Got up at 7:00 a.m, freshened up and started to Beypore Port. This port has rich history, It has the reputation of building some of the finest boats in ancient times, worth reading its history. Besides its amazing historical background, the area is extremely dirty now, don't even think about going to its beach, it looks like a dump yard! Only place I liked and spent most of the time was near its stone pier, it goes almost 1 km into the ocean, a rewarding walk where you'll be presented with several birds, fishing ships, navy vessels and occasionally playful bottlenose dolphins. I had the pleasure of watching them all.
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| Jogging in lungi is fun ;) |
Had delicious appam and vada with egg cury for breakfast, went back to my room and started to Kannur, it's via NH 17 which is a single road, and I was annoyed by the kerala's private buses, which were driven by the idiotic assholes who do not deserve to drive on any roads any where! It's easy to notice those vehicles, they are the most colorfully painted ones.
While on my way, I took a detour to visit Kappad beach, it looks like any other beach, secluded, but it has historical significance. Kappad beach was the place where Vasco Da Gama landed on 20 May 1498, which eventually became the preferred sea route for European countries. After the beach there's a road along its length connecting the nearby villages, I took that route to explore the place more.
It's not a properly laid road, there were several ongoing construction work all along its length. At one point the road was completely broken, I had to go into the sand only to get caught in it, my rear tyre went deep into it and I couldn't move any further, moving a 200+ kilo bike is not one person's job, had to call for help, though I couldn't speak or understand Malayalam, the person who helped me understood the situation. Off the sand and onto the road again, the more I went inside the territory the more hostile I felt, people started looking at me like an alien, maybe because of the riding gear, a group stopped me and asked to remove my helmet, to look at my face I guess, and as far as I understood they suggested me to leave the place soon. Without any further thought I left, joined NH 17 again and rode to Kannur.
There's a beach called Muzhappilangad Drive-in Beach, approximately 15 km before entering Kannur from Kozhikode. It is one of the less know and longest drive-in beach in India, I wish it stays less know, you can ride your bike/4-wheeler all along its 5.5 to 6 km length, right next to the beach! It's one of a kind experience.
There's a small island called Dharmadam which can be seen with dense palm trees. In low tides you can actually walk to the island, at the time when I went it was covered with water from all directions, next time! So I spent like 2 hours there and then started to Mangaluru, no stopping or site seeing in Kannur, Muzhappilangad ate my time :D
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| Dharmadam Island |
Before entering Mangaluru and after crossing Kasargod, I stopped at CCD for a break, had coffee and went to this place called Farangipet to my friend Arun's place, had delicious homemade Mangaluru's dishes at his home and went to the terrace along with another friend Rakesh to kill some time. His place is in the outskirts of Mangaluru, one of the advantage of living in such place is starry nights, and fortunately it was a clear sky that day, I was able to see so many stars and constellations which I didn't see from a longtime. We sat on the terrace and talked about life, planets, stars and almost whatever came to our mind. Do check his YouTube channel! It's GoProMan, videos in my Motorcycle Diaries post were shot by him.
Day 4:
Got up, freshened up and started to Tannirbhavi Beach with Arun and Rakesh, we didn't go to the main entrance, there's another entrance which comes after that and it is less crowded. It was a dry day, and the beach was really beautiful with several shades of blues and greens, a place for lovers to hangout, there were containers vessels because of the nearby Mangalore Port.
After a while, we started to another nearby beach called Panambur. A crowded beach with several adventure sports, we didn't spend much time, hardly like 1 hour and then I went into the city.
I have already planned to ride back to Bengaluru that night, my friend insisted to stay back and ride with him on Sunday, but my office work starts from Sunday, no change in plans. Geared up, had dinner at his place, thanked him and Rakesh for the memorable hospitality and started my ride. It was approximately 340 km to Bengaluru, it was a single, narrow, pothole and pain-in-the-ass road till Hassan, after that it's a highway (NH 4) to Bengaluru.
This ride from Mangaluru to Bengaluru was one of the difficult ones I did, it was solo ride, midnight, extreme wind-chill factor, and a long ride home! Not to mention the rash bus/trucks drivers till Hassan. More breaks are necessary in such rides, but I completed it with just 2, the reason was simple for me. When you ride in such extreme wind-chill condition, slowly your body acclimates to it, which is a good sign, but when you stop for a break, body starts absorbing heat and it has to acclimate again to the wind-chill when riding, add fatigue to it and if you're not physically/mentally fit, you cannot ride any further. I didn't feel this effect till Hassan, because it wasn't a proper highway and most of the time I was keeping myself busy with turns, dodging potholes and traffic. Once I entered the highway after Hassan fatigue started kicking in, first sign was significant neck pain and then more wind-chill. Didn't feel like stopping till Bengaluru, maintained a constant speed of 80 km/h where I felt comfortable with the wind-chill.
Nevertheless, that was the last part in this 4 day journey, the happiness of reaching home and crashing on my bed has outweighed everything else, and I am not a causal rider either, I've did several butt hurting, endurance testing rides successfully. To make things worse, fog started from all directions, had to slow down to 60 km/h, and by the time I reached Bengaluru I was welcomed by its traffic jam at 6 a.m near Yeshwantpur.
Reached home finally, another awesome ride completed.
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