[AKSO]

Congrats on your new lid.

It's a damn shame that the Govt has banned import of helmets and left many riders in the lurch. On one hand, you can buy a liter class bike pushing 200 hp plus with just HH Splendour experience & license and you can't buy a decent lid to protect oneself.

[VellVector]

Originally Posted by AKSO

It's a damn shame that the Govt has banned import of helmets and left many riders in the lurch. On one hand, you can buy a liter class bike pushing 200 hp plus with just HH Splendour experience & license and you can't buy a decent lid to protect oneself.

Are you sure helmet imports are banned? I believe that only sale of non-ISI helmets is banned. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The problem we have is that there isn't enough of a market in India for manufacturers to bother getting their helmets ISI approved. The dealers for these brands aren't pushing the manufacturers they represent to do it either.

Unfortunately, this is the case even in other countries. A DOT marked helmet isn't legal in parts of Europe. It has to be ECE marked.

Ends up being a double edged sword - don't enforce a standard and you risk any and all sub-standard stuff being imported. And when you do then niche items also get banned because there isn't any will to certify them.

An Arai or Shoei could easily get ISI rated - but the brands would not be interested. AFAIK there aren't even any dealers for either brand in India right now.

[AKSO]

Originally Posted by VellVector

Are you sure helmet imports are banned? I believe that only sale of non-ISI helmets is banned. Please correct me if I am wrong.

You are correct by saying Non-ISI helmets are banned, which effectively means that all your Shoei, Arai, Schubert, HJC etc are not available off the shelf.

Given that most two-wheeler riders dont wear helmets and for example in Pune it is not enforced even to a mild extent, how much demand will be there for helmets. A rider on a superbike wont even think of riding without a lid but thanks to all the conundrums that you have listed has to get the short end of the stick.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by AKSO

Congrats on your new lid.

Thanks a lot AKSO sir!

It's a damn shame that the Govt has banned import of helmets and left many riders in the lurch. On one hand, you can buy a liter class bike pushing 200 hp plus with just HH Splendour experience & license and you can't buy a decent lid to protect oneself.

Very well said! Next in line will be imported boots, which are apparently also coming under the ISI rule. Perhaps the local manufacturers have formed a strong lobby to justify their case and eliminate the popular European ones .

Originally Posted by VellVector

Are you sure helmet imports are banned? I believe that only sale of non-ISI helmets is banned. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Only domestic sale is banned for non-ISI helmets. One can easily hand-carry any helmet after purchasing from another country

The problem we have is that there isn't enough of a market in India for manufacturers to bother getting their helmets ISI approved. The dealers for these brands aren't pushing the manufacturers they represent to do it either.

Unfortunately, this is the case even in other countries. A DOT marked helmet isn't legal in parts of Europe. It has to be ECE marked.

Ends up being a double edged sword - don't enforce a standard and you risk any and all sub-standard stuff being imported. And when you do then niche items also get banned because there isn't any will to certify them.

An Arai or Shoei could easily get ISI rated - but the brands would not be interested. AFAIK there aren't even any dealers for either brand in India right now.

You're right. Unfortunately there is no way out of this, apart from importing the helmet ourselves if we want these premium brands. There are no local vendors anymore. There are a handful of importers who can procure these brands, but they are making hay while the sun shines, charging sometimes upwards of 150% profit margin over the actual price abroad! Best option is to try and buy in other countries if we travel overseas, or else get it through friends or relatives who travel overseas where these brands are more reasonably priced .

[Cyborg]

Hello Karthik, waiting for your next trip report

Please post your views on the Michelin Road 6 tyres on your N1000.

Thank you.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Hello Karthik, waiting for your next trip report

Should be out live this weekend or thereabouts

Please post your views on the Michelin Road 6 tyres on your N1000.

I'll definitely do so. As of now I have clocked around ~2800 km on these in fairly varied conditions so I'll include a write-up on them .

