[Geo_Ipe]

Four Himalayans tame the Nilgiris

It had been an eternity since the mighty Himalayan did a multi-day trip! So, when the opportunity came in the second week of December, leaves were applied for and a plan was made. A four-day plan was hatched: Thursday to Sunday. Rough itinerary was prepared:

D1: Vellore to Coonoor
D2: Coonoor/Ooty
D3: Ooty
D4: Ooty to Vellore

The ride was organized by fellow Himalayan owner from Chennai – Sam. The fact that Sam was born & brought up in Ooty made the whole planning business easier i.e. Sam would do the whole planning! Magesh & Shiva joined from Chennai. Yours truly joined from Vellore.


Day 1: Chennai/Vellore to Coonoor
Sam was already in Ooty, so it was the other 3 Himalayans which rode together on day 1. The 2 Chennai Himalayans started by around 6:30 am – got a little delayed by rain and traffic, and reached Vellore by 9:30 am where I joined.

Had breakfast at one of the many Aaryas restaurant near the toll gate at Pallikonda. I’d never met my co riders in person before, however we were all familiar with each other over WhatsApp!


Progress was slow and steady as we stuck to around 80-90 kmph on the beautiful TN highways! Took a short break at Krishnagiri and proceeded.

Stopped for lunch at this complex with Indian Oil petrol bunk and Sai Sangeeth restaurant, just beyond Dharmapuri.


Our plan was to head off the highway before Salem, via Thoppur – Mecheri – Mettur – Sathyamangalam – Mettupalayam and finally Coonoor. The idea was to ride the less taken path and enjoy the single carriageway rural TN roads.




The disadvantage of taking the less trodden path was that it was taking more time than anticipated. We had to stop again as it started pouring and pull out our rain gear. Evening time + wet roads + unfamiliar route = lot of delays! We crossed Mettupalayam by 8 pm and started the ascent. Temperatures dipped and it was already raining! To add to our woes, mist started settling in soon. This was the worst mist I had encountered in my life and I had to be on a motorcycle when it happened!! Visibility was extremely poor. Shiva had MadDog foglamps with yellow filters, so he led the way. I could see his tail lamp and the left shoulder of the road barely. Said all the prayers I knew and followed him, with Magesh right on my tail. It was drizzling throughout, and my Rynox rain jacket and Decathlon rain pants did a good job of keeping me dry. The Adidas sneakers I was wearing was soaked though. Somehow our stars and our prayers took us to Coonoor by 9:30 pm in one piece, albeit drenched and cold to our bones!
Lesson learnt – When you’re riding long distances, start early and aim to reach your destination before dark. Especially when you’re headed out into the mountains and there is mist expected. Obviously, I don’t have pictures of our uphill ride as we were preoccupied with staying alive and not falling off the mountain!

Total distanace covered on Day 1: 386 km
Time taken 12.5 hours

[Geo_Ipe]

Day 2: Coonoor and Ooty
It is only on day 2 that we could start enjoying the mesmerizing Nilgiris! We stayed at the YWCA Guest House at Coonoor. It was a beautiful British era building, with wooden flooring and large rooms.











The colourful Coonoor town


The first glimpse of tea


They provided a simple and nice breakfast consisting of dosas, sambar, chutney and omlette. After having a leisurely breakfast, we set out to Ooty. Decided to avoid the main touristy places in Ooty, se we went riding around the tea estates. Tea is the local essence of the Nilgiris and it was a pleasant experience. We went riding around Glendale and Nonsuch tea estates. We came across a bunch of tea plucker ladies who were getting their day’s yield weighed and entered in their little notebooks! The supervisor seemed to be having an Android device for the same though. Life hasn’t really changed much for centuries for a lot of people! However, the estates do provide them with living quarters and a small plot of land where they can cultivate crops/vegetables of their liking – mainly for their own use. Basic healthcare and children’s education is also apparently taken care of.

Tea, tea, tea...


A lot more tea...


Yours truly along the many teat trails!


At the Army Academy in Wellington


Tead Ladies at work


Some more tea!


Having tea in an ocean of tea!


Random waterfalls


Mandatory tea shopping from the source


Tea Ladies winding up


Tea... Again!


Sam clicking more tea



By late afternoon, we checked into Aventura, our stay for the day. Aventura is an interesting concept – they have these pod/wood house like sleeping arrangements. It was unique and intriguing in a way, but these things are really cramped. One cannot even stand up properly for a change of clothes. Also, all the best is you decide to get up in the middle of the night to pee, because you’ll have to wear all the warm stuff you have and walk in temperatures of 9 deg Celsius to the bathrooms which are ~100 m away! If you can excuse these inconveniences, it is a nice place to stay.

