Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Is it raining??

It all started when Harris called us over for a 1 day trip to Bisile Ghat. Nidhi and Muddy had agreed and so I also agreed. There were 15 people in all, and there were 5 bikes and a car.

Sat Night 9:50 PM:
I was all set to go, I had packed 1 set of clothes, camera and my jacket and I was waiting in the bus stop for Nidhi and Muddy. Muddy came with a bag filled with clothes enough for a week. Bus came on time and it was a sleeper coach, so we could sleep flat on our backs. Along the way, Muddy was talking about his exploits in Montreal where he had visited for 3 months on project work. He finally drifted to sleep after some time and so did we. There was some delay midway ad the bus reached Mangalore Sunday morning an hour late.

Sunday morning:
We felt very happy seeing the pleasent weather without clouds as it had rained most of Saturday. Harris picked us up and we went to is house and within 5 mins after we went inside, it started pouring!! Luckily, the rain stopped after 15 mins and by then, we had freshed up and ready to go. Harris told that 3 people have dropped out along with the car, but we had an extra bike and so it was 6 bikes, 12 people. We met the others in Infy campus (building, rather) and we left around 8.30 AM for breakfast where I had awesome Neer Dosa (H2O Dosa in Infy kamat restaurant). After packing lunch, we all left for Bisile Ghat which was around 130 km from Mangalore. Nidhi driving one of the bikes and me sitting behind, and Muddy behind Harris. We hardly covered 20 kms when it started raining again. But we decided to drive in the rain and we continued. After around 50 kms, we took a break for some snaps when it started pouring cats and dogs and we were on the highway with only trees on either side!! But somehow we managed a steady 50- 60 kmph inspite of these rains. One sad thing about these rains are that they are very heavy drops and hit you hard. Boy, it sure is tough in these conditions.

Kundya village:
We reached this place called Kundya which around 85 kms from Mangalore at around 1 - 1.15 PM. From here you have to take a diversion to Bisile and Subramanya. Took a break there for 'Chai - Biskut', in the meanwhile the rain also had stopped. Harry's bike had a small accident and the brake had gone loose. Muddy, sitting pillion was getting shoulder pain and was worried about how he can bowl to the kids with whom he plays cricket in the evenings! Anyways, we started again there but Harry had to drive slowly so he asked us to carry on and he will follow behind.

The Ghat sections:
These regions are mainly forest regions and receive plenty of rainfall, so all along we were driving in the rain. One of the guys, Nadeem, from RV 2003 Mech batch zoomed ahead of the others and we kinda lost him but as there was only 1 direction, uphill, we drove on. But we decided to turn back at 3 PM as it becomes dark by around 4 and it will be almost impossible to come back soon. We also had a bus to catch back home. On the way, we found a superb waterfall where we took some snaps, went further up with no sign of Nadeem. We had covered around 70% of the hill. But we decided to come back as the time was already 4 PM, but luckily the rain had stopped again and was bright for a change. Had lunch near the waterfall after taking a dip (drenched all the way, then taking a dip!!) around 4.30 and headed back to the main road to wait for Nadeem. He joined us some 15 mins after we came down and he had gone to the top! With all 12 of us down now, we headed back to Mangalore after decided to meet again at the highway for tea-break.

Is it raining?
What looked like bright and pleasent weather for some time suddenly changed to heavy rain with around 85 kms left to home. Me and Nidhi, who was driving stopped at a small shed for some time as rain was very heavy. There was also a man with his daughter standing there. He asked us 'Male bartaidya? (Is it raining?)'. Visibly irritated, I wanted to say that it is not rain but the Gods had a big time booze party last night and all are peeing at the same time, but I kept quiet. This time, the rain did not look like stopping, so we decided to continue. We drove for another 35 kms or so when we came across Kadaba, a small town. There 2 more bikes joined us but we lost them before I could put on my jacket and leave. But we caught up with them during their pee-break and from there, we were together for the remaining 55 odd kms.

The Highway:
Having already entered the highway, more problems were to follow. One thing, the highway NH48 had absolutely no streetlights atleast for a 50 km stretch and traffic is high in the evenings, particularly trucks and buses. Also, it was getting dark by 6.30 itself. But there was no stopping us and we maintained an average speed of 45 kmph and we expected to reach home by around 8.15 PM at this rate. We also had to stop for a while to wait for 1 bike which was a little behind, also our asses were sore, our backs were sore, name a body part, it was sore! So we did some streching exercises on the highway, in the rain! By then, the other bike came and we again headed for another session for Pain-in-the-arse. We reached mangalore at around 8.35 - 8.40 PM and went to Infosys first. can't remember how much we cursed Harry for taking us there instead of home!However, we reached home at around 8.50 PM and I ran first to the bathroom for a small shower and change to dry clothes! I contacted the bus service and they told that bus is at 10.40 and not 10 which was a relief to us. We all finished a can of Moov spray as we were applying to all parts of the body.

Getting back home:
We were ready by 9.45 kinds and harry again went out in the rain to get an auto but he could never find one. So he asked us to come by bike again (not again, we just dried up!!) till Infy as we get autos there. Muddy was complaining of body pain all over from the brains to the balls. But we had no option and we took the bike, midway we found an auto, kept the bike there itself and boarded the auto. We reached the bus stop at around 10.15, and started looking around for a place to eat. All nearby restaurants were closed, so we had to settle for biscuits, chips and Slice for dinner. But we did not mind anything once we boarded the bus and put our asses to rest. Finally, we reached Bangalore at around 7.30 AM, thus bringing an end to one helluva trip...oops ride.

Positives??
A beautiful place. Worth a visit, if not for the heavy rains...
My shoes got cleaned after a looooong time.
After THIS experience, I don't mind going out in any rain in Bangalore!!

Epilogue:
My home, after coming back..
Mom/Dad: Welcome back. How was the trip?
Me: It was fine.
M/D: Why is everything wet? shoes, bag, jacket, shirt?
V: Oh, nothing, we just got stuck in the rain for some time.
M/D: Rain? You said you were going by car?
V: Yeah, car got cancelled last minute so we went by bike.
M/D: And how long were you drenched.
V: Not much, maybe the last 15-20 kms while driving back home. We could not stop then as the rain would not stop.
M/D: 15-20 kms!!! (can't imagine how they would react if I had told them the truth, drenched for around 150-200 kms). You are bound to sleep for a couple of days now! No more trips for the time being!
V: Aw! it's ok, I'll be fine...
M: by the way, how far is the place from Mangalore.
V: not much, around 60 kms. (another lie...)
M: 60 kms!! By bike!!!

2 comments:

Srini said...

One point left out. We had hardly left mangalore and had breakfast when the bike on which me and shaggy rode, got punctured. Made us 45 mins late. But this wud have been a real disaster if it had got punctured in the ghats.

Anonymous said...

Nice post, Vikas..
Harish- I actually dont remember the place! :O! I guess, its bcos I dint go from Mlore to Subramanya..
-Jyothika