[100Kmphormore]

Fantastic report on the Kudremukha trek - those leeches are a pain for me as getting bit by one proved to be a very bad experience and even reading about them had me a little uncomfortable. Heck, I have dug numerous huge sized wasps and honeybees from my neck/back during my college commutes on Kanakapura road , but these small rogues have me wary. It’s the only reason I never tour to any forested region during the rainy season.

One more thing, the leeches might sometimes vomit an anti coagulant and blood from god knows where it was earlier, in case you use dettol/odomos and that can be dangerous, hence like you said it’s better to flick them off like a carrom shot according to the locals, as we discovered in our Samse-Didupe off-road activity.

Between the Shoei and Arai, which is the more silent of the two, and lighter on the neck area?

[KarthikK]

Ride to Kannan Devan Hills, Munnar, Kerala (October 2023)

After the previous ride in the end of September / early October to Kudremukh forest, our next scheduled ride in October for the Ninja was a 3-night, 4-day trip to Kerala's famed Kannan Devan hills in Munnar, famous for being one of the country's top Tea-producing regions (apart from Assam and Darjeeling). Most famous tea brands in the country source their tea powder from Kannan Devan tea estates. We love riding to lovely properties nestled in the mountains, and chose this location as a nice post-monsoon destination.

We decided to get a nice feel of staying inside a tea estate for 4 days and enjoy the mountain mist, high altitude vistas, cold weather and of course, good food and lots of tea . This was more of a relaxation trip at a scenic property with very little activities or sightseeing plans, sometimes it is nice to unwind doing nothing. Our property of choice this time was the Talayar Valley Bungalow in Munnar, run by a group called the Briar Tea bungalows, which is the hospitality division of the Woodbriar group of Tea estates. Their tea plantation history dates back to the late 1800s British era, and the group still owns thousands of acres of tea plantations and multiple tea factories in these regions in today's era. They let out many of their heritage bungalows for travellers to experience a slice of the old colonial life in a tea estate. Apart from the Munnar bungalow, some of their other properties are apparently in Valparai and Meghamalai, but that's another plan for another time.

Our plan was to spend 3 nights and 4 days at the Talayar Bungalow, and then we would split the ~500km return journey to halt at Radisson Salem on the fourth day after ~300 km. On the fifth day we planned to leisurely leave Salem after breakfast and return home by afternoon to finish the remaining 200km, thus avoiding the peak morning and evening rush hour traffic in Bangalore and still taking the time to enjoy and relax for one additional day.

Over to the trip itself - we had around 500 km to cover one-way to reach the property, so we departed home around 4.30AM as usual to get a head start.
Taking a break at Krishnagiri toll plaza at the crack of dawn after the first ~100km



We stopped at GRT Grand Estancia for a leisurely breakfast at roughly around 7AM. The restaurant was fairly empty, so we managed to make a quick splash and dash without losing too much time



Continuing the journey towards Avinashi on the Salem-Coimbatore expressway - the better half and yours truly taking a short stretch break at one of the toll plazas en route



Roughly around 10AM, we got off the Avinashi expressway and took the Avinashi - Palladam - Udumalpet single lane highway. The Ninja 1000 accidentally posing with a silk saree ad banner while taking another break, lol!



Some shade respite from the TN pre-noon sun while we stopped for a rehydration break



At around 12 noon, we entered the Udumalpet - Marayoor stretch which passes through the Anamalai and Chinnar forest zones. This picture was taken around the Chinnar forest checkpost when we entered Kerala state.



The roads from Chinnar to Marayoor were quite patchy and very very narrow. Fortunately we were on a bike and not in a car. Overtaking vehicles and handling opposite-direction overspeeding buses would have been an ordeal in a car here with such narrow road width. Soon the roads started ascending in altitude as we approached Munnar. Here is one of the viewpoints en route.




Stopping inside the mysterious Marayoor Sandalwood forest, which is now a protected zone (notice the fencing on both sides of the road).





