarmati Ashram, Dwarka, Rann of Kutch and Somanath were a priority on my list. At IFMR, my friend Rtn. Srinivas Babu who had not done any long rides said he would accompany me. He is a good and a safe rider and so it was an instant ‘Yes’ to him. He wanted to check out his endurance too.

Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157625389321984/
Click on slide show
Equipment:
Prithvi: Bajaj Avenger 200
Srinivas: TVS Apache RTR 160

We booked our bikes with Gati to Ahmedabad around 22nd Oct. On Saturday 30th October, we flew down to Ahmedabad and picked out our bikes from the warehouse. It was well packed and there were no damages. We just had to fill in petrol and we were at to our hotel by 12.30 pm. We did some local sight seeing and visited the Sabarmati Ashram.

My friend, PDG. Rtn. Dr. Shasank Rathod (ophthalmologist) had invited some friends over and had organized a meet with his club Rotarians, Ahmedabad Metro at his home and later dinner at Manjuben’s house. It was full Diwali flavor on their sprawling lawns and hospitality genuinely at its best. The President presented us with their club banner. Met many Rotarians and literally it was Ahmedabad Metro that flagged off our ride! We cannot forget the enthusiasm of PDG Joitabhai Patel on giving us directions and PDG. Dr. Vyas’s presentation of Saturday night humor books. Thanks to all for a memorable evening of fellowship and friendship

We left early next morning and the route we took is below. Overnight halts are in Bold letters.

Ahmedabad > Gandhinagar > Modhera > Becharaji > Dasada > Patdi > Kharaghoda > (The little Rann of Kutch) Patdi > Surendernagar > Rajkot > Jamnagar > Dwarka > Okha > Bet Dwarka > Dwarka > ( 773 Kms) Porbandar > Somanath > Sasan Gir > Junagadh > Gondal > Rajkot > Bagodra > Nal Sarover > Bagodara > Lothal > Bagodara > Vadodara > (1635 Kms) Valsaad > Saputara > Nashik > Shirdi > (2170) Sangamner > Pune > Satara > Kolhapur > Belgaum > (2711 Kms) Chitradurga > Bangalore. (3218 Kms)

3218 Kms Traveled.

Observations:

1. Sabarmati Ashram: Salutations and respects paid to the outstanding Indian leader!
2. Akshardham: At Gandhinagar, visit to the temple. We were early and it was not open yet.
3. Modhera: 85 Kms NW of Amdavad, to see the magnificent Sun temple, 1026 AD, about 100 years older than the Konarak temple. (13th Century) The temple was built by King Bhimdev.
4. Rann of Kutch: It is awesome ! Literally a desert and we rode into it for about 12 Kms with a local. Had a cup of tea with the nomads who were working there sitting on a ‘charpai’ and the setting sun. We sighted some Wild Asses too.
5. Island of Bet Dwarka: A boat ride from OKA land's end is real nice. Dwarka itself has a beautiful temple and the Shankar Math, initiated by revered Shankara 9th Century
6. Somanath: The coastal ride to Somanath from Dwarka is superb.
7. Sasan Gir: We could not see the Asiatic lions at Sasan Gir, but the ride was nice.
8. Girnar Hill: at Junagadh, with Ashoka's inscriptions at the base of the hill. 250 BC

Had a flat rear tire at Rajkot and thanks to Srinivas, who was able to bring in a mechanic from 1 km down the road, to fix it.

9. Nal Sarovar and Lothal: From Bagodara each is located on either side of the highway. 2500 BC Harappan time excavations, takes you back in time to see the community’s rain water harvesting system !
10. Shirdi: Temple visit, not much crowds.
11. Kolhapur: Lakshmi temple visit and rode down to Belgaum
12. Home Stretch: Left Belgaum at 6 am in the morning, and reached home at 4.15 pm. (507) Kms. Some rain encountered on the way.
13. Gujarat Roads on average are very good.
14. Odometers: The accuracy to Odometers is another subject. Consistently the Apache Kms were more than my Odo. One test run of 1 Km on my Odo showed 1.1 on the Apache. That’s a 10 % diff straight away. Subsequently, I have checked my Odometer with the AGPS from my Nokia phone, and found it to be accurate on 3 diff readings.

“Aavo Padharo”, are the words of welcome in the language of Gujarat and true to it the people of Gujarat are gregariously friendly, inviting and will entice you to come again and again. Ever friendly and eager to give directions, at any intersection, three people would give directions at the same time !

Total Gas used: 76.56 Liters
Mileage; 42 Kms / liter

A Spiritual Himalayan Sojourn

Motorcycling Solo in the Grandeur!

01 June 2010 to 16 June 2010
Vahana: Bajaj Avenger 200 cc (2008 model)
PDG. Rtn. Dr.Prithvi Raval
Dental Surgeon and Prosthodontist


Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets

There comes a time in life when spirituality makes sense. Religions have always been different in approach but spirituality is biocentric. And, then what better place is there in India that allows you to quench that thirst other than a visit to the Himalayas?!

Most people thought I was crazy when I mentioned Motorcycle and Badrinath but to me it was a challenge. ‘Solo’ is good on a spiritual journey, one needs to be with the ‘self’ and helps introspection.

Having decided to take my motorcycle on the train with me to Delhi, I left a couple of hours early to the station as the motorcycle needed to be packed and booked. Many thanks to my thoughtful friend Rtn. Ramdas Pai who was there to assist me and see me off at the Railway station, it made things easier. I was off on the KK Express at 7.20 pm with my bike in the luggage van.

