Day 4:
Rameshwaram to Dhanushkodi and back.
Distance covered: 40 Km.
Rameshwaram to Bangalore.
Distance covered: 650 Km
Route: Rameshwaram – Madurai bypass – Dindigul – Salem – Bangalore.
The most awaited place of the trip for me was Dhanushkodi. The last time I had visited this place was in 2009 on my Karizma with a group of friends. Back then, there was no road but only an off-road trail where only 4*4 jeeps would venture. However, the scenic beauty of the place has ensured it's been etched in my mind even after a decade. Thanks to all the dramatic description of the place, Sandhya was equally excited to go. After a comfortable night’s sleep, we were up by 5 AM as we wanted to be the earliest to go there and click some nice pictures before the place gets crowded.
There was a faint drizzle when we stepped down into the parking lot, which subsided soon. Off we went passing the morning bustle around the temple, towards Dhanushkodi. As per what I’d read, the check post opens at 6 AM and we had planned accordingly. However, when we reached the check post by 6.10 AM, we were flagged down by a cop along with a line of vehicles and were informed that the rules have been revised and it now opens at 7 AM! What a bummer it was! The cop wouldn’t budge to any amount of coaxing and pleading and simply said rules are the same for everyone. Upon checking with him later, I understood (from the little Tamil I can catch) that LTTE was active and there was a bomb blast recently. I took in this information with a pinch of salt and just nodded to him. We whiled away time by clicking pictures of the sea and a beautiful rainbow that had appeared, thanks to the morning drizzle.
By 7 AM, the check post opened and as expected it was a race between vehicles of all sizes and shapes to go first towards Land’s end. Well, there has to be some advantage of riding a 650CC superbike and I used it to the
We were the first to arrive at the spot and had a few minutes before the rest of the crowd could catch up. We hurriedly took a few pictures and as expected, it got crazily crowded in the next few minutes.
If there is a road to heaven, I'm sure it'd look like this! First to reach the land's end point! 5 minutes later!
With the crowd continuously building up, we decided to move from there and head to the ruins of Dhanushkodi town to capture some pictures there. These are a result of the 1964 cyclone after which Dhanushkodi was declared unfit for habitation and hence earned the tag "Ghost town".
We also found another beautiful spot nearby where both of us went click-happy!
Well, this is how 90% of the pictures were captured! Credits to Sandhya.
By now it was 7.30 AM and we wanted to head back to the hotel, finish our breakfast and start to Bangalore as rains have been constant in the late evenings over the last week or so. I did not want to ride in a combination of rain+darkness.
However, thanks to the understaffed restaurant and the consequent inefficient service, we got delayed at breakfast and by the time we started the return ride, it was 9 AM. The coastal heat was already getting to us and sapping us out. We rode non-stop for about 70 minutes that felt like a lot more due to the weather. A hydration break was followed by another stop for fuel, 40 km later.
At this point, Sandhya asked me how much we’ve covered in the day. The expression on her face when I said 140 km was priceless.
How are we going to cover 500 more today?
However, I assured her that the weather is only going to get better as we gain altitude and head closer to Bangalore. The plan was to head to Selvi mess for lunch, get some good rest and then ride to Bangalore. From here on, as we went around Madhurai on the bypass and headed towards Namakkal and Karur, the weather gradually started getting better. Now it was just munching miles and keeping good cruising speeds, stopping every 100 km for hydration.
By 2 PM we were standing in front of Selvi mess inside Salem city, tired and famished. We had covered about 400 km in 5 hours in spite of the breaks! However, to our disbelief, it was closed for Ayudha pooja. A quick check with people nearby and I was suggested to head to the outlet on the Bangalore highway and they assured me that it’d be open. So in the next 15 minutes, we were at the Selvi mess outlet on the Bangalore highway. Must say, the quality of food and service was simply fantastic! Also, after experiencing the coastal weather for the initial 200 km, Salem weather felt heavenly!
By 3.30 PM we fuelled up and started the last leg of the ride. The weather was quite pleasant and slightly overcast now. Being recharged after the great lunch and encouraged by the weather, we covered the next 100+ km in about 70 minutes carving through the Bangalore bound highway traffic. Another quick chai break at Krishnagiri and another hour later, by 5.45 PM we were at the entrance to NICE road. We had gobbled up km very quick albeit remaining safe and alert and enjoyed the whole ride thoroughly. Thankfully, the weather stayed pleasant and dry too! By 6.30 PM, we reached home.
Trip meter reading post the 4-day trip.
This was the first fairly big ride where Sandhya and I did not have the company of any other bike/friend. Even though we admittedly had some butterflies in the beginning, they were quashed the moment we hit the road on day 1. Also, we covered most of the places we intended to see and were pleased with ourselves at the end of the ride. Overall, we covered 1700+ km over a period of 4 days on the ride!
Here’s to many more to come, hopefully! Thanks for reading!