Once we crossed Marayoor, we came across some beautiful tea estate green carpet zones as the road wound its way through mountain after mountain, proceeding towards Munnar. The temperatures were rapidly dropping as we continued to gain altitude. This section was a delight for cornering on the Ninja, absolutely silky smooth roads for spirited riding to plaster a wide smile on my face. The last few times I have been to Munnar were through the other route via Dindigul and Theni, but this Marayoor route is equally enjoyable nonetheless.

We stopped at one of the viewpoints to enjoy some fresh tea in the cold weather.



I recognized the viewpoint from one of my previous visits to this route - it brought back some lovely memories of past trips. Many years ago, in my early 20s my dad (now no more) had given me a masterclass in ghat section driving techniques in my Linea T-Jet on this route, and we both had stopped at this exact same point to savour a cup of tea after some hard cornering . Coincidentally I was at the same spot (notice the two trees and that white building) on the same day in October, exactly 12 years later, but this time with the Ninja 1000 and my better half.



Proceeding on the journey to Talayar valley bungalow - another picturesque point in a valley, before beginning the final mountain ascent to reach our destination



We broke off from the Marayoor - Munnar highway and a narrow road climbed up a hill filled with tea plantations, for around ~2km as per google maps. We reached the bungalow entrance gate. There was a well-tarred road all the way up to the entrance door of the bungalow, and no off-roading was needed anywhere.



A narrow tar road led to the bungalow entrance porch



We got safe indoor parking for the Ninja at the porch, anyway we were the only guests in the entire bungalow for that weekend. This was the entrance to the ~120 year old Talayar bungalow



Walking through Talayar valley bungalow to our room through these old-fashioned passages



A small sit-out loft and living room in the property, where we would spend time over the next few days



The bungalow had 4 rooms - called Magnolia, Rose, Royal Talayar suite and Blue Jay. We had opted for the Royal Talayar Suite room, it was very spacious and had a lovely heritage feel to the ambience and interiors. I particularly loved the soft grey, beige and brown color combination theme that all the interior elements carried.





The chandelier was supposedly from the pre-independence era and still works to add that Victorian era Aura in the room even today!



While there were windows on all sides to enjoy the enchanting views around (the bungalow was top of the mountain), I particularly liked this small loft sit-out overlooking the garden to sit and enjoy a cup of tea.



Typical of most heritage properties, the roof was very high and increased the airy feeling. This was the bathroom - retained the colonial feel with the chandelier, etc but still sufficiently modernized with the tub and other amenities



The room even had a private fireplace which was useful at nights for the cold weather here. It wasn't uncommon to see the mercury dip to 10 deg celsius in the nights. This was our private fireplace



Our room even had a small door opening out into the garden and porch outside.



We were soon served a fantastic and wholesome lunch by the staff. In this picture was probably only 30% of the menu.



The Briar bungalow chefs were exceptional at their craft, and painstakingly took the trouble to customize the menu for us for every meal while we were there, taking care of every tiny preference or request we had regarding the food department. They even went out of the way to make some out-of-regular-menu dishes for us. Being the only guests at the property for that weekend helped too, we were the only ones staying on those days for them to pamper, lol! More on the food later.

Post lunch, we visited the Briar tea factory which was around a kilometre's walk from the Bungalow. The staff were kind enough to give us a thorough walk-through of the entire Tea processing workflow, from the time the leaves are plucked, to the processing and packing into the final finished product as tea powder. We even got to taste some nice tea made fresh at the factory. Photography wasn't allowed in the core area of the factory, so I have no snaps other than those two taken while unloading and separating the collected tea leaves.





We walked back to our bungalow amidst gradually engulfing mist and a steady drizzle in the late afternoon.



We reached our room just in time and it started pouring cats and dogs by around 4PM. We ordered some tea and then enjoyed watching the rain from our loft

[KarthikK]

Ride to Kannan Devan Hills, Munnar, Kerala (October 2023) continued...

In the evening we spent some time exploring the bungalow and its different rooms. This was a TV room of sorts. We wanted nothing to do with a TV in a location so serene and disconnected from city life, lol!