Petrol Tank needed to be emptied at the station and some bribe to see that the bike is on the train with you, sometimes, they will send it next day. It was loaded nice and neat and there was no scratch or damage when I retrieved at the other end. I pushed my bike to the nearest petrol bunk and it started at the press of the button.

Sweltering heat at 43 degrees, Delhi was horrible and it was 12 noon! Nevertheless, I headed towards Gaziabad and Meerut. The industrial pollution as you leave is enough to make you sick! It’s construction all over and Delhi and the city did not appear to be the same as before anymore. By evening 6.30 pm I was at Haridwar and checked into the coolness of A/C room at Parth hotel. It was bliss, especially knowing that next 10 days would be the hills and cool riding!

Below is my journey details, and cities underlined are overnight halts. Some logistics on mileage done and gas consumption are also mentioned.

Delhi > Meerut > Roorkee > Haridwar > (221 Kms) Rishikesh > Devaprayag > Rudraprayag > Gaucher > (408 Kms) Karnaprayag > Nandaprayag >Chamoli > Pipalkoti > Joshimath > Vishnuprayag > Govindghat > Badrinath (544 Kms) Mana (549 Kms) Badrinath

Badrinath > Joshimath > Auli > Joshimath > Karnaprayag > Rudraprayag > (735 Kms) Srinagar > New Tehri > Chamba > Chham > Uttarkashi > (1002 Kms)

Uttarkashi > Gangotri > Uttarkashi > (1197 Kms)

Uttarkashi > Chham > Chamba > Narendranagar > Rishikesh >
Rishikesh > Haridwar > Lal Dhang > Kotadwar >Landsdown > Kotadwar > Najidabad > Rishikesh (1690 Kms)

Rishikesh > Vasishta Guha > Rishikesh (1726 Kms)

Rishikesh > Dehra Dun > Mussorie > Kempty Falls > Haridwar > (1904 Kms)

Haridwar > Roorkee > Meerut > Delhi (2185) > Bangalore station > Home (2192 Kms)
Total distance done 2192* Kms

* Local run of about 50 Kms included, done in Delhi and other places.

On the trip:

I was amazed to see the number of pilgrims set out, it looked like all of North was there, cars, vans SUV’s buses, all loaded with people. I must have seen atleast about 1000 motorcyclists, most of them with pillions. Especially from the Sikh community, who were traveling in large numbers to Hemkund Sahib via Govind Ghat.

The number of Sadhus walking from place to place doing the ‘Char Dham’ the 4 holy places in the region; Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath & Badrinath. Many of them were physically handicapped too. I did see a few women sanyasins as well.

Badrinath was very cold the day I was there, it had rained and no heating in the room. It must have been 8 degrees C. Enroute, about 25 Kms of the road is real bad, and lot of rock fall. Repair work and hydroelectric power work is in full swing on the Alkananda. Mana the last Indian village on the border is real cute and scenic, only 5 Kms from Badrinath.

Rudraprayag is beautiful as one can see the two colors of the 2 rivers joining up viz: Mandakini and Alkananda. Similarly at Devaprayag, the rivers Bhagirathi and Alkananda meet in a unique way. The grandeur of the Himalayas and the glaciers are simply fantastic.

Traffic is so heavy in some places that going 2 ways is a problem in some areas. Police hold up one side and let the other side proceed and alternate every 1 hour or so. Fortunately the motorcyclists get by these blockades. Some of the roads are real narrow and we need to be extra careful. Many times the opposing traffic is coming in our lane round a blind corner!

Food was not a big issue for me. Paratha, dal, fruits, curds and the local vegetarian stuff kept me going. Mineral water is a must. Leeches at Rs. 80 per Kg was superb. Not forgetting the Dosa meal at a dhaba at Dharali, way out in the wilderness !

While traveling to very hot and very cold places, there is problem of clothing, you have to carry both types, light and warm clothing. Also, protection from a good visor from sharper UV rays is mandatory. Uttaranchal dormitory guest houses are good at Rs.200.00 as and when available.

Auli, about 20 Kms from Joshimath is another cute place, should be gorgeous in Dec / Jan when skiing starts. Nice resort and cable car.

There were many vehicles at Gangotri, and a 3 Kms pile up, no place to turn closer to the temple. Bikes are great. Vasishta Guha is real quite and nice. The cave is real deep inside, serene non - commercial atmosphere.

Lansdowne, Dehra Dun, Mussorie and Kempty falls are usual tourist places. Plenty of scenic landscape and nice roads in the area. Weekend crowds and heavy traffic everywhere when I was there.

Return journey to Delhi, Bangalore was uneventful. I took the Rajadhani from H.Nizamudin station. This is better for booking bikes than the Delhi Central. Bike came in the luggage van without a scratch. Train arrived at 6.40 am and after some 45 minutes procedure, I was home with my bike at 8.15 am

It was a wonderful trip ! Touchwood I did not have any problems with my bike on the entire trip. It was fill gas and go. A dependable bike !

My Motorcycle is maintained by Bajaj Auto Service; BSK, Bangalore. My thanks to Mr. Venkat Shyam; Mr. Babu, the service engineer and his staff for all the pre-trip assistance they provided and procedures carried out.

Ride Safe !


Some Logistics:

Departure 01 June
Train: KK Express; Bangalore > Delhi
Time: 7.20 PM Arrive; June 03 at Delhi 10.40 AM

Departure June 14 – 2010
Train Rajadhani Express; Delhi > Bangalore
Time: 8.50 PM; Arrive June 16 at Bangalore 6.40 am

Odometer at Start: 11792 Kms
Odometer at Finish 13984 Kms
Total Trip 2192 Kms
Total Petrol used 56 Liter
Cost of Petrol 2820 Rs
Mileage obtained 39.14 / liter