This trip named the Southern Circle spanned Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The trip kicked off on the 6th of June and this day will be remembered as a special day: the day our dream started coming true. The excitement, adventure and the wonderful moments we experienced in the next 5 days will go down as the best moments in our lives. We were (and still are) 5 ardent and adventurous roadies - Vijay Prakash, Ganesh, Senthil, Vimal, Arjun with our four gorgeous bikes. The intended route was Chennai - Kodaikanal - Munnar - Thekkady - Kottayam - Kollam - Thiruvananthapuram - Kaniyakumari - Rameshwaram - Pondicherry - Chennai. But it was impossible for us to enter Kerala from kodaikanal due to some strike in the state so we sketched another route, another circle: Kodaikanal - Ooty - Coonoor - Mudumalai - Mysore - Bangalore - Chennai. The trip was no child’s play, we had a few problems with our bikes and an accident too; but nothing could stop us. We endured 1540 kilometers with positive attitude, grit and spirit (no alcohol stuff). I can go on and describe this expedition for pages and pages, but I prefer to keep it short…keep it short with pictures; the photographs below speak for themselves………………
Day 1: Chennai to Kodaikanal
Chennai 4:25 am - Viluppuram 6:55 am - Trichy 11:10 am (lunch) - Dindigul 2:45 pm (Arjun’s bike gives trouble) Kodaikanal 5:25 pm
Day 2: Sightseeing in Kodai
1.Silver Cascade*, 2.Cocker’s Walk, 3.Green Valley View, 4.Golf course, 5.Pine Forest, 6.Devil’s Kitchen, 7. Upper Lake View, 8.Pillar Rock, 9.View of Kodai City, 10.Kodai Lake and Boat Club.
Day 3: Kodaikanal to Ooty
Breakfast and Arjun’s bike servicing 9:30 am, Leave Kodai 11:15 am, Palani 3:20 pm, Arjun’s bike meets with an accident 5:20pm, Coimbatore 5:50 pm, Ooty foot hills 6:55pm, Ooty 9:25pm.
Day 4: Sightseeing in Ooty and Coonoor. Ooty to Mudumalai
1.Dodebetta, 2.Conoor, 3.Mountain Railway, 4.Sim’s Park, 5.Lam’s Rock, 6.Dolphin’s Nose and Catherine’s Falls.
Back to Ooty 4:15 pm, Leave Ooty for Mudumalai 6:10 pm, reach Masinagudi 7:50pm , night ride in the forest around Masinagudi and Mudumalai 10:25pm.
Day 5: Mudumalai - Mysore - Bangalore - Chennai
Leave for Mudumalai 6:10 am, safari inside Mudumalai sanctuary 7:10 - 8:10 am, leave to Mysore 10:10 am, enter Karnataka 10:40am, complete 1000kms of our journey 11:10 am, Mysore outskirts 12:20pm, Bangalore 3:40 pm, snack meal 5:10pm, leave Bangalore 5:35pm, Complete 1500kms of our journey 10:50pm, Chennai outskirts 11:10pm, HOME 11:30 pm.