This was the tastefully done up and maintained living room area of the bungalow, the ambience was so Victorian-era in its feel.







A small sitout which gets lit up by the morning sunlight, so it was called 'sun room' by the staff. It had some indoor games, which we used to pass our time in the evening while we munched on some well-made Pakoras and sandwiches



Some fantastic sandwiches that we enjoyed munching on, while playing Chess and watching the rain pounding the mountains from our window



The elegant decor on most of the walls in this bungalow, resplendent in antique design





Some more pretty chandeliers and lamp shades that made their presence felt across the entire bungalow in all the rooms



The regal looking dining room at Talayar bungalow - the exquisite English-looking decor literally transported us to a different realm







After an early dinner we called it a day.
The next morning we woke up early and strolled around the property. Here are some pictures from the bungalow in the early morning. This was the garden



Bonfire area with a few benches. We tried it later that night



A pretty set of garden chairs and tables in the garden to enjoy some views



We didn't have any agenda on Day 2 as such. The better half is an avid book reader, so she picked up some books from the bungalow's mini library and after breakfast she settled down on a hammock with her book, while I just browsed through the rest of the property, admiring it. I didn't click too many pictures on the second day except for a few shots in and around the bungalow area, so I'll proceed to dump them here.

The front porch area





Talayar Bungalow in its entirety





The view of the mountains from outside our room's garden / porch



A map apparently preserved from the British 1930s era, showing Talayar tea plantation regions marked around this area.



Some flora in the bungalow garden







The well curated main garden had a wonderful view of the mountains around



A wide-angle shot of the entire bungalow from the garden, while enjoying some late afternoon sunshine and mist



I was fascinated by this creeper plant which had a formed 3-4 inch thick plant layer totally covering all the outer walls of the bungalow. That somehow enhanced that antique look that this 120 year old property wore even on the outside . I was curiously asking the gardener there whether this plant layer on the walls can trap moisture and possibly damage the walls over time, but he said it had always looked like this for many decades and they are still continuing the tradition.





Apart from the window and door gaps, this creeper plant had wrapped around every visible portion of the outer walls of the entire building.



Day 2 was rather uneventful and we had a totally relaxing day. After an early dinner we ended the day early. Day 3 we had planned to hike to some nearby waterfall in the morning so it was good to get some sleep.

[KarthikK]

Ride to Kannan Devan Hills, Munnar, Kerala (October 2023) continued...

We woke up early on Day 3, wanting to hike to a nearby waterfall around 2 km away. Enjoying tea in the dining room before departing on our hike - I liked the way this tea pot and cup and saucer looked, went well with the overall theme of the place



We had to wait for one of the staff members to guide us for the hike to the waterfall (since it was a large and private property they didn't want to let us get lost somewhere). Meanwhile since the property was anyway empty and we were the only guests in the entire bungalow, I casually looked at the other two rooms in the bungalow.
This one was called Magnolia



And this one was called Rose



Soon, we set out on the hike through the lush green tea estates. The morning sun produced some interesting hues around the surrounding vistas



Here are some random pictures of the mesmerizing views from atop Talayar valley tea estate







The pathway leading to the waterfall route. Nothing steep or difficult as such, but this being wet season here, our old friends from the previous trek (Kudremukh trek) were back - Leeches . This time we hadn't even carried proper trekking shoes or any leech protection. Fortunately the frequency and density of leech population here was extremely low compared to the hell-ish trails of the previous trip, lol! Nonetheless, I was overconfident of their absence here and got bitten by 2 large leeches near the waterfall where there was more slush, serves me right, lol!