Late Maggi lunch


The lid taking some rest


The cottages lit up at night


Which are tiny!


Cottages...


...and Pods

[Geo_Ipe]

Day 3: Ooty
I’m not much of an early morning person, so I decided to wake up slowly on day 3. Early morning temperatures of 8 degree Celsius also pushed my wake-up time to 8 am. We had breakfast provided by Aventura, packed our bags and set off to see more of Ooty. Set off to the Avalanche lake view – where the Emerald lake and the Avalanche lakes meet. It was Weather was beautiful, no other tourists in sight – Perfect!

Off we go!


Magesh at a random bridge


Shiva having fun with his 360 Cam


Lake view


We found a tractor trail close to the Avalanche viewpoint, and the locals told us that it led to some random carrot farm. Muddy tracks and Himalayans always go well together, don’t they! None of us needed a second invitation and off we went into the slush. I was a little apprehensive initially as I didn’t have too much off roading experience on 2 wheels. The advice given to me was, “The motorcycle has to be in gear all the time – 1st or 2nd. If the rear slips, do not pull in the clutch – continue giving steady throttle.” I thought that sounded a little too simple, but the decided to get dirty anyway! That simple piece of advice from Sam was all that was needed to get me through all that slush. I did lose traction multiple times. The first instinct is to always slow down, and your left hand goes in search of that clutch lever. Kept muttering to myself, “No clutch, No fear! No clutch, No fear!” Just keeping my left hand away from the clutch and right hand steadily on the throttle helped me do the whole stretch without even having to put my foot down once! It’s always nice to ride with experienced folk who are willing to teach you stuff!

Slush...


Slush...


More slush...


Having a slush conference!



After getting the motorcycles and ourselves dirty enough, we decided to set off to town. Had lunch at the most old-school place we could find. The building and the lunch itself screamed vintage Nilgiris.




After lunch, we headed back to town for some shopping. No Ooty trip is complete without chocolate shopping – so off we went to Moddy’s for chocolates. The place was moderately crowded late in the afternoon. Forgive me for not having taken any pictures, as we dived into the million different types of chocolates they had on display. Had some thick, hot chocolate to drink as well. Once our bags were filled, we set off to our stay for the day Mount n Mist. The place was way off city limits, which was good for us – less hustle & bustle. It was a nice property with a mesmerizing view of the valley. Spotted a bison and a peacock, though they escaped the camera lens. Had a leisurely evening, had dinner and hit the bed before the long ride back on day 4.








Day 4: Ooty to Vellore
We didn’t really have an itinerary for our last day. Plan was just to ride back and reach safe. Waking early plan failed for the third consecutive morning – the blankets were just too comfortable to get out of. We packed, loaded the luggage and lubed all chains. Had a quick breakfast and began the descent. We took the Kotagiri route, which was surprisingly devoid of traffic on a Sunday morning. Received some more words of wisdom from my more experienced co riders before starting down. I knew we were not supposed to depend too much on the brakes alone for shedding speed. However, these guys didn’t want me to use the brakes at all, especially the rear one. Timely downshifting, even all the way down to 1st at hairpins was the mantra.






We had an eventless ride once we hit the foothills of Nilgiris. We chose the main highway route as opposed to the onward journey. The Chennai team split a little before Salem as the route via Ulundurpet & Melmaravathur, whereas I headed straight to Krishnagiri and subsequently Vellore. Reached home by 9:30 pm!
It felt wonderful to have gotten out of the routine work-home-work schedule after such a long time. Riding is meditation and therapy – and it is impossible to explain it to non-riders! The Himalayan goes back to local duties till the mountains call again – and I will go!


Himalayan standing tall during the last solo leg


971 km of bliss!


Bonus pic from Day 1 - Riding in the rain is not all hunky dory always - Drying your stuff afterwards is a major pain!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[GTO]

Moving thread to our Motorcycle forum so that our biker friends don't miss this! Will be going to our homepage soon .

[ebonho]

Gorgeous photos man. One of the most beautiful parts of our country. Great start to the week.

Cheers, Doc

[vigneshkumar31]

Thanks for writing a travelogue based out of the southern hills which don’t quite get their due, always overshadowed by mightier namesakes of your rides.

[majumon]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Day 2: Coonoor We stayed at the YWCA Guest House at Coonoor.

Wow that is one of my favorite places that I regularly stay when in Coonoor, must agree it is a beautiful property and you get the feel of staying away from city while staying here. They used to have mud and more plants around the property, now they seem to have tiled the area. Thanks for bringing back great memories of the place.

[VijayAnand1]

Nice write up. I usually do run errands along those roads, especially Coonoor, Avalanche and tertiary. Would love to meet Mr. Sam sometime if he hangs in and around Ooty.

Cheers!
VJ