Approaching the waterfall from the top of a stream



A beautiful stream flowing through the green carpet mountains



The tiny but picturesque waterfall after we got to the bottom of it



Crossing another stream which was overflowing across the concrete platform due to the generous overnight rains here



After spending an hour at the waterfall, we slowly walked back to our bungalow in time for a sumptuous breakfast. Here are some random snaps along the uphill return journey from the waterfall valley to the bungalow on the hilltop







Talayar bungalow as seen from the top of another adjacent mountain



After a heavy breakfast, we lazed around for some time until lunch. The better half soon went back to her hammock and book for a couple of hours, while I grabbed the Ninja's keys and took the bike out on to some adjacent roads around the bungalow to see if I could get some nice shots of the bike and the scenery for our memory books.





The Ninja atop Talayar estate



Enjoying the narrow winding and steep roads through Tea plantation carpets





After some picture clicking I was back at the bungalow, to try and take a picture in front of the property entrance



Some random sights around the Talayar garden on Day 3 - afternoon rain drops rolling down a blade of grass



A very old tree dating back to almost a century ago



A cow forages for munchies on an adjacent hillock



Evening vistas from the top of the Talayar bungalow hillock



Soon it was time to head back to the room to join the better half and enjoy lovely tea and homemade Rusk, from our favourite loft sitout in the room, enjoying the views of the garden



We played some indoor games and passed time until it was time for dinner, and post a delicious dinner, it was time to draw the curtains on day 3. This Arrabiata Pasta was a standout dish from the chef on the third day.

[KarthikK]

Ride to Kannan Devan Hills, Munnar, Kerala (October 2023) continued...

Talayar valley bungalow in the night



On day 4 we were supposed to leave and start our return journey. We had anyway woken up early, so we just did some timepass strolling around the property for one last time to enjoy the views in the morning.

Very misty and cold early morning in Talayar, the temperature was almost 9 degrees in the early morning.



Enjoying piping hot early morning tea and rusk in our room



Some plantation workers were spraying fertilizers on one zone of the estates, this ancient looking tractor workhorse was diligently doing its duty



The mist soon cleared up a bit for us to enjoy the views before heading back to the bungalow



Talayar bungalow in the early morning mist



After a lovely breakfast, we proceeded to pack up our luggage and bade goodbyes to all the lovely staff at Talayar bungalow Munnar, not without a departing picture in front of the bungalow as always



A word of thanks to the staff and to the superb chefs at Talayar bungalow - great service levels in every department, plus absolutely lip-smacking food which we loved - almost every item served was fantastic across the 9-10 multi-course meals we had over our 4 day stay there. I don't want to post too many snaps of food, so I grouped them into categories

Soups of different types - clockwise from top left - Cream of Tomato, Potato and Onion with Cheese, Carrot and Cucumber and Manchow soup if I remember correctly



Our evening accompaniments with the Tea



Desserts in every meal - some of them which I managed to take pictures of. There was a nice blend of Indian and continental desserts across all 4 days.



We left the property at around 10.30AM and made our way back to the main Marayoor - Munnar highway, passing by all the vistas of the past few days but this time by bike





The better half appreciating the views of the Kannan Devan hills from the top



We had a lot of time, since we had decided to break the return journey at Salem, so there was no pressure to complete the entire ~500km return journey homewards on this day. Since we just had some ~300 km to cover for our fourth day's destination, we were leisurely stopping at many scenic view points along the route. Here are some more views from picturesque points en route to Marayoor, as we made our way through the winding roads and mountains back through the forests, exiting Kerala and towards the plains of Udumalpet in TN









Stopping next to a waterfall which was flowing right next to the road



A huge waterfall seen in the distance from the top of one of the mountains, shot on zoom



Back to the single lane roads of TN, making our way through Udumalpet and Avinashi back to the Coimbatore - Salem expressway



I had to stop at Perundurai bypass for a refuel break. I am glad that there is now a XP100 dispensing bunk there, roughly ~300km from home, which was perfect for me considering the Ninja's fuel tank range is also around ~350km. This entire ~1000km trip was done on XP100 using two fuel stops at this same bunk (plus a full tank before starting from Bangalore of course).



There was some funny offer going on at the bunk from the IOCL bunk staff - and despite refusing politely, they forcibly stuffed some air freshener into our bag as a return gift for filling XP100 fuel in the Ninja



Since we had a heavy breakfast, we didn't intend to stop anywhere for lunch, and instead wanted to reach Salem and grab some snacks late in the evening. After the refuel stop, we proceeded towards Salem. Between Erode and Salem, there was a torrential downpour with very heavy rain. We stopped at some bunk, suited up with full rain gear and completed the remaining part of the journey to Radisson Salem, to reach and check-in by around 4PM. This was the now-familiar, no-nonsense room at Radisson Salem



There was some barbeque food festival going on in Radisson's in-house Grills by the Promenade restaurant. After a couple of hours of rest and freshening up, we went to the barbeque restaurant and enjoyed some mixed cuisine barbeque delicacies for a light dinner.



We then returned to our room and spent the rest of the night watching some timepass movie on TV before winding up and hitting the sack. The following morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at their familiar breakfast buffet section.





Since we had taken the day off at work on day 5, there was no pressure to leave early and reach home before the work hours began. We relaxed till mid-noon, had some light snacks in the room before putting on the riding gear and checking out for the easy final leg of the return journey from Salem to home. The Ninja did a quick afternoon Blitzkrieg on empty roads to reach Bangalore in roughly 2 hours. That brought an end to yet another fantastic ride with the Ninja. This 4-day ride clocked around ~1050km during the weekend to round up the quota for October.


A word of praise for the brilliant Ninja 1000 - the five years age date is closing in and the machine still performs flawlessly as usual taking everything in its stride , from flat out expressways to single lane roads to crowded village streets, offroad patches in the forests to the brilliant corner-carving twisties in the mountains. The weather and terrain conditions across these 5 days was quite diverse in this single trip - pleasant and cloudy weather in Bangalore, then the extreme heat of the plains of interior TN, hot and dusty B and C roads to Marayoor, and lastly the cold and rains in the high altitude of Munnar, and back again through extreme heat and torrential downpours. Overall a very fun trip with so many experiences packed into 4 days, and the Ninja made it all the more enjoyable like it always has.



The new Michelin Road 6 tyres have bedded in well and I am quite happy that they performed well across varied terrain conditions. Although I must admit, I found the Metzeler Sportec M9RRs much grippier than the Road 6s, I would trade in a bit of that benchmark-level grip for a bit more longevity considering how frequently we tour and how expensive these tyres cost nowadays, so the Road 6s are win-win in that sense! I will elaborate a bit more on my thoughts about the tyres in another future post later this month.

That's all for now. Until my next post, Thanks for reading!

[AKSO]

Awesome ride and pictures. Brings back memories of now my annual pilgrimage to that part of the country. Well done and thanks for sharing.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

[That's all for now. Until my next post, Thanks for reading!

Another superb trip Karthik! Lovely pictures and serene property, minus the leeches The suite was really, really nice with the hardwood floor (was it?). This type of flooring gives a regal feel with contrasting furnishing.

Thanks for sharing!

Rock on

Cheers

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by AKSO

Awesome ride and pictures. Brings back memories of now my annual pilgrimage to that part of the country. Well done and thanks for sharing.

Thanks a lot for the kind words AKSO sir! Looking forward to your ride report when you visit our part of the country next time!

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Another superb trip Karthik! Lovely pictures and serene property, minus the leeches

Thanks a lot Cyborg sir!
Haha the leeches were only at the waterfall down in the valley, 2km hike away from the bungalow. The beautiful bungalow and surrounding areas had none of these critters and were completely pest-free .

The suite was really, really nice with the hardwood floor (was it?). This type of flooring gives a regal feel with contrasting furnishing.

Oh yes all the rooms had the hardwood floor, beautiful to look at as you said, as well as helped with heat insulation in the cold weather especially during nights.

Thanks for sharing!
Rock on

Cheers

Thanks a lot again sir! Glad you liked it!

[PearlJam]

Yet another amazingly written travelogue from you Karthik, thanks for sharing!